Above 1200 Sq/FT 86's 20HP shop

[86turbodsl]

I am getting just an insane amount of water out of that car. Every time i go look at it, there's a puddle in the passenger footwell. I sucked about 4" out this morning, after having emptied it yesterday. The dehumidifier is running in between, pulling it out. When i started back up this morning, there was a fog inside the car.

 

[jbmatth]

Do you have someone messing with you and pouring water in it when you are away? I know I'd probably do something like that to mess with someone.

JB

 

[86turbodsl]

I don't think so, but i guess it's possible? I don't know where it's all hiding!

 

[86turbodsl]

There's cold weather coming these next few days - every morning i go out, open up the car, find several inches of frozen water in the footwell, vacuum it out, start the dehumidifier, and empty it out a few times a day. All i can figure is there's a hidden water tap attached to a hose faucet somewhere in the 5th dimension, because i can't figure out how the car isn't full to the roof with the water i have drained out of it. 983.86254 gallons...

 

[86turbodsl]

Update on the boiler/burner. It started operating very poorly towards the end of the day yesterday, very poor atomization of the oil flowing over the doorknob. I turned it off and waited till after work, then tore down the burner module. Found the doorknob full of oil. I think my practice of letting oil flow over the doorknob and just turning the ignition on and off has been allowing oil to be sucked backwards into the doorknob. At termination of burn, the doorknob is receiving a large amount of radiant heat from the burner tube. As it cools, pressure will go negative and **** in oil. After i cleaned it out and reinstalled, i noticed it is burning for a very long time cleanly. I think there must have been some degradation going on for a while. Prior, i only would get a half our of burn time or so before i had to shut off and let cool/clean. It's burned for nearly 3 hrs today and still going strong with no smoke. Ok, so there's something to that.

Next issue: I found that when the oil solenoid opened to refill the preheat tank, that the temp of the preheat oil would plunge to less than 120F from 180-185F. That much of a drop can affect the burn. The oil depends on the preheat to be atomized cleanly. At this point, the preheat logic limited the heating element to about 30% on-time to prevent the surface temperature of the heating element from going too high and creating crunchy bits. I rewrote the logic of the preheat tank to apply 100% duty cycle to the element WHILE the tank is being filled. That limited the droop of the temp while filling to about 145F. BUT then i have an overshoot on temps when filling stops. It goes up to 195F on a setpoint of 180-185F. I think i can live with that. All it means is the thermal mass of the tank is too big for the heater element and too small for the differential of oil fill. Since the tank is probably going to change when the boiler changes, i'm not going to worry about it for now.

I have to get thru Saturday with a high of 22F and a 20mph wind, and then it's up to 50-60F all week, with lows above freezing. I think we're probably done with the heating season at that point, because with daytime temps above 50 and nightimes around freezing, it's not worth turning on and temps are high enough to average in the mid 40s and up in the shop, at which point i'm ok to work in. Not great, but not freezing.

This will be the first full year using the 1930s Kohler boiler and i can say that while it works, it's a PITA to clean, and not very efficient. I'm looking forward to the new one with all the easy cleaning design features i've got figured out. And with the new burner design i think it will be a lot more trouble free. Development is a process after all.

 

[Strouty]

We also get an extra hour of daylight where it counts.

 

[86turbodsl]

Strouty, yes, i'd actually prefer to leave it on DST year round. I have no use for 4AM sunshine.

After cleaning the doorknob out of all the oil, it ran flawlessly the last few days, even running hours at a time. Sunday AM, woke up to a whiteout, 15F degrees and a 20mph wind. Over the course of the next few hours, it quit snowing, warmed up to 40F, and melted most of the snow. Mother nature is a *****. 50F-65F all week. Open door weather even.

I think i made it to the end of the year, there's no more cold weather in sight, and if there is any, it'll be pretty short term i think, so if i had to keep it above freezing in the shop, it'd be a couple gallons of diesel in the salamander. I think i'm going to start teardown on the boiler and plumbing and get a leg up on it this year. With the forklift, i can get right into the corner and fork it out of there. That thing is so handy. From what i can see, i burned about 300 gallons of oil for the whole year. I think it would have been about double that if i had automatic firing. But the shop would never have dropped below 60. So i'm pretty pleased with consumption at this point.

I think i've also decided to drain the overheads into totes, and move the storage racking over a couple feet, which will allow me a little more room for the lathe, and room for another section of pallet rack on the north wall. That gives me 5 sections of racking on the north wall total, and i have enough shelves for anything i want to do there. Just need a taller mast to really use it. The sweet part of it is that the upright in the middle of the wall ends RIGHT at where the 2 post lift is, so all i have to do is fold arms to center and i can get to the section on both sides of the lift. That's a big plus.

 

[Strouty]

If I had my way, I would split the difference and leave it that way, it would piss off both sides equally.

 

[86turbodsl]

Trapped and got rid of ONE of the groundhogs burrowing in my machinery shed. That blasted rodent just about destroyed my cage trying to get out. BENT the trap door, and his buddy yanked out half the hardware trying to get him out. That one disappeared down into the hole as i walked up. I hate groundhogs.

 

[ClappedOutBport]

Strouty, yes, i'd actually prefer to leave it on DST year round. I have no use for 4AM sunshine.

Well... you may get your wish.

 

[86turbodsl]

Oh? Was there some discussion on this? I hadn't heard.

 

[Bob Heine]

Oh? Was there some discussion on this? I hadn't heard.

@86turbodsl, the Senate voted today to make Daylight Saving Time 12 month a year today. Passed unanimously.

U.S. Senate approves bill to make daylight saving time permanent

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent starting in 2023, ending the twice-annual changing of clocks in a move promoted by supporters advocating brighter afternoons and more economic activity.

www.reuters.com

 

[jbmatth]

I've never trapped a groundhog, don't see many of them around either though. I mostly battle armadillos, I trapped one and he did similar to my live trap, darn near destroyed it when I shot it, they are solid and strong.

@86turbodsl, the Senate voted today to make Daylight Saving Time 12 month a year today. Passed unanimously.

U.S. Senate approves bill to make daylight saving time permanent

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed legislation that would make daylight saving time permanent starting in 2023, ending the twice-annual changing of clocks in a move promoted by supporters advocating brighter afternoons and more economic activity.

www.reuters.com

This is the kind of bipartisan work I'd love to see more often. Canceling DST changes is something I've dreamed of for years and am sure many others have as well.

JB

 

[Strouty]

There are stupid people already saying that they aren't sure if they would like it to be DST all year or standard. I would hate to have it the standard time year round, hopefully it won't get screwed up because of this argument. I still vote for 30 minutes difference and leave it.

 

[86turbodsl]

Lol. I am 100% in favor of DST year-round. BUT, they tried it back in 1974 and public opinion fell very fast after the first winter. We shall see if it's signed.

As far as the groundhog, disposal was easier than i expected. I asked the wife about it, she wanted me to shoot it. After looking at his ****** claws and big teeth, i decided against letting him out since the cage opening requires my hands near the entrance and just dropped the whole thing in the spare horse watering tank. A little bit of motion in the water, a few bubbles and it was done. And i didn't have blood everywhere. Most humane way i could think of. I didn't want him suffering and bleeding out. After, just opened up the cage and rolled into the trashcan.

Now i need to repair the trap. He really did a number on it. Bent all kinds of stuff.

 

[racer-john]

Better make it stronger, his buddy is still around...underground!

 

[Bob Heine]

After, just opened up the cage and rolled into the trashcan.

@86turbodsl I put the carcasses into appropriate size garbage bags, especially when it's a few days before the sanitation truck arrives. If I just toss them in the bin, the de-comp smell lives on in the plastic for weeks. Then again, we've moved 16 iguanas on to their promised land[fill]!

 

[86turbodsl]

Bob, good point on the decomp. I dropped it in same day the trash was going out so i didn't worry about it. When i catch the next critter it'll get a bag.

 

[86turbodsl]

Better make it stronger, his buddy is still around...underground!

I'll probably just repair this one. The other one looked a little smaller. Probably his missus. I'd leave the things alone if they weren't tearing up my hard earned shop! Maybe they thought it was warmer there. Who knows.

 

[kent_323is]

I feel your pain on the groundhogs. I had a whole family on my property, and they started getting into one of my sheds. I used a spring trap positioned right over the hole to get them, and finished them off with some steel to the head. I cleaned out all 6 of them and no further problems.

 

[86turbodsl]

I'm hoping it goes that well. I just rebuilt the trap and added some cantelope to the trap. I hear that's the primo bait.

 

[bulletpruf]

Trapped and got rid of ONE of the groundhogs burrowing in my machinery shed. That blasted rodent just about destroyed my cage trying to get out. BENT the trap door, and his buddy yanked out half the hardware trying to get him out. That one disappeared down into the hole as i walked up. I hate groundhogs.

Pics or it didn't happen!!!

 

[86turbodsl]

Ah i didn't think to take pics of the carnage. I just straightened everything and put it back out. I'll check the trap here in a bit. I hear cantelope is the preferred bait.

 

[racer-john]

Can't elope on that one.

 

[Strouty]

I thought of you when I realized one of my Burbs had a major leak and was waterlogged, ruined the blower motor and climate system. Water is amazing, sometimes in a bad way.

 

[bulletpruf]

Can't elope on that one.

I see what you did there...

 

[86turbodsl]

Good one guys. I just got back from vacation. We visited my daughter in Wisconsin. When i got back, i checked the car and got about a gallon of water out of the dehumidifier bucket. Still got water in the footwell. I can't vac it out until tonight. At the office today. I also got the 2nd groundhog and disposed of it. Pics below for the proof. Ha.

Also found out my son's F150 is leaking coolant again, worse this time, and it looks like it might be freeze plugs. We looked at it last night and i don't think there's any way to do this in vehicle, so engine is coming out this weekend. I *THINK* this could be a weekend deal, but you never know. In the meantime, i have to move/clear a lot of floor space to get this job done, so that's the next couple days' task. Fork as much as possible up onto the pallet racking and clear floor. It doesn't need to go on the lift, but it will have to take up that space. While we have it out, we'll do the ****** swap at the same time. So i don't have to finish building the ****** jack right now. Oh well. I need it for another upcoming project.

BTW, the cantelope worked great.

 

[86turbodsl]

I'm thinking of raising a school of goldfish in the Audi. There appears to be enough fresh water. Another quart and floor flooded.

I'm busy putting pallets of stuff up on rack so i can gain space for my kid's truck. Looks like enough room.

 

[86turbodsl]

Got the shop bay cleaned up and put my sons truck in the spot. Closed the door and this morning woke up to snow on the ground. Whee. I closed the door tight and we'll be running the boiler when we get home. Getting our taxes done today.

 

[Strouty]

Sorry for the snow, glad you got the truck inside though.

 

[bimmer1980]

Any pics of the cleaned up area before the truck was brought in? How'd the truck engine project go....?

 

[86turbodsl]

Sorry i did not take a pre-truck photo. We are slogging our way through that job now. And we have a 3rd groundhog.
This morning it was 18F out. We shut off the boiler last night at ~8ish pm. It was over 50F inside. I had 2 helpers handing me wrenches under the truck. The topside is disconnected, the motor mounts are loose, the driveshaft and wiring are pulled, the ****** is loose. I need to rig up the hoist, cut the exhaust off and drop the ****** crossmember. Hopefully tonight. But might be a truncated night since i didn't sleep last night at all and need to take a sleeping pill and retire early. Getting old ***** big booty.

 

[Strouty]

Unfortunately I can vouch for that.

 

[bowtiguy]

Advil PM, works every time. Slogan should read “ when you need some rest but can’t turn the hamster off”.

 

[86turbodsl]

I will have to try that one. Mom swears by benadryl, but i've found it ineffective for me.

In other news - Groundhog #3 chewed its' way out of the METAL cage. Repairs on today's agenda, along with more truck follies.

 

[86turbodsl]

Well, it's been an eventful weekend, we got the engine out of my son's F150, pulled it back out of the shop, degreased it, and working on cleaning it up outside. Working on cleaning up 3 bags of kitty litter and oil mix, went to Ionia for an S4 interior on Sunday, wife came down with Covid (tested/verified) this morning, got kicked out of SAE Congress/quarantined from work for 5 days, and this little thing came in.

Spicer 7231 auxilliary overdrive. 2.14/1.0/0.74 ratios. Will make my F350 rear gears from a 4.11 into a 3.05 ratio. So instead of hammering down the freeway unloaded at 63mph at 2300 rpm, i should be able to do about 80mph at ~2000ish. Finally a usable truck for modern freeways. The damn thing is over 230lbs, and 16" tall. Shaft center at 7" from top. It'll take some creative, VERY creative packaging, but i should still have about 15-16" of ground clearance. The plan is to machine down the output shaft and mount a married NP205 behind it rather than adding another driveshaft. The rear 2pc shaft will become a 1-pc and the front shaft will become a 2pc with carrier bearing. I know, i need another project like a hole in the head, but i've been looking for one of these for about 10 years. One finally showed up. Hey at least Strouty has me beat right?? Right???

 

[Chrisb62]

Love the tool box beside the engine hoist......Strouty has you beat butttttttttttt ....gaining on him.

 

[86turbodsl]

Been a very slow week or so. Picked up the 'rona from the wife. Tested positive last Wed. Thurs/Fri i just lied on the couch half comatose. Was starting to feel a little better on Friday night, but relapsed Saturday. So i'm still working from home, with a cough and fever, but it's just slowly ramping down.

Haven't done much in the shop other than get the kids' engine on a stand, and sweep up the kitty litter. The wife got the rona from a coworker who had it for 4 days and just decided to come to work and not tell anyone. that affected a lot of lives. My kid got quarantined from work, lost 6 days wages, i missed SAE for first time in 2 years, and on and on. Very selfish.

I don't know when i'll be back at it very seriously, will depending on health. I have big plans though. Stay tuned.

 

[Strouty]

I really don't think you want this to be a competition......

 

[86turbodsl]

I really don't think you want this to be a competition......

100% correct.