Another EXCITING episode of...

Anything electric, AC or DC

Another EXCITING episode of...

Postby Ira » Sat Feb 25, 2006 5:25 pm

"As Ira's Electric turns!"

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Gee, are you guys in for a laugh, And for novice builders, a WONDERFUL learning experience!!!

Except that now, I need another beer, gotta throw more chips in the smoker (ribs), make Loader's Cranberry sauce recipe, have yet another beer to keep the first company, and pick up the wife and kid from the movies.

For now, all I can say is--you're gonna laugh your ASS off!

Not AT me, but WITH me, right?

Cause that's what Jack said last week.
Here we go again!
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Postby mikeschn » Sat Feb 25, 2006 5:31 pm

Okay...

I'm waiting... :beerhat:

Mike...
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Postby Loader » Sat Feb 25, 2006 6:08 pm

Can't wait to read the next episode! :beer:

BTW - What cranberry sauce? You mean Outlaw's sauce for meatballs?
Earl & Kerry

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Blue Yonder Build Thread - viewtopic.php?f=50&t=42611

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Postby Sonetpro » Sat Feb 25, 2006 6:27 pm

I'm ready. This time I won't be drinking a coke. It hurts when it comes out the nose. :lol:

:guzzle:
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Postby Ira » Sat Feb 25, 2006 7:37 pm

Ooops:

Yeah, Earl. (I thought it was YOUR meatball sauce recipe.)

Steve, drink beer--it comes out of the nose easier.

Mike, let the games begin:

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Friday 6PM, and I go to WalMart to buy a deep cycle marine battery. Just 40 bucks. I'm happy. (Plus there was this GORGEOUS Filipino girl in that aisle buying washer fluid.)

And as a refresher course, the power supply at my boatyard is total crap, so I have to supply my OWN power. The plan was/is to use this battery with my DC to AC inverter to test everything, and to use the battery in the future.

And here's where the fun starts:

I hook the battery up to my charger to top it off, and the charger is acting real funny. The needle is pinning fully charged, but the green LED ain't coming on.

Okay, oh well, who knows, let's continue:

I hook up my inverter to the battery, all should be good with the world, but it ain't working. The light ain't coming on and it ain't making no noise. So of course, my luck, the inverter took a crap after its service from Hurrricane Wilma. (But read on to learn what REALLY happened here!)

So off I go to KMart at 9:30 PM to buy a new inverter (I didn't see any at Walmart and I couldn't find a Latino to help me). I pay the Pakastani at KMart 50 bucks (they hire Pakistanis, not many Latinos), and home I go.

And the same thing. It doesn't work.

(For those of you here with A.D.D., please note that this is only Friday night's escapades. Today's fun is coming below!)

Well, I'm gonna make a long story short here and I'm NOT embarrassed to admit it:

In the world of 120 AC, black is hot and white is neutral. In the land of 12V DC, black is NEUTRAL and RED is hot. So when I was hooking all of this s*** up, I instinctively hooked black to hot and red to neutral...

Blowing fuses like you blow your nose.

Don't ask me HOW I finally figured this all out, but after buying replacement fuses last night (24-hour WalMart) and returning the new unneeded inverter this mornonh (KMart , because they're NOT 24-hour), I was ready to hunt for bear this morning.

Are you still paying attention here??? You may be sorry!

So Friday night ends, and the peace and joy of my people's Saturday sabbath begins:

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Shlep battery to TD. Shlep inverter. Shlep tool box and a bunch of other crap. Hook inverter to battery. Plug my main power cable from the Td/main panel to inverter. Turn everything on. The green light is on, and the inverter makes its noise like it should (Mazel Tov).

BUT....

The red light in the back is blinking--"Overload/low battery output," or something stupid like that. Makes no sense at all. I plug a drill directly into the inverter, and it works fine. I go back and plug my main feed in again, and that light is blinking, and the panel indicators don't come on.

Now, don't ask me WHY I tried this, what made me think about doing this, but I took an outdoor extension cord I had and plugged it into the inverter. I then plugged my main cable into THAT cord, and everything worked just fine.

Can ANYONE explain this to me? Does it have to do with the gauge of my main feed cord as opposed to this extension cord?

Anyway, fast forward, I wire everything, my power source is working fine, but for the porch lamp switch, off acts as on and on acts as off (Duh, I wired that wrong)--but it's also turning the self-switched interior lamp on and off.

I spoke to a friend of mine today who explained what I was doing wrong, tomorrow's another day, but can you believe that you had to read such a long post here and this sh** still ain't working???
Last edited by Ira on Sat Feb 25, 2006 7:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby mikeschn » Sat Feb 25, 2006 7:43 pm

Ira wrote:
So Friday night ends, and the peace and joy of my people's Saturday sabbath begins:



I thought you didn't do religion... now you come thru with the 4th commandment...

As for your wiring, I knew you would figure it out. And I'm glad it was something as simple as black versus red.

You get an atta boy... The Filipino girl will have to wait! :shocked:

Mike...
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Postby angib » Sat Feb 25, 2006 9:05 pm

Ira wrote:but for the porch lamp switch, off acts as on and on acts as off (Duh, I wired that wrong)

Hey, Ira, you have got to get more confidence - you don't wire things wrong. That's a stylish European touch you added to give that international flavour to your project. Yurpeen light switches work down for on, up for off.

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Postby Joanne » Sat Feb 25, 2006 10:04 pm

mikeschn wrote:
The Filipino girl will have to wait!

Mike...


YMBBTD!

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12 volt and opps

Postby Miriam C. » Sat Feb 25, 2006 10:56 pm

Hi Ira,
In this ADD (read as hyperfocus) world

In the world of 120 AC, black is hot and white is neutral. In the land of 12V DC, black is NEUTRAL and RED is hot. So when I was hooking all of this s*** up, I instinctively hooked black to hot and red to neutral...

I am really glad you did that before me. :rofl: Cause I am real sure I would have.

Thanks for sharing :D
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Postby Boodro » Sun Feb 26, 2006 12:57 am

Ira , Mike gave ya an ATTA BOY ! But be carfull cause 1 AAAWWWSH*T ! wipes out all the ATTA BOYS!! ya know! :lol: :cry: :cry: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Back When

Postby Guy » Sun Feb 26, 2006 1:41 am

Back when I could get charged up, I never stayed in neutral with a red head.
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Postby Ira » Sun Feb 26, 2006 2:55 pm

Mission accomplished today. Total success. I'm a happy man.

Seem my new thread with photos in General, which I'm gonna do right now.

http://tnttt.com/viewto ... highlight=
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Re: Back When

Postby Steve_Cox » Sun Feb 26, 2006 3:41 pm

Guy wrote:Back when I could get charged up, I never stayed in neutral with a red head.


Dear Guy,
I have to agree, I do love those red heads too, as well as brunettes and blonds..... But to keep the thread in context and to remain neutral as well, I must add, I have a preference for AC but have no predjudices where DC is concerned.
:D
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