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Strouty

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Oil is changed, also changed air filter, checked power steering fluid, brake fluid, trans fluid, coolant, added windshield washer fluid. Having lunch, then I am picking up the mess, after that I am thinking of making a new mess. If I can get the exhaust fan installed it would be nice, not sure I can do it all by myself, but I will give it a shot.
 
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Strouty

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Had to do some paperwork, just got the shop floor cleaned up, now for the tools to be put away. I think today I will just dig out the fan and figure what needs to be done, seems a bit late to start cutting holes in the wall.
 
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Strouty

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Thanks 1/2 cup, I am afraid it will be waiting until next week, but it is now on my radar. I was just happy to get the suburban maintenance all done. I still want to do the front brakes as there is some pulsing, but I want the air compressor working before tackling that project. I know I am going to need the impact and the air hammer, so I don't want to have to drag the parts to my Dad's place if I don't have to.

Overall the elbow feels much better than the previous week, so I am hoping that means I have not been overdoing it.
 
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Strouty

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I got the fan down from storage, assembled the outside duct work, removed the louvered panel so I can install the fan opposite of what most people would do. I am going to pull air inside, rather than try and **** air out. Another member (MTW) recommended it that way and I used his suggestions for my air compressor piping, so I am trusting what he says. This fan is smaller than what I would like, but it will be a good test. I figure it can always be used in the attic later. I think a 3 phase fan running off a VFD will be the best solution long term, that way I can not only adjust the speed, but reverse the flow if needed. I also think a fan in the ceiling that ducts directly out of the roof will be good to get rid of the welding fumes quickly. The smoke always seems to hang at the top two feet of the ceiling. Of course I have not really done any welding since installing the ceiling fans, so it may not be as much of an issue anymore.







 
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Strouty

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The other thing that I have been messing with is my powered lift cart, the battery went dead and I was not sure if the on board charger worked. So far so good, it is bringing the battery voltage up. I will probably setup a regular float charger before leaving, as I am not 100% trusting of the charger, since I don't know it yet.

I also painted my new Klein Chicago grips, now they will be much easier to find on the ground. These get used to help pull tension on the guy wires of a tower. They are just baby ones, I have a lot bigger ones.



 

dlcwent

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I am curious why you would want to draw air into the shop opposed to exhausting it. In principle you'll need to have an exhaust for the air drawn in. What's your thought on that?
 

nine4gmc

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I would seriously reconsider using the "exhaust" fan as an intake fan. Sometimes the way things have been done for decades or centuries just happens to be the most efficient way... or, the if it ain't broke, don't fix it theory.

Sent from my SM-T230NU using Tapatalk
 
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Strouty

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The axles are rockwells as far as I can tell, the ones in the machine are not the ones I will be getting, there are some all ready pulled from another machine, they were just under so much **** I could not get a good picture. I can take the pettitbones that he has, but they both steer and on the forklift it would be wasted, so I thought they would be better for another project.

Nines and DLC, MTW had some great points about moving air in the shop rather than trying to push it out. I guess the premiss is that it is easier to pressurize the shop so that air wants to get out, versus trying to pressurize the entire outside of the shop. Does that make sense? Basically I lift the garage door a bit and the air goes out the door. It won't be hard to change if it doesn't work, but he was right about the air compressor piping and what he says makes a lot of sense to me.
 
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Strouty

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We build all sorts of trucks, usually based on some remote tower site, of course now we just build stuff for fun. Here are a few trucks we have built.



 

rmalkow2

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While I can't speak for what the other GJ member had in mind I would have to agree with the thought to exhaust rather than attempt to pressurize. And it's not a matter of trying to pressurize the smaller inside space versus the the whole outside atmosphere. It doesn't work that way. If your fan is sized to have the capacity for the interior space you are basically creating some amount of negative pressure inside to force out the foul air. That also requires a suitable fresh air intake to replace (exchange) the air exhausted. Maybe your building "leaks" enough air on its own to provide the intake or like you said you can partially open a door. Just make sure your exhaust point is not near the intake point!!
But in the end don't just take our viewpoints, look at any normal ventilation system and how the air flow is designed. Especially for harsh environments like welding, painting, factories, etc.
If your fan was actually big enough to pressurize the interior of your building then it could actually force foul air all around your shop including office areas as it tries to "push" it out of the space.
If your purpose for the fan was to benefit a heating/cooling system then I could see the forced air method idea. But if the purpose is to exhaust fumes then definitely **** them out of the building in the most efficient way possible while providing a good intake source to replace that bad air.
 
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Strouty

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While my shop is not hermetically sealed it does have leaks, but the fan would only run with the large door opened a bit. I understand what the standard is, but I want to try out something different, I don't always go with the grain, so this will be a test. The fan is located directly across from the overhead door, so it should allow for the proper flow.

It will be as simple as unbolting things and swapping the fan around if it doesn't work as expected, so I figure I am going to give it a shot. People thought I was crazy when I sloped my air piping back towards the compressor and that worked very well, that was another suggested from MTW. Maybe this will flop, maybe it will work great, together we will find out.

I am currently roasting my **** off in the attic at the house, looks like I have a couple loads of things to bring to the shop, not sure why they were still in the attic anyways. I figure it is a bit cooler today, so I want to get it done now before the real heat creeps in.

Last night I sold a bunch of spare tower gear to a customer friend, so that will open up a bit more space in the conex.
 
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Strouty

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We have two cars full of stuff headed to the shop. Going to have to unload some of it inside so I can deal with it in the morning. Some is going in the wood shop/ craft room (trailer), I am glad to have it out of the house and we still have a couple loads to go to a local charity. I had wanted to get the basement done as well, but maybe I can tackle that in the morning before leaving for the shop.
 

nine4gmc

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The pipe sloped toward the compressor makes sense, if you have a drop leg between it and the compressor with a drain. The moisture would have to travel uphill to get to the airline drops keeping more water away from the tools. That makes perfect sense. The backwards fan does not make any sense to me. I'm with rmalkow, pressurizing the shop will force hot and stinky air into every nook and cranny of the building, including the office where the air conditioner will have to deal with it. If you put the exhaust fan directly across the building from the roll up doors, the fan will pull heat from above your work area along with fresh air from the gap between the top of the roll up door and exhaust it out of the building. Any smoke or heat will be sucked up and out, instead of blowing around in the building. Give it a shot but I bet anything exhausting will be the best route.
 
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Strouty

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I can't not try it, if that makes any sense. I agree if I turn the fan on without the door cracked open that things would get messy, but I think with the door open, it will create enough pressure to move the air right out the door.
 
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Strouty

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I just want you guys to know that I am not trying to snub your advice, it is counterintuitive to me as well, but I would like to try it.

DLC, have a job in Bangor, hopefully it will be quick, this weekend has literally taken me out. My back is so sore I can't bend it much, my elbow hurts more than normal, and all this took place working at the house.

I am going to try and run some errands today, then go through some of my video game stuff that is at the shop, I was thinking of making some wall art out of a bunch of old atari 2600 games. There is also a really cool website that allows you to play vintage games on your computer, it is almost like a rental site, they keep physical copies of the games and only allow the same number of people (as physical games) to play at once. Anyways, they take donations, the last time I donated to them, they gave me a lifetime membership to the website, I may do the same again because I think it is really cool.

For anyone that wants to check it out:

http://www.consoleclassix.com
 

rpenterics

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I'll go against the grain here and agree on pulling air into the building, rather than exhausting. Ideally I would run both but with the intake being bigger (CFM wise) than the exhaust. I'm currently fighting an issue at the plant I work in because the building is excessively negative (hard to open doors)....so my vote is for positive pressure
 
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Strouty

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The fan that I have is good for 6487 CFM on high speed. My shop has a volume of 22,500 cubic feet, so it will take more than 3 minutes to fully exchange the air. I don't think that is enough CFM to stir things up too much, but again, I only plan on having the fan on when the door is cracked open.
 
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Thumper68

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I thought I saw a welding fume extractor in your shop?

I just got caught back up on your progress, you are going great guns even with the bum wing.

Any more info on the trucks you have put together, they look awesome.
 
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Strouty

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Thanks Thumper, I am keeping as busy as I can, today is really bad with the back on the fritz and the elbow hurting.

I have a flexible arm that is designed for fumes, but I am not ready to install that until I reconfigure the space. I used to have a portable one, but it exhausted directly to the floor, that made a serious mess, I was also warned that it essentially can take the oxygen out of the space, so without having an intake fan it could be dangerous too. I really need something that will allow me to use the plasma cutter, paint or clean something, and weld without being in a specific area. We used to set up a couple fans to try and blow it out the doors, but it would all hang up top around the ceiling. I am hoping that the ceiling fans will help bring it down and then the pressure from the new fan will push it out the door.


The trucks were purpose built for jobs we had, the FORD is a hydraulic drill rig for rock foundations that my Dad really wanted, it is terrible, never really worked properly. He won't admit it, but the drill should have just been mounted on an excavator. The Dodge was used to get all the materials to the top of a mountain for a job we did, then we used it to plow when things get really bad. It has rear steering as well as front, so you can make it crab, basically when plowing the *** end can be sideways and out of the ditch, but the truck still goes straight.
 
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Strouty

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Dad came over to the shop with the other trailer that I am going to use to haul the excavator, then we unloaded the steel from the trailer that I had to free the brakes up on. He is planning on selling that one, so we wanted to get a new inspection sticker on it, we dropped both the trailer and truck off then to get them inspected.

My back is feeling much better, but still needs the night off, hopefully tomorrow will be good to go. I have a meeting in the morning, then in the afternoon I should be able to pick up the planetary axles. I also have help coming to the shop, we are going to try and rework the shelves in the conex, I figure I am wasting a lot of space because I have a shelf that is 4" off the floor, so we are going to rework it so the floor is the first shelf, then the original first shelf will be the new second shelf. Then we can figure out the heights that are best for the next level. I should be able to consolidate enough to completely remove at least one entire bay of shelves.
 
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Strouty

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When I look at the configuration, it just seems stupid, like, why would anyone do this???

Anyways my back is about as junky as you can get without being stuck in bed, so shelving may have to wait. I am going to use the help to load up the suburban and then I have to swap out trucks so I can get the air compressor tomorrow morning.
 
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Strouty

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Yesterday was a total cluster you know what. I ended up getting the compressor, I wish they would have let me remove it, they broke one flywheel completely, not even sure how they managed that one and some one else took the motors, hopefully I can at least get the motor brackets back, they are a nice cast iron piece that fits things perfectly. The tank is exactly the same style tank as mine, appears that everything it about 10 years newer so the pumps have the spin on oil filters. They were supposed to confirm what pump was good, but that seems to be up in the air, so I am going to have to try the one that has the flywheel and see what she does. No big deal, still figure it was worth the 4 hours (overestimated) of time and $50 in diesel to get them.







 
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Strouty

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LOL, not getting rid of the leftovers, they are "spares". The plan is to take apart the worst one so I know what I am doing for a rebuild, then fix the best two pumps. That should leave me with a lifetime supply of spare parts, the tank may get used as well, just depends on the condition of it. Would be nice to have 400 gallons of air at my disposal.
 

Coolabah

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LOL, not getting rid of the leftovers, they are "spares". The plan is to take apart the worst one so I know what I am doing for a rebuild, then fix the best two pumps. That should leave me with a lifetime supply of spare parts, the tank may get used as well, just depends on the condition of it. Would be nice to have 400 gallons of air at my disposal.

I agree- one can take the minimalist thing TOO far ! I take it that spares are not readily available for the compressor ? In which case it is sensible , not "hoarding" to keep "spares" as although they take up space, if spares are no longer available the future need for a rare part far outweighs anything else or you might just have to either junk the whole compressor or frankenstein it . Just my 2 cents !
 
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Strouty

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I think the parts are available, but buying them is expensive as can be. I figure I can wrap the pumps in plastic and store them in the conex. They are only 480 pounds.
 

Coolabah

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I think the parts are available, but buying them is expensive as can be. I figure I can wrap the pumps in plastic and store them in the conex. They are only 480 pounds.

Yes indeed , expensive counts too. I guess what I am trying to say is good on you for all you have done so far, but this thing is "the exception that proves the rule" .... you need to keep those bits.

Logic:
1) expensive or hard to find part(s)
2) important/critical machinery ( time machinery is offline counts )
3) I can tell you enjoy this compressor ( maybe a bit of love/hate ? ) so it gets extra keeper points parts-wise. Now you know what you need to do - throw out some other piece of useless stuff to make up for it. Gosh I am so much an armchair quarterback ... :rocker:
 

walrus

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That is quite the compressor. How many tire machines, air guns, lifts, you going to run at same time ? I'd have to put a new service in to run that motor.
 
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Strouty

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I still need to set it up so it can run continuous, they have valves that allow it to run unloaded when needed, then flip it back to run normal.
 
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Strouty

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If they are gone it really is not an issue. The plan is to check out the tank and see if it is better than my other one, if it is I will use it for the primary tank, if not then I won't change anything. I am going to bolt up the pump that has the flywheel and see what happens, if it is the good one, it should be obvious. If not I will have to swap the flywheel over to the other one and try that.

I just don't want to start disassembling the better of the two pumps, but I am looking forward to seeing the insides for sure. If the new tank is good, then I may plumb it up so I have 400 gallons of air, that would give a big cushion for sure. The plan will be to use the best two pumps and then the remains stuff will be spare parts. In theory, this should be the last shop compressor I ever need to buy/rebuild.
 
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