Stuff you have fixed today

[Bobupndown]

Not fixed as such coz it wasn't broken but changed my Freelander 2's timing belt and waterpump. Fiddly job which was assisted by much swearing. Never done a timing belt before despite years of car tinkering but the prices charged for this job by main dealers, and even indys made me have a crack at it. Glad I did it but an inline rather than a transverse engine must be simpler!
Did rear discs and pads too. Total price about £220 in parts, my labour = free.

 

[awemawson]

On my excavator I noticed the battery was rather low - OK it's done many starts recently without long runs but I thought I'd check if there was any leakage when everything was turned off.

Clamp meter on the battery lead and I'm measuring just under 1 amp discharge! So, as the fuse box is in the cab, and the battery isn't, I temporarily extend the lead into the cab so that I can pull one fuse at a time (there are 27!) to see which circuit is the issue while still reading the meter.

Clamber up holding the meter in my hand - what the heck - NO DISCHARGE ! Scratching my head I put the clamp meter, still round the extended battery lead, down on the floor. Hang one - discharge is back - pick it up, discharge goes - what the heck is happening.

Then it dawns on me, the clamp meter on DC measures small magnetic fields created by the current in the cable, BUT what I'm measuring is the small magnetic field of the JCB itself.

Fault fixed - well solved really - go put the battery on charge !

 

[Arc Tourist]

Ashamed to say, I only fixed a wobbly Anvil. Sorted it out with the surface grinder.

 

[jsf55]

Combi bog and wash basin, which fits neatly in the kitchen cupboard, is running all the time. Nightmare to work behind without removing waste side. But i managed to work through all the rusty flexi's and fill level adjuster thingy me bob that are in the cistern. 3 years old and rusted through letting it fill all the time. Replaced tap and pusher while i was in there !

 

[roblane65]

and a pusher !
TOO MUCH information

 

[jsf55]

Flush operating button

 

[Jan-DIY]

Today a very actual Merkle 180A AC/DC Tig come across. Usual evidence of broken diodes or short Igbt. But all are fine. Reason was that somebody forgot a insulator between a stud which separates positive and negative output from secondary side.
Neat machine but horrible to dismantle. Also assembling will be a mess.

 

[m_c]

An old school repair today.
Neighbours tractor starter motor was smoking when trying to crank.
This might be why.

New cap fitted, solenoid adjustment checked, and it mostly works.
It's still a bit reluctant to spin at times and grinds a bit, but the brushes/armature looked perfect, so I'm not entirely sure why.
It always cranks the engine, even if it takes a second or so to stop grinding and it's not a lack of engagement kind of grinding
If it stops working, I'll strip it down more for a proper look.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

This restoration should not have taken as long as it did, in fact I should of stopped.



This was me trying a pre-restoration light to see how bad it was.
It looked like to be a real mix and match of older and new bits. The new bits are pre 1980. The Government stamp indicates it is/was Civil defence or Disaster relief equipment. But Nothing I could find showed this pattern or build.
But More of that later.



I think this is what they say as;
Not Good.
A strip down and all seals, O rings and springs replaced. Along with a vaporiser.
It was Burning away with a nuce white light and then.......
Seals let go, allowing air in, in the wrong place and liquid paraffin to be dumped all over the new mantle.

A word to the wise.
If this happens to you.
Do Not release the tank pressure by unscrewing the pump.
You will get a lot more vapour released and then it could go bad. Just turn the control valve off and let it go out.
Me?
A quick blast with CO2 had it safe.
Coffee time.


Rebuild No2.
The tank is not brass, but alloy with a brass like electro plate on it. This makes it even more confusing as that is listed as a African version of the tank.

New mantle, OE Tilley spares. I have found aftermarket ones not to be much good.




Here we go again, coffee, fire extinguisher and fire blanket to hand. Not that I was too worried. But once bitten twice shy.



This is getting a wee bit frustrating. It blew a seal during pre heat this time.
It cracked the glass, wrecked the mantle and filled the burner with soot.

Coffee and toast time.

This time it all had to come to bits, every part was dismantled. Spares raided, old lamps dug out for spares.
This was the time I found an interesting link to Ex Civil defence stock.



At last. Burning nicly, new mantle No.3 beginning to glow. The glass is foggy as I must of left some moisture, but it soon cleared.
The liquid you see is not a leak, just me not cleaning up the last leak properly.

This Tilley lamp is a odd mix, as I said. But there is a reason.
Even through it is listed as Civil defence, it is not as clear cut as that.

The lamp is from the late 1960's and early 1970's, the height of the cold war. The UK Government was concerned that in Africa certain factions may be gaining grounds and this would not be a good thing, so NATO would supply equipment to that part in support of friendly governments.

So, with this in mind Tilley supplied, in kit forms Lamps like this one. To be assembled and used.
I am guessing at some point this was assembled and in its life as items failed replacements parts were fitted to keep it going. Or it never was sent out and was assembled to be used in the UK. We will never know for sure.
But this was a real pig

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

This came my way the other day, I like the design of the pressed steel handle and the small front support.



So, a quick check.



The jet was blocked, so bad it could not be cleaned. So it was replaced.



The pump cup washer was also shot, so here you can see the old and the new.
A good tip is not to use mineral oil on the washer, but cooking oil. In this case Tesco own.
Other supermarkets are available..



No, not a Tilley lamp again. This is normal during the warming up stage on this kind or torch.



IT LIVES IGOR IT LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So...................................



We take it to bits again and clean it up.
So we can put it together again and have more fun.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Got this Nu-Tool pillar drill the other day.
Must of the rust was light surface, from being sored in a damp shed.



The base plate and table were removed and my friend who owns a local garage allowed me to play on his head grinder.
It has not been used for years, took 2 hours to clean the stuff of the top.
Two pass's had the rust cleaned and the table a lot flatter than it ever was.



New belt time.
A walk to the car spares shop soon had me £7 shorter and a new 10mm x 713mm V belt.

The motor was removed and left in the Airing cupboard for a few days to make sure it was dry.

The fresh metal was sealed with bee's wax. After they had bean warmed on a stove.

 

[Arc Tourist]

I finally got around to fixing the draft situation with the overhead door of the garage. I cut an old rug in half and stapled it onto a 1"x 2" batten which I then screwed onto the roof joist next to the concrete lintel. The rubberised bottom of the 20" wide carpet rides on the door slats and blocks just about all the wind, dust, and drafts from entering that end of the garage. It should also help to minimise damp air contributing to rust in the in the workshop area.

 

[Mike Pinches]

I'm going to copy that idea, I've been trying to think of how best to seal that gap off on my garage door. That is much quicker and simpler than anything I had thought of

 

[bricol]

My roller shutter continues to rotate a little after it hits the ground - that pushed the upper slats that aren't in the guide forward, sealing against the front plate. No idea if thats intended or not, but its worked for the last long time . ..

 

[Arc Tourist]

My roller shutter continues to rotate a little after it hits the ground - that pushed the upper slats that aren't in the guide forward, sealing against the front plate. No idea if thats intended or not, but its worked for the last long time . ..

That's interesting. When my garage door was fitted, the installer adjusted the slats to touch the threshold with a little slack so several seemed to stack. I suppose having extra slats would be a solution in some cases, but I would think the lead on the feed channel would need to be widened, to prevent possible jams ?

 

[Mick Annick]

That's interesting. When my garage door was fitted, the installer adjusted the slats to touch the threshold with a little slack so several seemed to stack. I suppose having extra slats would be a solution in some cases, but I would think the lead on the feed channel would need to be widened, to prevent possible jams ?

Every roller shutter door I’ve seen has been like that too

 

[bricol]

That's interesting. When my garage door was fitted, the installer adjusted the slats to touch the threshold with a little slack so several seemed to stack. I suppose having extra slats would be a solution in some cases, but I would think the lead on the feed channel would need to be widened, to prevent possible jams ?

The first few slats stay in the guides, so they bring the rest in after them - it's only they hit the ground, all the slack is taken up, and the two two or three get shoved forward a touch, as they aren't yet in the guide. and of course, when opening, they just pull up and out as usual. It doesn't seem to have damaged anything so far . . .

 

[m_c]

Not fixed, but dismantled this last night -

Still trying to decide what to do with it, as the top of the liners are a bit pitted.
Could either stick on a copper gasket and see how long it lasts, or go for a more extreme strip and skim, or even new short block.
Block and head could be had for £940+VAT. Skim is going to be at least a couple hundred, plus the additional labour and unknowns of fully stripping the engine.

 

[Bornfree]

4 days work to change this fwd-rev syncroniser in a same tractor. The farmer said. How did it take 4 days to fit such a small part.

 

[MCKDAVID]

Because it took three days to strip the rest it out to get to it..... Have the same discussion regularly... That's why I take plenty of photos as I go, also useful to put it all back together....