My random thoughts/comments/questions/concerns as I go

[davideos]

$3 Sounds like pantry moths. They don't need much at all to survive on. If you've ever eaten in the car, a few particles of flour is all it takes. Since you need a male and female to propagate the species in your biosphere, you might try using a pheromone trap. These are available at your home improvement stores. I think they are about $6 for 2. It will trap the male or female...don't remember which. You also might take your car in for a detail. Get the carpets cleaned and completely vacuumed.

 

[blackbeasst]

$3 Sounds like pantry moths. They don't need much at all to survive on. If you've ever eaten in the car, a few particles of flour is all it takes. Since you need a male and female to propagate the species in your biosphere, you might try using a pheromone trap. These are available at your home improvement stores. I think they are about $6 for 2. It will trap the male or female...don't remember which. You also might take your car in for a detail. Get the carpets cleaned and completely vacuumed.

ha! with 2 kids under the age of 5 i know there are food particles in the car! i'll have to take it all out and clean it up. just odd that my wifes honda pilot that sits right next to it and probably has half a box of cheerrios spilled all over it has no problems. why they likey my FFE so much?!

you think these things have a nest or something in the car?

 

[michael]

Could you possibly be driving through an area with moth eggs in the air? Bringing them in through windows or air inlet?

 

[blackbeasst]

Could you possibly be driving through an area with moth eggs in the air? Bringing them in through windows or air inlet?

LOL! thats a damn good question. one of which i wouldn't know if i was or not

 

[unplugged]

Could you possibly be driving through an area with moth eggs in the air?

If you do: DON'T BREATH! With those moth eggs in your lungs, they will spawn into tiny moths and grow in your lungs until you begin to cough up moth larvae.

Hey. I just came upon a great plot for a horror movie.

 

[blackbeasst]

#7: is there any way to play dvds/movies via disc/usb/sc card? hack or not?

 

[Kakkerlak]

Ford says the only way to output video to the dashboard screen is via the component video jacks, not via USB or SD or Bluetooth. I would be amazed if anyone has gained access to the infotainment system on a level that would allow something like that.

Unrelated: I have an old iPod Video that I leave plugged into the USB port. Today I noticed that the screen of the iPod shows the a big blue oval Ford emblem. I've never seen that sort of thing when the iPod was plugged into a PC.

 

[hybridbear]

Ford says the only way to output video to the dashboard screen is via the component video jacks, not via USB or SD or Bluetooth. I would be amazed if anyone has gained access to the infotainment system on a level that would allow something like that.

Unrelated: I have an old iPod Video that I leave plugged into the USB port. Today I noticed that the screen of the iPod shows the a big blue oval Ford emblem. I've never seen that sort of thing when the iPod was plugged into a PC.

We have an old (2006 or 2007) iPod Mini which shows a Ford logo when connected as well. We leave it plugged in to the Focus Electric all the time.

Does the Focus have the component video jacks? The Fusion does and will allow you to play videos on the MFT screen, but only when the car is on & in park.

 

[Kakkerlak]

Yes, the Focus has the component video jacks in the center arm-rest console.

I'm not sure I see the point of it, unless the idea was to let you watch a movie while you sat in the car for three hours while charging.

 

[jmueller065]

Yes, the Focus has the component video jacks in the center arm-rest console.

Um no, the Focus does not have component video jacks. That is a composite jack accompanied by stereo audio inputs (component jacks refer to jacks for the individual colors: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Component_video )

It is easy to make that mistake since the words are so similar. Ok I'm done being pedantic for today...

 

[Kakkerlak]

You are technically correct. The best kind of correct !

 

[blackbeasst]

How can I adjust the text to speech volume? Just up and stopped reading at radio level. Very low voice now.

 

[jmueller065]

It might be the same volume level as the sync voice. You can change that volume in the settings.

 

[blackbeasst]

Mueller, can you give me an exact location of where our could be? I've searched all over and found nothing.

Nm I got it!

 

[blackbeasst]

so with the colder weather starting to roll in to GA and the morning drives being colder than the drive home im starting to see that these cars don't like the heat all too much. just running the defrost zapped it by 20 miles

i knew going in that the winters would be close on my 75 RT drive, but zapping 20 before i leave the house ain't gonna cut it since im only showing an average of 85ish on the guess-o-meter in the mornings.

so, i ask....

1) can i run the heat while still plugged up prior to leaving and it continue to charge just to get the cabin semi warm before i go?
2) do the heated seats pull a lot of power?
3) any other ideas?

worse case on horribly cold days (ok ok ok, so nothing to bad, but in the lower teens) i can take the wifes pilot and she can have the FFE, but i can't afford to do that until march :lol:

 

[hybridbear]

so with the colder weather starting to roll in to GA and the morning drives being colder than the drive home im starting to see that these cars don't like the heat all too much. just running the defrost zapped it by 20 miles

i knew going in that the winters would be close on my 75 RT drive, but zapping 20 before i leave the house ain't gonna cut it since im only showing an average of 85ish on the guess-o-meter in the mornings.

so, i ask....

1) can i run the heat while still plugged up prior to leaving and it continue to charge just to get the cabin semi warm before i go?
2) do the heated seats pull a lot of power?
3) any other ideas?

worse case on horribly cold days (ok ok ok, so nothing to bad, but in the lower teens) i can take the wifes pilot and she can have the FFE, but i can't afford to do that until march :lol:

Are you using Go Times? If not, use them. They will preheat the car before you leave home in the morning using electricity from the wall. Consider setting the Go Time temp to 85 instead of 72 since so much heat escapes when you open the door to get in the car. The defrost forces the A/C compressor to run in addition to the heating element causing a double whammy on range. We've found on the recent mornings in the 20s & 30s that cracking a window about 1/2 inch works to clear the fog on the windows that develops while driving. Once the fog clears we close the window. Since the car starts out warm and we're wearing jackets with the cold weather we don't usually need heat, just heated seats. Granted, most of our drives are 20-30 minutes max and not longer. You might need more heat for longer trips.

 

[jmueller065]

I envy you in GA!

Using go times set to 85 is your best bet in the morning. Even if you leave the car parked outside and you get about 2" of snow overnight the 85F go time will melt all the snow off the windshield.
(Here is an example of that, although not 2" of snow:
http://jamiegeek.myevblog.com/2013/11/12/really-getting-cold-here-now/ )

There are several methods you can use to defrost the car after using the 85F go time:

• Slightly open the window (as mentioned above)
• Run the defroster on "Lo" with low fan (partially: only run it until the window is defrosted then turn it off)
• Simply run the vent on "Lo"

Typically I'll let it heat to 85F and then simply run the vent ("Lo" temp, Low fan, A/C off) for my 15 mile commute in (wearing my winter coat). At the start of the trip this is very comfortable as the car is 85F and you're almost sweating so the cool air coming in feels good, but near the end of my commute its a bit chilly and I'll have to turn on the seat heat (which uses almost nothing). Granted I'm describing the worst case outside temps (which for me last winter hit 0F or lower) so in GA you shouldn't see anything close to that (hopefully!).

Here is a posting from when it was really cold around here:
http://jamiegeek.myevblog.com/2014/01/22/brutal-cold-is-it-spring-yet/

 

[blackbeasst]

go times, got it!

how far in advance do i need to set it before i normally leave? and im guessing that while its running the guess-o-meter will be 20 miles down until i turn the heat off?

 

[jmueller065]

You typically set the go time to the time you leave. The car will then figure out how far in advance it needs to turn on so that the car will be set to the proper temperature.

It will then run 10-15 minutes after the go time and then shut off. Thus I'll typically set the go time to 5 minutes ahead of my actual time so the car gets that extra "hit" (and so it can compensate for me opening the doors as I throw my stuff in it before I leave).

I've never looked at the dash because I'm inside the house when the car starts warming up...

The worst is when MFT has a hiccup and you get in the car in the morning when it decided that it is going to skip a go time..

 

[hybridbear]

go times, got it!

how far in advance do i need to set it before i normally leave? and im guessing that while its running the guess-o-meter will be 20 miles down until i turn the heat off?

Go Times are designed to not use any energy from the HVB, they will only use electricity from the wall. Set the Go Time for exactly when you're going to leave as Jamie said.