Creating order out of chaos.....

 7:11 am - Tuesday - October 8th - LPG&RVR - 45° F, humidity 50%, wind 2 mph out of the south by southeast....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 83° F....it is 7:13 am, and the sun has not peaked over the Warner Mountains yet.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I were at Katz's Delicatessen in Manhattan (NYC)  where the famous "When Harry met Sally" seen was shot.....by the way, the Hot Pastrami on Marble Rye was amazing....

The first day of organizing the trailer for VW insertion is always chaotic, and at the end of that first day it appears things are worse then when I began.  A lot of stuff needs to be moved and stowed before I can even think about stowing our three bicycles.  Once the bikes get stowed, then things go pretty rapidly from there.  The thing is, it takes most of the 2nd day just to get to that point, and for most of that day it does not look like much has been done, but at the end of that 2nd day the bikes can be stowed....

The bicycles are stowed

....now I can take down the second tool table, and begin to move the rest of our stuff forward, making room for the Beetle....

My back machine is stowed

The Black & Decker Workmate is stowed

The bench grinder is stowed

I think I've written before about buying a BLUETTI® solar charger for when we are living off the grid, which we will be doing all winter.  My initial need for the BLUETTI® AC200P was to power the trailer, while we are boondocking, to avoid having to use a noisy generator.  The original unit was their AC200P with 2,000 watt hours of power, to which I added two 2,048 watt hour B230 expansion batteries for a total of 6,096 watt hours.  The AC200P was not really made to work with the B230 expansion batteries, but it worked okay.  What I really needed was their AC2000MAX, which does work perfectly with the two B230 expansion batteries, and also has a 30 amp RV outlet.....

The AC200P is on the left, and the AC200MAX is on the right

The RV 30 amp outlet

One of two B230 expansion batteries

.....the new BLUETTI® arrived Monday.  Combined with the AC200MAX which provides 2048 watt hours of power, I now have a total of 6,144 watt hours, and I can now just use the AC200P to power the trailer, which it does well all by itself.  I also have three 100 watt portable solar panels to recharge the AC200MAX each day, so we can live off the grid comfortably for a number of months.  Our total investment for everything (AC200P, AC200MAX, two B230's, and three solar panels) was around $4,000.

So, you're wondering, "Clarke you already have 620 watts of solar panels on the roof of the Newell, why do you need more?", and that would be a good question.  During the day the rooftop panels run everything in the coach, including many of our appliances, but overnight the two 8d batteries continue to discharge until the sun rises again.  We always turn off the 2,000 watt inverter overnight to reduce the amount of power loss in those 8d batteries, but would like to be able to leave it on 24 hours a day.  We will use the AC200MAX + two B230 batteries to power our Intelli Power charger/converter, which charges those two 8d batteries, thereby keeping them at 100% all night long, which will enable us to use our electric heaters first thing in the morning to warm the coach, thereby saving propane.  In the past when we have boondocked it is for a month, or two, and using our propane heaters is fine, because our time is limited, and we are not that far from town where we can get more propane if needed. This winter we will be living in a VERY remote area, 30+ miles from town, and 6 miles from a paved road, and we don't want to have to worry about getting propane delivered.  

So, where are we going for the winter?  We'll be spending a little over 6 months on 40 acres of land in the southwest helping the owners upgrade their property.  Right now there is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home equipped with full solar power (12,000 watt inverter, and a full solar array).  There is a large 2 car garage, and large shop, a green house, and chicken coop.  The property has a septic system, and a 5,000 gallon water tower.  We will have access to water, and a cleanout where we can macerate our black tank effluent as needed.  Eventually we will be hooked up to their electric system, but that will take a while, hence the need for a more robust off grid electrical system for the Newell.

By the end of Monday I was one tired puppy, but I got done what I needed to get done.  around 6 pm I grilled a large filet mignon on the Sea-B-Que for our dinner, to which TLE added a side salad.  The weather was perfect all day, and at 6 pm it was idyllic.  I should mention that TLE spent all day in the Newell defrosting the fridge, doing a couple loads of wash, and deep cleaning the Newell from bow to stern.  She occasionally joined me in the trailer when I needed help lifting, or moving something heavy and awkward.  We are about to begin day three of our take down of our site, so time to get dressed, and do just that! 

Thanks for stopping by!