Is Peace In The Mideast Possible ?

What do you think of Pres. Obama's chances of success to bring peace to the Mideast ?

I am hopeful but think it will take a long time before it happens. Even if Israel and the Arab world work it out, there is still Iran, Iraq, Afganistan to deal with.

No To The Bailout !

Let the rich fix their own problems. Now government wants to take our money and help their rich buddies.

Wasn't all their wealth supposed to trickle down ? And now they are asking us to pay for their greed - Hell no !!

Sweden had a similar crisis in 1992 and handled things differently. The Bush government advisors know about this and still came up with this ridiculous 700 billion dollar bailout idea.

Check this NY Times link for the Swedish solution:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/business/worldbusiness/23krona.html?ei=5070

Going Green ! Lawn Mower Conversion

Lawn Mower Conversion

Project: Converting an electric lawn mower with cord to cordless, solar power , "Green" .

With gas and electric prices continuing to climb, movements of making things "Green", to have less of a negative impact on the environment, I decided a cool project would be to convert my electric lawn mower to get its power from solar panels.

I have a Sears, electric, lawn mower, mulcher - it is not cordless.

It is already less of a polluter since its electric, no gas or oil to use, but it still needs to be connected to an outlet. It also mulches the leaves so its environmentally friendly that way too.

The electric mower requires very little maintenance. I have had this lawn mower for about 10 years without any maintenance or problems, except dealing with a long cord.

So if I break this lawn mower in this process, it won't be a big loss since the mower is very old anyway.

Since I am an electrical engineer, I can successfully complete this project but want to minimize the costs and document the process so others can easily follow it.

Researching this on the web, I found an example of someone who bought a Sears cordless lawn mower and charged the batteries with solar panels.

This is the easiest way to get your "lawn mower off the grid".

However, a cordless lawn mower cost about $400 and I already have an electric lawn mower.

So I need to add batteries to my lawn mower and wire it in.

I will also have to make a simple electronic circuit to connect battery to the motor.

Motor requirements. 120 V 12 Amps.

Question:

Is it cost effective to convert my old lawn mover or would it be better to buy a new cordless mover and get a solar charger for it.

Will 12 V , lawn mover batteries be enough to power the current motor ?

Riding lawn mover batteries are all 12V, and are heavy but not as heavy as car batteries.

In visiting my local hardware stores I found that Sears had the most variety of batteries.

In addition to car and riding lawn mower batteries, it also had, smaller and lighter 12V, "Sport" batteries, used of small racing bikes.

In selecting a battery, it will be a trade off of price, weight, and power storage capability of the battery.

Looking at buying batteries on line, I found that the shipping costs were high due to the batter weight so I hope to buy the battery locally.

The cordless mower uses two batteries so I will do the same, although I do not know the specifications of those batteries yet.

Keep checking on this blog to see my progress !

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5-20-08

I found that my Black and Decker electric, corded lawn mower can not be easily opened.

There are two holes on top that look like a place where screws are in but it these are not screws but a rivited type bolt.

To remove it I will have to cut the bolt.

I also suspect that the motor will only work with 120 V. Looking at the diagram of the unit from www.toolpartsdirect.com, confirms this.

It shows no electronics but a direct connection of the cord to the motor.

Now I remember in my engineering school days, studying AC and DC generator designs - similar to motor designs.
The AC and DC motors, generators differ in the way the commutator ring is designed, the part that the "bushings" brush up against.

Therefore, my AC motor will not work with DC batteries. I will have to replace the AC motor in addition to buying and mounting the batteries. Parts alone would cost me about $200 or more and a new cordless, lawn mower will cost about $300 so it doesn't make sense for me to convert my existing electric lawn mover.



This is a Black & Decker Cordless Lawn Mower which goes for about $400. The one requiring a cord is about $150 less.








I will keep shopping around for prices, maybe opting to buy one, and research a solar panel charging system I can use for it.

The Black & Decker Cordless weighs 88.2 lbs and runs on 24 V DC.







This is a Neutron cordless lawn mower weighing only 48 lbs. and about the same price as the Black & Decker. It uses a 24 V battery.

Hillary, Please Concede to Obama

Hillary Clinton put up a valiant fight for the Democratic nomination but its time to accept the numbers and voters.

Obama has shown he is the stronger candidate by his big win in North Carolina and his past winnings giving him more of the popular votes and delegates.

His strength is in the educated, liberal white voters, African-Americans of all classes and education, young and has also shown he can bring in liberal Republicans and Independents.

The Republicans and Independents are not as attracted to Hillary Clinton as President. Her only advantage over Obama seems to be in the middle class, blue-collar voters.

Time for Hillary to withdraw and unite the Democratic party behind Barack Obama.

We have had enough of the Bush failed policies. It is time to make a change and begin the economic and social recovery.

What do you think ?

"Viudas De FARC" - FARC son Terroristas ! Terrorist Group

The presidents of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela agreed Friday to resolve their angry recriminations over a cross-border Colombian commando raid, a crisis that has brought troop movements and talk of war.

I don't get it. Any group that kills peasants, forces them to leave their land, sells drugs to buy arms and takes hostages for money is a terrorist group.

Sure, bad things have been done by all sides, but that doesn't make any of this nonsense right.

Our Health Care System Is Broken

Our current health care system in the USA is not working for us.

The United States is last in the industrial nations in quality of health care yet our costs are the highest.

Our infant mortality rate is also high compared to other industrial nations, attributed to the lack of health insurance for many.

We tried it our way, its time to look for a better model.

We can learn from Canada and Europe. In these countries everyone is covered and they are higher than us in overall health.

Our system needs to be taken over by us, the government and out of the hands of greedy corporations and drug companies.

Even if you find a good doctor, he or she is pressured to spend less and less time with patients in the quest for the almighty dollar, where the emphasis should be in providing the best health care.

And dental coverage is very limited or non-existent for many. This is also a very important aspect of overall health but is very much neglected.

Gangster Rap

OK, I've been quiet about this long enough.

I understand the primitive appeal of rap music, getting back to the fundamentals of sound - beat, rythym and the rebelious messages.

However, emulating and glorifying thugs is just wrong and ignorant.

Obviously, those who do so don't understand the true lifestyle of thug life and the getto mentality. Why are those baggy pants falling down, showing your butts - because in prison one can't always get the correct size and belts can be used as weapons or for self-destruction.

Instead of playing into the hands of "the man" doing things that will give you time in jail, use that rebellious energy to promote what is right and just or to form a business to gain independence for the "establisment".

I don't get the violence and trying to be "bad". I won't tell you how I know about the hood life, you can guess but it's not something a thinking person wants or adores.

Those who want to prove they are tough should see if they are tough enough to face one's own demons and control one's anger or hate.

It takes a very strong person to strive to be better than one's environment and negative influences.

It's takes a lot of guts and self-esteem to be able to walk away from trouble, taunters and racists with out lashing out in anger.