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Showing posts from March, 2018

Inexpensive Car Repair 2

Before one can repair a vehicle, one must know what to repair, before we know or have a reasonable guess as to what needs to be repaired we must first diagnose the problem and before we can diagnose the problem we must identify whether a problem exists or not. Recognizing a problem with a vehicle is often quite easy. We can often tell by looking at the warning lights and/or by the sounds, vibrations, and other signs. A great advantage of more modern cars, is that the car computer can tell us some of the potential problem(s) in our vehicles. This can require a code reader, much of the time this is a handheld computer or a device that can interface with a computer or cell phone: https://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?dir=asc&order=EAScore%2Cf%2CEAFeatured+Weight%2Cf%2CSale+Rank%2Cf&q=code+reader You can find even less expensive code readers searching on google shop: https://www.google.com/search?q=code+reader+for+car&sa=X&biw=1680&bih=936&am

Inexpensive Car Repair

Now that we have access to some of the best inexpensive, effective, and quick vehicle repair methods, we need tools in order to actually use the knowledge. First we need a set of wrenches, sockets, and ratchets. The least expensive stores to buy these items are as follows: Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/browse/hand-wrenches/wrench-sets/1072864_1031899_1067609_5163607_6564002 and Harbor Freight: https://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools.html At minimum one would need either the SAE or Metric 11 piece Wrench set from Walmart and a socket set, with ratchet, like the Hyper Tough UN00020Z 54 Piece, 3/8 Inch Drive Socket Set also from Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hyper-Tough-UN00020Z-54-Piece-3-8-Inch-Drive-Socket-Set/16539503 A set of screwdrivers and hex keys would also be useful. Both Walmart and Harbor Freight sell what they call "Mechanics Tool Sets". These sets contain most of the tools most people would need to perform most car repairs: Walmart:

The Saints of Car Repair

I recently bought a 2005 E350 Ford Econoline Van. I am planning to turn it into a super stealth van, though before I can go super stealth , I need to get it super fixed . The engine makes a knocking noise when it is running, it sounds like a little hammer striking the engine block on the passenger side. I searched on the internet and read up a little on the Ford V8 and V10 engines. Unfortunately, from what I have been reading, these engines appear to be badly designed and display a myriad of problems especially when compared to other more reliable V8 and V10 engines. Ford used aluminum heads, redesigned the spark plugs, and buried the spark plugs deep in the head. This has led to several problems, among them are spark plug ejection, spark plug breakage during removal, valve train problems, problems with "the phaser", it goes on and on. Among the myriad of problems with this engine is the problem of "rod knock". This occurs when the piston rod bearing wears d

SuperCharge Your A/C

Most compression based air conditioners have an upper limit on the amount of heat they can remove per hour, this is known as the BTU capacity: https://learn.compactappliance.com/air-conditioning-btus/ While watching videos about solar power and renewable energy on youtube I ran across this video: https://youtu.be/Ar16u9GqPQs This is a good idea! I've heard about the "water slinger" device and water trays in window air conditioners before but, I was under the impression that it was used when humidity in the air condensed onto the evaporation coils and dripped onto the water pan. I didn't conceive of it as another method of cooling the condenser coils. From a physics perspective this method does indeed have validity. The purpose of the condenser coils is to transform the refrigerant from vapor/gas to liquid. As such heat must be removed from the refrigerant vapor/gas and expelled into the environment. Often convection is the only physical mechanism used to t

The Power of Clouds

There is another potential source of power that could possibly compliment solar, wind, and hydro power and that is "cloud" power. Hopefully all of us know what lightning is, we may have have read about it, and/or seen it in our own personal lives. It is possible to induce a lightning strike: https://www.wired.com/2015/06/the-lightning-machine/ Lightning strikes can provide up to 106,000 volts, and significant amounts of current. Lightning bolts can provide 500 MegaJoules of energy. 500 Mega Joules of energy converts to 138.889 KiloWatt-Hours: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_electricity#Thunderstorms_and_lightning If we could somehow harness this energy and safely redirect it to our battery banks, then we may be able to charge up our solar batteries even in the middle of storm!! 138.889 KiloWatt-Hours can provide enough energy power an average house for a couple of days. In fact there is another technology that does not require 6ft hobby rockets or a la

The Wall of Power

Often, those who employ some type of solar power have a back up system just in case there is insufficient solar radiation to charge batteries and power appliances. This has become increasingly commonplace due to the extensive climate engineering that has been going on since the late 1940s. Often gas powered generators and/or electrical power from the utilities are used to provide power during these times. There are several methods to avoid having to inject one's residence with energy produced from burning the good F (Fossil Fuels) or having to heat up the glass pipe for nuclear power. One way would be to build a large battery bank. This is more appropriate for a non-motorized, no-hitch residence. It may be possible to use the vertical surface area of a garage to store up to 400 high amp hour batteries, there would be enough energy to meet nearly all needs, of a residence, for a couple of months!! Of course buying that many batteries can get expensive, if they are bought NEW