11/3

What I took away from lethal strike was never assume the hydraulic system you're working on is safe. Always take into account that there could be a leak somewhere and be mindful of that. I'm currently working within inches of several hydraulic lines. I have no idea what the psi for that system is but I'm sure it's high enough that I don't want to be getting hit by it. I've had to take a lot of precautions to protect those lines when I'm cutting close-by or welding. I'll use a piece of sheet metal or a rubber mat and even with that I'm sure there are times where I've been lucky to not have run into a problem. The other thing I took away from the video is always use something else besides your hand when looking for a leak. Use a piece of cardboard folded over or something else to protect yourself.

A witty pun

I've learned quite a bit

Straightened this rod out with a press.

This truck had a broken grease fitting. They're just taken off by a socket and one threads back into the port.

Add caption

You can see the welds I cut along the bottom of the angle iron.
That's just the ones on that piece.
I' wouldn't be surprised if I did 100 welds.

1st week of Hydraulics

My first job involved fabrication to a flatbed semi-trailer. Someone had taken all the stops out that prevented the winches from traveling. Therefore as it goes down the road they would travel and end up over the tires. The load would bear down the trailer and make the winches rub against the tires ruining them. I had to take out the two remaining stops (just a bolt preventing the winches from sliding off), add a few winches, and space them out proportionally across the trailer. Then I put in new stops where they were taken out by using a grade 8 bolt, two flat washers, and a locknut for vibration. The fabrication came in for the two winches I actually bolted directly onto the trailer and not the rail the rest slide along. I scribed two 3/8" holes, drilled them about 1 1/4" in from the outside, marked the trailer with a paint pen, and drilled two holes to bolt them onto the trailer with.

Flushed an engine by draining the coolant, closing the peacock, and filling it with water. Started the engine, opened the peacock, and had a garden hose so there was about the same amount of water going in as there was coming out. Engine has to be running for it to be done properly or else you have all the dirty coolant sitting in the block.

This isn't the flatbed I did it on, but this is what it looked like.
You can see the winches along the rail, and notice how they're
NOT over the tires. The ones I drilled for were on the end by
the tail lights, and on the opposite end as well.

Drain and fill for the differential. It's full when it's dribbling out the top.

Here's a slack adjuster that looks pretty typical.
They're all dirty and greasy, but this one looks like it's on it's way out.

80-90 gear lube used in a differential.

Tapped the headbolt holes in Squire's engine.
Sucked out the shavings with a vaccuum and blew it out with an air gun.

The engine Squire is current'y working on.

How To Use The MIN/MAX Features With A Multimeter

Starting Charging

test

2nd week of electrical

Test

1st week of fall 2014!

Well this first week of electrical has been a good refresher since we had it last year, and there was a lot of stuff that we digested this week. There are of course the staples that we've know. A short to ground is gonna blow a fuse, and should be replaced with a "fuse that glows" to locate it. A short that bypasses a switch is a short to power. If there's no current flow then there can't be a voltage drop. Also going to the most negative point in the system (-battery post) with you lead leaving you with just a positive lead and your meter. One thing I'm getting more respect for is the number of connections that can be in a circuit and therefore can become a high resistance connection.

Kirchoff's current law makes a little more sense now. They way it seemed to be really useful is to use it to find the source or the load. It can also be used to figure out which circuit your on, and what direction you're going in (to or from the source). Also current flow testing allows you to see work being done. The sum of current flow in a circuit should be the same throughout the circuit.

I found it interesting in one test board that the primary and secondary circuit both shared the same bad ground. This caused the relay to turn on and off repeatedly as the Fuel Pump would actuate and cause enough of a VD for the Relay to not be able to energize. This is why a relay buzzes and will continue on in a loop until the ground is fixed.

Going to add the pictures of the starting/charging  tests I did on a couple systems. Phone died.

When heads are re-manufactured they use baking soda to blast all the corrosion, carbon, and dirt off.

The areas that are critical are mainly the valve seats, intake ports, exhaust ports, and this main area here where all the moving valves, springs, and cam takes place. It literally must be spotless.