For Sale Bargains

[Az.]

He is talking really about hydraulic disc brakes, not a mechanical. Cable actuated hydraulic disc brakes to be precise.

 

[saneagle]

He's looking for it in the context of a road bike. Road bike hydraulic brakes are a lot more expensive, and it's a right pain to convert. Cable operated hydraulic brakes could therefore be justified. None of that applies to the types of bikes we ride.

 

[cyclebuddy]

IIRC @saneagle was punting the benefits of the VTOMAN power stations. I use a similar one for my "day van" recharging my e-bike batteries when away for the weekend. This one is 2048Wh: It powers my in-van fridge, microwave and Tassimo coffee machine too. RRP is £1400, usually sells for £1000. At this silly low £719 price I bought one, although I already have two of the smaller 1200W models too. It's never been this cheap if you need one...

Here it is on Amazon at £919: Aferiy 2048Wh Power Station
And here it is on Banggood for £719: Aferiy 2048Wh Power Station

Warehouse stock is within UK so it arrives in a couple of days, no delays, import duty or VAT on top.

 

[saneagle]

IIRC @saneagle was punting the benefits of the VTOMAN power stations. I use a similar one for my "day van" recharging my e-bike batteries when away for the weekend. This one is 2048Wh: It powers my in-van fridge, microwave and Tassimo coffee machine too. RRP is £1400, usually sells for £1000. At this silly low £719 price I bought one, although I already have two of the smaller 1200W models too. It's never been this cheap if you need one...

Here it is on Amazon at £919: Aferiy 2048Wh Power Station
And here it is on Banggood for £719: Aferiy 2048Wh Power Station

Warehouse stock is within UK so it arrives in a couple of days, no delays, import duty or VAT on top.

Yeah, they're brilliant. I have two power stations and two extension batteries giving me around 5kwh. In the winter, I charge them from my house solar panels whenever the sun comes out, then I use them to supplement my power on the dull days when the solar panels don't provide enough. They can provide 1500w, which is enough for my microwave, air fryer, laptop and special 500w kettle.

I'm working on a wind generator to charge them in the winter. I use 5kwh per day in total, and my solar panels generate on average 2kwh per day in January, so I need a way of getting more power, either by bigger batteries or wind power, though wind power is likely to be around 100w average.

 

[cyclebuddy]

Yeah, they're brilliant. I have two power stations and two extension batteries giving me around 5kwh. In the winter, I charge them from my house solar panels whenever the sun comes out, then I use them to supplement my power on the dull days when the solar panels don't provide enough. They can provide 1500w, which is enough for my microwave, air fryer, laptop and special 500w kettle.

I'm working on a wind generator to charge them in the winter. I use 5kwh per day in total, and my solar panels generate on average 2kwh per day in January, so I need a way of getting more power, either by bigger batteries or wind power, though wind power is likely to be around 100w average.

Great plan... I have 2 x 12v @ 280Ah LiFeP04 batteries (£900) fed from 620W solar (£320) feeding this Aferiy 2400w/2048Wh battery in my house - so 11kw in total... and a 5kw diesel heater heating my home, being fed from the 12v 25A outlet on the Aferiy Power Station. It runs my fridge and heating for the whole year. Way cheaper than gas or electricity.

In my van I most often use the Aferiy 1200W model (the 2400W on a longer trip - both have the 12v 25A outlet to power a diesel heater), which is enough to charge e-bike batteries, and power the fridge, microwave, induction hob, air fryer and coffee machine... I sometimes think I could sell my house and live in my van instead!

Interested in your wind turbine idea though for winter...

 

[Ghost1951]

Great plan... I have 2 x 12v @ 280Ah LiFeP04 batteries (£900) fed from 620W solar (£320) feeding this Aferiy 2400w/2048Wh battery in my house - so 11kw in total... and a 5kw diesel heater heating my home, being fed from the 12v 25A outlet on the Aferiy Power Station. It runs my fridge and heating for the whole year. Way cheaper than gas or electricity.

In my van I most often use the Aferiy 1200W model (the 2400W on a longer trip - both have the 12v 25A outlet to power a diesel heater), which is enough to charge e-bike batteries, and power the fridge, microwave, induction hob, air fryer and coffee machine... I sometimes think I could sell my house and live in my van instead!

Interested in your wind turbine idea though for winter...

I know a guy who lives not that far from me on the Melkridge road and he bought a house not connected to the gas, electricity, or drainage grid. He was living in a van for two years while he worked on the house. He said he loved living in that van.

He now sleeps in the house, but he is still wedded to his van. He looks to be a happy, busy man, to me. I often stop and have a chat with him as I am ebiking along that road.

 

[saneagle]

I know a guy who lives not that far from me on the Melkridge road and he bought a house not connected to the gas, electricity, or drainage grid. He was living in a van for two years while he worked on the house. He said he loved living in that van.

He now sleeps in the house, but he is still wedded to his van. He looks to be a happy, busy man, to me. I often stop and have a chat with him as I am ebiking along that road.

I lived on my boat for three years. It was brilliant. One year in Bristol Marina and two years in Uphill Boat Yard Western Super Mare

 

[cyclebuddy]

I lived on my boat for three years. It was brilliant.

Why not now? So many enjoy "van life", albeit many by necessity rather than choice - Bristol particularly is noted for it.

 

[Ghost1951]

I lived on my boat for three years. It was brilliant. One year in Bristol Marina and two years in Uphill Boat Yard Western Super Mare

My eldest son who was recently divorced bought a boat for himself and his new girlfriend to live on. He works in his own business and had to basically leave the nice house he had so his kids could stay put. The boat wasn't cheap but while he recovers his finances it has worked for him, and her , except the boat started to get too damp for her sensibilities during the depths of winter with the two of them and the hatches shut. So they decamped to Cyprus during the cold months and came back in the late spring. Fortunately as long as he has internet connection he can work just fine.

 

[egroover]

Cheap powerstation ?

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3347272?clickPR=plp:3:16

 

[thelarkbox]

My eldest son who was recently divorced bought a boat for himself and his new girlfriend to live on. He works in his own business and had to basically leave the nice house he had so his kids could stay put. The boat wasn't cheap but while he recovers his finances it has worked for him, and her , except the boat started to get too damp for her sensibilities during the depths of winter with the two of them and the hatches shut. So they decamped to Cyprus during the cold months and came back in the late spring. Fortunately as long as he has internet connection he can work just fine.

View attachment 59651

And at the other end of the spectrum i moved into a houseboat (holiday home winter let) age 17 while doing my a-levels at night school and temping during the day when jobs were available.. Cheapest rent in town.. a lil chilli and the rowers practicing at 6 am with cox's shouting 'Full Pressure' as the exited the bridge shadow and passed us will never be missed..

 

[saneagle]

Cheap powerstation ?

View attachment 59654

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3347272?clickPR=plp:3:16

That's a very good price, but is a bit low on capacity and power. It'll be OK for charging phones, powering a laptop and lights. If you have a van or boat, or you want emergency power for your house, I think it's worth spending the extra money on a bigger and more powerful one.

 

[Ghost1951]

That's a very good price, but is a bit low on capacity and power. It'll be OK for charging phones, powering a laptop and lights. If you have a van or boat, or you want emergency power for your house, I think it's worth spending the extra money on a bigger and more powerful one.

I have a fancy for buying a stand alone solar panel i can put beside the south facing wall of my house, set up at about a 45 degree to charge my electric bikes and perhaps a chunky 12 volt lifepo4 storage battery for powercuts. We have had a few 12 hour outages in bad weather during winter storms.

When u get better, i will maybe message you for advice. Probably, i would need an inverter to work the bike charger and for use with the house stuff.

 

[saneagle]

I have a fancy for buying a stand alone solar panel i can put beside the south facing wall of my house, set up at about a 45 degree to charge my electric bikes and perhaps a chunky 12 volt lifepo4 storage battery for powercuts. We have had a few 12 hour outages in bad weather during winter storms.

When u get better, i will maybe message you for advice. Probably, i would need an inverter to work the bike charger and for use with the house stuff.

If you have room on your land, get as many panels as you can fit in. Look on Ebay, you can buy complete systems used or new.

 

[guerney]

Cheap powerstation ?

View attachment 59654

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3347272?clickPR=plp:3:16

The ebike battery powering my shed's systems (sound and lights, it's also the ebike battery for my ebike) has more capacity: battery mount + cheapo converter + cheapo "pure sine wave" inverter. I really should hook up a solar panel or two for charging while I'm gardening, so I can use more powerful amplifiers in the shed, and still have enough power to pedelec 12 miles home. Who knows what cells are in that power station, my ebike battery's are LG MH1 (not fantastic, but not cheapo flaming Chinese).

 

[Ghost1951]

And at the other end of the spectrum i moved into a houseboat (holiday home winter let) age 17 while doing my a-levels at night school and temping during the day when jobs were available.. Cheapest rent in town.. a lil chilli and the rowers practicing at 6 am with cox's shouting 'Full Pressure' as the exited the bridge shadow and passed us will never be missed..

I've never been on one, but I have watched some vids about living on barges on the canal system. There is a certain appeal in the idea of waking up in a cosy berth with water lapping against the sides, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I expect that is a hopelessly romantic and deluded view.

 

[guerney]

My eldest son who was recently divorced bought a boat for himself and his new girlfriend to live on. He works in his own business and had to basically leave the nice house he had so his kids could stay put. The boat wasn't cheap but while he recovers his finances it has worked for him, and her , except the boat started to get too damp for her sensibilities during the depths of winter with the two of them and the hatches shut. So they decamped to Cyprus during the cold months and came back in the late spring. Fortunately as long as he has internet connection he can work just fine.

View attachment 59651

Which SIM router and aerial(s) does your son use?

https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/4g-routers.47655/

 

[cyclebuddy]

The ebike battery powering my shed's systems (sound and lights, it's also the ebike battery for my ebike) has more capacity: battery mount + cheapo converter + cheapo "pure sine wave" inverter. I really should hook up a solar panel or two for charging while I'm gardening, so I can use more powerful amplifiers in the shed, and still have enough power to pedelec 12 miles home. Who knows what cells are in that power station, my ebike battery's are LG MH1 (not fantastic, but not cheapo flaming Chinese).

You need to remember it's not just a battery pack - it's also an MPPT solar charge controller, has 5v USB and 12v outputs and a 240v inverter... most often pure sinewave. When you factor all those "all in one box" aspects to the battery, these power stations do offer great value... and you're not adding extra usage/wear to your precious bike battery.

I don't know about the one @egroover posted, but key points to check are that it is an MPPT controller rather than the simpler PWM and can take the volts/current of the solar panels you intend to use, the Inverter is pure sinewave and has the output you need (maybe to boil a kettle or run a hotplate/microwave in your shed), obviously enough storage capacity to do what you need, and most importantly that the cells are LiFeP04... most give 3500 cycles and guaranteed a service life of 5 years. The popular branded ones are Bluetti and Ecopower, but they're all Chinese made anyway and lesser-known saneagles' VTOman and the Aferiy ones I bought get good reviews too (7 year warranty on Aferiy).

 

[thelarkbox]

I've never been on one, but I have watched some vids about living on barges on the canal system. There is a certain appeal in the idea of waking up in a cosy berth with water lapping against the sides, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I expect that is a hopelessly romantic and deluded view.

Closest i got to the long/narrow boats was cleaning them in the summer, our winter let was a shoebox on a raft just to the side of a busy city trunk rd bridge, with a static mooring. Next door to the city rowing club, not being college they had something to prove?? and were Xtra.. tho for £17 a week split between 3 of us not too bad (think butlins chalet on the water..)

The guaranteed 'romance killer was the Poo stick, The chemical toilet was emptied fortnightly.. And while the house rule to go #2 at work or in the onsite boatyard toilets to which we had a key, there were exceptions especially as my boat mates were female (rules n logic vs 'i want' - ha)
So when the toilet got too full and post flush the flap was obstructed by a floater someone had to go and get some poo sticks from the towpath to deal with it and then drop the used stick out the b/room window..
-It was always a bit of a downer popping to the loo and find a small bundle of poo sticks ready.. And the chap who pumped the bog out was always treated to a warm welcome and offered a coffee..

 

[Ghost1951]

Closest i got to the long/narrow boats was cleaning them in the summer, our winter let was a shoebox on a raft just to the side of a busy city trunk rd bridge, with a static mooring. Next door to the city rowing club, not being college they had something to prove?? and were Xtra.. tho for £17 a week split between 3 of us not too bad (think butlins chalet on the water..)

The guaranteed 'romance killer was the Poo stick, The chemical toilet was emptied fortnightly.. And while the house rule to go #2 at work or in the onsite boatyard toilets to which we had a key, there were exceptions especially as my boat mates were female (rules n logic vs 'i want' - ha)
So when the toilet got too full and post flush the flap was obstructed by a floater someone had to go and get some poo sticks from the towpath to deal with it and then drop the used stick out the b/room window..
-It was always a bit of a downer popping to the loo and find a small bundle of poo sticks ready.. And the chap who pumped the bog out was always treated to a warm welcome and offered a coffee..

That is a horrible tale. My son's boat of course has the same issue. The marina he is at in a northern river estuary has no disposal facilities. It is forbidden for obvious reasons to empty the boat's sewage tank in the marina and they have to go to sea every now and again to get rid of the stuff. This can be problematic at times in winter in the North Sea when huge storms come along. They try at all costs to use the marina toilets for some purposes.... I'll leave it there, I think.