What did YOU do today?

[Bill]

As of 11:18 AM, the only thing I've done is make myself some pancakes and relax with the cats.

 

[Roert42]

Phucked with the wheel bearings on the ranger. Took the dog to the car wash. Bought a case of beer. Stacked wood.

 

[Curious Hound]

Made my brain hurt.

First, took the door cards off the Ranger doors to check condition of the speakers because they make some bad noises causing me to think they are loose or blown out or the coor cards just rattlevtoo much. Speakers dontseem to be blown out yet. There's a tiny tear on the driver side cone. I also measured them in case I need to order new ones. It could be the rear speakers that sound horrible. More troubleshooting in the future.

Then I moved on to the Superduty. The Door ajar light is always on. Hence, the dome lights are always on. Previous owners removed the bulbs. This thing is way more complicated than older vehicles. Driver side door switch gives input to a microprocessor in the gauge cluster. The other 3 door switches are in series to supply another input to the cluster. I think the wiring diagrams are screwed up because they show some switches open and some closed. I'm pretty sure they all need to be closed with doors shut for the circuit to work. It is ground side switching. At one point, I grounded the wire coming to the non-driver side switch circuit and the indicator went out. So, I thought, "Great. I'll just ground the signal to disable the curcuit and it will all be good." No dice. Tried grounding the driver side signal, also. No improvement. I'm beginning to think there may be a problem in my cluster. Got rained out. Interior of truck is in pieces. Will have to drive something else to church in the morning.

Between having 4 switches in 2 different circuits, a battery saver relay, an interior lamps relay and mystery microprocessor in the gauge cluster, this thing is way over-engineered into the realm of stupidity.

 

[JoshT]

So far nothing. Since it's raining outside, looks like the rest of the day will also consist of doing nothing. Might go out and work on cleaning the storage building a little, but don't really want to be out in the weather.

Hopefully tomorrow will be clear, if it is I think I'm going over the the parent's house and work on getting one of my old parts vehicles ready to go to the scrapper.

 

[Rick W]

Phucked with the wheel bearings on the ranger. Took the dog to the car wash. Bought a case of beer. Stacked wood.

Is it an automatic drive through or did you have to spray the dog?

 

[Curious Hound]

Is it an automatic drive through or did you have to spray the dog?

Years ago, when I loved in Columbia, SC, there was a self service car wash that had an indoor room with 2 self service dog wash stations. Had the raised tub with a ramp for the dog to walk in. Credit card reader with selections for shampoo, rinse, dryer, etc. Was very handy for washing my St. Bernards in winter when I didn't want to do it outside in the driveway.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Re-plumbed the house water inlet lines for the sister-in-law (husband died last year from Alzheimers).

Before:

View attachment 105123

After:

View attachment 105124

Added a drain valve:


View attachment 105125

Why I dislike PEX:

View attachment 105126

So, that’s actually the cheap PEX and a problem with those style band clamps on it. The copper crimp rings are slightly better. The best is the Rehau PEX. That doesn’t leak, period. It’s also expensive. Go figure. That one you have to use an expander to get the ends on, then a tool that pulls a whole sleeve over the outside of the tube over the fitting. Makes for a non-restrictive fitting (inside of the fitting is the same diameter of the inside of the tubes unlike the PEX you show) and then an inch long sleeve pulled over top of the PEX smashes it so tight it might as well be welded.

 

[JoshT]

So, that’s actually the cheap PEX and a problem with those style band clamps on it. The copper crimp rings are slightly better. The best is the Rehau PEX. That doesn’t leak, period. It’s also expensive. Go figure. That one you have to use an expander to get the ends on, then a tool that pulls a whole sleeve over the outside of the tube over the fitting. Makes for a non-restrictive fitting (inside of the fitting is the same diameter of the inside of the tubes unlike the PEX you show) and then an inch long sleeve pulled over top of the PEX smashes it so tight it might as well be welded.

Sounds really expensive by the time you get all the tooling needed. I'm going to have to replumb my house some day. It's polybutylene, but hasn't started leaking yet. The times I've had to modify it, sharkbite fittings to the rescue. Was thinking about using PEX when I eventually replace, but maybe I'll just stick with good ole PVC.

 

[mikkelstuff]

Yes lil_blue_Ford. I blame the outfit that installed the water softener. Crap for a job!

I did not trust the 22 year old pressure regulator either. May have been ok but no way to know. Pressure gauges are cheap. Hence a set now before and after the new pressure regulator so I know what's going on.

 

[mikkelstuff]

Built-to-Last: I'm told PVC is no longer permitted for residential water lines. Ok for sewage. Something about chemical release into the water with PVC.

I now use only CPCV with glued fittings or Sharkbite push-to-connect if joining CPVC with copper. Sure, takes longer than cheap PEX band clamps for the glue to dry but I've never had it fail.

 

[Rick W]

Years ago, when I loved in Columbia, SC, there was a self service car wash that had an indoor room with 2 self service dog wash stations. Had the raised tub with a ramp for the dog to walk in. Credit card reader with selections for shampoo, rinse, dryer, etc. Was very handy for washing my St. Bernards in winter when I didn't want to do it outside in the driveway.

was it invigorating for you?

 

[Rick W]

I did a few hours of armchair research with Mr. Canadian Mist while I watched a movie where a computer was taking over the United States (the electronic/circuitry topic seemed appropriate). @sgtsandman is correct about the signal output, and then I heard and also read that the same amp board inside the CB powers the signal, and also powers the speaker in the CB and the power to the PA circuit, but nothing was telling me what that power was.

Apparently, that internal amp is a little bit better than 10/12 W in the sense that it’ll feed the 12 watts in the single sideband mode. The output is regulated down after the amp to meet the four watt legal limit. But that is a guess, because condensing the signal frequency will also improve the quality on the receiving end, which can be accomplished without increasing amperage. So, from all my reading, my best guess is the radio has a 7 to 10 W internal amplifier, and that the 12 W used in single sideband mode may not be technically correct, but it is the equivalent effect of combining a condensed signal with a few more watts. Let me put in the disclaimer that I may be wrong on all of this since the majority of my electrical knowledge on wattage came from fixing the light on my bicycle powered by a generator that rubbed on the wheel when I was a kid.

Several sites said to use a speaker capable of at least 4 watts, another 7 watts, and one recommended a 10 watt speaker. I even looked at the owners manuals of several different radios, Cobra, and realistic, etc, and they tell you how to operate it, but they don’t tell you what the output is.

To summarize everything I reviewed, most of the stuff out there is about putting an amp on your radio to increase the signal out, and to assist with grabbing signals from other radios (all illegal). My only interest is increasing the PA system volume, and it looks like the amp I purchased is exactly what I needed, actually overkill, because it will power two circuits/a stereo circuit.

The final thing that might be of interest is that the volume is apparently controlled by the dynamike knob, and not by the volume control, so the amp power out be un-controllable on a cheap CB without a dynamike knob.

It’s raining today, so I’m going to take a few radios over to my bench set up and just play with them before the amp comes in. And then I’ll compare results when the amp does come in before I start putting anything together.

Sweet Pea doesn’t understand the importance of this research and work…

Frustrated, still raining, but 65° here. I couldn’t stand it, so I brought Lincoln out to the shed of miracles.. I did a couple of chores, and then remembered those three new speakers.

My electrical test bench was pitiful. So I broke down and used a couple terminal strips to take the positive off my little 12 V power supply, and the 12 V negative power supply. I did it with a cigarette lighter receptacle, a couple of big alligator clips, a couple of small alligator clips, a Cobra CB power supply connector, and some of those pinpoint connectors. Unfortunately, my “finished” result was equally pitiful, but…

I wired up the black horn, and connected it to a 29 LTD on the PA switch, and it sounded about the same as a brand new interior speaker I had. No joy

I took apart the realistic speaker, and it was a triple reduction cone, but all the electronics were gone. I think it was a siren/fire alarm thing, No joy there.

Then I hooked up the big 3M. It’s pretty crazy looking: it’s as big as an office desk trashcan. I laughed out loud. Without any amplification, no amp device, I’m sure you guys heard it up there!

So now I am inspired to use the horn and the 3M on the ‘Raith.

Then I went off to Sweet Pea’s house and got in trouble for the way I put the dehumidifier drain through the wall. I took a picture of the doggy conga line and sent it to her, and I was saved.

Clear de call.

It’s supposed to be clear, but only 45°, on Sunday, I’ll get something done…

 

[Rick W]

Made my brain hurt.

First, took the door cards off the Ranger doors to check condition of the speakers because they make some bad noises causing me to think they are loose or blown out or the coor cards just rattlevtoo much. Speakers dontseem to be blown out yet. There's a tiny tear on the driver side cone. I also measured them in case I need to order new ones. It could be the rear speakers that sound horrible. More troubleshooting in the future.

Then I moved on to the Superduty. The Door ajar light is always on. Hence, the dome lights are always on. Previous owners removed the bulbs. This thing is way more complicated than older vehicles. Driver side door switch gives input to a microprocessor in the gauge cluster. The other 3 door switches are in series to supply another input to the cluster. I think the wiring diagrams are screwed up because they show some switches open and some closed. I'm pretty sure they all need to be closed with doors shut for the circuit to work. It is ground side switching. At one point, I grounded the wire coming to the non-driver side switch circuit and the indicator went out. So, I thought, "Great. I'll just ground the signal to disable the curcuit and it will all be good." No dice. Tried grounding the driver side signal, also. No improvement. I'm beginning to think there may be a problem in my cluster. Got rained out. Interior of truck is in pieces. Will have to drive something else to church in the morning.

Between having 4 switches in 2 different circuits, a battery saver relay, an interior lamps relay and mystery microprocessor in the gauge cluster, this thing is way over-engineered into the realm of stupidity.

I’m pretty sure if you refer to this diagram, and take the blue line to the yellow, it will all work out. Except, remember, there’s a three amp MicroFuse between Beijing and Hangzhou..

 

[JoshT]

Built-to-Last: I'm told PVC is no longer permitted for residential water lines. Ok for sewage. Something about chemical release into the water with PVC.

I now use only CPCV with glued fittings or Sharkbite push-to-connect if joining CPVC with copper. Sure, takes longer than cheap PEX band clamps for the glue to dry but I've never had it fail.

PVC, CPVC, they're both the same base material and "PVC" when I'm talking about them. When buying and installing it, I'll use the right thing.

I haven't heard anything about not using PVC for residential water lines. Didn't seen anything about it in a quick search either. The stand out difference that I did see is that CPVC is rated for a higher temperature. PVC for 140° F and CPVC for 200° F, so better to use the later for hot water lines.

I'm pretty certain that the water lines from my well into the house are all PVC so using it for the house isn't going to make things worse.

 

[bilbo]

Got back yesterday from spending a week up in the mountains. The fiance works for LL Bean, and won a stay at one of the cabins the company owns.. the two of us were nice and cozy in a big fat cabin meant for 6

View attachment 105111

Got myself a couple more broncos too the white one is much faster.

View attachment 105112

Rather uneventful week.. but we did get out and drive around a bit. Stopped by a covered bridge and a hydroelectric dam.. thats about it.

View attachment 105113View attachment 105114View attachment 105115

Other than that... drank enough hot tea to extend my life a few decades and played a metric shitload of rummy lol. Would of liked to rent a couple sleds.. but works been slow and $ is kinda tight.. boooo.

Super cool! Looks like some snowshoes or XC skis are in order. Bummer about the sleds, looks like it would be fun sledding too. Renting is tough when I know I can get a janky POS for the same or less, and what fun is a snowmobile trip if you know you're making it back?