Big Blue's Transformation

[ArdWrknTrk]

I'll have to look in my Amazon history.

It was quite a while ago.

Did you consider just snipping one of the leads to the led?

Amazon keeps giving me an error "sorry we couldn't find that page (with a puppy)

If I had that many outlets in my truck I'd be very tempted to get another of the Horrid Fate flashlights.

They are on cyber Monday sale for $19.99, from $35.

[Gary Lewis]

Amazon keeps giving me an error "sorry we couldn't find that page (with a puppy)If I had that many outlets in my truck I'd be very tempted to get another of the Horrid Fate flashlights.They are on cyber Monday sale for $19.99, from $35.

Scott - Thanks!

 

Jim - No problem, I've found several that don't have LEDs in them, inc the Blue Seas one that Scott has. And, I forgot, these don't want to come apart to let me clip the lead to the LEDs. The end is well glued on.

 

As for having "that many outlets", you now see the method to my madness. I have these devices that may need charging on an overlanding trip:

 

USB:Flashlights: Two small ones, one that goes on the bill of a cap and one that will throw a beam a couple hundred yardsWorklights: I have the two foldable Amazon worklights, and at least one of them will go on tripsParty Lights: My son got me a string of party lights that are stored in a housing about the size of a hockey puck.Phones: Assuming two passengers we'll have two phones to charge dailyWatches: I have an Apple Watch to charge dailyinReach: I hope to have a Garmin inReach on any overlanding trip to ensure there will be connectivity, just in case

 

12VDC:Handhelds: I have the two Midland GMRS radios, and they can be charged via a 12v power port

 

110VAC:Battery Pack: Jump starter packRidgid Tools: Assuming I'll be taking a few of the battery-operated tools I'll want to be able to charge themTablet: My Microsoft tablet will go with me

 

Well, that's quite a list and I'd never really thought through what all would need to be charged. Not all will need to be charged daily, but I can see that phones and watches will. And yet, I don't think that I'll want to leave my watch or phone in the cab of the truck while I'm sleeping in a tent on top of the truck. The phones could be charged during the day as we drive, but not the watches. And the battery pack has a USB outlet on it, if I remember correctly, so maybe it goes into the tent with us at night and gets topped up during the day?

[ArdWrknTrk]

Scott - Thanks!

 

Jim - No problem, I've found several that don't have LEDs in them, inc the Blue Seas one that Scott has. And, I forgot, these don't want to come apart to let me clip the lead to the LEDs. The end is well glued on.

 

As for having "that many outlets", you now see the method to my madness. I have these devices that may need charging on an overlanding trip:

 

USB:Flashlights: Two small ones, one that goes on the bill of a cap and one that will throw a beam a couple hundred yardsWorklights: I have the two foldable Amazon worklights, and at least one of them will go on tripsParty Lights: My son got me a string of party lights that are stored in a housing about the size of a hockey puck.Phones: Assuming two passengers we'll have two phones to charge dailyWatches: I have an Apple Watch to charge dailyinReach: I hope to have a Garmin inReach on any overlanding trip to ensure there will be connectivity, just in case

 

12VDC:Handhelds: I have the two Midland GMRS radios, and they can be charged via a 12v power port

 

110VAC:Battery Pack: Jump starter packRidgid Tools: Assuming I'll be taking a few of the battery-operated tools I'll want to be able to charge themTablet: My Microsoft tablet will go with me

 

Well, that's quite a list and I'd never really thought through what all would need to be charged. Not all will need to be charged daily, but I can see that phones and watches will. And yet, I don't think that I'll want to leave my watch or phone in the cab of the truck while I'm sleeping in a tent on top of the truck. The phones could be charged during the day as we drive, but not the watches. And the battery pack has a USB outlet on it, if I remember correctly, so maybe it goes into the tent with us at night and gets topped up during the day?

It makes sense that if you have a powerbank/jump starter that you could use it for charging devices while sleeping in a tent.I used to have a string of led lights taped to the frame of my old EZ-Up canopy.They would fold right up with it and provide enough light to function at night . Wrenching, cooking.. perhaps not enough to read by with my old eyes, but now 99% reading is an illuminated screen, unlike back then.Another advantage of having the lights high in the canopy is that the opaque and reflective cover kept the light contained.

[Gary Lewis]

It makes sense that if you have a powerbank/jump starter that you could use it for charging devices while sleeping in a tent.

I used to have a string of led lights taped to the frame of my old EZ-Up canopy.

They would fold right up with it and provide enough light to function at night .

Wrenching, cooking.. perhaps not enough to read by with my old eyes, but now 99% reading is an illuminated screen, unlike back then.

Another advantage of having the lights high in the canopy is that the opaque and reflective cover kept the light contained.

I think it would be easy enough to put either DC or AC in a tent. But I think it would be prudent to go on a trip or two before deciding to do that, and in the interim the battery pack should suffice for charging the watch and phone.

And you are right about the lights. I think placing them in the top of the tent is what Bret had planned. But if they are there semi-permanently I'll have to have USB power to them to recharge their battery. Or rig a way for the hockey puck to see the sun as there's a solar panel on it.

[Gary Lewis]

I think it would be easy enough to put either DC or AC in a tent. But I think it would be prudent to go on a trip or two before deciding to do that, and in the interim the battery pack should suffice for charging the watch and phone.

And you are right about the lights. I think placing them in the top of the tent is what Bret had planned. But if they are there semi-permanently I'll have to have USB power to them to recharge their battery. Or rig a way for the hockey puck to see the sun as there's a solar panel on it.

Didn't get quite everything done that I'd hoped to do, but I got quite a bit done.

First was the cargo light. Search as I did I only found one bright while LED that would fit, and it was the one in the dome/map light and has most of the LEDs around the sides and only 4 on the end. And it is soooo long that those LEDs are almost touching the lens. But after several minutes of leaving it on the lens didn't seem to be hot. So I put it in and used the special caulk to seal it up.

Then I removed the instrument panel and the aftermarket gauges awa the AFR meter. But that was far easier to say than to do! I really have a burr under my saddle today for . Just drilling a hole in the back of the pocket and running all of the tubes and wires through that is downright MEAN.

I finally cut a section of the instrument bezel away in order to get those gauges off w/o feeding all that back through the firewall - and of course pulling the temp and oil pressure senders. But just getting the gauge's bracket off the bezel as the screws they used were were completely blocked by the gauges. Man, that was a pain!

So I put screws into the instrument bezel, held in with hot-melt glue, so I could put the gauges back on w/o those screws. It worked, but was fiddly as it is hard to get up in there with a wrench.

Then, with the aftermarket gauges and the instrument panel bezel off I could remove the instruments and wire in the MeterMatch. It only needs switched power, ground, the lead from the sending unit, and the lead to the meter. Once that was done I used resistors to calibrate the unit. And it didn't work. So I did it again. And again. Then I realized I was forgetting to press Save each time.

The next round I did hit Save and the thing appears to work! But we'll find out tomorrow.

Here's a shot showing where I put the MeterMatch. It gets covered by the trim piece that goes under the steering column, so is hidden but accessible if I need to re-calibrate it.

[Gary Lewis]

Didn't get quite everything done that I'd hoped to do, but I got quite a bit done.

First was the cargo light. Search as I did I only found one bright while LED that would fit, and it was the one in the dome/map light and has most of the LEDs around the sides and only 4 on the end. And it is soooo long that those LEDs are almost touching the lens. But after several minutes of leaving it on the lens didn't seem to be hot. So I put it in and used the special caulk to seal it up.

Then I removed the instrument panel and the aftermarket gauges awa the AFR meter. But that was far easier to say than to do! I really have a burr under my saddle today for . Just drilling a hole in the back of the pocket and running all of the tubes and wires through that is downright MEAN.

I finally cut a section of the instrument bezel away in order to get those gauges off w/o feeding all that back through the firewall - and of course pulling the temp and oil pressure senders. But just getting the gauge's bracket off the bezel as the screws they used were were completely blocked by the gauges. Man, that was a pain!

So I put screws into the instrument bezel, held in with hot-melt glue, so I could put the gauges back on w/o those screws. It worked, but was fiddly as it is hard to get up in there with a wrench.

Then, with the aftermarket gauges and the instrument panel bezel off I could remove the instruments and wire in the MeterMatch. It only needs switched power, ground, the lead from the sending unit, and the lead to the meter. Once that was done I used resistors to calibrate the unit. And it didn't work. So I did it again. And again. Then I realized I was forgetting to press Save each time.

The next round I did hit Save and the thing appears to work! But we'll find out tomorrow.

Here's a shot showing where I put the MeterMatch. It gets covered by the trim piece that goes under the steering column, so is hidden but accessible if I need to re-calibrate it.

Well, we took Big Blue on a true "shake down" cruise today. It was a total of 135 miles, but I'd say 90 of those were on dirt/gravel roads, 20 on narrow and rough 2-lane blacktop, and the rest on main highways. And nothing fell off nor rattled! In fact, all but one thing worked extremely well.

The issue was the HVAC system. The fan didn't come on at all. So I'll have to check to see if I knocked the connector off the switch or caused a short some place. But it was in the 50's today with bright sunshine, and in the fishbowl of a cab it was warm enough that we opened both kick panel vents and that kept us cool enough. However, at times we did open the sliding rear window to get a bit more flow through, and that helped a lot.

But opening the rear window also let us hear the tires and exhaust more. And then it dawned on me - I hadn't noticed any exhaust drone at 65 MPH, which is ~1800 RPM, when we were on major highways. In fact, I purposely drove at that speed and if I thought about it I could hear it - but only slightly.

Now, having said that there's something else that I've not discussed - there's a vibration at ~3600 RPM. It isn't bad like "shut it down!" But it is there. I rarely get it up to that RPM so I'm not reminded of it very often. And I haven't played with it to see if it is at 3600 in all gears, but I think it is.

Given that, might the "drone" I was hearing actually be a vibration? If so, maybe there's something else I should tell you. When I was rapping on the side of the bed the other day I heard quite a rattle and discovered that the long Explorer emblem on the rear of the bed was loose on the front half and rattled something fierce. So yesterday I taped it to the bed. Any chance that was the "drone"?

Last, the MeterMatch seems to work nicely. However I'll need to adjust the Empty reading as we drove about 30 miles past when the gauge lined up squarely with the "E" and still didn't run out. So I want to drive it until it does run out and then re-program Empty.

[Gary Lewis]

Well, we took Big Blue on a true "shake down" cruise today. It was a total of 135 miles, but I'd say 90 of those were on dirt/gravel roads, 20 on narrow and rough 2-lane blacktop, and the rest on main highways. And nothing fell off nor rattled! In fact, all but one thing worked extremely well.

The issue was the HVAC system. The fan didn't come on at all. So I'll have to check to see if I knocked the connector off the switch or caused a short some place. But it was in the 50's today with bright sunshine, and in the fishbowl of a cab it was warm enough that we opened both kick panel vents and that kept us cool enough. However, at times we did open the sliding rear window to get a bit more flow through, and that helped a lot.

But opening the rear window also let us hear the tires and exhaust more. And then it dawned on me - I hadn't noticed any exhaust drone at 65 MPH, which is ~1800 RPM, when we were on major highways. In fact, I purposely drove at that speed and if I thought about it I could hear it - but only slightly.

Now, having said that there's something else that I've not discussed - there's a vibration at ~3600 RPM. It isn't bad like "shut it down!" But it is there. I rarely get it up to that RPM so I'm not reminded of it very often. And I haven't played with it to see if it is at 3600 in all gears, but I think it is.

Given that, might the "drone" I was hearing actually be a vibration? If so, maybe there's something else I should tell you. When I was rapping on the side of the bed the other day I heard quite a rattle and discovered that the long Explorer emblem on the rear of the bed was loose on the front half and rattled something fierce. So yesterday I taped it to the bed. Any chance that was the "drone"?

Last, the MeterMatch seems to work nicely. However I'll need to adjust the Empty reading as we drove about 30 miles past when the gauge lined up squarely with the "E" and still didn't run out. So I want to drive it until it does run out and then re-program Empty.

And, while you are pondering the questions set out above, here's my plan for the "power box":

[1986F150Six]

And, while you are pondering the questions set out above, here's my plan for the "power box":

I think the loose emblem could certainly have contributed to the drone. I bet the 3600 RPM vibration is v-belt related; either a long belt or something driven by the belt(s).

[Gary Lewis]

I think the loose emblem could certainly have contributed to the drone. I bet the 3600 RPM vibration is v-belt related; either a long belt or something driven by the belt(s).

Thanks, David. But I have "polygroove" belts, meaning two serpentine belts. Do you think that could be part of the vibes?

On a different subject, I need help both in thinking through what I want to do with charging ports as well as in finding the right things. I'm going to revive the USB Charging Port Questions thread to get answers, but need to set out the issues here as well.

Yesterday when we got ready to go on our road trip I checked the battery voltages and found the starting battery at 11.85 and the aux battery at 12.5 volts. I was puzzled at why the starting battery was so low since I thought the only thing I'd had on were the dome and courtesy lights, and then only while working on it.

The truck started, albeit noticeably slower than it should have with a fully charged battery, and the Smart Isolator didn't parallel the batteries for quite some time so the starting battery was certainly down. But later in the day I think I discovered why - the USB charger has a bright LED and it had been plugged into the cigar lighter for all the time the truck's been sitting in the shop.

So, I'm rethinking the plan for the always-hot spot in the ash tray, and I invite y'all to chime in on the other thread to help.

[1986F150Six]

Thanks, David. But I have "polygroove" belts, meaning two serpentine belts. Do you think that could be part of the vibes?

On a different subject, I need help both in thinking through what I want to do with charging ports as well as in finding the right things. I'm going to revive the USB Charging Port Questions thread to get answers, but need to set out the issues here as well.

Yesterday when we got ready to go on our road trip I checked the battery voltages and found the starting battery at 11.85 and the aux battery at 12.5 volts. I was puzzled at why the starting battery was so low since I thought the only thing I'd had on were the dome and courtesy lights, and then only while working on it.

The truck started, albeit noticeably slower than it should have with a fully charged battery, and the Smart Isolator didn't parallel the batteries for quite some time so the starting battery was certainly down. But later in the day I think I discovered why - the USB charger has a bright LED and it had been plugged into the cigar lighter for all the time the truck's been sitting in the shop.

So, I'm rethinking the plan for the always-hot spot in the ash tray, and I invite y'all to chime in on the other thread to help.

Regarding the belt theory, Gary, I found this: [food for thought?]

http://updateinternational.com/Book/VibrationBook13a.htm

Practical Solutions to Machinery and Maintenance Vibration Problems

Chapter 13, Additional Vibration Sources

Section 1, Vibration Due to Pulleys/Sheaves and Drive Belts

Sometimes the length and tension on a drive belt results in a resonance within the belt whereby it acts like a resonant string. The resonance mode shape usually can be seen with a strobe after putting a chalk mark along the edge of the belt and watching it while vibrating. The belt will appear to vibrate in a mode shape typical for a specific resonance (most often, the 1st resonance mode, but for very long belts, the 2nd resonance mode occasionally occurs). This is not to be confused with vibration due to an unbalanced belt.

Almost all variations of shaft-to-shaft pulley misalignments result in higher than usual axial vibration. Sometimes the primary frequency is at 2 x rpm, but more often it is at 1 x rpm. Multiple V belts with unequal tensions also cause a high axial vibration. Sometimes the rigidity of the support system prevents it from being measured or seen, but pulley/sheave misalignment very often causes excessive thrust bearing wear. Replacing with belts of equal tension will usually cure the problem. Multiple belts molded in one piece are supposed to prevent this problem but do not if the sheaves are misaligned.

Drive and driven pulleys with multiple or single belts should be in the same line of action or in the same plane. If not in the same plane through cocking of one sheave relative to the other, or if parallel but not in alignment, then excessive vibration results. Proper alignment in the same plane cures the problem. Make sure that the grooves are aligned rather than basing alignment on the sides of the pulley.

Although relatively rare, a poorly made belt can within itself be out of balance. This results in excessive vibration at the low frequency of 1 x rpm of the belt (not of the rotor).

Pulley/sheave eccentricity results in a vibration frequency of 1 x rpm of the eccentric pulley/sheave. However, it can be distinguished from an unbalanced rotor. For example, an unbalanced sheave will show the usual characteristic of relatively equal amplitudes in both the horizontal and vertical directions. However, an eccentric sheave will show its largest amplitude in the direction of the line connecting the drive and driven sheaves.

For an unbalanced sheave, readings taken at the same bearing in directions 90° to each other will show an approximate 90° phase relationship. However, for an eccentric sheave, phases measured at the same bearing in directions 90° to each other will show a phase relationship of either approximately 180° or 0°. This is similar to what is often seen due to coupling/shaft misalignment.