Solar?

I've been fooling with 12 volt power of late, and seeing how complicated or simple it might be to depend on it. For this, I chose a single task; the powering of my 12 volt cooler. I used a separate 110 amp hour Kirkland (Costco) Deep Cycle battery. The initial take-home message is that I need much more solar collection ability than I have. Combined, my two 40 watt Coleman solar Panels are simply inadequate. I'm not quite getting 5 amps of charge from them, and that's only in ideal conditions. Thankfully, the cooler is quite efficient. The unit draws a maximum of 46 watts, or about 4 amps. Also, it's only cycled on for less than half the time so I'd estimate about 2 amp hours consumption. Assuming one does not want to run their battery much below half-way, we're looking at the single battery easily powering the cooler for a 24 hour period, but not much more. Of course while driving, the battery can charge back up, but if you want to stay put for a few days, you'll need a solution.

 Assuming nice sunshine, my setup can "maybe" put 50 amps back into the battery on a nice long summer day, if I move the panels to better face the sun as the day goes along. So, in reality I can barely keep up.

Knowing this, I think I will conclude that 200 watts of solar panel is a working "minimum".

 With that in mind, I'll probably try and sell my 2 40-watt panels and go with some larger ones. thankfully they are coming down in price. I could add another battery, but that would only be a partial fix. i.e. it would last another day or so, but then I'd still have to recharge everything. Depending on the amount of time you camp without an electric outlet of course, this whole discussion could be a little academic. Nevertheless, it's good to have options. Perhaps I 'll go back to propane refrigeration, but that's another story...

Vanagon: The Personal Mobile Kitchen

"eating out" is one of the big money wasters of our time. While I'm often guilty, I also use my van to help minimize the pain. For example, last week I had to attend a 3-day Training session at a local hotel. I showed up quite early, often the case for me when trying to avoid traffic. I had an hour or so to kill so I made a coffee, and decided to take one more step and have a nice bowl of oatmeal. It was the instant variety, so I only needed to boil some water...

JetBoil Oatmeal

Admittedly, I did go out to a nearby Lebanese joint for lunch, mostly for the friendship and company of colleagues...you can't be a total Hermit after all  :)

Beef Shawarma please

But I digress of course. On day 2, it was back to the van for an interesting concoction I've taken a liking to. Basically, it's Kraft Dinner mixed with Chili. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it. It's good and hearty, if not a little sodium "rich"...

KD Chili

All in all, the Camper Van is a good item to have parked outside the office. It's normally equipped with water, food, cooking capability, refrigeration, extra clothes, and the list goes on...

Swiss Army Knife on Wheels

The swiveling front seats help enhance the dining experience...LOL...

For the Love of Coleman

For many years now, I've taken a shine to old white gas Coleman Stoves and Lanterns. I like the fact that you can tinker with them, and the haunting hissing noise of a Coleman Lamp takes me back to childhood simpler times. Call me nostalgic, or nuts, I don't really care. Accordingly, I'm always keeping my eyes open at yard sales and on Kijiji on the off chance that a good deal will materialize. One that I've long coveted showed up this week, and it's $20 asking price was too good to ignore. It's a model 222a. This was kind of marketed as a "Backpacker" lantern as it's a mini version of the classic lantern. At only 9" tall, it's compact if not cute...

new to me 222a  :)

Like most of these things, it came in its original box, and appeared to have been used maybe once. I pumped it up with the gas that was in it and it fired right up. This particular model was manufactured in 1979 under the "Peak 1" name. Interestingly, I purchased its sister stove back in the late 70's.

my 505b

Of course I had to bring the new lantern in the house and hang it in the kitchen while turning out the lights; not cool according to my son who was at the table trying to complete his homework...oh well.

Hanging on the pot rack. 

With respect to "tinkering", many parts are still available for these units, some directly from Coleman or if not, from other online vendors, ebay etc...

So, I think I'm up to about a dozen lanterns, but more on that later...

Early Birthday Present ?

Sometimes opportunity knocks, and often in my recklessness, I simply answer. Case in point: I've always seen the "need" for a small generator, mostly to use as a way to charge 12 volt batteries in support of a off-grid setup for supplying 110 power to a freezer for example, during a power outage. They have other uses of course, but I'm speaking of a small unit in the 1000 Watt maximum range. For several years now, I've owned an abomination in the likes of a 2-cycle Princess Auto Powerfist generator...

my old one...

This has been ok, but it's quite loud, and the workmanship is a bit sloppy; the threaded fitting in the bottom of the tank leaks for example. A constant pain as all the o-rings and gaskets in the world can't seem to fix it. I've fooled with it so much that I fear it's beyond fixing...just a minor leak that poses no problem when the unit is running, but leave it overnight and you're dealing with the stench of gasoline by the next day.

The ultimate of course is a 1000 watt Honda, but my mind can't fathom paying the $1,000 asking price.

This where the story gets interesting. In July of 2010 (almost 3 years ago), Canadian Tire briefly carried a Champion 1000 watt unit. A bit strange since it seemed to come from nowhere, and disappear just as fast. They listed it for $499. I wanted one but was too cheap to pull the trigger. Here's what there web site depicted back then:

Canadian Tire Web Site July 2010

Go there now of course, and you'll find no sign of it. It's a Honda knockoff, and actually had pretty good reviews. They say good things come to those who wait, so imagine my shock when I walked into the Quinpool Road Canadian Tire just last week...

Regular price still hiding underneath

Whoa...where did that come from? for the life of me I don't know why these would show up 3 years later ? A little web searching...no sign of it on the Champion Web Site although I WAS able to download a PDF of the owner's manual from there. I also read that Honda sued them over this one because of trademark infringement. Anyway, with my birthday coming up this week, I managed to secure the necessary managerial approval  :)

 A nice unit, and bonus, I don't have to use mixed gas. Like my other one, this one has a nice 12 volt outlet as well...my main reason for wanting it, although for my purposes, I can easily just run a battery charger from the 110 outlets...

 Here's a video so you can get an idea of how loud this thing is...not bad actually...So, an early Happy Birthday to me  :)

The labeling on this generator reveals that it's a re-badged Kipor brand unit, the IG1000 to be precise. Here's a photo of the Kipor...

seems identical

Here's what they say about the Kipor:

Quiet, lightweight, and easy to use, the Kipor IG1000 lets you bring an outdoor power source wherever you need it. Kipor Inverter Generators provide cleaner energy to power sensitive electronic equipment while being quieter, maintaining greater fuel efficiency, and releasing less exhaust into the environment. The IG1000 provides up to 4 hours run time at maximum load; requiring less output will extend the run time above 4 hours. The IG1000 is ideal for providing everyday portable power to a wide range small electronic devices and also a wise investment as an emergency power source. Popular uses for the Kipor IG1000 include: running a radio/cd player, electric drill, electric fan, toaster, electric lights, or a small desktop computer with monitor. Includes a free accessory kit that contains a spark plug, an oil bottle, and a 12-volt charge line. All Kipor Generators carry a 2-year non-commercial/1-year commercial use warranty from any Kipor North America service dealer.

Walmart Score

I went to a local Walmart last night and struck a good emergency supplies deal. They were renovating, and had a bunch of shelves full of clearance items that they were trying to pawn off on some unsuspecting goon...then I came in :)

First off, I have some tiny camp stoves that burn alcohol. A good source of alcohol fuel is gas line antifreeze, and one of the best varieties is the HEET brand in the yellow bottle. Normally, they are abour $4 for a 355ml bottle but Walmart had been selling them for $3. In this particular clearance aisle, they were marked down to a buck a bottle !! There were 14 left, and I'll leave it to you to speculate on how many I bought. Needless to say, I won't be buying any more in this lifetime...

These are 12 oz bottles, and my tiny stove requires about one ounce to boil 2 cups of water...

My second find is a little less glamorous...the nicest way I can put it is "poop bags". Reliance markets these double walled toilet bags that have some sort of "bio-gel" inside for taking care of the nastier qualities of human waste. Well I wouldn't normally buy these, and hope not to use them, they could come in handy...

At a regular price of $14.48, I wouldn't look twice, but marked down to a loonie? Well that's a different bag of sh-----aving cream  :)

You can see from the label that these are meant to just insert into a variety of "Loos". I did a bit of searching online, and the most humorous article I could find made me laugh out loud...

So there you have it; an otherwise innocent visit to Walmart increases my supply of emergency supplies.

Lunch-time Retreat

Yesterday it was mostly rainy, drizzly, and just plain dull. Nevertheless, when noon came, I needed to get away from my desk so I retreated to my van and started rummaging for a hot lunch. I found a can of Kirkland Chicken Breast meat and some cheap ramen noodles...Bingo !! Time to fire up a stove. The JetBoil is a bit small so I went with my Brunton Talon, and GSI Soloist Pot...

come on...boil !!

The stove is a tiny if not typical single burner canister stove. The orange canister is actually the one that came with the stove...I'm trying to use it up but it seems to be lasting forever. This is because it only takes 3-4 minutes to get a boil, which uses very little fuel.

With all the cold dampness, I needed some heat. Enter the cheap butane heater from Rona of all places...

only 4000 btu, but nice...

ok how's the chicken and noodle coming?

nice flame...

and we have boil...

m-m-m-m-m...

I'm not a big fan of these noodles, but an added can of chicken changes everything. So, in the span of 30 minutes I got to get away from my desk, play with some gear, and have a nice lunch. Luckily, my van was still stocked from a recent weekend trip, but I've been sneaking out there alot lately and doing this sort of thing, so a restocking exercise is in order. It's always prudent to have some canned items on hand, along with some fresh water, and a means to cook. Only complaint: I kind of burned my tongue, likely from eating too fast.

JetBoil Cheapskate

First of all, I'm cheap in many ways, in particular I don't like paying unfair sums of money for something easily accomplished at far less cost. Case in point; C-O-F-F-E-E. A nice cafe mocha or other gourmet specialty can easily kill 5 bucks. It's not that I've never wasted 5 dollars but I'd rather waste it on MY terms...call me crooked  :)

With 2 teenagers, I'm often sitting in my van waiting for one to come from a practice, or other activity. during such times I retreat to the "kitchen" and fix myself a drink or a snack, or both. While I have no end of stove options, for convenience I often rely on my JetBoil Zip. It will boil water in a couple of minutes, and I usually try to have several varieties of hot chocolate, coffee etc on hand...

My "system" is designed to defeat the need to purchase those $7 butane canisters from places like MEC. Those expensive canisters contain a high-grade butane-propane mix designed for serious outdoor endeavors.  I don't normally need that in the comfort of my van, so I have adapted the JetBoil to accept cheap butane canisters from the local hardware store. These cost about $2.50, or a third of the price. The downsides are that the whole unit is a little unstable, and the straight butane is not quite as hot or efficient. Neither of these are significant problems for me. Here's a couple of picures of the adapter...

These adapters are readily available on Ebay for less than $10, well-made and worth it.

So, in a couple of minutes I can be sipping a nice beverage...

For these episodes, I normally opt for an instant powder concoction such as the Nescafe individual Cappuccino:

The JetBoil is great to have for other uses too. The whole unit stores together quite compactly, and can be carried in a small knapsack or fanny pack, to be used on a hike or walk. It's also good for power outages, and can be used to cook or heat foods other than just water...

Sometimes, I break out the heavy artillery and make real coffee, but that's for another post...