Square Gauges

Hey, Blog. Thought I'd share a progress report on another project. I'm doing a truck camper build. You may recall the camper part a few years back. That project is still paused. Others bumped it down my list.

Which brings us to the truck part of that build. It's an 84 Chevy now (affectionately) called a square body. Lately, extra gauges have been added to the factory instrument cluster on its dash. Wanna see? Let's start under the hood with new sensors.

Now for new gauges inside the cab with a quick demo showing how they work.

My focus now is cleaning up the mess of wires. Lotsa connections jury rigged temporarily with wire nuts. That wiring cleanup is a project of its own for another time.

Smart Isolator

Our motorhome uses a conventional isolator between the coach and starter batteries. Basically just a heavy duty solenoid relay. It worked. Until it burned out. Here's why.

After replacing the solenoid a custom circuit was developed to reduce power and prevent future burnouts. It's not the only solution just my way.

Correction. If you found the video confusng about the clunk/click and long/short delay, then blame me and replay it with this in mind.

1. Long quiet as Timer1 counts down. (power ~0.15W)
2. Loud clunk when solenoid energized at full power. (resistor shunted)
3. Short quiet while Timer2 counts down. (power ~18W)
4. Faint click when resistor unshunted. (micro relay contacts open, power ~3.5W)

So that works a lot better. It was also a fun project that blended electronics and 3D printing a custom solution. I see two more of these smart isolator builds in my future for trucks with auxilary batteries. Once a working prototype is developed, production in any quantity is just rinse and repeat. Or tweak subsequent versions if requirements vary in some way.

Clock Works

I recently found a cool wall clock at a thrift store. Turned out the works/movement was bad. Totally solvable.

Clearly there was room for improvement.

Another check mark for the project junky. Woot!

Quatros Amigo

Half Pint has been a faithful travel companion for many years. Albeit less in recent years than former. Summer 2024 she participated in another chapter of life on wheels. We both got a raise of sorts. Exploring the elevated climes of the Sierra Nevadas. Escaping eleventy-some degree heat of SoCal. Here's a highlight whilst touring Giant Sequoia tomb stumps in Kings Canyon NP.

Sadly, she got less attention since then. Life (and death) got in the way. But during some light exercise, running errands in sunny AZ, she celebrated another momentous odomeversary, of sorts.

Full disclosure. This post was stuck in a queue due to technical difficulty. Now that hurdle is cleared so posts can resume. When I can. Life's still like a snow globe. Shaken again. And again. No drama. Just busy. Suffice it to say Half Pint is currently hard down (no spark). We're currently awaiting back-ordered parts to sort out that problem. Looking forward to getting my metal mule back on the road. Moreover! Getting her trusty again. Laters

Door Seal

My new door seal arrived today before the next bout of rain. I spent the morning prepping, Grinding edges. Sanding surfaces. What a mess. All that itchy fiberglass dust all over. I need at least two showers today! But it's on.

PS- Better late than never? This post was supposed to publish years ago. An embrassassing number of years to be sure. At this point I honestly can't recall why it got stuck in the queue. Something technical, surely. Meh. Breaking this log jam is WAY past due.