Email of the Day from down Under.

Posted on July 21, 2013 by George B.

I always enjoy questions from our Cousins down under.

Ever meet a Yankee or Canook that didn’t enjoy themselves when they visited down below?

From: Kerin Whitxxx <kerin.wxxxxxx@hotmail.com>

Subject: Listeroid

Message Body:

G,Day  mate, wonder if you can help me out with a problem I have with a twin cyl Listeroid.  Starts & runs like a clock, however it seems to be getting hot.  Have the water supply set up to a 44 Gallon drum. The water has nearly boiled!  On inspection of the water inlet & outlet the inlet is 80% covered over by the casting, the outlet is probably 60-70% the same way. Is this normal ? I thought it maybe to slow the amount of water through the engine. If not how can I rectify the problem if it is one ? Thanks for any help you may be able to offer me.

Cheers Kerin.

——————————

Kerin,

I do open up these water ports a bit, and some are blocked a little too much.. I use a quarter inch die grinder and a carbide tool to do it. A round file does it too, just takes a bit longer. Don’t get carried away, don’t cut into the area where the stud passes through the water jacket, as you don’t need that large of hole. One Kiwi I know thought bigger was better, he cut the stud nearly in half with his port improvement grinding!  I’d guess that about half the area of the typical flange found on these engines is all you need in a proper thermal siphon set up.

We can learn a bunch about cooling a Lister when we cool it with water from the garden hose, with a 3000 watt resistive load per cylinder, it doesn’t take much water flow to cool the engine, of course cooling tanks are different, as we circulate water that grow far warmer.

For continuous duty in warm weather, 44 gallons is NOT enough  cooling capacity, for thermal siphon systems.  Fact is, a single cylinder 6/1 might need more than double that on a very hot day with a continuous full load. We need remember, diesels make little heat under no load or light load conditions, so an engine powering intermittent work could get by with a far smaller tank.

Painting the outside  of the tank jet black can help, and near boiling isn’t all that bad, allowing the top of the thermal siphon loop to become uncovered is where the bad news starts, making sure there’s a good reserve above that top connection is key.. Some of the old set ups had a valve in the lower hose.. the operator could choose whether he operated in hopper cooling mode (boiling off water and removing excess heat via the steam)  or thermal siphon mode that removes the task of checking water often, and engine damage if you lose too much cooling water.

There are lots of ideas in our DIYer community, in so many ideas, we add failure additional failure points to simple and reliable power plants. People look to Autos for ideas, some add cooling water pumps driven by a belt, and some even use belt tensioners off an auto.

How many hours of over the road travel does it take to equate to 100,000 miles traveled? 6000 or 7000 hours? Some of the older Listers in off grid locations might have 40,000 hours or more on them, a cooling water pump might be the weak point, and it might cause an unattended engine to run till an overheat brings it to a stop. Unattended power plants that run long hours might be designed different than those run for back up use.

So many choices, and an overheat alarm is smart when your cooling system grows more complicated than the tank cooled system..

Hope this helps, and remember, boiling means a lot of heat is carried off in steam, with a properly designed system with a water reserve, that can be a good thing, it’s like backup protection.

All the best…

George

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in DIYer Generator, Off Grid Power, Questions & Answers, Slow Speed Engines | Tagged , | 11 Comments

Angela Cory, a Poster Girl?

Posted on July 14, 2013 by George B.

Keep thinking about that garden plot!

As we look on, we see how differently people perceive the world around them. For some of us, we watched people lose their jobs in Florida because they refused to give up their integrity. Others see them as too rigid, and unwilling to bend in the wind, and set aside the rule of law because it didn’t deliver justice as they chose to see it this time.

How sad it was, those who were awake, those who refused to view it through the colored filter the media applied. We saw the strings, the people who refused to play the games as those in political office felt would be best for >them< to play. A show trial for all the world to see.

There’s plenty of evidence that the DOJ was involved, and even a President who thought he need inject his comments.

All we need do is follow the strings. I saw in the news a picture of Angela Cory, she was all dressed in black, all made up with her red lipstick on. From where I viewed the big show, she looks like a pliable and obedient whore for hire.

For those who are looking for a few good men, perhaps those who gave up their jobs in order to keep their integrity in tact will be a consideration.  I ask.. who wouldn’t want them for employees, and I neither know or care of their color.

And.. those six women jurors, no one could slip the strings around their wrists and ankles, or threaten them with the loss of their job.

The system worked! And now, there will be a movement en masse to change it!

And all so many talk about the ‘stand your ground laws’ Of course they want to do away with it, but they don’t want to tell you just how far or fast you must run when you’re threatened with the lose of life. Yes, it is with their God like wisdom they will rule on each event… based on the colors, what they know must have been in your  heart at the time, and maybe even how you voted in the past?  Why is it we need the rule of law when we have men and woman with God like powers.. who will be glad  to judge those who do wrong.

A good overview? likely nothing your white black president would have an interest in…http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bF-Ax5E8EJc

 

 

GB

Posted in In The News | 4 Comments

777, A lesson in Critical Thinking ?

Posted on July 11, 2013 by George B.

I think this story will get even better (worse actually)….

3cherriesna777

3cherriesna777

For those who play the slots, Three Cherries and  Three Sevens are a welcome sight.

But maybe it’s a poor combo on landing?

Here’s the bottom line:

Glide Slope Indicators, Auto Throttles, and all that stuff are only aids for the pilot.

The pilot’s job is to have acquired sufficient skill to land the plane without these aids, and most can do it… And of course, the co-pilot is there to assure everything is double checked.

And here we see Pilots and/or their Associations  attempt to blame an auto throttle? I have seen it reported in two major media pieces.

The head of the NTSB is being criticized for sharing ‘basic facts’ with the public, can you imagine? I for one enjoy the contrast I see between NTSB and other entities that should have autonomy and should defend it to the death. I’ll let you decide where you see the most contrast, but I suggest you look at other current events.

Let’s have a contest, see if you can make up a good excuse for this landing..

Added note: I’ve decided to add to this post using ‘comments’ scroll down, I think this is worth your while because there is so much of this going on.

GB

Posted in Critical Thinking, Things I Hate! | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Question: ‘My Electrician Said’

Posted on July 10, 2013 by George B.
Utterpower's grid generator

Utterpower’s off grid generator, with interlocking Interties.

 

Here’s Kent’s question, and you already know I can’t comment without adding a rant. Please do add your comments:

George

I don’t have a main breaker, I have a lever in my meter box to disconnect from city power. A friend of mine who is an electrician said that you can install a 30 amp 240 volt double pole breaker in the sub panel to supply the circuits with gen power. Is this true?

George’s answer:

Kent, ‘I am the Student’ and I learn new things every day. One thing I’ve managed to learn is there are many ways to implement a method to transfer loads from your primary source to a back up generator, and some are far better than others.

We get into code, and some find out the hard way just what Insurance Companies are all about.  Your disconnect is a ‘legal’ disconnect. A breaker however is not a legal disconnect in many jurisdictions , you will need breakers that are rated to be used as both a breaker AND as a disconnect switch. If you were to feed your panel in the way your Electrician Friend describes, you want the ‘switch rated breaker’, they exist, and cost a few dollars more.

Next, you need look a little further into the codes of your city, county, state, in most jurisdictions, I think you will find that you need a mechanical interlock between your main disconnect, and your DP (breaker/switch) for the generator transfer, this can be created in a number of ways. I have seen ‘choke cables’ used to fabricate interlocks, this >could< work in your case if it’s impossible to close the gen breaker unless the disconnect is open, and of course, the gen breaker needs be open before you can again close the main disconnect.

Legal is very important, as you will likely never have the deep pockets the insurance company has, and any illegal wiring could create an unexpected liability for you.

Next is understanding the challenges of operating a small generator and typical house hold loads, this can be very different from house to house, and I find the ‘bulk’ transfer switches, (dumping all loads onto the generator with a single transfer switch causes the ‘AVERAGE’ home owner frustration and even appliance damage. IF you have a well pump, designing around that pump and meeting it’s requirements is often key.

Home owners can be in a hurry to get the lights back on, and this is the source of a lot of problems, all too many to mention here. In the method you describe, you’d need to operate the main disconnect and remember to open every breaker in the box, once the generator  is verified to be putting out proper voltage and frequency you would add load and watch (monitor) the amp meter(s), voltage and frequency to assure you don’t overload the generator.

The transfer switches I like best allow you to transfer individual circuits off main power and onto the generator, much harder to make a mistake, and much easier to use a smaller generator. People learn in a hurry that a so called whole house generator can leave you with no fuel long before the power comes back on, conservation can be a critical part of your backup plan. Having a step by step procedure for the generator transfer is KEY!

No matter how clear it is in your mind today, when the lights are out,  your wife can turn into an impatient nag, and if the kids are crying, and the dogs is barking, it’s not the best time to think, do think in advance and have a simple set of instructions to follow. It may not be you that will need operate the gen set.

Now.. there are Gang Greenies who see the whole world simple, no need to study or plan, you only need a hand full of fairy dust 🙂 Yes, Beth Bucknaked comes to mind.  But over my years of hands on study, I’ve run in to so many people (some with advanced degrees) they say “if I had to do it all over again, I’d do it different 🙂

Installing a generator transfer switch at Zach’s house. This article gives us some insight into how small a generator we might be able to use in a house with natural gas appliances, and how we might be best off wiring the generator for 120 VAC only and assuring the stator windings are evenly loaded.

“If I had it to do all over again.” If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard that.  And that previous article I wrote about Beth Bucknaked.  She is at the heart of Gang Green! There’s key phrases that set off the Alarm bells in my head when it comes to generators for home back-up. One phrase that screams ‘salesmen’ is whole house generator.’ According to search engine data, it is a term searched for often, but all too many of those people who use this term are likely to tell you… “If I had it to do all over again, I’d…………………….”

I’m the student, I have the questions, but you will always need the answers as to what is legal or not in your jurisdiction.  Hands on experience, and operating through long outages helps one develop the better plan. And do remember, a gasoline generator with a float bowl full of gasoline ethanol blend WILL cause you trouble regardless of what others might tell you. Stand by on gird sets are different, as much as you remind people they need exercise them, they won’t! Old fuel can be a big problem, gasoline is by far the worst, it’s a poor fuel, but a fuel full of energy by volume, and we have a lot of it.  And of course our Government has done their best to make gasoline fuel far more unstable, and far more difficult to store on site for any period of time.

Now, I’m sure you’ve read that there’s chemistry you can add to gasoline/ethanol blends that solve all the problems, and maybe a Chemist will come along and comment about how these wonder additives keep the ethanol from dropping out when moisture finds it’s way into a less than sealed tank, or how it keeps ethanol from attacking certain materials  over time,  Autos seldom set for years at a time, generators do all too often, and that too lean condition.. how many are set up to monitor exhaust gas temps? And when that main jet gets coated with crud, your engine runs lean, and exhaust valves and seats suffer, and then you discover that EPA compliant carb can’t be cleaned, or adjusted. Yes, the EPA will tell you, it’s best they keep ‘stupid’ in their ranks, as they think you are too stupid to clean the carb or make adjustments.

And there you go, you knew I’d turn this into a rant 🙂 Too bad we have Beth Bucknaked types  running the EPA. But rest assured, now that Fat Lisa is gone, they’ll find another ‘activist’ to man the tiller of that ship on the rocks.

G.

 

 

 

 

Posted in Critical Thinking, Generators, Legal, Off Grid Power, Question of the day, Questions & Answers | Tagged | 3 Comments

Beth Bucknaked and the 80mph Motorcycle

Posted on July 6, 2013 by George B.
Diesel's first Engine

If only Beth knew Carnot

The Gang Green movement is built around articles nearly identical to this one.     The author is usually cute as a pixie, but like many if not most Gang Greenies, I think they have mechanical IQs that allow them to do little more than look under the hood.

http://www.earthtechling.com/2012/11/compressed-air-motorcycle-breaks-80-mph-with-ease/

As we (DIYers) know, compressing air is full of heavy losses, we generate a lot of heat in the process, and we know making that heat costs us dearly. But this is only part of the many problems with compressing gases as an energy source.

Now.. before we analyze Beth’s article, we read the ‘About the Author’, we note what she often writes  and who she writes for, and I think she might be a good example of my theory… ‘There are a lot of people out there who desperately want to believe in Fairy Dust.’  I am left to ask.. does Beth get paid well to deceive others, or does she deceive herself as well?  Does she ever ponder even for a moment and ask, “if this were true, why wouldn’t they be everywhere?”

That bit about no infrastructure to pump air, who wouldn’t ask.. just how much trouble is it to pump air? As a Father I wonder.. does her Father ever wonder about what she writes? A Father’s question might be, “Dear Daughter, do you ever question the wisdom of those who lead your parade?”

Don’t you love the Air Powered Car, and do note the mention of it under Beth’s article….. they say it’s ready to go into production and that’s been the case for 10 years for the car shown, but there have been others for the last 100 years.    A Greenie will never ask, and my theory is… ‘to doubt the Gang Green stories is like admitting their God is dead.’

GB

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Critical Thinking, Free Energy, Vehicle Design | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Washington State’s ‘Good to Go’ Fiasco

Posted on July 5, 2013 by George B.
See my Blue Ribbons

We’re Good To Go!

 

If you live far from the Puget Sound Basin,  you need to know about ‘Good to Go’ and avoid a lot of frustration. But also note, I’ve included a business idea as a muse, who knows what kind of money it might make?

My concern about this Half Assed System started when I saw how much anxiety and frustration it created for a Neighbor and Friend who believes in doing what he can for his fellow man. Public service has been a big part of his life for the last dozen years as I have witnessed.

A recent good deed was to sell an older S10 pickup to a younger man in need, as he had a job, and no transportation. Roger sold the little truck for $200, likely less than what he could have gotten from the salvage guy.

Roger’s Wife went on line and filed the Sellers report right on the date of sale, and the online tool confirmed the transaction.

Some months later, Roger has a package from ‘Good to Go’, with total charges of $1641.00 for toll charges and late fees. Warnings were issued that if he wanted to contest the fines, there’s little you can do without legal documents, and further threats if he didn’t pay the fines, there would be civil penalties. and they would  turn it over to collections id not paid.

Roger is in his seventies, has had several operations, and carries a lot of hardware in his back from operations and now wears a pain patch to get through the day.

The ‘not so good to go guy’ doesn’t see the report of sale, and he doesn’t think it’s his job to look for it, the State apparently didn’t flag this vehicle with the Seller’s report of sale.

Roger has made a trip to Redmond to talk with the ‘not so good to go guy’, a long and painful trip for him, and it has taken up his time to learn how to write the State for that confirmation of the Report of sale.. and now he has it. But the time invested in worry and legwork to get this parasite off his back, it’s just plain unfair.

I envision  a new and popular software tool, if the State is going to authorize ‘good to go’, if they see no reason to update their records with a report of sale, why not have some fun?

Sure it’s just a muse, but imagine! You know that glossy paper and the wonderful job a new inkjet printer can do. How about a package to print license plates?  That guy whose given you trouble, well here it is, a totally inflexible system that will find him guilty with no possible recourse! He pays the big fine, or they levy a civil penalty and ruin his credit.

Yes,  what’s the odds you’d be caught? Just put that glossy fake plate over yours and drive across the toll bridge, and every time you do, the poor bastard that was assigned that plate will be fighting a civil penalty.

And do note, it’s all so easy to operate out of Hong Kong now, and do check Ebay items, and the low low  fees for shipping.

But there may be a legitimate reason  to run a false plate, I mean.. do you really want others copying yours?

screwed

screwed

http://bellevuebusinessjournal.com/2012/07/26/washington-drivers-getting-expensive-education-around-tolls-when-good-go-not-either/

G

Posted in Buyer Beware, Critical Thinking, In The News, Things I Hate! | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Happy July 4 2013, but do be safe!

Posted on July 4, 2013 by George B.
Randy's Arc

You can’t fix Stupid

We have just hours to prepare, you can’t fix stupid, but you can attempt to stay away from those who are. It’s time right now to consider watering that pile of dry brush or other fuel in your yard if you have careless people across the fence from you..

Not far from here, a person who has far less DIY skills than a true DIYer has just changed his life forever… (if he lives). Always do a little research before you take the risk!

Few understand the potential yield of a SPARKLER BOMB, and even though you know the warning might annoy your kids or grand kids, it’s worth the risk to share how dangerous home made bombs can be. As per the sparkler bomb, many think they’re safe if there’s no metal used to help intensify the blast, in the case of sparklers, there’s far more to understand.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/man-injured-homemade-sparkler-bomb-early-morning-h/nYdSH/

G

Posted in In The News, Survival Skills | 6 Comments

44 Mosfets, or I had lunch with an old friend. 6-29-13

Posted on June 30, 2013 by George B.
Just the Facts Please

Grandson Zach says “It’s not that hard to run this piece of chalk.”

I write this late, it’s closing on Sunday morning, today I met up with a long time friend, an EE who entered the work force shortly prior to the Intel 8080A, and perhaps one of the first fun Jobs he had was working on a line printer driven by two 8085 processors, some might remember that processor took a single voltage to run, and it had a bi-directional bus, easier and cheaper to implement.  The point? Kent and I have been friends for a LONG time.

Kent is back traveling, showing his company’s wares around the world, and talking about new parts that can run at temperatures nearly beyond my imagination.

But it was Quality Control we talked about and days past when he was working for a company called national semi condor or something. He had a customer called Zantrux, but you know how I am with spelling, and there’s really no need to use real names, as it might just embarrass those who should be embarrassed.

That box the customer was making, a new model, and each box needed 44 mosfets  all in production and having a NSC part number. Zantrux was an existing customer, the discount price was $1.75 each. The customer said he could get the same NSC part from an overseas house for $1.73, and that Kent had to meet the price, or lose the sale.

Kent said, he’d done his best, and told the customer it was a shame that they couldn’t do business.

Some months passed and Kent got a call from Zantrux, they were having a rather horror-rific failure rate with a NSC Mosfet!  Kent being the excellent customer service person he is, says, grab those failing parts and get some to me, we’ll take a look.

As you might guess, they were there in a hurry, and photos of the exterior and logo were taken. Then the effort to look inside, an note a few differences, this failed Mosfet had two bonding leads, in fact all the failed ones did, but the NSC part uses three, and always did. The NSC logo, it was close, but no cigar. Yes, Zantrux saved 88 cents per invertator, but now they were writing RMAs at a frightening pace.

I didn’t probe for more detail, because the conversation moved on to another exciting topic. Most who frequent here would have enjoyed the company and the conversation.

But now we muse, Just what was the loss to Zantrux? Who in the company was shopping for parts, and what did others in the company say when they knew they had 44 counterfeit parts in their boxes Who would dare replace just the failed ones, and send it back to the customer?

I might not repeat this story if I didn’t know that Zantrux is now a Chinese owned company. It does make you wonder if the counterfeit parts were part of the reason Zantrux sold out, what did it cost them, and how much trouble did these poor performing parts create for the company?

As I’ve said elsewhere, the typical  Western Mind is at a disadvantage when shopping the world market, all so many here think all the world is the same as their back yard.

G

Posted in Critical Thinking, Inspirational People, Strange Stuff | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Friday’s Muse, Old Cowboys

Posted on June 14, 2013 by George B.

My Friday Muse:

Epic Failure

Epic Failure

I remember talking to a few older cowboys, Their faces dried up like those apple dolls, and most of their sunny days were spent on the porch.

I was in my teens, I did know which end of a horse to put the bit, but not much more. This one old cowboy was as well spoken as Will Rogers, he could keep me from blinking with some of his stories about turn of the century events.

I remember his opinion of horses, about how he’d never fully trust one that had been grazing on loco weed. I reflect on that conversation, and I wish more old cowboys were voting.

All those folks we elected voting on bills they never read, if they were horses, who in their right mind would ride them?

Have a great weekend..

G

 

Posted in Critical Thinking, Strange Stuff, Survival Skills | 7 Comments

My State knows the Game. And here’s a money making muse 4U!

Posted on June 11, 2013 by George B.

 

government dilbert

A joke?

No need to read it all to get the idea of the day.. if this rant is too much, scroll down to the blue..

Younger people might never remember the blues laws we had in this state, and most would agree they are best left in the past. I mention it only to demonstrate how much we have changed.

But there’s lessons to be had, and some things  just a little sad about what we do.

There’s an Indian Casino not far from me, I’ve been there three times, and two of them were to meet friends for breakfast and eat a very nice meal subsidized by those who gamble.  The other trip was to people watch.

There’s one heck of a parking lot there, and I have walked the rows till I became worried that security would approach me as a possible  car prowler. The obvious is given away by the year and condition of the cars. These are flat out NOT the wealthy people of our state, and any efforts to break down visitors by ethnicity is not PC. Yes, people from all walks of life walk through the doors of this palace I mention, but when we break it down into percentages, there’s a strong Asian influence, and a few other groups that might be far better represented than if we did the same study at the Target store or other places. What this suggests to me is these people were influenced by their environment as one would expect. If you grow up in an environment where luck is a common topic, why wouldn’t you have a higher percentage of people who might play the games of luck?

My State has no option, they tolerate the Native Indians, and sometimes the Indians buy Influence that puts the State at a disadvantage in court and in the public opinion.

My State does what it can to protect it’s gambling enterprise, and I remember how they swayed the voters ( those in office at the time)  said the money raised might take care of ever need. The end of sales tax, the best of schools, and maybe we could gold plate all the handrails in Olympia?

We older people know that it never ends, give them half, and they want three quarters. But what bothers me is my State preys on many of those they say are most in need of a helping hand.

And now we have legal Marijuana, at least according to my State, and there’s several reasons it was voted in. Some were convinced the taxes on this drug would solve every financial problem of the State. Others saw it as a way to take the game out of the hands of criminals, and keep money at home. And then of course.. there’s nuts that keep people like Jim McDermott in power that think there’s no end to what government can do for you if only we give them enough money.

I remember grade school, that day we rolled some old tobacco borrowed from a bag used to wipe down a windshield, we rolled it up in tony permanent papers, and attempted to smoke it.  MJ will be so easy to get here shortly, and when you see the smoke curl up behind the backstop, the odds might be worth a bet..it’s likely going to be MJ.  A lot of Mommies voted for it to be legal here, and the State will soon be in the drug business, some are giddy, and some so naïve to believe the money taken in won’t be used to buy influence and votes to keep a party in power.

But gambling and drugs are in, at least in my State, and perhaps you need think how to profit off it? After all, so of the most upstanding in our community think it’s the way to go.

I was thinking of a portal, A new way to look at Ebay and what’s for sale there. So many know of their lucky days, your site is a Para mutual on line palace, you rake in a cut, and distribute the rest, those who buy according to the luck they feel will certainly take your odds, and a chance to ‘WIN’ that EBAY item at far less cost.

Of course.. if I can think of it, that palace already exists, and my state will prosecute you if they catch you in a visit on line. After all, this is their game, and they don’t want you playing elsewhere.

But now my final muse.. we see more Asians at the gambling hall, and we know it doesn’t have a thing to do with the color of their hair.  That ole saying, we are products of our environment. Now we need look ahead and ask.. what kind of environment does our State help create in order to take their cut? I guess you’d have to see the investments they make in advertising their wares, the endless TV ads about how someone has to win, and how you need play in order to win, our kids are watching, without a lot of guidance, they’ll think it’s all the norm. And our public school teachers, many are wedded to the State.  It’s all such a powerful influence on our kids, and we at least need to teach them about the odds of losing.

If you ever wondered how so many Asians came to believe in luck, maybe you’ll ask why the rest of the population is in the process of joining them?

Now close your eyes and visualize that new portal for EBAY, and the new icon there on the page. Maybe it’ll be a pair of dice? Will it be the highest bidder, or the pile of loot gambled that claims the item at the end of the auction? Auction sniper, heard of that? Your house might be called Auction Casino.

Have a great day..

GB

 

Posted in Critical Thinking | 4 Comments