Okay, let’s get caught up with some stuff. Like…
Solar Update
The new solar panels are doing better than they have any right to, really. At least when the sun is shining, which hasn’t been often, alas. We’ve had lots and lots of clouds ever since the guys put them up back at the end of April. In case you missed the details, I now have 10, 420W bifacial panels up on the roof of the garage to replace the 2KW of cheap, 220W “Amazon Special” junkers that were leaning up against the back side of the garage.
These suckers start producing significant amounts of power as early as 8 AM if the sun is out. And even if it’s cloudy I’ve seen them producing as much as 1KW of power. If the weather would cooperate we’d be able to take the house almost completely 0ff-grid indefinitely, running off the battery bank at night and producing more than enough solar power in full sun to recharge the batteries and run the house.
This is a good thing because We Energies, our utility, has gotten totally out of control. We’ve had 6 rate increases since 2020, and there’s no end in sight. I just got notification in the mail today that now we’re looking at a 16% rate increase over the next two years. And I suspect this is just the tip of the iceberg. Microsoft, Meta, Oracle and several other companies are building mega sized data centers here in Wisconsin and our current electrical infrastructure simply cannot handle the new loads. Not even close. The company is buiding two entirely new generating facilities just to handle the increased load, and even with that they aren’t going to have enough capacity and are going to have to buy power from other utilities to try to make up the difference. It’s going to require also a massive expenditure for upgrading the transmission lines, new sub stations, etc. The company claims that the data centers are going to be paying for that but us consumers don’t believe that for a minute. We’ve been misled and lied to far too often to believe anything these utility companies tell us any more.
Laser Update:
I have an upgrade for the Lumos laser from Wecreat on order.
If you’re interested in my original “kinda review” of the Lumos you can find it here.
They just came out with a drop in replacement laser head for this thing that upgrades the diode laser to 15W and replaces the 3w infrared laser with a 20W fiber laser that’s capable of doing 3D embossing of metal. It’s ridiculously simple to replace the head. Just remove a single bolt and the whole laser head lifts right out of the base. Drop the new one in and bolt it down, then download a new version of their software and it’s good to go.
Or so “Pamela” at Wecreat tells me. It turns my standard Lumos into a Lumos Flex for less than half the cost of what buying the new Flex would cost me. It’s going to be probably 3 weeks before it gets here. It is, they tell me, being made right now. Once it gets here and I’ve had a chance to try it out I’ll let you know how it goes.
Cats and Laundry
Ooo! Warm laundry right out of the clothes dryer!
Weather
The weather here in NE Wisconsin has been exceedingly irritating. It’s the second week in May and we’re still getting temperatures down in the mid-20s at night. The other morning I got up and the grass was solid white with frost. I’m surprised that anything at all is growing out there.
The little greenhouse we have set up in the basement where we start our seeds is overflowing with plants, but we don’t dare put anything outside yet because if we do there’s a good chance a frost will hit and we’ll lose all of them.
We’ve gotten some rhubarb. That’s at least been doing pretty well. And the chives, of course. But chives are like weeds once they get established. I don’t know what variety we have out there but it is incredibly hardy. We’ve had them thriving out there in a corner that faces the SW and we’ve had fresh chives coming up while there’s still snow on the ground.
Stuff
I’m still making those silly coasters when the mood strikes me. Making these things is almost addictive.
When I first started this a few years ago I tried to make them all related to brewing, pubs, taverns, beer, etc. But that got old fast. Mostly because there really aren’t that many beer/drinking/brewing related jokes out there that will fit on a space as small as a coaster. And a lot of the ones that are floating around aren’t really all that funny, IMO.
So I started to slip in more snark and sarcasm and just plain silliness and no one seems to have minded so I’ve continued down that path, slipping in a more brewing appropriate joke as I’ve thought one up or found one I could steal.
And then there’s this over there on the right. I had no idea that Zippo lighters were even still a thing, but apparently they are quite popular and allegedly “collectable” with certain persons.
Not hard to do. With the IR laser in the Lumos it takes about 15 minutes per side, half an hour or so per lighter, to do the engraving. It does a pretty good job of doing a nice, relatively deep engraving that isn’t going to wear off rubbing against someone’s car keys in a pocket or whatever.
I was surprised at the cost of these things, about $18 each. I don’t think they’re worth it, personally. I suppose what you’re actually paying for is the brand name, not really the product itself.
Custom engraved lighters pop up on places like Etsy. A genuine Zippo, engraved, runs anywhere from $35 to as much as $70.
One thing I might try is something like this over there on the left.
Yes, that is actual real color on a piece of stainless steel. That is not inked or painted or stained or anything like that. The Lumos can indeed do color engraving of stainless steel using just the laser alone. Something to do with frequencies and diffraction patterns or something? Maybe?
I’ve only experimented with this a few times because it is a pain in the neck to get everything set up right. And the type of steel seems to have a great deal to do with how well it works. I’ve gotten decent results using these stainless steel cards. But I tried doing the same thing on these bare metal “Altoids” candy boxes I get cheap off Amazon and make into holiday/birthday gift card boxes, and the results have not been encouraging there.
What it boils down to is that to do color on one of these lighters would require experimenting and burning test patterns into one or more actual lighters to figure out what settings I’d need to get the colors I want. I’m reluctant to burn through two or three or more $18 lighters just to experiment.
grouchyfarmer 
Hmm, I see Word Press has fecked up the formatting yet again with some of those photos up there. Sigh. Sorry about that.
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Sounds like the solar thing is going well….great photo of the cat….I wish I had the umph for a hobby like the laser thing but my mind is too busy of stuff…..I have been going the same chives plant for 10 years with very little attention and sage is hardy my plant is 4 years old and snowed under with little rain and growing strong….I have a custom Zippo that belonged to my grandfather it is priceless to me. Have a good week my friend. chuq
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The new panels have been doing very well. I’m quite pleased with them.
The laser… It gets to be pretty expensive for just a hobby if you really start to get into it. That kind of thing is really more for the hard core crafter or person who’s running some kind of production business out of their home. It’s like a 3D printer. Once the novelty wears off you start to find that to get the most out of it is going to take a lot of time and money.
The Zippo – you’re right, they’re more a sentimental kind of thing these days now that so few people smoke. Even the brewery isn’t sure what they’re going to do with the 4 they wanted me to make. Not sure if they’re going to try to sell them as merchandize or give them away for some kind of promotional event.
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When I still smoked cigarettes, Zippo was my lighter of choice. I collected quite a few (around 10) and still have them in a box somewhere. They always light, and never let you down. For that alone, I think they are worth the money. (They are more expensive here, starting at the equivalent of $39 for a new, genuine one made by Zippo. Lots of cheaper fakes/copies are also available)
Good news about your solar. The weather here is also unimpressive. Rain and just 47F here this morning.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Just about everyone had one back in the early 1970s when I was in college. I vaguely remember having one myself and I seem to remember that I hated the thing. It reeked of lighter fluid almost constantly, when I wanted to use it, it was either out of fuel or the flint needed to be replaced. Or both. Of course it’s possible I just had a bad one. I had no money back then so for all I know I had one that was a fake that I picked up because it was cheap.
It’s curious how things go in and out of fashion. Now that tobacco smokers are on the wane, there seems to be a resurgence in the sale of lighters for some reason and from what I’ve been seeing Zippos are now collectables. People are odd.
Speaking of odd, sort of related to smoking, there was an article in the Guardian that there is apparently such a thing as a “vape sommelier” for heaven’s sake. What the hell is going on with vaping? Who in their right mind thinks it’s just fine to fill your lungs with an unknown, largely unregulated collection of chemicals, many of them toxic and known to damage lungs, some of which are outright addicting? And to make matters worse, here in the US the FDA just legalized fruit flavored vapes which pretty much ensures that this abomination is going to addict thousands, if not millions of children.
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I have used a vaping device since I gave up cigarettes. There are literally hundreds of flavours, many replicating sweets. (Candy) I only source my fluids from a British company that has certified products. The government is bringing in laws to soon restrict vape fluids to just 3 flavours. Two years ago they banned single-use disposable vapes, and introduced plans to tax vape fluids at a rate of around the same as they currently cost to buy, effectively doubling the price of a 10ml bottle. But of course illegal importers are still bringing in disposable vapes, and selling them via online social media platforms. Cigarettes are being taxed out of existence for most people here now, as one pack of 20 cigarettes costs £15 for the very cheapest brand. ($20.22) That has led to an increase in smuggling cheap cigarettes from Europe, which are sold ‘under the counter’ in mini-marts, barber shops, and some vape shops.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I have a very harsh opinion of both tobacco products and vaping. Tobacco has absolutely no useful purpose at all. Consuming it in any form does nothing except cause serious illness and premature death while users get nothing of any value from its consumption. That governments continue to permit the legal sale of a product that has no useful purpose except killing the user and enriching the companies that make it, is nothing less than scandalous and the politicians who permit this to continue unabated should be booted out of office.
In a way vaping is even worse because they’re marketing it as a “safe” alternative to smoking when it is anything but that. It is just as addicting, perhaps even more so, than regular tobacco consumption. Even worse the flavors that they’re selling, at least here in the US, are targeted specifically at teenagers and even children. I used to work at the local school district until I retired and I still have friends who work there and they’re finding kids as young as 9 or 10 vaping in the restrooms between classes. And all so a group of unscrupulous bastards who care more about making as much money as possible can addict young people to what will probably be a life-long addiction.
The current administration has made a Big Deal out of this “MAHA” concept, Make America Healthy Again. But then it comes along and now is going to permit the sale of what we know for fact are harmful chemicals in the form of candy flavored vapes which are deliberately targeted at children? If this congress had any ethical values at all, if it had any courage at all, it would be putting through legislation right now to ban both tobacco and vaping completely and demanding the firing of anyone at the FDA who was involved in the decision to let this happen.
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Good stuff. Our electric rates went up here too, Like 30%. Fuckers.
The ole Zippo. While I gave up that nasty tobacco habit some time ago, I will never forget the pocket burn, from carrying a topped off Zippo in my front pocket. By the time you realize what’s going on, it’s too late! That is one long lasting, miserable, burn. Lighter fluid, good for lighters, bad for legs…
I can so relate to the coaster you posted. WTH is wrong with people?
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It’s rather ironic that the day after We Energies announced yet another rate increase we were able to more or less pull the plug. We can’t go completely off-grid because if we get extended periods of cloudy weather there will be times we’ll need to go back on the grid. And winter is always an issue. With all of the snow fall we get here trying to keep the panels clean is going to be an issue. But right now, with the new rate increases and everything else, we’re probably on track to pay off the whole system in less than 5 years.
Although come to think of it, we could go entirely off grid indefinitely by running the generator a few hours to recharge the battery bank.
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