A battery day

My van batteries are probably around nine or ten years old and have lost the will to live. I reconfigured them a few weeks back but the remaining ‘good’ battery was registering only 6v last night and the lights were so dim I needed a head torch to see. My UPS backup device was beeping when we returned from the Early Walk around 07:10. The power lines were damaged during a storm a few weeks back so I guessed we might not have power for several hours. Before I went for my run, I turned on the water heater for the showers just in case the power might return. There was still no power when I came back so the chances were it would be out all day. I therefore skipped the shower and got on with sorting out my batteries. I wanted to keep the weather station going so moved that to my phone so that it could still keep sending data to the various websites. I was concerned there would not be enough electricity to sustain it so went about putting it on a sealed battery while I sorted out the van main batteries.

One battery is used to start the van and run all the lights and so on. The other battery is for the habitation side and this just powers the LED reading and galley lights and also the heating fan. As well as that, the habitation powers the MeteoBridge for the weather station, something I want to keep going at all times and also some single, blue LEDs scattered about inside. These LEDs provide a little light at nights. My task was to remove the two lead-acid batteries from the conveniently-situated well on the furthermost side of the driver’s seat. I also wanted to remove the mouse nest and other rubbish. The plan was to tame some of the wiring and change it so the habitation battery is more accessible. The two large batteries have been swapped for a much smaller sealed AGM battery which now resides on the dashboard where I can get to it without removing all the clutter stored on the driver’s seat. I have also removed the spent batteries from the huge EG UPS which Ursula brought from UK. The batteries were so swollen, I had to dismantle the entire UPS to get them out! I’m hoping Antonis will call to remove all of my scrap metal including the spent batteries. Nothing is wasted on Crete.

Other excitements of the day included a visit by Georgia, a cup of tea and some sprinkles and stewed fruit with Tony and Ursula and a lovely warm shower. Tony and Ursula took Luis and Charlie while I was in the shower and set off for the Evening Walk. I caught them up with Oskar, Fido and Obi. Fido and Luis chased balls and the others pottered around. It was a lovely evening with a little wind but plenty of sun. I went back over the field with the three I took out and Tony and Ursula chose the beach and came through the camping. Unfortunately, there was someone walking three dogs on the beach so I got the better bargain.

I wandered around with Georgia for a little to pick up some information about the various projects and to tell her that the ice-machine didn’t perform as expected and might require a technician.

The pussy is getting fatter so I suspect it will not be long before she drops her load. As Xanthippos noted the other day “She’s going to have babies”. So much for me getting her to the vet in time!