WK 1"finding open circuits, high resistent voltage drops and shorts"

Spring quarter just started and we are jumping right into Electrical. During the first week of instruction we began talking about current flow, had a nice discussion and exercise on electrons and how they flow. We also talked about resistance in which Jeff gave us nice demonstration by burning up some wires. It was a great beginning to the quarter. We also discussed Kirchhoff's law and said our prayer many times, "no current flow, no voltage drop!!!!"  Our assignments for the first week mostly had to do with determining whether or not we had open circuits or high resistance voltage drops on light and motor test boards.

Above is a picture of a light board with a HR/VD or high resistance voltage drop which I was able to located on the power side of the circuit. Below is two pictures of a similar test board which had an open circuit on the ground side that I was easily able to identify.

Apart from just doing light test boards we also worked on finding similar problems on motor test boards which a basically the same thing. how ever at the end of the week we were asked and shown how to locate short circuits on test boards both light and motor. At first I thought oh this will be much easier than the last time I had to do this and it was. I'm not saying that shorts are easy to find but going through similar motions with a better understanding made it much easier this time.

I think the highlight of my week was being able to help others understand the electrical we are studying a little better and maybe learn a little from the help I was able to provide to some of my peers. The main thing I learned during this week was that when some thing seems to be working just fine and you cant find the problem even though you know there is one, is to go back to the beginning/the basics. This came about when I had a problem with a motor test board, the problem was that everything seem to be just fine. My first though was oh this test board must just be a joke, I went and grabbed my instructor for some help. He came out asked what the problem was and I told him. He switched the first switch on the board that was supposed to open the circuit and it didn't. He simply looked at me and walked back to his office. I think he saw the look on my face, the duh look. I new right away what the problem was, me not starting out in the beginning/ the basics.

WK 1
Hours 18

"More work on the 1998 International project"

So we have gotten almost to the end of the 1998 International project. Since my last update we have managed to cut off about half of the rear part of the frame, fabricate legs with casters allowing us to roll it around.

We had our instructor order us two 8" heavy duty casters with brakes that would fit our 4" square tube legs. They did, after that it was just a matter of drilling 2 holes in the frame rail (thanks Jeff) we were able to bolt the legs on too the frame. It definitely rolls but not with out some pushing.





One of the other things I was able to do was to eliminate lots of loose sensor and other computer wiring off
 the engine3 and tidy up the wiring we need. While doing this I was able to attach ends that would allow us to probe different parts of the computer allowing us to see what is going on inside if need be.

After getting rid of the extra wiring I was able to find a good mounting spot for the pedal on the frame rail where the cab used to be mounted. I then began the task of finding and fabricating a panel to mount the key switch. After find an old piece of aluminum and drilling a couple of holes I was able to bolt it right on the side of the engine.

There is still more to be done but a lot less than there was a couple of weeks ago.

Week 6 "Making The Stone True" & "Sharpening Drill Bits"

So one of the many things I learned this quarter was how to true or dress a grinding wheel. It wasn't hard to learn or understand it was the simple fact that I had never actually seen a grinding wheel dressed or even tried to myself.

The tool I used to dress this grinding wheel is called a grinding wheel dresser/ dressing tool. Its a very messy job, there tends to be a lot of dust. However it does not take very long considering your wheel isn't to bad. if it is I would recommend a respirator.

 One of the reasons we were shown how to properly dress a grinding wheel, was so that we would have a even grinding surface for sharpening tools. Specifically a drill bit.

The drill bit I sharpened because I actually needed it for another project was a 13/32. it wasn't to dull when I began so all I really needed to do was crisp up the edges. I did not use a bit sharpening tool, I just used my hands. This went smooth and was very simple. However what I didn't know and had to look up was what angle in degrees the tip would need to have to perform properly. After watching one youtube video and checking a couple different web sites I found that it needed to be at 59 deg.

Even though this was a pretty simple and small task I now know how and feel comfortable at dressing a grinding wheel and if my drill bits dull in a matter of minutes I will have it sharpened correctly.

Week 4 "The Difference Between Lubed and Unlubed Fasteners"

During the last week of class we were given a short demonstration by our instructor on determining the  highest clamping force compared with the amount of ft. lbs. used to get it there. Using the set up below, we were to test our choice of grade of bolt and put it in this 50ton jack pre-load the fastener using the jack and take the fastener to failure while recording the ft. lbs. of torque and the corresponding clamping force.

 I chose to take 2 grade 5 half inch fasteners one lubed, one not and start out at 50 ft. lbs.and take each bolt and add 25 ft. lbs of torque at time until each failed.

 I was able to take both the lubed and non lubed fasteners to over 125 ft. lbs. of torque and over 15,000 pounds of clamping force. The difference being that it took less ft. lbs of torque for the lubed fastener to reach a higher clamping force than the non lubed fastener. For instance at 131 ft. lbs just before failure the lubed fastener had a clamping force of nearly 17,000 lbs, where as the non lubed bolt only reached 15,350 lbs. of clamping force with over 150 ft. lbs. of torque. It was easy for me to see the point of this assignment and I enjoyed doing it. That being said, with a lubed fastener you will reach a higher clamping force with less ft. lbs. of torque applied.

Week 4
Shop Hours 17
Total Running Hours 87ish

Week 5 The progress on the 1998 International project "Its Alive"

Over the last week we have made great progress on the International project. We were able to test the engine and determine that it was indeed turning over. We then set out on a mission to hook up the fuel lines and loop our coolant lines by bypassing what would be the heater core and start working on the electrical. The coolant lines and fuel lines were easy enough, however the electrical wasn't so smooth.

 The first problem I ran into was finding all the wiring connections we would need to get the key switch to work, power up the computer so the engine would stay running assuming we could get it running and hooking up the throttle pedal. After spending most of my day in the shop and some time with my instructor we were able to find everything we needed left over from the scrap of the truck

With a lot of learning and researching of schematics we were able to get power to the computer, the throttle pedal working and the key switch barely working. We were able to get the engine running and to stay running, the only problem being the engine would only stay running with the key in the start position. As soon as you released the key the engine would die. We were fairly quick to determine that we had a mix up in some wires at the key switch. We were then able to go back fix the problem and had the engine running at a good idle for several minutes. There was a lot learned this last week, for me it was all about the electrical side. With a bit of help and instruction I broke down the electrical schematic and was able find and put power to everything on this engine that it needs to run.

Week 5
Shop Hours 19
Total Running Hours 110-115

"Cutting out a drop axle" and "Scrapping a cab"

 During this last week of class one of my main focuses has been on preparing a drop axle to be able set on stands similar to the picture below. At first I thought it would be rather quick and easy and in the end it didn't take me to long. However I did run into a few issues.

 The first issue I ran into was someone had welded the axle itself to the frame with the airbags. I noticed this after cutting the U bolts off one side and nothing happening. After realizing that the axle had been welded I tried to grind the weld out but was unsuccessful.

 The next plan of attack was to cut the air bags and as much of the assembly away from the axle making it as light as possible. I began by making cuts on either side. This is when I ran into my next little problem, a little thing called rust. The inside of the frame was so rusty that I was having to blow the molten metal out of my cut line and come back and burn away the rust. After spending about 15 minutes on a cut that should have taken 2. I grabbed the biggest hammer in reach and set out smacking the rusted steel off the inside of the other half of the frame, my next cuts went a whole lot faster.

 

 Another one of my tasks last week was to remove everything from the cab of the truck so it could be sent to scrap. This was actually a very interesting day, I have never taken the air-conditioning out of a vehicle and that was just one of the things I had to remove from the cab.

In the end it was a lot of little screws,nuts and wiring connectors. Plus some added patience and a big chisel for all the fasteners that were so rusted I couldn't get them apart.

The next thing I started on was the sorting out of all the wiring for the engine, and the coolant lines so that we can hopefully in the future here have a running engine that we and future classes may be able to work with.

There was a lot learned for me this last week, from locating and sorting out the main wiring harnesses needed for an engine to run, to the removal of the AC unit out of the cab of a heavy duty truck. I would say the thing I ended up learning and appreciating the most was how bad rust can really affect the cutting of steel with a torch. I have always known rust is bad wherever it may be but definitely didn't know it could make cutting with a torch so difficult. Lesson learned!

Week #3
Shop Hours 16
Total Hours 23
Running Hours 60ish

Disassembly of an International Semi Truck

Over the last week and a half it has been mine and some of my other peers assignment to disassemble an old International Semi truck and scrap everything except for all three axles the engine the dash and all wiring harnesses.

We started out by getting the truck in the shop so we would be able to properly work on it. This wasn't the easiest of tasks considering there was no transmission or air in the system to free the brakes or steer. After caging the air cans and freeing up the brakes we gathered around for a good old pushing match, we won!

 

After getting the truck inside we began to pull off the doors, hood, fuel tanks,seats,dash and exhaust.

We ended up with quite a pile of stuff, I thought one of the funnest but mind blowing parts so far during this assignment. Was disconnecting all the wiring running to and from the dash, then removing a bundle of wires that will make your head spin. I definitely learned that even in an older truck with out all the the computers, there is still a lot going on electrically in these types of vehicles.

After removing the insides of the cab, we were then able to focus on removing the cab. We did so by strapping the cab so it would sit level we hoisted, then disconnected the 14 bolts holding on and hoisted it off the frame and it was as simple as that.

One of the next tasks we set out on was to unbolt the drop axle from the frame so we could remove the whole drop axle assembly from the frame allowing us to remove the actual axle from the air bags and frame part of the assembly.

As you can see we managed get the drop axle out and it was not easy, it took either a 1" air gun and most of the fasteners had to either be heated with and induction tool or a torch. Actually the last 2 fasteners had to be cut out by your truly. One of the most interesting things I learned throughout the removal of this axle assembly was how to use a the heating induction tool, I had never seen one before and was surprised at how good it actually worked. Although I think it would work better on nuts without nyloc. Also, fun fact this axle weighed in at 1,285 lbs.

I think the thing that I have had to keep reminding myself throughout this project is, this truck was put together, it didn't magically appear. So every time I run into the situation of  how do I get this apart and start getting frustrated. Is to not run to the nearest person for help but to sit back and think about it.

Week 1 & 2
Shop Hours 26