Walt's Corner

WTF America?

Jesus Christ. We’ve got two cases where some idiot just fired his weapon without reason, seriously wounding or killing the victims.

First case involved a black teenage boy who knocked at the wrong door – literally. He was provided an address by his mother to pick up his siblings but ended up at the correct house number – wrong street. The old guy who lived there responded by shooting, seriously injuring the child.

Second case was very similar. A car simply was pulling into a driveway in order to turn around. Owner of the house walked out onto his porch and shot, killing one of the occupants.

These two cases don’t fit the criteria of a mass shooting, and are in addition to the fact that there have been more mass shootings than the number of days. Today marks the 108^th day of the year, or as those familiar with Julian Dates, today’s date is 23108. According to gunviolencearchive.org, we have had 164 mass shootings this year alone.

How long before we decide to do something about this, other than to say “It’s the person’s fault, not the gun?”

How long before we decide to do something about this, other than to say “It’s the person’s fault, not the gun?” What’s the solution? I don’t know. What I do know is that what we are currently doing is not it. I’m a gun-owner. I’m not about abolishing the right to bear arms, but there has to be something we can do to effectively reduce these tragedies.

Standard waiver of responsibility applies: This is how I did it. I have over 38 years of experience in electronics. Your safety is your responsibility. Always seek professional guidance if you have any questions. Never guess when it comes to your life. Also, make sure your alternator is able to handle a 60 amp draw in addition to everything else it has to power.

This is part 1 of a 2-part series. Jump to Part 2 can be found here.

The conundrum: I mainly use solar on our 2015 ½ Lance Model 1995. But what if part of the (solar) system breaks down? Not unheard of. Or, more realistically, what if we have several days in a row with no sun and colder than expected temperatures during the day hours where not only do I have to run my furnace all night, but also during the day? During the day when instead of solar power being used almost solely to charge the battery, it’s now being used to run the furnace AND charge the battery. This will prevent my system from fully charging. A day or two of those types of conditions are no problem for me. But 4 or 5 days in a row? Now I’d start getting worried. Our power will generally go down about 20-25% per night in weather that hits the 20s overnight, with the furnace set at 64.

And that’s why I still drag my little WEN 2000 watt inverter generator whenever we go someplace for more than a couple nights. Backup power. And of course that also means I have to bring gas along too – just in case. Got a great deal on this generator in 2016 I think it was. Back when Amazon’s deal of the day really was something to write home about. Picked it up for around  $299. Also.. back when they had next day delivery if you were Prime. Remember that shit? So does Pepperidge Farm.

I am now getting rid of that extra weight with the install of my 60 amp DC to DC battery charger from Renogy. Been planning this system for the last couple years and just started implementing it this year. Mainly because, to do it how I want to do it was going to take some work and patience. Two things I despise. Not really… the real reason is because it just wouldn’t have been practical until we went lithium with our batteries.

Lithium batteries, you see, are capable of handling a huge load when being charged compared to their lead-acid counterparts. Up to 100 amps in most cases. Try that with your lead acid battery. Long Stick Goes Boom, IFYKWIM.

My plan was simple. Use my truck engine as my generator. But that is kind of impractical if I am going to be running my truck for as long as I would be running my generator. Unnecessary wear and tear on the engine and a huge waste of gas. That is why I never implemented this plan before. But now that I have a 200AH Lithium battery, the narrative has changed.

With the common 2000 watt inverter generator, it’ll put a 20 amp charge on the battery.  To charge an almost dead 200AH battery will take up to 10 hours with 20 amps. I would never let my battery get down that low, so lets say I wanted to bring my battery from 80% back up to full power. That would take about 2 hours for a 200AH battery to be charged with a 20 amp charge being applied. And that’s assuming you aren’t drawing a huge load in the meantime. That would drop the amps on the battery for charging purposes, prolonging the charge cycle.

Now lets figure in the ability to charge the same battery from 80% to 100% on a 60 amp charge. That would take about 40 minutes under the same conditions. And remember, I don’t need to charge it up to full. In an emergency, I’d need to just be sure to have at least 25% before heading to bed for the night. Now it becomes practical.

My plan is not to charge the RV battery off this charger while driving, but have this as a viable backup plan. While driving the battery is charged via solar and the standard 6-8 amps off the truck via the standard trailer connector. But no sun for 40 days and nights? I’ll just plug in the trailer to the truck and charge it off the 60 amp charger. The problem is that the standard trailer plug is not built to handle 60 amps. Now I have to build a dedicated trailer cable. One that can handle 60 amps of power. This will require some heavy duty wire. And with the length from the truck battery/alternator, we’re talking 4 gauge wire. That’s where this Part 1 comes in.

This install will place the DC to DC Charger inside the trailer, as close to the house battery as possible, as suggested by the charger’s manual. The truck side of the install is building an auxiliary cable that will extend from the engine compartment of the truck to the back bumper and terminate in a trailer connector that the trailer will be able to plug into in order to energize the charger. There are 101 ways to do this, and this is what I decided on. There are plenty of brands to choose from, all decent. I chose to stick with Renogy because I use their solar controller, solar panels, battery monitor, LiFe battery, and inverter. In other words, I’m a Renogy whore. Excellent quality. Excellent customer service. They have me for life as a dedicated customer until they do me wrong.

To review my solar and battery equipment, click here. There is a list at the bottom of that article if you don’t want to read the entire thing.

Parts list

• DC to DC convertor/charger (trailer)
• M10 copper terminal lugs with heat shrink (truck and trailer)
• SB120 (120 amp) connector kit (truck and trailer)
• Fuse holders (truck and trailer)
• Trailer connector with spring loaded door designed to hold SB120 connectors (truck) – warning… ships from Australia, takes a little more time than usual, and required hand-signed delivery
• Mating trailer connector with dust cap for SB120 connectors (trailer)
• Ultratite non-metallic flexible conduit, 25 feet
• 4 gauge wire 50 ft each, black and red (truck and trailer)
• 3/4” conduit anchors
• Protective wire wrap
• Self tapping screws

Other than the charger, conduit, anchors, protective wire wrap, and self-tapping screws, all items were purchased via Amazon. Out of these items, the charger was bought directly from Renogy and the rest from Lowes or Harbor Freight.

Procedure

I used a torch to heat up the wells of the terminal lugs and pin connectors that were secured in a vice while melting rosin-filled solder into the wells prior to inserting the stripped 4 gauge wire into the well. After a few seconds you can let go, and then let it rest a few minutes. Protected the joints with shrink tubing, applying the required heat with a heat gun. Hydraulic crimping will also do the same job, I prefer solder so that if I make any mistake I won’t have to decrease the length of the wire. Simply reheat and pull apart, try again.

The charger manual suggests a 90 amp (or close) on the starter positive side. I used a 100 amp. The wires are secured into the fuse holder by your standard hex key screw. Again with shrink tubing at these joints. Mount/place the fuse holder in a manner that will protect it from jarring, elements, and heat generated by the engine.

I took my rubber conduit runner, starting from the rear bumper and literally installed it without any wires in it. I found a route that I was happy with that went from the back bumper, to over the spare/under the bed, through the rear driver-side wheel well, back down, and ran it up to the front along the side of the vehicle, avoiding the gas tank and any heat radiating components of the exhaust, up into the engine compartment, running between the battery and the driver side quarter panel. Once installed, I trimmed my comfortable excess – 2 feet worth. Making this entire run about 23 feet. I removed the conduit and headed back to the garage.

Happy with the length of my conduit, the hard part was fishing two 4-gauge wires through it. As suspected, they weren’t just going to slide through 23 feet of rubber conduit. I heatshrunk a standard air hose to my 50 feet of red wire. The air hose was sturdy enough to push through. Once it peaked out the other end I pulled it through, thereby pulling 23 feet of red wire behind it until the red wire was out. Then I duct-taped the black wire to the other end of the red, and pulled some more. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Hindsight tells me I should have used some super glide or something to assist that would lubricate but wouldn’t facilitate in breaking down the insulation over time. But through brute force at both ends (a pushing assistant) I was able to feed it through. On the engine compartment end I left enough tail to be able to plug into the negative of my battery and the the fuse holder coming off the positive side of the battery. The rear bumper end I left about a foot and a half of tail that would be used to mount the SB120 connector to, which would then be mounted inside the Trailer Vision holder.

I squirted a bunch of silicone into the back of the trailer connector to protect from splashing water and let it cure overnight. The next day I ran the now filled conduit the same way. Beginning at the back and threading it through the wheel well, along the side, and up into the engine compartment. I used the self-tapping sheet metal screws to secure the conduit to the truck with the anchors. Self-tapping screws again to mount the trailer connector to the underside of the rear bumper. I also places some plastic tubing over the exposed 4-gauge wire for added protection from the elements.

Quite happy with how it turned out. See the video for the finished run from battery to trailer connector. I like to keep my site free from advertisements and tracking, so the link will take you to YouTube. I’m not looking for any thumbs ups or subscriptions. In fact, I’d rather you didn’t.

I found this recipe years ago on Robbie’s Recipes. Perfect for when you don’t have a whole lot of time but want some home made pizza. No resting required. Got time and want a thicker crust? Let it rise a half hour or more.

This is the third and final installment (as of now) of my trilogy of pizza crust recipes, along with my deep pan crust and hand tossed recipes.

Ingredients

• 1 packet (2.25 tsp) active dry yeast
• 1/4 tsp. granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup 110 degree water
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• pizza sauce – of your choice, here is mine
• shredded cheese – of your choice, as needed
• toppings – of your choice, as needed

Directions

• Dissolve yeast and sugar in water; allow to rest for 8 minutes.
• In a separate bowl, combine flour and salt.
• Pour yeast mixture over flour mixture and mix well with a heavy spoon.
• Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for 2 minutes.
• Working from the edges to the center, press dough into a 12″ circle. We’ve also found that holding the dough up, off the counter and stretching it works well, too (keep rotating the dough circle as you stretch to keep an even circle forming).
• Place dough on a lightly greased pizza pan and stretch dough to edges or make on a peel and slide onto a stone
• Spread sauce over crust and top with cheese and desired toppings.

Bake in a 500 degree oven for 8-12 minutes, or until edges are golden.

A day late and a dolla short, as they say. I originally wrote this April of 2014. It just never made it’s way to the Corner.

We give these guys their own special day? COME ON! Everyday is a constant reminder that you’ve got siblings – if you do. It all begins on day one.

In the beginning, there was but one. Me. One child. No attention was divided. Christmas was totally spent on… ME. There was one Grandchild… ME. There was but one rule: I am the son, your child. You shall have no other children but me. For I am a jealous son. But parents, being the humans they are, naturally have a general disregard of rules.

All of a sudden your world is torn apart. There’s this addition to the family. Another child. I learned real quick the meaning of the word ‘share.’ I may not have followed it but I knew what it meant. And I didn’t like it.

Eventually I accepted the status change. I also learned that there were some newly gained advantages to having a sister. Mainly, someone to share the blame with. There’s that word again – share. Only, it’s kind of twisted. In this case, it develops a different meaning. Assign. Give. Before, there were no other children in the household. If that vase was broken and Mom didn’t break it, it had to have been me. But not with siblings in the house. Could’ve been me. Could’ve been her. And with the proper coaxing she’d take the blame. Only we would know for sure. And sometimes… I could be so persuasive, I’d have her BELIEVING that she actually did it. In those few instances… only I knew for sure. Some secrets are taken to the grave.

Eventually more come along and you become somewhat of a gang. Parents are your first structure of society that you are introduced to. They are law, a kind of Parentis Lex and in most cases that Parentis Lex is extended to all adults – especially grandparents. Try pointing your new wooden gun that your grandpa just made you at your grandma and tell her that you’re going to kill her. See what happens. She takes that gun and busts it in two over your ass. Literally. Grandpa has to glue two pieces back together. I never said that again to her. Well, at least back then that authority was extended to other adults. Not so much today. Today’s parents try to be friends instead of Law. We see what that gets us in today’s world. But that’s a different subject than today’s. Today it is about siblings.

My siblings were pretty much the first permanent peers of equal standing that I had. At least equal in other peoples’ eyes if not mine at the time. This is what develops and breeds the bond between siblings. It was us against the world, whether that world was mom and dad or the park across the street. Sure I may have had a couple early childhood friends (Tim comes to mind, who I affectionately named my teddy bear after – Tim Tim) but I didn’t live with them day to day like I did my siblings.

Being the oldest child, I was kind of the gang leader by default. It was OK for me to abuse my siblings, but not cool when others would try. I would have to intervene and I either won or lost those fights, but that was what the brother did. We stuck together and we fought together. We learned valuable life lessons together by watching others’ victories and failures. And there were real life lessons to be learned back in those days in the park.

There were all types of risks involved just playing in the park. No Big Brother Safety to limit playground rides and obstacles due to risk factors assessed. You learned yourself by watching little Walter Moore fall and bounce like a rag doll down the center of the jungle bars from 30 feet up in the air and land on the ground in a bloody, mangled heap. That’s where we learned that it was probably best to hold on with 3 points of contact or more at all times.

Nature had it’s own way of filtering out the less than average intelligent kids. They didn’t survive childhood. Instead, they proved to be those valuable lessons we needed to learn in order to survive this world. Today’s kids aren’t so lucky. The ones who would’ve made those grave mistakes in childhood are now protected by a shelter of safety. Instead of making bad decisions as children and possibly surviving and learning, they have been allowed to live into adulthood and make those bad decisions as adults where now it probably costs them not only their lives but the lives of some of those around them.

So here’s to us kids who survived. I love my siblings. Obviously I’m going to have a more tighter bond with the sister I shared my childhood with than the brother who grew up without the Older Brother Walter’s presence (which probably gave him an advantage the others didn’t have). But I love them both all the same. And I miss Freddy. Not a day goes by where I don’t think of him.

One more funny observation and maybe it’s just me, I don’t know. Whenever I dream of my brothers and sister, it’s as they were as we played as children. Little Ruthie at 10 or 12 years old. Freddy at 8 and 10. That’s how my dreaming mind portrays them. And I savor every memory.

With all the internet growling and resulting responses on GM choosing not to support CarPlay, I had to do some old fashioned research. Like, what the fuck is CarPlay? Also, is CarPlay in my Ram Laramie? Oops. My Luddite is showing.

The answers? Well, to quote from apple.com, “CarPlay gives you the ability to safely use what you love about your iPhone while you drive.” More accurately (methinks) from Wikipedia, “CarPlay is an Apple standard which enables a car radio or head unit to be a display and a controller for an iOS device. It is available on all iPhone models beginning with iPhone 5 running iOS 7.1 or later.”

The answer to my second question… Yes, according to a blog from Dodge Chrysler Jeep of Monroe (wherever they are at), “As of 2017 Apple CarPlay is fully integrated in all Uconnect 8.4” systems. The 4th generation Uconnect system is available in all Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, and Ram models.”

Let me fully unveil my Ludds here. I have not owned or used a traditional computer for 10 years now. Yeah, you read that. 10. I just did the math. I’m shocked myself. I was thinking it was at several years, at least. But no, 10 years. When the iPad mini 2 came out, It provided me with all the computing power I needed. I was no longer using my laptop. I gave my wife my MacBook Air (which she wouldn’t really use until it was quite necessary to replace her aging MacBook Pro) and never looked back. Currently I use whatever this contraption is. I had to look it up. It’s an iPad Air 4^th Generation with Magic Keyboard. The old mini given to a friend.

Back to topic, CarPlay? I’ll have to list that under Fucks I Don’t Give (FIDG). Any interaction I want to have between my iPhone and my vehicle is single-fold: Play my music or the one podcast I listen to (The GodPod). Guess what? As long as there is bluetooth, that’s gonna happen. I’m perfectly satisfied with the built in navigation system. For those that know me, I travel. A lot. To many places where there is no phone signal. That’s why I’ve come to rely on satellite.

There’ll be the crowd that says “I’M nOt EvEr GoNNa BUy a gM AGaiN.” So what. Don’t buy. That’s your money and your right to spend your money on whatever you want. But just like IDGAF, I’m sure GM gives less. Just like the phone world has divided up into Apple and Android and they are doing just fine, the same is going to happen with vehicles. Until I’m driving around in a GM truck, this is a moot point. If Ram decides to do the same thing, as long as there’s bluetooth, I’ll be a Happy Camper. Literally. Thats what I do. I camp and stuff.

As for me, when driving, I don’t want to take phone calls. I don’t want to take/send texts. That’s why my phone replies with that “Fuck off, I’m Driving” message. Which prompted my boy to text me, “you’re always on the road!.” Yeah. That’s it, son. I’m on the road. 😉 But it was 2 AM, Dad.” Oops, that’s the “Fuck off, I’m Sleeping” message. Oh wait, there is no message. That’s all in my head. I just turn off all notifications.