Stuff you have fixed today

[ajlelectronics]

although I need to wait for a signal generator to appear tomorrow, before I can prove that.

It turned up just after 10AM but what a load of junk! It wouldn't have been so bad if it had at least got some output, but it's dead Jim. The pips you see are actually solder joints, the front panel being a PCB!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0C88RLHTY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

There don't seem to be any decent secondhand RF generators around currently so I might have to see what I can build. All I want to do is to check the receive frequencies and maybe the sensitivity.

 

[Pete.]

I 'fixed' my 1 Ton engine hoist to make it more useful for me. I bought it to move my equipment about and lift it on and off pallets which I move about with my pallet truck but it has 2 major drawbacks:

1. the legs are not wide enough apart to go around even a 800mm wide euro pallet.
2. If I do get a machine on the hook I cannot put it down on the floor because it lands on the legs of the hoist first.

So I needed to widen the legs a bit. I did this by cutting a 30 degree notch in the outside edge and bending them to put a 30 deg bend outwards. in each leg.



Now this made the legs splay out miles too wide so I cut an opposite notch only 20 degrees 200mm from the first and then bent the legs back in.



The result of this is I can now get the hoist legs either side of a 800x1000 euro pallet far enough so that the hook is well over the pallet. I can also now drop the machine straight onto the floor (so long as it;s not more than 8-900mm wide) instead of it landing on the legs of the hoist as before.



It's not much use as an engine hoist any more as it's very wide at the castors so would be hard to get under a car but since I have no plans to do that it's no issue to me.

 

[Ian X]

Fixed a five years old Aldi hairdryer, motor bearings seized and on the way out, injected a magimix of superlube grease and moly paste. Time spent repairing about 35 minutes, time before it squealed then died again, about 3 minutes. You know when you spin the motor by hand and it makes that short zzzzz sound that its a lost cause.

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

A fix within a fix.

I think we can all agree that's pretty wallered out.

Ages ago I ordered a new anvil taking care to get the specific part number as there's a bewildering array of variants.

I have had a bit of a stressful day and figured a quick fix in my lunch-hour would be a nice way to feel like I was back on top.

So off I go, only to discover that the anvil that had turned up was:
- too wide on the front bearing surface stopping it from dropping into the hammer mechanism,
- too long at the rear bearing surface, stopping the hammers from aligning with the anvil,

At this point I was about to get very frustrated and try to order another when I realised "There's a bloody lathe behind you!".

Some turning later:

At this point I greased it up and reassembled, to discover it was also too long at the front bearing surface causing it to bind against the casing.

So a bit more measuring, back to the lathe, and it finally fitted correctly, deburr all the new edges, slather more moly grease on, and reassemble.

Quick test, appears to work perfectly, much better.

I have saved the old anvil just in case this doesn't work out long term so I have a reference.

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

A fix within a fix.

View attachment 475129
I think we can all agree that's pretty wallered out.

Ages ago I ordered a new anvil taking care to get the specific part number as there's a bewildering array of variants.

I have had a bit of a stressful day and figured a quick fix in my lunch-hour would be a nice way to feel like I was back on top.

So off I go, only to discover that the anvil that had turned up was:
- too wide on the front bearing surface stopping it from dropping into the hammer mechanism,
- too long at the rear bearing surface, stopping the hammers from aligning with the anvil,

At this point I was about to get very frustrated and try to order another when I realised "There's a bloody lathe behind you!".

View attachment 475130

Some turning later:

View attachment 475131
View attachment 475132

At this point I greased it up and reassembled, to discover it was also too long at the front bearing surface causing it to bind against the casing.

So a bit more measuring, back to the lathe, and it finally fitted correctly, deburr all the new edges, slather more moly grease on, and reassemble.

Quick test, appears to work perfectly, much better.

I have saved the old anvil just in case this doesn't work out long term so I have a reference.

Tested a bit more thoroughly tonight.

It needs a full rebuild kit, putting fresh moly grease in earlier acted as a nice grey telltale for all the areas where the o-rings and gaskets are allowing air blow-by, which is the trigger, and the right-hand side of the main joint in the casing.

This said, even with the leaks it's a big upgrade on my Makita in terms of power.

I will have to remember to be careful about using it to tighten anything, it will strip an M12 thread soon as look it, not bad for a really battered example of a 20 year old design that needs some long overdue TLC.

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

A bit of cutting, welding and threading and the companion set is know 7cm shorter all round. Big brownie points from my Mrs.

 

[Blobber]

Mounted the free 65 inch TV on a cheapy chinese wall bracket in the workshop, the pictures not good enough to have it in the house and its too big! should be able to get some work stuff and security cameras on it at some point, maybe even a bit of daytime telly!

 

[Melvyn Best]

Mounted the free 65 inch TV on a cheapy chinese wall bracket in the workshop, the pictures not good enough to have it in the house and its too big! should be able to get some work stuff and security cameras on it at some point, maybe even a bit of daytime telly!
View attachment 475288

Can’t think of anything worse than loose women when I’m trying to work!

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

Can’t think of anything worse than loose women when I’m trying to work!

Reruns of something vaguely interesting on "Dave"...

You can think you're treating it as background noise, but suddenly get to "a good bit" and loose 15 minutes just watching the TV before you clock on that you've just paused to watch.

This is one of many reasons I prefer audiobooks, podcasts, and "The Wireless", as you can still engage with it whilst being effective at doing something else at the same time...

I usually put my 3M Bluetooth ear defenders on when I go into the workshop and listen to something interesting whilst working.

 

[voipio]

Brake failure on a Ford Fiesta, due to a brake fluid leak on the caliper banjo union. These were the sealing washers that came off the banjo. Made from aluminium, and corroded by road salt. So much so, that they were literally crumbling in my hands. Replaced with copper washers now.

 

[Melvyn Best]

Brake failure on a Ford Fiesta, due to a brake fluid leak on the caliper banjo union. These were the sealing washers that came off the banjo. Made from aluminium, and corroded by road salt. So much so, that they were literally crumbling in my hands. Replaced with copper washers now.

View attachment 475299

I’ve had similar problems , even when new copper washers have been installed I’ve had leakages, sometimes subtle use of a hammer on the end of the bango bolt before a final tightening works wonders

 

[Morrisman]

Brake failure on a Ford Fiesta, due to a brake fluid leak on the caliper banjo union. These were the sealing washers that came off the banjo. Made from aluminium, and corroded by road salt. So much so, that they were literally crumbling in my hands. Replaced with copper washers now.

View attachment 475299

I had the same on the sump plug on my BM bike, the aluminium crush washer all but rotted away over winter. When I changed the oil the sump plug came free with no effort, and I could see why when I checked out the washer. I only use copper for it now.

 

[Farside]

I usually put my 3M Bluetooth ear defenders on when I go into the workshop and listen to something interesting whilst working.

This is why I didn't stint on music output and I resisted using my old telly in the workshop.

 

[Danez]

Brought the jag kicking and screaming into the 21st century with a head unit upgrade. Pioneer DA77DAB, black friday deal for £300. wireless apple car play, hands free, DAB+, aux, USB, bluetooth etc etc
coming from only being able to use FM radio and CDs!

One of my favourite things about it is being able to change the start up splash screen, made it look a bit more OEM

 

[dobbslc]

You've got the font all wrong

 

[Danez]

You've got the font all wrong

No idea what you're on about

 

[Cobbler]

You've got the font all wrong

No idea what you're on about

Neither have Jaguar

 

[ajlelectronics]

I replaced the wiper motor on my GTC today, what a palaver! Poor quality, expensive parts that are right on the edge of their working tolerances. I needed to do the job because during the build, I had inadvertently jammed the wipers together and overheated the motor. Upshot of that is that they work fine when raining, but as soon as the screen was dry the motor would stall, requiring a manual kick.

Then I dropped a 1/4" UNF Nyloc into the engine bay, which didn't hit the deck and I couldn't find lurking. As I was doing it in my home garage, of course I have no spares so have to take the 'bike to the workshop to get another one and some grease.

During the job, I also managed to drop two metal parts onto the paintwork, which thankfully appears to have done no apparent damage.

I believe that I am missing a vital washer too, which makes the park switch finicky, item 5...

 

[Anguz]

Looks lucas? I have had to shim them to get the switch to work before now

 

[ajlelectronics]

Looks lucas? I have had to shim them to get the switch to work before now

Yes, a 14W. I think that the missing washer may be causing the very tight tolerance on the park switch because the cam is being held the thickness of the washer away from the actuating pin. Where to get a washer is the thing. It is like a copper washer, size ratio wise so no junk box part will fit.