PIRATE CAMP '24-25....................Desert SouthWest

[maki2]

I hope to get my popup hub screen room setup this week. It will be good to have for some projects I need to get to work on. First project will be to get my Honda generator running smoothly at the right speed. Hopefully it just needs the carburetor cleaned and adjusted. I am no expert at that but it’s 5 years past time when I should have I gotten in more experience. My biggest fear is dropping little parts on the ground and not being able to find them. Of course I also fear breaking something I will work on it inside the tent with a tarp covering all the ground and no other junk inside there to hide tiny dropped parts! Or blow them away when I walk out in frustration

 

[maki2]

A perfect weather day, not hot, not cold, not windy and not cloudy!

 

[NctryBen]

Well, second and third tests have been negative… but I’m giving it a full week. I did get to Holbrook though… I will be checking out the situations tomorrow. Either way she’d probably sell her shuttle. Solar set up, fridge… not sure what all she has… I’m in a regular RV park so I can use water and sewer before heading to the dessert… I mean desert. I’m hungry can you tell? She’s hoping for a miracle, but I’m thinking high pressure oil pump and that might be over the top expensive. That’s a common deal when they just die. No one has actually found a chewed wire. Just a nest… so stay tuned… the saga continues…
It’s kinda weird not having Kira… now I have to do everything. You know… bark at deer and people. Boy do I get the looks.

 

[DLTooley]

Van Aid is looking for someone to run the carpentry camp, or ‘cog’ as they are calling it for the November Van Aid, starting Monday November 18 through thanksgiving on the 28th.

 

[maki2]

Is Pirate Camp leaving La Posa to go to that Van Aid event?

 

[abnorm]

NO....................Like I said earlier............NO to Van Aid for ME this time

Computer's Back !........................Still no "power" tho

 

[maki2]

The DOT nowadays does not allow companies to ship lithium batteries with anything but a minimal charge on them due to fire risks. The computer should have come with a set of instructions for specific recharging steps that must be followed exactly so the battery will work correctly to get it recharged to its maximum state. Otherwise if you do not follow those directions that battery will never recharge to its maximum capacity.

It is all a pain in the rear to go through nowadays! I have had to go through that stuff several times in the last few years when replacing batteries in laptops.

 

[twomountainlions]

YES................. the Modoc Forest was challenged by a Rainbow Family Gathering earlier this year...........They made each campground a 14 day annual limit as well as limiting dispersed camping

Mark.......WHAT Starlink product did you purchase ?

We're at a wonderful small 8 spot FS campground......Still in MODOC........Willow Creek Campground...............Two pair of vault toilets inside the camp...........Another pair of vaults at the day-use area upfront.........All CLEAN freshly painted and epoxy floors..........Water & Trash cans ! It's Cold at nite...........warm days !

We found #1 site gets a little Sun and clear sky for Starlink.............$15 / $7.50 with pass............We're staying 4 days

Oh I see, so that's what happened.
I was wondering why Modoc started doing 14 day a year max.
I think there are other things (local druggies) going on there too and I had run into them this year. I noticed new hostility towards camping visitors in Modoc later in summer this year and thought it was just them being fed up with burners but looks like this was about RG.

I camp in Modoc but in very isolated places, where I have to wonder about escaping wildfires, campgrounds there are not what they used to be anymore once things got mapped on camping apps..

 

[maki2]

Twomountainlions
No worries about remote camping risk of wildfires if you camp with the Pirate Camp group this winter. We are camped for pretty much most of the whole winter at…get ready for a real shocker…. at Pirate Camps traditional spot in the Quartzsite LTVA La Posa South. Yes we are some of the people who for years, have stayed at the LTVA in the winter

 

[maki2]

It was 3 or so years ago when I bought a replacement laptop battery from one of those Batteries Plus type of companies in Flagstaff that I first encountered getting a minimally charged laptop battery and had it explained to me about having to follow a protocol for recharging. I have encountered needing to do that when getting a new battery for my Sony laptop top the other year and also a battery for the HP laptop I found last winter in a giveaway pile. Plus also there was also charging protocol from a minimal state of charge for a brand new USB speaker I got on Amazon this last spring and the same thing for a tablet I bought last Christmas. They all slowed up with a very low charge state. See attached photo for what is going on with that. Come January even batteries produced in the USA will be arriving with a minimal charge on them. So you will just have to be sure from now on you read and follow the instructions for steps that have to be taken before you can start using a rechargeable device. Things just changed on us without our having heard that particular bit of technological news. It caught me by surprise too but at least I did have the chance to get told about it in person because I bought that computer battery at a battery replacement store and took my laptop in with me to test it out and then got educated by the sales clerk. I dis-remembered it as the DOT making the ruling but the article in the photo says it was the ICAO making that new ruling requiring a minimal state of charge during shipment.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Not all lithium cells and batteries are shipped by air cargo so the "state-of-charge" regulations do not always apply.

Generally speaking, most small rechargeable lithium cells and batteries can be shipped by surface (rail, highway, or vessel) with a S.O.C. of 40 to 60% and still remain in compliance. Primary (non rechargeable) lithium cells and batteries are shipped fully charged.

There are different rules and exceptions of course, for large batteries such as those that are found in larger portable power packs, vehicles, powersports, scooters, etc.

With most lithium chemistries, once they are in your possession, and installed or attached to the device, It's a good idea to fully cycle the batteries about 3 times: fully charge (100%) then fully discharge (0%) rinse and repeat, to allow the batteries to achieve balance between the cells and perform at their best.

For those who are willing to dig into all the fine detail, here ya go:

https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/2024-11/Lithium-Battery-Guide-2024.pdf

 

[maki2]

Not all lithium cells and batteries are shipped by air so the "state-of-charge" regulations do not always apply.

Not always but fairly often… often enough that the three laptop batteries I bought in the last several years all had only a. Minimum charge of about 25% as did the cell phone battery I had installed this past summer and the tablet I got last Christmas season and even the portable speaker I got this past spring. So perhaps your experience is different.

I have no idea about what is happening with the lithium batteries used in portable power stations or regular battery banks as I do not have either of those. But I would take a guess that the industry as a whole would be saving time and money if they do not fully charge those types of batteries. Their insurance providers would also be happy if there is a reduction in liability claims for fires. So why wouldn’t the device companies typically want to leave them at a lower state of charge for shipping even if they were not shipping by air? Let the consumer put that final charge into the battery. Such situations do start the trend to do less work while still charging the same price. That is the direction that ball has always rolled in the games.

 

[twomountainlions]

There's conflicting info as to if its safe to fully discharge lithium batteries. I personally would't do it.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Consumer type lithium batteries that are fully discharged to 0% SOC (State Of Charge) is NOT the same thing as discharging to the battery's zero voltage point, which would ruin the cells.

The internal BMS in the lithium batteries used in things like laptops, cordless power tools, and cellphones are (or should be) protecting the cells from damage, and the BMS will normally begin what is called 'bottom balancing'. Then during recharge they are brought to 100% and the BMS will begin 'top balancing'.

This is how all the cells in the battery are brought into 'balance'. The first few 100% charges performed may generate a very modest amount of warmth felt in the pack or device as the balancing is occurring. This is normal.

Most newer lithium batteries include a note about this procedure, generally the same across types and brands, although there will be slight differences.

I have two laptops, 3 drones, and several tablets and smartphones that all self-discharge to 0% (or nearly 0%) if left unused and uncharged for a longer period of time. This is intentional: there is a circuit that does this automatically and then 'parks' or 'puts the battery in sleep mode' at 0% SOC for safe storage. It doesnt damage the batteries at all, and at some later date they can be put back in service with a full recharge.

 

[moontiger]

DAYS later continuously plugged in ..........and the new replacement battery is STILL at a whooping 4%................WooHoo ! Maybe 2025 ?

 

[maki2]

DAYS later continuously plugged in ..........and the new replacement battery is STILL at a whooping 4%................WooHoo ! Maybe 2025 ?

Multi meter time? Is that battery even getting any power to it?

 

[tx2sturgis]

It's still in 'sleep' or 'park' mode and there is probably a trick to waking it up.

You might have to investigate via the manufacturer website or contact their support people.

 

[abnorm]

There's an endless series of e-mail messages............This week they're sending a replacement charger

AND NEXT they will replace the whole laptop............................ BUT it has ALL my ""info""?????????

 

[tx2sturgis]

Ah...another one bit the dust?

Either I'm not tracking this correctly or we have two failed laptops?

 

[abnorm]

ONE laptop used for making SOUP................

Replacement computer.....a re-newed unit fails the battery test........new battery and now a new charger coming

Next they want to replace this computer (loaded with my DATA)