Fulfilling a dream
- Thread starter JedidiahStolzfus
- Start date
JedidiahStolzfus
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Lancaster, PA
The vertigo is slowly waning. Gonna run some errands tomorrow, my amish friend has some freshly pressed cider for me to pick up tomorrow, and the puppy's nails need trimmed. Little girl's guitar needs a new string, and I need to acquire an alternator from a friend's shop. New tires and wheels for the trailer are showing up tomorrow as well, I'll need to take them out to get balanced before they go on.
JedidiahStolzfus
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Lancaster, PA
Starting to feel better. I did take the bike up to the store the other day and made it back alive. But still don't have a lot of energy to do much, mostly because I'm not sleeping well. I did get something done that's I needed for months but I've been keeping the door off the cabinet. I installed a 120vac van in the front cabinet door to exhaust the cabinet. With the charger and the huge inverter in there it heats up the entire cabinet and counter top.
That's a 120mm fan and I got a 121mm hole saw that claims it can cut stainless. It did, but not easily. My vintage drill press got a workout cutting both sides of the door. Then I squared off the inside with the angle grinder and cutting wheel so the fan would fit inside. I have a thermostat to wire in, but I'm currently 3D printing an enclosure for it. It's moving a lot of air out of the cabinet, so it should keep it cooled down.
That's a 120mm fan and I got a 121mm hole saw that claims it can cut stainless. It did, but not easily. My vintage drill press got a workout cutting both sides of the door. Then I squared off the inside with the angle grinder and cutting wheel so the fan would fit inside. I have a thermostat to wire in, but I'm currently 3D printing an enclosure for it. It's moving a lot of air out of the cabinet, so it should keep it cooled down.
PCeBiker
Well-Known Member
- Region
- Canada
Just curious.
Is that hole saw trash now, or did it live to cut another hole?
JedidiahStolzfus
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Lancaster, PA
It'll cut stuff other than Stainless. I had smoke billowing out of the workshop while drilling, combination of the oil burning off and the insulation inside the door panels. I've broken and dulled so many drill bits working on this. Probably more than 40 at this point.
JedidiahStolzfus
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Lancaster, PA
Even thought I didn't sleep lastnight I spent the day working on the trailer. I picked up to heavy duty rubber anti-fatigue mats to cover the floor. Got it all cut to fit and attached some to the step ladder we get into the trailer with. Now I don't feel as though I'm gonna slip off when getting out. I made dinner for the family out there tonight. Burgers and fries, also made some chicken thighs because my wife doesn't like burgers. We have a couple of folding tables out there and we just sit out there and have a nice dinner. It was beautiful here todoay.
Yesterday I went to my Amish friend's farm to setup the weather station I got for him for his birthday. If you think buying a gift for your family is tough, try buying for Amish. They want practical gifts. I figured every farmer could use their own weather station. I got there and no one was around, went inside and two of the younger boys were sitting on the couches reading books and the baby was on the floor playing. I sat down and played with the baby while the boy that understands english wen to get his mom. She came down and was surprised to see me. She said her husband was out plowing near the goat path. Told her I'd hike out to talk to him about setting up the weather station.
I hiked out there and see him plowing with a team of 5 percherons, the same type of horse that I killed. The most amazing thing though was out quiet and peaceful it was. Clear blue skies, and the only sound was the jingling of the harnesses on the horses. Otherwise, it was silent. I can see why he enjoys being a farmer. I commented to him about that, and he just smiled and agreed. Working with horses is so much more satisfying than sitting in a tractor and listening to the droning of the engine.
I got his weather station setup and explained how to read it while they ate lunch. They offered lunch to me, but I had a bowl of chicken corn soup before I came over. But I did try a piece of the turkey roll they made last week when they butchered 26 turkeys. It was very good.
Yesterday I went to my Amish friend's farm to setup the weather station I got for him for his birthday. If you think buying a gift for your family is tough, try buying for Amish. They want practical gifts. I figured every farmer could use their own weather station. I got there and no one was around, went inside and two of the younger boys were sitting on the couches reading books and the baby was on the floor playing. I sat down and played with the baby while the boy that understands english wen to get his mom. She came down and was surprised to see me. She said her husband was out plowing near the goat path. Told her I'd hike out to talk to him about setting up the weather station.
I hiked out there and see him plowing with a team of 5 percherons, the same type of horse that I killed. The most amazing thing though was out quiet and peaceful it was. Clear blue skies, and the only sound was the jingling of the harnesses on the horses. Otherwise, it was silent. I can see why he enjoys being a farmer. I commented to him about that, and he just smiled and agreed. Working with horses is so much more satisfying than sitting in a tractor and listening to the droning of the engine.
I got his weather station setup and explained how to read it while they ate lunch. They offered lunch to me, but I had a bowl of chicken corn soup before I came over. But I did try a piece of the turkey roll they made last week when they butchered 26 turkeys. It was very good.
JedidiahStolzfus
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Lancaster, PA
We took the trailer out for a test drive after putting new tires and suspension on it. Rides a lot better and is more stable. I fixed the tow mode in the truck, and pulled it up a rather steep hill without any problems, then took it down the highway. It handled perfectly, tracked straight with no sway even when being passed by rigs. Transmission never went above 170F. We're still waiting for our inspection before we can open. Grand Opening, should be at a park in Talmage, PA for anyone that's in the area. More info to follow.
JedidiahStolzfus
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Lancaster, PA
We made dinner in the trailer lastnight, we've been doing that just to get practice with serving. Doing it again tonight, making burgers and testing a couple of ideas using the broiler. We harvested all the peppers we could find today. I have the wife and kids working on getting things prepped. Everything will be canned later this week. We should have gallons of mild, medium and hot sauce when we're done
Later this week I'm going down to Maryland to pick up a truck toolbox to mount on the very back of the trailer so it can hold our small generator and other supplies we'll need. This guy has piles of brand new diamond plate boxes for $75 for the small ones, and I think $125 for the big ones.
Later this week I'm going down to Maryland to pick up a truck toolbox to mount on the very back of the trailer so it can hold our small generator and other supplies we'll need. This guy has piles of brand new diamond plate boxes for $75 for the small ones, and I think $125 for the big ones.
JedidiahStolzfus
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Lancaster, PA
We're closer to being done. We met with the guy that runs the commercial kitchen we're renting to get the paperwork finished up so we can get inspected. He looked everything over and is sure we'll pass inspection. The only thing I need to do is build a screen over the serving window that can be opened and closed. The parts for that are on the way.
Today, wife and I ran down to Maryland and picked up a truck tool box, aluminum diamond plate for $75. The guy has piles of them down there. I mounted it on the back as extra storage. I can keep my generator, fuel, cords, hoses and tools back there.
Today, wife and I ran down to Maryland and picked up a truck tool box, aluminum diamond plate for $75. The guy has piles of them down there. I mounted it on the back as extra storage. I can keep my generator, fuel, cords, hoses and tools back there.
kevinmccune
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
persistence pays off!
JedidiahStolzfus
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Lancaster, PA
At 8:19 this morning my cell phone rang, thought it was my Amish friend because that's when he's making morning phone calls after the morning chores are done. Nope, not that farmer, another farmer. We had stopped by and met him a few weeks ago, he runs a huge turkey farm and we wanted to talk to him about getting a turkey "roast" from him. Basically half a breast, with a boneless thigh on one side bound in butchers net. It's a great way to make a small turkey dinner. We have an idea on serving it on the trailer. He's never made them before but he's willing to make us 5 as a test, and if it works more down the road. It's great working with the farmers directly.
Also talked to the manager of my local grocery store who introduced me to the produce buyer to work out a deal on hot peppers. While our pepper plants in the garden did well, we didn't get enough and we need an ongoing supply. The local produce wholesaler doesn't want to work with us. He said he'll get us as many as we want in 10lb boxes and we can buy them directly from the store. Which is nice because they're only 2 miles away.
On friday I finally perfected an awesome asian glaze for salmon, and we could possibly do that on the trailer, but it would probably be a $20 dish.
In sales, there's the ABC of selling, Always Be Closing, in the restaurant business, there's the ABH, Always Be Hustling.
Also talked to the manager of my local grocery store who introduced me to the produce buyer to work out a deal on hot peppers. While our pepper plants in the garden did well, we didn't get enough and we need an ongoing supply. The local produce wholesaler doesn't want to work with us. He said he'll get us as many as we want in 10lb boxes and we can buy them directly from the store. Which is nice because they're only 2 miles away.
On friday I finally perfected an awesome asian glaze for salmon, and we could possibly do that on the trailer, but it would probably be a $20 dish.
In sales, there's the ABC of selling, Always Be Closing, in the restaurant business, there's the ABH, Always Be Hustling.
JedidiahStolzfus
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Lancaster, PA
It's an asian flavor inspired glaze that I've been trying out different methods of making over the past year or so and friday nights was almost perfect. I think that all it needed was some orange zest.
.
Just came in, I was going to do some welding today to make a spare tire mount and my welder won't feed. It had stopped the last time I was working with it, and figured it was just out of wire, so I quit and never looked. Nope, stupid chinese crap. The manufacturer put too large of a fuse on the control board allowing the bridge rectifier on board to draw too much current and it blew it's top off. It melted the fuse holder and cover and discolored a large resistor.
You can see a discolored corner of the bridge rectifier in the middle left of the board and it leads down to the lower left where the fuse block is. I'm betting that everything else on the board is ok, even the discolored resister. Found the part on Amazon, they'll be here on wednesday Just hate pulling parts held in with leadfree solder. I also found solder shorts at some spots which I removed, and may have contributed to the problem.
PCeBiker
Well-Known Member
- Region
- Canada
I remember having a blown bridge rectifier on a power supply about 30 years ago.
It was a chore sourcing those kind of parts at the time so I made my own rectifier with four power diodes that I had on hand.
If you just replace the fuse with lower current value, you'll probably just keep blowing the fuse.
That whole board is over powered.
(Or the solder shorts were over amping it?)
I notice a trim pot on the board.
Maybe you can turn the power down with that?
You could probably turn it down by replacing one or more of the other diodes/resistors, but I forget how to do that especially without a schematic diagram.
It was a chore sourcing those kind of parts at the time so I made my own rectifier with four power diodes that I had on hand.
If you just replace the fuse with lower current value, you'll probably just keep blowing the fuse.
That whole board is over powered.
(Or the solder shorts were over amping it?)
I notice a trim pot on the board.
Maybe you can turn the power down with that?
You could probably turn it down by replacing one or more of the other diodes/resistors, but I forget how to do that especially without a schematic diagram.
JedidiahStolzfus
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Lancaster, PA
No trim pot on this board. This welder would act really funny sometimes feeding wire after the button was released. I'm wonder if that was the solder shorts I scraped off and those also caused the blown rectifier.
#1 and I just got done running lights around the menu boards. They turn on with the interior lights, figure if we need the interior lights, the menu boards need lit too. Pictures after it gets dark. We're experimenting out there for dinner tonight. Meatloaf sammiches on ciabatta rolls with a good cheese, tater skins on the side and some fried chicken since my wife doesn't like ground beef dinners. Wife and I cook in the trailer and the kids hang out at the tables we have setup near it. Its a really nice evening for it.
I also built a pair of screens over the serving window. We have to have it to pass inspection. The both slide open, but only one is needed to open to pass orders out.
PCeBiker
Well-Known Member
- Region
- Canada
Trim potentiometer number 1
A trim pot is an adjustable resistor.
I have them to adjust the voltage for my power supplies.
JedidiahStolzfus
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Lancaster, PA
Top to bottom in your first picture is a diode, an electrolytic cap, and a transistor.
PCeBiker
Well-Known Member
- Region
- Canada
JedidiahStolzfus
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Lancaster, PA
Got the lights around the menu boards running. I had to pull one side down and put up a new strip.
We did dinner out there again tonight as a test. Our menu is mostly comfort, stick to your ribs, type foods. Tonight was Mashed tater bowls. A big glop of mashed tater, topped with shredded cheddar, bacon and gravy with some pieces of fried chicken. The chicken is sliced breasts, that spend 24 hours in seasoned buttermilk, the twice breaded, the last one is in panko. We made most stuff inside except the chicken it was fried out there, then brought everything out and loaded up the steam table. I then served in the types of containers we'd be using, through the new screen.
We did dinner out there again tonight as a test. Our menu is mostly comfort, stick to your ribs, type foods. Tonight was Mashed tater bowls. A big glop of mashed tater, topped with shredded cheddar, bacon and gravy with some pieces of fried chicken. The chicken is sliced breasts, that spend 24 hours in seasoned buttermilk, the twice breaded, the last one is in panko. We made most stuff inside except the chicken it was fried out there, then brought everything out and loaded up the steam table. I then served in the types of containers we'd be using, through the new screen.
Similar threads
