Alternative to solar?

[MudDog]

I recently bought a couple of 80 watt solar panels off of E*Bay from what turned out to be a Chinese company (laviesolar.com).

The old saying about the “day you buy something, it’s obsolete” seems to be true.

A few days ago I received an email from an apparent sister company – lavieu238.com with an offer to pilot a “revolutionary new power source for your home or recreational vehicle”.

The email didn’t go into a lot of detail, but among the claims about RV use:

1) Can run 18+ years on one fueling
2) Works in all weather, 24x7
3) With a suitable gauge wire between the trailer and the TV, continuously chars (sic) the TV batteries, including all makes/models of electric vehicles.
4) No need for hookups or a generator for you….or any of your neighbors in the entire campground (extensions cords for your neighbors extra charge…the more you buy, the more the discount).

Apparently it requires significant cooling, but one of the testimonials is from a guy that claims he patched his Thetford ElectraMagic into the cooling system (Dave – was that you?). He claims AquaKem acts like a coolant/anti-freeze and as long as he flushes the toilet a few times a day he does not have any ‘overheating’ issues on the power unit.

Being a skeptic, I’m a little suspicious of the whole thing. It doesn’t come with the fuel…they provide a few links for sources of ‘highly enriched fuel’. Most of the domains end in .ir – not sure if they ship to the US.

No weight is listed…and I’m already pretty close to the weight limit on my axle/tires. It’s also not UL or FCC certified. Would hate to install it and have interference on the TM radio :/

The warranty/return policy is a bit iffy. All the email said was “copied from French design - better than Russian design” and “absolutely no returns once fueled”.

It doesn’t specify how long it takes to start-up or shutdown, or whether you can leave it on to power the fridge while in transit.

Another one of the testimonials talks about a “pleasant green glow” making it easy to find your rig at night. Would think that could be kind of annoying when trying to sleep.

I’m not sure….I’m hoping Wayne or someone else will jump on it first and report back how it works out and how difficult installation is.

Anyone else heard of this?

[Bill]

Surely you jest - and once again I am suspicious of the date. There is no such site as lavieu238.com. And lavie238.com exists, but returns a bunch of gibberish. If they were serious about selling their product, whatever it is, they would ensure that there was an English-language version of the site.

Sounds like an April Fool message - or a pseudo-science scam. Ask Wayne about 300 mpg carburetors. He knows ...

Bill

[mjlaupp]

Hook, line and sinker!

[ShrimpBurrito]

You must have ESP, as I did have thoughts of somehow converting the Electra Magic into a swamp cooler.

Dave

[wbmiller3]

I had one of those. I bought it used from a place in Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania. Mine had the blue glow, though, maybe it's an option.

I finally had to get rid of it because of all the government paperwork involved.

You missed one of the key side benefits.
If you neighbor parties late into the night and keeps you awake, You can enrich materials commonly found in nature that can be used to vaporize them the next morning.

Can you claim the alternative energy credit on your tax return with this?