- Thread starter monkeymark
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As the glow plugs are absolute sods to get at I thought I would put a new set in whilst the engine is out. They all came out without a problem and as its done 137,000 I did a compression test while I had them out. All cylinders over 400 psi. 420 max 405 minimum. These old mercedes lumps are good.
brewdexta
The biggest tool in the box
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A new screen for the recording desk. I had two old Benq screens that cost next to nothing second hand, but the resolution was pants and made it difficult to cram in the DAW software and other stuff. So a 40" screen came along on eBay, not too far away so picked it up yesterday. Now happily being driven at 3840 x 2160 by a raspberry pi 5. I also got some deeper undershelf sliders/brackets and made a shelf for the daughters midi keyboard. The Benq monitors will go to the charity shop.
Acquired this week with a bunch of other stuff. A bit pointless really (pun intended) as I already have a dividing head tailstock. I wonder whether suitably machined spare centres are available. I guess I could machine a slot with a suitable carbide cutter, which I don't have at present.
Update on the above. Not used it much, but it so far seems like a useful gadget.
E.g. - I've had an acquired dc cooling fan for a couple of years lying about that originally was the engine cooling fan for a small air-cooled Lighting Tower. It said on the body that it had an input voltage range of 5-15vdc - so the Power Supply was used to see if it was happy being used as a variable speed extractor fan for my camper build... and it tested out well.
(My van has a rotary roof vent thing like you see on police dog vans etc... & I found that my s/h fan is just the right diameter to fit on the bottom of the vent. My idea was to use the existing vent as a ready-made conduit with this fan as an extractor when cooking etc).
On the back of the successful test - I've ordered a 3A variable dc motor drive with a reverse.... so if that tests out with my brushless fan we'll, I'll have a 2-way forced-air extractor & blower working through the existing roof vent
Centre height about 95 - 125mm
Needs a centre about 19mm (I would need to measure more accurately).
Today, a further new look to the front garden wall.
northwest
Searching for the Holy Grail.........
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Well, had a frantic day finding bits for me little van, down to my pal's scrapyard soon as I could and of course the bits I wanted were on a car four cars up. Took a while but it now drives absolutely mint. Anyhow upon my return home I found this outside the front door:
It is a three meter long length of Phos Bronze bar. I was gobsmacked, I had ordered three 12" lengths. Imagine then my astonishment when the email arrived advising me that "we are sorry we were unable to fulfill all of your order". In my innocence I imagined someone had b uggered the order up and sent me one three meter length instead of three lengths, no, two more will be here on Monday apparently!
(please excuse the wonky paving, I am trying to decide the best way to fix them down, really annoying at the moment) No doubt going to become it's own thread.
It is a three meter long length of Phos Bronze bar. I was gobsmacked, I had ordered three 12" lengths. Imagine then my astonishment when the email arrived advising me that "we are sorry we were unable to fulfill all of your order". In my innocence I imagined someone had b uggered the order up and sent me one three meter length instead of three lengths, no, two more will be here on Monday apparently!
(please excuse the wonky paving, I am trying to decide the best way to fix them down, really annoying at the moment) No doubt going to become it's own thread.
daleyd
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Picked up a very lightly used RS Pro hydraulic crimper. I toyed with the idea of getting one of the generic Chinese ones (which would have been cheaper) but having used one of these in work and seeing how solid and well built they are I decided to pony up the extra for this, which was less than half the new price.
I used to use one a lot like that quite often, making up cable sets for generators from 35mm up to 240mm.
Good kit.
(I used to carry a 4" vice on a home-made fold-out stand which was originally a bicycle workstand base. Being able to clamp the Crimper body in the vice with the pump handle uppermost made holding the cable & crimp steady in the jaws while actuating the pump handle made the job so much easier. Replacing or fitting Powerlocks I did much the same).
daleyd
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I've used these and cembre ones in the past, both very similar. I love the cembre but they are mega ££ - this was a bit of an extravagance but still good value, as it has the full range of dies with it.
I've got a 4000a thyristor to swap out in a few weeks, I'll probably be using the companies one for that but I might take this to give it a test run!
Brad93
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My order got cancelled
daleyd
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Easier, but still a handful, with 2 people! We refitted some big heater cabinets on an oil platform a few years back and had stacks of crimps to do with one of these, it was OK when you could do the cables out in the open but as you say trying to wrestle them into place in a tight place is "interesting"
I'll definitely be trying the vice as recommended by @GRW though
roblane65
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A couple of days ago I acquired a dust suppression unit as spares not working
A husqvarna WT 15 in want of a very good clean , battery is dead and I havn't checked the charger yet , I jury rigged another 18v battery and the switch and pump work fine and it's water tight .
I could re cell the battery if the charger checks out but I'm thinking of a fly lead / adapting it to take Hikoki / hitatchi 18v batteries as I've plenty and theres always some charged in the van . I can get the gardena batteries but as an occasional use machine I don't want to be faffing checking / charging batteries whenever I want to use .
A husqvarna WT 15 in want of a very good clean , battery is dead and I havn't checked the charger yet , I jury rigged another 18v battery and the switch and pump work fine and it's water tight .
I could re cell the battery if the charger checks out but I'm thinking of a fly lead / adapting it to take Hikoki / hitatchi 18v batteries as I've plenty and theres always some charged in the van . I can get the gardena batteries but as an occasional use machine I don't want to be faffing checking / charging batteries whenever I want to use .
Definitely give it a go.Easier, but still a handful, with 2 people! We refitted some big heater cabinets on an oil platform a few years back and had stacks of crimps to do with one of these, it was OK when you could do the cables out in the open but as you say trying to wrestle them into place in a tight place is "interesting"
I'll definitely be trying the vice as recommended by @GRW though
Especially with bigger crimps, trying to keep a flexible 240mm in a crimp, while trying to operate the crimping tool like it's a piece of gym equipment or a Bullworker (anyone remember them?) -is like having a fight in a phone box while trying not to spill a full pint!
Being able to secure the crimper body in the vice makes it much easier to apply force through the handle - while the body stays rock steady as a bonus, while you have a free hand to keep the cable fully home in the crimp until there's enough compression to hold it.
(For portability that's why I adapted a cheapo Lidl/Aldi bike stand to carry a 4" small Paramo vice. It didn't need to be super-strong, just fit easily in the van, be easy to carry & set up, & stable with the legs folded out, and be a firm "3rd hand" to help. It was ideal tbh).
Photos please!
daleyd
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I’ll put them in a new thread, it might even actually be semi relevant to the site as it’s on a strip steel spot welder!
northwest
Searching for the Holy Grail.........
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To be honest, I thought this would be but I thought "what the heck, it's worth a punt" and here we are!
