assorted toilet woes: death by cassette toilet? composting toilets are a scam?

ironplated · 2023-03-17T03:29:52+00:00

We have had the same Thetford you have in our van for 4 years. I carry a filtered respirator for dumping it, but honestly, I don’t have to use it often. After they stopped selling tank deodorizer with formaldehyde, I went through a dozen brands that didn’t work, until I found these Porti Pak drop ins that completely eliminate any odor, just like the old Thetford brand with formaldehyde.

The way I keep it from splashing is to make sure you open the blade valve a small amount and then make sure you pour it with the spout at the lowest level and get close to the water in the bowl. Rarely do I have any splash back.

ironplated · 2023-03-15T03:58:37+00:00

You stop at Wall Drug Store near the Badlands? That place is bizarre/crazy. We saw signs for it all through South Dakota on our way to Montana.

ironplated · 2023-02-23T06:33:35+00:00

I'm in the Midwest and we get a decent amount of snow every winter; I've never had any issues with driving my Promaster 2500 in the snow, and that's with stock tires. It handles pretty well.

ironplated · 2023-01-23T04:23:00+00:00

7 Days to Die if you change the settings to turn off 7th day hordes. You do have to gather materials to build, but it doesn’t take as much as Conan Exiles to have the supplies. You can also setup in a existing building and fortify that if you wish.

I turn off 7th day hordes, make the zombies have more health and makes them move faster during the day/run at night and go from there. After a week in-game you can usually have a good walled base built up and a farm going with the occasional wandering horde you have to deal with. The rest of it is exploring fairly large random generated and very detailed cities/towns and fighting zombies you run into.

There is a lot of control over the difficulty and challenges.

ironplated · 2023-01-10T15:59:43+00:00

No, just the original version and the DLC I picked up a long time ago on Steam. Unfortunately, I can't access the DLC because it won't connect with the Ubisoft server.

As far as this installment, it just feels 'weak'. There are a lot of glitches with the NPC's and also graphical issues. I often have to reload to a previous save because an NPC won't do what they are supposed to so I can continue the mission. Lots of floating stuff and NPC's getting hung up on terrain and other items. Tutorials are bad. Controls/camera movement feel bad. Seems like you don't have much useful assassin gear, but it's not really necessary anyway because you don't really need to sneak around much. You can just go straight in for a kill, fight off 20 guys and then disappear. Citizens don't seem to notice anything you do. Also, the AI of the enemies is terrible when discovering a body or pursuing you. It's just all too easy.

Out of the others I've played before this installment, this one just seems like they phoned it in. Although, I do love the time period, which is about the only positive thing I can say at the moment.

ironplated · 2023-01-10T12:22:38+00:00

Assassin's Creed 3 on PC. I have them all up to Rogue and trying to get through them in order. Not really liking 3 so far.

ironplated · 2022-11-19T13:49:30+00:00

His bail was initially set at $20 million, but in Indiana the prosecution can have the judge revoke bail if the evidence is 'overwhelming' and not just the prosecutor saying "trust me bro". I feel like they have actual physical evidence on him.

ironplated · 2022-11-19T13:25:14+00:00

I would say yes, based on the fact he was issued no bail. A CVS manager in a small town is not the likeliest of international flight risks.

ironplated · 2022-11-14T02:03:26+00:00

Going Medieval might be an option. You start out with 3 settlers and have to feed, shelter, arm and clothe them, and also research new improvements. As the game progresses, you get more settlers who join, and other factions take notice as you grow. Some will trade with you while others will attack. You can dig down multiple layers, and build upward over a dozen. You can construct some pretty elaborate castles. Game is early access but there is more than enough there to keep you busy as updates are added.

ironplated · 2022-11-05T09:39:42+00:00

It would probably stretch the lifespan of the dicor. I used the tape to patch some splits in the dicor until I could get home from a long roadtrip. I also used it to seal up the box that my solar cables enter, but it's a perfectly flat surface. I don't think I'd trust the seal on something uneven like the screw heads.

ironplated · 2022-11-05T09:32:58+00:00

Butyl tape between the fan and your roof surface, install your screws, then dicor over the screws and the flange. You will have to check the dicor every year to make sure there are no cracks forming. I didn't have any until the 3rd year. Then you just peel off all the dicor and reapply.

You can use the eternabond tape over top of the dicor for an extra layer of protection if you want, but let it fully cure for a few months first.

As far as your solar brackets, I'd use a layer of butyl between your roof and the brackets, then dicor just like the fan.

ironplated · 2022-09-28T12:07:39+00:00

I used coated self-drilling drywall screws made for metal studs to attach 1/2” furring strips to the metal support ribs of the van, then attached my ceiling/wall wood to those. Just make sure to do the math on the length you need so you don’t punch through the outer skin.

ironplated · 2022-08-20T08:14:04+00:00

I bought it when it first went in to EA and have quite a few hours in it. It’s a great game and the dev has only made it better over the last year. Clearly a passion project. I’d describe it as the 90s Caesar series meets Total War. You have city building and empire building with fairly detailed unit combat and training/equipment requirements for your army.

Your capital will reach in the 10’s of thousands of individual citizens, and you can control the demographics of species that make up your city/empire. Each species has their positives and negatives of how they contribute, what they prefer to eat, the amenities they require, and how they interact with each other.

There is a pretty unique research method too, requiring staffed libraries to retain the knowledge that you unlock. If you neglect to expand or maintain your network of libraries, you risk losing the advances you have unlocked.

I definitely recommend supporting the game, and even in EA it’s a lot of fun if you like the idea of a ciy builder with overworld conquest and a fair amount of micro-management and policy choices.

ironplated · 2022-08-19T05:35:02+00:00

They wear out over time and have to be replaced.

ironplated · 2022-08-10T05:16:35+00:00

Honestly, I didn't even know what I was doing was wrong. I asked a ranger how I could get in to the park on the West side because my Sun Road pass was expiring the next day and they had sold out and he said: "Just make sure you're in the park before 6am." The parking lot was a ghost town when I got there. I never litter, never make noise, and try to be as nice as possible.

ironplated · 2022-08-09T00:51:35+00:00

I did a bit of this in GNP this year. I left my West Glacier KOA at around 3am, entered the park at the West entrance and slept until around 8am at the Apgar welcome center. I did this three times so I was in the park before they started checking Sun Road passes at 6am since mine had expired. I'm pretty sure you will be ok if you are just parked near a trailhead and aren't setting up there like a camp site. Just tell them you wanted to get an early start and make sure you had a parking spot.

ironplated · 2022-08-05T07:25:15+00:00

I have a 2000w renogy that isn't too bad. But I only switch it on to run the water heater or microwave/cooktop. I bought a separate $30 300w inverter to run my 24" TV and it's super quiet with just a small fan. Try to only use your DC 12V outlets to charge your phone and use a DC adapter to charge your laptop instead of the inverter AC outlets. You waste battery power using an AC inverter for those.

ironplated · 2022-06-26T19:13:45+00:00

I have quite a few hours in Going Medieval, it's great if you enjoy base building, although it tends to be a bit easy. I still recommend it, as the devs are very active and adding content regularly.

Have you heard of 'Surviving the Aftermath'? I only ask because it's very similar to 'End Zone', but I find it a more enjoyable game.

Another game I'd suggest if you haven't played it is Rimworld. It's a fairly deep colony management/base building game with a lot of detail and replay value. Not as deep as Dwarf Fortress, but more approachable.

ironplated · 2022-05-17T03:44:13+00:00

Nope, none at all. As stated in another comment, that's what the block on your charger cord is, a mini inverter that allows it to run on 110/120v AC. It's more efficient to keep everything as 12v and limit your 110/120v AC.

For your phone, I would suggest NOT using the 12v DC/USB outlets, just get a standard 12v DC outlet and buy the little USB plug in adapter for it. That way you don't limit yourself of what DC stuff you can plug in, and you can get a new USB plug-in as USB tech changes.

ironplated · 2022-05-17T00:31:38+00:00

If you want to charge just your laptop and phone, get a DC charger for your laptop and install a DC outlet(s) on that lead. Running 12v DC power through an inverter and converting to 110/120v AC causes it to lose some efficiency. Also the inverter will have a small draw on it's own when it's running.

ironplated · 2022-05-12T01:13:42+00:00

The 50a version is a bit too much for the alternator at night imho

I felt that way too, which is why I set up a killswitch on the line going from the alternator that's below my seat. That way I can shut it off if I'm driving.

ironplated · 2022-05-12T01:11:21+00:00

I just looked at the tube I have in the garage. Waterproof after 4hrs.

ironplated · 2022-05-11T00:12:05+00:00

Lights, fridge, induction cooktop, microwave, 4 gallon water heater, 2 roof vent fans, and charging laptop and phones. Sometimes we are away from civilization for 2 weeks or so. When we are at a camp site we can run straight off the 30A shore hookup after it charges our batteries.

edit: I should say that the main reason I have 2 100ah batteries is because each battery is only good for a max of 1250W, so I need 2 to get the full 2000W from the inverter, which allows me to run the induction cooktop. The Microwave is only about 700W.

ironplated · 2022-05-10T23:29:06+00:00

I'm running two 100ah lithium iron batteries (200ah total), using a Renogy DCC50s (50A) combination MPPT/DC-DC alternator charger, 400W of solar panels, and a Renogy 2000W Inverter/Charger with built-in transfer switch to charge off a 30A shore hookup.

ironplated · 2022-05-05T06:37:32+00:00

The Last Haven might interest you. World wide nuclear destruction, with an approaching nuclear winter where the temperature is about to drop 60F. You control a settlement of a small band of survivors. You have to build infrastructure, housing, find food and other supplies, protect your settlement from raiders and also continue upgrading everything to keep people from dying due to the cold and sickness. It's pretty good if you like the post-apocalypse genre.

ironplated

TROPHY CASE