I drive so little, the auto battery was dead this morning when I had to go to a dentist appt, lol. (new dentist, unfortunately, not within cycling distance, but going with their track record here vs. distance away) #BikeTooter
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@MCDuncanLab Definitely have to be aware of that. I have gone 6 weeks without driving, and that can be a problem, especially when cold. It's been 2? 3? weeks since I drove last.
@ai6yr A trickle charger may save you from premature battery failure (?)
@ai6yr This is type I got, just left hood open so I'd remember, was garaged. But they also have racing focused ones you could mount in the cab https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Disconnect-Terminal-Isolator-Vehicles/dp/B074HW532B
@CliffsEsport Oooh, that's convenient!
@ai6yr Yeah lot easier than manually removing battery cable, killed one good battery before I did that TT but still not good for car to sit as I am sure you know. If you have deepcycle battery/battery box for the HAM stuff in the Toy they also make RV switches to use House/deep cycle to start if needed. IDK if they combine battery disconnect w that in one switch but worst case kill switch for starter and deep cycle w RV switch to toggle if needed for emergency.
@ai6yr On the Toy? Do you garage it or leave it outside? If outside putting solar panel on roof to maintain/trickle charge might not be bad idea. When I was fighting w health issues and just didn't have energy to drive unless had to, had my partner drive my car to work once a week. Even when they worked close enough to bike. There are also lot of battery disconnects you can buy manual or even bluetooth. I put manual one on previous car.
@CliffsEsport Alas, no garage space, the wife and my son with the new cars get the garage, lol. I have considered putting a cover on it, losing paint.
@ai6yr I don't know your house layout, but solar panel car port makes lot of sense IMO. Even in cold places like here in Midwest, but even moreso for you in CA. You could also add charge port to Toy, look at tow trucks if just doing 12/24V AFAIK they usually, well used to, have socket to attach jumper cables to. If you mount near driver door or electronically disable starting when connected not likely to drive off without disconnecting.
@ai6yr is that the old Hilux/4Runner you once mentioned? You don't keep it on a trickle charger?
@faraiwe I apparently SHOULD... haven't driven it for 2+ weeks and the headlights were on auto... but I think that causes a slow drain on the battery. Anyway, it's on the charger now.
@ai6yr Ah. Even so, the auto setting OUGHT to apply only when vic is ON or key to ACCESSORY/RUN.
If you have NOT yet, go grab a NoCo Genius 2 or 5.
@faraiwe Yep, it's on a Noco Genius 5 (or maybe Genius 10, I bought a bigger one to deal with occasional need to charge my shed with two AGM batteries, lol)
(swapped dentists, after my prior dentist CAUSED issues rather than fixed them, and I no longer have any faith in him, because he's been pitching "teeth straightening" like a used cars salesman. New dentist is an Eagle Scout, know his father, also a dentist, family practice... just didn't swap before because didn't have a reason to since things had been fine for a very long time... but then the old dentist sold his practice and things have been going donwhill...)
I changed dentists about 10 years ago after the existing one got chopsie about me refusing point-blank to have a molar removed, because he said it was fucked and I truly believed it was OK bar a small cavity. On the NHS thing, he would have made much more money for an extraction than a filling.
Went to new private dentist, and they fixed the problem there and then, and saved me a considerable bit of money, and since then I have spent about £9000 with them, on several really good dental implants!
ObFess: The actual molar the original dentist wanted to rip out is in fact now gone, but 10yrs ago it just needed fixing.
@bytebro That's annoying!
I got two root canals from a dentist who didn't speak English. My interpreter in this case did, obviously, but barely; he was basically able to tell me, "The dentist says there's a cavity in both of these two teeth," and so I said, "Okay, tell him I said go ahead and fill both"… and then I was wondering why it took so long, and kept wondering for literally another ten years, at which point they were finally x-rayed by someone who was able to tell me that they were both root canals. Until then, I thought they were both regular fillings and that bro simply lacked motivation.
(last time I was at the other dentist, heard him giving the SAME "you readlly need teeth $$$ straightening services from me" to two other patients. Massive red flag to me... 😡 )
That's bad. We dumped two dentists who kept trying to up-sell features. It's utterly unethical, you're in no position to know really, but our final dentist agreed that what they were claiming was foundless, and shady AF.
@tomjennings It sure feels skeevy.... the quote was $8K for the teeth straightening, and INSTEAD of saying "I'll refer you to an orthodontist" it's been "we handle this even though we don't do orthodontia, we arrange an orthodontist to approve all of this". Plus hearing him making the pitch every time I go in to every other patient...
Anyway, apparently the issue is the dental work he did was not right ("you need to replace this filling, it's getting old"), PLUS, apparently he didn't take care of the dental decay the dental work was supposed to fix, so I probably need another new filling on the SAME TOOTH, as well. TBD, another appointment already needed at my new dentist.
(just griping here in public, randomly, lol)
@ai6yr I had a dentist when I was a kid do a filling and not clean out well enough before. Years later (and after not going to dentists other than to get wisdom teeth yanked), that tooth had to be redone. Then in an accident involving a Lemon Head and a kick to the jaw, the tooth broke and a "temp" crow done at a dental school. Fast forward a decade plus, that crown had to be replaced. Still have a good bit of the tooth there, but much would have been avoided if the first guy had done the job right.
@ai6yr My life has been filled with bad dentists.
Hoping the new one works out for you.
@ai6yr I know what you mean; my dentist is pretty good but sends me non stop emails about whitening my teeth
@petes_bread_eqn_xls That kind of stuff turns me off... a lot. The "teeth straightening" is also on top of the "whitening your teeth" stuff he tried earlier, where I said "yeah, no thanks, stop sending me those". Plus, he lost the hygienist who had been cleaning my teeth for a decade, and his mom (a retired dentist) jumped in to start doing cleanings... after he was doing cleanings himself for 6 months. Anyway, signs of problems everywhere.
@ai6yr
Yeah. I looked into that sonic rat repeller and was afraid it would end up draining my battery.