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  1. AndyH

    earthships

    The place in Detroit looks like one of the growing list of small greenhouse-type buildings. They're easier to do in many locations that are locked-down by building departments. Hopefully it leads to change. Glad to hear your property is draining better. I lived for a while in Fenton -...
  2. AndyH

    earthships

    FYI - there's an Earthship Academy grad nearby. I don't know the person or what other skills or experience they bring to the table. To be an official regional point of contact and use the words "Earthship" and/or "Biotecture" in their activity, they must graduate from an Earthship Academy...
  3. AndyH

    solar setup for 1200 sq foot cabin?

    The very first thing you must do is an energy audit. You cannot size your power system until you know what you power, for how long, and how often. Here are a couple of overview articles from the off-grid source, Home Power magazine. The PDF includes a worksheet and instructions...
  4. AndyH

    earthships

    Hi George, Yes, it's a very wet spring up there. Feel free to send some water this way - we just went to stage 3 water restrictions earlier than any year in history. I think your spring observations will be very useful as time goes on. It sounds like you'll need to at least provide...
  5. AndyH

    earthships

    I whole heartedly agree with your position and decisions, prius. No worries at all. I'm in a similar position in that I'm long past thinking that modern society has a real clue. ;) I want to get back to something resembling a normal life, want to permaculture the hell out of a piece of land...
  6. AndyH

    earthships

    Depends on the person and the house. PassivHaus practitioners in central Alaska have found that building to the PassivHaus/Passive House spec reduces energy demand by 85-90%. Most of the building's heat can be supplied by cooking, humans, and hot water use (heating the house when one takes a...
  7. AndyH

    earthships

    I do understand - I've been where you appear to be. It all looks hard - looks strange. Cob? Stucco? Natural plasters? Tires? WTF?! That's why I'm trying to at least clear up the obvious misconceptions -- because now I know it's all much easier than working with 2x4s or pulling romex or...
  8. AndyH

    earthships

    Yes - the tires and other products are selected because they are universal waste products of modern civilization - they're raw materials that are easier and less expensive to find almost anywhere on the planet than wood. Mike Reynolds makes that very clear in his writing and lectures. While...
  9. AndyH

    earthships

    George - the frost line and conventional footing process assumes that the ground surrounding the foundation is exposed to ambient conditions and will freeze. This doesn't apply to an Earthship. This isn't an underground house. Assuming a Global Model - the back/East/West walls do not require...
  10. AndyH

    earthships

    I feel your pain - I'm originally from Michigan - Flint area and way up north in the Keewenaw. Gotta love lake effect snow. ;) Not sure how old you are, but this year's polar vortex anomaly was a taste of what was normal weather in the 1970s. ;) As I said - these buildings work in that...
  11. AndyH

    earthships

    Ah - two more items. Roof angle/solar penetration in winter. The building angles work. Here's an early-morning photo from the place I rented in Taos: Greywater and food: There are no ugly metals or chemicals in Earthship grey water. The greywater system collects and treats water from the...
  12. AndyH

    earthships

    Great topic! Very happy to see Earthships getting some much deserved attention! Some random quick comments based on the first read-thru... - Tires/outgassing/degrading - Not an issue. This has been studied in the 'University of Anecdotes' - like the woman that's so sensitive to rubber and...
  13. AndyH

    Fastest Electric Batteries/Car in the USA!

    Congrats on the record! While we're including other EVs, don't forget White Zombie and her 10.248 / 123.79 in late 2010 with a Kokam pack. ;) http://www.nedra.com/pg_white_zombie.html edit...x88x got to the Zombie first - thanks!
  14. AndyH

    PSI/BMI Lego Blocks and Bus Bars

    Gack - I'm not dead yet! Sorry Oatnet - looks like my site's been attacked again. I'll fix the redirect. :( Part of the 'fun' of using shared hosting - someone gets into one site and can 'play' with everyone else's. I'm out of 45mm connecting brass straps (I have a small emergency...
  15. AndyH

    "Zephyr" - Finally, the "v4" Fechter/Goodrum/Hecker BMS...

    Oww! That hurts! :D In my defense, I didn't have instructions. ;) (Pretty shaky, no? So much for assuming...) Crap. Just reversed the caps on my 21 channel V4.3.6 board. 19 good, 1 slightly swollen, one leaking like, well, a popped cap. Thanks for the catch, guys.
  16. AndyH

    Bottom balancing?

    The points that immediately jump out at me so far is that 'many' people are not anti-BMS, and those that are seem to be either refugees from the $12 'planned obsolescence' devices or are still hanging on to the persuasive pitch from a battery beginner. The 'theory of bottom balancing' was...
  17. AndyH

    "Zephyr" - Finally, the "v4" Fechter/Goodrum/Hecker BMS...

    You can try one FET initially - especially if you ordered the FDP036N10A. I've used a single 4110s for 77V (21S LiFePO4) at 13A and it hit about 140°F. Two 4110s get up to about 135-140°F at 77V 16A. Warm enough to notice but not a problem either way. The current sense resistor will get...
  18. AndyH

    20 Thundersky batteries - what charge voltage?

    The Thunder Sky charger I have for my 21S pack is set for 3.62V per cell (76V). The ElCon I use on the same 21S pack is set for 77V. If you plan to use Gary and RIchard's BMS for the pack, have the charger set to 3.6V per cell (72V). Andy
  19. AndyH

    "Zephyr" - Finally, the "v4" Fechter/Goodrum/Hecker BMS...

    I've done the mod on a 4.3.6 and a 4.4 board and it works perfectly on both. As the brains have already outlined it's not really about the components. My 21S V4.4 board with the mod is cooking away balancing my bike battery tonight - it's been HVCing itself for the past six hours and it's...
  20. AndyH

    "Zephyr" - Finally, the "v4" Fechter/Goodrum/Hecker BMS...

    You'd walk funny, need extra glasses, and need to stock up on motrin. :D I'm only allowed to solder and break things - you wouldn't want me designing circuits. :lol: I have replaced all the caps (a few times over) but haven't gone outside my current stock/batch/lots. Time for another Mouser...
  21. AndyH

    A123 20AH cells source?

    Strictly from the picture, we really don't know much. AC Ri will be different than DC Ri. We don't know for sure that the milliohmmeter is in calibration, and we don't really know if the meter display is from the cell in the picture - I have different sets of leads for my 4328 as well. Ri...
  22. AndyH

    "Zephyr" - Finally, the "v4" Fechter/Goodrum/Hecker BMS...

    Gary's build confirms the V4.4 circuit board - nice job! I still haven't solved my controller problem but have built up some good troubleshooting data. It's looking like my "first article curse" strikes again. :evil: I'm thinking we can turn-off the seatbelt sign and feel free to move...
  23. AndyH

    "Zephyr" - Finally, the "v4" Fechter/Goodrum/Hecker BMS...

    Everyone hold on ordering parts. My V4.4 controller isn't quite right - something happened from the pre-production V4.3.5 to the final V4.4 board. We're backtracking now to figure out why the auto shut-off isn't behaving itself.
  24. AndyH

    BOM for tppacks charge controller 4.2.6

    http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21768&start=0#p317512
  25. AndyH

    A123 20AH cells source?

    Buy a couple and check them out, Miro. ;)
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