Sister’s Christmas Call, Getting Connected, Factory Cut Insulation and Supper Out.

Our Location today is Quartzsite, Arizona, U.S.A. 

Managing to have a good night’s sleep I stayed in bed until after 7:30 this morning. I had barely opened the window shades and gotten ready for breakfast when Kathy came down to join me. Looking outside you could tell we’d had a cold night by the morning dew that was dripping from the Wind Deflector on the truck. Hard to believe but even in the desert that does happen. 



Center Top the EMS Monitor and below is
the Remote Charge Controller Monitor.

The plan was to get some wiring done in the basement today but since we were feeling cold inside the trailer I thought that I’d check the Online Forecast. According to The Weather Network the temperature outside was a balmy 39 F (4 C) but at least we were warmer than our kids were this morning.  

Yellow Communication Cable. Now the Charge
Controller is talking to the Remote Monitor.

I was just about to try calling my sister Anna that lives in London since she wasn’t there yesterday, when my phone suddenly started ringing. Great minds think alike as she has a few more busy days planned with the Grandchildren and thought she’d call before they arrived. Since she reads our blog regularly she was asking how the Solar Panels worked. I had to explain the mechanics of the system to her. Then she spoke with Kathy for a bit saying “We make a good team. I am the Technologist and Kathy is the Practicalist making certain that I don’t get carried away”. 

Trying to warm up with lunch.

By 10:30 MST the temp had only risen to 43 F (6 C) but if this project is going to get finished I had to get out there. My first job was to empty the curbside of the Basement because the next thing I had to do was remove the rear Basement Wall. Now I had to go back inside to feed the Electrical Fish through the opening above the Kitchen Countertop. Back in the Basement I then attached the two Communication Cables to the Fish. Again inside the trailer the Cables were connected to the appropriate monitors and the Remote Charge Control Monitor was finally mounted. 

Connecting EMS wires.

Kathy hadn’t been idle while I was bouncing back and forth. She’d been busy putting our Christmas Decorations away for another year. Unlike when we weren’t traveling the decorations could remain as late as New Years Day, but now it’s easier to put them away earlier. 

You are looking into the Automatic Switching Device.
Three wires removed from the lower right terminals
are now connected in the EMS. Wires from
 the EMS output were connected to those terminals.

Now that the Communication Cables were connected up top it was time to make them do their job. I finished routing the Communication Cable to the Charge Controller in the basement. Even though it has been functioning for nearly a week now, we had no idea of how well it was working. It took longer to take the cover off and feed the Cable through the Clamp then it did to hook it up.  

The White Cable on left was originally connected in the Automatic
Switching Device and they had a cut in the insulation. The Black Cable
on the right is now connected to the Automatic Switching Device (Above).

I was almost finished when Kathy called me for lunch. We’d both gotten so engrossed in what we were doing that it was nearly 1:00 MST. Kathy combined a nice Spinach Salad with a Macaroni and Cheese to give us a Nutritious and Filling meal. 

Black Box on Bottom left is the EMS.
Gray Box upper right is the Automatic Switching Device.

I headed back outside to close up the Charge Controller then to work on the Electrical Management System (EMS). The other day I had wired it thinking that I would connect it after the Automatic Switching Device. When using a Generator or Invertor you don’t need to run that through the EMS so I had to remove the wire from the Feed Side and connect it to the Output Side. Once the work was finished on the Tailgate now I needed to make the rest of the connections in the basement. Working with a 6 AGW is hard enough but inside a tight Electrical Box it is worse. 

With the wall back in place it doesn't look any different.

After disconnecting the Shore Power, I stared by opening the Automatic Transfer Switch so I could make the connections.  Kathy came to see how I was doing but took one look at all the wires and said that was enough for her before heading back inside. Just as I was connecting the last wire in the EMS I noticed a cut in the wire insulation that had been done at the Factory. A closer look showed two wires next to one another with the same cut in the Insulation. That could have caused an Arcing Short and a possible Fire if it hadn’t been discovered. I had to disconnect those last four wires and cut them shorter so there was no break in the insulation. Luckily most manufactures leave plenty of extra wire.  

Setting Sun reflecting off distant Mountains.

It took nearly two hours to connect the EMS into the Electrical System but it will now protect our Electronics in the trailer. It was nearly 5:30 by the time everything was closed up. I was really feeling chilled when I went inside. We were both too tired to cook so we went to the Main Street Diner in Quartzsite for supper.

All Systems Go.

With all the fresh air that I breathed today it’s hard to see the keys on the computer as I write the blog. Tomorrow is another day and there are still things to get accomplished but who knows what we’ll get done. Thanks for following along and feel free to leave a comment. Be Safe and Enjoy! 

It’s about time.

Krackers 

Joke of the Day 

Classic bumper sticker # 618 

The more you complain the longer God makes you live.