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  1. spokewrench

    Do You Wear a Wristwatch When You Ride?

    My first calculator had tiny fluorescent tubes to light the segments of digits. Before that, HP calculators were costly and primitive. I'd seen only one, when, far away at sea, I had to calculate a complex resistor network to troubleshoot an intermittent navigational radar that had stumped a...
  2. spokewrench

    bought a gas generator for myLiFePO power station

    It's rated at 1800 W (15 A), 3600 W (30 A ) peak.
  3. spokewrench

    bought a gas generator for myLiFePO power station

    It arrived. 1024 Wh. 2-year warranty. I registered, which should increase the warranty to 7 years. It appears to be 92% efficient charging from 120 VAC and 86% efficient turning battery energy to 120 VAC. If battery discharge is 92% efficient, the inverter must be 93% efficient. They recommend...
  4. spokewrench

    Do You Wear a Wristwatch When You Ride?

    Casio F91W, in production since 1989. I have discovered again and again and again, everything designed since then has been to appeal to a market less sophisticated than myself. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casio_F-91W
  5. spokewrench

    Garage Bike Floor Stand

    I torque bottom brackets and crank bolts with a bike on the ground. I use two eye screws for each end so I can run the ropes in a way to eliminate swinging at times when it would be a hassle, such as using a laser to adjust my derailleur. It helps that I work in the carport, with rafters only...
  6. spokewrench

    Garage Bike Floor Stand

    I prefer hoisting, usually with one rope on the stem and another on the rear rack. The investment is small: a couple of strong eye screws (I use 4), a couple of 20-foot ropes, and a couple of cleats for quick, secure tie-offs. (If you don't want cleats, there are ratchet pulleys.) I lift one end...
  7. spokewrench

    Bourbon

    My mother's uncle was a railroad engineer and noted moonshiner. He was busted for his mountain still and served 2 years on a road gang. He ran the road grader. Every Sunday my grandparents had a fried-chicken picnic lunch with him in the prison yard. Every Wednesday, the warden gave him a...
  8. spokewrench

    remagnetize a generator?

    In my 20s I went to Alaska for several months. Traveling by motorcycle, I didn't take my cassette player, collection of 30 or 40 cassettes, or head demagnetizer. One tape was Nick Gravenites' "My Labors." When I got back, there wasn't much on it but hiss. The other cassettes in the box were...
  9. spokewrench

    remagnetize a generator?

    In February I bought an EMF meter. It may show an electric field near an appliance that's plugged in or on a street with 9,000 volt power lines, but I haven't seen magnetic fields except near the motor of a running fan. Maybe storage in motor fields accounts for some cases of demagnetization.
  10. spokewrench

    Bourbon

    In fifth grade I had a still in the basement. I wanted to take some to school to share, but the teacher was kind of nosey, and she was bad enough sober. I don't know what proof I produced, but it caught fire easily, and the flame was nearly invisible. That was scary. I quit making it. At...
  11. spokewrench

    remagnetize a generator?

    I read here that an emergency generator can lose its magnetism. I googled. One source said time will demagnetize, but it takes decades. You can do it quickly with an AC field, heat, or hammering. When it comes to generators, one source said you must run an emergency generator every two weeks to...
  12. spokewrench

    What's the name ??

    The Fusion ST is like what I do, but it's more radical. Its seat clamp is about 25" behind the BB, while mine is about 15" behind. This is enough that I can tilt the seat so the front is 5" lower than the back, and pressure on the pedals will keep me from sliding forward. Seated for pedaling, I...
  13. spokewrench

    What's the name ??

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recumbent_bicycle Getting underway on a recumbent seems tricky because I'd have to swing my foot way up before I could pedal. The guy in @indianajo 's clip made it look easy, but it might not look so easy if I tried it!
  14. spokewrench

    Does anyone here "name" their eBikes?

    With a Clarabell horn, a Bombay taxi horn, and a boat horn, I'd love a King Tut emblem for my bike. In the words of Steve Martin, "He's my favorite honky."
  15. spokewrench

    bought a gas generator for myLiFePO power station

    I don't think I used the word "inverter." My generator must have an inverter because the RPM can change, but it still puts out AC at 60 Hz (I presume). Inverters may be 75 to 98% efficient. I don't know the inverter efficiency of my generator or the power station I bought.
  16. spokewrench

    bought a gas generator for myLiFePO power station

    Isn't that stuff gasoline? To quote the AI guy, "Running a diesel generator on gasoline can cause severe damage to the engine and fuel system, as gasoline lacks the lubricating properties of diesel fuel, leading to potential failure of critical components."
  17. spokewrench

    Does anyone here "name" their eBikes?

    Junkyard Angel. So far, Robert Zimmerman hasn't taken the trouble to sue me for the copyright violation.
  18. spokewrench

    bought a gas generator for myLiFePO power station

    That 5,000 W diesel is water cooled. I guess that coolant could be piped to an indoor heater. For each W of electricity, it produces approximately 5 W of waste heat. I don't know if it would prevent colds, but a 25 kW heater is nothing to sneeze at!
  19. spokewrench

    bought a gas generator for myLiFePO power station

    It looks 14% efficient at 900 W and 8% at 225. The Generac XD5000E is a 250-pound diesel rated at 5000 W. It seems to be 17% efficient at 2500 W. I'm surprised home generators aren't more efficient, especially diesel.
  20. spokewrench

    bought a gas generator for myLiFePO power station

    According to the generator manufacturer, the generator will produce 850 W for 7 hours per gallon. That would be 6 kWh per gallon, as you say. That's about 16% efficient compared to the 36.6 kWh in the fuel. I hesitated to buy a gas generator because with lighter loads they are even less...
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