[Boatanchors] OT Another Harbor Freight Bargain
Ron Trepka
w8ron at sbcglobal.net
Fri Feb 25 12:59:39 EST 2011
NOT SO and I know about CFLs.
Before you cast comments about a concept you might want to sort out the facts.
I was directly involved with the release of a CFL from a well knows US manufacture.
I cooked them , shook them life tested and put them into an EMC/EMI chamber.
Yes , they make noise and so does your switch mode power supply but if it carries a CE certification , you are pretty safe to not interfere with other devices and if they do , it is possible to quiet the system down.
If designed correctly , CFL are a great deal for lighting and power consumption. .... lets see.... the industry has been running florescent lamps for 50 years with good results.
I have been running quality CFLs for the last 20 years and only now have I seen some end of life failures.
You trouble stem from buying a $2 lamp. Good quality CFL will run about $20 each.
I have never needed to purchase any CFLs but I have run a few that came to me and you are ABSOLUTELY correct that the China stuff is complete junk, makes noise and has the life of a fruit fly.
NOT ALL CFLs ARE THE SAME.
---
Ron
--- On Fri, 2/25/11, W4AWM at aol.com <W4AWM at aol.com> wrote:
From: W4AWM at aol.com <W4AWM at aol.com>
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] OT Another Harbor Freight Bargain
To: gordon.beattie at att.net, w8ron at sbcglobal.net, boatanchors at mailman.qth.net
Date: Friday, February 25, 2011, 10:14 AM
CFLs are a total crock! Not only do they cause all kinds of QRM on
nearly all frequencies but the guarantee on them is a total scam. The
manufacturers never expect anyone to save all the sales slips along with dates
of purchase and specific manufacturer in order to get warranty replacement. My
feeling is that Uncle Sam is trying to pull another one on the public while
giving more money to the Chinese economy.
73,
John, W4AWM
In a message dated 2/25/2011 9:35:33 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
gordon.beattie at att.net writes:
Ron,
Interesting observation about the CFLs. I just haven't
used them enough to
have them actually fail!
Thanks &
73,
Gordon Beattie, W2TTT
201.314.6964
-----Original
Message-----
From:
boatanchors-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:boatanchors-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
On Behalf Of Ron Trepka
Sent: Friday, February 25, 2011 1:13 PM
To:
boatanchors at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] OT Another Harbor
Freight Bargain
Comments about the HF solar Panels
The charge
controller works well where it gets off the battery when it has
reached
it's limit.
The little voltage display is real nice and turning it off is a
great idea
too.
The CFLs are junk. They use a instant start
ballast with a rapid start lamp
so it eats the filaments away during start
and life was very short.
It would be hard to beat the $50 each price
for the three solar panels so
it's a bargan at the $159
price.
---
Ron
--- On Fri, 2/25/11, J. Gordon Beattie,
Jr., W2TTT <gordon.beattie at att.net>
wrote:
From: J. Gordon
Beattie, Jr., W2TTT <gordon.beattie at att.net>
Subject: RE:
[Boatanchors] OT Another Harbor Freight Bargain
To: "'Ron Trepka'"
<w8ron at sbcglobal.net>, "'John Flood'"
<kb1fqg at yahoo.com>,
boatanchors at mailman.qth.net,
r-390 at mailman.qth.net, "'Bob Peters'"
<rwpeters at swbell.net>
Date:
Friday, February 25, 2011, 12:08 AM
Ron, John, Bob et al,
I have
two of these kits and they work really well! In a fully sunny
day,
you get the rated output, but there are times when you won't.
This is to be
expected. The charge controller is very good with
several output voltages
less than 12V including a USB charger port.
It has no capability to prevent
the overcharge of your battery bank, so if
you are not going to be keeping a
close eye on the charge level of the
battery bank, you will need to get
another charge controller.
What we do is use two sets in parallel to charge a 155AH deep cycle
12V
battery while in camp. This keeps the battery topped up during a
weekend or
during a week or two at summer camp. At the National Boy
Scout Jamboree
last summer we had to keep a pile of phones, four laptops
and an Amateur
Radio Station going. We did have one day when we had
to be wise about our
power budget, but it all worked out fine by the next
day, and all essential
items received a full charge. We even ran a
few of the included 5W 12V CFL
lamps in our gateway entrance area for
safety and site identification. We
located the two 4x4 ft mounts on
wooden shelving to keep the supplied metal
frames in alignment and placed
them into spots within our gateway where they
could get light and be out of
the way.
We are going to redo the frames using aluminum angle
stock from a local home
center and eliminate the cheap steel originally
provided.
One other improvement that we are working on is to
replace the very light
gauge, high-resistance wiring with some number 12
wire and Anderson
PowerPole connectors. Given our use, I'm not sure
if we are going to
replace the charge controller, but time will
tell.
Thanks & 73,
Gordon Beattie,
W2TTT
201.314.6964
______________________________________________________________
Boatanchors
mailing list
Home:
http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/boatanchors
Help:
http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post:
mailto:Boatanchors at mailman.qth.net
List Administrator: Duane Fischer,
W8DBF
** For Assistance: dfischer at usol.com **
This list
hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list:
http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
______________________________________________________________
Boatanchors
mailing list
Home:
http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/boatanchors
Help:
http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post:
mailto:Boatanchors at mailman.qth.net
List Administrator: Duane Fischer,
W8DBF
** For Assistance: dfischer at usol.com **
This list
hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list:
http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
More information about the Boatanchors
mailing list