Cold and Rainy Weekends

Last weekend was cold so I didn't work on the van much. I did get some more insulation up on the passenger side but that was it.

This weekend it rained the entire two days, so I did nothing with the van. I have to take materials OUT of the van when I want to work on it. I couldn't take them out and have them sitting in the rain while I worked.

I've noticed a leak in the van now that I took all the old upholstery type stuff down from the ceiling. The caulking in the very back where the fiberglass top meets the metal door frame thing (since it used to have a lift in the back) is bad and a lot of water leaks through. Annoying, but I don't consider it a big issue. Clean off the old caulk and put some new stuff up there. Keep an eye on it in the future. Done.

I'm pretty sure that this week I'm going to be ordering solar panels, a charge controller, and an inverter. I've shuffled money around from my savings to my checking so that I could do this any day now. I'm thinking I'll put the order in tomorrow or Tuesday. I kind of want to schedule around the rain so when they get delivered it will be dry, but it's supposed to rain all week apparently. Either way, I went against what a lot of experienced people on the internet have said. I will be getting poly-crystalline panels, not mono-crystalline. I will be getting a PWM controller, not an MPPT. And I will be getting a random 1250w inverter that I feel good about.

You can research forever but in the end it doesn't mean anything if you don't act.

I will have everything I need except miscellaneous wiring and a battery or two. I figure I can get all the wiring, switches, fuses, and 12v outlets from my work for a good discount since I work at an auto parts store. Still trying to decide if I want to get a battery from work or from Walmart.

I got my own domain yesterday. Drivebyandy.com. You're using it now. It cost me $3. This should be bigger news than a little side paragraph but web sites are what I've done for a lot of my life, so it's not really that special for me. I'm kind of developing an overall picture of what I eventually want this site to be, but whether I end up doing any of it or not will remain to be seen.

It looks as though next weekend will be dry, so maybe I'll get something of noteworthiness done (and hopefully have my panels and stuff). I have an hour lunch at work and am right next to all three big stores (Menards, Home Depot, and Lowes) but I've taken a liking to going out to the van and taking a nap in the drivers seat.