mpbarrett Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 16 hours ago, zetecspit said: I loathe those drain cocks. If possible I fit 1/4 turn lever valves.. Agree when you go to use them the rubber has bounded to the metal inside and don't open. When you do get it out you then have no way to stop the flow as all the bits of the seal are on the ground. Hate them, only thing worse is gate valves on LP system as they wont seal properly.. But the real problem is lack of use, I have fitted full bore ball valves on our system to isolate parts of the water/CH system and then expect them to work after 10/20 years! Really should go round and operate them once a year.... mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted April 24, 2020 Author Share Posted April 24, 2020 It's still working. Doesn't appear to be leaking. Water even seems to have gone clear again....... Was rather green. Few pics The airing cupboard of doom (bastard haunted shower pump previously mentioned at bottom of pic - can anyone see why it gas-locks? The plumber that fitted it was a lazy idiot is why) It's a bit crusty in there. Just after citric acid added, hence the bubbles. You can see the 1/2 the arc of the heating coil. Drained after about 5 hours fizzing. Still plenty left (though way less than there was!), but I was alarmed by the green water and running out of day. Old element. Past it's best. Not I think the original (tank stub bore scars of previous battle) but old. Very old...... and a plain copper one - not great for hard(ish) water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted April 24, 2020 Author Share Posted April 24, 2020 And yesterdays aggro......? My big mower stopped dead in it's tracks after a huge backfire and refuses to run again. Some investigation today shows that the magneto has died - coil down to earth. It also shows that the crappy champion spark plug has a resistance in the 30kohm range (should be 5k max), which is probably what did for the coil. A common failure on the champion plugs apparently. £ 40 for a new magneto No fixing that though, it's potted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris W Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 On 4/22/2020 at 11:49 PM, rogerguzzi said: It look like a board racer or wall of death! Roger ps the timing gear has a hunting tooth so the wear does not occur at the same point every revolution! (its 93 revolutions to get the timing marks to match again!) You could argue it all wears out at the same time but 93 times later!(plus it has helical gear teeth!) makes our Triumphs look a bit crude! This was from about 1930 on! and they tell me things are better? no just better materials etc I have a 1938 OHC and the works bikes used double OHC (it did fail but a simple component!) Roger Thanks Roger, I now realise I have a 1938 Velocette shaped hole in my life. Beauty and the Beast rolled into one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerguzzi Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 9 hours ago, Chris W said: Thanks Roger, I now realise I have a 1938 Velocette shaped hole in my life. Beauty and the Beast rolled into one. Hello Chris People either love them or hate them as they are not without their faults but are a dream to ride when sorted out Roger Ps I swear the rigid frame gets harder as I get older! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattius Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 (edited) Ignore me, wrong post Edited April 25, 2020 by mattius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpbarrett Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 So the plan was a full English breakfast this morning but the cooker hood extractor fan had other ideas and the motor was turning. So after some toast I stripped down the cooker hood fan and motor. It's been there for about 8 years, occasional minimum servicing but today today it needed the full strip down. The fan and motor came out ok and everything held together by 6 self tapping screws. Had to cut the motor wiring so I could get everything apart and cleaned... 8 years of grease does not clean very well, very hot water and plenty of neat detergent cleaned all the parts. The motor was almost seized could just about turn with some pliers on it, started to explain why the fan hadn't been working very well. Got it into the garage, Plus gas to free it off and then some light oil To lubricate bronze bearing. Got it running free and reassembled joined and sleeved the wires I had to cut to get it out and it's like a new fan. Very satisfying and plan the full English breakfast tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 If the motor was all clogged up with grease, what will Full English do to you? But very nice for a Sunday Morning! My favourite race morning breakfast is bacon pieces, fied crispy and then two egs in the fat, all in a bap! Mmmmmmmmmmmm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 On 5/2/2020 at 6:32 PM, mpbarrett said: The fan and motor came out ok and everything held together by 6 self tapping screws. Had to cut the motor wiring so I could get everything apart and cleaned... 8 years of grease does not clean very well, very hot water and plenty of neat detergent cleaned all the parts. The motor was almost seized could just about turn with some pliers on it, started to explain why the fan hadn't been working very well. Surely there should be some sort of fat trap to prevent that much grease getting through? Ours has a couple of drop out screens that need periodic washing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 On 4/24/2020 at 1:05 PM, Nick Jones said: And yesterdays aggro......? My big mower stopped dead in it's tracks after a huge backfire and refuses to run again. Some investigation today shows that the magneto has died - coil down to earth. It also shows that the crappy champion spark plug has a resistance in the 30kohm range (should be 5k max), which is probably what did for the coil. A common failure on the champion plugs apparently. £ 40 for a new magneto No fixing that though, it's potted New magneto and a new (to it, actually a well-used platinum tipped jobbie ex -TT) spark plug and it fired first turn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 On 3/19/2020 at 1:06 PM, Nick Jones said: Here's one for you people who actually know about electronics...... I have a 4kW solar panel system. Linked to this is a solar diversion switch (Immersun) whose job it is to divert excess solar energy to our immersion heater. It also acts as the immersion heater timer. Monday evening we had no hot water. Checked the fuse cupboard where this thing lives and found it dead with the 16A breaker feeding it tripped. Upstairs the solar inverter was also off, though the breaker it sits on was not tripped. Turned everything off, then back on in the time-honoured manner, resetting the popped trip at the same time and both the Immersum and Solar inverter powered up normally. I then put the Immersun to "boost". It promptly displayed the message "HOT" which means it is seeing open-circuit and thinks the heater thermostat is open. This clearly wasn't the case and I assumed something had gone awry with the heater or thermostat and set the oil boiler to heat the water instead. Today I've been investigating and having found the heater itself and thermostat to be healthy and the circuit to them intact, but zero output from the Immersun, I popped it's lid off...... The fault being disappointingly obvious.......... (to be clear, this pic was taken after getting it down from the wall and popping off the heat-sink clips) This is the top of the power board. There are 4 IGBTs on the right of the board. Normally there is a hefty heat sink (fan cooled) between them which I have removed. The two on the far right are ones in the previous pic - literally blown apart. Top left on the set of 4 looks ok from above....... ...... but not so much below..... 6mm length of pcb track vaporised. So........ It's definitely wounded. Though it seems to be limited to the power side. The clever bits are oblivious, no error codes. It's 5 years old and well out of warranty. The original manufacturer has gone bust, but this technology was bought out and the unit is still available @ £ 500. Which is what it cost 5 years ago. My usual "bush" approach to this would be to just buy 4 new IGBTs, solder them in and bridge the broken PCB track. Then switch on using a long, dry stick...... I am a little un-nerved by the violence of the destruction though, plus it's unclear what caused it. Immersion heater circuit measures 17.6 ohms, which seems to be about right for a 3kW element. It is true that the down-stream circuit is unprotected. No fuse or breaker - which seems a bit unwise in retrospect. To be fair to the installer (not me), the manual for the Immersun doesn't specify any downstream protection requirement in text or wiring diagram - presumably the internal circuit has it's own protection - but it doesn't say it has, and based on what I see before me, if it does, it doesn't work that well! Certainly I'll be adding a fuse...... The affected electronics is the output stage of a sine wave generator which apparently adjusts voltage but not waveform and gives a true sine wave. Rather like the output stage of a variable frequency drive I suspect. Don't fancy coughing up for a new one...... what do you reckon the odds are of this one being revived by the simple measure outlined above? So the answer is........ Fail. So far anyway. I swapped the IGBTs for new ones having found some at a good price. I also popped out all 6 of the big capacitors so I could measure them (because capacitors get tired). They were all within 5%. Reassembled the lot and wired a 13A plug and socket to it for the test. This was done in the garage, using a 2kW electric kettle as load. It powered up no problem and passed all internal self checks (it did that before though). Set the time and switching time for a "boost" and retreated to a safe distance. Better a live coward...... Nothing happened. No bang (very good!) and no hot water either (not good). It just says "HOT" which means its brain is seeing no current output and assumes the thermostat has opened. Same for both channels, which is unsurprising as the same circuitry drives both on an either/or basis. Something else is knackered...... but I think I've reached my limit. Will see if the company I spoke to before can work up any enthusiasm to look at it. They did say they would, though not sounding too keen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted May 7, 2020 Share Posted May 7, 2020 It's not what you know, it's who you know - or can find on t'Net! I have a Crypton Diagnostic Centre, an enormous yellow cabinet that will link to my engine and aid in timing and working out any faults, complete with strobe and gas analyser. It's State of The Art, 1970! But when I turned it on recently, the Oscilloscope screen is blank. That's a big b0334r. So, lacking any electronic nause, I looked for anyone who could advise me. Crypton is still in business, but either can't help in lockdown or won't - no answer. Several local TV repair men said, interesting, but not me, mate. Try so and so, who also demurred. Then I found "UK Vintage Radio", a message board, whose members had plenty of knowledge, theoretical and practical, on this geneartion of eletrconic kit, but none on the Crypton in particular. BUt with their guidance, I was able to get inside it, without electrocuting myself. That High Tension lead to the TV tube gets earthed everytime I go in, sometimes with a meaty CRACK and flash. With the help of the guys on UK Vintage Radio, I've checked that the High Tension Circuit is producing high tension volts - probably unnecessary given the crack and flash! - and established that the TV tube is getting current to its heating coils - I can see them glowing! I inspected all seven of the boards that plug into the motherboard, and established that Numbers 8 & 9 (there are only seven sockets on the motherboard, all full) are the ones that control the TV tube, as they have direct connections to it - see above. Further inspectinn found a nasty looking burn on Board 8, see below: It's too burnt to read the colour code on that resistor, and anyway. just replacing it doesn't answer, Why? UKVR guys guess - they can do no better - that another component may have gone bad. maybe the transistor next to it. The resistor is "R1" and the transistor, "TR1". The maze of tracks on the back of the printed circuit board is - amazing! Then cruising the 'Net, I found that Fairford Motor Club in the South West had held a "Crypton Day" some years back, published an article in its newsletter and put that online! An email to the Chairman, and I'm in touch with their member who has a collection of these things!! AND circuit digrams!!! He's glad to help, so maybe my Crypton will be up and running soon! I'll keep you informed! JOhn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpbarrett Posted May 7, 2020 Share Posted May 7, 2020 14 hours ago, Nick Jones said: Surely there should be some sort of fat trap to prevent that much grease getting through? Ours has a couple of drop out screens that need periodic washing. yes metal screen that are dishwasher washable, probably hasn't been cleaned as often as they should be... cant get the maintenance staff in our house Motor phosphor bronze bearings had dried out completely and the motor shaft was showing signs of getting hot (shaft seizing), cleaned and re-oiled and as good as new. Its a horribly cheap (but expensive to buy) and nasty design. Its a centrifugal fan design with badly made parts so the clearance is very poor and thus very inefficient. £345 to buy a new fan and motor.... so glad its all working again. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorkshire_spam Posted May 7, 2020 Share Posted May 7, 2020 3 hours ago, JohnD said: Then cruising the 'Net, I found that Fairford Motor Club in the South West had held a "Crypton Day" some years back, published an article in its newsletter and put that online! An email to the Chairman, and I'm in touch with their member who has a collection of these things!! AND circuit digrams!!! He's glad to help, so maybe my Crypton will be up and running soon! I'll keep you informed! Make sure you keep a copy of the schematics/circuit diagrams John! You never know when you might be able to return the favour and help somebody else on a day when the knowledge has been lost from Fairford Motor Club. One of the things I'm forever grateful for in my other hobby of arcade electronics is the number of scans of manuals and circuit diagrams made available online by many good contributors to the hobby! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted May 7, 2020 Share Posted May 7, 2020 I don't have them yet, and must hope for the goodwill of the Fairford members. I have no idea how many pages the diagrams might be - it might not be a trivial matter scanning them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorkshire_spam Posted May 7, 2020 Share Posted May 7, 2020 7 minutes ago, JohnD said: I don't have them yet, and must hope for the goodwill of the Fairford members. I have no idea how many pages the diagrams might be - it might not be a trivial matter scanning them! Ahhhh good old fashioned analogue media... in my naivety I'd assumed they were emailing you a pdf or something! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted May 7, 2020 Author Share Posted May 7, 2020 17 hours ago, Nick Jones said: Will see if the company I spoke to before can work up any enthusiasm to look at it £ 110 + VAT whether successful or not........ Don't think so boys...... Claim they don't have the schematics for the "legacy" version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire6 Posted May 7, 2020 Share Posted May 7, 2020 Hi John, In the dark garage with the lights off, do you get a raster on the screen? Any lines or dots visible? Hi Nick, Do you have schematics for this power side? Looks like the IGBT's went short first? Because of high voltage or crossfire which the fuse cannot protect. Is the fuse an ultrafast type & maybe one fuse for all? Cheers, Iain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted May 7, 2020 Author Share Posted May 7, 2020 No schematics Iain. No fuse either. Only a 16A breaker on the supply side, which is as per manufacturers instructions. When you say "crossfire" I presume your refer to an internal phasing fault as suggested by DeTRacted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire6 Posted May 7, 2020 Share Posted May 7, 2020 6 minutes ago, Nick Jones said: No schematics Iain. No fuse either. Only a 16A breaker on the supply side, which is as per manufacturers instructions. When you say "crossfire" I presume your refer to an internal phasing fault as suggested by DeTRacted? Hi Nick, you have 4 "switches". I am assuming only the correct two can be on at one instance. Looks like you have had a short across supply and not load. One of the four staying on? (You found the heater to be fine electrically). You have resistive loads & low inductance (No Transformers?), Something caused a lot of energy to flash the copper track. The breaker will not be fast enough to protect electronics. Fast fuse & house toaster my be a better load next time you test. Always use my elbows to flick power on so I can keep fingers in ears. Hate loud noises! Cheers, Iain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 No offence to anyone, or taken, but this thread is confusing me! Maybe others with two electronic problems being discussed. I posted in 2013, when I bought this monster, so I'll revive that thread, and take any updates over there. Any kind Sidewayzers who can offer advice, please move right along the carriage, to: http://sideways-technologies.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/6397-im-right-up-to-date-with-my-new-workshop-equipment/&tab=comments#comment-84752 Thanks! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted May 11, 2020 Author Share Posted May 11, 2020 Another duff champion spark plug..... this time in the strimmer. Still get a spark from an alternative plug so hopefully caught this one before it fried the magneto. Plug resistance measured at 122kohms! Bosch ordered instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire6 Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 1 hour ago, Nick Jones said: Another duff champion spark plug..... this time in the strimmer. Still get a spark from an alternative plug so hopefully caught this one before it fried the magneto. Plug resistance measured at 122kohms! Bosch ordered instead. Seems that a dowel of wood with a nail thru the centre would have more life than a Champ plug in any application. They are truly shite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteStupps Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 2 hours ago, spitfire6 said: Seems that a dowel of wood with a nail thru the centre would have more life than a Champ plug in any application. They are truly shite. This is troubling, I switched to Champion after having two newish NGK plugs fail. What should I be using instead?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteStupps Posted May 11, 2020 Share Posted May 11, 2020 I mean, apart for a dowel with a nail through the middle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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