Thinking back on my problems with the TB22EC weed eater, I think adding Castor oil to the mix provided to much lubrication, too much slickness. We know that Castor oil morphs into a longer molecule when heated and in fact gets slicker. Also it burns at a higher temperature, and thus is not consumed in the combustion process. Model airplane enthusiasts do not like the Castor oil as it leaves a mess to clean up. But the mess means things are indeed getting lubricated. Small price to pay. It is the same lubricant used in WW-I airplane engines and is why you see the pilots with it all over their faces except where their goggles protect them. Castor oil used as a lubricant is the same stuff mothers use to dose their kids with to improve their bowl movements. It is said WW-I pilots did not have constipation problems!
Well not all of oil anyway is consumed. But that is not a bad thing as the oil expelled also carries away some of the heat generated by the engine so it acts as a coolant. Those are good things but maybe to much goodness for the engine or at least the piston rings. So I will rein in my use of Castor oil in the mix.
MTD also says that the engine must absolutely have at least a 40:1 oil ratio. A lot of folks and even little plastic bottles of oil say you can run on less oil. And the oil is synthetic meaning among other things it has a lower temperature of combustion. So in an effort to keep the power head clean with little or no oil residue, the lubricant is supposed to be consumed. They advertise the oils as "ashless." Not sure what that means but seems to indicate that the lubricant will be consumed and produce no untoward exhaust products. A 40:1 ratio means at least 2.3 ounces of oil per gallon of fuel, so must avoid those little bottles of oil, use more not less.
Couple all of that with California emissions rules, the engines tend to run lean. Lean burn so to speak and that leads to higher operating temperatures. So we are at the mercy of California rules even though we are miles and miles away from California. They have removed the slots from the ends of the fuel adjustments on the carbs. I am inclined to use my Dremel and cut some slots so that I can tinker with the settings. After all I have spare carbs I can use for this experiment.
At any rate the new weed eater is running just fine. Maybe a couple of tanks of fuel through it already; as it does edging, weed eating and blowing at least twice a week. And I know for a fact the oil ratio is probably closer to 30:1 at the moment. And by ear I can tell the engine is not overrunning RPM wise. The fuel also has some gunk (that is what I call it) to keep the gas from going stale (turning into to much varnish). The reason for that is the new one came with a packet of the stuff to add to the fuel. So it has all the sweet stuff in it to make it go.
We shall see how long this one lasts.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Gave Up The Ghost . . .
The Troybuilt TB 22 EC string trimmer gave up the ghost. Actually, I had two of them. Both are shot. One froze up. So I took it apart. This time I started from the back end instead from the front end where the controls and stub shaft are located. Took the rear cover off and got almost immediate access to the cylinder head.
The cylinder head was held on by two bolts. Both of these were tight but easily removed. I removed the carb assembly and the short intake stack. That was pretty easy too. Total of four bolts for that assembly.
Then I removed the piston head assembly along with the attached muffler. I later removed the muffler for convenience. Later I had to remove the stub shaft and clutch to remove the front engine cover. That was easy to do also.
Frankly I am getting good at this. I can tear these Troybuilts (BTW they are now an MTD product) down in a half hour our so. I know what to do to get parts off of it.
Finally, I removed the cylinder head assembly. I came off pretty easy. It has an 0-ring seal and that;s about it. But first I removed the back crankcase cover plate. It came off very easy. But to my dismay, there were a few bits of metal floating around inside. I cleaned that up.
When I got the head off, the piston came out easy. Since it had frozen up I figure it would be hard but no it came right out of cylinder head assembly. The top ring was okay but the second ring looked frozen in place (not good). The sides of the piston were scored here and there. I concluded the end cap for the connecting rod had come out and was ground up into little pieces take bits of the piston with it.
So now I can use a new piston and new rings, The cylinder walls looked good. Evidently, that material is a far better grade of material than the piston and ring assembly. The piston took the brunt of the damages, the cylinder itself after clean up look quite good. The lower crank bearing looked and felt good. So all I need is the piston and rings to fix her up.
Do you think you could find that on the Internet. Well no, you can find an assembly with piston, connecting rod, rings, lower case, bearings, shaft and 0-rings for $60 plus shipping. You can not just get a piston, rings, and wrist pin covers.
So I got a new one weedeater just like the old ones. The reasons is simple, we have an electric starter to crank that model. I noted other brands, similar engine but no access for electric starter. I now know I could have gotten a lesser brand, swapped the back cover for the engine that contains the set up for the electric starter. I could simply put the cover off the old weedeater on the new one and I would have it made. Next go round I will do that. Save about $40.
Mean while if you know where I can get a piston, rings and wrist pin covers let me know.
The cylinder head was held on by two bolts. Both of these were tight but easily removed. I removed the carb assembly and the short intake stack. That was pretty easy too. Total of four bolts for that assembly.
Then I removed the piston head assembly along with the attached muffler. I later removed the muffler for convenience. Later I had to remove the stub shaft and clutch to remove the front engine cover. That was easy to do also.
Frankly I am getting good at this. I can tear these Troybuilts (BTW they are now an MTD product) down in a half hour our so. I know what to do to get parts off of it.
Finally, I removed the cylinder head assembly. I came off pretty easy. It has an 0-ring seal and that;s about it. But first I removed the back crankcase cover plate. It came off very easy. But to my dismay, there were a few bits of metal floating around inside. I cleaned that up.
When I got the head off, the piston came out easy. Since it had frozen up I figure it would be hard but no it came right out of cylinder head assembly. The top ring was okay but the second ring looked frozen in place (not good). The sides of the piston were scored here and there. I concluded the end cap for the connecting rod had come out and was ground up into little pieces take bits of the piston with it.
So now I can use a new piston and new rings, The cylinder walls looked good. Evidently, that material is a far better grade of material than the piston and ring assembly. The piston took the brunt of the damages, the cylinder itself after clean up look quite good. The lower crank bearing looked and felt good. So all I need is the piston and rings to fix her up.
Do you think you could find that on the Internet. Well no, you can find an assembly with piston, connecting rod, rings, lower case, bearings, shaft and 0-rings for $60 plus shipping. You can not just get a piston, rings, and wrist pin covers.
So I got a new one weedeater just like the old ones. The reasons is simple, we have an electric starter to crank that model. I noted other brands, similar engine but no access for electric starter. I now know I could have gotten a lesser brand, swapped the back cover for the engine that contains the set up for the electric starter. I could simply put the cover off the old weedeater on the new one and I would have it made. Next go round I will do that. Save about $40.
Mean while if you know where I can get a piston, rings and wrist pin covers let me know.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
The Paper Shredder . . .
Like most households we have a paper shredder. We get these credit card offers, you know the kind, "Sign here for your new credit card." Of course, that kind of stuff has to be ground up into little bitty shreds. Thus we have a paper shredder.
But like all things half mechanical and half electrical with a tad bit of electronics, it jams up. Not a big deal, just take out the trusty long nosed pliers and pull the shreds out of the jaws. But lately the automatic shut off has failed to function. So it keeps on running after it has done its duty.
After while it fixed itself. So I figured there is a sensor that gets jammed, covered, pushed out of place, whatever, that keeps it running. At first I thought it was sophisticated with an electronic eye sensor but soon came to my senses. This machine is not that expensive, ergo it has to be a pressure switch of some sort. I have not found it yet.
But I have figured out that some of the shreds get spun around and packed in behind the "shredder knives." The knives are a serrated set of wheels on a common shaft that interface with two rows of cutters so to speak. It grabs the paper and pulls it through and messing knives slice and dice the paper. But some of the slice and dice get caught up and lodge behind (or above) the knives. And eventually, it really packs in there.
So I take if off its stand, turn it over and precede to "unpack it." I use a variety of tools: an Exacto knife(with a #10 blade), two different sets of long nose pliers (one set is very long, the other set does a better job of pulling the shreds out), a small kitchen paring knife and a very long small cross point screw driver. No I do not need to unscrew anything, it is just long enough to reach way down in the innards to fish out paper shreds. The paring knife does its share of fishing too.
I do some shaking and tilting, cussing and pulling and eventually I get all the paper shreds out of it.
And when it is cleaned out, the sensor must become uncovered as it starts to work properly again. I have not found it yet but does not matter if it works.
About every six months or so, or every five or six bags of shredded material, I have to do the job. But it keeps on going and, of course, we must keep on shredding things up.
What fun we have, right?
But like all things half mechanical and half electrical with a tad bit of electronics, it jams up. Not a big deal, just take out the trusty long nosed pliers and pull the shreds out of the jaws. But lately the automatic shut off has failed to function. So it keeps on running after it has done its duty.
After while it fixed itself. So I figured there is a sensor that gets jammed, covered, pushed out of place, whatever, that keeps it running. At first I thought it was sophisticated with an electronic eye sensor but soon came to my senses. This machine is not that expensive, ergo it has to be a pressure switch of some sort. I have not found it yet.
But I have figured out that some of the shreds get spun around and packed in behind the "shredder knives." The knives are a serrated set of wheels on a common shaft that interface with two rows of cutters so to speak. It grabs the paper and pulls it through and messing knives slice and dice the paper. But some of the slice and dice get caught up and lodge behind (or above) the knives. And eventually, it really packs in there.
So I take if off its stand, turn it over and precede to "unpack it." I use a variety of tools: an Exacto knife(with a #10 blade), two different sets of long nose pliers (one set is very long, the other set does a better job of pulling the shreds out), a small kitchen paring knife and a very long small cross point screw driver. No I do not need to unscrew anything, it is just long enough to reach way down in the innards to fish out paper shreds. The paring knife does its share of fishing too.
I do some shaking and tilting, cussing and pulling and eventually I get all the paper shreds out of it.
And when it is cleaned out, the sensor must become uncovered as it starts to work properly again. I have not found it yet but does not matter if it works.
About every six months or so, or every five or six bags of shredded material, I have to do the job. But it keeps on going and, of course, we must keep on shredding things up.
What fun we have, right?
Monday, June 17, 2013
Rain This AM . . .
We had a thunderstorm blow in this AM about 7:15 or so. Probably got a tenth of inch or so of rain. Good for the grass and trees. Cleans out the atmosphere and washes off the tree leaves and they look much better. But then it is like a tonic to the grass that just got fertilized.
So probably grass cutting this PM. If not it will get out of control. I'll fire up the weed eater, do the edging, weed trimming and then set up the blower for Judie. I am not trusted with blowing duties, she has her pet standards. If you are a piece of debris; look out, you gonna get blown away.
She has her book club Tuesday and I have been summarily banned from the premises. Go somewhere, does not matter where, but be gone.
Thursday, she launches for Madison and taste of young grandchildren. She loves it but will be totally worn out by the time she returns. And they know she is coming and are waiting with baited breath for her to arrive. Seriously, she provides a small respite for the parents who love it.
She will be back Monday and just in time to, well you know, cut the grass again. Such is life amongst us old folks, moving from one grass cutting to the next.
And the Fourth of July is coming up.
Update. It was 0.7 inches of rain. A goodly amount. To top it off, we had yet another thunder storm come through this morning, the 18th of June, and got yet another 0.9 inches of rain. Pretty soon, if this keeps up, we will be a rain forest - not.
So probably grass cutting this PM. If not it will get out of control. I'll fire up the weed eater, do the edging, weed trimming and then set up the blower for Judie. I am not trusted with blowing duties, she has her pet standards. If you are a piece of debris; look out, you gonna get blown away.
She has her book club Tuesday and I have been summarily banned from the premises. Go somewhere, does not matter where, but be gone.
Thursday, she launches for Madison and taste of young grandchildren. She loves it but will be totally worn out by the time she returns. And they know she is coming and are waiting with baited breath for her to arrive. Seriously, she provides a small respite for the parents who love it.
She will be back Monday and just in time to, well you know, cut the grass again. Such is life amongst us old folks, moving from one grass cutting to the next.
And the Fourth of July is coming up.
Update. It was 0.7 inches of rain. A goodly amount. To top it off, we had yet another thunder storm come through this morning, the 18th of June, and got yet another 0.9 inches of rain. Pretty soon, if this keeps up, we will be a rain forest - not.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Tuscaloosa Marine Shale Is Heating Up . . .
Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) oil wells are heating up - in Mississippi. Just north of West Feliciana Parish lies Wilkenson County. There in resides a new productive well drilled by Goodrich (no, not the tire company). Goodrich has been reporting their production figures in "barrels of oil equivalent."
They have also added a disclaimer behind that figure that says 93% oil. That means there are other minerals being produced such as natural gas, and natural gas fluids. Some folks are critical of that BOE - barrels of oil equivalent, in that it kind of hides the real oil quantity. But it seems to be legitimate number. Those wells are producing around 200 BOE per day, a respectful amount of production.
They have drilled several additional wells and things seem to be equally good. The decline curve seems to be holding up, that is the wells are continuing to produce as opposed to declining as has been found in Austin Chalk wells. Of course, many claim that Austin Chalk wells are being improperly drilled and "mudded" up the strata. What that means is that excessive use of mud has garbaged up the formation and inhibits the flow of oil.
Others have said that the long laterals drilled are set up improperly and collapse which inhibits the flow of oil also. Does not matter, it seems the production companies have yet to figure out how to drill and extract minerals in the Austin Chalk strata.
TMS is shale. Harder material in general but not naturally fractured. So it must be fracked. Fracking is nothing more than putting a great deal of fluid pressure on the strata causing it to open up. The Fracking fluids sometimes also contain sand to hold those minute cracks open. TMS is also below the Austin Chalk but above the Tuscaloosa Trend starta that has produced deep gas.
A new Fracking process has been used in the Permian Basin in west Texas. Slick Fracking uses fluids some of which encourage the flow of oil. A geologist tried that process out around Miland/Odessa and sparked a new boom there in oil production. He processed a different strata that heretofore had been ignored. Now things are going great guns again in the basin.
Perhaps that is the secret to Austin Chalk, slick Fracking. Who knows until we have some drilling outfit try it.
They have also added a disclaimer behind that figure that says 93% oil. That means there are other minerals being produced such as natural gas, and natural gas fluids. Some folks are critical of that BOE - barrels of oil equivalent, in that it kind of hides the real oil quantity. But it seems to be legitimate number. Those wells are producing around 200 BOE per day, a respectful amount of production.
They have drilled several additional wells and things seem to be equally good. The decline curve seems to be holding up, that is the wells are continuing to produce as opposed to declining as has been found in Austin Chalk wells. Of course, many claim that Austin Chalk wells are being improperly drilled and "mudded" up the strata. What that means is that excessive use of mud has garbaged up the formation and inhibits the flow of oil.
Others have said that the long laterals drilled are set up improperly and collapse which inhibits the flow of oil also. Does not matter, it seems the production companies have yet to figure out how to drill and extract minerals in the Austin Chalk strata.
TMS is shale. Harder material in general but not naturally fractured. So it must be fracked. Fracking is nothing more than putting a great deal of fluid pressure on the strata causing it to open up. The Fracking fluids sometimes also contain sand to hold those minute cracks open. TMS is also below the Austin Chalk but above the Tuscaloosa Trend starta that has produced deep gas.
A new Fracking process has been used in the Permian Basin in west Texas. Slick Fracking uses fluids some of which encourage the flow of oil. A geologist tried that process out around Miland/Odessa and sparked a new boom there in oil production. He processed a different strata that heretofore had been ignored. Now things are going great guns again in the basin.
Perhaps that is the secret to Austin Chalk, slick Fracking. Who knows until we have some drilling outfit try it.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Judie Is Gearing Up . . .
Judie needs a shot of "Grandmothering." That is she yearns to see her grandchildren in Madison, Wisconsin. She needs this rejuvenation about three or four times a year. She got the itch a week or two back and in cahoots with son, Jake, has acquired a plane ticket to Madison for a short visit. She will leave on a Thursday and return on a Monday, apparently the most opportune flying times.
She collects her stuff, things for grands. And she provides a built in baby sitter for son and daughter-in-law for a weekend. Gives them a respite from two youngsters, one a baby and one just out of toddler stage. They are Will and Jane with Jane being the baby.
Once a year I join her and drive up to Madison. I rarely fly anymore; I avoid it if I can. And as a consequence have not flown in maybe five or six years. Just do not see putting up the with TSA and BS to fly. So I just don't fly. I do not mind the driving even in bad weather.
But we usually go up there together in late summer early fall time of the year. And we can cart more stuff up there like rocking horses and the like in the SUVs. I especially like driving through Oklahoma, up the eastern side, intersect with the Interstate going across Missouri at "Big Cabin, OK" From there it is a short run to Joplin, MO. and off across Missouri. We stop in Rolla, far enough for one day's drive from Texas and close enough to be a bit more than half way to Madison. I have often thought of stopping at Fort Lenard Wood where my brother, John, took his basic training but decided the Army is just to primitive for me. Rolla is a nice town, about 90 miles from St Louis.
I enjoy driving up through Illinois too. Out side of Springfield (Land of Lincoln) it becomes some what flat country with farm after farm. The terrain changes as one crosses into Wisconsin. It gets a bit more hilly or rolling country with dells and such. Pretty quickly after crossing into Wisconsin, we are at Madison. Overall it is a little more than 900 miles, maybe 950 or so one way. A good two day trip.
We stay a while doing our grand parent thing, then pack up and charge back. On the way back we stop in Springfield, MO. Arrive in time to enjoy a good meal, and get a full nights rest. Up in the AM heading for the Big Cabin turn off to head down towards McAllester and on into Texas. I have been to McAllester many times to visit the Army Ammunition Plant on business. We stop there for a potty break and get a fresh soda pop and hit the road heading toward Durant (big indian casino, Cherokee I think) and cross the Red River just below the Lake Texoma dam. We cruise on to McKinney and turn right on US 80 (could be 180 or 280 - east to west running road that is four lane and avoids the toll roads).
We turn south at Denton driving past our old haunt, Argyle, on to the environs of Fort Worth, turn right again on I-30 heading for home. About five miles or so from home I-30 intersccts with I-20 and stays that way until out in west Texas past Midland -Odessa area where I-20 intersects with I-10. But we get way back at Weatherford. Big state, Texas, where Interstate highways coalesce into each other, one two, three. Having driven across in a number of times I can tell you it is 850 from south Louisiana to New Mexico border. Good thing that we live in the northeast sector of Texas.
And we are home again. And usually, the grass needs to be cut. Yeah, we know we are home again.
She collects her stuff, things for grands. And she provides a built in baby sitter for son and daughter-in-law for a weekend. Gives them a respite from two youngsters, one a baby and one just out of toddler stage. They are Will and Jane with Jane being the baby.
Once a year I join her and drive up to Madison. I rarely fly anymore; I avoid it if I can. And as a consequence have not flown in maybe five or six years. Just do not see putting up the with TSA and BS to fly. So I just don't fly. I do not mind the driving even in bad weather.
But we usually go up there together in late summer early fall time of the year. And we can cart more stuff up there like rocking horses and the like in the SUVs. I especially like driving through Oklahoma, up the eastern side, intersect with the Interstate going across Missouri at "Big Cabin, OK" From there it is a short run to Joplin, MO. and off across Missouri. We stop in Rolla, far enough for one day's drive from Texas and close enough to be a bit more than half way to Madison. I have often thought of stopping at Fort Lenard Wood where my brother, John, took his basic training but decided the Army is just to primitive for me. Rolla is a nice town, about 90 miles from St Louis.
I enjoy driving up through Illinois too. Out side of Springfield (Land of Lincoln) it becomes some what flat country with farm after farm. The terrain changes as one crosses into Wisconsin. It gets a bit more hilly or rolling country with dells and such. Pretty quickly after crossing into Wisconsin, we are at Madison. Overall it is a little more than 900 miles, maybe 950 or so one way. A good two day trip.
We stay a while doing our grand parent thing, then pack up and charge back. On the way back we stop in Springfield, MO. Arrive in time to enjoy a good meal, and get a full nights rest. Up in the AM heading for the Big Cabin turn off to head down towards McAllester and on into Texas. I have been to McAllester many times to visit the Army Ammunition Plant on business. We stop there for a potty break and get a fresh soda pop and hit the road heading toward Durant (big indian casino, Cherokee I think) and cross the Red River just below the Lake Texoma dam. We cruise on to McKinney and turn right on US 80 (could be 180 or 280 - east to west running road that is four lane and avoids the toll roads).
We turn south at Denton driving past our old haunt, Argyle, on to the environs of Fort Worth, turn right again on I-30 heading for home. About five miles or so from home I-30 intersccts with I-20 and stays that way until out in west Texas past Midland -Odessa area where I-20 intersects with I-10. But we get way back at Weatherford. Big state, Texas, where Interstate highways coalesce into each other, one two, three. Having driven across in a number of times I can tell you it is 850 from south Louisiana to New Mexico border. Good thing that we live in the northeast sector of Texas.
And we are home again. And usually, the grass needs to be cut. Yeah, we know we are home again.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
More Kites . . .
The Kite family is back. While walking this AM saw three of them roosting in the dead tree in front of Andrus' house on Forest Park. They like that tree. No foliage to obstruct their view of the surroundings. And when there is a fledgling, it usually sits there while its parents do the foraging for it.
All in all I counted nine Kites all in close proximity of the dead tree. Four were across the street and then I say two more off in the distance on power poles. Resting up I am sure after their long flight from South America.
Now we will see them soaring over the neighborhood. Soon they will select trees for their nests. They are not great nest builders but usually use the crotch of a oak tree to situate themselves. They do not seem to use the same location ever again. But it will be near enough for us to know that they prefer our quite neighborhood to spend the summer months.
There are literally hundreds of Post Oak trees in the area. Also some native Live Oaks and of course, the Shumars that have been planted. There are also some Barkley Oaks, another native. With Lake Weatherford not more than a quarter of mile in the distance, and plenty of roosting spots, they will stay with us.
It is a small thing, but it is our thing. Rachel Carson would be happy.
All in all I counted nine Kites all in close proximity of the dead tree. Four were across the street and then I say two more off in the distance on power poles. Resting up I am sure after their long flight from South America.
Now we will see them soaring over the neighborhood. Soon they will select trees for their nests. They are not great nest builders but usually use the crotch of a oak tree to situate themselves. They do not seem to use the same location ever again. But it will be near enough for us to know that they prefer our quite neighborhood to spend the summer months.
There are literally hundreds of Post Oak trees in the area. Also some native Live Oaks and of course, the Shumars that have been planted. There are also some Barkley Oaks, another native. With Lake Weatherford not more than a quarter of mile in the distance, and plenty of roosting spots, they will stay with us.
It is a small thing, but it is our thing. Rachel Carson would be happy.
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