Menke Projects

Ever noticed all those little blinking blue lights all over your house after the sun goes down?  They are on the microwave, electric stove, network routers, mini-split, indoor-outdoor weather station, washing machine, and If I include the power draw of the ceiling fan in the bedroom, these little "vampire drains" add up to almost 400 watts every hour, although it does depend on what speed the ceiling fan is set on. So, the purpose of this blog is to collect everything I can find concerning whether or not an Enphase M215 Micro-inverter can be connected to a large 24 volt battery, and the 240 VAC grid so it would feed several hundred watts into my household grid all night long. From the data sheet the input voltage range can be from 16 to 48V, but the MPPT voltage range (voltage range that the switching supply will convert the solar panel voltage to a signal that can be useable for the AC output voltage stage) is limited from 27V to 39V. So if you want to use this wi...

This morning (Friday, August 16, 2019) I noticed I was missing a young Bull Calf, perhaps 600 #, and when I checked the fence there was a section mostly down.  After cobbling a quick repair using rusty field fencing, I saw a bull calf with the neighbor's herd, but then decided he was not mine.  Making a tour of the fields, I found this, and immediately called dear wife to help with the situation: At this point, we decided to call the Vet in Dale, and I left that chore to Donna while I drove into Lockhart to buy more range cubes for the cows, and to make quick grocery run.  (Using the electric Leaf)  Upon returning home, I saw the calf standing in the field, but unable to move.  Looked like this, minus the water bucket.  (This was a real surprise,because I thought he was a "goner" ) : Notice the right foreleg.  Swollen to almost double normal size, and the calf will only take a few steps.  Calling the Vet again to report the theoretical...

Several of us have been discussing methods of charging our electric cars if the power grid quit working.  Our PV systems using Enphase Microinverters will not work if they are not supplied with 240 vac.  With a Net-Metering agreement with our electric provider, we can get paid at a wholesale rate for excess production, but with an Off-Grid PV installation, any excess power simply goes to waste.  With that in mind, perhaps a small Off-Grid PV system with enough output to charge a car using the 115 vac cable that comes with most EVs.  Dozens of email have been exchanged, and I'll post them here to document the "journey". Old style is the M215 Microinverter, with or without the Integrated Ground (IG).  These are being sold for less than $40, and seem to be brand new.  (I got some for $36, delivered.)  Look for used solar panels with 245 watt rating.  Very cheap, and work well with the M215. They cannot be shipped UPS, and must come via Motor Fre...

Years ago, we bought a registered performance-tested Black Angus Bull through the Luling Foundation.  https://www.lulingfoundation.org/events/8th-annual-angus-sale That Bull lived for a long time, but eventually we had to take him to the Lockhart Auction.  We kept two of his male offspring, and then narrowed that down to one, which I believe is our current Bull.  He is a really big bull...probably way to big for the cows. Since switching to the Angus bull, we have not had to go out in the middle of the night and pull calves out of the pregnant cows.  (That's why people buy Black Angus cattle.)  Of course, buyers don't get too excited about "little black calves", and we are a "Cow-Calf" operation. Sunday afternoon, we noticed a young cow with two feet sticking out of her rear. I guessing the calf's head got turned backwards, and the calf is stuck.  Monday morning, we couldn't find the cow.  Eventually after Lunch, Donna found her laying in a woo...

ONIONS!  Our raised bed garden stuffed with compost mixed with biochar fines + charcoal pieces that will pass through a 1/4" screen really grows lots of big onions.  After visiting a high-end garden center in West Austin last Winter to purchase onion sets, Donna and I discovered that we had both purchased sets (after all, there were 5 varieties to choose from) and we really overdid ourselves.  We planted 342 onion sets.  By the end of May, we had at least 340 large onions, some weighing as much as a pound. To preserve our harvest, we usually slice and chop the onions and place them in freezer bags, so later, a bag and be opened and a small quantity removed.  This year, we did that, and we also ran a 12 shelf dehydrator several times with a full load.  It smells good, and it sucks electricity...to the tune of 600 watts per hour for as much as 36 hours. Then I remember our time in Germany (1976 - 1980), where Zwiebelkuchen (German Onion & Bacon Pie) was...

I use a pair of these thermos bottles to keep a supply of hot water next to my coffee making apparatus.  (A quart jar and a paper filter.) When using my outdoor charcoal making stove as described in the previous blog, I always boil water for these bottles.  Since the interior flask is stainless steel, a trick is to pour boiling water into the bottle, and then put the slightly cooled water back into the pot and wait for it to reach the boiling point again.  (This pre-heats the stainless steel.)  After filling the bottle, install the cap, and pull a heavy wool sock over the entire bottle to improve the insulation quality.  Sometimes, I wrap both bottles with a piece of wool fabric from an old Pendleton wool shirt ($145 new), and the water stays hot for a long time. The Stanley Thermos was invented in 1913.  The patent on this bottle from 1913 shows the insulation as charcoal:  "If desired, a finely divided substance may be used which will not only ...

Wikipedia definition:  A top-lit updraft gasifier (also known as a TLUD ) is a micro- kiln used to produce charcoal, especially biochar, and heat for cooking. ... A TLUD gasifier takes it further from a rocket stove in more efficient way of smoke-free, highly efficient combustion of the fuel.  My Rocket Stove (not a TLUD) is made of a concrete mixture of sand/crushed glass/perlite/and charcoal fines mixed with Portland Cement.  It works very well for simmering a pot of beans.  (I have since painted it black with latex paint.)  The major drawback, in my opinion, is that it burns the wood to ash, and does not make charcoal. This Blog Post will show the Charcoal Making Stove that has evolved on my patio over the last dozen years.  In the beginning, I constructed very small stoves from bean and coffee cans.  (TinCanium). and even purchased a Stainless Steel Campstove designed by Tom Reed. This was a very good fan assisted stove that I used until ...