u/laurk

If there is a better community to help me, please let me know!

My current set up which was working just fine for 2 years and now isn't. What I have: Topo Topper Rincon with solar gland installed from their factory ready to receive solar and partial positive and negative wiring on the underside of the roof available for hookup with wire extension to the battery. Version 2 of the Pecron E1500LFP. I have a alternator charge eTaker F1000 that has two imports, one for alternator and one for solar with one out that goes to a battery. I never plugged anything in to the solar and my alternator charger set up was working flawlessly for 2 years. The Version two needs a XT60 to 5 prong aviator adapter to plug in to the battery which i purchased from Pecron. Has been working great. Note, important, this Pecron version uses two plug ins for DC. One is high voltage, one is low voltage plug in. The high is 32v-95v and the low is 12-18v. This is important for what's ahead.

Recently, I got myself in a situation where i was parked for 4 days using the fan, lights, fridge cooler, heated blankets and it drew the battery down. It would have been perfect to have solar to trickle charge. So, I got a renogy 200w panel. installed it on the roof. Plugged it in the solar glad that goes through the roof. Like this. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Vrbgify-Durable-ABS-Solar-Dual-Cable-Entry-Gland-Weatherproof-Fit-2-sq-mm-6-sq-mm-Cables-for-RV-Campervan-Boat-Solar-Project-369SA04-427D/335096961

I butt spliced in to the cables with matching cable gauge. Ran it 17' to the battery. Spliced in the XT60 plug to the xt60-5 prong adapter. The Pecron displayed it recognizes that plug in but didn't charge. Okay. I remove the splice and use my volt meter to check the charge. All looks fine to me... coming in around 33v late in the afternoon. Makes sense. I checked it later in high sun and it was about 40v. ChatGPT says maybe some losses through the internal MPPT controller. It is not triggering the charge requirements likely because it is coming in too low which makes sense because the Vmp of the solar panel is 31V. I looked up the stats on the panel. So it's operator voltage isn't triggering the MPPT controller. It's not enough voltage. And it's TOO much for the low voltage plug in 12-18v. GRRRR. 

Note: my gauge goes from 10awg, to 12awg to 16awg. I was worried about this but my electrical engineering coworker said my voltage drop won’t be enough to worry about and my run is mostly 12awg with a small 1ft section of 16awg. That won’t contribute to any significant drop he said. I checked on my volt meter and confirmed this.

So i am about to leave to camp for the weekend. I hook my previously working alternator set up BACK in to the adapter. Turn the car on... it's not charging. WTF. I check the adapter cable for continuity. It's fine. I check the voltage coming in from the cables from the eTaker and alternator charger. Reading a strong 40v. WTF. I do a hard reset. Turn the battery off. Hold the AC on button for 20s. I plug it in to AC plug in to get the click for it to reset the battery safety precautions. It charges great from the AC. I plug the DC plug in from the alternator that again has previously worked for years... not working. Recognizes the plug, but still doesn't charge. 

So what do I do? I explore the lower voltage DC input of 12-18v. I get a 100w panel. I check the Vmp this time it operates around 19-20v. DAMNIT. I am shooting this annoying gap! So what do i do... I get a volt limiter. https://powerwerx.com/mppt-150w-solar-charge-controller This MPPT limiter specifically. It is compatible with LifePO4 and fits my volt range at 14.5v output. Great!

Just tried it this morning and it doesn't work. Still doesn't recognize the charging but recognizes the plug. What is wrong?? My guess? Something in the MPPT controller internal to the Pecron isn't opening back up to charging from the DC. I have reached out to Pecron for support and I have not heard back in a week. 

$20 from the humane society in Graciot County, MI he was between 1-2 years old they said when we got him. Underweight, anxious, starved of a fun, loving home. He got a second chance with my wife and me for 12 long, fun, loving years. He was there for most of my adult life from 24-36. It is hard to recognize life without him. His spirit and presence filled life to the brim. He was my first dog. He will always and forever be my first dog. He will always and forever be my best friend.

Eventually what got him was his larynx paralysis that fortunately came late in his life. Something the vet recommended wasn’t worth correcting at his ripe age. He was arthritic and was on labrela for about a year and a half. A miracle drug from our experience. We got back at least a year of a happy comfortable boy right up to the end. After seeing his back leg ability degrade, without the monthly shot he would have declined too severely in less than 6 months I’m guessing. $150 a month and I will always recommend it for what time it gave to us and Pongo!

What is painful to realize is how much hurt I feel for all the people that have felt similar to me. He was my dog, he was unique, and my pain is real, but I know many others have shared this level of grief too for their dog at some point. So… to all those people I want to give you a hug. I’m so sorry.

Here are some things I’d like to share about Pongo! We always spelled his name with the exclamation point. If you knew him you’d know why. It makes perfect sense. I loved his face and his eyes and his eyebrows the way he looked at me. The way he hung his tongue and his floppy ears. I loved his large front paws and also his tiny back ones. I loved his happy tail and the way he leaned on me. I loved his floppy sit and our lunchtime midweek pet sessions. I loved his curious nose and his ability to find a tennis ball (even a random one in a bush high in the backcountry). I loved the way he looked when he slept and the way he looked at me when I was cooking. His happy-tappy feet when it was time to be fed. I loved the way he cleaned out the rest of the Greek yogurt tub and passed his time chewing on a stick. I loved the way he held his leash to walk himself home and I loved the way he helped get a package from the front porch. I loved watching him catch a frisbee in the air, and I still loved him when he couldn’t anymore. I loved his presence sitting next to me on the porch and how he greeted me when I got home. I loved teaching him and I love what he taught me. He taught me a lot more than I thought I needed to know. How to love something more than yourself and get that love in return.

Winds were ripping the other night in Wyoming. Glad I took the time to stake all the guy lines out after this photo. No flapping or shaking. Very comfortable night and this tent was overkill for this weather even.

Most people that know this route probably got influenced or relied heavily on the post from the bikepacking.com trip report here: https://bikepacking.com/routes/cathedral-valley-loop/

There are key changes and recommendations to this itinerary I think might cater to bikepackers like me so let's get in to it.

I recommend splitting it up in to two nights or if you do an overnight don’t rush the cathedral valley portion. so many side quests that are amazing. We did 14mi, 45mi, and 16mi.

Day 1 (14mi) We started late around 6pm friday,

taking the county dirt road for the first half of the paved road section (Do This!) and then rolling in to the abandoned truck with the spring for water. There’s a better shoulder right after the county road meets the hwy so taking this county road route is great for multiple reasons. The evening started windy but calmed down and was dead quiet.

Day 2 (45mi) we had the whole day to go 43mi to camp with a 2mi sunset detour around Temple of the Sun/Moon and Glass Mtn area. So amazing! We stashed water at the road to the Temples where there was a campsite near the wash on BLM. Wish we hadn’t because a) there was a perfectly good cattle trough with flowing clear water at this junction, and b) it took 1.5hr round trip to do this and it ruined the surprise of the views for this section. This is such a good day and it’s nice to split the elevation gain and loss for the day rather than have mostly all up hill one day and mostly all downhill the second day. Camping day 2 forces you to enjoy the views and take your time and do all the view points and attractions like the gypsum sinkhole, the historic cabin, and south and cathedral valley overlooks along the way. And then do a sunset or sunrise visit to glass mtn and temples of the sun and moon. Really windy at times and some rain but no accumulation. It calmed down a bit but you could tell the weather was turning.

Day 3 (16mi) mostly downhill nice road. cool rock features through rising and falling terrain as you go through washes. terrible head wind for us here but the slight downhill cancelled it out.

I loved this loop. A true gem for Utah bikepacking. No permits. Good camping. Great views. More water than anticipated. Interesting site seeing. Good road grade percentage.

The things i didn’t like are all the cars near peak season on a weekend dusting you and not making it feel remote. Be mindful of the rain as it will get too muddy with a lot of rain and the betonite areas will make it impassable for a bike or car. Most of it is sandy tho so i imagine these areas would be okay.

If you look closely at google earth you can spot about 4 cattle toughs on the aerial on the cathedral valley side. use them! it’s crazy to me that people don’t filter water more on this trip and just carry it all. We carried max 3L which was excessive. And with so many cars in peak season you can afford to not have to play it so safe. I’m curious about camping not at the abandoned truck and instead camping near Rockwell Spring just after bentonite hills. there’s a 4x4 road that goes to a wash with a spring looking at the map. i’d try that over camping near all the cow patties of the spring near the abandoned truck. If you’re nervous about relying on these cattle troughs, you can just take the time to drive up to confirm. Maybe you can try and call the ranger station to see if they has info.

if i were to do it in a overnight weekend, id take friday off, start late morning, crank to the cathedral valley campground and do sunset and sunrise at the overlook there. Day 2 i’d give myself the entire day to do day 2 and get to the car around dinner time, then drive back up cathedral rd to camp at the cool campsites near the rocks about 5-10mi back. Grill up some burgers and drink beers with the friends and enjoy being out there. then drive back sunday. trying to prevent the Sunday Scaries on day 2 is a good move i think.

Bikes: washboard roads and some chunk up near the high point of the route approaching the campground. I’d say if you’re keeping miles mellow for site seeing then a hardtail with suspension is the comfort choice. If you want to go for a fast time doing it on a drop bar gravel or rigid mtb with 40mm tires or more is totally fine but with all the sand and washboard and some chunk it’s not the ideal choice imo. Fat bikes do great out here with all the sand so my wife’s ice cream truck was great. I road a rigid Krampus w/ 2.6” tires. Given how much type 1 fun it was and no need to carry that much water (no need for fork mounts) i would have just put the suspension fork on. This was the first bikepacking trip for this Krampus and after never quite being happy with my bikes on these utah trips, i was finally satisfied. it was a perfect rig for the trips i like to do.

Gear Review: first time trying the BA Tiger Wall 3 - Platinum. My wife and i usually use a zpacks duplex or a xmid 2 pro. I wanted to try this semi-freestanding tent since we have to bring tent poles anyway and a lot of these areas have poor staking ground for a non-freestanding. It was very mediocre in the wind but the space and features were nice. it was a little creaky with the fabric moving on the poles in the wind. and the fabrics… just so thin. The vestibule areas seemed to not do well in the wind especially. seems a lack of support here in the design. If it wasn’t so windy it would have been a good tent. I would have preferred our xmid 2 on this trip.

I love the front bag. Top loader over roll bag any day of the week for me. My wife hates her roll bag (first gen rogue panda, came with the bike). I have the swift ind zeitgeist and love it. Maybe looking for an easy on-off support for it though. maybe something like the Twisted T Bar rack from swood.

The frame bag… $290 from rogue panda but daaaamn it’s so good. fills every corner of the frame, looks great, zippers are so beefy and nice and easy to open. I’m very glad i splurged for this.

Vitoria Mezcals are everything people say they are. Such an upgrade from the surly dirt wizards. They are fast, comfy, tough, look cool.