Companion way (continued) and solar power

 As I mentioned in a earlier post I had to consider additional measures to prevent water draining into the cabin. I had a piece of pvc (?)  from an anti wearing mat for furniture. That neither welds nor glues very easy so after some fitting and testing I riveted to the hatch. The hatch now is complete rain resistant.

Solar Power

For the solar power it took a while before I found a flexible panel with the right size. Of course there are lots of small panels available but to have a reasonable output it became a quest for the biggest panel that fits on the companion way garage. And dat was not a standard size. Besides that lots of small panels were equiped with "so handy" usb connectors wich I - obviously - did not like very much because of the poor water resistancy.

The Charger/regulator was another aspect. I found a (very popular) model on the internet which could do the job considering the specs. Thes model apeared to be faulty and I had to replace it. My habit is always not to replace it with the same brand and model as it allready "proved" not to be completely reliable.

Below the faulty one where you can see the problem: output on the regulator 12.8 V and on the panel just a mere 7.8V ???

It now works very fine and charges a AGM battery of around 50AH. I mainly use this for the cabin lights, to charge my cell phone and tablet and for navigation lights.

As you can see in the pictures below the LED navigation lights creates i nice "christmas treee" 😀

The top light was a bit more work and creativity. I decided not to insert a cable into the mast during the build of the mast. I thought that would be possible afterwards as well. (which proved correct)

    

Yes the bulb is a LED too...

In the picture above you also see that I made some changes in the rigging as well. I plan to paint the top of the mast white in the winter.

New phase

Last months I was very busy preparing for two exams both after about a year of training.
First of all I am officially a First Aid Instructor now. Happy to have passed that exam. Not as easy as I expected and a few organizations depended on me getting this certificate.

2nd and ofcourse the most interesting one my first official NIL welding certificate TIG (GTAW) Aluminum. I passed the practical exam and I trust I passed the theoretical as well but I'll have to await the official message.

So... A big black hole (time warp) ending study activities and time for the next phase in building the first Aluminum pocketship.

I cut the top pieces of the paterns and will make some templates in a few days.
I try to order the next set of sheet aluminum before Christmas holidays so that I will be able to do some cutting and welding between "Turkey and Fireworks".

New welding machine

This week my new welding machine came in. And today the argon bottle arrived so I could give it a try.

Yes! This little machine welds like a charm! I ordered a pedal (for current control) as well and this works absolutely great. The torch is not so bulky as @ welding classes and the machine can be set very precisely. I tried approximately 25 cm but this welder already earned my respect.

Assembling the torch was a bit of a hustle. The thread was a bit rough so it cost me a couple of  minutes and a bit of WD40 to get it done.

Now waiting for the aluminum (next week) and do some cuttings.