https://photos.app.goo.gl/uBvHqYuF9687R3HHA
Six rails. One completely down. Another, about half down. Only two rails producing some power, a few kw. Note one inverter blown off it's mount.
I've been remiss in making recent blog posts.
My StarLink died in my absence on the Yukon trip. That, apparently due to a thunderstorm. That failure left me with no internet access at the house. Since about June 9, I've been struggling with SpaceX to get repair/replacement parts. In case you have not heard, SpaceX/StarLink has TERRIBLE customer service. Which I will recount here.
After I returned from the trip in late June, I fiddled with things and confirmed it was a StarLink problem. With some difficulty, I contacted StarLink "support" and described the problem. They decided it was a bad cable from the outside antenna to the inside router. It took about two weeks for the cable to arrive but the cable did not resolve the problem. Meanwhile SL closed my "ticket" which made continuing the dialog more difficult. They then sent me a router. That router resolved the problem. But for only about half an hour. Then, that router died. Again, I had to go through the rigmarole again. They said they were going to send me another complete SL kit containing all parts needed for SL service. I waited about three weeks for the parts to arrive. So, I go through all the rigmarole yet again; they knew nothing of the commitment to send a new kit but promised again to send one. I wait another several weeks before contacting again. This time, they actually did send a kit which arrived about November 20. The router out of the kit fixed the problem; the fix has now lasted several days and I have been enjoying internet access at the house for the first time since the June trip, SL did refund several of the monthly service fees which I had paid. In consideration of the low level service I was receiving.
My intent had been to pretty up my trip posts and add a photo album. But, that fell by the wayside and I have not done it because I had internet access only through my phone or out in the pool area where SL was providing only local wifi rather than wired service into my extensive LAN. I have had no access to my PowerWall since. The PowerWall (installed at my house) continued to work, charging in the day from PV and discharging to provide night time power. That is, no grid power used, day or night. A few weeks ago, the PW quit working and I am minimizing night time power use. I am just beginning to address the PW problem. In the past, I have been forced to fix PW problems myself because I have been unable to get ANY PW service from Tesla.
12/16/23
Last week, I spent around a day twiddling with at least two different ways to "reset" the PowerWall. I thought that I had failed and put the project aside. BUT, while traveling the past few days, I discovered that the PW was working and talking to my Tesla app! Everything seems to be working properly and I can, in real time, look at current power levels. As well as looking at historic power and energy levels. So! After nearly SIX MONTHS of pain over failed StarLink and PowerWall, my trial seems over.
12/17/23
https://www.google.com/maps/@26.3230503,-97.4405342,4006m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en&entry=ttu
On the way back from South Padre Island, we drove by this place. The take-away is that a 2300 acre shrimp farm in Arroyo City was abandoned in 1990s due to a shrimp virus.
I arrived at the Flo station in Ft St John. It is behind a GM dealer. I found myself unable to charge because the GM shuttle Bolt was plugged into the CCS side. I went into the show room to see if they wanted to remove the connector to the Bolt. Shortly, TWO Ford pickup EVs arrived. Apparently belonging to the same guy from Vancouver or somewhere in the area. Complete EV newby. I was unable to convince him/them that the charger would work on only one (CCS or chademo) at the same time. The Flo girl on his phone apparently did convince him. After quite a bit of pain, I eventually got a charge session started after a GM salesman removed the connector to the Bolt. ~15 minutes later, my charge errored off. More pain. More phone calls. Flo eventually remotely rebooted and I got another charge session started. Meanwhile, a Canadian Model Y arrived and hooked to the CSS cable. Amazingly, that did not screw up my charge and I got charged above 90%.
So, over a short period of time, we had FIVE EVs contending for that single fast charger. The Bolt, my car, TWO Fords, and the Model Y. I was the only one that got a charge while I was there.
Most interestingly, the Model Y had a CCS adapter and reported no problems using it on several Flo stations. So, most of my Flo problems may be associated with my chademo adapter. I did not get to observe his CCS actually working, though.
I hope to be done with Flo. Tomorrow, I hope to reach the Edson SuperCharger. But first I will have to do a slow charge probably at Shrek's RV Park about half way between here (Dawson Creek) and Edson.
I'm thinking this:
https://www.maxwellvehicles.com/campers.html
may be the answer to the troubles. A Maxwell (Fiat/RAM converted to Tesla running gear). I would want at least a 300 mile battery with significant deployable PV. I'm thinking at least a total of 3kw in PV. Maybe flexible that can be rolled up when not deployed.
As I approached Liard (lee ard) Hot Springs Lodge around noon day before yesterday, I decided I could go no more. Going in with the attitude that they could screw me over any way they wanted, I got a room for about $200C and told them I would like to charge at one of their "30 amp" RV stalls. Another ~$70C. The next morning, I found the RV park full so they were justified in charging the $70C. I stayed in bed for about 20 hours there but recovered little. I subsequently learned that they have a poor reputation. Something about "First Nation" land. "First Nation" seems to be Canadian politically correct speak for Indian / Indigenous Peoples / etc. Since most such lodges in the area have gone to StarLink, I was surprised to learn that I could not immediately get a wifi password. Why? They were in the middle of a daily password change. That lodge seemed to be trying to squeeze customers for every dollar possible without regard to customer inconvenience. The daily password change was to minimize the number of drop in customers using wifi but not paying. I later learned that they are still on geosynchronous satellite service. StarLink data is MUCH cheaper so that there is no incentive to squeeze customers. Changing the password is a significant labor cost. I was not permitted to hook the car to wifi so the car had no internet presence. The car was nearly visible from my room but I could not access it. Normally, I leave raising car windows and locking to be done from the comfort of my room. To do that in areas with no cell service, hooking car to wifi is required. The walk to the car was arduous in my condition so I left the windows down during an overnight rain. They were on a boil water notice so they gave me two pints of bottled water to carry up the stairs to my room. Over the night, I drank all that water and could find no more even though I looked.
I left just after dawn and was surprised that I was doing so poorly. I attributed to my two week diet of almost exclusively junk food. Normally, I eat one or more bananas each day. I could not find a comfortable driving position. All limbs hurt. Normally, only my left leg hurts significantly. After a few ~40 mile stops to walk a bit, I got to a place I had stopped on my way up. It was quite a contrast to Liard. On the way up, I was allowed to charge off of a normal 120vac outlet. But, generator voltage fluctuations limited charge rate to about 3mph; "normal" is about 5mph. That place is Testa River Lodge (as I recall). The first time through, the guy did not want to charge a fee but I made him take $10US. I later learned that the fee for charging in that area was $60-$70C. This time, I asked the guy if he had any bananas and/or Tylenol. He gave me two slightly old bananas and three sample packs of expired Tylenol. I took Tylenol and ate both bananas in short order. And, immediately felt a lot better; little pain in three limbs. I was able to drive normally without un necessary stops.
I had to seek a charge going up at Testa because a Rivian was sitting on the 6kw J1772 charge station provided at the Ft Nelson visitor's center. In Ft Nelson, I had stayed at Blue Bell Inn which is probably the cheapest of the Ft Nelson options. By my standards, completely acceptable at $80C. So, I'm staying with them again tonight. Between my two stays, I had acquired a TT30 to normal 120 adapter which allows me to charge off of "30 amp" RV outlets. Right now, I am charging at 9-10 mph at the hotel. Should be ready to roll about 4am. I did the same at Liard and, charging to 95%, brought it up to about 250 miles. About 260 miles should be a 100% charge. When the car was new, 100% was 315+ miles.
Tomorrow I hope to get to Ft St John early enough to get my cell phone glass replaced by the guy that saved the trip last time through.
Edson is the closest SuperCharger. I have a report that Edson was evacuated because of fires. So. I'm eager to hear more news on that situation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXqPNlng6uI
I decided this morning, in the large town of Whitehorse, capitol of Yukon Territory, to go ahead to Dawson City and then, perhaps make a loop in Alaska to return on the more southerly route. I did three successful Flo/chademo charges during the day. When I arrived at Dawson City, I could not get the Flo/chademo started. After about an hour on the phone with a nice and helpful Flo girl, she admitted that it was broken. And that Flo would have a repair person out within 5 days. Enough of this Flo horseshit! I'm turning around in the morning. Fortunately and unexpectedly, The Triple J Hotel has several cabins with J1772 charge stations. I am getting 30amps/30mph out of it "as we speak" so I should be fully charged in the morning.
Dawson City is of interest to me because it is one of the settings in the TV series "Yukon Gold". YouTube has at least several episodes. Here is one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAD-3GFvgKU
Reading my "Alaska" trip odometer, I see I have traveled 4172 miles since departing Dale. I need to do a summary but Triple J Hotel has weak wifi in my cabin. I should mention that this is the fartherest north I've been. In mid June here, the daylight hours are about 4am until about mid-night.
