Yo Mex, How you holding out down south?

[mchero]

Was watching the weather channel marveling at the record high temps!

How are you setup? Are you out in the sticks under a tree or something? You off grid? what temps have you seen so far?

Inquiring minds want to know the complete details!

Thanks

[MEXICOWANDERER]

How about you show me this particular maneuver?

Mil gracias for the cooler advice. Vamos a Tru Cool

[Naio]

Tru-Cool transmission coolers are considered the best, on the truck forums I read. I got one.

For the laptop on bed, I rest mine on a pillow NEXT TO my stomach. Switch sides as needed. I don't like the weight on my tummy, either. Actually, I kind of tilt it so one corner rests on my hipbone, but that may require female hips 🙂

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Yuk!
Now to find a reputable brand that would say whether or not their products are epoxied...

[Almot]

Welded aluminum, Mex. Not knowing much about these things, I have to rely on what I'm being told. The model was recommended by very reputable transmission shop. He said there are many coolers that are assembled on epoxy and fall apart when overheated.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

I "could" angle a transmission cooler downward which would allow great airflow exiting under the engine and entirely missing passage through the air conditioner condenser and coolant radiator.

Not sure what "welded design means. As usual oblique "hucksterism" seems to prevail in the transmission cooler market as well, and everyone has "The Best" design. I sure would like authentic user comments and manufacturer brand recommendations. Headed south, the load is going to be heavy the air hot, and the hills steep. No such thing as "over-cooling" the transmission fluid, but the danged cooler has to fit a small size K car.

[Almot]

Accuweather = Inaccuweather. I prefer Sailflow.com

Being not an auto mechanic, I can't say about "external" transmission cooler but the very first thing I added when bought a used 2WD truck for trailer, was a "separate" transmission cooler. With hot weather and hilly terrain in mind. Welded design, not glued on epoxy like some other.

Don't discount people's interest to media players. With DVD now thing of the past and live TV becoming increasingly stupid as we grow older, collection of movies on external drive makes sense. As usual, nothing plays odd and/or new file formats better than a laptop with VLC soft player. I think people with hardware like Mikka, WDTV, Apple TV, Nvidia and other are either gamers or into streaming. Or don't know how to use anything that has more buttons than Play and Stop 🙂

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Those forecasts are for NEXT WEEK. ConAgua, Accuweather, The Weather Channel all agree. I have seen 117F with 60% R/H in that ravine. All the locals abandoned ship and moved up onto the mesas.

Secondly. I can only wish I had anything but a 14" screen to "watch" movies on. I can see if the laptop lives up to it's name and sits on my stomach in bed, but that's horribly uncomfortable. Any further away is like watching a Drive in movie through a knot hole.

Moving onward to something of interest to more folks...

I wish my toad had a higher capacity radiator. Get this - it's a ONE SINGLE ROW tube job, and for the life of me, I cannot find a radiator with more capacity. The keeraap under hood makes fitting a bigger unit an impossible nightmare. On top of that I am wondering if AN EXTERNAL TRANSMISSION COOLER would make a huge difference in engine temperature? It's a 3.0 liter V6.

[Almot]

107-108 was last year. Should be a little cooler this La Nina year, though 100-102 in the afternoon is possible. Boy, what an ugly town St Rosa. With new mine it's now uglier yet.

What are you running your movies on - WDTV, or just from laptop and external drive?

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Hey Almot, 2 July is the day I go to Sta Rosalia for medicines and shop. Couple these figures with 60 - 70% humidity and this is why I do not live there.

Sat
Jul 2
Very hot with a thunderstorm 108°Lo 87°

Sun
Jul 3
Very hot with a stray t-storm 108°Lo 87°

Mon
Jul 4
Mostly sunny and very hot 108°Lo 87°

Tue
Jul 5
Overcast, but very hot 107°Lo 85°

[MEXICOWANDERER]

The ice snaps so hard I can feel it in the glass - ice tea - lemonade - sparkling water. Cardiologist told me if I drink alcohol, memorize the lyrics to "Fifty Ways To Leave Your Liver"

I clad the already incredibly thick Vestfrost units with an additional 4" of foam board. The freezer, all 18Cf of it uses 40-42 amp hours @ 24 volts on a 100+F day

The new ND A/C compressor for the toad is coming next week. Along with Jim's Megaflop, several dozens of movies on a portable hard drive. Other power supplies, a few hundred feet of shrink tubing, CREE lamps, lots of silicone wire for test leads, and one new ESR meter. Oh yeah, forgot the 3.5 mm stereo to mono jack adapter, four ounces of silver heatsink paste and a bunch more stuff.

[pianotuna]

How I love that sound of ice crackling from being immersed in water.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

The one and single, solitary only gas cooling appliance I have ever owned that worked correctly in hot weather was a Dometic FC-140 Freezer. It had lots of plumbing, six inches of insulation and a whopping ONE POINT FIVE CUBIC FOOT STORAGE.

One summer, long-ago, I got sick three times. A Brand New Norcold could not keep up. The refrigerator was working according to specification. It did the same thing the year before so Sal at Kool Fun exchanged the unit with another brand new unit.

When the tiniest tienda is a 70-mile round trip, purchasing groceries means getting enough to last 7-10 days.

Troubleshooting? Sal and a Tech Rep from Norcold both pronounced the installation as being 'excellent' Fans? Try four, added one at a time including a top flue fan that was 200 CFM. Inside D Cell fans. Nothing did a damned thing to help. Verified by thermometer. The refrigerator originally came with an ice cube maker. But in reality it turned out mushy chunky sno-cones.

Food poisoning isn't fun, in case you've never gotten a dose of it. Its the rottenest, filthiest 15-hours you'll ever spend in your life.

Milk went sour in three days. Eggs must never be stored after breaking. Mayonnaise would put the Center For Disease Control on Red Alert. There were 3 distantly parked rigs. They all complained of the same problem.

ENOUGH! Only a fool would tolerate repeated bouts of food poisoning. I switched to electric and the interior temperature dropped ten degrees for both refrigerator and freezer. No pilot lights, no eyebrow fires, no sudden ammonia disasters, and best of all - no more 33 trips to the toilet in one hour. My refrigerator and freezer interior light up like Times Square at New Years, with LED lighting. Even the vegetable bin and door shelves.

I can keep ice-cream now. This applies to the rig as well. The monster freezer keeps temps at -10F even in 100F weather. When I pour liquid over ice cubes they snap and pop.

If an individual wishes comfort down here, they have to use their brain power to be "Smarter Than The Problem".

[Almot]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelectric

Refrigertor

And

Freezer

Here

I know, propane fridge can't be trusted. If/when mine dies, I will put an electric one in. Either big or small, depending on availability of umbilical cord connection in the "habitual area" - that will likely narrow down by then.

[NinerBikes]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
I guess I'm lucky with 2.4 kWh daily usage. I'm eager to drive by the doubled-in-size solar voltaic field on 2 August. It is providing 3.1 Megawatts of power.

Jeez that mirror steam turbine solar unit near Las Vegas otter be producing Gigawatts of power this last weak. Lucky employees get to go out after sundown and pluck dropped ducks, pheasants and chukkar as an employee benefit.

Spotted owls, vultures, ravens, hawks and eagles is more likely.