My first most expensive endeavor is my expedition, that POS ran me triple its cost in repairs with all labor supplied by me.
The second endeavor which I didn't initially realize it will be so expensive was that recently my little brother moved out of my parents house into his own apartment, before he did I promised him as a good for you gift I'd do one thing to his apartment that is beyond what their maintenance staff can do for you... if he ever needed it.
Well he moved out recently and got a first floor apartment that has a reasonable size patio, he called me and asked for that one favor.... before I thought about it I said yes sure! The issue was: he wanted to add patio string lights to his patio, he has the furniture set, bond fire pit & all other goodies but its pitch black outside when its night time and the complex he's at will immediately terminate his lease if he "adds" an outdoor receptacle to his patio (as per his lease agreement)
So in turn, me "an industrial electrician" who've never ever worked residential before accepted the challange, all was great till I realized how the hell am I suppose to light up 60 bulbs which consume 3 watts each.... anyways I eventually got solar panels, a filter transformer, a step down transformer, a few diaodes & resistors, an inverter, a capacitor and a nema 4x enclosure to be mounted underground/beneath clay mud and dirt to house them all including a GFCI receptacle to power on some damn lights and a automated awning! All and all cost me $2700 and I must say this, if you're planning on converting your house power to solar be prepared to a the shock of your life.
No way did I ever expect it to be this complicated and frustrating....
Anyways I finally got it figured out for him now, he can set a timer for the lights to turn on and off once dusk hits and his solar panels should last him 8-10 hours of lights on power, or he can operate the lights and dim them as he demands with a flick of a remote controller OR he can use his phone to do whatever the hell his imagination can take him to! All I know is I'm not promising anyone anything unless I fully understand the consequences that come with it!
Pics below when I finally was in testing mode, once I had it figured out and correctly controlled we plugged in the 54 other light bulbs in.
Sadly reviewing my own pics, the camera doesn't show the different dimmings of the bulbs but they were at 25% output, 50% output and finally 100% output!
The second endeavor which I didn't initially realize it will be so expensive was that recently my little brother moved out of my parents house into his own apartment, before he did I promised him as a good for you gift I'd do one thing to his apartment that is beyond what their maintenance staff can do for you... if he ever needed it.
Well he moved out recently and got a first floor apartment that has a reasonable size patio, he called me and asked for that one favor.... before I thought about it I said yes sure! The issue was: he wanted to add patio string lights to his patio, he has the furniture set, bond fire pit & all other goodies but its pitch black outside when its night time and the complex he's at will immediately terminate his lease if he "adds" an outdoor receptacle to his patio (as per his lease agreement)
So in turn, me "an industrial electrician" who've never ever worked residential before accepted the challange, all was great till I realized how the hell am I suppose to light up 60 bulbs which consume 3 watts each.... anyways I eventually got solar panels, a filter transformer, a step down transformer, a few diaodes & resistors, an inverter, a capacitor and a nema 4x enclosure to be mounted underground/beneath clay mud and dirt to house them all including a GFCI receptacle to power on some damn lights and a automated awning! All and all cost me $2700 and I must say this, if you're planning on converting your house power to solar be prepared to a the shock of your life.
No way did I ever expect it to be this complicated and frustrating....
Anyways I finally got it figured out for him now, he can set a timer for the lights to turn on and off once dusk hits and his solar panels should last him 8-10 hours of lights on power, or he can operate the lights and dim them as he demands with a flick of a remote controller OR he can use his phone to do whatever the hell his imagination can take him to! All I know is I'm not promising anyone anything unless I fully understand the consequences that come with it!
Pics below when I finally was in testing mode, once I had it figured out and correctly controlled we plugged in the 54 other light bulbs in.
Sadly reviewing my own pics, the camera doesn't show the different dimmings of the bulbs but they were at 25% output, 50% output and finally 100% output!
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