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RE: Not yet SPRING, but don't forget to...
I LOVE DST, wish it was year round and 2 hours in the summer instead of one.
Katz
Then just do it on your own. I do. Around mid May the carpool I ride in switches from a 8 AM to a 7 AM departure and moves back on Labor day.
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Matthew_B
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03/12/10 11:14pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Make a hot water recirculating system
Use this valve behind the shower or sink. It allows the water to circulate back through the cold water until the heat closes the valve.
Watts sensor valve
So who's going to buy one first? I wonder if it will close off tight with 40 PSI across it?
If it works, this is a very cool solution!
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Matthew_B
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03/12/10 03:07pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Why not put the Toyota in neutral?
Logic change on computer:
If brake sensor is active
then
set max_throttle to 5% fuel.
Beats the hell out of going into neutral or turnning the key off.
That won't solve the problem if the cause is a computer going out of control.
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Matthew_B
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03/12/10 02:49pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Why not put the Toyota in neutral?
I still don't understand why they don't use the cruise control circuit to kill the gas when the brake pedal is pushed. I do understand why many of these car owners say they have no brakes when it runs away though. They loose vaccum when the car is running full out and once the little reserve in the brake booster is gone you have no power brakes.
The Prius has a small electric motor to boost the brakes. Since the car runs on battery part of the time they can't rely on engine vacuum always being there.
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Matthew_B
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03/12/10 02:48pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Why not put the Toyota in neutral?
This is an opinion, there is no factual information to support this theory. Having said that, it would not suprise me if these cars have a "circuit geometry" problem where potential ground loops exist. A ground loop is where the power or signal current to one sensor/module can effect the power or signal to another sensor/module.
I'd be really surprised if that was the case. ALL of the auto makers are VERY good at handling grounds properly.
You'll find that the PCM grounds at one point. Unlike sensors for dash gauges, the PCM sensors do not use the block or the frame to ground. Every one of the sensors has a dedicated ground back to the PCM.
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Matthew_B
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03/12/10 02:45pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Why not put the Toyota in neutral?
Thankfully the brakes are still required by law (Far as I know) to be mechanical, though there is a move to "electronic" them as well.
Any vehicle with anti-lock can refuse to brake regardless of how hard you push the pedal. That is how they arrest a skid; isolate the line from the master cylinder and release as necessary. If it were to go haywire it could leave you without brakes.
In the Prius, the brakes are totally through the computer. In a normal stop, only the motor is used. The brakes are only used in a hard stop and to hold the car in place once stopped.
IMNSHO, the hybrid car designers made a mistake doing this. Subway and light rail trains also have regenerative braking (putting it back on the grid instead of to a battery). On those, the regen control is independent from the brake lever. When they want to make a regular stop they use the regen. If they want to do an emergency stop, they use the brake lever. In this way the computer is out of the loop on an emergency stop.
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Matthew_B
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03/10/10 09:34pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Are you and Engineer?
That sounds more like a computer programmer.
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Matthew_B
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03/10/10 09:23pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Make a hot water recirculating system
I've thought about doing this, as much to prevent the pipes from freezing in cold weather as it would be to save water.
It could be fairly simple to implement with a manual valve if you've got access to run the water back to the fresh tank.
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Matthew_B
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03/10/10 09:22pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: 4 Injured When RV Explodes
A friend of mine almost burn down their house using one of those kerosene heaters. Where they bought the kerosene a truck driver made a mistake and dumped a load of gasoline into the kerosene tank
How do you not notice the difference in smell?
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Matthew_B
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03/08/10 11:27pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Are you from Louisiana
How many people does it take to go from y'all to all y'all?
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Matthew_B
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03/08/10 11:25pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: More dually diesel ???'s
If the tire diameters are different and the truck has a limited slip rear end, could that damage the rear end? Or cause excessive wear?
Whoa, good point. If there is any kind of LS or locker, all four tires better match!
Normally you can use the axle code on the VIN sticker to determine if the axle has LS. Given the unknown history of the truck, I'd not trust the door code. The only way to be sure would be to lift a tire with the truck in neutral and see if it free-wheels.
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Matthew_B
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03/08/10 11:15pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Dually flat tire ?
I've heard of people have concerns about the stock jack before and I don't know why.
I've had a flat on my flatbed trailer. The trailer weighed in at 14,000 lbs when I had a flat. I was able to jack the trailer up using the truck jack. I was real careful to stay clear in case it collapsed, but the jack took it just fine.
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Matthew_B
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03/07/10 11:20pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: More dually diesel ???'s
I had a 95 Ford Diesel here in N TX. If it got below 25, and I did not plug it in, it would not start. Glow plugs may have been weak.
That sounds like weak glow plugs or another problem. Once everything was up to snuf I'm able to start in the single digits.
Without any glow plugs, even a 50F start can be rough.
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Matthew_B
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03/07/10 11:13pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: More dually diesel ???'s
Dual tires MUST be matched. If they aren't, the difference in diameter will kill both of them very fast. Since they are tied together, if they are different in size they must continually scrub to make up for the diameter difference.
I'd also suspect that the tires were rotated. I'd put the two good ones on one side of the truck and put two new tires on the other side if the fronts are good. If the fronts are bad, I'd put the two good back ones up front and put 4 new across the back.
The stock tire on the truck was a 215/85R16 D. With a load range D, the front is very close to being overloaded. You can easily carry the rated rear axle load on the D tires. I'd advise weighing front and back axle weights to make sure you're not over on the tires.
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Matthew_B
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03/07/10 11:11pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: HOW OLD ru? history test
I only got 19 and 20 wrong.
I'm short of 40, and only have glasses for computer use at work.
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Matthew_B
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03/07/10 11:01pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Toyo Tires
Les Schwab will find tires made in the US if you ask. Toyo has been building them in China for quite a while. The previous set I put on DW's minivan were Toyos and I was surprised the same way you were when I looked at the sidewall a month later.
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Matthew_B
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03/07/10 11:01pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Dually flat tire ?
With a '94, it would have been before the cable crank system. The tire sat on a cross channel held by two bolts. The forward one had deforming threads so it wouldn't ever loosen. The back one had an eye in it that the stock tire iron could turn to lower the tire. Once it was dropped about 1", the cross channel could be unhooked from the eye bolt. If you truck has the chassis cab fuel tank under the back you can't fit a spare under there. You'd know it because the fuel tank will be 54 gallons instead of 19,
The jack was under the hood behind the radiator overflow / windshield washer reservoirs on the passenger side. When the jack was screwed down it also held in the tire iron. If you don't study how the jack goes in before you remove it, you'll have a devil of a time figuring out how to get it back in place. The jack operating crank ran across the top of the radiator.
If you don't have any of that, I'd suggest hitting a junkyard and restoring the equipment your truck came with.
As far as running on a flat rear: Keep the speed under 40 and limit the distance and you can run on one tire.
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Matthew_B
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03/06/10 11:51pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: 437 people apply
That's the kind of numbers the company sharing the building with my employer sees when they hire. They have quite a few assembly workers and hire maybe 2 a month. What they need semi-skilled folks who can remember 15 minutes of training, turn a screwdriver and not break things.
They are getting 500+ QUALIFIED people for each opening, not to mention plenty more who aren't. These are folks who done the same type of work before and come with exemplary references, the type "great worker, never late, never trouble... hated to have to lay them off..."
It is impossible to do any kind of "fair" selection because they can't burn the time to sort through every application.
Good luck T-Train
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Matthew_B
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03/05/10 09:16pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Best drivers...as a group...out there ?
The city nearby me re-did a major intersection and cut off pull through access to one of the gas stations. I'm just amazed when one of the tanker drivers backs up the truck / dolly / trailer combo back out of the station after unloading. He managed to do it with two back and fills, backing the trailer around a 90 degree counter to pull out.
Safest driver? Got to be a oxygen truck driver. You might be able to run away from a gas truck crash. Crash a oxygen truck and they likely won't be able to find a body to bury.
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Matthew_B
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03/05/10 09:09pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Empty stores and offices and landlords/investors??
Sometimes a potential client will offer an insutingly low rental amount - at that point it gets personal and I will refuse to negotiate further.
A neighboring business just did the reverse of this. They had a 10 year lease recently come up, and the landlord jacked the rate WAY up in spite of a fairly high commercial vacancy rate. It was obvious the landlord was counting on the expense of moving keeping them in place. There was quite a bit of industrial equipment requiring quite a bit of upgrading to support.
The owner was so insulted that he signed a new lease elsewhere and started the process to move without negotiating. Realizing that he was about to get stuck with a vacant building, the landlord attempted to sell it quick as a renter occupied building. The business owner made it public that he wouldn't negotiate with anyone for renting the building as he wanted to make an example of the landlord.
They've just finished moving, and if anyone wants a $24 million empty shell I can point you in the right direction.
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Matthew_B
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03/05/10 09:03pm |
Around the Campfire
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