Putting Lipstick on a Pig - Fixing the camp! (Photo heavy)

[Rednecktek]

So now that I've replaced my laptop and gotten some of my data over, I can finally post some pictures of what I've been doing out here in the woods.



So when I bought this place the electrical system was seriously borked, and I didn't know any better. I knew enough to know that a piece of wet plywood with some BUSS fuses wasn't exactly a "Good Thing" but I was on an extremely tight time and money budget, so I did what I could with limited knowledge and more limited funds. Please remember that this system was re-built 2013, long before I joined the forum, so I plead ignorance! Don't judge me!




I SAID DON'T JUDGE ME!!

(I feel judged...)

So freshly finished with the long ugly divorce, and with a year's savings, I FINALLY got the chance to get back up here and re-vamp the electrical system. I started with the 12v side, the left side to be exact, and re-did all the wiring there. The battery cables are all the same length with proper terminals on 4AWG wire (because I had a LOT of it), a proper fuse block, and a properly sized disconnect. The 30a SCC talks to a pair of used 200w house panels outside to keep the system fed independently of whatever may be going on with the 120v power systems.



Next project was to actually USE that Growatt 3Kw inverter I've had sitting in the shed for the last 3 years, some proper wire, built a pre-charge resistor button, and put my battery box build together. I ran conduit and 8AWG wire to the interlock breaker from the utility power, a dedicated ground wire that's going to a bus bar and some grounding plates I'll be burying (once it dries out a bit!) and this will talk to a 2400w 3s4p array (again, once it dries out a bit!).



I'm currently in the process of clearing the land and dropping the trees for the array to go up. The 4x4's and 2x4's for it are already pre-cut and stacked up in the pump house. Unfortunately you can't brush cut or pull stumps in the mud.

Some more labels and clear nail polish to keep the labels in place and it should be idiot err jock err USER friendly to get turned on if needed.

More pics to follow once I can get to the rest of the array and trenching.

Yes, that's a diesel heater on the right hand side that dumps out at the head of the master bed.

 

[Rednecktek]

Once I get everything finished, I'm going to convert everything to Victron, just to appease the people here.

 

[pollenface]

Awesome little spot you got

 

[featherlite]

Once I get everything finished, I'm going to convert everything to Victron, just to appease the people here.

LOL!!!!

 

[curiouscarbon]

nice build!!

 

[Rednecktek]

In today's adventure, once it stopped ACTIVELY RAINING, I got a chance to re-tackle the shower. Threw up a solar panel, a little 20Ah AGM, and some LED lights along with an on-demand propane heater.




Sadly the drain plug shattered and the hardware store in town closed about 5 minutes after I got everything up and working. So, no shower for me.

Good thing I'm alone up here, or I would be!

 

[Rednecktek]

Quick update, and I don't have pictures copied over yet as my 1 data cable is acting up...

The land is pretty much cleared for the arrays. My neighbor and I are going to be dropping a few more trees and pulling out the ones I dropped the other day before the array gets in the way of the truck.

The foundation for the laundry room shed is all ready to go. I'll have to build a step to get up in there but that's easy enough. I'm just really hoping my math works out and that 500w of panels is enough to recharge the pair of batteries going in there. My napkin math says that the pair of 100Ah 12v batteries in parallel should be jjjuuusssttt enough to run a load of laundry with the lights on and then need a day or two to top up the batteries. The 2Kw inverter will be hard wired into a small breaker box for the outlets and lights. I THINK the Renogy 2Kw 12v inverter I have does the N-G bond, but I'm having a brain fart on how to test that. Either way there will be a ground plate under the shed connecting to the ground bar in the panel, just not quite sure if I need to run a N-G jumper inside there or not. I'll get pictures of that process once I get a new cable. Grrr... First the laptop, now the USB cable... sheesh!

The Aili shunt I built into the battery box showed 2.3a of draw with the inverter on but no loads which is higher than the spec sheet at <50w, and 0.3a draw when the inverter is off.

The shower is working now, I feel almost demi-human again. Really regretting not getting the next size up heater but I'll probably buy another larger one for the shower and re-use the little one for the laundry room.

In other news, BatteryHookup had more of those 24v 280ah packs that David Poz showed us and I have 2 coming in the next few days. I'm thinking I'll make a (much thinner and lighter) box for those, get a 24v heating pad and wire that up to another relay, get another breaker and shunt like my current battery build, and a couple BMS's. Build one box big enough to have both packs sit side-by-side in there and parallel them up to the breaker and shunt and terminals. That box hopefully will be short enough to sit on top of the existing box as when I looked with a measuring tape it'll be at least 2" too wide to sit between the battery box and the FLA bank next to it.

As for BMS's, 8s seems to be a real PITA to find. I'm so sick of this JK that I'm leaning towards a Daly 150a Smart BMS as I can't find a JBD with low temp protection in the 8s 150a range.

OK, pictures in the next day or two. I promise.

 

[Rednecktek]

As promised, a few pictures...



Fire ring;
Built: Spring 2018
First burn: Fall 2023

Fsking burn bans!




Foundation for the laundry room is all ready to go. I'll pick up the kit on Tuesday afternoon. And 19 pieces of foam board insulation, and 22 pieces of 1/4" plywood, 8 sheets of steel roofing and ridge cap, a 24" window, and hopefully a wood slab door and piece of plexi.




Ooohhh I'm a lumberjack and I'm Okay...

If nothing else getting rid of those will protect my roof and make the Starlink happier.

OK, I'm going to go take a hot (well, warmish, 91 is about as good as it gets) shower and get some food in my gut. I'm BEAT!

 

[Danke]

Looks good!

 

[OffGridForGood]

Mighty fine looking 'lipstick' ya got there. LOL
anyone that enjoys the outdoors would love a place like this.

 

[yodamota]

I hear you on the fire bans. While they have their place, It sure is nice to have bon fires again.

 

[rodrick]

Did you come over on i90 to Spokane if so you can see why we had a burn ban in place it made me decide on clear cutting 100 ft around my buildings

 

[cj5orion]

In today's adventure, once it stopped ACTIVELY RAINING, I got a chance to re-tackle the shower. Threw up a solar panel, a little 20Ah AGM, and some LED lights along with an on-demand propane heater.

View attachment 169974 View attachment 169975


Sadly the drain plug shattered and the hardware store in town closed about 5 minutes after I got everything up and working. So, no shower for me.

Good thing I'm alone up here, or I would be!

What's that roof made of ? Plexi
That's really nice for a shower stall !

 

[cj5orion]

Is this "gin joint" gonna be your full time residence?
I'm all caught up in "life" in the suburbs,wish I had a place like that to escape to!
Keep up the "updates" coming in ! And not just about the solar.

 

[Rednecktek]

What's that roof made of ? Plexi
That's really nice for a shower stall !

Yep! When I bought the place the original roof was the corrugated green fiberglass and a metal garbage can on top that had a hole in the bottom. I sent my skinny nephew up there to scope it out and he made it about 1 step before it started collapsing. So a few years ago when I got sick of being 6'5" and trying to use a 6ft tall shower, I re-vamped the outdoor shower with some 1/2" plexi on the roof.



My first attempt to fix this shower was to use the old 120gal fresh water tank, paint it flat black, and stick that up on the roof. That worked "better" if it was summer and you let it sit full all day in the sun. Second attempt was a little camping propane heater I bought locally, a 12v pump, the small solar panel and a battery. As a proof of concept it worked.



I bought a bigger 18l on demand propane heater that worked great... twice. The other day I threw in a different brand 1.4gal heater and it's great for summer but about 91F is all it can do with the cold ground water. It'll be good for the laundry room when my bigger heater shows up.

Is this "gin joint" gonna be your full time residence?
I'm all caught up in "life" in the suburbs,wish I had a place like that to escape to!
Keep up the "updates" coming in ! And not just about the solar.

The last year plus has been really rough. In the divorce when all is said and done she's getting about 82% of everything, but the camp is mine! I'm living on my best friend's charity but the living situation could go away at any second due to no fault of our own, so if SHTF in my life I know I can live out here as long as I can afford propane, diesel, and food.

As for more updates, well we dropped 17 trees Sunday and I've got a brush pile the size of my cabin I need to break down and burn. The laundry room shed kit should be arriving today for me to go pick up. Hopefully later this week I'll have some help doing construction. I've got a brand new nail gun and ammo that should help make quicker work of the shed and the ground mount arrays construction.




For scale, that pile is a little over 7ft tall at its highest point and 40ft wide and there's still a good dozen branches in the new clearing that I need to drag over once I've got space. It's gonna take me the better part of a week to get that all chopped smaller and burned.

 

[A.Justice]

I've been following your posts for quite a while, it's cool to see some pictures. I think you did a great job considering what you have to work with.

People dream of living like that.

 

[OffGridForGood]

As one of many that have "been there" and started all over, all I can say is, leave the past behind you and focus on what you got ahead. You have a great spot there, and tons of ideas and energy - shows a lot of character. We're with ya.

 

[42OhmsPA]

People dream of living like that.

Someday I will make the dream a reality.

Awesome progress and drive @Rednecktek. Keep pushing forward.

 

[cj5orion]

DAMN ? Looking at those pics from your porch and such...man would I like to see that in the morn ! ( well...aft's n eves too)
Hot water tip-I used black 4" abs pipe on the roof,(black n 4" jus the right,weight on rafters,capacity,etc,,,as a hot water "additional source". summer time scalding hot)

Also...lots of "redneck" water heaters out there.simple to build.
Nothing like a good hot shower !
Where ya building all this ? Hard to "find good spots these days" Hows the wild game situation?
Most of us still have to work to earn a few pesos,if you lived there how hard is the "commute"all 4 seasons ?
Your doing fine,one hell of a good start ! I have a few "reservations" bout time n $ just for the laundry room but I'm sure I don't know about all the "who, what's,n where's"
That brush pile has the makings of a damn fine kindling pile !

Keep it strong bro!

More pics,more updates,can't get enough of it!

 

[Rednecktek]

DAMN ? Looking at those pics from your porch and such...man would I like to see that in the morn ! ( well...aft's n eves too)
Hot water tip-I used black 4" abs pipe on the roof,(black n 4" jus the right,weight on rafters,capacity,etc,,,as a hot water "additional source". summer time scalding hot)

Also...lots of "redneck" water heaters out there.simple to build.

Yup, tried that on the first revision. It would work OK in the summer if you gave it all day, but I'm almost never shore side in the summer and any other season I couldn't get enough sun on it to compensate for the freezing weather. Hence the propane heaters.

Nothing like a good hot shower !

I hope to get one of those some day.

Where ya building all this ? Hard to "find good spots these days" Hows the wild game situation?

I'm up in the NE corner of Washington state, right across the river from a little town called Tiger. I bought it a few years back when it was the perfect opportunity that kinda fell in my lap. There were a pair of 20 acre properties up here for sale, one had a log cabin shell with an unfinished interior and a better view of the river, the other was a camper that had been extended but had a well. I bought the well. The 40 acre lot had sat on the market for years with no bites. The owner was PNG on the hill for 15+ years and it showed when I got here. He decided to split the land in half and drop the price and sold both halves within 3 weeks. Opportunity: Listed Monday, Called realtor Tuesday, drove out Thursday night, Put in bid Friday, drove home Sunday, drove back out Thursday night, in title office Friday. My neighbor was actually staying at the same hotel the weekend I came out to pay for it and had just put in his bid.

As for game, I've seen white tail, elk, cougar, bear, and so many friggin turkeys! Sadly I haven't been able to hunt since I started sailing as the hunting and shipping seasons conflict.

Some day though. Hopefully my new hunting rifle will cycle this time but I'm not holding my breath.

Most of us still have to work to earn a few pesos,if you lived there how hard is the "commute"all 4 seasons ?

It's about a 7 hour drive and 2 tanks of gas to the union hall so I'd have to have a job lined up before I head over before I made that drive. Summer is easy enough, but the other 3 seasons.. .well.. sideways is a viable driving direction. ?

Your doing fine,one hell of a good start ! I have a few "reservations" bout time n $ just for the laundry room but I'm sure I don't know about all the "who, what's,n where's"

When you need to do laundry, you NEED to do laundry and the laundromat in town is the only one and has 3 machines. It's also more enclosed storage space, a utility sink, and I'm thinking I may build a full size murphy bed out there too some day. It'll be insulated and have lighting so someone could stay in there if the rest of the rooms are full.

That brush pile has the makings of a damn fine kindling pile !

Spent 3 hours yesterday burning before I got to the point where I needed the chainsaw again and it was just having none of it. More burning today!

Keep it strong bro!

More pics,more updates,can't get enough of it!

Will do!