StatCounter

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Honeywell gas valve lasts almost 60 years

Repaired a GE gas furnace that was installed in the 50's. The gas valve wouldn't shut all the way off....
Honeywell gas valve and replacement on top. This furnace does not have a "safety pilot cut off" and the gas to the pilot is on all the time. The pilot is proven by a bi-metal switch. You can see the switch and pilot in the lower center. The main gas valve is just that with no thermocouple or pilot stuff. Valve does have a pressure regulator.
Here is the old valve apart. You can see the flapper has not been hitting the seat on center. Sometimes it missed and got hung up on the washer letting some gas through. Sometimes one burner row would stay on a little...
Here is the flaps attachment to the solenoid, the swage has come loose.
I can move the flap to the correct position with my finger but it won't stay.
Swaged connection has been working loose for a while. Time to replace the valve with new.

Friday, June 27, 2014

Making a thumbscrew

The Tree mill was missing a thumbscrew on the table dial lock so I made one.
Thread is 1/4 -28, most of the ones I found online were 1/4-20. Going to use an allen head fastener and press on a knurled ring. Original thumbscrew from the other side.
        Middle size knurl looks about a match to the original
        Knurled a piece of hot rolled round, then face and drill .005 undersize.
           faced drilled and cut off.
  ready to grind off remains of cut
      Pressing ring on, it was pretty tight
    That knurled ring isn't going to come off
          Ready to use
    Made a wooden toolbox to fit on the ram.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Mini Split heatpump install

Installed a mini split heat pump in the garage. Got it from Amazon. Very pleased.
link below.

Pioneer Heat Pump-Dehumidifier

Here is what it looks like unboxed. It came by truck, I picked it up at CEVA's terminal with a Yaris hatchback.
                              Comes with r410A precharged in the condensor
             Mount for evaporator. I hung it from the ceiling.
           Condensor wall brackets came with sleeve anchors for brick.
     Drilled a two inch hole through the wall for freon lines and control power to evaporator. The power supply connects to the condensor only.  The instructions said to use a three inch hole but I'm not going to run the condensate drain tube through with the freon lines. The tube connectors will fit through two inch.
    A couple more inches to go...never hit rebar and I'm glad.
  Aluminium flashing used for a hole liner for a smooth passage. Supplied tube was too big in diameter and too short.
    
         Evaporator takes no wall or floor space
      Vacuuming the lines and evaporator. I know the blue and yellow hoses are reversed. It's 410a so no EPA issue yet. These have a 5/16 port you get to buy and adapter for that too. I ran the condensate through the tube that runs along the ground and drains an existing dehumidifier. Fitting are flare, I read to lube the back of the nuts and use a backup wrench when installing. Tube was preflared and looked polished.
   Mini split uses a remote control to tell it what to do, comes with a wall pocket to hold it. The unit is really quiet compared to a window air conditioner.

Roadmaster baseplate to Blue Ox towbar adapters

A while back I made a set of adapters to go the other way for tow bracket adapters. This time I'm making a set to go from a Roadmaster baseplate to a Blue Ox towbar. Made from 1.500 solid key stock they will never bend.
Silver tabs are Blue Ox, square tabs fit Roadmaster tow brackets and a Blue Ox towbar.
                          Test fit in Blue Ox style towbar connector
                                                      Bevel the ends
                                             Set zero with the table
                                Set 45 degrees in relation to the table and spindle
                            poor man's surface plate and scribe
   Nexus carbide end mill holder with APTK inserts, these have the correct geometry compared to triangle insert end mills. It will reach down in there! Very pleased with this cutter.
                                                             Deep slots