What other projects are you working on?
- Thread starter Farmergreg
- Start date
My wife was just complaining of a grinding sound from her WRX’s back left wheel. Come to find out she completely wore through the outboard brake pad on that wheel. Pure metal on rotor, grinding away. Somehow the inboard pad still had some life.
So now I’m working on that - new pads for the Subie and might need to get the rotor turned. It’s the last thing I needed on my todo list!
She didn’t know what the wear strip shriek was all about … but mostly I blame the dealer who gave the car an inspection in April and didn’t mention worn pads. I could blame myself for not looking at her car … but that’s no fun; plus I have my truck, the Jeep, the side by side, the tractor, the go cart and all the other crap to maintain!
So now I’m working on that - new pads for the Subie and might need to get the rotor turned. It’s the last thing I needed on my todo list!
She didn’t know what the wear strip shriek was all about … but mostly I blame the dealer who gave the car an inspection in April and didn’t mention worn pads. I could blame myself for not looking at her car … but that’s no fun; plus I have my truck, the Jeep, the side by side, the tractor, the go cart and all the other crap to maintain!
Craigslist freebie:
I just HATE it when people don't remove the plastic film...
Wire wheeled the dry, flaking and unremoveable film and the rust that had built up underneath it...
Primed with RustOleum "red lead"...
Rattle can gloss black...
Masking tape removed - looks far better than it would have even brand new as I hate stainless appliances anyway!
I had left a slightly smaller Sanyo behind in California - which was a stupid thing to do. I wasn't going to pay $100 for a new one, so I kept cruising CL for a used one - this one came up for free! Interior is very clean, although its missing its internal shelf. I swear this thing weighs about half what that old Sanyo did!
Interestingly, this one has no temperature control dial on it whatsoever. I guess it does what it does - but for $5 worth of paint, I can't complain.
P.S. This utility trailer is off to the welding shop on Thursday.
I just HATE it when people don't remove the plastic film...
Wire wheeled the dry, flaking and unremoveable film and the rust that had built up underneath it...
Primed with RustOleum "red lead"...
Rattle can gloss black...
Masking tape removed - looks far better than it would have even brand new as I hate stainless appliances anyway!
I had left a slightly smaller Sanyo behind in California - which was a stupid thing to do. I wasn't going to pay $100 for a new one, so I kept cruising CL for a used one - this one came up for free! Interior is very clean, although its missing its internal shelf. I swear this thing weighs about half what that old Sanyo did!
Interestingly, this one has no temperature control dial on it whatsoever. I guess it does what it does - but for $5 worth of paint, I can't complain.
P.S. This utility trailer is off to the welding shop on Thursday.
New generator project. Between the hassle of renting (if I can find one) or dealing with coolers to save the food, it was time to finally get one.
I ordered this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099KTG83R/?tag=wranglerorg-20 on an early Black Friday sale for $400. 7500 running and 9500 peak watts.
Power priority is
1) 2 fridges
2) HVAC. We have two units, the original gas furnace & 4ton AC which service the entire house and a heat pump with 2.5Ton unit which only services the upstairs. My thought for heat is to use the whole house gas furnace (blower motor should be low draw) and for AC only the newer 2.5T unit. Specs on the 2.5T compressor are 13.5A running and 72.5LRA which is over capacity but I’ve been reading about soft start devices and this looks like it should bring the startup draw in range. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08YJK9MB3/?tag=wranglerorg-20
3) misc lights, internet.
I’ve got a main disconnect already, so plan would be to run a dedicated 220 circuit from the generator to the panel for input.
Open to feedback on 1) not starting a fire 2) not blowing my devices.
Current panel
I ordered this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099KTG83R/?tag=wranglerorg-20 on an early Black Friday sale for $400. 7500 running and 9500 peak watts.
Power priority is
1) 2 fridges
2) HVAC. We have two units, the original gas furnace & 4ton AC which service the entire house and a heat pump with 2.5Ton unit which only services the upstairs. My thought for heat is to use the whole house gas furnace (blower motor should be low draw) and for AC only the newer 2.5T unit. Specs on the 2.5T compressor are 13.5A running and 72.5LRA which is over capacity but I’ve been reading about soft start devices and this looks like it should bring the startup draw in range. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08YJK9MB3/?tag=wranglerorg-20
3) misc lights, internet.
I’ve got a main disconnect already, so plan would be to run a dedicated 220 circuit from the generator to the panel for input.
Open to feedback on 1) not starting a fire 2) not blowing my devices.
Current panel
The soft start is worth a try, you could even try it now off of normal AC power and see how it runs. Some compressors need all the inrush current to start successfully . So this is all manual with out an ATS ?
I was planning no ATS since I have to move the Genny from the garage to the basement side door anyways.
WestCoastDan
TJ Addict
I've been rebuilding the Harley since the accident back in June.
Fresh paint is almost ready now, so reassembly is next.
You want the soft start on the A/C - although for some reason, my HVAC guys call it a "hard start". Its easy enough to install one. I have a 3 ton on a 15KW. The generator runs the A/C fine - BUT - before I put the soft start on, when the A/C started, there's be a pretty loud BANG! from the generator! It doesn't do that any more with the soft start in place.
Don't try to run soft start devices if it will hurt the compressor. Capacitors are usually used for startup amps if the circuit can't handle it
+1. Soft start devices generate a high frequency pulsed output to approximate an AC waveform and if the motor windings aren't insulated with that in mind you can kill the motor.
Capacitors good.
Code in most locations requires an interlock if you don't have an ATS. This is mine.
Either the main breaker or the generator feed can be closed, but not both. This way there's no possible way for me to back feed the grid and blow up my meter or worse, kill a line worker.
Don't just wire a 220V outlet, look for a generator inlet, like this.
Kohree 50Amp Generator Power Inlet Box, NEMA SS2-50P for 3R Generator Cord Receptacle, 125/250V,12500W RV Weatherproof Generator Transfer Switch Inlet Box, ETL Listed https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08X1QNGJG/?tag=wranglerorg-20
That way you don't have to do any cowboy stuff...
Yep,or a tranfer switch. Both making sure that only one source of power can be used at a time
Yes to generator outlet, was looking at something like this.
Will add lockout to the list. . Tell me more about not blowing the motor using a soft start, is there a spec I should look for?
My employer (commercial HVAC manufacturer) always specs class F insulation when the motor is to be used with a variable frequency drive (a soft start for the purposes of this discussion is like a very simplified VFD that ramps up the frequency and voltage over a few seconds). I'm not sure how you'd go about finding that info for a motor inside a compressor on a piece of residential equipment. You could try the compressor nameplate but it's not easy to see without pulling the condenser fan and sticking a mirror down there. Odds are that if you have anything but a very high end, like 19 SEER system, then I wouldn't expect to have that motor. The very high end systems have variable speed compressors so they're more likely to have it, but they would soft start already so you wouldn't need to add anything.
However, the common "hard start" kit is just a capacitor that stores energy for when the compressor starts and also exists for the purpose of reducing the inrush current pulled from the supply. It doesn't have any special requirements on the motor and it doesn't have the sophisticated electronics of a soft starter so it's less expensive and complicated to implement.
Different things.
A soft starter is solid state device that ramps up the supply to the motor over a few seconds after start. A hard start is a capacitor that stores energy to supply the inrush to the motor without demanding it from the supply.
Both are used for the purposes of reducing the line-side current, they just do it in different ways. I typically see soft starters a lot more on 3-phase motors.
This is the soft start I was looking at.
https://www.micro-air.com/support-documents/installation_resources/EasyStart_Specification_Sheet.pdf
Ah! That explain why the HVAC guys call it a hard start. Actually, to me a soft start is a series resistance that is switched out after a couple of seconds. Thanx!
It's a lot of marketing speak using vague terms to describe what it does without talking about how it does it. Based on it's intended market (and zooming in on the photos to see as much as I can of what's in the box) I would guess its a capacitor with some learning intelligence that fine tunes the time delay for removing thr capacitor from the circuit.
I'm used to soft starters looking like this, but when I see them it's inside a 3 phase industrial control panel, not a residential condensing unit.