Fall13 Miles

Last week I carried out another winterizing task on a Sea Ray. Over the last month and a half, every winterization I have completed I have found ways to perfect my work flow. I was also able to familiarize myself with the portable magnetic drill in the school shop and marked a hole with a 1/16th of an inch accuracy. 

w: 34.5

t: 340

 

Fall13 Miles

Last week, one of my more exciting projects at work was to pull the Volvo pictured below out of a yacht. It was was equipped with a V-drive gear. I have been around V-drives before but this one in particular was designed for the propeller shaft to go through the gear and is coupled on the back side of the gear. It is always a learning experience familiarizing myself with new equipment. Overall the project went quite well.

w: 43.5

t: 305.5

Alignment Mastery Miles

Aligning a semi truck can be quite simple by following A Common Man's Guide Truck Wheel Alignment. The first step is to measure and adjust toe. The toe can be measured by using two tape measures and two modified lengths of aluminum channel stock as shown below (not that greatly). Next, measure and observe tire wear. Also, inspect all mechanical suspension components for broken or worn out parts. Check the front axle for caster plates and make sure each side is congruent. Square the steering axle by measuring from a "standard" point on the frame to the axle. 

 Adjusting toe

Measuring and adjusting toe

Checking for caster plates

Adjusting the drive axles are just as simple. The two main adjustments for drive axles are adjusting the thrust angle and centering the axle. Start with the front drive axle by checking the thrust angle using the "string and tape measure" method shown in A Common Man's Guide Truck Wheel Alignment.

Measuring thrust angle of the front drive axle

Thrust angle shims can be found on the front of the leaf spring assembly

Truing the rear drive axle off the already trued front drive axle

Fall13 Miles

Last week was a short due Thanksgiving. I focused most of my time on learning how to align semi-trucks with simple "backyard" techniques. Check out my next post for a more detailed description of how I learned to do alignment.

w: 16.5
t: 262

Fall13 Miles

Last week I spent most of my time at the Pacific Marine Expo. representing our company by working the booth. I talked with a lot of people throughout the three days, promoting our fishing deck gear and boats we manufacture. In the shop, I assembled my first exhaust manifolds and learned what to keep in mind when I put the different components together.

w: 44.5
t: 245.5

ABS Modulator

The "clicking" noise that is apparent when keying the different trucks on is an ABS modulator valve actuating.  The modulator is an electro-pneumatic control valve that regulates input and output air for the brake canisters in ABS situations and restricts the wheels from locking up.

Part number: 550414 

Model: M-21

Replacement info:

P/N: 802363

Model: M-32

Fall13 Miles

Last week I was put on a project I am looking forward to; reassembling a small four cylinder Perkins. I wasn't the one who took it apart so that can lead to an interesting situation but all the parts and fasteners seem to be present. So far I just cleaned up the head and cylinder block (the engine was seized) and got it ready for reassembly until gaskets come in.  I learned that I needed to add some things to my winterizing procedure after talking with a coworker. He gave me a check list for the task that was extremely helpful.

w: 43
t: 201

Familiarizing myself with different hose splices

Perkins engine talked about above

Fall13 Miles

Last week I finished up a could projects at Maritime including wrapping and installing the muffler pictured below. In the process of doing 10 wheel ends for my final, I learned how truck hubs with a spacer between the bearings in the hubs are preloaded. The front hubs on the Kenworth in the shop are equipped with them.

w:36
t:158

Foundation Brake Mastery Miles

Wheel bearing and brake tear down

Checking hub end play

The video:

Fall13 Miles

Last week, I was given the honor of doing some exhaust removal...... my favorite. The muffler on this Nordhavn rusted into two pieces at the top flange due to weather intrusion.  On this project, I observed a new setup (to me) to ventilate the engine room using two 12 volt blower motors and ducting to draw cool fresh air into the engine room and push warm air out of the exhaust shroud.  It requires more componentry than the "venturi exhaust system" that I am familiar with, but could be a better fit in many applications. 

w: 31

t: 122

After we cut the muffler off, I had to grind and punch out some seized fasteners.

Fall13 Miles

Last week, I refreshed my winterizing procedure (for boats) on a twin screw Bayliner. I also had the chance to familiarize myself with a 260 small block Chevy motor by removing the heads (had bad compression and leak down numbers) and inspecting them. I learned what "tuliped" valves look like and what causes them to warp.

w: 22
t: 91

Fall13 Miles

Las week, I finished doing my starting/charging tests. I now have a good grasp on how to check the starting/charging system on virtually any vehicle (except an electric or hybrid car). I developed a solid basic understanding of truck air brakes and how they work. I also started work at LaConner Maritime Service. Whether its learning cold hard facts or simply having the chance to familiarize my self with a new engine, it always happens there. Last week it was two 260 merc-cruisers. I was doing a compression test and found this beauty of a spark plug. It explains the "doggieness" the customer was talking about along with some bad compression numbers.

W: 28

T: 69

Fall13 Miles

Last week I continued to grasp the concept of testing a voltage drop between two points. It is easy to carry out the procedure but understanding why and what the readings actually mean has been a small struggle to wrap my head around. After doing a handful of starting charging tests, I established a solid understanding of what and how voltage drops are/work. I also got some time in using the Midtronics battery tester and witnessed how useful the tool is.

Hours:
W: 18
T: 41

Fall13 Miles

Last week was both a refresher and a great learning experience for me. I learned how to test amperage by hooking up a volt meter inline a circuit. I also learned how to diagnose parasitic load draws by using an amp-clamp and testing across a fuse. Overall it was a very informative first week of school

Hours: 23

SPQ13 Miles

The weather has been great up here in comparison to the past years. Sunny and a little wind to keep the bugs off. My crew and I have been working hard to prep the boat and get everything ready to fish without interruption. I dont have any big projects to do this year but a lot of small maintenance projects such at paint touch up, tidying up lines, corrosion prevention, and annual service tasks. I have also been making up a substantial number of hydraulic lines for customers and a couple for my self. Our fish company we are selling to this year isn't buying till the 15th or so of this month so we will launch this weekend.

Going dry in 2012. My vessel is the Nancy O. II

 Beautiful mountains outside the Anchorage airport.

 Panorama of the Naknek city dock

 Our messy hydraulic container

 The remote mount oil filter setup had barbed hose fittings for connectors and last year we blew a hose so I replaced them with hydraulic lines with JIC fittings.

 My fresh water piston pump was having a hard time priming so I took it apart and didnt find any rips or tears in the diaphragm nor were any of the check valves stuck. I concluded the rubber could have shrank slightly over the harsh winter and spread a light layer of Vaseline over all the seals, reassembled and it seems to work just fine. 

SPQ13 Hydraulics Final Miles

Is it possible to complete this testing with the 50GPM flow meter we used on the winch and windlass?

            No. As I scanned the three different tests in their detailed form, I found that the max GPM measured is 25 but the max pressure for the flow meter is 3000 psi and the highest psi tested is 5000. 

We tested the pilot pressure relief valve at operating temperature and found it to be working properly at about 443 psi.

 

Below is a video of me recording the boom swing cycle time. The Bobcat manual called for 7.2 second cycle time to swing right and a 7.0 second cycle time to swing left (at full throttle). I recorded 7 seconds both ways so I concluded it is working properly.



A group of us, lifted one side of the Bobcat with the boom and marked the track with a piece of red tape to count the number of revolutions it makes in 60 seconds. We counted about 18.25 revolutions in high gear. The Bobcat manual states the top speed of high gear is 2.9 MPH or 3,062.4 inches per minute (I have work to show upon request for all math done). We measured the track length and found it to be 173 inches long. So, if the track turned 18.25 revolutions in one minute, it traveled 3,157.25 inches or 2.99 mph. I would assume the very sight increase of speed from the service manual specification to our test can be credited to the track being in the air therefore a lack of load resulting in a higher speed. Overall, the track speed appears to be in specification.


On a new hydraulic pump startup, the pump must have all air purged from it. Simply loosen the case plug until all air is purged from the pump housing and then re torque.

SPQ13 Miles

Last week was eventful. I was very appreciative of the opportunity to tour Boeing with the Danes. It was very mind opening. I had never seen any sort of an operation that big. Along with making lots of progress on the Scirocco, I got my first introduction to cleaning carburetors. My parents have two four wheelers that have been sitting over 6 years and they asked me to get them running. The fuel smelled like varnish. It was quite old. I am still going to be working on that project through this week. I was amazed with some of the electronic tracking equipment the Freightliner representative informed us about throughout his presentation.

Week: 36
Total: 216.5

Prop shaft that a customer showed up with. Hit some rocks around deception pass.

SPQ13 Miles

After the process of completing the group project last week, I really feel confident tracing out and understanding hydraulic schematics. It was a great learning experience. I had the opportunity to get on the excavator and stacked a bunch of tires up without tipping them over. This weekend was packed with time in the garage at home. I had to replace the transmission in my daily driver (82 jetta diesel 1.6L) because the rivets that hold the differential in place worked loose over the last 350,000 miles and started to wear into the case. Along with an abnormal noise that coule be mistaken as a wheel bearing, I drained the transmission oil and found a bunch of aluminum shavings. Luckily I had another transmission on shelf but had to tear into it and make it shift into fifth gear. There was a bent part and some detent tuning necessary to make it work.

Week: 44
total: 180.5

Pilot system traced out for the excavator. 

Replacement transmission for the Jetta.

SPQ13 Miles

Last week I started to disassemble some hydraulic components on the bench. Last time I was required to go through a valve body was on the back deck of a 32 foot fishing boat in four foot seas so this time it was a little more enjoyable and I was able to soak things up more thoroughly. The complexity of the internals of the hydraulic components have always amazed me. I learned how to adjust cushion on hydraulic cylinders through the test bench exercises. I have learned quite a bit through the bench including setting up hydraulic systems from a schematic. My VW project at home made great progress this last week. I was able to utilize the fabrication equipment at school to make a couple brackets and adapter plates.

Week: 38
Total: 136.5

Electronically acuated RexRoth valve body

Custom bracket fabricated to hold AFM sensor and custom cone filter to AFM adapter modifided to fit my application