difflock

I would chance sommat like; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10w-Solar-Panel-Caravan-Boat-Car-Battery-Trickle-Charger-PV-c-w-4M-cable-clips-m/332061473978?epid=1483556471&hash=item4d5067fcba:g:FzMAAOSwtdVa2Fy3 I guess 10 or 15W should be plenty, should give up to perhaps 1A, which should be enough, but watch out, I read somewhere about the cheaper solar kits allowing the battery to discharge through the panel when insufficient sunlight, though if sold as a solar trickle charger this should not happen. Only rub is, during the winter months, when one needs the battery fully charged, the solar panel will be at its weakest output, so you need to size the panel for your winter sunlight. cheers marcus

With our RHI Scheme no longer open, I have not enquired re the PV set-up. Being disgusted by the incompetant twerps "accredited" to install under a previous grant scheme, and charging inflated prices to balls it up, I was simply going to install a hot water kit myself, & stuff the grants. mth

Daniel, and OSM, I "missed" the fact that the charge controller "doubled up" as a battery guard, or should, if the correct one is sourced. thanks Daniel. And yes, I have grasped the battery need only be big enough to "smooth" the voltage/current input/output. cheers again mth

To freshen thissun up, 1 coat applied yesterday, another today, intuitively I really like/rate this Osmo oil product, and it is easy to apply, or well behaved on the brush. and if it does what it says on the tin, I will be well pleased. Also, per the tin, a 5 year storage life, which prob means I will still be using some of the 4 by 2.5l tins I bought in 10 years time. cheers marcus

OSM thanks for the above, I do not possess any of the needed components at present. (i) I think I looked at a very similar/looked identical visually solar charge controller from "Photonics" on Ebay My understanding of DC motors is limited to "knowing" insufficient voltage will not run them/"stall" them and eventually burn them out? and excess voltage will overspeed them/kill them quicker, but that they cannot "draw" excess Amps, (i.e. can connect direct to a 12V automotive battery that can supply hundreds of Amps to a starter motor, without harm), but quite how lower than max Amps affects them I am not sure? I prefer to source "off-the-shelf" stuff rather than faff about soldering and wiring individual electronic components. And I am minded to simply purchase a new 12V liesure battery, and stick to simple 12V DC circuits which (I imagine) I understand. So, (i)Solar panel(s) bought complete with solar battery charging unit. (ii)12V battery (iii) battery guard (iv) 12V pump simples ? marcus

I fancy installing evacuated tubes for our solar domestic hot water supply, unfortunately despite choosing to fit a 210 litre hot cylinder when I plumbed the house in 1996, I did not have the foresight to pick a hot cylinder with a second indirect coil suitable for solar input, though I understand a "Willis" type solarsypthon will do the same job. Though, when I crunched the numbers in 2016, it was uneconomic, in comparison to the(measured) very small amount of kero we burn over the summer heating the hot water. marcus

OSM, You said; "How about nicking a super capacitor from a pimped up Corsa and having a relay running the pump only when the capacitor is at 12V. This way the motor isn't draining current below its stall speed." Since the battery I intended to use is apparently "goosed", having failed to trickle charge overnight, could you better explain/describe the circuit/components needed for to get the above set-up to work? cheers marcus

OSM Thank you, your advice is genuinely apreciated. I understood the "battery guard" protects the battery from over-discharging, or perhaps more correctly ensures sufficient charge remains in the battery to start the vehicle the battery is mounted in, based on the dropping voltage from supplying ancillary devices, but in so doing it will thereby protect the pump from damagingly low voltage, or so I figger? I understand 12V Lead Acid batteries, but not capacitors, and I got a battery already. I am not concerned about marginal sunlight conditions, since I only need to irrigate during, for us, exceptionally hot/sunny weather, when the panel should be working optimally. btw the pump I linked will pump to a max of 12m head(at zero flow) and 7l/min my needed 7m of head, per the attatched graph(s) ,the one labelled in red ink. Or the pump I order certainly will as per the specification table presented. That site impressed me with the data/facts so clearly laid out. cheers marcus

Thanks McPherson, I got an old 12V tractor battery that should do, to be charged from a panel kit like you linked to. And Then use the car type undervoltage protection kit to safeguard the motor, I can let the pump motor run ad-infinitum, while the sun is shining and the battery is charged, and let the water overflow back down into the "well", perhaps past a waterwheel for aesthetic effect! cheers marcus P.S. How does the solar controller "dump" the excess voltage/current from the panel, after the battery refuses to accept any more charge, simply put it through a resistor and dump as heat? Anyway the 20W Solar panel per McPherson A 12 V battery a "battery Guard" at £18.00 Plus, this pump & see link, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC12V-Speed-Adjustable-Brushless-Water-Pump-Solar-Pump-DC50K-12120A-1260L-H/282909534103?epid=1985627580&hash=item41deb8e797:g:yQcAAOSwTmtawoJn Should work To pump say, at worst 1000l per day = enough

Son(s) should get an ordinary job(s), Re-wild the ground, soak up the grants, and enjoy nature. Perhaps set up as a Charitable Trust? Simples P.S. A local landowner, on a small estate, has set up a charitable trust for their lands/families future, I dont know the ins-and-outs, but he is a shrewd bloke. So there must be an angle. mth

Jesus Fernandaz Salageuro (or sommat like that) a Madrid born Spaniard, stated that the climate in Madrid was; 6 months of Winter, followed by 6 months of Hell. I remember at the time thinking how we all choose to complain about the weather! mth

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Photonic-Universe-controller-battery-caravan/dp/B008BV8CIW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1525532628&sr=8-2&keywords=5a+12v+solar+panel&dpID=512aYDf%2BQRL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch This looks like a likely solar panel, to drive my 4.5 Amp (dry mounted) Shurflo pump ? thanks for the interest and input guys mth

APHH? Sounds like my kinda "engineering", electrical or otherwise, but please explain how the 10p resistor works? I had origionally "picked" a Shruflow 12 V pump, see link; https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/SHURflo-Caravan-Marine-Water-Pump-2095204412/1112679694?iid=171547564513&chn=ps&adgroupid=54682298551&rlsatarget=pla-413984953583&abcId=1133906&adtype=pla&merchantid=101748807&poi=&googleloc=9045175&device=c&campaignid=1058607774&crdt=0 And was looking for suitable solar panels to "drive" the pump directly, i.e. without a battery, because with 600 gall of storage, and only needing water to water the garden when the Sun is shining, I should be able to get enough current/voltage to pump when the Sun is shining, and be able to accept the pump not running during the dull periods. But prob need some "black box" electronics to protect the pump from low voltage, thinking an automotive related "battery guard" device between the solar panels and the pump. a marriage made in heaven, so to speak. cheers marcus

I got a 600 gall water tank situated comfortably above head height, and water about 3.0m below my feet, say a couple of feet deep in a 1.8m dia conc manhole ring. so looking to raise the water say 6.0m powered by Sunlight I had been using a 230V submersible pump, which has died recently. Anyway, Solar is more elegant. marcus

Any EH winch is/should be remote compatible, but better bought(more cost effective) with the remote already fitted. Google is your friend. Though how many of the smaller winches, suited to a 40HP Tractor are likely to be so expensively(radio remote) equipped is doubtful? mth

Yanmar is stitching up Kubota then, as an engine supplier? And, my ears pricked up hearing, in the Multione case, a Yanmar paired with Poclain hydro transmission, nowt better out there imho! cheers mth

But, surely, knots burn better, well leastwise Pine and Spruce knots do.

I presume to attempt to make headway on the vast backlog of illegals. Like eating an elephant, one bite at a time. But, most probably, to allow senior Civil servants to claim "efficiency/performance" bonuses. If the self-set "targets" were met. cynically yours, mth

Wait out . . . P.S. I found a nice image of Hugo-Dog when "finding" the lawnmower image.

In my opinion the Govt. very badly mishandled the whole "Windrush" issue. It was simply a by-product of the much needed review of our failed deportation system. With in-put from the Law of unintended consequences, i.e. the sacking from Government payroll jobs, of those without British papers. Remember all the outcry in the papers when yet another non-contributing toe-rag got to stay in the UK, because of "family" life or somesuch? btw I saw an article very recently where a Judge blasted lawyers for spinning out the deportation process, which in his experience, was done, at the tax payers expense, so as to buy time for the deportee-in-waiting, to get a Brit girl knocked up, so as to claim to be able to stay on "family" life grounds. simples

Now a couple of 3.0m lengths would suit me perfectly, for gateposts, but at £350.00 apiece, perhaps not! Gulp ! ! Guessing piles or dockside waling? beams in a previous life?

Hmmm, Why am I picturing a hinged hydraulic extendable counterweight, of sufficient, but low enough mass so as to be towable, but when extended giving extra lift-at-reach capacity. MTH

One of the last of the single speed models, but at £700.00 incl VAT, brand new & included the mulching kit, I am not complaining. Built like a brick outhouse, and perfect for mulching Blackcurrent stumps and the recently pruned and discarded Raspberry canes in the fruit garden. Being in peat, there is no need to worry about hidden stones. I am most impressed. It also cuts grass btw. mth

As someone above said, it is ALL about the tyres, even a single set of new oversized radials (and split and extend the rims if needs be, to accomodate the extra width), running at 10/12/15 psi will dammned near float. And yes if wishing to use a loader, you def need 4WD, with the larger diameter/width front wheels, to carry the weight over the front axle. marcus

Same every time. imhuo