by Tim Fulton on December 16, 2009
Well folks, the first blades of grass have been cut with the mower in its hopefully final form. This was done over Thanksgiving weekend and it was fairly cool out (40F / 4C) for mowing. But, seeing as how my grass hadn’t been cut in over a month, I took the opportunity.
The mower worked great. It cut great, and overall operated very well. It had plenty of power and never bogged down (which just means slowed down in the electric world). It was pretty quiet too. The loudest thing on the mower is the mowing deck which sounds like a big fan. When the deck isn’t spinning, the next loudest thing you hear is the gearbox whining. All in all, it was a blast to use.
However, there are definitely issues to iron out yet. First off, the pulleys are still oversized so 1st gear mowing is still very slow, and 2nd gear mowing is still very fast. This is probably the biggest problem. The fast spinning mowing blades also suck a lot of amps out of the batteries. So, downsizing the pulleys to get rpms back in line will be an important next step. The other thing I found out was my drive belt was slipping. This was likely causing excess energy loss from the setup. So, I either need to adjust the clutch or get a new belt.
The other things that need to be done yet are smaller things. For instance, this voltmeter was pulled out of a 36V forklift that the local EV club salvaged one weekend. This will eventually be my battery full/empty gauge. Right now, I am just using a digital voltmeter strapped to the mower. It works, but the gauge is a much more elegant solution.
EcoRider Build History
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by Tim Fulton on December 11, 2009
It has been a while since the last update on the EcoRider. The progress lately hasn’t been all that fast. However, headway is being made. I’m actually a bit behind with the blog updates on it. Head over to the build thread if you want to get completely caught up.
Recently, I purchased three new batteries for the mower. They are group 31 12V deep cycle 150Ah lead acid batteries from Remy Battery, a local battery supplier. Unfortunately, my specific batteries aren’t listed on the site. They are identical in size to the gel batteries I had borrowed before.
After much thought, I decided that the best arrangement for the batteries was to have two of them in back to get weight over the rear wheels, and one up in front of the motor. So, I started making the rear rack. It is fairly simple and bolts right to existing holes in the frame. I didn’t want to weld directly to the frame. Bolting allows me to much more easily modify the racks if need be. I also designed the rear rack to retain use of the hitch which I do have a trailer for.
Next up was the front rack. This too was bolted down to the mower frame for ease of removal. I also had to jack it up to clear the PTO pushrod. It looks pretty close to the motor, but I left about a 1/4″ gap.
All in all, I’m very happy with the racks. The batteries fit great in them, they are very solid, and they are fairly easy to install and remove should any modification be necessary. The rear rack is great because it leaves the batteries exposed for easy access to check the water level. It also makes it very easy to charge them since, I’m just using a 12v charger and charging the batteries individually right now. The cover and grill will be going back on the mower and will cover up the front battery once I get the rest of the details ironed out and the mower working.
by Tim Fulton on November 6, 2009
With the winter season fast approaching for many of us, thoughts come to mind of things we can quickly and inexpensively do to save some energy (and cash) this winter. One of those ways is installing a programmable thermostat.
A programmable thermostat really is a great thing. Why, you ask? Because, it takes care of us and increases the comfort of your house. Why wake up to a cold house when you could have it heat up a short time before you get up? Its just one less thing you have to remember to do every morning and night.
But, thats not all, a programmable thermostat also helps save energy. It sets your house temperature based on a schedule you setup. It never forgets to turn the heat down (or up). Can you say that for yourself? I certainly can’t.
So, today we are looking at how to retrofit an older mechanical thermostat to a nice new programmable thermostat that we got from Trane. The XL800 thermostat will be replacing an old Honeywell manual thermostat. The whole process is very simple and pretty much anyone can do it.
The first step is to go turn off the furnace, boiler, heat pump, or whatever device heats or cools your home.
Next, we remove the old thermostat. For this specific thermostat, you first pull the outer bezel straight off. Then, unscrew the few screws holding it to the backing plate.
With the thermostat removed, unscrew the backing plate from the wall. Carefully pull the wires out a bit so you have room to work. Then, unscrew the wires from the backing plate. Be very careful not to let the wires fall back into the wall. If this happens, you have a lot more work on your hands.
Now, refer to the instructions on how to wire the new thermostat backing plate. Of course, the boiler I was working on is so old, the wiring for it isn’t included in the manual. However, a little bit of googling fixed that problem fairly quickly. With the new backing plate wired, you can mount it to the wall. Also, it is a good idea to pack the hole in the wall that the wires come through with something that will block air. Cold air could possibly come through the hole and throw off the thermostat’s temperature readings.
Thats really all there is too the physical installation. This installation would have taken less than 30 minutes had I not had to figure out the ancient wiring. You’d think two wires would be easy to figure out…
You of course have to program the thermostat now. I would just like to take a second to dispel the ever popular myth that ‘it takes more energy to reheat a cold house than to leave it warm’ is completely false and ridiculous. Physics laws specifically tell us that the greater the difference in temperature between the inside and outside, the greater the heat loss (or gain in summer). You keep the house warmer and it is going to loose more heat, period.
Once the thermostat is programmed, you can push it against the backing plate and it will snap into place and begin its scheduled programming.
Update: See the results of the thermostat install here.
by Tim Fulton on October 19, 2009
The holes have been bored, and the trenches have been dug. Now, it is time to put the tubing into the ground to build the loop field. This means connecting up all the loops that have been put down into the bore holes and running them back to the house.
This is the layout AC Hacker planned initially. The unused green circles allow for expansion should it ever be needed. The current layout also allows him to split the loop into two parallel circuits if need be.
A little more work needed to be done before the connections between the bore loops could be made. First off, the trencher did its job, but a lot of dirt fell back into the trenches. A bit of shop vac work seemed to do the trick just right to clean the loose dirt out of the trenches.
AC Hakcer also had to take some time to dig out the areas between the trenches and bore holes. He says that it is worth the time trying to get the trenches dug as close as possible to the bore holes since it is a lot of manual work to try and dig it out without the trencher.
With the trenches cleaned out it is time to do some more welding. This is how AC Hacker did most of it. The fixture he made was attached to a cinder block that was laid at the bottom of the trench to stabilize things. After each weld, he would wait a few minutes for it to cool and then pressure test it to make sure there were no leaks.
Here are a cople examples of the welds made. They both ended up holding up to the pressure test, so the welding continued.
One thing AC Hacker added to the tubing that connected the bore holes was insulation. The purpose of the insulation is to lessen the temperature variation of the soil around the tubes that are closer to the surface. As you get deeper, the temperature remains much more constant. In winter, the water will heat up in the tubing that is far down in the bore hole, but as it comes back up to the surface the tubing will be colder. The insulation will prevent some of these kinds of losses.
With the welding all taken care of, the trenches were filled back in, and the loop field was completed!
For more details about the tools and project check out AC Hacker’s forum thread that tracks all of his progress.
by Tim Fulton on October 9, 2009
As I mentioned in the pressure test results, the basement was especially bad. There was tons of air leaking under my basement door as I did the test. So bad, in fact, that I decided to dedicate a separate article for it.
As you see the pictures, keep in mind that the basement is not insulated. So, any cold air that can get in to the basement, and then into the first or second floor is not a good thing. Add to the fact that the basement ceiling isn’t all insulated either, and the problem just gets worse.
This is one of the first sights you see as you come down the stairs. The other two windows in the basement are in roughly the same shape. They could really use some attention.
Next, at the bottom of the stairs, you see this against the wall. It looks like some insulation was stuffed into the gap there. However, sealing against the sill plate in the basement is a huge deal according to many articles. I can guarantee this has not been done on my house.
This is another typical sight, electrical connections just being run through gaping holes. The one actually is right behind the basement door and leads up to the second floor.
Around the electrical box we actually do have insulation in the ceiling, but still gaping holes all around the field stone walls.
Here we can see plumbing going up through the basement ceiling into a wet wall. The gap next to the 2×4 runs the length of half the basement allowing air circulation up through the walls of the house.
Again, we have problems with plumbing being run to the first floor. This time its a huge hole that needs to be filled in.
Lastly, we are looking at the joists running out over the field stone basement walls. I’ll have to find a way to seal this up to prevent air infiltration too.
So, the basement really needs a lot of work. I’ll have to work on every thing mentioned here and more as I go along. I imagine that I am loosing quite a bit of heat to it in the winter. Along with those big losses, I’ll see large gains in taking care of the problems.
