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12V Information

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Ballast Resister – The term “ballast” relates to stability. it refers to the fact that the ballast resistor is helping maintain the stability of the electrical circuit.

VSR – The Voltage Sensitive Relay (VSR) allows two batteries to be charged at the same time. When the engine is started and the start battery reaches 13.7 volts, the VSR engages, allowing two battery banks (start and house) to be charged simultaneously.

Rectifier – A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current (AC), which periodically reverses direction, to direct current (DC), which flows in only one direction. The reverse operation is performed by the inverter.

Inverter – A power inverter, inverter or invertor is a power electronic device or circuitry that changes direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC).[1] The resulting AC frequency obtained depends on the particular device employed. Inverters do the opposite of rectifiers which were originally large electromechanical devices converting AC to DC.

Fusible Link  – a fusible link is a length of wire that is several gauges thinner than the wire that it is designed to protect. (generally 4 gauges narrower)

https://www.the12volt.com
https://www.electrical4u.com

Aftermarket Cooling Fan for BMW F650

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The electrical fitting is the same, the mounting holes are in the same place … but of course there has to be something … the mounting hole hardware is different ( the grommets are too big and cant be used from the old fan).

I guess thats what the other 280 dollars I didn’t pay … was for … so that it would be an exact fit.

New and Old Cooling Fans for BMW F650

New fan top, old fan bottom.

So off to the hardware store and another twenty dollars in bits (and another hour in time) it is all back together … and the fan works like a fan should 🙂

But each time I forget the lesson …

If you don’t buy the exact part … expect a ****around in time and brain strain, for trying to prevent wallet plundering … because that how the system is set up.

Husqvarna Ride On Mower LTH 1742

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Traveled up to Pomona to see this Husqvarna LTH 1742, it wasn’t working so I took a chance on it, the chap I was buying it from was decent and honest and I felt fairly safe, he was not sure why it had stopped and thought it was the battery.

Husqvarna LTH1742 Model and Serial Details IMG 5030

I brought it home and tried a few things to get it going:

I took of the old battery and placed it on charge, one or two of the cell were low on water so I topped up all the cells, the battery charger claimed that the battery was full, so I left it on Auto Charge and after a will it dropped to below 50% and started drawing about 4 amps, I have left it on charge all day, hopefully it will recover.

I connected a spare battery to see if it would turn, it was free, but reluctant to turn past the fist compress, and I needed to assist it by hand turning the flywheel as I turned the starter, she spun nicely very once I got past the fist compression but did not take. – Good

I took the spark plug out and checked for spark, there was plenty of spark, and of the engine turned very nicely once there was no compression to hold it back. – Good

I checked the fuel pump by taking of the off one the fuel hoses, and there was plenty of fuel. – Good

I had previously the oil before purchasing which was very clean, so I continued by checking the air filter and it was reasonably clean, although I plan to purchase and fit a new filter at some stage – Good

So having check the battery, the spark, and the fuel pump and air filter, it has to be the carburettor so I felt about the carburettor looking for clues. – Wondering what it could be.

I gave it another turn. It fired !! and ran slowly as first with a bit of smoke and then took very nicely and ran smoothly and perfectly. – Excellent

I fitted a new Delkor Battery, – purchased from the Local Husqvarna Dealer – $110

I replaced the Deck Engage Cable, (Deck Clutch Cable) – purchase from the local Husqvarna Dealer – $65

I feel that the Husqvarna is well made and easy to work on.
Spares parts are reasonably well priced, and easy to get hold of.

Future:

There is a bit of rust I need to clean up
The bull bar need to be secured, some of the bolt need to be replaced .

The mower cuts very well.

Fixed and reassembled the BMW F650

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Today I finally got the bike back together 🙂

Managed to put the new oil seals in the front shocks 🙂

Asked an intern a work to knock me out a “seal driver” on the 3D printer (solid print) with the dimensions taken from the seal, minus a little bit, so that it would fit over and down the shock , but only rest on the outer few millimeters of the seal ( not the inner edge).

3D Printed Seal Driver

It didn’t have the “weight” to drive the seal in, but a bit of cling film, and a plastic zip lock bag (to keep the dust and any bits out), a longer piece of wood, and a rubber mallet finished the job off a la road-side-repair style.

Took it for a ride and its working fine 🙂

Working in the Garden BMW F650

60 dollars from BMW for two litres of 10 weight oil, and a few bits. Plus about 40 dollars in grease, Allen key to 1/2 inch drive set.

So 110 dollars in total … plus a lot of my “free time”. But better than 700 dollars at the BMW shop hey.

Trailer Box Roof Cover Cap

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I built this “Trailer Box Roof Cover Cap” because I needed to transport 6 people and their music equipment from the Sunshine Coast to Sydney and back again. It was a bit of a mission, but I got it all done in time.

First things first, I serviced the trailer, which included fitting angle iron to the front panel to fill some rust holes, fitted two new trailer bearings and a new jockey wheel, and converted the light plug to a round shape instead of rectangle /square which it already had fitted.

Next I rust proofed the trailer, which work surprisingly well. A good friend (Dennis)advised me to paint over the rust remover as soon as possible. So I painted the base with all in one primer and metal paint protector form ALDI which I had in the shed.

Painted Rust Remover on Trailer Base IMG 4603

Then I build a box to fit over the trailer, which would keep the music equipment dry. I bought and cut the Marine Ply at Bunnings which worked out very nicely.

Catherine helped me assemble and screw up the trailer box, which fits very snuggly on the trailer.

Trailer Box Roof Cap

This is the finish product in Sydney, which we proved was water proof because we drove down in the pouring rain and floods.

IMG 4655

I still need to paint the Trailer Box Roof Cover Cap at some stage, and because it’s a very snug fit, I will need to widen the trailer wall very slightly. I plan to do this quite simple with a car jack. They simply need to be pushed about 2mm further apart.

Lessons Learned

  • I’d make the Trailer Box a little taller. Probably another 300mm taller
  • I’d make the lip fit outside instead of inside the trailer
  • I’d include a hatch door / access door for easy access to the contents without needing to remove the trailer box.

Intake Air Hose Replacement

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I noticed that the intake air hose between the Air Filter Box and the Carburettor had been repaired with tape, so I repaired the crack/tear in the rubber with by replacing the tape with ‘Gorilla Tape’, which lasted a few years.

More recently I bought a new hose from Mazda Spares, and pleasantly surprised that it cost $79 dollars.

The replacement was quite simple and only required loosening the Air Filter Housing to get enough wiggle room to unclamp the old hose an refit the new house

New and Old Intake Hoses

Yesterday I took a decision to buy a motorcycle

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Yesterday … I took a decision … to buy a motorcycle … an old one, to commute to work on.

I desperately need an alternative to the Jeep, as its going to be out of action for a while this summer.
And we do not have the space in our driveway to store a third car.
Nor do we gave to money to buy / insure / repair a third car.

I spent two thousand dollars on car parts and tools last summer, but was unable to get all the parts into the jeep ( which has to be done soon).

The last straw is the pool of oil in our driveway … where the jeep parks … and the same at the office.
After jump starting in on Monday. After waiting 15 minutes for it to warm up so its transmission will go out of park ( for each and every journey).

So, I bought a very old (1999) BMW F650 (with twenty-two thousand miles on it), which will show up this coming Friday.
I haven’t ridden a bike in thirty years (but rode one from standard eight ? Everyday , for five or six years) , this one is so old , it has nearly all the same stuff as when I was a kid (i.e., no electronics). And I’ve bought a workshop manual for it too.

I hope that it will be an easy transition. It does not solve our car problem, but I hope that it will ease our car problem (for eight months at least )- as I can’t ride the bike in Dec/Jan/Feb/March.

So the up-side is …

  • Easy to park in the garden.
  • Can park it in the shed in the Winter, with some shed insulation and some minor heating.
  • Gets 70 miles per gallon.

Downside is:

  • Car drivers are halfwits in the US.
  • Falling off would not be fun.

So to limit that risk I am going to …

  • ride slowly, pay attention.
  • wear a full face helmet ( in Wisconsin nobody has to wear a crash helmet, everyone is free to be a body part donator)
  • Wear high visibility (luminous) jacket ( look like a dork, but a hospital free dork).
  • Replace all the lights / indicators with annoyingly high intensity led bulbs.
  • Limit my miles ridden.

So … I think I can make it work.

If I can fix the jeep late spring early summer, then I will use the bike and the jeep. Adam will share the Honda with Marge, and I will share the jeep with Marge.

So between the three of us we will have three vehicles except for winter when we will share two. I don’t know that will work but its the only plan I could come up with.

This week I will learn the bike theory and take the bike learners theory test before the bike gets delivered on Friday.

So there we are … hopefully … it will all work out. Who knows maybe I’ll ride to South America on it one day 🙂

Ignition Coils and Spark Plugs for Mazda MPV or Tribute

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Here here we go again, after a trip to Sydney in the pouring rain our Mazda MPV started to miss fire. This has happened previously, and so I knew where to start solving the problem. Even so I pulled over at a Service Station three quarters of the way to Sydney, NSW and sprayed WD40 over parts of the electrics I suspected may be at fault. All I managed to achieve/create was create a foul smell in the engine compartment.

I purchased two new ignitions coils online, and this easily and painless solved the misfiring problem, however during my checks I notices that I had a spark plug with a very pointy ignition tip, which I initially thought was wear and tear but after a bit of reading I discovered that it was an iridium spark plug, designed to last a long time, and withstand very high temperatures.

So that leaves me with wondering if this single spark plug was replaced by my mechanic when I previously had this issue, or if when I replaced all my spark plugs a couple of years ago I had very wisely fitted iridium plugs? I’m not sure, so I shall check all thee plugs on the side of the engine to which I have easy access.

Wet Igintion Coil

The spark plugs on the far side the engine (fire wall side) are extraordinarily difficult to gain access to replace.

Alternator and Regulator Challenges

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I quite enjoy my van, however I have not really had an opportunity to take it on the open road, for a couple of reasons.

Firstly it’s winter, and camping and touring during winter is not as much fun as Spring Summer and Autumn

Secondly my van battery won’t hold a charge, which has left me stranded a couple to time, now,

I suspect it may be a simple earth leakage, which if it is, is easily fixed, however it would also be it’s a very new fault since it has previously held charge for a very long periods of time while it was in the car port waiting for roadworthy and for the few patches of rust to be removed.


Alternator after market for 1983 Nissan Urvan E23

Photo shows the alternator released from the engine but with the wires connected so that I can correctly refit them after it has been serviced.

Original Regulator for Nissan Urvan E23 IMG 4625

Wiring Display

Original Regulator for Nissan Urvan E23

Side View of Regulator

I have taken the alternator and regulator to Scott Mountain for servicing,

Hopefully Scott will get it to produce the full 14.x volts required to keep the battery fit and healthy.

Day One Driving my New BMW F650

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So the insurance for the bike was delayed, in an administrative tangle, and I could not use it.

The Jeep battery was dead when we got home late last night from Mothers Day in Illinois, it’s obviously on a different date to Mothers Day else where in the world.

The Jeep’s rear door latch was busy clicking in and out all by itself … and had drained it flat … no ignition lights even. So … it had to be the bike as transport the next day.

Monday morning the insurance hiccup eventually completed … leaving just ten minutes to get to work.

So after thirty years of not riding a bike, I had to get the hang of this particular bike (that I had never ridden before, not even once) … get the hang of it … riding it on the way to the office !!!

Not so easy I must confess.

BMW 650 Right Side

25 miles an hour in second gear seemed to work. Once up to 45mph it was easier. But very windy today, and bike had a higher centre of gravity than any I have ridden before.

But got there, and back 🙂 And only then … did I get to putz around the neighbourhood on it and work out what is what.

BMW 650 Left Side
Managed to put some gas in it … all of one gallon !!!

So far … so good … end of day one.