Month: March 2011

Spring Project Update!

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Okay…here’s a short list of what is going on this Spring/Summer 2011!

  1. The Ghost – My 1955 TDH4512 ex-city transit bus. Rebuilding the interior & bringing the running gear up to current standards.
  2. The Generator – The MEP006A generator & trailer are being finished so that I can use them at events
  3. Zesty! – 1974 VW Riviera (Camper Bus) Need to fix some leaks, give it a good wash, and make some minor interior improvements.
  4. Garden – My mate and I are working on a medium size gardening operation. Drip loop watering.
  5. Motorcycle – Just need to do some maintenance items on this and it is good to go for another year. Oil change/front tire/wiring tidy up.
  6. Black – 1982 Mercedes 300SD – Straighten out the rear corner (damaged when a wheel fell off at speed) and seal up the leaks. Already bought new tires & brakes are 80%
  7. Wagina – 1987 Mercedes 300TDT – The girlfriend’s car – minor projects (Transmission Service/Power Antenna/Power Window Switches/ACC Cleanup)
  8. New Job – Clear enough!
  9. Hitting the Alvor Desert (SE Oregon) with Zesty for a extended weekend with the mate.
  10. SOAK/4th of Juplaya/Burning Man 2011/Burnout 2011 – Hopefully be using The Ghost for these events
  11. Last but not least: Getting married June 24th, 2011.

Whoosh! That’s a big list.

Later,

-B

Generator Project Update

3phase3 Comments

The generator (MEP006A) had a power-off failure recently.

Upon investigating, found that the exciter had received some serious overcurrent (melted the soldered connections on the diodes on the exciter winding) as well as may have fried something inside the excitation module above (big green box).

Need to perform triage and figure out what happened…but hopefully have this back online soon.

 

Upgrades thus far:

  • Replaced Primary Fuel Filter with Dual Element Glass (like on John Deere Industrial)
  • Replaced Secondary Fuel Filter with Single Element Racor Spin-On
  • Changed Oil
  • Changed Oil Filters
  • Checked Valves
  • Rebuilt Injection Pump (had bad seals on shaft and rubber coupler…very common)
  • Replaced bad fuel lines
  • Cleaned Connections on Fuel Pumps (problem area)
  • Serviced Cooling System (CAT Long-Life Coolant 50/50)

I am also working on building a tandem axle trailer just for this unit. The axles/rough frame was donated by one of the family friends Tony. Removed the decking (rotten) and narrowed the axles/frame by 1.5ft and shortened it considerably. I purchased new bearing kits, two new drums, four electric brake backing plates, and two new tire/wheel combos. I also purchased some upgraded lighting (LED all around) and trailer connectors/etc.  I got all 24V compliant lighting so I can power basic proximity lighting on the generator while it is running on a job-site or parked precariously. It will have a new frame horn (heavy duty) and unless stolen, jacking points on all four corners. I would like to do locking cable/tool boxes to store various associated items.

That is all for now! More updates when I find out what let the smoke out.