What did you do in your shop today?

Started by MiniDave, September 23, 2018, 11:30:15 AM

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Willie_B

Good that it was not an oil filled cap.

94touring

The running capacitors are labeled vegetable oil filled.  Didn't know that. 

BruceK

Quote from: 94touring on February 14, 2024, 07:19:01 PMThe running capacitors are labeled vegetable oil filled.  Didn't know that. 

I remember working with a computer tech guy about 40 years ago who was fascinated with taking apart capacitors in mini-computers (bigger than PC smaller than mainframes) which he repaired.  That is until he discovered the capacitors were often filled with liquid PCBs - dangerous carcinogens. Nasty stuff - hopefully he never had any long-term health effects from that. I didn't realize they were now filled with vegetable oil. 
1988 Austin Mini 
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Land Cruiser Prado RX (JDM)

94touring

Yeah learning all sorts of stuff lately.  Was supposed to get those capacitors in yesterday but some weather delay has them arriving Monday.  I got the resistors in.  Luckily I'm not mid paint job or something important.

Red Riley

Did some body work and changed this Mini to an Elf.














Rear bumper and grilles made from scratch, as well as the headlights and taillights. Crude cheap model, but turned out great.

94touring


BruceK

1988 Austin Mini 
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Land Cruiser Prado RX (JDM)

94touring

Yesterday I tried to resolve the air compressor AC motor starter capacitor issue by installing a new one. Which burnt up pretty quickly.  Installed a matching pair and while they didn't burn up, it still trips the breaker. The motor weighs in at around 150lbs so getting it off the compressor outside in my car port and inside the shop is difficult being a 1 man operation.  I tried taking the fan belts off to eliminate the pump and Dave walked me through the poles on the contact panel to verify it's engaging the full 220v.  Ended up taking the motor apart outside in 2 sections to be able to haul it inside to investigate further.  Being 100% clueless doesn't help in times like these.  Found a couple potential culprits inside the thing, which I cleaned up and made adjustments to make sure contact is being made where it's supposed to. I did notice the one running capacitor is bulged at the top in comparison to the other. If it's not the running capacitor or the contacts I cleaned up on the motor end plate, looks like I'll be buying a replacement.  These aren't cheap either! 

94touring

Broke down and placed the purchase on this compressor motor.  Tried everything I could think of. Dave helped today as well.  Justin said it was ran hard for years before he gifted it to me.  Going to redo some wiring, ordered a new contactor box, and bring the contactor box inside the shop so I can turn it off and on via the box, as opposed to flipping the circuit breaker. 

MiniDave

I wish we could have had better news on the motor, but I'm confident you'll get it going again, if not I have a backup plan!
Complete failure at retirement - but getting better!

1972 Mini Racing Green
1972 Mini ST hotrod
2017 Audi Allroad - Glacier White - His
2018 Audi Allroad - Floret Silver - Hers

94touring

Electrical box arrived.  The old one outside was looking pretty rough and the trip switch had broken.  This one will be moved inside.  It also has an off on switch on the side of the box. I have just been using the circuit breaker in the shop as the off on.  Might start wiring it up this weekend while I wait for the new motor.

jeff10049

If the starting caps are burning up normally it can only be one thing the centrifugal cut-out switch is not opening. The start caps should only be energized in the first second of starting as soon as the rotor gets rpm it should open the switch removing the start caps from the system. It sounds like you already cleaned those up are you sure the centrifugal part is free and moving correctly? If so I guess a new motor is the only feasible option as rebuilding costs as much as new for small motors.

94touring

Yes the centrifugal end was moving freely too.  I ran out of things to check or replace, so new motor it is.

94touring

Got the box installed inside adjacent to the circuit breaker panel. All wired up and ready to go.  I hooked it the old motor just to see if it would magically make it work, but of course it didn't.  Motor shows a delay last time I checked through ups.  Was hoping to have it up and running before I leave for work.

94touring

Motor has been out for delivery for a couple days now.  Yesterday the update said it was too big to deliver.  I requested it be held at the facility for me to pick up.  Went by there to see if they had it, but it's on the truck out for delivery again.  I may have to go back to work tomorrow and it sure would be nice to get this thing at the shop before I leave.  Heaven forbid it gets sent back to the company I purchased it from.  The total weight comes in at 131lbs, won't be easy getting it installed. 

94touring

Finally showed up.  Luckily I was home for the driver to help load it into my truck.

94touring

Got this beast on there.  Lugged it from the back of my truck the 40 feet or so to the compressor.  Wired it up and fired it up before hooking up the belts. It ran so quietly I thought it wasn't even running.  Didn't take long to have it all back together again.  Everything seems less noisy now, even though it's running at the same 1780rpms as the last motor. Not that it was loud before, and it's outside, but any noise reduction is nice. Took 6 minutes 25 seconds to fill up 120 gallons from empty at 175psi and takes 1 minute 20 seconds to fill up from when the pressure switch kicks it on.


skmini

Not today, but over the winter I had a few garage projects.  I built a bunch of cabinets to replace the shelving I originally built to hold a disassembled Mini

skmini

From some of the pieces of my DIY paint booth I built an air filter to try to reduce the amount of dust.  Not sure the carbon furnace filters will actually help with all the "old car smells", but worth a try.

skmini

I built a 3x6 welding table by combining 3 2x3 tables.  It's not perfectly flat, but good enough for my needs.  The tables each came with a bunch of fixturing hardware.

94touring

Oil change on the compressor, swapped a new oil vent cap on since  the other was broken, and new oil level sight picture that doesn't leak.

MiniDave

Look how clean that oil is, you can hardly see the level!

I'm about due to change the oil in mine too, it's 4 years old but I doubt it has all that many hours on it. I should add an hour meter so I can keep track of it.
Complete failure at retirement - but getting better!

1972 Mini Racing Green
1972 Mini ST hotrod
2017 Audi Allroad - Glacier White - His
2018 Audi Allroad - Floret Silver - Hers

94touring

Oil that came out was pretty clean, but not nearly as clear as the new.  Takes exactly 2 quarts, so I have another 2 quarts out of the gallon on hand whenever it needs changed again.

94touring

Forgot to mention I changed the air filters out too.  Only other thing I'd like to do is refresh the valves and associated O rings.  It is very nice having it running in tip top shape and especially having the control box inside the shop with an actual on off switch.

MiniDave

Complete failure at retirement - but getting better!

1972 Mini Racing Green
1972 Mini ST hotrod
2017 Audi Allroad - Glacier White - His
2018 Audi Allroad - Floret Silver - Hers