Prep of The Day Thread

[enbloc]

This is what 2,000lbs of LiFePO4 batteries looks like. It appears they were all individually load tested on 5/22/2022. They arrived fully discharged (2.5V per cell) which is standard 0% for LiFePO4.

Wow. That must weigh a ton.

 

[xtry51]

Wow. That must weigh a ton.

I'll let you know if we think so after my son and I carry them to the basement tonight

 

[Boarder700]

Cleaning out the freezer to make room for the next batch of chickens. Taking the carcasses from the last batch to can some stock. This is a 15 gallon pot.



Also for some more traditional prepping I set an appointment with a lawyer for estate planning, healthcare proxy, etc. Also setting up a NFA trust that will lead to some more peeps in the future.

 

[Uzi2]

Ordered 2 spare water pumps for my generators and 4 string trimmer carburetors.

The carbs come with 2 air filters, 1 sparkplug, 2 primer bulbs, 2 lengths of fuel line, fuel filter and gaskets. How can anyone not keep a couple of these on hand?

<<<<All for $15.00 and free shipping.

 

[xtry51]

My youngest and I dug the trench for the combiner box run today. If it doesn't rain tomorrow we'll assemble the 2" sch40 run and bury it. Had a good sized rock we had to crib up and out with pry bars. Also did a home depot run and got concrete board for the battery shelving.

 

[xtry51]

All done with this stage.

 

[Knob Creek]

If you like canned Diced Tomatoes this is a deal at a little more than a buck a can.

[Amazon] 12-Pack Muir Glen Organic Diced Tomatoes, 14.5 oz. - $13.13 (was $19.96)

 

[NHCraigT]

Florida supermarket shelves stripped bare ahead of Hurricane Ian

Supermarket shelves across Florida have been stripped bare as panicked locals prepare for the first major hurricane to make landfall in the sunshine state in four years.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[xtry51]

Got my battery shelves setup. (128) 3.2V 260Ah cells setup in groups of 16 for (8) 48V banks and 105kWh of storage.

Once I have all the bus bars on and cables in place, there will be separated with wood panels and lexan access windows. To protect all terminals.

 

[NHCraigT]

View: https://twitter.com/BookerSparticus/status/1576357001025638400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

 

[NHCraigT]

MSN

View: https://twitter.com/LynnsIn/status/1576342889382092801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1576342889382092801%7Ctwgr%5E9049f134a059d269b7d3eefa822f31b846de4b1c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fhurricane-ian-floridians-power-gas-lines-2022-10


View: https://twitter.com/altronanticism/status/1575925360273027072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1575925360273027072%7Ctwgr%5E9049f134a059d269b7d3eefa822f31b846de4b1c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fhurricane-ian-floridians-power-gas-lines-2022-10

 

[xtry51]

It's hard to feel sorry for people who choose to live in hurricane alley and we're warned to evacuate several days in advance.

If you live in FL every year is a roll of the dice. Plan accordingly.

 

[xtry51]

Got the new concrete board panel up for mounting inverters, busbars and fuses. This panel looks like it's attached to the shelves, but it's free standing on its own steel legs and I left a small gap between for airflow. The batteries have Bluetooth BMS so they don't need ready access as I will be able to see the status of each cell from my phone with alerts.

Expecting good weather this weekend to hopefully finish mounting all the panels outside. Then it's on to making cables to connect everything.

I saw the $5 mag post in deal of the day thread and badly wanted to buy another box of 100, but I just bought #4 wire for the AC side of this project and the wallet can't take more daily prepping this week

 

[flippinfleck]

Got the new concrete board panel up for mounting inverters, busbars and fuses. This panel looks like it's attached to the shelves, but it's free standing on its own steel legs and I left a small gap between for airflow. The batteries have Bluetooth BMS so they don't need ready access as I will be able to see the status of each cell from my phone with alerts.

Expecting good weather this weekend to hopefully finish mounting all the panels outside. Then it's on to making cables to connect everything.

I saw the $5 mag post in deal of the day thread and badly wanted to buy another box of 100, but I just bought #4 wire for the AC side of this project and the wallet can't take more daily prepping this week

View attachment 669138

Looks like maybe the first shelf, or maybe first two, of batteries are behind that panel. If so, how do you plan to account for maintenance when required?

Nice project, appreciate you keeping us updated.

 

[Georgiak9]

It's hard to feel sorry for people who choose to live in hurricane alley and we're warned to evacuate several days in advance.

And if you're going to stay, at least have emergency supplies stocked up yourself.

 

[Jason m]

I got a friend who raises qual and she had/has an over abundance of hens she needed to move.
So for a dollar a bird I got 50. I'm processing about one every 4-5 min, got 20 done so far tonight put them in the vac bags and off to the ice box.
Ended up with over 40 eggs from what I recovered inside them and what they laid overnight.

 

[xtry51]

Looks like maybe the first shelf, or maybe first two, of batteries are behind that panel. If so, how do you plan to account for maintenance when required?

Nice project, appreciate you keeping us updated.

I have access from the other side. There is an isle and I will have removable lexan vented windows. The batteries do not have any maintenance required other than if a cell fails, but that shouldn't be for roughly 20 years at the cycle rate/depth I will be using them.

As noted I can monitor the health of each cell via Bluetooth with full cycle history.

 

[BarnBuilder]

Dry canned 10#s of potatoes. Not USDA approved but sometimes history doesn't need the USDA or .GOV

 

[Quite_Exasperated]

You do realize that all that pine in those mounts is going to be junk in a couple of years right? Maybe it's the coloring of the pictures but it doesn't look like it's treated.

I was wondering the same thing, plus how are they anchored? You don’t want to find out your arrays make good sails..and get carried away in a windstorm..

 

[kijangus]

Friday morning had a chat with the wifey if the "balloon goes up" e.g. B2s in the air, boomers leaving their bases and/or Russian embassies burning documents.
Yeah that was a rough but necessary conversation.
Set the expectation that we'd be living entirely in the basement for at least two weeks and had some good realizations about hygiene supplies and the need for more buckets and also trying to figure how much warning we'd have to get the kids from school. Ooof! More to be discussed but that was enough for 6.15am pre-caffeine.

This weekend back to practicalities . . . . I run a FIFO model for food/water on the shelves but every 6 months I go through the overall inventory to double check and realized a few shortages
- mostly canned veggies and paper goods.

However I finally went through our backup meds and realized some serious gaps - kids meds with no coverage. Gotta get that rolling.

 

[safetyfirst2125]

Great idea. Anyone sell one of these?

 

[safetyfirst2125]

Great idea. Anyone sell one of these?

View attachment 671354

To answer my own question….why yes, yes they do.

It’s a nice fall back option for boiling water or cooking without wood, which would attract the zombies. Or just cooking while camping in the case of the portable unit. Or cutting on electrical or gas bills since inflation is out of control.


GDAE10 Portable Solar Cooker, 1800W 1.5m Diameter Camping Outdoor Solar Cooker for Solar Heating, Visual Education or DIY Solar Concentrator 59'' Diameter

https://a.co/d/ipCWS5X

MrMapMax Solar Oven Portable Oven-4.5L Large Capacity Solar Cooker Outdoor Oven Camping Stove with Thermometer For 2-3 People Backpacking Hiking Family Party

https://a.co/d/aVkGoZ6

4Patriots Sun Kettle XL Solar Water Heater - Portable Thermos Flask Boils Water Using The Sun, For Camping, Hunting, Backpacking - Lightweight & Gas & Electricity Free - Extra-Large 33.8oz Capacity

https://a.co/d/14ddqmc

 

[enbloc]

How hard do you have to squeeze them to look like that???

 

[safetyfirst2125]

Video of another one of these solar cookers in action

SolSource Solar Grill In Action

View: https://vimeo.com/124612405


View: https://youtu.be/cmoPFtKPqWk

 

[xtry51]

All solar panels mounted.



One panel in 57deg (winter) position and one at 25deg (summer) position.

 

[Uzi2]

Been busy cutting, splitting and stacking firewood in the woodshed. Weather has been perfect for outside work, sunny, cool and dry.

 

[Duxprep]

Excellent update on food supply issues

View: http://youtu.be/iiSYRKDUcss

 

[xtry51]

Wiring the batteries up today. Didn't get to finish but will in the morning. One more BMS to finish them just the zip ties to neaten it up.

 

[Duxprep]

If anyone is looking to order lifepo rack mount batteries and other heavy items from signature solar they just dropped their shipping to 100 bucks flat rate (freight). until end of October. If You've ordered recently shipping one rack mount battery was like 350 bucks

 

[xtry51]

I really wanted to do their EG4 server rack batteries. But I would have had to settle for less storage than I got doing it myself. I might still buy some later if I expand my capacity.