So What Happened to Last Week ???

I remember now.

Buying and selling real estate took up most of the week.

Not that I actually managed to accomplish it - most of the week was spent trying to prevent the Government criminals taking all they can lay their hands on!

I'm not getting into it here but I distinctly remember Stamp Duty as one of the taxes that was supposed to be reduced with the introduction of GST. The bureaucratic robbery that is taking place now because of poorly worded legislation is almost beyond belief. What I can't understand is how the politicians convince the public servants to become quite so predatory in their approach to assessment.

OK. OK. I know I said I wouldn't . . . .

So what did get done . . .

A little bit of preparatory work in the electrical department.
This motley collection of switches and dials is adjacent to the bathroom/toilet area - it seemed an appropriate place and was convenient to most of the things controlled or monitored. The problem lies in that each manufacturer supplies a completely different type of dial or switch.
Top Left - air conditioning
Top Right - light/fan in bathroom
Bottom Left - Water Tanks
Bottom Right - Hot Water System
(the toilet tank monitor is on the other side of the wall next to the toilet - I'm not sure what you are supposed to do if you forget to look at the monitor before you go - but it's going to be quite a dilemma sitting there looking at the red light that says the toilet tank is full and the system wont flush :) )
















On the other side of the wall however is integrated luxury.
Supposed to be the best that money can buy.
If there is one thing you need when deprived of all other luxuries is good toilet and bathing facilities.





















The camera is having a hard time focusing on all he white and chrome but hopefully you can make out the "el swisho" hardware. . .

From the other side it looks like this . . .





















The flexible plumbing pipe and push in fittings makes installation fairly easy without having to solder in all sorts of elbows etc..
This wall gets covered in when the kitchen is built (with the appropriate access holes cut in the back of the cupboards in case anything ever springs a leak).

A start has also been made on the handbasin which will be mounted in a drawer at the back of the toilet so it won't get in the way while sitting but can then be pulled out and used to wash one's hands. A bit esoteric I know but it makes best use of the room available.
In order to go back into place and not get in the way while being used the spigot can be raised and lowered for use and storage.
So UP
















and DOWN . . .
















I wasn't going to mount them until required but the solar panels started to get in the way while being stored (read "tucked in a corner") so I decided to mount them to get them out of the way.
















The mounting system seems a little bit primitive but I am assured that this is the way to do it.
An aluminium angle is riveted all along each side.
Apparently the panels need air circulation underneath so they have to be raised a bit.
It seems a little strange as the panel itself is maybe 15mm thick mounted in a special frame which is about 70mm high with mounting holes punched into the bottom edge???
If these mounting holes are meant to be used why not cut slots into the frame to allow air to circulate freely and also to allow access to the mounting holes which currently are on the "inside" of the frame and not accessible when the frame is mounted on a solid surface.
To obvious? I don't know! It's all beyond me . . .
































The whole thing is then lifted onto the roof and "Soudaled" in place and screwed down about every 100m. Unfortunately there were only about 3 or 4 places each side where the screws actually went into the steel frame but better than none at all.
I'm told that this will be plenty strong enough - but nobody is giving written guarantees . . .
















The suppliers of the electrical system will make the actual connections through the junction box previously mounted.

I couldn't resist putting meter across the connections while the panel was sitting on the bench about 10m from the open door.
27.9 Vdc quite impressive.
I'm not sure I understand it but by my calculations my fridges use about 1500watt.hr/day and the panels are rated 175watts. If they are out in reasonable sun for about 8hr/day that should be about 2800watt.hr max. from the two panels. But the experts tell me they won't keep the batteries fully charged - I know there are losses etc. and the Engels may be a bit "hungrier" than I expect but that 's quite a difference.
I guess I can only wait and see . . .