Consumer Experiences of Brian Fraser
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last modified: 2-8-2023
Bernard Haldane Associates services may not be cost effective
Bernard Haldane is "the nation's leader in Career Management Services" and is
"committed to helping individuals reach their career goals." There are
other companies that offer similar services (Chandler Hill Partners, etc). Typically, they
charge thousands of dollars for their services. If you are out of work, you might be
tempted to pay some big bucks for such a service because being out of work is costly too.
But before you do, consider your options. There may be local and Federal programs that
offer similar, or even better, services and they are often free.
I live in the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area. So I checked out the Maricopa
Workforce Development Career Center located in Gilbert. I found their services to be very
professional, up-to-date, and with excellent depth and breadth. And the services are
FREE. That is pretty hard to beat! (See http://www.onestop.maricopa.gov/ and http://www.arizonavirtualonestop.com )
This was not at all what I expected from a government service center. Apparently, both
local and federal governments are very serious about getting "dislocated
workers" re-employed. Millions of people have had their jobs "outsourced"
to Russia, India, China, and other countries where labor costs are considerably lower than
here in the United States. Even service jobs are being outsourced now. The usual
improvements in productivity have also been taking their toll. As the unemployment rates
rise, the tax base erodes. The economy also stagnates and people cannot purchase
discretionary goods and services. Instead of paying taxes, people start requiring
government assistance in the form of food stamps, rental assistance, and so forth. There
is also a huge waste of human talent, especially in the older worker category where the
50+ somethings have lots of work experience and are often a bargain for savvy employers,
but are otherwise ignored in the job market. State and federal governments would
like to turn all this around. And what I saw at the Maricopa Workforce Connection Center
in Gilbert convinces me that they are serious about doing a very good job of it.
The services offered at this particular Comprehensive One Stop Center include workshops
on:
How to write an effective resume
How to conduct an employment interview
How to effectively fill out an employment application (not as straight-forward as you
might think)
How to network
How to assess your job skills and interest through on-line testing (MBTI, BESI, etc)
How to use the on-line OneStop services
How to communicate professionally
How to use computers and internet services
How to find and use labor market information (outlook and local salary for a job category)
One-on-one counseling is also available for personalized advice and Resume/Interview
critiquing. If you are officially a "dislocated worker" there may also be some
Federal money available for re-training.
I experienced these services as very professional and very up-to-date. And THEY ARE
FREE. Check them out BEFORE you decide to pay the big bucks to one of those commercial
career management services.
Also, if you are an employer doing a Reduction In Force (RIF), you might consider these
services for your former employees instead of a far more expensive outplacement firm.
These One-Stop Centers appear to be grant funded. Take advantage of them while you can.
As for the various commercial career management services, do some research on them
before you sign on the dotted line. Experiences with such firms have ranged from very
positive to very negative. At least know what you are getting into. Some links:
Executive job seekers should take great care to determine exactly what services
are offered by a career counseling firm. It is important to have clear understanding of
financial or other contractual obligations, refund provisions (if any), staff background
and qualifications, and the company's record of success with other clients. References
from individuals with similar backgrounds may be useful. It is important to distinguish
promises made during the sales presentation from actual services provided by the company.
If an oral promise (made or implied) by a company representative is not specifically
included in the written contract, the client may assume that the promise will not be
honored.
Testing at an Arizona OneStop Center showed that I am a Myers-Briggs INTJ and
ISTJ. See http://typelogic.com/intj.html http://typelogic.com/istj.html
http://www.wsc.edu/advising_services/career_planning/exploration/personality_careers/intj/
http://www.wsc.edu/advising_services/career_planning/exploration/personality_careers/istj/
Books:
Executive Jobs Unlimited, Carl R. Boll, 1979
(find a copy if it is out of print)
Essentials of Business Communications, Mary Ellen
Guffey, 6th ed., 2004
A reminder to sales people
"For he pays a man according to his work, And makes
him find it according to his way." (Job 34:11)
"Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself; For emptiness will be his
reward." (Job 15:31)
"those who plow iniquity And those who sow trouble harvest it." (Job
4:8
"By their own devices let them fall." (Psalm 5:10)
"So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, To walk in their own devices," (Psalm 82:12)
"So they shall eat the fruit of their own way, And be satiated with their own
devices." (Proverbs 1:31)
"He who waters will himself be watered." (Proverbs 11:25)
"He who sows iniquity will reap vanity." (Proverbs 22:8)
"Will He not render to man according to his
work?" (Proverbs 24:12)
"they will eat the fruit of their actions" (Isaiah 3:10 )
"I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even
to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds. As a
partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid, So is he who makes a fortune, but
unjustly; In the midst of his days it will forsake him, And in the end he will be a
fool." (Jeremiah 17:10-11)
"For they sow the wind, And they reap the whirlwind." (Hosea 8:7; 10:13)
"As you have done, it will be done to you. Your
dealings will return on your own head." (Obadiah 1:15)
"As the Lord of hosts purposed to do to us in
accordance with our ways and our deeds, so He has dealt with us." (Zechariah 1:6)
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever
a man sows, this he will also reap." (Galatians 6:7)
"God gave them over . . . " (Romans 1:24, 1:26, 1:28)
"By your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. . . . Therefore, however
you want people to treat you, so treat them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."
(Matthew 7:2,12)
"For
the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His
angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds." (Matthew 16:27)
"God . . . will render to every man according to his deeds"
(Romans 2:5-6)
Harmon/Kardon DA001 88S REV A HK195-01 computer speaker system
fails
I was awoken one night by a loud hum. At first I thought it was the fire alarm, but it
turned out to be a sound coming from the speakers on my computer system. I turned off the
computer but the sound continued(!). Still only half-awake, I started unplugging
everything, and the sound finally stopped.
In the morning I figured out that the sound was coming from the pair of
Harmon/Kardon speakers attached to the computer. I took apart the one that had the
amplifier board and found that the top of the main filter capacitor for the power supply
had cracked open slightly. I did some calculations and found that the voltage rating was
slightly too low for the voltage from the power transformer. I carefully removed the
defective capacitor (3300mf@25V), soldered in a couple of wires, and
connected a replacement capacitor with a somewhat higher voltage rating and with about the
same capacitance (2200mf@35V). The leads were different from the original
and so I had to attach the new capacitor to a convenient spot on the back of the speaker
frame instead of the circuit board. The repair tested ok, did not hum, and has
worked fine ever since.
I now leave the computer sound system turned OFF unless I specifically need the sound
feature.
FEIT Electric LED Night Light Fails
I bought two of these LED night lights (made by Feit Electric Company) at a Walgreens
store. The package advertises a 100,000 hour life and an energy cost of $0.25 per year.
One failed after two months of use. I then took both of them apart to find out why one
failed. Both showed signs of poor manufacturing practice (finger prints on the circuit
board, cold solder joints, poor cleaning). One had developed a crack in the plastic case.
Both showed evidence of overheating of the resistor that connects to the LED. The one that
failed has a resistor with a visible crack in it, rather clearly due to overheating. The
resistors were probably under-rated for their intended power load (as in using a 0.25 watt
resistor for a 0.30 watt load, or not derating the resistor for the additional thermal
stress caused by a plastic housing).
I regard this night light as a potential fire hazard and find it hard to believe that
it was UL listed. I don't use this type of light in my home anymore.
Pencil torch explodes
I was using a little butane pencil torch to purge air from a small petroleum reactor
that I had built to make a sample of xylene/ lithium stearate gel. I opened the valve on
the torch as usual, but did not hear it hiss. I was holding in my hand, looking at it
intently, wondering why it was not working. Suddenly, it exploded, and the torch head shot
across the room. Fortunately, it was not lit, and it was pointing away from my face.
I gathered up all the pieces and tried to figure out why it exploded. It had the
expected O-ring, and the expected chunk of foam that prevents the fuel cylinder from being
overfilled. But there was NO crimp holding the torch head to the fuel body. They were
joined only with some kind of adhesive.
I had stored the pencil torch in the refrigerator. When I held it in my hand, it would
have heated up rapidly. The coefficients of expansion for metals and for adhesives like
epoxy are rather different, and this probably contributed to the bond between them
suddenly breaking.
I related this experience to the clerks at the local hardware store. They confirmed
that they had heard of other people having some bad experiences with these pencil torches.
So BE CAREFUL if you use one, or are near someone who is using one! Mine exploded
when it was not even lit.
Seatbelt latch fails on Ford Mustang
One day I got into my 1991 Ford Mustang and buckled up,
but I noticed the seatbelt latch seemed to be working differently. I did not hear that
distinct "click" that I usually got when buckling up. I compared the action of
the driver-side belt with that of the (unoccupied) passenger-side and found that they
acted differently. I got the impression that the driver-side belt could unlatch
unexpectedly. As a test, I latched it and then shook it violently while pulling on it. It
did indeed suddenly pop apart. The scene was just as you have seen on TV in those
lawyer's ads.
At that point I removed both front seats so I could get at
the anchor bolts for the part of the seat belt that had the button latch. I replaced the
defective leftside with the still-working rightside until I could get a replacement from
Ford.
This machine cost $295, UPS Freight $79, and liftgate service $34 (through Grizzly). It
was well packaged and was delivered without any damage. The manual is well-written,
and machine assembly was straight-forward (requires a shop hoist or a "helper").
Hoisting it onto the work bench was somewhat awkward because it did not have
any premade lift points (I used a 6 1/2 foot sling). The drill press
is solidly constructed and appears to run well.
I had only one problem. After removing the light bulb dust plug, I found I could not
screw in a light bulb! The socket rotated as I screwed in the bulb. Then I could not get
the bulb back out. To repair it I had to loosen the pulley housing (4 screws; the idler
pulley just lifts out) and swing it to the side to get access to the light bulb socket. I
removed the entire socket assembly (one screw , on the outside). A threaded
retaining ring had fallen off the bulb end of the socket. I screwed it back on, but then
discovered that the socket still rotated in the socket bracket. In fact it was designed
to rotate in the socket bracket! This is truly a so-called "Chinese design" if I
ever saw one! (I have never been favorably impressed with Chinese electrical stuff meant
for the consumer market.)
The retaining ring, mounting bracket (with
a flat stub that is hard to see in the photo), and the light socket itself are seen
perched on the edge of the machine after unscrewing and swinging the pulley housing off to
the side. The socket goes through the bracket and is held in place by the screw-on
retaining ring. The bracket mounts to the machine wall with a single screw. The
socket will still rotate within the bracket unless the two are cememted together
with high-temperature adhesive (I used Silicone I ),
It is crowded in there.
Best to assemble the light socket and bracket while on the outside and then mount it as
intended on the inside.
Before you hoist the machine to the bench, make sure you can screw in a light bulb!
When I tried to remount the bulb bracket, I discovered that both the hole
in the casting and the hole in the bracket were threaded. In this situation getting a
solid bracket-to-casting mount would not be possible. So I drilled out the casting hole
with a 3/16" drill. The bracket mounted fine and tight after that.
Then I had to put the pulley housing back in place. Two of the four screws
went in okay (and I used lock washers instead of the supplied flat washers). The other two
were under the pulley and were difficult enough to remove, let alone reinstall. There was
not enough clearance for an offset Phillipsscrewdriver (!), nor
for my fingers. I decided to remove the spindle pulley, which is held on by a large nut. I
gave it a solid tug with a big wrench, and before realizing I was dealing with a
left-handed thread, I apparently twisted the splined spindle shaft slightly, and now it
binds a little at the top of travel. The pulley would still not come off (apparently
requires a puller) and I decided to leave it that way, lest I manage to bend something
else. The pulley cover rattled loudly without the two remaining screws. With a great
deal of patience and ingenuity I finally managed to get them in. If I EVER
have to do this again, I will substitute hex head cap screws for the Phillips screws
supplied.
I still do not know how well the machine works, but the light
bulb socket works fine now.
Grizzly Industrial G4000 Precision Bench Lathe Model
G4000 (9" x 19")
This machine cost $1050, UPS Freight $99, and liftgate service $34
(through Grizzly). Off-loading was a bit problematic for UPS because the crate was
too small for a regular pallet truck but too large for a hand truck. A shop hoist is
needed to get this 300 lb. machine onto the bench. The manual is well-written and
detailed. Removing the rust preventative (I used WD-40) was tedious but straight-forward,
as was the inventorying of various separate parts (some of which have left me mystified).
Lubrication and spindle bearing run-in at three different speeds (as per manual) were
uneventful.
The manual suggests using two slings around the back rib of the casting
for lifting the machine onto a bench. I tried this but did not like it. So I made my
own hooks from 1/4" scrap steel rod and slipped vinyl tubing over the contact points.
The hooks go inside the bed and hook onto the bottom of the casting. The offset bends on
the hooks prevent them from contacting the precision machined ways. The load
leveler is needed because the motor side of the lathe is much heavier than the opposite
end. Being able to hoist this machine while flat-and-level makes positioning and
bolting much easier.
The lathe is mounted with only two 1/2" bolts. The bolt holes
in the casting correspond with holes in the green oil pan. The manual does not mention
this, but the mounting hole in the casting at the motor end is not on the center line of
the bed. This means that the pan and lathe will only match up correctly one way (they are
not mismachined, as one reviewer asserted).
This is the factory inspection record that came with the lathe. Note that
the measurements are in millimeters, not inches. Hence, the G4 measurement for
"Spindle nose runout" of 0.01 mm is equivalent to about 4 ten-thousandths of an
inch (0.0004) (http://www.convertunits.com/from/mm/to/inches
)
This machine is a lot more complicated than the above drill press, but it
was free of silly installation problems. I have only noticed one minor problem: the rear
splash guard has an edge that rests sharply against the backside of the bed; it chipped
off the finish on the casting, leaving a very noticeable gash. This could have been
avoided if the manufacturer had given it a small 90 degree bend at this crucial point. I
simply covered the edge up with a small piece of vinyl tubing, which will also prevent it
from rattling.
I had some trouble getting the half-nut to engage the lead screw for
thread cutting. I had read warnings (somewhere) that the auto-feed lever and the half nut
lever must not be engaged at the same time. And so I assumed that the operation of these
two were independent. It turns out that they are interlocked and not independent
(?) on this machine. To get the half-nut lever to engage, I had to wiggle the half-nut
lever and the auto-feed lever at the same time. Turning the lead screw by hand slightly
might also be helpful. This does not seem to be a problem when the lathe is actually
running.
The lathe has a readily apparent peculiarity: the "follow rest" leads,
rather than follows, the tool cutter.
The "follow rest" on the Grizzly lathe is actually in front
of the cutting tool. This (usually) means that the surface it rides on has not been
machined (the cutter moves leftward, and the so-called "follower" moves leftward
with it. Such a surface could be eccentric or rough, leading to inaccuracies in the
cutting.
Here the "follow rest" actually follows the cutting
tool. This is the traditional configuration. The rotating surface it supports has been
machined, allowing accurate cutting. A follow rest is typically used with long stock that
is rotated "between centers"; it prevents the stock from bending away from the
cutting tool. (Note how the "lathe dog" is mounted to the faceplate to apply
turning force.).
Says Workholding in the Lathe, Tubal Cain (1987) p. 97:
It appears that there is some uncertainty as to whether the travelling
steady jaws should be set to the work ahead of the tool or opposite the tool. The 'ahead'
setting is the preferred one, for a number of reasons. First, the obvious one that the
setting can be made before the tool cuts! Second, there is a little less risk of
swarf getting between the jaw and the work—though care
must always be taken to avoid this wherever the steady is set. Third, it is possible
to remove any burrs from the work between each pass. which might otherwise interfere with
the proper action of the steady. . . . When using the steady on long screwcutting
operations (and this is where I find it comes in most useful) the steady—if
it has bronze jaws, as most of them seem to have these days—may
'pick up' on the thread. In an extreme case I have known the steady start the carriage
moving before the half nuts were engaged. Remove all burrs from threads as you go along
and, if you are wise, substitute harder jaws for this operation.
I also ordered the 20 pc. Lathe Tool Kit (H5868) But most of the
items did not fit the lathe. Grizzly's Customer Service prompt response:
Unfortunately, the H5868 Lathe Tool Kit is not designed for use with the G4000 Metal
Lathe. This style of tool kit is for use with a rocker style tool post rather than
the turret style tool post that comes with the G4000. At this time, we do not offer
a rocker style tool post for the G4000.
This was another "gotcha for newbies". I had focused on the statement
"Get started with this practical lathe kit that includes the following handy
essentials . . ." Sounded like just the right thing for me. Nope! There was no
statement that it could not be used with the G4000 lathe. (http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2013/Main/689) Grizzly customer service issued a
return authorization along with the following note:
Please note that we can only accept your return if the
merchandise is unused and in new, resalable condition. The product must be returned
in its original packaging. . . . Upon
receipt and inspection, we will issue a refund, in the form of a gift certificate, for the
merchandise less a 10% restocking fee and return shipping costs. Your outbound
shipping and handling charges are not refundable.
I had the same problem with an order for lathe dogs (http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2013/Main/700
) They also had to be returned because they would not fit the G4000 lathe face plate.
Later, I decided to educate myself on the topic of thread cutting. I followed the
manual, pages 36-42, for cutting a thread of 11 threads per inch (TPI) on a long
bolt that already had a section of 11 TPI at its end. I changed gear "a"
to 60 teeth, gear "b" to 30, and set the "lever" at 5 as per the table
in Fig. 60. The thread that I cut did not come out to 11 TPI, but was instead
something like 10.5 TPI. I felt sure this error had something to do with the 120/127 tooth
gears that are used for Imperial or metric thread cutting. The ratio of 127/120 is about
1.058 and 11/10.4 is almost 1.058. So I thought I must have mistakenly set it up for
metric. So I flipped the two gears over, thinking it might make a difference. This did not
make sense, but sometimes when logic does not work, maybe illogic will. So I tried it.
Nope. Didn't work . . . The gears are locked together by a bushing and are on the
same shaft, so there could not be any change in the ratio between the spindle and lead
screw.
I started looking more closely at the gear configuration in Figure 60. The top diagram
for Imperial threads has the label "127" pointing to a small gear, and
the "120" pointing to the large gear. Shouldn't it be the other
way around? Figs. 42, 45, 48, 51, 52 and 75 show the large gear on the inside, and the 120
gear on the outside. I also noticed that there was one offset on the gear train for
Imperial and two for metric. In other words, the Imperial setup uses the 120/127 gear pair
only as an idler, and therefore it does not matter whether it is setup as 127/120 or
120/127 (inside/outside) as long as either can mesh with gear "b".
The Fig. 60 diagram shows gear "b" in two different positions, one for
Imperial and one for metric. But how could gear "b" be moved? I went back and
looked at the lathe again. There was indeed a bushing behind gear "b",
but it did not show in any of the photos because gear "b" was in front and
covered it up. However, the "Change Gears" parts diagram on page 59 shows
it can go in front (part 413, where it is called a "spacer"). Swapping
the position of the "spacer" and the gear would change the spindle-to-lead screw
ratio, converting it from inadvertent metric back to Imperial.
I had an awful time getting the spacer to slide off (I had to gradually wedge it off by
using the smooth edge of a hacksaw blade). But I managed to cut a perfect 11 TPI thread
after reconfiguring. The spacer had to be on the outside, gear "b" on
the inside, and meshing with the 127 gear (used as an idler, not a ratio
changer). I have also been able to extend the threads on a 1/2 inch dia. No. 8 tempered
bolt with 13 TPI.
Grizzly left this little crucial detail out of their otherwise well-written manual.
Update:
I bought the lathe in the summer of 2013. Now, in the summer of
2015 I discovered that the cross slide has a two degree error; it is
not truly perpendicular to the lathe ways. When end-facing a
cylinder, I noticed, much to my surprise, that the end came out
slightly cone shaped. I double checked to make sure eveything was tight
and locked into position. The only way I could get it to come out flat
was to turn the compound slide about 2 degrees counterclockwise, and then use the crank on the compound slide (NOT the crank on the cross slide) to do the actual cutting.
A
two degree error is huge in a metal cutting operation. So I wrote
Grizzly for a solution. But there is no adjustment for this problem,
and I could not find any test for it on the spec. sheet either. The
only work-around is to offset the compound slide and then use the crank
on the compound slide to feed the tool into the work..
If
you are buying a Grizzly 4000 lathe, check for this problem when you
have the lathe up and running. Grizzly apparently does not check
for it.
Update on the cross slide alignment:
Several months after noting the problem with the cross
slide, I made a series of careful measurements in an attempt to locate
the source of the problem more specifically. But I could not find any
real problems, certainly nothing indicating a 2 degree error. So
why was I getting cone shaped ends in an end-facing operation? I
now think the source of the error was two-fold: lack of
sufficient rigidity on this small lathe, and a reduction of the rate of
material removal near the center of rotation of the work piece. I was
cutting 1018 steel at the time; if I had been cutting aluminum, I might
not have noticed any problem. So the lathe appears to be OK.
Live and learn . . .
Still
later I was end-facing a 304 stainless steel plug (1.65" OD) mounted in
a 3-jaw chuck. I moved the carriage into position and locked it
against the stationary lead screw. I then jerked the carriage backwards
towards the tailstock to remove any play between the carriage and lead screw. I turned the lead screw by
hand a little to move the cutting tool into contact with the SS plug.
I end-faced the plug by feeding in the cross slide (not the compound slide). The cut came
out fine and flat.
I credit two things for my success: understanding and control of the longitudinal play (backlash) and the fact the the plug had a 1/4" hole at its center.
Side note:
Cutting 304 stainless produces foot-long strands of "steel wool"
instead of small chips. This wad of cuttings is a nuisance. I found
that by making a horizontal "scratch" on the work by moving the cutting
tool horizontally against the work (with the lathe turned off),
the strands would then break at the scratch line. The resultwas much
shorter cuttings . This technique has its limitations, but when I have
to remove a lot of metal, it really cuts down on the mess.
My experience with this purchase was a bad one. When I reached into the box to remove
the vise, I got stabbed by a flek of loose plating on the screw for the vise jaws. This
was my first out-of-the-box experience with this vise: I just touched it and it drew
blood!
I installed the handles and tested the slides for play. The bottom slide had a huge
amount of play. I attempted to remove the play with the usual adjustments.
A bad burr prevented the collar from being
moved sufficiently to take out the half-inch play in the bottom slide. The burr probably
originated when the collar set screw was tightened and then the vise was dropped. The
heavy weight skewed the set screw across the shaft, making the burr. The shipping
container showed no damage, and so I must conclude this happened at the factory. (My
rethought opinion is that it probably was caused by shipping)
With some difficulty, I managed to remove the burr, and was then able to slide the
collar to take out most of the play. However, about a tenth of an inch of play remained,
making the entire vise useless.
Further inspection showed that the post that rides on the
bottom lead screw was too small for the hole in the slide (probably a bushing was left out
during manufacturing). This accounted for the extra play.
This is the bottom view of the hole. The post has been
removed from the lead screw and placed next to the hole for comparison. (The rough
machining was expected; this vise cost only $48 + shipping.)
The lead screws were also rusty and dirty. And, just so you know, the
bottom handle does not clear the table.
I was very disappointed with the careless manufacturing and utter lack of quality
control. Grizzly gave me a full refund upon its return.
After that experience, I decided to buy a Westward Drill Press Vise, cross slide,
5" locally from Grainger. This one was $227 + $18.84 shipping, but I had lost
patience with the cheap stuff. The workmanship was much better than the $48 vise.
After cleaning it, re-lubricating it, and adjusting the gibs and collars, it worked fine.
I could not remove the five-thousandths play in the lead screw, but this is probably
normal. A thumb screw at the center of each gib allows the user to effectively lock the
vise into a stable position for use as a drill press vise.
I have used this machine to cut 5/8" steel plate and it works satisfactorily
except for a serious safety problem:
1. Off button lever. What the manual says about this is inapplicable. I was unable to
satisfactorily adjust the "OFF button lever stop bolt" so that the machine
reliably shuts off. The on/off switch is the "snap" (toggle) type. It is
supposed to mechanically snap first, and THEN interrupt the circuit, shutting the machine
off. Instead, the circuit is interrupted first, and the switch does NOT snap. When I lift
the saw housing upwards, the saw unexpectedly starts up again.
This type of switch is supposed to be fully ON until it snaps to OFF, wherein it
remains fully off. It should not be possible to get it into an indeterminate state, say,
by slowly pressing the switch paddle. (The switch on the G7943 drill press has the same
faulty action, but it is not so critical in that application.)
This is a serious safety hazard. I have asked Grizzly for a solution.
Other problems:
2. Squaring vise to blade. Contrary to the manual, the vise position is not adjustable.
It is held in a precise fixed position by two bushings. Loosening the cap screws that hold
the vise will have no effect. Mine was fairly accurate, being off by about 1/2 degree. I
managed to fix it by moving the degree scale pointer slightly.
3, Feed stop bolt adjustment. This is to be adjusted so that the bandsaw blade stops
just below the vise table surface when the cut is complete. However, the black (bottom)
cover on the blade housing contacts the vise at about the same time the stop bolt arrests
the descent of the blade. This makes the stop bolt useless for fine adjustment relating to
the OFF button.
4. Off button lever. What the manual says about this is inapplicable. Additionally, the
switch has a serious safety problem (see #1).
5. There is no easily accessible ("swat-able") emergency off switch. On this
machine, you have to pull the plug (another serious safety consideration). This machine
could use a retrofit kit to address the safety hazards.
6. The manual says "G9472 features a blade tension indicator to assist you with
blade tensioning. . . . Tighten the blade until the tension indicator moves into the green
or center section of the indicator." I could find no such indicator, nor is there an
illustration.
7. I installed feet at the front and wheels at the back. The machine is still hard to
move because there is no handle attached to the base. When I lift the saw housing, it
itself simply moves upwards, not the base. The handles shown in the manual on page 38 do
not exist.
8. The manual (Revs July 2008 and Feb. 2013) needs to be updated in several
places. The current one seems to have been carelessly cloned from a couple of others.
9. Grizzly advertises that "the vise backing jaw is rigid on this saw". I
don't know what they mean by that. The backing plate is simply bolted on, not cast
one-piece with the vise. Also, the vise will not securely hold pieces that are less than
about 4" long.
10.
The hydralic feed works well. However, after a few months
of operation, I noticed that the feed cylinder was acting like it had
large amounts of air in it. Then I noticed a bad oil leak. Oil
was leaking out of the shut-off valve (not the needle valve). Almost
all the cylinder oil had leaked out. I removed the feed cylinder
assembly for maintenance. I took the valve handle off, and tried to
carefully bolster it with two layers of teflon tape (the hole was too
large for the O ring). Then I managed to refill the cylinder with lathe
way oil. The system now works better, but still leaks a
little.
11. I was perplexed about how to do angle cutting, say at 60
degrees. This places the saw blade across the vise and I don't think the designers of this
machine intended for the vise to be cut in half! The manual does not addess this, so I
wrote Grizzly. The solution was simple:
As 60 degree cut places saw directly across vise. But the idea is to cut
stock, not the vise.
Vise has been removed. Additional set of mounting holes can now be seen at
center.
Vise can be mounted on right side. Problem solved.
Porter-Cable bench grinder
(variable speed) dies
The bench grinder that I had used satisfactorily for years suddenly became
unusually hot and then died. I disassembled it and decided that the speed
controller board had failed, although its internal fuse was intact. I have always
had reliability problems with speed and dimmer controls and so I decided to
re-wire the thing to run as an ordinary motor without speed control.
Examination of the wiring gave the following diagram:
I disconnected the controller board
completely. Rewiring was uneventful and the machine worked fine (at a
fixed full speed of course). The power switch, incidentally, was
DPST and switched both the hot and
neutral.
Tap disintegrator ("tap burner")
First attempt testing homebuilt tap
disintegrator. DI water flows across broken tap during operation. The 1/8" ID drain
tube proved to be too small (had too much capillary resistance) and was removed.
Close-up of #10-24 broken tap with center
burned out by tap disintegrator using 1/16" tungsten electrode, 12 volts DC @10 amps.
DI water flows across the tap, top to bottom in photo.
Same close-up but backlighted. Hole is fairly
clean and round. Tap remains have not yet been broken out.
Hole after clean up.
One day I broke a #10-24 tap in some steel flat stock. I had removed broken drill bits
before by using an acid etch, but I had never removed a broken tap. So I decided to make a
broken tap remover for small taps. The test version is pictured above. The
disintegrator burned a fairly clean, round hole through the tap. Remains of the tap were
broken out with a screw extractor (which was otherwise unable to extract the tap). Then
the threads were cleaned up with a new tap. The results were satisfactory. (if they
had not been, I would have welded the hole shut and then redrilled and retapped it.)
I
was surprised that the screw extractor was very scratched up during
this operation. I did not know it at the time, but Electrical Discharge
Machining (EDM) produces a very thin layer (a few
ten-thousandths) of extremely hard, brittle material.
"Superficial hardness tests have been performed on as-cut EDM surfaces
and it is often found to be equivalent to a 70 Rc hardness or higher.
This explains why tools shaped by EDM generally will wear an
extraordinarily long time in comparison to tools made of conventional
heat treated steel" (Heat Treatment, Selection, and Applicaton of Tool Steels, William E. Bryson (2009) ). See also http://www.cladtechnologies.com/articles/hardness%20vs.%20wear/hardness.htm
How to remove a gear from the end of a chain saw motor shaft
I
recently salvaged a motor from an old chain saw. Before I could
use the motor, I had to figure out how to remove the gear from the end
of the shaft. The shaft showed hints of a barely visible thread at the
shaft end, and so I figured it was probably a left-hand thread and the
gear was simpl;y screwed on. This scheme is common. A
left-hand thread is used so that when shaft is driving the load (chain
saw in this case) it will cause the gear to tighten against the shaft.
In such a case removing the gear is usually easy: just give it a
good whack to rotate it in the same direction as the motor shaft
rotation (as though the chain were driving the motor instead of vice
versa). But after hammering on the gear with a piece of steel
flat stock, I had no success (I even tried both directions).
Then I tried a gear puller, as shown in the first photo. No success with that either.
Then
I decided to heat the gear up with a blow torch (to expand the gear
slightly). I tried the puller again. No success. Then I tried
whacking it off again. It easily came loose. It appears to have a 7/16" -14 left-hand thread.
Gear would not come off with a gear puller and a BIG wrench.
I carefully heated the gear up with a blow torch (burned grease is visible on the gear). Then I gave a gear tooth a good whack (in the direction of normal rotation) with a piece of flat stock and a hammer.
The gear easily came right off. Note the left-hand thread on the motor shaft.
And
so now what? I had a good motor with a stubby shaft and a
left-hand thread. How could I connect this to anything? I searched for
a suitable coupling but could not find one. So I decided to make my
own. I ordered some 1018 3/4" steel bar stock and a left-handed
7/16"-14 tap from Enco. I cut off a short piece
of the bar stock and then drilled and tapped it in a lathe. It
fit and extended the motor shaft stub perfectly. It is still 3/4"
in diameter but I can turn the other end down to 1/2" , 3/8", or
whatever is required.
I
also took apart a leaky Insinkerator Badger 5 garbage disposal.
The nut holding the cutter plate to the motor shaft proved to be
very difficult to remove. I blow torched it and soaked it in
LiquidWrench. But it would not budge. I finally cut away the flats on
the nut with a 1/8" cylindrical carbide mill mounted in a Dremel tool.
I finally wrenched the weakened nut loose. Much to my
surprise, the threads on the shaft were right handed. Note the two flats on the motor shaft.
This
is what the inside of the motor looked like after removal of the cutter
subassembly. Note the thin sleeve bearing at the bottom of the casing;
this motor was made to operate in a vertical position. The hefty rotor
and centrifugal switch actuator are seen on the right. The main bearing
from which the rotor "hangs" is not visible. It is probably a spherical bearing. This motor cannot be used in a horizontal
position unless the bottom bearing is replaced with a radial ball
bearing. A fan blade should also be added to the motor shaft unless the
motor is used only for intermittent duty (like a garbage disposal).
A
friend had a rough running Maza 626, 1991 model year. At first, we
suspected the usual causes, particularly ignition. But new wires,
plugs, rotor, etc. did not solve the problem. Plug #1 did show some
damage however, like it had been hit by something. The
engine still ran rough and was very unpredictable. Finally,
it ran so badly, we thought it was self-destructing. We decided
to tear down the engine. Inspection showed severe damage to #1 piston
and #1 head. The cause was a loose intake valve guide;
it slid out and got pounded to pieces by the valve. The
fragments fell into the cylinder and caused the engine to run
rough. The damage was readily visible (but hard to photograph).
This
shows the two intake valves for #1 cylinder on the intake side.
The left one is normal but the right one slid out and was
shattered into a cone point by the valve.
This shows the top of #1 piston. The damage can be seen at the 6 and 8 o'clock positions. It looks like it had been hit thousands of times with a center punch attached to a miniature jack hammer. Several metal flecks (the size of pin heads) were still in the cylinder at disassembly.
This shows #1 cylinder head (two intake valves, one exhaust valve and a spark plug). Severe damage can be seen at the 12 to 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions.
The porcelain alligator in my toilet
It was a scary night.
The news had carried a story about a pet snake being locked in the bathroom while the
owner went to the store. When the owner got back, the snake was gone. "It could only
have gone down the toilet", he said.
Horrors! A python loose in the sewer system!
I have also heard stories about snakes coming up out of the sewer and
getting into toilets. I knew this happened once with a sewer pipe connected to a toilet in
a trailer in the country, but I am skeptical about such things happening in the city.
With all that fresh in mind, I went to bed. But in the middle of the night I was awoken
by a loud rhythmic clanking sound coming from the bathroom. It was coming from the toilet!
I had never heard a toilet make a noise like THAT before! WHAT COULD IT BE
???? Childhood fears about the boogey man in the closet rushed into my half-awake
head.
I opened the inner door slightly and shined in the flashlight. The porcelain lid
on top of the toilet tank was clanking up and down, like the jaws of a porcelain
alligator! SOMETHING WAS TRYING TO GET INTO MY TOILET!!!!
But wait a minute . . . This was the lid on the tank, not on the bowl.
With that realization, I calmed down a little. No snake could wiggle through the tiny
opening of the water supply valve. This must be something else. So I turned off the wall
valve, and the "alligator" stopped clanking and chomping the air.
It turns out the fill valve inside the tank was very old and made of plastic. It had
been weakened by age and by the chlorine tablets that I had placed in the tank. This
night, the water pressure finally blew it apart. That in turn blew the lid off the toilet
tank. When the water began to flow, the pressure dropped somewhat, and the lid went back
down. The cycle kept repeating until I finally turned off the water. This was the craziest
thing I have ever seen coming from a plumbing fixture.
. . . and kind of scary too.
LOUD hissing --coming from the BATHROOM
At
about 1 AM in the morning I was shutting down my computer system.
Suddenly, I heard a LOUD hissing sound, like violently leaking
compressed air, coming from somewhere in the house. I rushed
out in to the hallway and noticed it was coming from the bathroom.
"This is not good!", I thought. The water supply line to the
toilet had blown open and was spraying water all over the bathroom.
I shut off the water at the wall valve, which fortunately worked
(some of these valves have a plastic stem which easily breaks). I used
a Wet & Dry vacuum to clean up the mess in the middle of the night.
The
hose that failed suddenly and without warning was one of those that had
woven stainless steel "armor" that looked like it could never
fail, as shown above. But he armor was only on the outside of the hose,
not integrated with the hose itself. It is as though the
manufacturer wanted to protect the hose from rats chewing through
it, not from preventing a catastrophic pressure leak. DUMB
design! The stainless steel weave was starting to fray in other
locations too. Apparently, an inappropriate grade of stainless
steel was used. I replaced it with a reinforced polyvinyl hose.
Then I checked the plumbing in the rest of the house for these
deceptive hoses and replaced them. .
I can see why people shut off their house water, and all the valves to sinks and toilets, when they go on vacation.
Now . . . let's see . . . are there any rats around here?
Leading Edge Computer "locks up" when booted after long storage
period
I have an old Leading Edge computer that runs WIN 3.1 and DOS 6. It is useful for
monitoring scientific instruments such as a radiation counter. But when I pulled it out of
storage after some years and booted it, an incorrect date would be displayed. I simply
reset the time and continued the boot sequence. But then I found it would run only for a
few minutes and then "lock up" (become unresponsive).
As a diagnostic I wrote a little utility batch file that would continuously display the
time and date to the screen. I would start it up, record the time, and then just let it
run until it locked up again, at which point I would look at the displayed time and see
how long it had run. I discovered that it would run for longer and longer periods
before crashing. Eventually, it became reliable enough to use.
I don't know what caused this problem; it was evidently not temperature related.
My hypothesis is that it may have something to do with electrolytic capacitors inside the
computer. When these kinds of capacitors are stored for long periods without use, the
dielectric film can break down. They need to be given a small amount of current for a few
days so the film can "heal". Possibly, I had a marginal capacitor somewhere in
the computer.
I now turn on the computer for a couple of hours at least once a year. The problem has
not re-occurred since.
Buick Skylark (1986) battery suddenly goes DEAD
The symptom was that the battery would be
completely dead (zero volts) after the car had been shutdown and left in the driveway for
about four days. Each occurrence was infrequent, and completely unpredictable. No
loads were detectable on the battery cables, and the source of the problem could not be
traced. On a hunch, I disconnected the clock-radio cables inside the center console
(pulling the fuse would have also disconnected the horn, which is a rather stupid circuit
design in my opinion). Years have now gone by and the problem has never re-occurred.
(Well, lately (Feb 2012) it did re-occur after I installed a new battery (the old one died
and was five years old). During a routine check of this little used car I found that the
new battery was almost dead and that the fuse was in the fuse block. So I don't
think I really found the problem. The clock/radio fuse must be disconnected when the car
is not being used, and reinserted (so the horn will work) before it is driven. I am going
to wire up an auxilary fuse socket to make inserting the fuse much easier. Update May 2012: I again found a nearly dead (Bosch) battery. The headlights would come
on, but the starter would not turn at all. The fuse was NOT in the fuse block. I think the
problem this time is the battery; it will not hold a charge for more than a couple of
months. May 2012: The battery was worse than I thought; it was still under warrantee but
tested defective and was replaced.)
The maintenance manual for this car,
incidentally, is a disgrace to the industry.
Buick Skylark (1986) hard to start
This
car has always been hard to start and for years I assumed it had a
carburator. Then one day I looked under the hood and found that
the engine had port fuel injection. It should have started up easily! But some days it would not start at all , even after extended cranking. It would almost start several times during continuous cranking but often would fail and I would have to recharge the battery and try again.
I
gradually realized that it was acting like it was fuel starved, but
only during startup. Then I discovered that it has an electric fuel
pump. Ok. So, during cranking, the system voltage falls to 8 to 10
volts (normal behavior), instead of the nominal 12. Possibly,
the fuel pump was just not putting out the required pressure
during startup. As a diagnostic I needed to feed the engine some
extra gas during startup.
And that is literally what I did. I
snaked about 20 feet of 1/4" vinyl tubing, starting from the air
cleaner, around the engine, then onto the passenger-side front seat
(all well concealed). Through a series of various sized vinyl
tubes, I connected it temporarily to a propane torch. I would open the torch valve about 5 seconds before
cranking the engine. This would enrich the fuel/air mixture slightly,
and the car would reliably start every time. Then I would shut
off the valve and disconnect the propane tank.
That
confirmed my suspicion that the engine was fuel starved during startup.
Because I rarely use this car, I decided not to bother with further
troubleshooting. The car will start normally (without the propane
boost) if it is started at least every week or two.
A word of caution: Do NOT leave propane tanks in a car!
The tanks have an over-pressure relief valve. The valve can leak,
and if the tank gets too hot, its function is to release propane and
prevent the tank from exploding. This could fill the inside of a
car with enough propane to cause a BIG explosion, if, say, someone
opens a door and causes an electrical spark.
Buick Skylark (1986) fails emissions test
The car failed emissions testing (hydrocarbons & carbon monoxide) in 2023.
I finally decided to investigate and fix whatever problems I could
find. I added a bottle of fuel system cleaner to the gas tank.
Then I flushed the injectors and replaced the Idle Air Bypass Valve.
The car ran better but was not safely driveable. I then noticed that
when I disconnected the vacuum line from the Fuel Pressure Regulator a
little spurt of gasoline came out. This is not supposed to happen!
I replaced the regulator and that solved most of the problems—qualifying the car for a free re-test. It passed OK with comfortable margins.
Shown
above is the disassembled fuel pressure regulator. The diaphram that
separates the fuel chamber from the vacuum chamber has obviously seen
its last days. Under high engine vacuum (low load) the diaphram is
lifted upwards against spring compression and allows unneeded fuel to
bypass the injectors and return to the gas tank through the bottom
threaded outlet. If the regulator is not operating properly, the
engine may stall, run rough, be hard to start, flood out, etc.
(The tube at the top connects to engine vacuum and the one with
the O ring connects to the fuel injector rail.)
Ikea (furniture store)
If you vist these stores, be prepared for a very unpleasant navigation experience. They
are "Approved Fire Traps".
1991 Mustang hatchback dome light goes on unexpectedly
I would be driving along, and then, for no apparent
reason whatsoever, the interior dome light would come on. This was not good. It was not
only distracting (especially at night), I knew might forget that it had gone on, and I
might come back to a car with a dead battery. So when I stopped at the next traffic light,
I pulled off the dome light cover, and flicked out the (hot) bulb.
The Ford Mustang electrical schematics gave me some
insight about what might cause this problem. I don't remember the details now, but it had
something to do with the right front door and the hatchback electrical latch release. I
disconnected the latch release connector inside the hatchback and the problem has not
re-occurred since.
Autofrost works fine as a replacement for Freon (R-12)
in 1991 Mustang
My 1991 Mustang refrigeration system finally leaked its way through my
supply of Freon which I bought in the old days for $3 a can (I thought that was
outrageously expensive back then, but now it is more like $40/can !). I decided I had to
find all the leaks and fix them. The high pressure discharge hose obviously needed to be
replaced. While replacing that, I added some fluorescent dye as a leak indicator. Weeks
later I checked the system with a UV light one night and all the old hoses lit up like a
neon sign. So I replaced the low pressure suction hose, the accumulator, and all the O
rings. By then I had converted to Autofrost and the performance looked good. But I still
had a bad leak somewhere, yet there was no indication of it from the dye. I opened up the
system again and discovered that the compressor and (old) accumulator had no oil. I had
been adding some periodically, but could not find any in these parts (there must have been
some in the evaporator and condenser, which I did not check). Eventually I found a badly
corroded, oil soaked, orifice tube line which was buried under a bunch of other parts. I
replaced it with a new part, which Ford actually had in stock for this 18 year old car!
Problem with 1991 Mustang turn signals and AC / heater
blower
The turn signals and the blower in my 1991
Mustang intermittently quit working. When the blower would not work, the turn signals were
dead and vice versa. When the problem occurs, the AC compressor still runs ok (but the
blower does not), the radio, hazard flashers, parking light, headlights, flash-to-pass,
cigarette lighter and dome light work ok. The problem is intermittent. It usually happens
when I first start the car during the day. Later, it may clear after the car has been
parked and restarted. The two systems either work 100% or fail 100%, and always together.
The two systems have three items in common:
the battery, the ignition switch, and the ground return system. The grounds on the two
systems are likely separate. The turn signal really has two systems (left and right, as
well as front and back) and both fail together completely. This suggests that the grounds
are probably not the source of the problem.
The blower will come on if the control has
not been turned off before I start the car. That is, the blower control has not been
touched, and yet the blower will still work when the ignition switch is turned on. The AC
compressor always works if the control is set to AC, regardless of whether the blower
works or not.So the blower control switch
seems to be ok.
The turn signal switch is multifunctional,
but the other functions on it work fine, and it has nothing in common with the blower.
This leaves the ignition switch as the most
suspicious item common to both systems; it has moving parts, multiple contacts, and always
gets moved (turned) during startup. After I started the car, I jiggled the ignition switch
back and forth to see what would happen with the turn signal and blower (both set to On).
I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was easily able to reproduce the problem.
I then removed the ignition switch cover,
the knee trim panel, and the knee pan to get access to the ignition switch. The molded
plastic wiring connector was slightly loose in the switch assembly. Apparently, the
plastic shrinks slightly with age and exposure to high temperature. I secured it with a
couple of nylon ties wrapped around the steering column, and the problem has not
re-occurred since.
Rough idle problem with 1991 Mustang 5.0 liter
engine
My Mustang developed a rough idle problem a few weeks before it was due to
be emissions tested. The engine normally worked fine, but when I stopped at a stoplight,
the engine would begin idling very roughly after I had been stopped for about 45 seconds.
This was just about the time the light was going to turn green. It never actually stalled,
but I worried about it during left turns. The behavior was very consistent and repeatable.
I believed that the control system kicks in and does something weird several seconds into
an idle. But I could not imagine what.
I removed and carefully disassembled and cleaned the idle air by-pass
valve. But that made no difference. Not wanting to risk a dead engine on left turns, I
replaced the idle air valve with a new one ($150) on the outside chance that it would fix
the problem. But that did not work either. I then made some voltage measurements on the
throttle position sensor, but nothing odd turned up there either.
Finally, I noticed that the distributor was making sort of an odd hissing
noise. I had cleaned the tower contacts before and thought maybe something was misaligned
and rubbing at high speed. I got out my 3/16 inch ID hose that I use as a stethoscope (a
technique well-known to mechanics) and started probing around the base of the distributor.
At one very specific spot the hissing noise greatly increased. THAT IS AN AIR LEAK, I
thought, not something caused by rotating parts. As the pictures show, there was a break
in a hose at the bottom of the distributor.
The hose went to a hard-to-see port under the manifold and ultimately
connected to something mounted on the fuel vapor recovery canister near the radiator. How
could a leak in this hose cause a rough idle? My guess goes something like this. When the
engine is running, the purge solenoid to the fuel vapor recovery canister is open, and
recovered vapors are sucked into the intake manifold. Because the line has a leak in it,
the resulting mixture is not quite right. This results in a slightly rough idle, but is
not noticeable at higher r.p.m. due to the higher overall air flow. When the car is
stopped for about a minute, the electronic engine control (EEC) goes into its "find
idle speed" mode. It realizes the r.p.m. is slightly high and so it closes the idle
air bypass valve a little. This makes the effect of the leak even worse and results in a
very noticeable rough idle. I temporarily patched the leak and the rough idle went away.
The hose under the manifold was full of cracks along its length and was later replaced.
I felt kind of bad about spending $150 for a $5 repair. But I knew it was
a gamble. And even counting my occasional mistakes, I still save a lot of money by doing
my own repairs. And I learn a lot too!
Severe shaking problem with 1991 Mustang at 20-30 m.p.h
I was driving down a city street when my Mustang suddenly developed severe
shaking when I tried to accelerate. What was happening? Did I run over a huge nail?
Was it a bad U-joint? Transmission slipping? But then the problem cleared up. Whatever it
was, it seemed to be gone. A few weeks later the same symptom reoccurred for several
minutes, and then just as mysteriously went away. Finally, it re-occurred in another
couple of weeks, but this time it did not clear up. The effect was most pronounced when
accelerating from about 20 to 30 mph, and the car shook so violently that it was almost
undriveable. It has an automatic transmission but I found I could drive it by starting out
from a stop in 1st gear, accelerating until the tach read 2500 rpm (corresponding to about
35 mph), and then shifting into 3rd. The shake was still present, but manageable. It was
as though the engine was missing on two or three cylinders, and did not have enough power
to handle the shift points. The idle ran a bit shaky too, but the shake was not so obvious
at idle.
The symptoms seemed to point to an ignition problem. The car had over
117,000 miles on it. I had changed the plugs once along with the distributor cap and
rotor, and the still original plug wires looked fine. A bad coil maybe?
It turned out that it was probably the plug wires, along with a very
corroded connection at the coil high voltage terminal. New plugs, cap, rotor, and wires
cleared up the problem.
Looking back on the experience, I think a spate of humid weather made the
marginal ignition system worse, which might explain why the problem was intermittent.
Update:
This problem occurred again in 2019 during humid weather and then went
away. I now doubt that it is an ignition problem.
Caution: the anti-slosh
module outputs signals to the fuel gauge and to the oil pressure gauge.
If you use the above modification, make sure you know how your oil pressure gauge is
responding. Mine seems to respond normally in that:
1. Disconnecting the oil
pressure sending unit (behind the steering pump) results in an indication of no oil
pressure when the engine is runnning. Reconnecting it results in (apparently) normal oil
pressure indication.
2. When the engine is first
turned off, the oil gauge "sticks" at the last indication. Cycling the ignition
switch off-on, resets the needle to indicate no oil pressure.
The following is a procedure for a 1991 Mustang. This
differs from what is in the Ford repair manual:
1. Remove battery ground cable.
2. Remove the headlamp switch from left side of instrument cluster
trim panel. (Disengage two locking tabs on LH side of switch (under paddles, left edge) by
pushing the tabs in with a small screw driver and pulling on the paddles.)
3. Remove the Hazard flasher and Rear Defrost switch module from
right side of instrument cluster trim panel by using a procedure similar to step #2.
4. Pull switches completely out of openings and disconnect the
connectors.
5. Remove the plastic steering column collar (two Phillips screws).
6. Remove the plastic knee pan trim cover. (3 screws, 5/16 socket)
7. Remove metal knee pan (2 screws, 5/16 socket)
8. Remove instrument cluster trim cover. (9/32 socket; 1 screw bottom
right; 2 screws on top, visible thru windshield)
9. Remove the fourmounting screws from instrument cluster.
10. Pull cluster away from its mounting. Disconnect speedometer cable
by pressing on the flat surface of the plastic connector.
11. Pull cluster away a little more. Pull out the anti-slosh module
which is in the upper right corner backside of the instrument cluster; it is held in
by a tab, which must be depressed.
12. By-pass the anti-slosh module with the following modifications
(see enlarged photo).
a. Cover the three connectors on the left with tape.
b. Short the two connectors on the right with a jumper wire.
13. Reinstall everything. Reconnect battery.
At this point the fuel gauge should be working as expected. However,
also check the oil gauge indication as in the above precautionary note.
Additional note: The fuel gauge sending unit at the gas tank should
read 145 ohms full, 22.5 ohms empty. Wires are Yellow/White (signal) and Black (ground)
Well-designed (tire) air compressor
Years ago I was in an automotive store (Pep Boys) and was comparing
tire inflator air compressor models. I settled on the one shown below as having the best
combination of truly meaningful features. When I tested it, the power plug kept popping
out of the cigarette lighter socket in the car. I disassembled the plug and unwound about
5 turns of the spring on the center electrode pin. After that, it worked fine and I have
been well pleased with it ever since.
Later, I wanted to buy more of these units, but the original store no
longer carried this model, and I could not find it elsewhere either. I could not find a
model number, patent number, or anything other than the generic description on the
package, and an internet search turned up nothing. Someone told me that foreign cars have
a slightly different plug/socket combination, but that clue has not helped either.
Still looking . . .
Solved: the riddle of the leaky toilet
This long adventure began when I noticed that the fill valve on the toilet
would not shut off. This can result in high water bills. I attempted to turn off the water
temporarily at the wall valve below the toilet, but the handle would only keep on turning
and never seat. It turned out that the valve stem was made of plastic, and the threads
were stripped. I had to go to the store, get a new shut-off valve and install it. That was
the easy part.
I then tried to figure out why the Fluidmaster fill valve would not shut
off. I disassembled it (as per instructions) to see if any debris was clogging the valve.
In Arizona, the water is hard, and the soluble calcium bicarbonate turns into insoluble
calcium carbonate (limestone) when the water gets hot. Hence, clear, particle-free water
can load up with grit. But there was none in the valve. After another trip to the store, I
replaced the fill valve, but it did not shut off completely and so, after yet another
trip to the store, I replaced it with a Fluidmaster PerforMAX Universal Toilet Fill Valve
(400ARHR).
I thought I was done repairing this toilet. But the fill valve kept
turning on and off periodically. I suspected a leak. I shut off the water and
noticed the level gradually went down in the tank (a couple of inches in a few hours). So,
after another trip to the store, I replaced the old-style tank ball valve with a new one
of the same design. But it still leaked.
The toilet is 50 years old, and I suspected that the porcelain seat had
become rough. So I sanded it with #400 grit sandpaper and tested it again. It still
leaked. Then I resanded it and coated it with a very thin layer of Silicone I sealant
to smooth out any roughness. It still leaked. A thin coat of plumber's grease did
not help either.
Finally, I replaced the entire flush valve setup with Fluidmaster 555C
flush valve repair kit. It looked nice and I was very confident this would work. But . . .
it still leaked. I then laid a circular lead ring on the flapper valve to help it to seal,
but it still leaked.
I was becoming very annoyed at this point. WHERE was the water
going? The floor was not wet. There were no obvious cracks in the tank. Blue food dye gave
no indication that the valve was leaking. Finally, I was forced to conclude that the water
was not leaking through the flush valve. It MUST be leaking somewhere else. But where?
I tried tracing the leak with blue food dye again. I put a drop of dye in
above the flush valve as before. The photo shows what happened. Over a period of 10
minutes, the dye migrated towards the fill valve (only the float adjusting screw is
visible in the photo).
Yes, the fill valve! The dye was moving slowly towards
the fill valve!
There were only two ways for the water to get to the bowl of the toilet:
through the flush valve and through the bowl filler tube. Because of some
experiences I had at work*, I immediately suspected an inadvertent siphon through the
filler tube. I pulled out the tube and heard a gurgling sound, and saw water dripping out
of it. I had broken a siphon!
The rest was easy. I simply cut the filler tube shorter (just below the
blue clip) so it could not act as a siphon. Tests proved that the "leak"
stopped.
Here is what was happening: after a flush, the fill valve refills
the tank, and the tube refills the toilet bowl. Then the fill valve shuts off. But the
tube gets "primed" with water during this cycle, and if it extends below the
level of the water in the tank, there is a possibility that siphoning will occur if the
valve does not shut off the tube part of the circuit. The PerforMAX evidently leaves this
circuit open (but not pressurized), and so the water gradually siphons out. The remedy was
to cut the tube, so the open end is always higher than the water in the tank. (It turns
out that this is mentioned in the Troubleshooting section of the Directions. But being
male, I often don't read the directions and don't look for things that are "hidden in
plain sight".)
* At work I encountered siphoning problems on medical instrument
washers. The roller pumps these washers use, sometimes do not pump the enzyme detergent
from the supply drum. Instead of being actually washed, the load only gets rinsed with
plain water. Worse, if the outlet in the washer is lower than the level of detergent in
the drum, the detergent will gradually seep past the leaky roller pump and go into the
drain. This gives the appearance that the washer is actually working (it makes noise,
sprays water, and uses detergent). There were other problems with other washers that used
these kinds of pumps. I reported them, but the repair people regarded me with disdain for
noticing things I was not supposed to notice. My co-workers did not like it either.
Instead of assembling (dirty) instruments and "doing my job", I was
"playing around with the washers or something". Later, I was told not to
report washer problems. Finally, I got a "needs improvement" on one of my yearly
reviews for not making the best use of company time. After that, I just gave up. The
healthcare industry is just not like engineering or aviation where you do not let these
kinds of problems get past you. I have had an awful time adjusting to the new
standards--and passively watching things malfunction. (See also: http://scripturalphysics.org/etc/Solutions.html
) See a quite different kind of weird siphon at http://www.dvice.com/2013-6-28/experiment-day-watch-chain-beads-levitate
Frigidaire Model FPCI-206T-8
Our kitchen refrigerator, Frigidaire Model FPCI-206T-8, quit cooling one
day. Inspection showed that the fan in the freezer was not working. I unplugged the
fridge, and then removed all the food and then the trim and shelves in the freezer
compartment to gain access to the fan. The fan blades would not move, but everything else
looked normal. I squirted some hot water into the fan housing to melt the ice inside it.
After that the fan would rotate ok. I put everything back together, plugged it back in,
and it ran normally for about a minute. Then it quit. What happened?
It had just entered defrost mode. I could not find the defrost timer in
order to crank it forward in its cycle. So I waited about a half-hour and the fridge
started up again and has worked normally since.
It turns out the defrost timer (Part # 0628518) is located at the bottom
front of the fridge behind the grill. Getting to it is somewhat of a pain.
The defrost timer is found at the bottom front of the refrigerator, behind
the grill (which pops off), then behind an insulation flap, then behind a card board cover
with two shiny rivets (that pop off). The bar that holds the grill was removed in this
photo (4 screws) and the electrical box (left) was removed from the bar (3 screws; had to
use an offset ratcheting screw driver). The grey timer knob, which can be turned
clockwise, can be seen between the rivets.
This shows the dismounted timer. I could
not find a replacement with the same pinouts. However, for some reason it started working
again, and the fridge now cycles through the defrost cycles normally. The defrost mode is
the hot wire kind, and the wire can be seen to glow red-orange hot during the cycle.
New timers usually come with instructions on how to re-configure the
wiring (or terminals) for a particular refrigerator, as the pinouts can be different. But
I did not investigate further because the timer started working again.
The timer mysteriously started working again. I tried to find a
replacement, but the only one available had different pinouts. I could have made an
adapter plug to rearrange the wires (some come with configuration instructions for
different refrigerators), but I felt it was not worth the effort. This fridge is 20 or 30
years old. The new ones are probably a lot more energy efficient--an important
consideration because a fridge runs almost continuously. Energy consumption can be reduced
with "smarter" defrost controls and by using hot gas defrost instead of hot wire
defrost (but I think the latter is more reliable).
Later, I was still having problems getting the refrigerator compartment to
cool down to 40 F. I suspected the duct going from the freezer compartment to the
refrigerator compartment was plugged up. I snaked the path with coat hanger wire, and
concluded that it was plugged with ice. A thorough washout with very hot water cleared the
path. Now it works perfectly!
See also: http://www.appliancerepair.net/refrigerator-repair-4.html (virus
scan recommended before using this link)
Trane air conditioner evaporator leak
We tested our air conditioner in March to make sure everything was ok
before our blazing hot Arizona summer arrived. We discovered it was
not cooling, and that the fault was a massive leak of Freon from the
evaporator. The system was under extended warantee (a good idea when
using Trane air conditioners), but we had to wait about three weeks for
Trane to manufacture the replacement (shown above) from scratch. The
leak was too big and fast to run on a temporary fill, and so we were
without air conditioning as the weather was heating up. .
I
am told that the yellow streaks on the old evaporator fins indicate
pinhole oil leaks. Apparently the leaks were extensive throughout the system, and not just in one spot (which could have been repaired).
Whenever an air conditioner has to be opened up for extensive repairs, make sure
the service technician installs a "drier" to remove traces of residual
moisture from the system. Without this item residual moisture will
combine with Freon to produce acid. The acid will create pinhole leaks
in the system's plumbing. The dissolved copper may also plate out on
the motor bearings, reducing clearances, increasing power consumption,
and eventually burning out the motor.
A
year or so after this repair, the airconditioner failed again. This
time it was a defective expansion valve. The valve was replaced, but
the air conditioner still would not work properly. The valve was
replaced again and this time a liquid line filter/dryer was placed ahead of the valve. It has been working fine for the last year.
Problems with Steris® medical instrument washers
I currently work at a major hospital as a certified, registered,
sterile processing technician. One of my duties is to process trays of surgical
instruments in medical washers and monitor the processing. Our facility has two
Steris® Reliance Vision™ "Single chamber washer / Disinfector"
washers that were installed over a year ago. In my opinion as a user of this equipment,
these washers still have way too many reliability and performance problems for use at a
major surgical center.
They also have several annoying, user-unfriendly features and
peculiarities that make them hard to use and maintain. One that is especially expensive
are the broken welds on the frames of the washer racks. The welds hold up shelves of heavy
instrument trays (a total of 20-40 lbs) during washing. The welds are loaded in tension,
and they have a tendency to break. Medical washers are Class II medical devices ( http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfCFR/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=880.6992)
and must be fixed only by a qualified service vendor (usually the manufacturer).
Running them in a broken condition is not in compliance with regulations and is also
hazardous to employees who load the washer racks with dirty instruments.
I suggested that the management have the vendor remove them, and replace
them with a different brand of washers that actually work according to specifications, but
there is no possibility that is going to happen.
And in case you have not been wondering, there are claims that
much in the medical profession is unconscionably sloppy:
“The Case Against Experts: Why advice from the pros can leave us hanging”, by
David H. Freedman, June 24, 2010, http://www.newsweek.com/2010/06/24/the-case-against-experts.html
"Making Sense of Medicine", http://www.msomed.org/
This sordid consumer experience begins in the early 1960s.
My parents moved to a different town and I spent most of my freshman year in a strange
highschool there. As a consumer of educational services I did not like the school at all.
I wanted an eventual career in engineering, and that required a strong background in
mathematics. But the algebra teacher there would not teach, and could not control
his classroom either. The class was just one hour of mayhem, and I hated every bit of it.
Another one I hated was the physical education class. We
had a really sicko PE teacher. He made us play a sadistic "paddle game" with
kids running around in a circle swatting each other with a paddle. The losing team
would all get swatted in the boy's locker room by members of the winning team. I was on
the team that lost. I felt the whole thing was barbaric for an educational institution,
especially for a "high" school.
A turning point for me came when I got into a minor
schoolyard fight. I had been in various schoolyard scraps in the elementary schools I had
attended. But this one was different. It was "scheduled" and had a waiting and
willing audience. I lost of course, but my wounds were minimal, less than those I had
gotten in the elementary schools. However, I was late for my next class.
The next day I was confronted by an attendance monitor and
she asked why I was late for class. "I got into a fight", I said.
"Don't fight and don't be late for class", she said. Her shallow remark was
incomprehensible to me. I did not want to get into a fight. The fight was on her
turf, and her responsibility to prevent. She did not even have the matter investigated by
school officials. How was I to blame for getting into a fight? Did she regard schoolyard
fights as "normal"? There was really something WRONG with this school!
A few months passed. My parents were no help in the
matter, and the do-nothing principal was useless as a school manager. Worse, I learned
that the town's people felt that it was a "good school" and were surprised when
I claimed otherwise.
I decided I had to come up with a strong response to their
apathy and cluelessness. My young mind figured that these people were all barbarians
without an ounce of human feelings. They all had to die. I knew I could not
kill everyone. So I settled for the next best thing. I would blow up their town.
My original plan used liquid gasoline and
toilets. I'll spare you the details. But the results probably would have been a
miniature version of an industrial accident that occurred in Mexico three decades later:
On Wednesday, April 22, 1992, the 461-year old city of
Guadalajara, Mexico, experienced a series of ten massive explosions occurring in the heart
of the downtown Reforma district. The explosions began at 10:30 a.m. (12:30 p.m. EDT) and
continued for two hours. Five hours after the initial explosion, a second large explosion
occurred about three miles from the Reforma site. The blasts measured 7.1 and 7.0 on the
Richter scale at the University of Mexico in Mexico City some 200 miles away. The blast
blew open the streets and carved an enormous 9 mile ditch down the middle of Avenida Gante
measuring 80 feet wide and 25 feet deep. Approximately 1,000 buildings were collapsed,
destroyed or heavily damaged. . . . the Atlanta Red Cross said at least 2,000 people were
injured, 200 people were killed and over 20,000 were left homeless. Damages of building
were estimated to be at $300 million. ("Guadalajara Gas Explosion Disaster", Dr.
James Dugal, Disaster Recovery Journal, "article adapted from Vol. 5 #3",
http://www.drj.com/drworld/content/w2_028.htm
; For an in-depth article see "The Guadalajara 1992 Sewer Gas Explosion
Disaster", Suburban Emergency Management Project, May 03, 2006 http://www.semp.us/publications/biot_reader.php?BiotID=356
)
Note that this was only an industrial accident. It was
neither designed nor intended. It was caused by a large quantity of liquid gasoline
leaking into the sewer system. The fumes eventually found a source of ignition, and the
consequences were horrific.
But my would-be town destruction never happened. My
parents soon moved to a different town, and I ended up going to a far better
highschool. My grades shot up and I was getting straight A's in science and math.
Eventually, I also figured out my scheme would not have worked as well as I had hoped. The
amount of gasoline I planned to use was equivalent to only 8000 pounds of dynamite. That
was not nearly enough to destroy a town, and not anything even close to the magnitude of
the disaster in Guadalajara. (See "Storing gasoline
. . ." )
"Va. nuclear plant experienced ‘strong’ shaking in Aug. 23 quake";
"The Aug. 23 central Virginia earthquake shook the North Anna nuclear power plant
harder than it was designed to withstand . . . . 12 miles north of the epicenter of the
5.8-magnitude earthquake." Note that the Guadalajara gasoline blast measured
7.0 on the Richter scale measured at Mexico City some 200 miles away. Has
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission planned for this kind of scenario? A
"near-by" explosion? A near-by plane crash at 500 miles per hour? http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/va-nuclear-plant-experienced-strong-shaking-in-aug-23-quake/2011/09/08/gIQAuGOuCK_story.html
"the anger of man does not
achieve the righteousness of God" —James 1:20
"Cease from anger , and forsake
wrath; Do not fret, it leads only to evildoing" —Psalm 37:8
"There is a way which seems
right to a man, but its end is the way of death." —Proverbs 14:12
"If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it"—1 Corinthians 12:26-27
"Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is writtten, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay," says the Lord. . . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." —Romans 12:19,21
God will destroy the wicked:
"They will die of deadly diseases, they will not be lamented or buried; they will be as dung on the surface of the ground and come to an end by sword and famine, and their carcasses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth." Jeremiah 16:4
“Those slain by the LORD on that day shall be from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, gathered or buried; they shall be like dung on the face of the ground. Jeremiah 25:33
The remark about vengeance from Romans
12 deserves further elaboration. Genesis 34 is
instructional in this regard, but it contains some really sordid
material and is "difficult reading", sometimes even for students of the
Bible. Basically a crime was committed, and the males who should
have upheld righteousness and justice did not do the right thing. The
chapter shows what can happen when responsible people who are in
power do not act, or act very inappropriately. The people
who are directly involved are negatively affected, as are entire
communities, and the consequences can go on for generations.
We
see similar things happening today in Corporate America, the military,
the schools, the Universities, "Hollywood", and various religious
organizations. Those who are in power fail to act
when an injustice is brought to their attention. Genesis 34 is a
good example of how things can get way out of control, and how even
further injustice is committed.
As
Genesis 34 relates, Shechem committed the crime (kidnapping and rape).
Jacob, the patriarch, was entitled to simple tribal
justice, but his sons went far beyond that. Later, a law
would be
given by Moses, which would forbid this kind of behavior
(Leviticus24:17-22) but still allow one-for-one justice (tribal law was
harsh back then). Anything further than that was vengeance, but that
part belongs to God: "Vengeance is mine, and retribution, In due time
their foot will slip; For the day of their calamity is near, And
the impending things are hastening upon them (Deuteronomy 32:35, Romans
12:19,21).
Today
(2018) we have a lot of school shootings. The authorities in charge
have not justly dealt with school bullying, mental health issues, and
our culture's fascination with violence-as-entertainment. Hence, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever
a man sows, this he will also reap." (Galatians 6:7) See also YouReapWhatYouSow , above.
