Fulfilling a dream

[Viking1]

Looking great Brother!! Lots of ”Sweat Equity” going in to your project for sure!

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

Looking great Brother!! Lots of ”Sweat Equity” going in to your project for sure!

Yeah, I'm over paying in that the past couple of days. I put primer on the new stand for the fryer yesterday, it was so hot out, it set almost immediately. Same thing today with the black paint. I also finally got in the correct digital thermostat for the fridge late this afternoon, and got it wired in. It's running now. Problem is, it only does Celsius, my brain doesn't work that way. I know 0, and -40 everything else, I have no point of reference. Cue the American/Metric jokes.

My original thought for the top of the fryer stand was to use the same polypropylene that I used for the griddle, but it came to me lastnight that's not gonna work. The griddle sits about 4" off the poly. The fryer would be sitting right on top, and I'm betting it would get hot enough to melt through. I drew something up for a stainless pan to have the metal shop guys make for me. A pan instead of just a sheet since there's oil there, it'll catch it instead of leaking everywhere.

 

[Viking1]

One of my multi meters was Celsius only too.
Try this: Celsius reading multiplied by 1.8 then add 32 to that reading.

 

[Roamers]

I also finally got in the correct digital thermostat for the fridge late this afternoon, and got it wired in. It's running now. Problem is, it only does Celsius, my brain doesn't work that way. I know 0, and -40 everything else, I have no point of reference

Simple, label maker with acceptable range. Inside range good, Outside range bad.

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

New exhaust fans are in. The original ones were drawing between 16 and 17A. These are drawing around 8A when both are running. They don't move as much air, but they move enough to do the job.

A friend shipped me a FLIR a while ago when we started working on the fridge. I don't know why but I never actually looked into the fridge before with it, but today I did. I found hot spots on the floor. Fridge was around 50F, still cooling down after being off over night, but there were hotspots 90F and above. The spots are next to the compressor cabinet which is outside. When we rebuilt the cabinet, the compressor tray, holds the compressor and the condenser, is sitting on a piece of mild steel which is the base of the cabinet. Heat is being transferred from the tray to the plate, which is transferred into the frame that goes under the fridge. My friend and I decided it would be best to thermally isolate the compressor tray from the rest of the trailer. I'll be 3D printing standoffs to do that. That will allow airflow under the tray and hopefully keep it from heating up everything else.

Added 5% tint film to the skylight today to cut down on the heat inside the trailer. Never applied that stuff before but it was pretty easy. I have my custom built fryer frame in and bolted down. I should be getting the fryer back tomorrow. Dropped off a drawing at the metal shop for a stainless tray to be made for the fryer to sit on.

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

3D printer just got done with this. Still needs a little more cleaning up of the supports, but it turned out well.

Anyone recognize it?

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

Duck Dodgers?

Nope, not from a cartoon.

 

[McCorby]

The Mighty Ducks mascot?

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

The Mighty Ducks mascot?

It is from a movie.

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

Fryer is back from the shop and it works perfectly. He did recommend having the thermocouple replaced but it's functional for now. He didn't have any in stock and wouldn't have it for a couple of weeks. Every one of these appliances has a different method of lighting, we're going to make a "Start Up/Shutdown" booklet with all the instructions on starting up and shutting down everything.

The metal shop is making the stainless tray the fryer will sit on, don't know when they'll have it done. They work on my stuff when it gets slow

You can see the burners inside. I just have it filled with water right now because you don't want to run it empty. Within a few minutes it had the water at 160F.

 

[PCeBiker]

Fryer is back from the shop and it works perfectly. He did recommend having the thermocouple replaced but it's functional for now.

I have a natural gas wall furnace to heat my small house.
It uses a thermopile, which is just a "pile" of thermocouples stacked together to generate more voltage to operate the thermostat.

My wall furnace has since been banned because it isn't efficient enough (it draws 85,000 BTU, but only puts out 65,000 BTU. The rest goes up the chimney. )


BUT,.. my furnace doesn't need electricity to operate.
I've got heat when the power goes out where 99% of other homeowners don't have heat until the power is restored.

This is my thermostat, complete with a mercury switch,..
That's enough mercury to poison a small lake.

A digital thermostat doesn't work.
It draws too much current and the voltage drops to zero.
And it uses batteries or house current.
My furnace has been running since 1942 with no external power.

The thermopile only puts out ~0.7 volts, with VERY Little current behind it.
I had to replace the wiring with thicker wire because the wire had too much resistance and the voltage/power was lost.
Even static electricity is enough to drain the voltage in the winter when the wiring is dusty.

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

Be wary of buying wire when dealing with such small voltages or large currents. Much of the wire out there today is CCA, Copper Cladded Aluminum. Over long distances there's a significant voltage drop and with large currents, there's a significant increase in heat, which leads to increase in resistance which leads to more current draw, which leads to more heat.

 

[PCeBiker]

Much of the wire out there today is CCA, Copper Cladded Aluminum.

I used High Performance 12 gauge Speaker Wire to connect my thermostat to my furnace.
It's 100% copper from before the days of copper clad crap.
(although I don't think it's oxygen free copper?)

I was having problems with my furnace kicking in.
I'd wake up in the morning and my house was cold.
I'd Kick the furnace, and that was enough to open the gas valve and give me heat.

I realized that I had my house temperature set too low (58°F) and the valve got cold and sticky.

I turned up the heat to keep the valve warmer and everything has been working fine for 2 years now.

I've got a new thermopile just in case, but all I have to do is Boot the furnace if I wake up to a cold house.

I was considering taking apart the valve to clean it or lube it, but a good swift kick does the job if it won't start.

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

 

[PCeBiker]

My dad used to say "If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It!"

I'd say, "Don't Worry. I'm Sure I'll Break Something While I'm Trying To Fix It."

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

Ahh, high performance speaker wire, the choice of audiophiles everywhere. I got into an argument with one many years ago when he said he could tell the difference between something sampled at 44khz and 44.1khz. After Monster cable came out some magazine did a test with a some self proclaimed audiophiles to see if they could tell the difference between Monster cable and a coat hanger. They couldn't. I bet it works well for thermostats though. Nice and bendy.

 

[PCeBiker]

I went to a stereo shop with my cousin about 30 years ago.
I got to talking with the salesman about Monster Cable vs. regular lamp cord and how all the "Golden Ears" couldn't hear the difference in a double blind sound test.

He took me into a sound room, shut the door, and told me how his brother-in-law worked for the Canadian government testing speakers in an anoanechoic chamber.
He said all they used was regular lamp cord for all the testing.

He did say that the Monster Cable has less resistance than lamp cord but that resistance is completely linear and has no affect on sound quality except for volume which was adjusted for.

PS,.. The Monster Cable cost over $100 for a six foot length per side 30 years ago.

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

which one?never had much chance to watch movies when I was younger.

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

Fryer is in, and I got the pan and the drawer from the metal shop yesterday.

We setup the canopy and a couple of tables lastnight and made dinner in the trailer. Burgers and chicken legs, waffle fries, and corn on the cob done in the steam table. Also made some "angry corn dogs".

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

We just got notified that our PA business has been processed and accepted. Now all we need is the PA Dept of Ag inspection and we're ready to go.