This was a big weekend. A structural engineer came in to look over everything I have done so far. He said I have done everything right so far. The only thing he found that needs to be done is to install a 6" i-beam down the length of the containers so the roof will be adequately reinforced.
After meeting with him, I began working on the containers again. I finished up grinding down the center metal piece. I then sanded it down and applied primer to it. I also sanded and primed the steel flats that go over the center of the containers. I have laid the steel flats down the length of the container so that it seals off the crack.
Here are a couple of pictures of it.
After meeting with him, I began working on the containers again. I finished up grinding down the center metal piece. I then sanded it down and applied primer to it. I also sanded and primed the steel flats that go over the center of the containers. I have laid the steel flats down the length of the container so that it seals off the crack.
Here are a couple of pictures of it.
The third thing I did was to cut out the four inch i-beams to fit into the walls. I had to use my plasma cutter to cut them to the correct length and to fit over the lip at the top so that they have as much contact with the structure as possible. I purchased only two i-beams at first so that I could form them out as templates for the rest. The end walls are different than the side walls. The end walls are 90 degree angles, whereas the side walls are 45 degree angles and are slightly taller due to structural differences. I am going to use these templates to cut out the angles need back home before I bring them over to LBL so that it cuts down on the time required for putting them in place.
The fourth thing I did was to install a fourth solar panel. I now have 60 watts. I showed in the last post how I have the system setup. This time I wanted to see how much the solar panels were keeping the battery charged. Before I changed over the cable modem and router to straight direct current, they would completely deplete the battery by the end of the weekend. Once I changed them to DC, the battery still had more than half of its charge left. When I got home late Sunday night, I plugged the battery into the charger. It only lost 10% of its charge. It now has me seriously rethinking how much total power we will need over there.
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