San Antonio trip

Went to San Antonio again this year for a convention.  While there at the convention, one of my friends has a son that lives there, who used to be a muckety muck in the gaming industry, and still plays games, mainly board games.  I spent quite a few hours, on a wonderfully lazy Sunday, playing board games with him.  While didn't win every game had a blast learning and exploring new things!

Indian Chief

He enjoys showing friends around the fine city of San Antonio, TX., and he brought a few of us to see a light show at San Fernando Cathedral.  I managed to get some good pictures, but didn't take them early enough.  The light show shared some of the history of San Antonio, and the U.S. in general.

The whole light show was amazing, and something I would have never gone to see if I wasn't brought there myself, so many thanks go out to him, and his girlfriend, for expanding my world!  The images was very clear and synchronized to music.

On the other side of plaza, same side of the street, there's a large building.  I was told, by our "tour guide", that the image was projected from that building, up near the top.  I was unable to see the bright light, or even the light "rays", so will have to take him at his word.  The music played from speakers in the general vicinity of the plaza.  We brought some folding chairs, but they also had limited seating via picnic tables and chair secured to the concrete.  The chairs did swivel so that was a plus!

NO idea....

There is a food vendor and a drink vendor.  I got some Gatorade and a banana flavored sherbert type thing on a stick.  Was actually hoping for ice cream and was little disappointed, but it did support a small local business so was happy'ish.

Our convention was at the Convention Center downtown.  I was also there last year, but strange enough didn't write about it.  I stayed at a Carefree "Resort" right near downtown.  It is almost a straight shot (three miles) to the convention center.  If I took the bus, it was about a fifteen minute trip and cost $1.20.  An Uber generally cost about $10.00 and was much faster.

The campground, or "resort", is actually a fairly nice one, and very convenient to downtown.  However, it does come with a somewhat hefty price tag.  Due to location of the convention center it's also not too cost effective to drive downtown, even my scooter, so best choice was to take public transit.  Did meet some great people on the bus, including a military veteran who I chatted with until my stop.  He was upbeat and positive, but started lamenting about our government.....  Enough said there for the moment.

The convention itself is about health care, and about introducing people to the benefits of taking care of themselves with natural, and organic based products.  There are quite a few well respected people there who have built large multi-national businesses, simply by spreading the word and allowing people to test drive products themselves, no front loading involved.

This will be of interest to most of the women out there, well, probably all of the women, in that a new skin care line was just launched.  To launch the product line in the U.S. (was available elsewhere at least to a limited extent) was a former buyer of skin care products for Neiman Marcus, who couldn't stop giving glowing praise for these where she generally doesn't.  Even her husband, a former Special Forces soldier, was impressed with the Shower Gel, even buying one of those frilly little scrubber things for himself.  She was saying that, among all the samples she received as a buyer, this stuff truly rocked her world.

True Elements Marine Organic Skin Care

• Nourishing Face Cream
• Nutritional Mask
• Refreshing Tonic Lotion
• Stimulating Shower Gel
• Velvet Cleansing Milk
• Youth Activ Eye Syrum
• Youth Activ Syrum

There were numerous other things announced, and in no particular order:

• Membership changes, personal improvement and an e-commerce web page included
• Broad, and sweeping, market optimization price changes
• Price changes to make Organic'ish products competetive in market place
• General price lowering of many products to be more affordable
• More changes coming January 1st, 2016
• More of a movement towards keeping products unique and unparalleled through patent protection

There are many benefits, and many profound stories, of people who have taken control of their health, and lives, by controlling their environment and how they nurture their bodies.

Of particular interest to me, and I like to think had manifested this myself with the Law of Attraction, is that I was called to the stage as winner of a prize.  YAY me!  The prize is a dinner for two, at a restaurant of my choice, up to a certain dollar limit.  It can be anyplace I choose and might wait till I get to Las Vegas to take advantage of the free dinner.  One never knows what'll happen in Vegas, or on the road to Vegas.  Not everything has to stay in Vegas.

In similar health related news that should be making headlines, is a CDC whistleblower.  I heard of him by listening to Coast to Coast AM, specifically their show concerning a Retrovirus Revelation, where it's linked to some common, and generally more modern, health issues.  Supposedly the whistle blower talks about a large coverup (in government, really?  surprised!).  It was difficult to not find a smear article on him, and found what I personally think is a neutral article, but never heard of the ladies website before.

I'm not one to judge, I read, absorb, and make my own informed decision based on the facts I can find.  Unfortunately it's hard to find the really good facts unless scour far corners of the internet, or talk to people who are in the know, if they can back it up with facts and not hyperbole.

First Bypass Oil Filter change

I didn't exactly take note of the mileage when I installed the oil filter, nor do I know the mileage now (too lazy to turn the key to find out), but it felt about time to change filter.  Believe it's been close to two thousand miles, and with it being the first filter change, figured was OK to change it before recommended time.

I didn't take a video, but this is video of someone (guy who sold me filter?) changing it, and explaining the steps.  Below is my take on it all.

Filter media, and small garbage bag

The first order of business was getting the filter media.  I truly didn't want such a big thing of single ply toilet paper, but it's what Walmart had when I stayed there last, on the way to Marfa, TX., which is where I currently am.  I do not recommend using this on your derriere as  I take no responsibility if you wind up with stinky finger...  To prevent an oily finger, in my case, I used some nitrile gloves.

With gloves donned, loosened the clamp holding top part of the filter on.  After removing clamp (sorry, no picture), lifted the stainless steel top up and out, but did so ever so slowly.  It actually sounded kinda neat as there was a slight sucking sound as was pulling it up.  Went somewhat slow as it's my first time, plus it sounded really neat!

With filter removed

The next sight surprised me as didn't expect it, but there was actually oil in the bottom.  I thought had designed everything so that it would automatically drain all the way out.  And, the oil is fairly deep.  I can somewhat understand some oil being on the input side as oil comes down from the filter, but don't truly understand why oil is in the output side.

For reference, the "dirty" oil comes in through the middle, and the "clean" oil goes out through the outside.  There's holes down there that you can't see, trust me..  Really, trust me..  Would I ever knowingly lie?

Removing filter

Now it is a simple matter of grabbing a pair of pliers, grabbing enough filter media, squeeze pliers, and pull it up and out.  It lifted out fairly easily, all things considered, and didn't have any problems with this part, though couple things that I noticed.  The first being is I tried to initially grab only a little bit of the filter media, a.k.a. the inner cardboard ring, as figured that was strong enough, WRONG.  Can see this if look closely underneath lockjaw part of plier, on the far side of the ring.

Fully out, supported by pliers

The second thing of note is the amount of filter media I did grab.  This proved to be very solid and didn't feel anything "give" at all when pulled it out.  There truly is strength in numbers!  Remember that, not just for this reading, but life in general.  i.e. it's hard to do everything yourself, almost impossible depending on your goals.

Now it was just a matter of placing the filter in a bag (I chose plastic), and disposing of it properly.

I don't know much about Installing new filters like this, but it seemed really easy and simple.  I did it somewhat slowly and carefully due to oil left in bottom, and it being my first time.  Didn't want liquid to splatter all over the place prematurely as it would've been embarrasing.

Tucked in snugly

What I did first was to lay the toilet paper roll gently on top.  When I did this noticed that it didn't really fit in perfectly, as paper is wont to have a mind of it's own.  Because of this, had to tuck it in ever so slightly as seen in the picture.

After was tucked in, twisted it while gently pushing down.  Did this in the hopes that most, if not all, of the oil in the bottom would be absorbed in the toilet paper.  This worked to a large degree, but did have a little spillage around the edges, still not bad for a first time.

O-ring on border of white

Another thing to note is that along the outside edge of the filter housing is an O-ring.  It seemed a little dirty in spots so made sure to rub the rubber with my gloved finger, depositing the oil on top of the pristine white filter.  This O-ring keeps all the oil in.

Housing back on

Once toilet paper was firmly to bottom, I then put the filter housing on.  Doing it in this way helps to ensure that the toilet paper media is as far down as it can go as the housing will push it down some more while not deforming it as I would.

Last step of installing media is to put the clamp on and tighten it snugly.  This is done and everything is nice and secure.

There are couple more steps in that need to run the engine and let oil flow through the media.  For the initial install, I let it idle till engine was up to temperuture.  After running the engine for at least couple minutes (my guess), turn it off and let sit.  After it sits at least 10 minutes (I would wait 30 or so), check the oil and add as appropriate till up to level.

They say that it's about one quart of oil per filter that has to be replaced, so I'll probably wind up adding two quarts and that should top it off.

My initial thoughts on this is "how could it get so simple?"  If didn't stop and take pictures, am sure would've been done in 5 minutes.  As it is, it probably took me about 10-15, which isn't all that bad.

There are one or two small leaks I might have to address and will keep an eye on them.  Noticed one leak that was coming from around the O-ring, and also noticed some excess oil on one of the T fittings I put together.  Did have some oil leaking out of the oil sampling valve, but that was quickly fixed by loosening and tightening it a little more.

My next steps are to get some oil sampling test kits and send them in.  Will post that too, and it'll give a good guide into health of engine as a whole.

Know jack? He's a fine lad now..

When I bought the RV there were several things that didn't work at all, and one of them was the hydraulic leveling jacks..  Now, I'm proud to say, that they are working, YIPPEE!!!!  It's time to rock n roll, or just rock without rolling!

Had many false starts to this and many times got around to analyzing it, such as breaking out the digital multimeter, but never getting them to work.  This was my secondary goal about being in New Mexico, the primary was to ride a horse, and what a nice ride she was!  Purebred, excellent, heavenly, oh my oh my!

There is also something very great have in New Mexico too, and that's someone who's had 17+ years of RV experience and knows quite a few things about them, so I was able to learn a lot.

With my troubleshooting skills prior, I was able to get power to the control panel, so that it would turn on, and I could hear the relays clicking to and fro when gingerly press the button(s).  There were two main things that got me this far.  The first being some wiring done by a prior owner (first?), and then a disconnected wire.

My control panel

According to the jack manual, the system is made by Milwaukee Cylinder, at least that's the name on the control panel, which is main thing have to go by. The manual actually says PowerGear, and I did have to contact someone but can't remember who I did as it was awhile ago.  Whoever it was was extremely helpful!  My part number, for the control panel, is 500089.

The odd part is that the manual shows correct picture for my control panel, but couldn't find it listed further down in the manual..  Strange..  By comparing backside of the panel with pictures in the manual, was able to find the correct wiring harnesses, shown on page 14 in the jack manual.

Bonus, Paisley's paw

Now, combine page 14 with what's shown on page 16, I was able to validate that some voltages were present, or not present, and what it should've been..  Needless to say it was quite confusing at first but finally got it.

As mentioned, there were two problems, the first being no power on one of the pins.  After some indecision, and checking ALL the fuses I could find, still no power.  Think it was Pin #1 of the 6 pin connector.  Now, after doing all that work, waiting some time, going back, you know the drill, it finally dawned on me that the switch label JACKS OVERRIDE SWITCH had something to do with the jacks..  I always flipped it to dim a persistent blinking light..   After flipping this switch so it lit up, making sure key is in correct position, and making sure all prerequisites were in place (Key and parking brake set) finally got power on the pin, YIPPEE!  And a slap on the forehead.

However, the jacks still didn't work....

Battery compartment

Next step in debug process, according to the manual on page 24, was to check the battery ground...  NOW, the battery compartment leaves a lot to be desired.

But, my first step is to trace the wiring from the control panel to the ground point, which, as it turns out, is the battery.  I identified the ground wire as being one of the thicker wires, and believe it was black with a white stripe.  Followed the wiring to the pump motor, and the ground wire split off from there.  it went into an abyss above the motor somewhat and I couldn't trace any further.

Wires on jack pump motor

I also looked in the battery compartment a couple of times and didn't see any unhooked wires, or anything that looks like it could've been hooked up. One final look several months later and I was able to see an unhooked wire all the way in the back, hidden behind, and underneath, the starter battery (left hand side).  Looked at the color coding on it and this wire matched what was looking for.  Hooked it up to the starting battery ground, ran my tests, and whala, the panel lights up!!!

My elation was short lived though.  It lit up the panel, but nothing beyond that.  No warning lights, no buzzer, no nothing, just couple lights, could hear the relays clicking, and no jack movement..  This is a bummer..

Dirty dirty pump motor

Now, the story continues in New Mexico.  Relayed all this to the experienced guy, a retired electrical engineer, and one of his first thoughts, after sharing the manual with him, was a float level being out of whack.  However, once he looked at the pump motor, he said there was NO WAY his hand was going anywhere near that thing.

So, you guessed it, the first step was power washing, and I mean with real water and engine degreaser..  One guess on who the lucky person was to spray the degreaser underneath on all the components, yours truly.  I was also very privileged to spray everything down with water....  How lucky I was..

Nice n clean and straight

With all that done, this was close to the final result, with one exception.  The whole pump unit was tilted maybe 20 degrees.  There's a black bracket that hooks onto top of the motor (a spindle or something) and then bolts into the bracket thing at bottom of motor, top of fluid reservoir.  It seems to have been made out of super soft metal and somehow got dinked and dorked and all messed up.  Even if I had just straightened it and put it back in, it looked so weakened that there was a strong possibility that it would bend again.

Now, as it was explained to me, the problem with it being bent off level like that is there's a float switch that tells the control panel if there's fluid, or no fluid.  Now this is starting to make more sense as to why it's so important to have the pump, and reservoir, level.

Closeup of float area

Another thing is that I tried to disagree with him that it being off level could've made the switch stuck, which is what he thought, but acquiesced and acknowledged he was probably right.  This is due to, if look closely, under the oil fill location is the float switch.  It's pointing out somewhat, and with it being bent 20 degrees that could've put undue stress on the little float thingie (like a toilet bowl float but smaller).  See where the problem could've been?

Metal plate used

To fix this, we got some metal from behind the garage and cut a piece the size we needed, smoothed the sides off so it wouldn't cut skin, or wires / hoses and did a test fit with the bracket.  I don't have any pictures of this process, only the final ones.

Closeup of bracket

The next step was to flatten out the bracket itself to make the whole assembly almost like new again.  This involved a hammer and quite a bit of patience.  Metal working is an acquired skill, definitely acquired.  Patience is too.

If look closely at the picture, can see where the metal is still bent a little.  It's very tine consuming to get it perfectly straight, and it took a bit of time to get it this straight.  We also had to add some holes.  The two bottom ones were there, where see the two bolts, had to add ones on the top to hold everything to the new plate.    If look at the above picture, we also put some nylon lock nuts on it to prevent the nuts from vibrating loose.

After this was straightened, we then added Automatic Transmission Fluid.  While this wasn't the preferred oil, the manual did state that this is a suitable alternative, and by golly it works.  Am sure could've added water too and it would've still somewhat worked, initially at least (NOT recommended to use water, just a bad example that any liquid would've made float switch activate).  The oil is added to the bottom of the oil fill tube, with a long funnel to prevent spillage.

This one last step got everything working and functioning fine.  Once it was straight, and more oil added (about 1.5 - 2 quarts), this most likely triggered the float switch to report full and cause the pump motor to activate, YIPPEE!


Now, I don't know if had to go through the process of straightening it out, or if only filling up the oil to ull would've worked, as we did it in this order and it worked.  Enough said there.

One maintenance tip that was passed on to me, and am passing it on here, is to prevent damage, and possible stuck jacks, they liberally coat the exposed shiny metal with some silicone, such as food grade silicone.  Food grade might, and probably is, overkill, but I had it for my 3D printers for lubrication purposes.  Now, it's not for all lubrication, but it is valid in some instances.

Still in Texas right now, and having had this working for the last month or so, it all works fine and great.  I do notice that after traveling, a little oil underneath the pump reservoir.  This is getting less and less and think some of it is splashing out due to normal movement.  Will investigate later to see if there's something I can plug, or even if it's supposed to drip like that (to relieve pressure)?  Can't imagine it should but one never knows.

Oil, a "novel" use for toilet paper - Part 2 - Bypass Oil Filter Install

This is a continuation of Part 1, where laid the groundwork for the bypass filter installation, where I got it from, and what my plans are for hooking it up.  I did forget one document, actually didn't know it existed, but here's a scan, in pdf form, showing benefits of bypass filtration.


First steps first, plan it all out on paper, and that's precisely what I did..  Grabbed an old envelope from something, a pen, and drew away.  Had thought about it for quite a bit but kept losing track of the parts I had, needed, etc etc.  Wasted couple hours by not jotting it down.  Now, for your viewing pleasure, can now see my chicken scratch in this stunning black and white (mostly) scan, in pdf form..  The document details parts I need per junction.  On right hand side is a list of additional parts I needed.

After this step was complete had to run around different stores to find the parts.  I really like the guys at NAPA as they are more than willing to spend some time to hunt down parts, and was able to get some swivel fittings for me, which really helped me to prevent twisting of the hoses.

First goal - get the source

The purpose of this filter is to siphon off a little oil from the main filter, without impacting oil pressure into the engine, and remove finer particles.  There are several ways of doing this, a pancake adapter that goes between existing filter and the housing, that siphons it off without doing much extra..  I couldn't find a reasonably priced one for my 1" 16 thread on the filter.  It's also possible to get oil by tapping into other areas of the engine but that is beyond my expertise.  The way that I did it is to "simply" add a T adapter to the oil pressure sending unit, and siphon a little oil from here.

Top of oil filter

It's hard to tell from this picture, but this is top of the oil filter.  On top of this there are two 1/8" NPT fittings, one for the oil pressure sending unit (on left with two wires), and other (right) is for an oil line to the stock turbo charger..

I didn't expect anything up here and was surprised there was "stuff" there..  This part took me much longer to do than it should've, and when I had a little emergency on the road (after install was completed) it didn't take me long to find, and fix, that problem.

To get the oil, had to remove the oil pressure sending unit.  First step of that is to remove the two wires (twist nuts on top), and lift it over the posts.  When I first did this, it was really really tough as tried to do it from the top (lifted up bed) with no luck, and did it from the bottom, which scraped myself quite a bit.

Sending unit with T and fitting

Then used an adjustable wrench first, and switched to an open end wrench later, to loosen, and remove, the sending unit.  Can see in this photo where attached wrench to remove it.  Again, I did this in a very hard way by doing it from underneath and reaching my hand straight up.. NOT the smartest move, but I did get smarter...  The way I did it was long, slow, boring, and not scratch resistant.

Sending unit installed with T fitting and hose

This picture also shows one of the T fittings attached.  This one has two female fittings (something slides into the female), and one male fitting, which goes into a female receptacle.  The sending unit has a male thing on it, so it goes into one of the female mounting points.  The barb has a male end on it, so that goes into a female mounting point.  And, since the sending unit has a male thing on it, I needed to reserve the one male thing on this tee to screw into where I took the sending unit out of.

Close side view of install

If didn't get that, don't despair..  This picture shows everything installed and happy.  See the smile..  Use your imagination!!

This picture also shows in detail how it all went together.  Couple things of note, I used teflon tape, however, upon looking up a relevant article, it appears to be PTFE tape.  I still refer to it as teflon for myself.  One other note in this photo is the clamp that I installed.  When was tightening it, the hard way, stripped the clamp itself..  I remember a day when this was virtually impossible, but with everyone using cheaper and cheaper materials that barely meet the spec needed, things like this happen at the most inopportune times.  Did remove this and reinstall.

Overview of location

Here is an overview picture that I took from the easy access point.  This easy access point is through the rear cargo door on the drivers side of the RV (coach), where the air filter resides.  Here it's easy to get a really good view of everything, and easily reach in.  I must confess in that didn't really know about this until fighting with things for couple of hours..  Not a good time..  If had known about this before it would've been soo much quicker..  Did I mention how much quicker it would've been???

Other side of T and sending unit

In these two photo's it also shows line that carries oil.  This is actually fuel line and not high pressure oil line that came with the kit.  This fuel line is rated for 15.x bar (about 50 psi), while the high pressure oil line is rated for 300 psi.  I took a risk, and still am taking a risk, using it here due to heat involved (hot oil at temp is roughly 180 degree Fahrenheit, and can go higher), but it was also SOO MUCH EASIER to put on.  Another risk is it could come sliding off as it was really easy to go on, but the clamp will hold it nice and snug and ooh so tightly.  It still warrants an inspection now and then.

Second goal - put it back in circulation

Purrdy

Here is where am returning the oil, after it passed through the toilet paper..  Pretty easy you think??  Yup I say!  A nice change of pace.

There is a little trick to this one, but it was a really easy thing to do, with minimal, but some, mess.  This existing plug seems to be an add on oil sensor that one of the prior owners (first one probably) added.  On the other end of this is a solid shaft that sticks half inch, or so, into the oil pan.  It seems like it's solid and comes out to here, where on the outside of this is a little hook type thing where I envision the sensor wire being attached.  When I started this don't exactly recall a wire being attached, but have a funny feeling there was at one point in time.

One other thing is that this was all covered in something like GOOP, so had to remove all of that.

The tricky part is that since this is near bottom of the oil pan, and full of oil, there's oil above this.  I really didn't want to drain the oil, so with my nitrile gloves on, took the plug out and put my finger over the hole.  Lost a little oil but not really all that much.  Sadly, I didn't get a picture because all my hands were occupied.

Return fully installed

However, did take a picture of the final product.  Everything (the T and all connectors), was assembled prior to removing the plug, and subsequent use of finger to stop oil leak.  I covered end of hose in electrical tape to both prevent sand from getting in there and help prevent oil from getting out.  I then looped it up and over something so that a point in the line (doesn't have to be an end) is above the oil level in the pan.

Now, there's an untold part to this.  The original temperature sensor was drilled into an M22 plug that seals up the oil pan.  Not sure why this was here to begin with, but it was very useful!

There are other places I could've put this, such as in the oil fill cap, or punched another hole in the oil pan, through the valve covers, or other innovative areas.  The thing is don't want any pressure on this side as it drains from the filter.  This point is also below where I mounted the filters, which will help drainage, and changing filter elements.

Third goal - attach filter and complete the loop

A hole in the beam

I waffled on where to put this.  Had originally wanted to put it in back by radiator, then thought that it would be better in same compartment as air filter, but finally wound back by radiator.  This see-saw was due to oil hose routing.  There was no easy way to avoid the exhaust pipe if routed it to the compartment, plus would've had problems getting filter high enough to properly drain.

Pre-tapping before filter base

So, with radiator place chosen, first step came drilling holes in the tow bar.  Some things to keep in mind were: 1) Keep drilled holes close to middle as possible 2) Use as small of a pilot drill as possible 3) I used self tapping bolts (not included) and these made threads for me 4) Keep everything nice and tight and oh so cozy.  All of this is meant to keep as much strength in the steel bar as possible without overly weakening it.

Ain't it purrdy

After pilot hole was drilled, time to use one of the self tapping screw / bolt things to enlarge the hole and create threads.  I did it this way as the pilot hole made it easier to put everything exactly where I want.  The bigger the initial hole it's generally harder to drill and less precise.  Could've made it a bit more precise by using a little metal punch to dent metal where wanted the screw to go, but didn't do that.

I wasn't exactly on the ball when did the first mount (at top of picture), but the second one is exactly where wanted it.  This will work great and everything is secured nice and tightly.  This was a dream, dry right now.

Even purrdier, everything in place and tight

There are two bolts that go underneath the filter housing and hold it to the base.  There is a washer on the outside and a lock washer on the inside.  Make sure that the lock washer is on side with the nut as it'll help prevent the nut from coming off and potentially ruining our day.

I am missing a picture of the process, but prior to mounting these filters, if look at the install instructions, there are two connections to be made on bottom, the input and output.  For this, I chose to have the output be a 90 degree elbow while the input is a 45 degree elbow.  My rationale for this is to keep as much pressure as possible going into the filter in the thoughts that this will help make cleaner oil.  The 45 degree elbow doesn't reduce pressure as much as a 90 degree one.  I was told that this method is great for reverse osmosis water filtration, so kinda hoping it'll work similar here too.  With the 90 degree going out, there should be no real pressure so it would just "fall" out.  In this manner it also helps prevent the hoses from potentially interfering with each other.

Dirty oil T

Due to having the two bypass filters, as explained in Part 1,  have to split the oil lines, or find two return and/or source locations.  I chose to split, easier on the mind.  To split I used a simple T, but with a LOT of parts.

As can be seen in my chicken scratch diagram of the setup, have one swivel fitting and two non swivel.  This needed a couple extra parts.  I put the non swivel ones going up to the filter (or down from the filter), and the swivel one on the long line coming to, or from, this T.  Underneath the filter I have swivel fittings up there and this is to reduce risk of twisting the hose while connecting it all together.  Tied this off to one of the hitch supports with bailing wire.

Clean T with sampling valve

The return line T was a little different, but mostly the same.  The difference was needed two T's due to inclusion of an oil sampling valve.  I also secured this with bailing wire, but to a different location.

With the T's that were included, and my process for keeping things somewhat simplified, the amount of oil going through the filter will never be the same.  This is because one side of the T is a straight shot from the source, and the other one branches off at a 90 degree angle.  If I had needed them to be as even as possible would've put the source in the middle and each split off to one side.  I wanted to use all the existing parts I had as possible, and to keep all connections somewhat the same, so this was a small design trade-off.  Hope it doesn't impact anything later on.

Final goal - Check for leaks

This final step was a little nerve wracking from the point of uncertainty.  However, it went off flawlessly.

First step was to do a quick visual on all the connections and adjust them as necessary, then came the moment of truth, time to start the engine.

It started perfectly and had no initial leaks at all, none, zero, zilch, YAY YAY.

Time to shut off engine and relax!!!!

The trip, and an issue

Oil, Oil, Oil

I left where I was in New Mexico and was making my way to Albuquerque, NM, to pick up a spare tire for my platform.  There were some occasional showers and such along the way and thought nothing of it when saw more and more drops appearing on the rear view camera.  The drops kept appearing, and naive me thought it was just rain and water from the road.  I started looking around for places to pull over and found an abandoned restaurant in San Ysidro, NM, to do a quick check...

That didn't look good, but decided to keep going as still had decent oil pressure but it was starting to fluctuate a little.

It wasn't until pressure dropped to about 1/2 that I started to really worry.  I then looked for the first place I could and found a weigh station.  Couldn't really pull over to side of road as my access point is on the drivers side.

Overview of leak area

First thing I noticed was oil dripping from lots and lots of places in the back of the coach (RV).  There was a sheen of oil all over the place in the back, and could see it running down and down and down.  Let the engine sit off for a little while while did some additional research.

I learned a good thing to do while looking in those hard to reach places.  If my smart phone fits, I take a picture, with flash.  This way it's easier to be certain before going off on wild goose chases.  So here I can see the general area of the leak and how it's all full of an oily mess, but notice that the cable sheath is dry above a certain point.

Leaking from loose threads?

At this point I moved the hose to the side and this caused the T fitting to rotate..  NOT a good thing as it moved somewhat freely.

My first thought was that it's leaking due to the movement here as it wasn't fully tightened anymore.  I thought the oil leaked up through the threads and sprayed all over the place.

Now, am sure that's not it, due to oil not being splashed up.  In picture to the right can see that above the hose itself is completely dry.  This leads me to believe that the hose itself is cause of the problem, specifically at the hose clamp, probably on the underneath of it.

Confirming source of leak

At least for the moment I decided not to fix it and make it to my first destination where took some of these pictures..  Prior to moving again I added two gallons of oil, as that's how much I lost.

It seems, from these pictures, that the hose clamp moved somewhat and I think it caused the leak, or that the band that goes around the hose caught a corner on edge of the T, which caused the hose to have a weak spot in the fitting.  Either way it really looks like underneath the hose is where the leak came from, with it shooting towards the base of the T, spraying out and dripping down.

After getting to my destination, got my spare tire, decided to head to
Costco to get oil.  Turns out got there 5 minutes too late, boo hoo.  Then headed off to Walmart to get more oil and spend the night.  It was at Walmart where I fixed this by replacing the clamp, cutting off end of fuel / oil line, and reattaching it and clamping it down.  I also tightened the T one more full turn (had to remove barb).

All fixed and attache.

I added two more gallons of oil and let it all idle, get up to temperature, and nary a leak appeared.  Took some more pictures to validate it all looks good and kosher and tight.  Some things are good even when it's loose and wet, but in this case it's best when it's tight and dry.


Even now, a week or so later, not a single leak to be found!  Though will keep monitoring it.

One thing to note is that the wires connecting oil pressure sending unit to the gauge has to be on the proper terminal.  If it's not on the proper terminal then it reports max oil pressure.  Made sure that it read pressure properly before heading off.

Summary of documents and other addendum

Here is a brief summary of all the documents I have for this, in no specific order:
Bypass Filter Benefits

Complete documentation

My chicken scratch diagram

Installation instructions

Filter Media replacement information

How to Service filter

Folder with all my computerized RV documents

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There is some concern by people that the additives, detergents, etc., in the motor oil will be depleted when using this filter.  I have no direct experience yet, but from what I've read so far, enough of these detergents are replaced when adding extra oil during a filter media change.  The recommendation is to add one quart of oil for every filter replaced.  In my case this is two quarts of oil added every 3,000 miles or so.  With where I mounted this it's fairly easy to get to these and replace them.  The oil fill tube is in same compartment!


Another benefit is that this will remove water from the oil, which is present in generally all engines.  Water helps acid form, and when acid forms this does some bad stuff in the engine..  Bad I say, bad.  Not that I'm an expert, just some stuff I've read.

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Proper way to wrap with PTFE, notice doesn't extend past threads on open end

Opportunities abound, if can take them

Buying an RV is the second greatest opportunity I chose to take.  It is very exciting, a little (a lot) intimidating, but mostly it felt right to do.  I knew it was a "safe" bet as know other people who did it earlier in life, before settling down, and also others who do it later in life, after doing what they needed to do..

I found myself in a unique position, yearning to get out of self imposed ruts, but leaving all that's familiar to me.  My work allows me to work remotely, and I am in more ways than one.

My first drive to get out of the ruts I was in is to leave the house behind (rented I think), and head west, to an unknown location (really didn't know where).  Hopped in my little car, loaded up my homemade trailer, and off I went on a two week cross country trip.  This trip continues to be one of the best times in this life.  I wasn't worried about finding a place, nor did I know where I was going precisely.  I never felt was running away from things, but on a search to find things, a long time before I came up with The Meaning..

I had quite the fun in Tacoma, then Vashon, and Montana for a brief stint, but felt something was missing.  I was very happy, enjoyed the island, where I was renting, but had mixed feelings about the rental agent.  Dealing with her is one of the reasons I chose to get the RV, not the only reason, but did play a role.

I am now getting a similar feeling of something missing, and it's increasing every day.  Am not quite sure what it is (though have a feeling), nor how to fully correct it (not a clue), but it's telling me of an important piece of the puzzle that I need in my life.

The problem, benefit, and challenge, of an opportunity is

 

1. Being aware that they're out there (problem)
2. Recognizing it is an opportunity (problem)
3. Benefiting from an opportunity (benefit)
4. Recognizing beneficial opportunities (challenge)
5. Avoiding opportunities with pitfalls (challenge)
6. Knowing which opportunity to take (benefit, challenge)

This list is not comprehensive, nor is it meant to be, but I write it in the hopes of jarring myself onto becoming more aware of opportunities, both new and"old" ones that keep reappearing, or never go away.  Some stay around for a reason, either to make sure we DON"T take them, or because we need to take them..  Hence the problem, benefit, and challenge.

I can't begin to fathom how many missed opportunities I've left by the wayside, from wonderful potential relationships, to different forms of work, learning experiences, and just plan "life" things.  I'm not lamenting about any of these, just realizing that they were there, kicking myself for not taking the great ones, but then letting go of that feeling.  If I were to always lament, and mourn, these past opportunities, it would be much harder to see new ones opening up, or recognizing the ones which are still around.

In some cases it's not because I didn't want to take / pursue the opportunity, in which I really wanted to, but sometimes something deep down inside of you stops you cold.  Like dead cold, as in absolute zero Kelvin.  Looking back at some of these I can tell exactly what stopped me, and why I was so powerless to pursue.

One of these reasons, and not blaming it, just something I need to overcome, is the childhood drama others have told me about.  This has stopped me lots and lots of time, and could even be one reason why I turned to alcohol for 13 years.  I spent two one hour sessions with a Reiki Master when I was in New Mexico to start clearing this up.  She realized I had lots of work to do, and she was surprised how much stuff I had going on.  Oddly, or not so oddly, is that she loosened what was blocking me up in my root chakra.  After she released that block, I could feel the energy move down my inner thighs towards me knees.  There is still some energy stuff present and I am working on removing it daily.  Shake and let go (nothing like Shake n Bake).  Now it feels like a sharp burning pain at times, instead of a plug, which is a good sign.

I had a different dream couple nights ago, it almost felt like a two way dream , and one which I remembered.

 It was a friend and I, and rekindling a bond that we formed.  In this vivid, and realistic dream, there was a third person there whom we both know.  This third person was between us, yet had their head down and slouched over (but alive) as if in resignation over something (knowing what was about to happen?).  I was totally dumbfounded and unsure of the whole situation until my friend took a very bold initiative.  After intentions were made clearer than ever (like with a sledge hammer), I seized on the opportunity this time and the whole universe seemed to align itself in the most perfect manner.

I think that the moral of this dream is that not all opportunities are lost forever, even if we're oblivious to them.  If some of these opportunities take more than one person, such as relationships or job / work things, then in some cases they'll hit you over the head with a fry pan to make you realize it.  If still don't get it, well, that's your problem.

These are things that everyone faces to different degrees, and it's our task of recognizing them and taking appropriate action.

Speaking of appropriate action, time to declutter a little more inside.  As a bachelor, have a habit of letting things pile up and then get that cluttered feeling where nothing has a proper home though space is available for proper homes..  joy joy joy.

Oil, a "novel" use for toilet paper - part 1

Now most people think of oil filters are necessary, and they are, as they filter big stuff so it doesn't flow through the engine.  However, there is a lot of little itsy bitsy things that still float around.  And, over time, these small things add up until it's time to change oil per manufacturers recommendation.

Have been thinking about doing something like this for quite a few years, probably around ten, well before bought the RV.  What cemented my current thinking in place was talking to the brother of the person I bought the RV from.  His brother is a long haul trucker and he uses one of these filters in his big rig, and has over one million miles on the engine.  Don't have any knowledge of how many times, if any, he changes the oil, though am still impressed by that number.

There are three main steps for installing the filter.

1. Identify source of oil
2. Identify return of oil
3. Mount all the hardware

It seems like all of these steps are common to the different varieties of bypass filters out there.

For my installation I chose Frantz Oil Refiner.  It seems like a reasonably priced filter, with cost effective and widely available filter media, and seemed to be fairly simple and easy to install.  Upon reading around, along with their FAQ, also chose to install two filters in parallel so that it would filter oil twice as fast..  This added some complexity, and more fittings, to the install process.

What is the oil-cleaning capacity of a Frantz Oil Filter?

Each single unit will clean up to 8 quarts of lubricating oil and can be up to 10 quarts with more frequent element changes. Two single Frantz Oil Filtersmay be installed in a "parallel" sequence to provide sufficient cleaning capability for those engines with a crankcase capacity exceeding 8 quarts and up to 20 quarts.

Left is pressure sensor, right goes to turbo

There are quite a few well written articles about benefits of these filters, and quite a bit of negative nellie comments also.  Everyone I have personally talked to had nothing but positive things to say about these filters (two people, but still)...  These can also be used on any vehicle with an internal combustion engine.  I plan to put one of these on my Elio.

One article I just found is this, which gives a decent explanation.

Return oil goes here

A forum post talks about this brand of filter, but a prior version, along with some tweaks that the poster did.

Will cover full install in my next post, but felt the need to provide some pictures of source and return points of my oil.  Source is fairly easy, in theory, to get to, but implementation was quite a bit different.

Return is really easy to get to, and is very accessible, though I worry a little bit about the hose hanging there and possibly loosening the fitting.

On a side note, one of the older guys at the local NAPA Auto Partss store was really interested in this install.  Had to go there to get fittings and extra hose and during normal conversation told him what I was doing.  Piqued his interest and will go back there to update him as I need to work on my follow-up.

More details to come in next post...

Permaculture, and playing with it!

Some years ago, don't recall what year, I took a Permaculture course in the backwoods of Montana.  Actually, where we were didn't have real woods, but we were fairly far from civilization.

Very idyllic place, very wonderful in soo many ways.  There I met so many great people from all walks of life, there was nothing like it.  Haven't experienced anything remotely similar since.

As most people who know me understand, I generally get along really well with most everyone.  Among those is Paul Wheaton, of which quite a few people don't like for various reasons, but he is making great strides in the world of Permaculture and innovation and spreading the word.  He takes a logical view of things, doesn't sugar coat, and is not all hearts, flowers, and rainbows.  I don't agree with everything he does, or says, or even his delivery sometimes, but he's doing what he feels he's called to do, and that's a very important thing.  Too many of us don't do what we feel called to do, for various reasons.

The main reason for this post is Paul announced a second printing of his Permaculture Playing Cards!  Here is the Amazon link, with plenty of reviews about the cards and they're overwhelmingly positive.  They are a little pricey there so maybe not buy them until prices for this second run are released.  Though it's possible to download them for free, from link above, if simply want to look.

In this second printing the cards were updated slightly, more hidden features added, and some other updates I don't remember.  I just ordered a bunch of cards (12 decks), for a killer deal (12 decks for about cost of three decks on Amazon).  For people on his "Daily-ish e-mail", Paul opened up this special where have a significant discount.

If you're interested in learning how plants, and animals, interact with each other, while playing card games, then this deal is for you.  Can even use these as flash cards for kids, and adults, of all ages.

Feel free to check out all the great pictures of the Permaculture Playing cards, and check out his reviews on Amazon, before deciding if this is for you.  Or, browse RichSoil and/or Permies to get a feeling for Permaculture.

Have a super time!