washing machine off solar?

[ChrisOlson]

Have you looked at Exide's GNB Element or KDZ lineup?

Sunking - no. When ever we have bought stuff we always go to the brick and mortar store. We have never bought stuff over the internet like a lot of people do now. There are no dealers around here for the other brands, other than the really cheap ones like Walmart. Our dealer rebuilds locomotive trucks and traction motors, EMD engines and generators, dynamic braking grids, and the head power units for EMD locomotives as well as handling Surrette batteries. They have new "jars" in stock for the 5000-series, and they usually have good used "jars" if you have an older battery that needs one.

I don't know of any other place to go around here that has that kind of service.

So we just have not looked at other types because we have a dealer where we can just walk in with a bad "jar" and walk out with a new one, no questions asked. If it's a warranty they'll take care of it. If it's not they'll give you a good deal on a good used "jar". My experience with trying to get any warranty on batteries from other places over the years, even if the battery has totally failed inside the warranty period, has not been all that great.
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Chris

[Bfayer]

Great batteries especially Concorde Lifeline which is Mil Spec.

Most of the newer AGMs are pretty good. We don't get to pick brand names, we specify performance requirements and whoever wins the contract gets to pick the brand (as long as it meets the requirements). Lifeline has a good rep in the fleet but so do Northstar, Odyssey, and others.

We also don't wait for batteries to die, we generally replace them on a schedule.

Outside the Coast Guard, Rolls are very common in well run civilian vessels. In not so well run vessels you are as likely to find Sears or Kmart car batteries as anything else, often using Vice-grips as battery terminals

Thanks for your service in the Navy.

[Naptown]

And thank you for your service to our country

[ChrisOlson]

In not so well run vessels you are as likely to find Sears or Kmart car batteries as anything else, often using Vice-grips as battery terminals

Back when we were looking for a boat to buy we looked at several that were maintained that way. Usually a boat that was repossessed, or the people that own it couldn't afford it in the first place. So it ends up cobbled. A surveyor will take one look at a boat like that and you won't even get insurance on it without tearing it down to the bare hull and completely refitting it. And chances are, you get it down to the hull and the hull has problems too.
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Chris

[Bfayer]

Back when we were looking for a boat to buy we looked at several that were maintained that way. Usually a boat that was repossessed, or the people that own it couldn't afford it in the first place. So it ends up cobbled. A surveyor will take one look at a boat like that and you won't even get insurance on it without tearing it down to the bare hull and completely refitting it. And chances are, you get it down to the hull and the hull has problems too.
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Chris

It has always amazed me what people will climb on to and sail off into the middle of the ocean (or lake) in without a second thought.

On a side note, from one Great lakes sailor to another, I was part of the team that converted White Shoals Lighthouse in lake Michigan to solar. Each and every one of the batteries was carried by hand to the lantern deck by one person (all 36 of them).

[Naptown]

It has always amazed me what people will climb on to and sail off into the middle of the ocean (or lake) in without a second thought.

On a side note, from one Great lakes sailor to another, I was part of the team that converted White Shoals Lighthouse in lake Michigan to solar. Each and every one of the batteries was carried by hand to the lantern deck by one person (all 36 of them).

Not everyone can afford a true blue water boat. That said there is a distinction between a boat certified to carry paying passengers and one that is not.
This is not to say that sailing an inherently dangerous boat for conditions that could be encountered is prudent.

I have sailed for 30 years.mostly keel boats ranging from 23- 40 feet.
Also a lot of time in dingy's such as lasers and 420's

The key is knowing your and the boat's limitations.

Sailing offshore or for that matter the Great Lakes which can have conditions as bad as offshore does require a boat suited for the purpose.
Not necessarily meeting passenger carrying certification levels.
It is a matter of personal risk and an indiciduals tolerance of risk and potential hazard

[Sunking]

Sunking - no. When ever we have bought stuff we always go to the brick and mortar store. We have never bought stuff over the internet like a lot of people do now. There are no dealers around here for the other brands,

There is my point Chris. You only have experience with one flavor; Vanilla.

[ChrisOlson]

On a side note, from one Great lakes sailor to another, I was part of the team that converted White Shoals Lighthouse in lake Michigan to solar. Each and every one of the batteries was carried by hand to the lantern deck by one person (all 36 of them).

Cool. You can almost see that lighthouse at night without the lamp. My wife calls it the "candy cane".
--
Chris

[ChrisOlson]

Sailing offshore or for that matter the Great Lakes which can have conditions as bad as offshore does require a boat suited for the purpose.

Michigan isn't too bad. Superior can be very unforgiving. If I had my choice as to where we're going to have serious problems that might cause us to have to abandon ship - I will take offshore over Superior every time.
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Chris

[Naptown]

Michigan isn't too bad. Superior can be very unforgiving. If I had my choice as to where we're going to have serious problems that might cause us to have to abandon ship - I will take offshore over Superior every time.
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Chris

Which is why I always go offshore with both the proper safety equipment and an abandon ship bag with water maker
Eprib ( preferably dual band for satellite and rescue plane etc coverage) life raft rated for the application etc

[ChrisOlson]

Which is why I always go offshore with both the proper safety equipment and an abandon ship bag with water maker Eprib ( preferably dual band for satellite and rescue plane etc coverage) life raft rated for the application etc

Yep. Your chances of survival and rescue are much better off-shore than on Lake Superior under conditions that would necessitate abandoning ship. If you go into the water on Superior you will stay conscious for about 30 minutes and you will die within 2 hours. The surface temp of the water rarely gets above 44 degrees, except in the bays.

Offshore you generally have fair warning to changing weather conditions. On Superior you don't. Superior creates a "mini climate" and it can generate violent storms that weren't forecast. There is over 240 shipwrecks off Whitefish Point alone - probably the most famous being the Edmund Fitzgerald. The Fitz, when she was launched in 1958, was the biggest ship on the Great Lakes. She sailed from Port Superior on the afternoon of Nov 9, 1975 loaded with 29,250 tons of iron ore in absolutely beautiful weather. The next afternoon she was caught in an early winter storm. The ship broke in two in 35' seas and went down with all hands shortly after 7:00 PM 15 miles from Whitefish Bay. None of the bodies of the 29 men in the crew were ever recovered.

Even captains of ocean freighters and the US Navy ships that come into the Twin Ports sometimes do not mess with storms on Lake Superior.
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Chris

[Bfayer]

Michigan isn't too bad. Superior can be very unforgiving. If I had my choice as to where we're going to have serious problems that might cause us to have to abandon ship - I will take offshore over Superior every time.
--
Chris

I can agree with that. When I sailed in Cutter Mackinaw (WAGB 83) back in the mid 80s, we got caught in a few fall storms that were serious butt kickers. The only cutter the Coast Guard has lost in the last 30 years was in Superior, although weather didn't cause the misshap, it did turn it in to a total loss. Having said all that, the views of Pictured Rocks or Isle Royale in the fall is something that is not to miss.

Getting back on topic (if it's not too late), why is it the appliances in Europe seem to be so much more energy efficient than what we can get here in the States?

[ChrisOlson]

Getting back on topic (if it's not too late), why is it the appliances in Europe seem to be so much more energy efficient than what we can get here in the States?

My wife is European. After 28 years of living with her it becomes evident there is a totally different mindset that is ingrained since childhood - and the fact that energy is twice as expensive in Europe as it is in North America. It goes so deep, and is so ingrained, that my wife will not even pull the plug and drain dishwater down the drain in the sink. She bails it out and carries it outside and dumps it on the garden.

So Europeans are much faster and more inclined to spend the extra money to adopt energy efficient technology than their North American counterparts. It's all about supply and demand. If there's demand there will be supply.
--
Chris

[ChrisOlson]

I can agree with that. When I sailed in Cutter Mackinaw (WAGB 83) back in the mid 80s, we got caught in a few fall storms that were serious butt kickers. The only cutter the Coast Guard has lost in the last 30 years was in Superior, although weather didn't cause the misshap, it did turn it in to a total loss. Having said all that, the views of Pictured Rocks or Isle Royale in the fall is something that is not to miss.

Yeah, Superior is not for the novice sailor. We've been caught in a few storms and fortunately they weren't severe, but still not fun. When you get tired of tacking waves and they're loading the deck with water faster than the boat can get rid of it you just heave-to and on and off the throttles so you don't pitch pole it. Our boat is a 1965 Chris Craft steel hull, built in Holland, Michigan by boat builders that knew how to build real rough water boats. I would not sail Superior in a glass hull boat. Nothing will handle and ride rough water like a good old steel hull made with 1/4" plate.
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Chris

[SunEagle]

My wife is European. After 28 years of living with her it becomes evident there is a totally different mindset that is ingrained since childhood - and the fact that energy is twice as expensive in Europe as it is in North America. It goes so deep, and is so ingrained, that my wife will not even pull the plug and drain dishwater down the drain in the sink. She bails it out and carries it outside and dumps it on the garden.

So Europeans are much faster and more inclined to spend the extra money to adopt energy efficient technology than their North American counterparts. It's all about supply and demand. If there's demand there will be supply.
--
Chris

I believe most Americans have grown up in a throw a way society. The amount of food and products that gets trashed is criminal and the idea of recycling is just extra work for them.

They are so use to the finer things in life that "roughing it is a foreign thought. They are also the first to cry when the power goes out or when their hand held entertainment device loses connection. So sad.