Sunday, November 27, 2011

Getting tools for the trip

I have been working  on a tool list for the trip to Guatemala.  I did order a cordless drill that comes with two batteries and a flashlight.  This should be a good one for us to us.  The extra battery will give us more power and the drill has a half inch chuck so it should be easy to use the hole saw we will need for the soda can solar collector. We have several tools that will be very important for this trip, the cordless drill, the hole saw drill attachments, a really good pair of tin snips,and the uni bit drills. These tools need to be good quality so they will provide enough service after we return.  We just need to show them how to made the solar soda can collector and they can build them.  We will need to make sure we have the aluminum caulking that we need to hold the soda cans together.  We need to make sure we can get that in Guatemala, because we can't pack that many tubes of caulk in our luggage.  Besides if they don't have the material in Guatemala, then we need to develop a back up plan and that may be aluminum tape.  We do need to make sure we think about what we are going to do and then have a back up plan so that if something goes wrong we can still work and accomplish something else.
We do need to think a lot about what need to take and how much everything will weigh.  You make a list starting with what is most important and then work down to what is not as important.  You take as much as you can and leave what won't fit in the suitcase.  The cordless drill, hole saw, uni-bits, and the heavy tin snips are very important.  We will need the caulk and we need to buy that in Guatemala.  If we work on the solar hot water heater we will need copper, solder, solder paste and copper fitttings.  If we can get a solar hot water heater built then we should be able to get one built for the school.  It is easier to do solar hot water because it will not freeze.  No cold weather makes that job easier to do.   A lot easier to do. 
I am also going to pack my father's brace and bit drill because we may need to work in an area we no power.  The old brace and bit does work and I have been working out at the ICC Cougarplex so I should be able to drill lots of holes and not get tired.  We can pack an extra bag for only 40 dollars so we can bring our tools at a decent price and we don't need a lot of clothes and besides we can do laundry.  You can wear a pair of pants more that one day.  We have a meeting on Monday to talk more about the trip. 
Did I mention the soda can solar collector was discharging 180 degree air on Wednesday.  I have seen it produce 154 but not 180 degrees.  It was sunny.

No comments:

Post a Comment