Off The Grid

Our exact powder recipe: 3 cups baking soda 3 cups washing soda 2 cups Borax 2 cups Epsom salt 1 cup sea salt 1 cup sodium percarbonate Half a bar Fels Naptha Half a cup of Amaylase Enzyme Formula (available at Amazon) Laundry Detergent Recipe: 2 cups of above powder mix 1 TBSP food grade citric acid 1 cup vegetable glycerin 1 cup castille soap 1 gallon or so of HOT water (as preferred) Add the citric acid to the water, and then the rest of the ingredients slowly to dissolve the powder. Citric acid can bubble and foam, so go slow with the powder. Stir until everything is dissolved. We add about a cup of liquid to each load.

Homemade Washing Detergent

One more note about solar production... I tend to emphasize how consistent power production is from month to month because my house uses the same amount of power each month no matter the season. For people in colder climates they may use gas heat and so use the same amount of power each month.... or people in warmer climates who don't use much power in winter but run their air conditioning from April until November. The point here is that your solar system needs to make the power you use month by month. Use PVwatts website to model your production and play with the tilt until production matches usage pattterns.

A few days ago I did solar production calculations for a location in south florida around 27 lattitude. There is concern about wind from hurricanes so it was suggested that the panels could just be flat on the ground. And sure enough it works!! there are 4 months in winter that the production drops by 20% but the rest of the year production is 100-105%. When we were on vacation in St Croix a few years ago I had seen an array flat on the ground in front of a business but that was below the tropic of cancer meaning the sun is a little north of them in the summer... but hey, looks like southern Florida is close enough. Conventional wisdom says set your panel tilt at your latitude.... and if I did that at this location in south Florida, the seasonal production variability is +/-9% So flat may be worth it especially when they don't use heat in the winter and flat mitigates the risk of wind damage.

I was talking to one of our group members today and ended up recommending 32kwh of batteries for him. Now you can presently find a 32kwh battery but I advised him to get two 16kwh instead. My logic is that if one battery failed and you only have one, you are stuck. But if one battery fails and you have two 16kwh batteries, you can limp. So it's the N-1 philosophy. never rely on one device (battery). Plan to operate with one fewer than you have.

What if peppermint and cinnamon are added to the cedarwood oil what does that do to mice? Adding peppermint + cinnamon to cedarwood oil doesn’t just “add more smell” — it actually changes how mice react, and in a way that’s useful if your goal is to repel them. Here’s the straight‑shooting breakdown. 🐭 How mice react to cedarwood + peppermint + cinnamon together ⭐️ 1. Peppermint oil — strong aversive response Peppermint contains menthol, which overwhelms a mouse’s nasal passages and irritates their trigeminal nerve. Mice respond by: avoiding treated areas abandoning nesting spots stopping entry through treated holes Peppermint is one of the most consistently effective rodent‑repellent oils. ⭐️ 2. Cinnamon oil — respiratory irritant to rodents Cinnamon oil contains cinnamaldehyde, which: irritates mucous membranes disrupts scent trails triggers avoidance behavior It’s not as strong as peppermint, but it boosts the effect when combined. ⭐️ 3. Cedarwood oil — disrupts pheromone trails Cedarwood contains cedrol and thujopsene, which: interfere with rodent scent communication make an area feel “unsafe” repel mice from nesting or chewing Cedarwood is especially good in enclosed spaces (sheds, campers, barns). 🧪 What happens when you combine all three? You get a multi‑pathway repellent: Peppermint = sensory overload Cinnamon = respiratory irritation Cedarwood = pheromone disruption Together, they create a smell profile that mice strongly avoid. Most commercial “rodent repellent sprays” use exactly this type of blend. 🟩 So what does the combo do to mice? ✔️ Drives them away from treated areas ✔️ Prevents nesting ✔️ Disrupts scent trails ✔️ Makes entry points unattractive ✔️ Encourages them to relocate

do mice have problems with caster oil and cedarwood oil? Short answer: yes — mice absolutely have problems with both castor oil and cedarwood oil, but how they react depends on the concentration and how you use them. Here’s the breakdown so you can use them effectively without accidentally attracting mice or wasting time. 🐭 CEDARWOOD OIL — very effective as a mouse repellent Cedarwood oil is one of the few essential oils that has solid evidence for repelling rodents. Why it works Contains cedrol and thujopsene, which irritate rodents’ respiratory systems Overwhelms their scent trails Makes an area feel “unsafe” to them What mice do when exposed Avoid the area Stop nesting in treated spaces Sometimes abandon existing nests if the smell is strong enough What it does not do It does not kill mice It does not work if the scent is too weak It does not work outdoors unless heavily reapplied So cedarwood oil = good repellent, especially indoors or in enclosed spaces. 🐭 CASTOR OIL — mice hate it, but it works differently Castor oil is used in rodent‑repellent granules and mole/vole repellents because rodents dislike: the smell the taste the oily coating on soil or surfaces What mice do when exposed Avoid treated soil Avoid burrowing in treated areas Stop using tunnels or entry points What it does not do It does not harm them It does not repel well in open, windy areas It does not work if applied too lightly Castor oil is more effective for ground‑dwelling rodents (voles, moles, gophers), but mice still dislike it.

Mouse control

Big if true

There is one last thread type I want to show you today.... pressurized hydraulic fittings are similar to the flare fittings I just showed you but they have a different angle on the flare. Again, if you find a thread or a fitting that doesn't fit something else, there's a reason for that. Hydraulic connectors have to routinely handle 3000psi 200bar. To make sure that other tubing doesn't explode, engineers designed hydraulic fittings to not work with other connectors. JIC is an American hydraulic thread type. Joint Industry Counsel specified these connector types in the 1940s for hydraulics used on airplanes. We now use them on most hydraulic cylinders on tractors. There is a metric version of this called DIN and there is a british version called 60 degree Whitworth Cone (BSP British Standard Pipe). The fun detail about the BSP is that it specifies the diamter in mm and the threads in threads per inch. What fun!