Joshua States

Josh Diehl wrote:

You could look into a "soft start" device for your HVAC, which will ramp up the current instead of the huge inrush.  Compressors are some of the most notorious inverter-breakers.

Any suggestions or recommendations for what soft-start unit to buy?
Anyone else out there have this issue and solve it with a soft-start module?

Casey Nielsen wrote:I also have an antique blade.  Can an old dull blade be resurrected via peening jig and wet stone work? Or would it need to be sharpened first on a grinder?

I’ve attempted to open and sharpen 2x now but not sharp enough to cut grass. I did 4 passes on the 1st preening jig cap and 2 on the second. Lots of attempts with two grades of wet stones.

Wondering if it needs a grinder to start or just more and more with a wet stone. I’d hate to get a new blade and just run into the same issues if I’m doing it all wrong. lol

All of this depends on what the condition of the blade and its edge is, how effective your peening skills are, how hard the blade edge is, what grades of whetstone you are using, etc.
I found this video on using a peening block to dress a scythe edge: https://youtu.be/fEqAmrc4H3k?si=2zsPqDfMMKhfdB__
Start there and make sure you are doing that process correctly.
In general, for knives and similar tools, I like to get the very edge down to less than .01 inches thick before going to a whetstone. I use industrial belt and disc grinders to achieve this, and a pair of digital calipers to measure it, but most folks don't have that equipment.

The reason you cannot find examples of full plan sets, is because those of us who are able to create those documents typically want to get paid to do so.
I'm sure you can understand that the time, expense, and expertise spent in learning this skill is valuable and a commodity.
I have drawn plans for numerous building projects from small additions or remodels to entire houses. I also spent a significant number of years on the residential plan review team for a major municipality as a plan reviewer and supervisor and hold multiple certifications from the International Code Council in residential inspections and plan review. I charge 2.50 USD per square foot to draw a set of plans for someone. The only plan sheet I do not create is the site plan, unless the homeowner can provide a survey of the property stamped by a registered land surveyor that shows some major monumentation on site so that I can locate the proposed structure(s) accurately.

If you want a set purely for reference purposes, I might be willing to provide a digital copy of one of my approved plans for a fee, but those plans will be clearly watermarked with "Not intended for Construction".
You can send me one of those Purple Moosages on this site to discuss.

For several years my entire garden was in a cage made of chain-link panels wrapped in chicken wire and hardware cloth to keep the desert critters out.



Everything was grown in containers. Some plants got really big in there.
(I'm 5'-8" tall and the peak of the cage was about 9 feet tall)

Jay Angler wrote:

Joshua States wrote:... except for the peas, which all started dying, so I planted more,

Peas generally are a spring, cool weather crop. I'm not surprised they've died back, but a friend also started a second lot, so it's worth a try as it's so easy to save pea seeds and they're good for the soil even if they don't produce a crop.

And wrote:

The arugula is very potent!

Again, in my ecosystem, it's a cool weather crop. The added heat of the greenhouse could account for the potency and so long as you don't mind the spiciness, consider it a feature rather than a bug!

And wrote:

The only real problems I am having is the root vegetables are stunted because the soil is very compacted and the lack of pollinators. Not too many bees and such around here, so I am hand pollinating the squash, melons, and eggplant with a Q-tip.
Next year I will dig up and loosen the soil. Probably add some amendments like coir or peat to keep it fluffier.

Biochar can be a great addition to both loosen soil and to help it hold nutrients. If you have access to scrap wood or a lot of branch clippings, it would be something to consider. Lot's of info on small to larger scale ways to make it over on the biochar forum.

As for the bees - is this a local issue? Do you have native bees? Is it good bee territory? In my ecosystem, bee forage is an issue. The lowly dandelion is critical to supporting pollinators, as are some of the herbs I grow and allow to bloom specifically for them. I would do some research and talk to long term neighbors. If you're in an area where certain toxic gick is used, you may have to work hard to create a haven for pollinators in the hopes they'll stay home and not roam into dangerous territory.

Jay,
Yeah, the peas didn't surprise me much. The arugula is quite tasty.

As for biochar, oh do I have biochar.....



I made a post on this thread about my biochar/charcoal making process. https://permies.com/t/155659/Idea-Making-charcoal-retort-rocket#1336500
I mixed a bunch of it into the beds' lower levels, broken into small chunks. Maybe I will mix some into the topsoil layer for next year.

The pollinator issue is a weird one. I also have noted that while the area here is usually ablaze with wildflowers this time of year, this year the bloom isn't what we normally expect. In fact, it is quite dismal.
Not a lot of honeybees around here, mostly just mason bees and they are few and far between. Lots of wasps though.
I was reading something recently that all the honeybees in North America are European imports. Very few are descended from native stock as they were not really prevalent here.
The forest around here doesn't seem to have any at all.

I thought I would post a small update.
Everything seems to be happy and healthy, except for the peas, which all started dying, so I planted more, and the peppers are not growing vigorously. Everyone around here is having trouble with peppers it seems.
We have been eating fresh salad greens for a few weeks now. The arugula is very potent! We have had a couple of summer squash, zukes, and tomatoes.
The squash is trellising up the cattle panels as expected. The only real problems I am having is the root vegetables are stunted because the soil is very compacted and the lack of pollinators. Not too many bees and such around here, so I am hand pollinating the squash, melons, and eggplant with a Q-tip.
Next year I will dig up and loosen the soil. Probably add some amendments like coir or peat to keep it fluffier.
Anyway, it's a jungle in there.

Cara Cee wrote:I haven't heard about Musk treating his employees badly. I do know Tesla products are made in China and I really dislike that because, as you say, that can involve slave labor, I salute you if you're able to avoid everything made there. I believe any alternative would be made in China. Unfortunately, a USA company, Titan, went out of business. We'd have bought thei product instead.

I will not buy from Amazon or Whole Foods partly because of their terrible labor practices.

I grant Musk is acting a bit erratically these days, but for the revolting and almost unbelievable fraud, grift, and waste he helped expose in the federal government, I am grateful.

Just do a quick search for "Tesla treats employees poorly" and you will find dozens of reports of harassment, discrimination, poor working conditions, safety violations, and racist behavior.

As for the "unbelievable fraud, grift, and waste he helped expose in the federal government," it all amounted to much ado about nothing. That's why DOGE's Wall of Receipts was constantly retracted, revised, and frankly debunked by independent researchers. It ended up being the only grift exposed was his own as he cancelled contracts with his competition and steered more government contracts to his own companies.

Again, a quick search of "DOGE found nothing" will show you how much hype and nonsense the entire ordeal was.

Tesla's and Musk's behavior was a major factor in my decision to avoid buying any of their products.

Update, and it's not good.
When the AC kicked on, the Delta 3 shut down. After asking Q's on the EcoFlow site, apparently the surge from the compressor was too much for the inverter and it basically tripped the internal breaker.
I do not see how this unit could run an entire house of any substantial size. Our place is about 1400 Sq. Ft and the HVAC unit is small. It runs on a 2-pole 220V circuit.
The Delta 3 did run the other loads almost all night long, but in the morning, the charge was depleted, and I discovered the solar panels are also insufficient to recharge the unit in a timely manner.
The array I have will put about 25%-30% charge in a day of sunshine. Relocating the panels to a spot with longer sun exposure would certainly help, but that would require a lot more cabling.
I would also need a larger array, and the Delta 3 has a max input amperage of 20 A. Not much room for growth there. Wiring the panels in parallel would make them more efficient, but it would exceed the 20A max input.
It looks like I will just be using this for emergency backup power until I figure out a solution.

In case you are interested, I got my EcoFlow Delta 3 system installed today.
You can see it here: https://permies.com/t/285422/EcoFlow-Delta-system

We were looking for an affordable way to have some backup electrical power without having to install a big system and settled on the EcoFlow Delta 3 with some portable panels, and a manual transfer switch that would handle 240V and six 20 amp circuits.
I got this set up today and am currently running the following equipment/outlets:
Freezer (also runs the Starlink), three duplex receptacles in the kitchen (includes the refrigerator), the water heater, and the HVAC.

Two 250W bifacial panels out behind the back deck facing east. They are connected in series.



The Delta 3 unit under the back deck charging from the panels. I built a rain cover from an aluminum sheet and attached it to the underside of the deck joists.



The power cable runs into the crawlspace and up through the wall to a 4-prong twist lock outlet. A short cord connects the outlet to the transfer switch.
I checked the outlet to make sure all the voltages were correct.



Connected the panel and put the circuits into generator mode and everything is running normally.



I had pre-charged the Delta 3 from a regular wall outlet earlier. After connecting the panels to it, the phone app said it had about 33 minutes to fully charge and 306W of input power from the panels.



After turning my critical circuits over to the Delta 3, it showed discharging and the wattage output, wattage input, and expected time left at that rate of input/output.



The HVAC isn't running as it's only 76 degrees indoors, so the power usage is going to be higher when that kicks in.
If we can manage this effectively, we should be able to run this system 24/7 and stay off-grid and constant for food storage and necessary power, even when the power fails.