2009 Toyota RAV4 Fuse Location For Power Outlets – Vehicle Jump Starter – USB Volt Meter

2009 Toyota RAV4 Fuse Location For Power Outlets – Vehicle Jump Starter – USB Volt Meter

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This blog article is actually three separate stories but all related. 

Please be advised that the information I am providing you here worked for the vehicle I currently own.  I have come to realize that Toyota, in my opinion, provided me incorrect Owner’s Manual information.  Thus, my solution might not work for your model RAV4.  It seems to me that every Toyota RAV4 year model sees changes in fuse locations.   Be careful!  My advice right now is look carefully at the your car fuse container lid to see where the correct fuse is and question what the owner’s manual tells you.

In the year 2020 I inherited my sister’s 2009 RAV4 car due to her passing away.  The RAV4 had milage in the low 30,000!  It was a great car to drive.  But, I encountered a very frustrating problem in 2001.  I had to buy a car starting device to get my son’s Toyota 4Runner started so we could donate it to a charity.  I purchased a Audew car starter battery.

 Audew 1000A Peak Portable Car Jump Starter (Up to 6.0L Gas or 4.5L Diesel Engine) Auto Battery Booster, 12V Car Jumper, Power Bank Power Pack with Dual USB Ports and Flashlight

I had done a lot of research and chose this device.  It worked perfectly.  It worked perfectly as soon as we discovered a very small switch labeled “BOOST”  in the main power plug which we had to press to get maximum power (see image below). 

 

This device plugs into the side of the Audew Jump Starter when you want to jump start a car. We discovered that the trick is to press the very small button labeled “BOOST” to send a LOT of current into a dead or low car battery. You must be ready to start the car quite quickly after the BOOST button is pressed.

I was so happy with this purchase!  After donating the 4Runner I decided that I wanted to keep the Audew Jump Starter charged for future use. 

The RAV4 has 2 power outlets. One is inside the flip up storage container between the driver and front passenger seats.  It looks like an arm rest but it can be flipped open and inside is a power out connection.  The second power connection is on the driver side of the vehicle just inside the rear door.   I made the mistake of using a volt ohm meter to find out when the power connectors provided power.  My mistake must have been causing a short and I blew the fuse for the user power connections.  I then purchased this next device.  It shows when power is provided by the connector and the voltage and also supplies two USB output connections.

Jebsens 4.8A 24W Dual USB Car Charger Volt Meter Car Battery Monitor with LED Voltage & Amps Display, for iPhone 7 / 6s / Plus, iPad Pro/Air 2 / Mini, Galaxy S7 / S6 / Edge/Plus, Note 5/4

The Audew, jump starter, also gives you a USB cable for charging it’s own battery but also this cable can charge your cell phone or any other device that can run on USB power.  My idea was to keep the Audew in my RAV4 and keep it charged with the power connector near the rear door.  I reasoned that you never know when you might come across a person who needs a battery jump start so I wanted my unit to maintain a constant charge.  The USB cable that comes with the Audew is a bit short.  I do not want his battery sliding around inside my car so I added a much longer cable so the Audew could be placed into a very convenient storage spot. 

 

Small Jebsen Volt Meter is on the left connected with a USB cable so it will charge the Audew Jump Starter (But note that the Audew can slide around. I added a longer cable in the next image below so I could place the jump starter into a more secure location.

 

I already had a much longer cable and used it to place the Audew inside a pocket provided inside my RAV4.

 

Note that I have now included a much longer USB cable so that I can place the Audew Jump Starter into a very convenient storage slot. I do NOT want the Audew to slide around causing future problems.

But, I needed to find the blow fuse in my RAV4. Let me tell you that Toyota was absolutely no help!  The 2009 Owner’s Manual that came with the car was awful, a piece of crap for solving this problem. Pages that were to show the location of fuses were wrong.  I called my local dealership parts office and they were no help.  I spend hours on the Internet, plowing through YouTube videos from wonderful people sharing how to solve finding RAV4 fuses but for me every one was in error. 

Another problem was the location for the blown fuse panel.  It was located on the driver side near the driver door under the instrument panel. 

 

 

It was awful getting light up into that space.  It was simply awful to pull the fuse cover plate off.  I had to lay on my back with half my body sticking out the door to work on this panel.  It was damned awful to pull and replace any fuse for testing and replacing.  I hated this problem.

 

The solution that worked for me was to remove the fuse cover plate and scan the image on that cover and printed it out.  I put copies of the pages into the owner’s manual.   I was to discover that this cover plate seemed to be quite accurate.  Next, I provide to you the image I scanned for both of us to use (see image below).  I found out that a single fuse, number 27, a 15 Amp, PWR OUTLET, had blown. I replaced it and now both power outlet connectors are working.  It seems that in later models of RAV4 there seems to be separate fuses for each of these two power output connectors.  On my RAV4 one fuse supplies power to both power connectors.

I plugged in the small Jepsen volt meter and it showed power at both power ports.  I keep the Jepsen meter inserted into the rear connector all the time so I can quickly confirm that I am charging the Audew Jump Starter.  I do have to make sure nothing slides into hitting this meter when driving.

I connected the Audew car starter battery to the rear power connector and using a long USB cable put the battery into a nice storage slot over the rear driver side tire location.  Every time I run the car, this battery should be charged.

 

 

 My view of Toyota cars has diminished as a result of the large number of problems I had solving what should have been a rather easy problem to fix.

What I learned from this experience is the following:

  • Before buying any vehicle, check to see how hard it is to replace fuses.  Can you easily get to each of the fuse panel locations?
  • Check to see how accurately the owner’s manual are written.

 

 

Posted April 25, 2021

Trying To Save Money Making My Own Zebra Drink.

Trying To Save Money Making My Own Zebra Drink.

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I had been buying Starbucks drinks for each of my two children, myself and occasionally for my wife for quite a few years.  I had experimented buying different Starbucks drinks that I liked.  I finally found that the grande size zebra really worked for me.  It has coffee, 5 pumps of dark chocolate, 5 pumps of white chocolate, steamed milk, and a dollop of whipped cream.   I also ask the Starbucks barista to heat the drink up to a very high temperature.  I like to drink my coffee slowly.

If you have a zebra drink often, you should consider going to a gym to work off the calories.

One day I decided to see how much I was spending on buying Starbucks drinks and food items.  I viewed my billing for one month and took that amount and multiplied it by 12 to get an approximate value for the year.  I came up with almost $6,000.  Ouch.  I shared this with my daughter, that I was spending way too much money for these coffee drinks.  In a few days she went out and purchased a Keurig machine.  I had never considered this option.  She then went out and purchased a variety of pods that you need to feed into this coffee machine.  The Keurig is a very clever device.  I recommend it.

My next problem was to find a way for the Keurig to make me a zebra coffee drink.   Here is my solution for getting close to a zebra using a Keurig:

  • I buy a box of Swiss Miss Hot Coco Mix that hold the mix in Keurig pods.  This supplies the chocolate flavor.  I like to save money so I go to Bed Bath & Beyond to buy their large box.  Most grocery stores will sell the smaller boxes of these pods, but at a higher cost.
  • I started buying Starbucks Via Instant powder coffee sleeves at COSTCO, Columbia flavor.  COSTCO, after a few years, failed to sell this so I searched around for the best price and Walmart is now my source.  This is a fine powder and you need to stir it into the hot chocolate.  You only need these two ingredients to get close to the zebra flavor. 
  • Next, my wife found a product that moved away from the zebra flavor quite a lot.  Her ingredient, shown next, has made a very good different drink. 

 

Main ingredients for the coffee drink
The Swiss Miss pod is the chocolate flavor source. The Starbucks instant Colombia coffee is needed to supply the coffee flavor.

 

 

  • About a year after I discovered how to  make a Keurig zebra, my wife started buying a coffee creamer made by Planet Oat.  It is a French Vanilla, Oatmilk Creamer.   This creamer moved the drink flavor away from the Starbucks zebra but it really added to  making the drink even better.  I put only a small amount of this creamer into my cup.

 

 

Planet Oat Creamer
Planet Oat French Vanilla Creamer

 

  • I then add milk into the coffee mug to raise the whole drink closer to the top of the mug.  I then put the mug into our microwave to raise the temperature up so it is hot as I like.

I ran an analysis of how much I spend at Starbucks in 2021 and the total now comes out to be roughly $2,100.  I have not calculated my costs for the Swiss Miss pods, Starbucks Via Instant coffee.  

 

 

Posted:   April 17, 2021

VueScan Software & CanoScan 8400F Review

VueScan Software & CanoScan 8400F Review

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My sister passed away April 2020 and I soon discovered that not only did I have to prepare my family taxes but also my sister’s.  My sister’s attorney’s recommended using a tax person who lived quite a distance away from where I live.  I had the choice of putting all the tax documents together in a neat order and driving for hours to deliver the documents to the tax person or scan the documents and use an Internet drop box that the tax person offered.  I chose to scan the documents.  I looked around in my home and found that I had three devices that claim to scan documents.  My dual purpose printer and document scanning machines produced pretty awful scanned images.   I had a very old CanoScan 8400F which was first made in the middle of 2004.  My unit was not that old but pretty close.  When I connected that scanner up to my Macintosh computer, it would not function.  I did an Internet search and tried out VueScan by visiting this web site:  https://www.hamrick.com/

They allow you to try the VueScan software out before you pay them any money.  My tests worked so well that I purchased the software.  For me, the software is fantastic.  It is so simple to scan any document.  And, by the way, the CanoScan 8400F is a very impressive scanner.  I have scanned well over one hundred documents using this setup and no problems.  

CanoScan 8400F  =. Highly recommend.

VueScan Software =. Highly recommend.

 

 

 

Posted April 11, 2021

The US Constitution Second Amendment Analyzed

The US Constitution Second Amendment Analyzed

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One particular addition to the United States Constitution  is the second amendment.  It reads as follows:

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

There appears to be the popular meaning, the intent and call to action, that appears at the surface for reading those words.  Then there is a deeper dig into the understanding of the meaning as the words have vastly changed in today’s political environment.

Let us first dissect this amendment by breaking it up into segments if we can.  You will soon discover that there was an original meaning, why this amendment was included to the Constitution and then over time circumstances have vastly changed making this amendment a problem resulting in death towards thousands of citizens.

  • “A well regulated Militia”.   What is meant by militia?

    “The militia of the United States, as defined by the U.S. Congress, has changed over time.[1] During colonial America, all able-bodied men of a certain age range were members of the militia, depending on the respective state’s rule.[2] Individual towns formed local independent militias for their own defense.[3] The year before the US Constitution was ratified, The Federalist Papers detailed the founders‘ paramount vision of the militia in 1787.[4][5] The new Constitution empowered Congress to “organize, arm, and discipline” this national military force, leaving significant control in the hands of each state government.”  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militia_(United_States)

  • “necessary to the security”.  Security from what?  We understand later in the sentence that our country highly values that our form of government is free and stays his way.
  • “a free State”.  What constitutes a free state?  You should answer this question.
  • “right of the people”.  This part of the amendment seem to move toward a second part of the amendment and somewhat separate idea.  The wording  implies individual citizens and not people within the military have the right to bear arms.  Military naturally have the right to have weapons to guard the country from foreign forces.  Individuals normally are not allowed to possess weapons unless authorized for purposes of policing.
  • “keep and bear Arms”.   This part of the amendment holds the most dire meaning.  All of a sudden, every citizen of the country is allowed to possess a weapon.  But, it was stated in the prior part of the amendment that the weapon could ONLY be used to overturn some awful national government.  Who decides when such action against the government should take place and when?
  • “shall not be infringed”. This means that this is an absolute right, of every citizen, to have weapons but only for the purpose of woking toward removing a tyrannical federal government.

What is rather odd is realizing this amendment raised the  possibility that the United States might be ruled by some dictator.  That would come about if the citizens of this county really got the voting process wrong or the plutocracy group of individuals was able to do a snow job on the election process (The Republican Party is now doing this with their Jim Crow efforts to disqualify minority voters and Democratic district voters.)

Looking at the second amendment wording one could easily think that there are two separate commands and segments:

#1:  “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State”.    This may mean to form a military force to help protect the country.  Note that this part of the amendment points to a specific group of people called the Militia.

#2:  “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”  This statement obviously means that every citizen has the right to have weapons.  But it is stated that the citizens having weapons must only use them for protecting the county from a “tyrannical federal government”.  Note that this part of the amendment points to the rights of individuals.  But that this right can only be used to overturn an authoritarian government.  Note that this part of the amendment warn of a future danger for the United States because it would only take an unknown number of individuals that think the county is under control of some awful government to use that rational to attack our government and this country.  We have already seen how a group of misinformed, if not stupid, individuals invaded Congress, January 6, 2021, after being lied to by a national leader. 

So why was this amendment written?

“ the amendment was originally created to give citizens the opportunity to fight back against a tyrannical federal government.”

Note that the intent for this amendment was for citizens to possess weapons to act against a really bad government. Weapons, as defined in this amendment, are not to be used against any citizen or commit suicide.  But, so far, this amendment has resulted in, not acts against a tyrannical government, but against other citizens so guns can be sold for profit.  

This amendment seems to be unnecessary and dangerous when this country has a system of government where the citizens are expected to rule.

 

 

 

Posted:  March 25, 2021

Possible Reasons For The End Of Humane Civilization

Possible Reasons For The End Of Humane Civilization

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Following is a list of major important reasons and issues that are drawing down the curtain for human habitation on Earth.

There are two broad types of issues. The first is major but possibly will not end the humane civilization.  The second should be of supreme concern because if not solved or resolved the end of the humane race will more definitely result.

Here are side concerns that probably will work against solving these very important problems that I will list later:  

  • Ignorance of any factor may come about for any combination of reasons.
    • Blind side by failing to see what is coming as a threat to our existence.
    • Insufficient investigation efforts.
    • Unable to understand the measurements needed and what the tests results mean.
    • Status of experts is not understood or appreciated so they are not listened to.
    • Not listening to the scientists to any level that results in meaningful action.
  • Indolence.
    • Population of people that are affected may fail to meet the challenge to change their situation for the better.  There are a lot of reasons why individuals fail to realize they are in trouble and then take actions that resolve the issues.
      • Too busy with other concerns.
      • Not my business to deal with this problem.
      • Too complicated for me to understand.
  • Errors in judgement.
  • Political interference.  Almost all civil societies are organized around some sort of organized political system.  Some times these systems are flawed toward working for the best interests of the society they are expected to correctly function toward.
  • Personal and corporate wealth interests might prevail as being more important.  Many countries suffer from varying degrees of plutocracy or the rule of the rich.  Some wealthy individuals who have attained political power seem to hold short term financial gains as more important.  

Almost all of the end of civilization factors need long term attacks upon these negative influences so that a society can best work together to resolve the problem(s).  

Just about every one of these issues can be turned around but often times immediate needs of individuals deny resolving any of these items I am about to list.

First Category of attacks upon our civilization list (but might not terminate humane life but could). 

Note that some items on the list below could become so life threatening that they then also reach the second category.

  • Climate change (immediate concern)

“According to the paper, climate change poses a “near- to mid-term existential threat to human civilization,” and there’s a good chance society could collapse as soon as 2050 if serious mitigation actions aren’t taken in the next decade.”
https://www.livescience.com/65633-climate-change-dooms-humans-by-2050.html

  • Global nuclear annihilation (Following example shows how a small limited war has a colossal impact)

 “If India and Pakistan had a war, it would be a much larger potential for climate change.” The solutions to that cold equation: 50 to 125 million people dead in the first week. A reduction of as much as 35 percent in sunlight reaching Earth’s surface, translating to a decrease in temperature of up to 5 degrees Celsius, with rainfall decreasing between 15 and 30 percent globally … and the amount of food produced by an equal amount. That’s worldwide famine for a decade.”

https://www.wired.com/story/even-a-small-nuclear-war-could-trigger-a-global-apocalypse/

  • Biological warfare

“Any state with a reasonably advanced pharmaceutical and medical industry has the capability of mass producing biological weapons. This fact also leads to problems with determining what countries have BW programmes. Anything from a piece of fruit to a ballistic missile could be used to deliver a biological weapon to a target. Along with this is the fact that with certain organisms, only a few particles would be needed to start an infection that could potentially cause an epidemic.” 
https://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/resources/fact-sheets/critical-issues/4579-biological-weapons

  • Ecological collapse.

“One-fifth of the world’s countries are at risk of their ecosystems collapsing because of the destruction of wildlife and their habitats, according to an analysis by the insurance firm Swiss Re.”

“Natural “services” such as food, clean water and air, and flood protection have already been damaged by human activity.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/12/fifth-of-nations-at-risk-of-ecosystem-collapse-analysis-finds

  • Pandemic

“A pandemic is basically a global epidemic — an epidemic that spreads to more than one continent,”

“Influenza pandemics have struck about three times every century since the 1500s, or roughly every 10-50 years. There was one in 1957-1958 and one in 1968-1969. The most infamous pandemic flu of the 20th century, however, was that of 1918-1919. An estimated 40 million people died in less than a year, and what made it so different from seasonal flu epidemics is that it killed primarily young people, those aged 20-45.”

https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/features/what-is-pandemic

Contamination of humane individual life supporting needs and resources is very important.  Humane beings need:  Good drinking water, good clean air to breath, healthy food, proper sanitation, adequate shelter, clothing, etc..

Second Category of attacks with results of terminating humane life – a list:

Global Warming

“Two centuries of fossil fuel combustion have saturated the biosphere with climate-altering carbon that will continue wreaking havoc for generations to come.  The damage to Earth’s living systems—the circulation and chemical composition of the atmosphere and the ocean; the stability of the hydrological and biogeochemical cycles; and the biodiversity of the entire planet—is essentially permanent.”
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-08-10/four-reasons-civilization-wont-decline-it-will-collapse/

PFAS Contamination

“There is evidence that exposure to PFAS can lead to adverse human health effects.”

https://www.epa.gov/pfas/basic-information-pfas

“A growing body of science has found that there are potential adverse health impacts associated with PFAS exposure, including liver damage, thyroid disease, decreased fertility, high cholesterol, obesity, hormone suppression and cancer.”

“These chemicals can easily migrate into the air, dust, food, soil and water. People can also be exposed to them through food packaging and industrial exposure.”
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/14/health/what-are-pfas-chemicals

 

 

 

Posted March 22, 2021

Article of Impeachment Against Former President Donald John Trump Results

Article of Impeachment Against Former President Donald John Trump Results

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Opinion

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a speech on the Senate floor:

  • “There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day,”
  • “The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president,” 

Americans should now vote to remove any senator, in future elections, that failed to vote to impeach Donald Trump.  Following are the Senate voting results.

Roll Call Vote 117th Congress – 1st Session

Vote Summary 

Question: Guilty or Not Guilty (Article of Impeachment Against Former President Donald John Trump )

Vote Number: 59

Vote Date: February 13, 2021, 03:39 PM

Required For Majority: 2/3

Vote Result: Not Guilty

Measure Number: H.Res. 24 (A resolution impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors. )

Measure Title: A resolution impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Vote Counts:

  • Guilty. 57. Individuals who followed and understood the prosecution arguments and did what is best for the United States.
  • Not Guilty. 43. Gutless, maybe stupid, senators who abdicated their oath toward upholding the US constitution.

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NOT GUILTY —43

  • Barrasso (R-WY)
  • Blackburn (R-TN)
  • Blunt (R-MO)
  • Boozman (R-AR)
  • Braun (R-IN)
  • Capito (R-WV)
  • Cornyn (R-TX)
  • Cotton (R-AR)
  • Cramer (R-ND)
  • Crapo (R-ID)
  • Cruz (R-TX)
  • Daines (R-MT)
  • Ernst (R-IA)
  • Fischer (R-NE)
  • Graham (R-SC)
  • Grassley (R-IA)
  • Hagerty (R-TN)
  • Hawley (R-MO)
  • Hoeven (R-ND)
  • Hyde-Smith (R-MS)
  • Inhofe (R-OK)
  • Johnson (R-WI)
  • Kennedy (R-LA)
  • Lankford (R-OK)
  • Lee (R-UT)
  • Lummis (R-WY)
  • Marshall (R-KS)
  • McConnell (R-KY)
  • Moran (R-KS)
  • Paul (R-KY)
  • Portman (R-OH)
  • Risch (R-ID)
  • Rounds (R-SD)
  • Rubio (R-FL)
  • Scott (R-FL)
  • Scott (R-SC)
  • Shelby (R-AL)
  • Sullivan (R-AK)
  • Thune (R-SD)
  • Tillis (R-NC)
  • Tuberville (R-AL)
  • Wicker (R-MS)
  • Young (R-IN)

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