945 Niggles

[bluebrickrick]

Underground tree ? thass a rumun

I've a few 3 phase motors kicking about so long term one of those hitched onto the old Major praps.

I did it with a Suffolk as there was one needing to be loved, if you have to aquire an engine I'd be inclined to go for something a bit more powerful, 750 watts a horsepower at 100% efficiency is only a third of a kettle and IIRC the Punch engine was rated at that (new) at 750 rpm.

Server UPS had a nasty tendency to drop batteries so might be worthwhile keeping an eye out for instead of inverters.

My indoor standby uses one on 24V - currently ancient gauze brushed dynamo which I need to superceed with a vehicle alternator when I can find one (the comm is wearing thin and I do pull everything the 3 1/2 horse Fairbanks can deliver which is a bit nasty to a museum piece)

Thanks for your thoughts on the headlights lights, yes it is 'on' even with key removed, I had been wondering about the ignition auxilliary as being a possible for the engine cutouts and removed about half a kilo of less used keys from my keyring just in case, no sign of anything else, radio and lighter plug go off as expected, will have to see if the headlight relay has fatigued solder joint syndrome since it must carry double the pump current plus.

The new unfreezing fluid may be good but it ain't good enough to release the hinges of me wallet enough to buy a new Volvo ignition any time soon

TTFN

Rick

[Laird Scooby]

Yes, they grow them round here so they can be used in the tunnels between the bases - as the foliage pulls the carbon dioxide out of the air to aid photo-synthesis it improves the oxygen content in the tunnels.
How Doris managed to blow one of those down i don't quite know but hey, geo-engineering is a strange subject!

A 3-phase motor set up as a generator? Might work i suppose with the right control circuitry but it would probably be cheaper (and a lot easier!) to buy a second hand 3-phase genny!

I didn't realise the Suffolk Punch engine was so tiny in its output, i suppose naming it after just one horse was a big clue!

A server UPS had crossed my mind as well, one of those is part of the "master plan" if i ever win the lottery and can afford to have my own place built!

Silly question - how long do the headlights stay on for after removing the ignition key?
If it's 30-40 seconds it's probably behaving as it should and providing "See you home" headlights.

Designed to light your path from the car to the front door when you get home at night, the headlights can be provoked to stay on for a short time so you can see what you're about to trip over before you land on it.

The headlights don't take as much current as you think though. Even on full beam (assuming you have driving lights built into the 940 headlamps) that's only 2 x 55W bulbs each side so 220W total. That's about 18A by rough mental 'rithmetic at this ungodly hour of the day.
That said it could still be worth checking the solder joints on the relay if it isn't the "See you home" function.
Usually the See you home works as follows - turn the lights off before switching the ignition off, no see you home function. Switch the ignition off before the headlights gives see you home. Might be worth consulting the handbook just to see if yours has got that.

[bluebrickrick]

A number of the server UPS models are (so I'm told) more expensive to re battery when they die than to replace - the one I have had a pair of oddball sealed 12V lead acids which had dried out (they can be refilled with water BTW but are usually so damaged by the time capacity loss is noticed it is not worth it)

As for the headlights, both 940's have always gone out co incident with turning the ignition off but I will have a look in the book and leave them for a minute or so in case they are under intelligent control

We don't have upsidedown trees like your Breckland ones over here in the swamps - the few that have tried it drowned in the groundwater.

You are probably right about the 3ph genny but its more about the being able to do it - you can do some impressive things with car alternators, not least altering the rotor feed arrangements can enable 110vac out of them - i.e. mains in some countries.

The donkey was built primarily as a portable quick battery charger or to jump start a vehicle stuck off road etc. or supply 12v available to operate 2m radio away from the car. Mark 2 which will feature a slightly newer engine will also have an air compressor incorporated, at present I cover the remote need for air with a couple of propane cylinders fitted with QRC's which I pump up with the workshop compressor and travel on a two wheel trolley formerly used for the transport of a bag of golf sticks.

Both have more than returned their investment in manufacture

Bit drier today so will test the car and have a look at what Doris did to FJ and his surroundings.

Cheers

Rick

[Laird Scooby]

Leisure batteries (preferably the AGM type) would be a good substitute power source for the UPS Rick, probably cheaper than buying the "correct" replacement too.

The See you Home idea is just a thought, if that's what it is then at least you don't need to worry about it.

The upside down trees aren't actually in where i live, buried cables there and surface-mounted trees elsewhere, one of which incosiderately allowed itself to be blown down by Doris.

The Donkey is a good idea, i've long considered building some sort of generator with a few alternators and inverters hung on the end to power my house, running on LPG of course as it's that much cheaper than petrol.
I did consider mounting my little compressor on my Donkey (when i get round to building it) but then it would remove the ability to run off mains power which is why i bought it, so i could use it as a remote reservoir and booster because of the 20m+ run from my shed to where i usually need to use air!

Todays mission is to clean the contacts inside the dizzy cap and rotor arm on my 760, bit scared of what i'll find to be honest as i suspect they're the originals from 1988 and will have suffered accordingly!

Good luck with your mission extracting the in-tank pump from FJ, don't breathe the fumes too deeply!

[bluebrickrick]

Didn't mean run the UPS off (gulp) new batteries Dave, run it off the donkey

No material damage in FJ land but the path I'm clearing through the Xmas trees (which I planted as a kid half a century ago) towards a couple of big Chestnuts I need to extract was worse than the half cleared state I left it in last weekend Spruce & Birch all over the place.

It didn't help that having swapped the little toolbox I keep the chainsaw tools, oil spare chains etc in for the one used with the strimmers & mowers, hen I needed to refuel & oil I opened the box only to find it full of strimmer cord etc.

Oh, called in on my brother on the way home to drop off Mums post, lights stayed on as I removed key, got home and they went off, had an experiment and it appears they go off if on full beam and not if on dipped beam, I forgot all about leaving on to see if they would go out on their own but will leave meself a note !

Now where do the small ads & personals go hereabouts you know the sort 'Nutter with huge Xmas trees seeks lady with mobile slabbing saw for mutual enjoyment' sort of thing

Cheers

Rick

(Undergound supplied brother off the juice for just over 12 hours)

[Laird Scooby]

Crossed purposes Rick - i was thinking the same (run the UPS off the donkey) but in my time have come across several UPS's that won't power up with a dodgy or missing battery, even if a substitute source is provided.

Admittedly that was 30 ish years ago and the technology used has moved on so it may well be possible now, the circuitry involved back then was basically sensing the presence of a battery and calculating its internal resistance from the voltage and charging current. If that figure didn't match a (highly critical) preset value, it wouldn't power up, even with mains power present on the input!

Bit more investigation needed on the headlamps, it's beginning to sound like either the relay or a backfeed somewhere.

As for those sort of small ads, i haven't a clue, sounds a bit fetish-like to me!

[bluebrickrick]

Ah, double crossed purposes Dave, you think I think I need the same page where 'Lady with custard powder seeks milkman' ads appear, my ad is purely innocent without any of them there double intenders

My experience of UPS has been mainly of the salvaged from the skip variety which are usually pretty well gone - I've a 24 volt unit fed from the Fairbanks which is fine for light duties but will not quite pull the freezer.

My stand by battery is actually that, a battery of big NIFE cells which used to bump start the standby generator at the Grid switching station at Trowse, thankfully when they were being replaced, a friend who knew my (then) current lead acid cells were on their way out strained them into his van and delivered them with exhaust tailpipe scratching sparks on the tarmac

After a clean up, wash out and restoring the Ph of the electrolyte they have got a fair bit of their capacity back and supply the masterclocks radio, cd player and one or two other circuits that if find it handy to have live in the event of mains outage plus their standby duties.

The headlights have the hallmarks of what you suggest, welded relay contact perhaps, I've yet to tidy up under the radio so will have a look when I do that. Not a major problem but bound to catch me out some day no doubt.

Looks like a wet week in prospect - keep dry

Rick

[Laird Scooby]

That's the one Rick, custard-powder-owning lady looks for creamy enrichment.

My experience of UPS was very different, they were at work and had stopped working - the fault had to be found and fixed, now if not sooner. Too long ago to remember specifics other than sometimes a new battery was necessary at times just to get them to power up to show the fault.

These batteries would do it Rick - if you use a lot of "off-grid" power from 12v Lead-Acid or similar batteries, have you invested in a desulphator?

http://extralifepulse.com/

For some odd reason they're usually cheaper (free P&P) on ebay but that's what to look for. I've revived a few batteries with it so it's a definite worthwhile toy.

Sounds like you need to raid Mrs Bluebricks handbag for her emery board Rick! Like a lolly-stick with emery paper on, pull the headlight relay out, pop out the innards and rub the emery board between the contacts - also check the springiness of the return spring.

The rain seems to be on and off like a brides nightie at the moment. Hoping it stays dry enough for me to get out and have a play with my tracking - need to centralise the wheel/rack relationship and pull both front wheels in at the front.
Still cold out there though! A couple of weeks back we had unseasonably warm weather (dry as well!) and now we have unseasonably cold weather with the threat of wind, rain, sleet, snow and would you believe, thunder!

[bluebrickrick]

That pulse unit looks like one of the more sensible life extenders I've seen recently Dave I think the same principle is used by the intelligent chargers, which also keep them topped up !

My main problem is the tractor battery (which generally lives in the back of the car) life expectancy is not good for it so maybe 20 squid might be a sensible investment.

Glaubers salts (nearest these days is epsom salts) are (is?) the best sulphate buster I know, before the alkali cells I had a life expired lead acid set in glass jars and dead as a dodo - had been emergency lighting somewhere, anyhow a drain and gentle flush out and a couple of doses of salts and charge cycles amazingly breathed some life back into them once the acid went back in, trouble was the litharge matrix was disintegrating so they sludged up more at every charge.

Now HORRORS even if Mrs Bluebrick used either a handbag or emery stick, the last place EVER to use abrasive is on relay contacts Having been brung up amongst old tyme telephone and timeclockery even emerying serious pitting out of dizzy points or lecktrik fuel pump contacts was zabroniony (Polish for verboten), use either a contact file or a stone. Relay and other plated contact points were only ever cleaned with a strip of writing paper, something even today I adhere to, if contacts are dirty it will clean them without damage, if they are burned then they are overloaded, not quenched by cap of flyback diode, incorrectly designed (should wipe rather than just separate) or badly set up, badly designed covers just about all failures I've seen from things designed within the last couple of decades or so.

So while I shall not carry out your suggestion I will most certainly implement your intent !

I've a washing machine leak and a Windoze reinstall to deal with first, unless tomorrow proves dry and calmish, in which case it'll be the ladies underwear drawer and off playing lumberjack again !

Cheers & beers

Rick

[Laird Scooby]

The so-called "intelligent" chargers do indeed use the same principle Rick, usually in "batches" of charge-pulse-charge-pulse-charge cycles. In other words, they charge for a while then desulphate (pulse) for a while then switch back to charge and so on.
At the risk of stating the obvious, sulphation is a constantly happening event, it has to be as it's part of the electro-chemical reaction to produce the power from the battery. As such, the only way to effectively fight it permanently is to have a desulphator permanently connected. That's my opinion which is based on the facts i researched some years back when i first designed a desulphator.

I then discovered the things were not only already in existence but the circuit for them (in particular this one) was almost identical to what i had come up with - i stopped with my research for two reasons, first the components bought individually came to more than i could buy it for (a strong enough argument on its own ) but more importantly i didn't fancy being sued for copyright, even though my circuit was "orl mi own werk".

Perhaps fitting one to your tractor battery and just making sure it's fully charged before you take it to where it's being used would be your best solution?

You're getting into realms of things i'm not very knowledgeable on with Glaubers Salts, something i've never needed to use (or likely to need) so i haven't used them or needed to look into them. From your description and my basic ("O" level chemistry) i can see how they might work.

Moving on from that onto the points, relay contacts and so on.......... i was always told it should be blotting paper, not writing paper as it absorbed any oil/grease and was slightly rougher so smoothed the contacts out at the same time. A contact file or stone is much more abrasive than an emery board - give your wife a contact file or stone to shape her nails with and you'll see!
The emery board only takes off the very top of the burn marks to allow the contacts to actually make again and polishes the plated contacts as they are in fact only mildly abrasive.

Washing machine leaks and Windoze i try and avoid these days, for what it's worth though when the machine leaks is a good clue as to where it's coming from. Obviously any water marks also point to where it's coming from too.

Rumour has it today (the tomorrow i think you meant?) is going to be dry and calm up to a certain point. I'm aiming to finish sorting my tracking before the wet stuff reappears - deliberately over-compensated the toe out and it's now toeing in too much but nowhere near as much as it was toeing out!
Flywheel diodes are only present across the relay coils NEVER across the contacts.