'85 Ranger Restomod

[85_Ranger4x4]

Just pulled the ceramic things off the house, actual power lines were still hanging. Power company's theory is when the tree branch bounced everything it worked the guy wire which then shorted out the power to the house and popped the breaker on the pole. They are going to come back and snug up the guy wire, electrician is going to reattach the supporting cable for the power into the house.

And I got basically nothing done to the truck, we didn't have power again until after midnight. I coulda flipped the breaker myself but with the slack guy wire, big branch in the yard and droopy lines to the house I didn't want to cause big sparkles.

 

[Curious Hound]

Just pulled the ceramic things off the house, actual power lines were still hanging. Power company's theory is when the tree branch bounced everything it worked the guy wire which then shorted out the power to the house and popped the breaker on the pole. They are going to come back and snug up the guy wire, electrician is going to reattach the supporting cable for the power into the house.

And I got basically nothing done to the truck, we didn't have power again until after midnight. I coulda flipped the breaker myself but with the slack guy wire, big branch in the yard and droopy lines to the house I didn't want to cause big sparkles.

Interesting. Usually, it's a fuse on the pole that feeds the transformer. It pops loose and dangles. They use a long "hot stick" to pull it off. Then replace the fuse. Then use the hot stick again to hang it on the holder and snap it back into place. High voltages. Not something you want to try. Besides, you probably couldnt find a place to buy the new fuse.

But you have a breaker on the pole?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Interesting. Usually, it's a fuse on the pole that feeds the transformer. It pops loose and dangles. They use a long "hot stick" to pull it off. Then replace the fuse. Then use the hot stick again to hang it on the holder and snap it back into place. High voltages. Not something you want to try. Besides, you probably couldnt find a place to buy the new fuse.

But you have a breaker on the pole?

Transformer is down by the road. My meter is after the yard light on the last pole in my yard, there is a breaker there before it goes into the house.

 

[Shran]

Been dealing with wind and tree damage up here too, I lost a windshield on my F250 so the neighbors & I cut down 5 gigantic cottonwood trees. Then they had a huge branch fall out of another one and miss the old guy's truck and him by about 20 minutes so they took down 5 more.

Had a nasty storm on July 6th that brought down another one - I came home from camping to this scene and the 80 year old neighbor was out there trying to get this disassembled with a little 14" Stihl chainsaw. I was able to winch it to the ground and cut it up with my big saw. Done with trees this year as I am sure you are too!

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Been dealing with wind and tree damage up here too, I lost a windshield on my F250 so the neighbors & I cut down 5 gigantic cottonwood trees. Then they had a huge branch fall out of another one and miss the old guy's truck and him by about 20 minutes so they took down 5 more.

Had a nasty storm on July 6th that brought down another one - I came home from camping to this scene and the 80 year old neighbor was out there trying to get this disassembled with a little 14" Stihl chainsaw. I was able to winch it to the ground and cut it up with my big saw. Done with trees this year as I am sure you are too!

View attachment 130854

I wish I could get a big track hoe for a weekend...

I have the huge dying oak tree that dropped this branch, two dead elm trees thanks to the ash borer and two dead Lyndon trees thanks to japanese beatles.

I had one big oak tree removed a couple years ago and it was like $2k just for them to drop the stupid thing and like 2 months for me to get the thing disposed of (made a guy regret a low ball offer of $100 for the trunk... so I didn't have to deal with it)

 

[Shran]

The first five we took out cost $2500 and that was including $200 to have them haul off the biggest parts of the trunks (basically from the ground up to 15' high.) They were all on the neighbors property, hanging way over onto mine, but I split the cost because I keep losing windshields, hoods, etc and didn't want to lose a kid, pet, etc. I thought that was pretty reasonable since they had to use a bucket truck to get them all and had a fence and a power line to work around.

I think they totally low balled themselves on hauling the trunks out, I think they had two dump trailer loads of 3' wide x 6" thick cookies to haul out and that was a half day by itself with three guys loading them by hand.

 

[Terrys87]

Trees are a pain when they get older and not cheap to have removed if in the wrong area or not having the ability to remove them yourself. After being without power for a while, you remember how nice it is having the basics.

 

[bobbywalter]

i have quite a few to remove from around my shop.....since the last attack i am starting to have concerns.


i got all of the last damage and deadfall cleaned up but the roof, window and soffit damage is still there....going to be a long time before i get to it.

at least your power is going and didnt burn nothing down and stuff....can get dangerous fast.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Current electrical system is functional. It generally works great and is easy to service. It quickly turns into a pile of spaghetti once the wires leave the fuse panels though. Having seperate relays do not help but the fuse panels kicking the wires out the sides increased their footprint dramatically and makes it difficult to organize.

Also I need to beef things up to the efans. Last fall en route to Kentucky I popped the fuse. Replaced it and it ran the whole trip and all winter fine. I got it warm a couple weeks ago and found the fuse popped again. This time I did find some melted wiring so that will be addressed, I matched the wire size that comes out of the efans but probably in error had them both running off one wire, they will now each be getting separate power straight off the battery now.

Also, I want to be able to hardwire the efans to just run no matter what. If a relay lays down or whatever I want fans until I get to port. And on an opposite note... I want to be able to kill them from wheelhouse for water crossings.

What we are starting with:



Labeled everything:



Pulled everything off the plate and removed the plate to lay the new hardware out:





Each new panel has four relays and 8 circuits. And all the wiring is directed out the back before it comes out in a harness which will dramatically clean things up.

I had cut the studs off that retained the 2.8 vacuum stuff before, now I ground them smooth and flattened their bosses.



Starting to go back together. I also added two circuit breakers to the left. One for these two panels and the other for the efans.



The rear panel (constant battery) is pretty much done.



For reasons I don't remember last fall when I started doing this I wanted to wire one of the fuse blocks myself. Since I can't remember why exactly and it is so nice to just put pins on wires and go... I have ordered a second prewired block. It is supposed to show up tomorrow so I can finish the system.

Started labelling things... ran out of label tape so we got shut down on that as well.



It looks like a freaking mess...



But if my supervisor isn't worried why should I be?

 

[Curious Hound]

That’s an unconventional
And interesting e-fan setup.

 

[SenorNoob]

Now I wonder if you could get a box fan with enough CFM to work in an emergency? Running from an inverter...

LASKO Box Fan: 20 in Blade Dia, 3 Speeds, 1250/1800 cfm​

Unfortunately my radiator is only an 18" square core...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Now I wonder if you could get a box fan with enough CFM to work in an emergency? Running from an inverter...

LASKO Box Fan: 20 in Blade Dia, 3 Speeds, 1250/1800 cfm​

Unfortunately my radiator is only an 18" square core...

When they dyno cars they use fans of various shapes and sizes to cram air in the grille to act like the car is actually moving.

 

[bobbywalter]

When they dyno cars they use fans of various shapes and sizes to cram air in the grille to act like the car is actually moving.

that is a 600 dollar fan



best to put relays right on the fans and a 3 way switch for off on and auto via ground side. relays and spare fans are cheap and take up little space. put it right under the bed..

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

that is a 600 dollar fan



best to put relays right on the fans and a 3 way switch for off on and auto via ground side. relays and spare fans are cheap and take up little space. put it right under the bed..

Last year I made a series of relays to do that, so the fans will run when the A/C is on (12v supplied) or if the temp sensor deems they need to run (ground supplied).



I got busy chasing my tail with everything else and didn't have a chance to circle back for the killswitch before last year's trip.

They are not "on the fans" but that block is on the gusset right behind the DS headlight.



There is just one ground wire coming out of that relay block and it is practically begging to get ran into the cab, it will be a very easy thing to do I just need to do it.

And since Amazon deemed my last order with my second fuse block and a couple more connectors "undeliverable" like a half hour after it left the warehouse yesterday I suddenly find myself with a lot of time to do things not really related to the fuse panel upgrades...

My drive to "just make the dang fans run" comes from last year, I popped the key signal fuse which shut the fans down. Due to not having a current schematic with me and my new wire not labelled on the fuse panel I couldn't easily troubleshoot it at a gas station when everything was a million degrees under the hood. I am going to just put a two wire plug on the main feed for the fans and the same on the fan from the relay to the wiring. So push comes to shove I can just plug the main feed directly into the fans bypassing all the automated relays and still have the circuit breaker by the battery for safety and to kill the fans like for startup or whatever if I want. Purely a limp mode.

And after this I am going to have spare relays and fuses coming out of my ears. I already had enough to run the truck and each fuse block comes with enough fuses and relays to fill all the slots.

Spare Mercedes C230 Kompressor condenser fans... not so much.

 

[bobbywalter]

yeah. the reason i love wire nuts so much.