trashwalk, abandoned antique car, and continuing charging adventures

Not being able to make campfires isn’t a problem for me, but the inability to burn trash in the rocket stove is.  I had a plastic bag of trash and the dog was a bit feisty so I figured we’d walk back to the paid campgrounds to drop off the trash in those dumpsters.

Looking back at the van before we left, you can already see some light hitting the van through the trees:

Since it’s mid-week the campsites were mostly empty.  I took advantage of that to make a shortcut through the first site I saw.  It turned out to be a time-saver;  it did cut off a lot of trail time but more importantly there was another dumpster and spigot within 50yds of the site.  I deposited the trash, watered the dog (I carry a collapsible silicone cup for this purpose), and refilled my water bottle.

On the way back on the trail I noticed an auto carcass  about 50’ into the woods:

1930s?  1940s?  I didn’t see any kind of distinguishing marks;  the front bifurcated grill and fenders are our best hope here.

By the time we got back to our spot the van was in full sun

It remained in full sun until about 1708 (5:08pm), 2.5hours longer than in my previous spot.  By 1650 the long shadows of the trees on the west were touching the van and we didn’t have much time left.  Luckily we don’t have to make  much power in late Absorption.

Yesterday absorption timed out at 180mins while the bank was still accepting 3.76A (we want to see 1.75A).  Today after ~5 hrs of Absorption (set Vfloat to Vabs) the bank was accepting ** 2.60A **by the time the system could no longer hold 14.7v.   It had been too many days of incomplete charge to rectify the damage in one day.  :-(  Maybe another day or three of prolonged absorption. will get us back to happy batteries.