Electrical Mystery

[ponytug]

We have several solar powered LED lights. If you look at the picture of the lights on, there are some solar powered lights along the bottom of the fence. They are OK, but nothing great. In my experience, they last a year or two, and then you throw them away. I've replaced batteries in them after a year, but two years is really about as long as they last for me.

I guess a bigger, higher quality solar panel would work. What do they cost? I'd have to mount it somewhere and run it to the light. It would need a bigger battery to last all night. What does that cost? But somehow, it just seems easier and cheaper to run 12/2 wire to the post and install a $70 light that puts out 6,000 LUMS.

For a place that you can readily trench to, I would take 120V any day of the week and twice on Sunday, for all of the reasons that you enumerate. 1,000', or 2,000' away, different story.

These ($90/) claim 150,000 lumens, and a 6-8 hour charge time, but you would have to install the light on the southern edge of wherever you need the illumination. I have not used them due to past experiences with solar lights.

Amazon.com

All the best,

Peter

 

[BackRoad]

I think I'm more impressed by Mr. Eddie's tower than the light working...

Are you sure you're still in construction Mr. Eddie??? That might not be up to code...

Some might keep that tower as is and call it "a work of art"!!!

 

[airbiscuit]

It is a work of art, but it would be better if it was made out of pallets... but that would involve another TBN thread.

 

[jyoutz]

I think I'm more impressed by Mr. Eddie's tower than the light working...

Are you sure you're still in construction Mr. Eddie??? That might not be up to code...

Some might keep that tower as is and call it "a work of art"!!!

Eddie’s tower is indeed a work of art.

 

[KennyG]

There's probably a special code in Texas for "it only has to work once".

 

[ultrarunner]

is anyone actually impressed with solar powered anything, every time I see one used. I think it wasn't worth the effort to put it up, they are so dim

CEO wanted solar lights at the dumpster location… sure no problem.

At dusk they work great but no illumination when I clock in at 4 am

I could have expressed doubt but it would have been seen negatively.

Great light for a few hours after sunset… and helps out housekeeping during the short winter days.

That said I had these little solar dock lights that came with the house… they are the size of little highway lane dots… 4 in all.

I’ve been here 8 years and the lights have a date stamp 2010 and one still works every night… guess it’s one in a thousand but why did the others stop?

 

[not2old]

Eddie’s tower is indeed a work of art.

Only problem is that it takes way longer to build it than to do the actual repair. I used to repair lots of lights on posts 15 to about 18 feet high. I'd place a ladder tight (vertical) against the post and secure it with ratchet straps. I'd then climb to the top and thread my legs through the rungs to have both hands available to do the work. I made very good money doing these repairs while saving the customer a noticeable amount over hiring an electrical contractor with a boom truck.

 

[ponytug]

Only problem is that it takes way longer to build it than to do the actual repair. I used to repair lots of lights on posts 15 to about 18 feet high. I'd place a ladder tight (vertical) against the post and secure it with ratchet straps. I'd then climb to the top and thread my legs through the rungs to have both hands available to do the work. I made very good money doing these repairs while saving the customer a noticeable amount over hiring an electrical contractor with a boom truck.

Ever heard of Fred Dibnah? It sounds like a chip off the old block,

 

[not2old]

Ever heard of Fred Dibnah? It sounds like a chip off the old block,

I couldn't do that one. I remember one job where I had to clean a gutter on a building with three stories above parking. Rented a sixty foot ladder and when I got to the top I had to do the job with one hand as the other one refused to let go.

 

[airbiscuit]

There is no tie off connected to him at 10:08 !

 

[ponytug]

There is no tie off connected to him at 10:08 !

He did a lot of work without being tied, and survived to die of other causes.

The BBC has a video of him disassembling a chimney brick by brick, with a helper on the ground picking the bricks up one by one and tossing them in a truck.

He was an avid mechanical engineer, and later bought a true steam powered steam roller and rebuilt himself.

Very talented individual in many ways.

All the best,

Peter

 

[EddieWalker]

I just skimmed through the video. Why did he build that scaffolding around the top of that tower?

 

[ponytug]

I just skimmed through the video. Why did he build that scaffolding around the top of that tower?

I would only be guessing, but I would bet it is adding some compression to keep the top of the chimney together. Listening to him explain things on other videos, it is my perception that he has very good mechanical and practical insights gained from studying mining and steam engineering around him that took him down different paths to much of the accepted wisdom. I like the ladder video as he talks about why his method works and is safe, and practically how to get the work done as a solo operator.

One of his specialties for chimney removal (definitely a different method to the accepted wisdom) was to "burrow" into a chimney base, putting up wood mine props as he went. When he had about 10% of the base hollowed out, he would light a fire on the outside, and use the chimney to pull a strong draft. The fire burned up the supports, causing the chimney to tip over. He managed to drop the chimneys very accurately, within a few feet of the intended target. The film clips are pretty amazing.

The brick by brick removal for the chimney demolition above was done because there was a factory surrounding the chimney that still had staff working while the chimney was there, and no free space to drop the whole chimney. The pressure on the factory operators was that these were coal chimneys left over from the start of the Industrial Revolution and after 100-150 years the chimneys were losing their mechanical integrity. Watch how easily the bricks come apart in the film clips. There wasn't much more than inertia holding things together. The chimneys he dropped intact tend to fragment to a pile of bricks as they touch the ground. Now imagine being 200-300' on a pile of bricks playing Jinga.

They say that he was happiest repairing the chimneys and keeping them going.

All I know is that I have ways had a respect for heights and perhaps an overdeveloped sense of what a fall from even house roof could do to me. I would never have been safe doing what Fed did- I would have been too scared to think straight, much less work. I can't even imagine doing what @not2old did on a 60' ladder.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Jstpssng]

I can't even imagine doing what @not2old did on a 60' ladder.

Amen! I have never been fond of heights although I used to prune apple trees from a 20 foot ladder. Then one day I was crawling onto a second floor roof from a 1 story attached shed when the ladder kicked out. I used up 8 of my 9 lives that day.

 

[garry1p]

When working alone I use my tractor as a lift and have a platform to work from.
Preposition the cage, use the step ladder or a taller ladder leaned against the cage and step in so I can use 2 hands and feel a lot safer. So far it has worked out but you are limited in how high this will work.

 

[grsthegreat]

Honestly, as i get older, i get smarter. I dont heal as fast as i used to. For high areas that i can’t reach with my 12 foot a frame ladder, or where my 28’ extension ladder wont reach on a wall (never on a pole) i rent a manlift. Cheaper than ambulance and icu

 

[slckeys]

I know this is late to the conversation, but I was under the impression that OL was open load. Not overload. Which tells me there is a break in the wire? But maybe this only applies to continuity?

 

[ponytug]

I know this is late to the conversation, but I was under the impression that OL was open load. Not overload. Which tells me there is a break in the wire? But maybe this only applies to continuity?

At least in my experience, it has depended on the context. I usually see OL = OverLoad, but I've seen it mean open load on occasion.

So, yes, both, and therefore confusing.

All the best,

Peter

 

[grsthegreat]

If testing for voltage or resistance, ol means overload. Or higher than meter settings. If testing for continuity OL refers to open line or open loop…i forget exactly.

 

[slckeys]

Those explanations make complete sense. Thanks. I guess I never saw it except for testing continuity. And grs, I'm thinking open loop, hence no continuity...