Category: Community

Solar PV at the allotment

This morning’s little job has been to have a look at getting the solar PV working at the allotment.

For some unknown reason the rectifier burnt out, maybe due to a mechanically cause loosed connection, maybe something else. The fuse blew so hopefully nothing else damaged. The charge controller has been reconnected to the solar panels for now and seems to be showing charging at 12.2v. It is sunny today so I expected a bit more voltage then that. The panels are outputting 45v open circuit. I will leave it running to see what happens.

Repair Cafes

I haven’t blogged for a while.

This has partly been because I have been too busy with other work stuff but mainly because website upkeep doesn’t come naturally to me. However, I will try to blog more now that my Wife, Sue, has taken over the running of the site and has put up a new page of Projects to show what we have been working on.

But today we have been at a repair cafe, one of three that we regularly attend now. This time I repaired a power supply wire for a phone music dock, and a 45 year old transistor radio. I wasn’t able to repair the fancy steam iron as the heating element in the steam pressure tank had failed but the client will contact the manufacturer regarding spares or repair service as a last resort.

Also today I am attempting to write this blog while sitting in a cafe in Chorlton having lunch. I am writing it on a Planet Computers Gemini PDA, the modern replacement for my long dead, and much loved Psion 5 Organiser.

This will explain the lack of photos, formatting, and hyperlinks. I will work all that out another day.

Now, another cuppa tea is needed….