Thursday, June 18, 2009 -
It is partly cloudy with the chance of a thundershower this morning, and after my morning coffee, I hope the weather will hold long enough to install the new batteries.
Just as I was changing into my work clothes to go outside, it poured rain and the wind started blowing at about 12 mph. I decided I would wait for the rain to pass before I would try to tackle the batteries. By two O’clock, the rain had stopped but the wind hadn’t. I put on a sweatshirt and went out to get the job done.
First, I needed to disconnect all of the old batteries and remove them from the battery box. My doctor told me that I shouldn’t be doing any thing that might pull the stitches, but I told her I would have to, but I’d be careful. I managed to slide each of the 135-pound batteries off the edge of the battery box, controlling their drop to the ground. Once they were all removed, I focused on removing the old foam insulation and putting in the new blue board insulation. Blue board, which can also be pink in color depending on where you purchase it, has almost three times the protection that regular foam or fiberglass insulation has. I want to make sure that these batteries are well protected from the cold during winter.
After replacing the insulation in the walls, I put down two layers of blue board on the floor. Not only for added protection, but also to raise the new lower profile batteries, up to my cable height. After removing the shrink-wrap from the pallet, I found that each battery was in its own box. The boxes had no bottoms, so I could just lift each one off the battery. To my shock, the batteries had automotive posts and not the L-shaped connectors with holes to bolt the cables on. I looked at so many sites and read so much information when I researched the batteries that I thought I had specifically ordered the L-posts, but I guess not. Now I had no way to connect the cables and hook them up.
I would have to make a quick run to town for adapters, but it was already 3:50 PM. I knew that if I couldn’t make the follow me truck departure time, I’d end up getting into town too late to get the necessary parts. The only place that I knew would carry them was Northwest Battery as they are the ones that made up all of the cables for me originally. I figured they closed at 5 PM, so I would probably have to buy a less desirable type connector at Wal-Mart and adapt it to work.
Zack and I jumped into the Jeep and roared down the mountain, hoping to catch the follow me truck at the quarter past departure time, but we missed it by five minutes. We now had to sit and wait for 25 minutes, which would put us in town after 5 PM. I decided that I would find something in town that would work, and because the days are so long up here, I’d have time to get home and finish the job. I also needed to mail a box to my sister, which I had taken to town with me yesterday, but forgot to mail it. Too much was happening and when I got home . . . there it was, in the back seat.
I decided not to stress about any of it and just go with the flow, so sat and listened to the radio while we waited for the follow me truck. At 4:45, the truck appeared and we followed it out Marysville Road to the Lincoln Highway. The road work appears to be finished as they are putting the last of the guardrails up today, but my conversation with the follow me truck driver, Alicia, yesterday told me that they still have to put down a coat of chip and then seal it, which will cause them to repaint the lines before it is finished. All of Marysville will be glad it is over with . . . for now. I say for now because they are planning on paving past Marysville and up to the ski run in the near future. I would bet that they won’t be able to find the money to complete the job and it will remain as it is, but we’ll see.
I went into Helena and knew that the Post Office would be closed, as it was 5:15, so headed to the UPS Store, knowing they are open until 6 PM. I mailed the package to my sister and then hurried over to the Northwest Battery shop to see if by chance they were still open. Well, my luck held out and because he had a customer in the shop, he hadn’t locked up. I managed to get the battery post connectors and was on my way. I stopped in at Burger King for a quick dinner, knowing that by the time I got home and finished the job, it would be late.
Out of necessity, I ate while driving back to Marysville. I hate to do that more than talk on the phone and drive, but felt that it was about the only choice I would have to eat. We got back to the Marysville Road at 6:15 and the work crew had quit for the day, so we didn’t have to wait for the follow me truck.
Once back at the cabin, I was able to finish installing the batteries. The new batteries are 165 pounds each, but I was able to back the truck up to the battery box and then just slide each one off the tailgate and onto the battery box. After connecting all of the cables, I carefully threw the circuit breaker and went inside to read the inverter panel. Bad news, I had 36.5-volts for my 24-volt inverter. I shut it down and got the inverter manual to see the different configurations for batteries. Having switched from eight 6-volt batteries, to four 12-volt batteries, got me confused and I had connected them incorrectly. I redid the cables according to the manual and flipped the breaker again. Inside, the panel indicated that the inverter was working, with 25.8-volts coming in from the batteries, and 120-volts going out. The only problem was that I still didn’t have electricity. I read the trouble shooting section of the manual and rechecked absolutely every cable and connector to make sure they were tight and correct, but still no power.
After reading the trouble shooting section several times, and then looking at the diagrams in the manual, it showed a fuse or circuit breaker in the system, but I didn’t remember any, other than the breaker I installed when I first put the system in. Upon closer inspection, I found an obvious 30-amp pop out circuit breaker on the end of the inverter. Once I had reset that breaker, I had power. These are just a few of challenges that must be faced if one wishes to live the lifestyle I do.
It was now 8 O’clock and I hadn’t fed Zack his dinner yet. I played with him one last time and then prepared his dinner. I started a fire, took a shower, and fixed myself a drink before sitting down to relax and enjoy the fruit of my labor.