Solar 12V Lead Acid Trickle Charger

I have a couple of things which have 12V (lead acid type chemistry) batteries which get used irregularly. I know well that these batteries need to be kept 'groomed' for optimal life and to avoid disappointment when you go to use the item.

For quite a few years I've used a small 5W solar panel similar to the one above with great success. For instance my "ride on" lawn mower battery is over 6 years old and still acts like new. This is not an accident.

In the past I've gone with the "KISS" (keep it simple stupid) approach of having a 5W panel just directly (well via a diode) connected to the battery. Now I know that a "12volt panel" is not going to put out 12 volts, and I now that to charge a 12 volt (lead acid) battery you need to give it more than 12 volts and all that stuff you can read elsewhere (such as here) if you don't know. A typical 5W panel will not be able to over-charge a 12V battery unless that battery is very small. Instead (probably at worst) it will hold the battery at about 15V for the peak sunlight period and that's it. Some intelligent positioning of the panel will help you to avoid this (taking advantage of the movement of shade and the angle of the sun).

So my last panel died (no idea why, I suspect one of those fine solder joints broke or eroded) and so I went to ebay and bought the one above. Having had them before I just wanted to test the outputs (to ensure it was working) and put it into service. I'll circle back to that, because that led to some discoveries.

The first discovery was that this panel is actually (totally without fanfare) incorporating a mini PWM solar controller in it:

yes, you can see that LED blink when you initially hold it up to the light. The  "Chinglish" is a bit misleading however. When one carefully cuts the back off (held by what is similar to black Sika-Flex) one finds the controller and the LED on the board.

one can test the actual panel (hardly coinvently) of the PV+ and PV- tags (which literally solder direct to the lugs on the back of the panel).

 But one can not test the output of the panel directly by the battery clamps because this is not a simple panel: its instead a system.

This is because a solar controller typically requires an "order of things" when connecting it.

1. connect the controller to the battery (allowing it to know what voltage its dealing with, as many are 12/24V). This is also a "safety" thing for the electronics because an unloaded and cold panel  in full sunlight may exceed the safe voltage input limits of the controller.
2. connect the panel to the controller (charging now begins if there is enough light)

So, because this panel is always directly connected to the panel the above order of connection sequence can't happen. Thus the system shows nothing (yes 0V) on the battery clamps which may (incorrectly) lead you to think that the "bloody thing is broken". (guilty)

Clearly a case of "ignorance is bliss"

So, once I understood this I connected it to the battery via my Amp meter and voilla!! Current flowed and as well voltage began ticking upwards on the battery (yes, I have 2 meters).

Fantastic

Looking on the back of the panel (if one could be bothered to look and think) we see some give-aways here.

In the Specification we see a few lines we wouldn't expect to see:

• Over-charged Protection Voltage (sic) of 14.5V
• Over-charged Recovery Voltage (sic) of 13V

one would simply not expect to see these two on a plain panel, as this is the sort of stuff a controller provides.

It would have been better if the seller had made it clear that this was the case (because then they wouldn't have had to send me a second one because this one appeared faulty).

So basically I can fully recommend this little guy for simplifying my life of keeping my batteries well groomed. Something my motorcycle needs because there is a little 50mA parasitic drain which needs addressing if I don't ride it every day (I don't). 50ma sounds small but after 5 days that's 6Amp Hours and the new capacity of a AGM battery for the bike is about 8Amp Hours, so in winter, a week of not using it during the week means on Saturday you've got a dead battery.

So I can just hang it off the number plate and plug it in to the bike and my battery is kept "groomed". Naturally I had already made up a small DC jack plug to connect my previous (panel and controller) system to the bike.

This streamlines things enormously (because I don't have to connect the controller to the bike and then the panel to the controller) and instead only have one thing to plug and play.

Naturally it works well on the lawnmower too

Win Win

Militado (brother of Baltany?)

Some time back I bought the Baltany (because it was being hyped up on the Reddit Chinese watch sub) and found that everything that was said about how good the front crystal was, was completely correct. However there is more to a watch than the wanking about the AR on the Sapphire crystal and so I ended up selling it.

However AliExpress had already sussed out that I had a taste for Chronographs (having bought the Pagani, the Phylida and then the Baltany) and amid the suggestions I found the Militado.

Which at first glance could be mistaken for the Baltany (see below) and so pretty much anything I've said about the Baltany (see my review here) goes for the Militado. Note the absence of the date complication (which I'm sure still exists below the face...). As you can guess by the position of the subdials it is a Seiko VK67 movement meaning it gives you a Chronograph that will measure up to 12 hours duration.

Note that the pushers are unscrewed in the Baltany shot, but are locked down (gently) on the Militado further up.

Bottom line first:

I like the watch. I like its dial marking and hands creates a better readability and that its an improvement over the Baltany ... except for the AR.

I like simple dials in, less distraction from the task at hand (identifying and reading the time). So I quickly found that the big printed minutes (with a nod to a flight navigators watch) got in the way of me "recognising" the time at a glance as my brain went "ohhh numbers, lets read that" and I was delayed. Further it then lacked the hours which the hour hand should point to that a Flieger has, this Farer is a perfect example of that

So I ditched the Baltany and waited for the AliExpress 11.11 sales and got the Militado for a good price (AU$125, or about half of the Baltany).

I've been wearing the Militado for about 24 hours now and am finding it is indeed a much more visually practical watch than the Baltany, however one thing stood out as soon as I took it out of the box: the AR coating (which was actually claimed in the AliExpress item details) was either absent or just shit.

This can be seen above, but let me show you in a single picture combining them.

The glass (crystal) just isn't there on the Baltany except in the bright points, and even then you can see behind it. The Militado just has nothing. This is clarified in this test with showing the reflections and at the angle you should see only a faint reflection from the front of the crystal (which isn't AR coated) but not the back, which is AR coated.

So if I was the type to make a big deal out of AR (which I'm not) then I'd say "go for the Baltany".

Getting back to what I like its stuff like

• lighter weight
• smaller bulk in the case yet bigger dial to see
• clear legible dial and 
• clear easy to read polished hands that enable precision of reading the values
• functionality (an actual hour accumulator which goes to 12 hours
• the somehow vintage look to the hour numerals

In practice, when just glancing at it, the Chronograph features don't clamour for attention, but when you are looking at them are easy to read. However its easy to see above the reflection of the ceiling and the contrast black where my (black) phone took the picture. Definitely a reminder that AR (if it even exists) isn't present on this watch.

Lastly (as I observed with the Baltany case) the way that the lugs curve around helps make the watch sit nicely on the wrist. Note this isn't the case with a NATO where (like the Baltany) there really isn't much room between the spring bar and the case. So its either a flimsy crappy NATO or two part straps like this one.

Depending on your wrist I find that the extra angle of the lugs and the fact that they go below the bottom of the watch can result in the (slightly sharp) lugs being a bit "sharp" on the skin when the watch is taken off or you're doing work. Again, refer to the above Baltany post for details

The intelligent choice of dome angle means that you can also see the time properly at a slight angle, something that lately people seem to eschew. So many reviews go on about the distortion and "playing with the light". Personally I suspect that some folks may want a carnival of mirrors, but I have my own opinions about that.

Lastly this blog post took this amount of time to photograph and write:

So just under 2 hours.

I posted this picture of the dial of the (stopped) chronograph so you can see clearly how hands are readable and also why the original Omega Speedmaster had narrow hands (and these on teh Militado are narrower than the Baltany) which are better in the context of actually wanting to use it as a tool (a stopwatch).

On the Baltany (with its wider and blunt sub dial hands) its even harder  to see just where the minute pointer is pointing to and that sort of defeats the purpose of a chrono in my view. Still its only around 10:30 to 1:30 where its an issue (unless the minute hand gets in on the act too).

But who buys a chrono to act like a stop watch anyway (irony, it should be everyone), sadly its all about a big bulky watch with lots of markings on it that looks complex right? Something for a big handsome man ... a tool (not the watch, the man).

So on that note, if you're after a low cost but nice tool, the Militado is good, and if you're wanting a big chunky watch to signal; then perhaps go for a Rolex (maybe copy?).

Happy Watching

Copy that

This isn't the Breitling Top Time Deus Ex Machina (although it looks like one)

indeed, nor is this

although that is my Yamaha SR500 in the background

and this isn't the back of a Breitling Deus

The Breitling however looks like this

The Breitling Top Time Deus above is a rare watch now and while it was originally listed for something like $4,500 it soon sold out and we who like it now have to pay upwards of $18,000 to have one.

To me this is absurd and beyond the actual reasonable cost of the watch.

When makers do this I think immediately of Rolex, exclusivity (meaning excluding me or you) and King Wang. To me this leads to people having watches which they don't actually wear in daily life, leave in a box and just pull out to go to events. These people are quite often insufferable and fuss about "mind the watch" ... This is the exact antithesis of what is portrayed in the Breitling advertising.

Really, that surfer chick is going to wear her leather strap into the ocean ...

However watches shouldn't just be virtue or wealth signalling for the well heeled wanker, some of us are pure enthusiasts. Heck even Swatch recognises this with their Moon Swatch range. Watches are made to wear; and if you're afraid to wear it then, frankly, you're a wanker. Watches are not investment instruments.

So, like they say in the military when they understand what's been said: "Copy that" this is a copy, indeed this copy I previously blogged about has arrived.

I'm the sort of person who doesn't mind a Chinese Homage (because copy is apparently such a dirty word) as I've previously written about here and here. In particular I wrote the following in that piece about my Pagani:

People react strongly about watches which are copies (to be blunt) or homages (to be pretending its something else). Setting aside the fully hand made watch by a craftsman in his workshop, pretty much all modern watches are "reproductions". When seen from the view that; they are designed in CAD, then a machine produces the parts from a file (and in some cases does a lot of the assembly too). From this perspective  a maker (say) Rolex just reproduces watches from a design.

I'm looking at my PD-1701 and seeing that others have (by measurement) done a reproduction of this but at a price which can be purchased by anyone who loves the look and design. The real thing that differentiates it is the logo and copyright.

While the PD-1701 is not finished to the microscopic examination of the case and the mechaquartz movement is not a hand made highly complex mechanical one. Most owners of the Omega would probably not know that you had swapped out their mechanical movement until they went to wind it, for they don't actually see the movement in daily life with the watch. Few if any owners would have taken the case back off in the 1960's to see.

Thus these Homages or reproductions are really just enriching our lives (those of us who aren't uber wealthy or willing to make sacrifices to get the originals) with being able to enjoy the essential parts of the watch - how it looks and how it functions - at a much more affordable price. I suspect this desire to be 'exclusive' (meaning exclude you from my club) is what's really hurt in people when they find out "its a copy"

As you can see above, I tried the Cadisen "homage" (that first link) but had to send the watch back due to a manufacturing defect. The experience led me to try the Sugess but when it arrived it was as lackluster as I'd expected. 

Obviously the Breitling is superior in every way (visual presentation and mechanical execution) neither of the Homages stacked up. Most of all what I like about the Breitling is the generous amount of paint applied to the hands and the almost metallic sheen of the white dial. Contrast and colour. Its beautiful. Indeed if you look again up at the copy watch its similar.

However soon AliExpress discovered my penchant and as I wrote back on the 14th of Sept a copy of the Breitling Deus (not even pretending to be a homage) was presented to me as "we think you'd like this". Not being a Quartz Snob (how could I be, after so many decades with Seiko Quartz watches) how could I resist? So I didn't.

So what did I think of the copy? 

It looks exactly like it should, but in the AliExpress auction they omitted to describe the watch properly. For instance, the sub dials. The one which should be the elapsed minute counter of the chrono is apparently simply a stupid hour counter (which seems not to be linked in any way to the actual hour hand), and the other is functional. 

However amusingly the subdial coloured yellow, which should be the running seconds hand is actually the Chronograph elapsed minutes counter. The pusher buttons function nicely and the reset operation of the chrono is a lovely smooth electronic watch operation.

Well I'll put in this video round up

Some points:

• the supplied strap was vinyl (and crap if thick) 
• lug width is 22mm and I had a nice burgundy red leather one lying around, so I put that on it pretty fast
• the watch is light, which means despite how big it is, its not as fatiguing to wear all day (which I did today)
• the box it comes in is humble, but given the $50 price surprisingly good
• the watch is clearly not machined from steel (didn't claim to be either), but is metal. Probably cast brass and then plated 

I mentioned light, so here it is compared to my Seiko SRPE 

Would I have bought it knowing all this?

You bet your arse I would. The watch face, hands and the splash of colour on the tachymeter is streets better than the Sugess and the Cadisen and the watch is a much closer nod to the original Breitling. Anyone who buys the Sugess or Cadisen and doesn't think they are buying what amounts to a copy is bonkers.

I'm laughing all the way with this watch, not least because its foibles make it funnier than I'd expected. I bet my copy gets more wrist time than most genuine Top Time Deus watches do.

I'm loving it.

BTW, for those misguided or just as yet uneducated:

Deus means God and is not pronounced like the word Deuce (as I hear some Americans saying). Also Machina is said more like the movie Ex Machina (which I recommend if you want to hear Americans who can say Latin words correctly)

Win Win

King Wang Likes to Watch

As well as being about a purchase made and the weeks of anticipation in wait, this is a small rant about Wangers. This is perhaps a continuation of an idea I started here about social media and people who can't think but follow; magical thinkers (you know, wankers and narcissists).

Its been only a week since I ordered a watch on Ali which I'm keen to get, so this leads me to wonder how Wangers who buy into the Rolex dream can wait for 2 years for a watch that costs in the tens of thousands (not just the tens).

While looking around AliExpress I ended up getting "suggested" this watch by Ali

So its a quartz (not a mechanical) and sure looks like a direct copy of the Breitling Top Time to me.

Which makes me wonder about how the people who buy into Rolex feel about waiting for years "for the call" to say "your watch is now available. I mean sure Rolex is a quality brand, but is it in any way worth that cost (and I don't just mean the money)?

Let me be clear here: this watch is not a homage, it is a blatant knock-off and (for emphasis) I am not promoting or encouraging you to buy this; thus there is no link nor promotion of this watch here.

I also expect this watch to be complete shite, but even still, how could I resist. I mean if it actually presents OK and if it actually has a functioning chronograph mechanism ... I'm no calibre snob, so even though its quartz its worth examining. Not least because I don't know of any quartz movements which actually have a 30 minute sub dial counter (most have 60 minutes which makes reading the subdial vexing to say the least).

However it underscores why I like Chinese Watches and why I am personally against Rolex as a brand. Now, to be clear I don't care if others buy Rolex, people can do what they want, but my point is this:

When does it become somehow acceptable to force people to "prove their brand loyalty" by making purchases of stuff they don't want, just so they can be put in the waiting list for what they do want. Lets forget about the fact that one has to pay tens of thousands for a watch of which the same quality could be had from a Chinese watch for one one hundredth of the price.

This video is worth watching:

I can only describe this fascination with Rolex as King Wang (or the Emperors New Clothes).

To me the King is Dead, long live the King ... King Wang 

...(chants go up of King Wang King Wang kingwangkingwangkingwankingwanking )