24/7 Chat About Anything

[maki2]

I got on the road just about 1pm before it started raining. Only one muddy puddle on the way to the main, well graveled Forest Service Road. My vehicle slipped a bit sideways in the muddy patch but my AWD got that quickly sorted out. I gassed up in town and headed to highway 64 north and am now looking out the trailer window at my new campsite. I can read the signs on the fence just across the road that say Grand Canyon National Park Border line. I will have to wait until the sun comes out tomorrow to figure out if I am going to have lots of good solar or if some trees are going to interfere. Unfortunately a big group was occupying my preferred campsite as well as my number 2 backup site and they do not look like they have plans on leaving soon but I will keep an eye out just in case!

Tomorrow is an inexpensive hot shower inside the National Park morning. I will fill up all my water jugs for free and take out the trash too! Then maybe even a peek down into the canyon if I can grab a parking spot.

 

[Morgana]

Hey all I just wanted to say thanks for the kind posts re: the PT (physical therapy) wars of a few days ago. I had my appointment with the clinic owner today, and while I was prepared for the worst ("don't lose your temper, don't lose your temper, if you get through it without losing your temper you can have ice cream") it actually went very well, I have a whole new treatment plan and even a different diagnosis.

Just goes to show you never can tell when things might start picking up again . Appreciate y'all letting me vent here.

Still having the ice cream.

 

[maki2]

Woke up at 7am happy to see that my battery had already had a filling breakfast of sunshine and was into float mode by 7:30! I am very glad that despite being so tired yesterday that I made the effort to hitch back up move to a spot that got early sun on it. I do have a pine tree tree nearby that I put my zero gravity chair and table under for relaxing in the shade.

The downside is while I prefer to point the nose of my trailer south I could not pull into the site that way so I have the long side with my fridge facing south. So this afternoon I will need to hang shade cloth out on that south side. At least high winds strength not showing in the 7 day forecast. Just sunshine, mid 70s and afternoon breezes!

 

[bullfrog !]

Lol!!! This time of year the wind always comes up every few days! As my friend used to say “The leaves come out and the wind tries to blow them off.”

 

[maki2]

Afternoon “breeze” with some gust around 20 are a bonus in mid 70 degree and higher temperatures. It makes for good afternoon naps indoors away from flying peskies with little to need for running a fan. But I think I might need a lunchtime nap. Still feeling low energy today, most likely cause the change in altitude. I do not feel sick, just low in energy, it will pass soon and today is better than yesterday. I did drive into the National Park for a shower and I filled up with 5 gallons of water and tossed my trash too. But now back at camp.

 

[NctryBen]

Lol!!! This time of year the wind always comes up every few days! As my friend used to say “The leaves come out and the wind tries to blow them off.”

Thank goodness the trees have a pretty good grip!

 

[maki2]

Good Verizon cell signal at my current campsite. I am less than a mile to a cell tower that does not have a high demand of people on it.

 

[maki2]

Hanging out at my campsite this weekend. I know better than to go into the Grand Canyon Nation Park during this 3 day weekend unless I go in around 7am or after 5pm. Between those hours the line at the entry gate will be two lanes that are at least a mile long.

During the day my campsite area is empty of other campers which is very pleasant! I am taking advantage of the pleasant temperature and great solar input to cut and package some inventory for my Etsy store while I listen to audio books. Today’s author is C.J. Box. He is an excellent writer of contemporary period mysteries with a Western Wyoming setting. He has a couple of different series. Check them out if you are looking for a new author to read.

 

[Morgana]

So weird, my car sound system died about a year and a half ago and it suddenly came back to life. I was sitting at an intersection wondering who was blasting norteño music since I couldn't see any cars nearby ... and lo and behold it was me. Quickly found a country station and started singing along with George Jones at the top of my lungs. Happy happy.

 

[Frood]

So weird, my car sound system died about a year and a half ago and it suddenly came back to life. I was sitting at an intersection wondering who was blasting norteño music since I couldn't see any cars nearby ... and lo and behold it was me. Quickly found a country station and started singing along with George Jones at the top of my lungs. Happy happy.

Sounds like a short somewhere that may have somehow reconnected when you hit a bump or the wires wiggled just right or something...

 

[Morgana]

Sounds like a short somewhere that may have somehow reconnected when you hit a bump or the wires wiggled just right or something

I did just have the battery replaced ... the sound came back on about a day later.

 

[user 36441]

I did just have the battery replaced ... the sound came back on about a day later.

 

[user 36441]

I don't think it would have been your battery. When the engine is on your alternator is providing plenty of 12V already. Sounds like there was an open somewhere in the radio or in the wiring going to the radio. Because the radio came back on, we would call that an intermittent. Could be weather related...a connection that is just flaky enough to open when the temperature changes enough. Or a vibration issue.

 

[Overland One]

I don't think it would have been your battery. When the engine is on your alternator is providing plenty of 12V already. Sounds like there was an open somewhere in the radio or in the wiring going to the radio. Because the radio came back on, we would call that an intermittent. Could be weather related...a connection that is just flaky enough to open when the temperature changes enough. Or a vibration issue.

The Battery still provides all the power for everything even when the engine is on. All the alternator does is to charge the battery and maintain the charge and it adjusts the output through the voltage regulator based on the load/drain the battery is experiencing at any given moment. The battery fires the sparkplugs, runs the computers, lights, accessories, starter, etc. Otherwise, once the engine was started, you could remove the battery and the engine would keep running. With an alternator that does not happen. My old VW Bug had a generator instead of an alternator, and that would run the engine with the battery removed and the battery cable connections joined. A bad cell/internal short in a battery can lower the output voltage to well below 12 volts even though the alternator is putting out about 14+ volts. In the case being discussed, as was mentioned, there is a good chance that when the battery was changed, a loose connection or broken wire was moved and then a few bumps later, the radio circuit was complete once again. My guess is, in the near future, her radio will stop working once again...but...maybe not. Broken wires can be hard to trace sometimes. She replaced her battery for a reason and maybe it was because of a bad cell?

 

[user 36441]

The Battery still provides all the power for everything even when the engine is on. All the alternator does is to charge the battery and maintain the charge and it adjusts the output through the voltage regulator based on the load/drain the battery is experiencing at any given moment. The battery fires the sparkplugs, runs the computers, lights, accessories, starter, etc. Otherwise, once the engine was started, you could remove the battery and the engine would keep running. With an alternator that does not happen. My old VW Bug had a generator instead of an alternator, and that would run the engine with the battery removed and the battery cable connections joined. A bad cell/internal short in a battery can lower the output voltage to well below 12 volts even though the alternator is putting out about 14+ volts. In the case being discussed, as was mentioned, there is a good chance that when the battery was changed, a loose connection or broken wire was moved and then a few bumps later, the radio circuit was complete once again. My guess is, in the near future, her radio will stop working once again...but...maybe not. Broken wires can be hard to trace sometimes. She replaced her battery for a reason and maybe it was because of a bad cell?

Thanks, OverlandOne. I'm obviously still stuck in my VW days.

 

[Overland One]

Thanks, OverlandOne. I'm obviously still stuck in my VW days.

I had 3 bugs over the years, a '61, a '68 and a'70. Great cars. If your battery was dead, you could wrap a rope around the generator pulley and pull start it like a lawn mower. They had a reserve on the gas tanks just like motorcycles so you could not run out of gas. (Unless you forgot to flip the lever back after filling up) They were also great in the snow. My favorite ad of all time was a magazine ad for the VW Bug showing a bug parked in front of a municipal garage in the snow and the headline read: "How the snowplow drivers get to work." I actually had an accident where I rolled my 1970 bug and, I was able to drive it on a date later that night after popping the rear glass back in that got knocked out when the roof flexed. Let's see any of the new cars do that, ha ha. I bet you miss yours too.

 

[Happy Camper]

Many cars can run without the battery once started. The battery is to crank the starter. Hence the name starter battery.

Cars are designed to run off of the alternator current. Not the battery.

 

[Gr8ful]

Very true Happy Camper at least the older ones as when we we're building remote cabins in the UP we'd run off 1 battery & an inverter then switch it in a running truck to charge until we set up the Onan Genset.

 

[bullfrog !]

Modern car’s computers don’t like to be without power for long, probably don’t like voltage spikes and often need to relearn idle settings and such so not a real good idea to try running without a battery in my opinion.

 

[user 36441]

I had 3 bugs over the years, a '61, a '68 and a'70. Great cars. If your battery was dead, you could wrap a rope around the generator pulley and pull start it like a lawn mower. They had a reserve on the gas tanks just like motorcycles so you could not run out of gas. (Unless you forgot to flip the lever back after filling up) They were also great in the snow. My favorite ad of all time was a magazine ad for the VW Bug showing a bug parked in front of a municipal garage in the snow and the headline read: "How the snowplow drivers get to work." I actually had an accident where I rolled my 1970 bug and, I was able to drive it on a date later that night after popping the rear glass back in that got knocked out when the roof flexed. Let's see any of the new cars do that, ha ha. I bet you miss yours too.

One of my old Bugs got stuck in a soft spot once, and I had to alternate back and forth between first and reverse very quickly several times to get it out. The gears were making a horrible noise but the guy who was with me said, "Go ahead, you can't hurt a Volkswagen."