Stuff you have fixed today

qwakers · May 2, 2022

faulty self adjusting caliper....

here's the caliper with the air can removed.

and the top cover off

and the offending item removed from the big chunk on metal that it sits in. the cause? the top circlip is missing (with the relevant seal) so there is no effective spring pressure.

a new one is on its way and when i have repaired this caliper, i will pull the other side off and strip and regrease.

nickk · May 2, 2022

The ancient vinyl seat on my camper has long been on the to do list,problem is most modern ones are too wide,this is a rear from a Vw sharan 7 seater,after 1 hour or so the old one was giving aches,plus some safety with the head restraint,even squeezed the trim moulding to hide the tilt mechanism.

d

Barking Mat · May 2, 2022

nickk said:
The ancient vinyl seat on my camper has long been on the to do list,problem is most modern ones are too wide,this is a rear from a Vw sharan 7 seater,after 1 hour or so the old one was giving aches,plus some safety with the head restraint,even squeezed the trim moulding to hide the tilt mechanism.View attachment 344613d

Looks suitably old by steering wheel and door handle.

What is it ? Year ?

Olderisbetter · May 2, 2022

We fixed the beetle wiring which was pretty bad and the beast came alive 2nd turn of the key 8 years after standing.

Dcal · May 3, 2022

Today I fixed my main compressor again, hopefully.

A few weeks ago I was all smug, because I thought I had sorted the starting problem with this compressor.

Stuff you have fixed today

Repaired the bottom of the other rear door on my LDV today, by cutting out the rusted part of the inner framework & welding in a new section. This one wasn't as far gone though, so not as much to do

www.mig-welding.co.uk

While the switch was faulty, it turns out it was a symptom of another problem.

I have a backup compressor plumbed in which is newer, quicker to fill the tanks but a lot noisier, so I just started using that.
But then it stopped as well.
I had a look and found it had let the magic smoke out so ordered a new motor for it. (I'll post when I have carried out the autopsy on it)
That left me with my back up back up, which is a 2HP direct drive and horrible.
I then thought I would sort the Hydrovane I got on here a couple of years ago and wired it up through an inverter (3 phase 410v) it ran but was anything but happy.
Took it apart and "O Bother" it needs major surgery (and lots of expensive parts)

Nothing for it but try to sort old faithful.

The motor is a 3hp 4 pole, cap start, cap run which replaced the 3 phase Brooks that came with it.
The compressor had recently become hard to start.
There is an overload switch on the motor as well as a DOL starter set at about 17A.
The motor overload is rated at 13 amps and did a great job of protecting the motor because it's not toast.
The other compressor had the same overload but it didn't save it.

Symptoms were, compressor would try to start but would stall and trip the 13A overload on the motor.
If I let the overload cool for a few seconds and reset it, the compressor would probably start.
When it started it ran fine until, maybe, the next day.
Problem became more frequent until it wouldn’t start at all.
Checked the current draw with a clamp meter and it's pulling 90A before it trips the motor cut out.
If it does gets going, current draw goes down to less than 10 amps.
I thought it was a problem with the unloader side on the compressor but it seemed ok.
The non-return valve checked out ok as well.
I then thought it might be a half seized compressor pump but it is reasonably easy to turn.

Checked the start and run caps and they tested OK with my cheap Chinese meter.
Checked the windings and was getting a very high reading on the starter windings.
Dug a bit deeper and was getting kilo-ohm readings across the inertia switch when it should have been a dead short.
Also noticed a crack in the plastic but that isn’t the issue.

Took the switch off and checked it on the bench

Cleaned the contacts and now have 0 ohms.

Put it back together and it runs again and does sound a lot happier.
Start current now is just over 60 amps!
Google says it's ok but it does seem a lot.

Anyway back up and running (for now)

Blobber · May 3, 2022

Now energy prices are high I thought I would sort the dripping hot tap on the bathroom basin which is a 5 min job as we all know.....
so a good start the isolator isolated, next step remove tap insert, tap insert seized solid and tap now spinning in the basin, remove flexi hose and fight under the basin for 30mins trying to wind the back nut off over lime encrusted threads wishing I had 3 small hands, tap off and into vise and insert removed, looks like the tap seat has a crack so flipped the washer over anyway and shoved it all back together in disgust, one thing that did surprise me was all this bright blue fine granular stuff that came out of the flexi pipe, never seen that before and none ever came out when you ran the tap?

The_Yellow_Ardvark · May 4, 2022

I got this Rolls Razoir the other day, but it was missing a important part.

The small Handle.

E bay was not good in finding just the handle.
I had almost given up in finding one.

Today I found one in a charity shop, I was not slow in getting it.

Complete and also working.

This also came my way.
A bit of wax and a buffing.

Blobber · May 5, 2022

Not seen a spark plug this bad before, almost one side is choked between the insulator and outer case and a weeny bit of insulator is missing, the others werent as bad!

bourbon · May 5, 2022

post 2382. Here is the result. not perfect, but I'm still learning.

Barking Mat · May 5, 2022

bourbon said:
post 2382. Here is the result. not perfect, but I'm still learning.View attachment 345036

Missed this.

You've glued it back together? Hat off, 3d puzzle.

Got a dremmel ? To smooth out that ? Some filler and paint ?

What did it look like before.

MattF · May 5, 2022

Barking Mat said:
What did it look like before.

Like it does now? :whistle:

Pigeon_Droppings2 · May 6, 2022

Today I finally fitted the power steering filter that I bought 2 years ago for my XC70. It was one of those very rare occasions where I mess with something that isn't really broken and it leads to an improvement!

There was often a slight bounce in the steering on sweeping bends which is now gone it seems (all volvos seem to do it)...I have no explanation other than maybe the filter reduces air bubbles in the fluid or something like that....I'm just going to take the win and hope it doesn't result in something else breaking!

Only fitted the filter to prolong the steering components...it's specifically for steering/gearboxes (magnafine)...don't ask me where I bought the filter as I've long forgotten.

bourbon · May 6, 2022

for those of you who asked what it looked like before. see post 2382. I wasn't getting paid for it, so didn't take too much time over it.

nickk · May 7, 2022

This 200bhp lumper came in today,made a sleeve for the rear sets,as he’d lost the bolt riding down here for a rally.

bourbon · May 7, 2022

Off to The Burntwood session of Lichfield Repair Café at 10. Let's see what we have today.

4String. · May 7, 2022

Had a very productive day in the workshop today.

Fitted more double sockets as well as tidying up the wiring into the breaker box, and rewired the overhead lights into switches rather than having them plugged into sockets, but also got the drill press into its permanent home:

.

Just enough room above it to open the lid and change speed, and once I've made some removable shelves there'll be plenty of room in the cabinet to store all my drill bits and various cutters. Everything drill-related will be where it needs to be, no more wandering around the workshop trying to find what's needed :clapping: