Battery Update

This is just a quick post to update what happened the day after solar charging the truck's battery.  As you'll recall the battery had gone completely dead during my boondock on the BLM's remote Coyote Ridge Long Term Visitor Area (LTVA) near the Imperial Dam.  About 9 am the next morning I climbed into the truck's cab turned the key in the ignition and it started right up with plenty of cranking power!  I guess the lesson about truck batteries with fill caps is....keep them filled!  I know I'll regularly check fluid levels in it from now on.

The Tank parked back at the KOFA Ko-op.

So I drove back to Yuma went shopping at Walmart, came back out and the truck started again so I drove over to the KOFA Ko-op to spend 3 days getting ready for another 14 day boondock up north around Quartzsite, AZ where a giant RV show begins January 18th through the 26th. 

Thanks for reading!

Go Jump Yourself

I did a better job of buying groceries and this boondock session lasted the full 14 days I paid the BLM $40 for.  After a couple of days being out on Coyote Ridge I checked to see if the problematic truck battery would crank the engine.....no.  So I was out in the desert with a dead battery slowly running out of supplies.  As there are tons of neighbors out here it's a little more dire sounding than reality but still presented a hassle.  I could have asked a neighbor for a jump tomorrow when I head back to Yuma but I reasoned that the Tank has a 210 amp hour 12 volt battery powered by it's two solar panels so why not see if all that 12 volt power could be harnessed?  I always carry a set of heavy duty jumpers so the question was if the jumpers would reach from the solar battery to the truck battery.

Connect to the solar battery then out the cab window.....

I learn things about the Tank almost every day.  Today I learned that the screen in the pass through window slides open (I guess to allow passing things to the truck cab) so I passed the jumpers through the open window.

...along the truck side draping over the mirror...

GM puts the truck battery in the passenger side of the engine enclosure, as close to the windshield as they can get it.  While it makes switching out a battery tough it sure helped in this instance by reducing the length the jumpers had  to stretch.....they just made it!

...stretching all the way to the battery....yes!

Prior to hooking the jumpers up I added deionized water to the battery.  It took an additional 8 ounces so I'm hopeful that was the reason the battery wasn't holding a charge.  We'll see, just to check that I'd be able to start with this setup, whether or not the solar power would actually charge the truck battery, I turned the ignition key...

RPM's, Baby!

The truck started immediately!  So I'll always be able to jump start the Tank without anyone else being around which is a good capability to have since not all boondock locations will be as heavily populated as the BLM land around the Imperial Dam in January!

So the plan is to let the solar system charge the truck battery for the rest of today disconnecting as the sun goes down.  Then see if the truck will start itself tomorrow (fingers crossed) which would demonstrate that the truck battery retains a charge.  If not just give it a "solar jump" tomorrow, dump tanks and trash at the BLM office, then go to the Yuma Walmart and have them install a new battery.  While it's great to be have the solar jump option, infinitely better is having a reliable battery (think driving rainstorms).  I'll let you know how things work out.

Thanks for reading!

Boondocking at Coyote Ridge

I'm about three miles southwest of my previous boondocking location, now in California on BLM land in an area posted as Coyote Ridge.

No doubt named after the noisy nocturnal packs.

I've heard coyote packs barking and caterwauling at all times of the night around here though they keep out of sight during the day.  In my last post I bragged about not having neighbors close to me and I must have angered the camping gods because the next day a couple from Washington asked if I minded sharing my perfect boondock spot.  After counting about ten solar panels on the roof of their Class A I deduced that they weren't going to be running a generator 12 hours a day and said "Sure!  You're more than welcome."  Although that might have been a slight exaggeration but they and their two cats keep completely to themselves.

It's unusual to camp so close together out here....but oh well!

I try to get out and hike for at least an hour each day.  Terrain like this makes it very easy to turn an ankle:

Shot by me or the Mars rover?

On one of my hikes I found a nine hole golf course some enterprising folks had set up complete with flag sticks and smoothed out "greens".

A "green".  You can see wild donkey tracks on it if you squint.

I hear wild donkeys every night as they walk past my site on the way to drink at the All American canal.  Someone told me that they are the descendents of prospector's donkeys from the 1870's that ran away or broke free.  The BLM office hands out a flyer that warns that they bite and kick viciously so don't approach them.  They seem to be completely nocturnal like the coyotes so there doesn't seem much chance or running into them.  I'll snap a photo and post it if I do see one.  I feel for my family and readers in the frozen Midwest and won't mention how nice the weather here is...if a bit windy.

Thanks for reading!