SPQ13 Owen

This last week was Great! I spent most of the week either reading Owners/Operators Manual for the Bobcat  trying to understand what all was happening with the group assignment (travel motors,ETC.) or working with Logan on the Forklift transmission. Ending the week today with a trip down to Kenworth in Renton, this was awesome!

The group assignment went well. I feel that together as a group through our own individual research and group discussion we really came to understand what was going on with the travel motors from beginning to end. I know that without the teamwork and especially the class discussion I would still have a few questions.

Now the Forklift  transmission project I have been working on with Logan has gone good. We have finished cleaning almost all of the parts and have begun to reassemble the transmission. When it came time to put the retaining rings back in the clutch cylinders we had to fabricate our own tool to use in the 100 ton press in order to get the snap rings back on, this was fun. Can't wait to get back at it.

I ended the week today with a trip to Kenworth, wow. I was very impressed with what I saw today. Whole trucks being assembled in hours. I have never seen anything like that and left there in awe. Thanks again Tom and Jeff for making that happen.

Week 7
Hours 26

I Don't know why last weeks post(week 5) didn't get posted, I'm a little upset. I had a great week, It was absolutely awesome getting to go down to B&G Thanks Tom and Jeff. I had some good shop time on the Parker test bench and the dis-assembly and reassembly of a hydraulic piston pump(one of the pistons was broken).There was much more but I can't remember what I wrote.

Week 5
Hours 17-18

SPQ 13 Owen

Wow! A very busy week for me! A lot of life's surprises outside school made it tough for me to spend as much time in the shop as I would have liked too. However I did manage to finish the Cat Basics Hydraulics, get a little bit more simulator time, finished Parker test bench and had some serious fun on the Bobcat.

The Cat Basics Hydraulics was very straight forward. I felt pretty comfortable reading simple Hydraulic schematics, yet when it came time to tell the difference between pumps in parallel and series I had some trouble but Cat Basics worked it out for me and now I got it.

The simulator time I had this week was pretty little. The control familiarization is easy in practice but much harder in exam, its hard to tell the heights when moving the bucket up or down. It was also hard to get on due to others needing to use it as well, yet I could have spent more time when I was on. To be honest I don't like the simulator at all, but I guess I got to just get through it. I need to put more time in and just do it.

I had some great learning with a few others on the Parker test bench on Wednesday. I finished up 1-10 and then 10-15 for fun. I had a few small set backs mostly due to me not reading the questions right, oops. I really do enjoy when I can work with some one who is on the same page as me when it comes to completing a task. Thanks Logan!

Friday Fun Day, Friday was fun! I definitely understand the whole reason and technique behind silver soldering, Thanks Jeff and all the others for the discussion. The Bobcat, now that was fun. It has been about 5 years since I have really touched hydraulic controls, I was a little touchy at first, but all those years of running cranes/booms/blocks/launchers/windlass/winches and everything else on fishing vessels of several sizes and fisheries came running back. I was able to stack 7 out of 8 tires the second time on and that felt nice.

Week 6
Hours 17
Total  Hours 89

SPQ13-Owen

In week four I have spent a little bit of time on the simulator and hydraulic board, both interesting and frustrating. I decided I needed a little help with being able to read and understand hydraulic schematics and symbols. After spending quite a bit of time jumping from google images to different websites I did find some help. I ended up printing off some simple symbols chart and this has helped me " better" understand some schematics more so the couple I have looked at around the shop.

As far as the simulator goes I thought the practice walk around was pretty basic and the practice controls were pretty straight forward. I definitely need to spend some more time on it.

By the end of the week I had finished 4 of the fittings boxes  I for some reason started with 6,5,7 the hardest so far, I did box 2 today it was pretty easy. I really hope 1 and 4 ( the last ones) are as easy.

This week I didn't take any  hydraulic pump, valve etc. apart. I have in the past on boats to check for leaks or to clean. ( not saying I have a full understanding ) However I have never disassemble and reassemble a piston pump! If I can find one that is my objective tomorrow, along with some simulator time.


WEEK 4
19hrs

SPQ13 Owen

I'm Ending week three with the feeling that I have a good grasp on basic electrical systems and feeling comfortable enough to help my uncle fix the lights on his utility trailer, which felt good. ( Ground wire was disconnected inside the frame, easy fix now that I know what I'm doing :) I was also excited to get into hydraulics. I thought the Lethal Strike video was on point. I have worked on some big crab and cod boats with lots of hydraulics big and small I have dealt with a lot of broken hoses, leaky connections, bent/broken and leaky Rams (probably not the correct word to use) . Needless to say I do feel comfortable around  hydraulic parts, pieces and equipment but I know I have a lot more to learn about them and their designed uses and I am ready to soak it up.

Week 3
Total Hours 36-37

SPQ13 Owen

Second week in Electrical/Electronics 2- I began the week still trying to nail down voltage drop testing on simple circuit boards. I feel like I have a good grasp on how to perform a voltage drop test yet I seem to be still having some issues with finding shorts and being confident about it. So I still have a little work to there. On Thursday the 11th Dan Bell from Whatcom Electric came and gave a presentation on A LOT about batteries and their functions, types, common problems, common overlooks and mistakes and a whole lot more. It was a little overwhelming trying to keep up and take in everything he talked about, good thing I took notes, and because I did I can honestly say I know at least twice as much about batteries than I did before. Thanks Dan! Oh ya I also used my new ohms meter to try and test the connection from my front headlight on my bicycle ( that kept flashing on from time to time and then just wouldn't come on altogether) to the generator in the hub on the front wheel. After a few minutes of nothing and some head scratching someone in the shop asked me "well is the light burn't out?". I checked and what do you know of course it was. Lessoned reaffirmed sometimes a simple visual inspection can save a lot of wondering and head scratching.

WEEK 2
HOURS 14.5ish on campus

#One

First Post!!!