brunnhilde's broken sway bar bracket - part 2

The parts I ordered to repair the broken right side RSB arrived. I order a spare side in case I need another one down the road. I thought install them would be a cakewalk, with 30 minute max. I could not be more wrong.

still another mini split installation - part 1

I have long planned to install a mini split heat pump in the three-car garage. There is a full bath as well as the accumulators for the well water inside which rely on resistive electric heat to prevent the water from freezing in winter. I want to be able to use the garage as a closer workshop. It is a no-brainer decision, except finding time to install one. That time is now.

LG multi-zone mini split heat pump - part 1

This is a job that I would not trust any professional HVAC people to select, design, and install. I want a cost effective way to heat and cool the cavernous barn. Unlike one for the main house it is designed to be undersized to make the place more comfortable while work is being done especially in cold winter.

brunnhilde's refrigerator control - part 5

 

I have a setback in my desire to add a display blanking feature to the Ink Bird temperature controller. When I formulated the idea, I didn't give much thought of the complexity of the segmented LED display. While I was right to expect it being a dumb segmented display, I didn't give much thought to the number of segments this purpose made display has, and the number of pins that requires to support them. A rough count I found 34 segments to be switched on/off. Yet there are only 13 pins on the package.

brunnhilde said no to trailer winch battery

 

Brunnhilde is known to haul all sort of thing, including a car trailer fully loaded across the Continental US. For most street cars converted into track cars, I have no problem driving the cars up and down the trailer with the ramps. However, with radical race cars they are next to impossible to do so because of the aggressive racing clutches, and non-existent flywheel mass due to sequential gearboxes.

air conditioner soft starter for Honda eu2000i generator

 

Here is some preview of my recent battle to sort out some pesky issues with the Coleman low profile AC which I had planned to use my Honda EU2000i generator to power it, in Eco mode which is a very tall order. I want to use Eco mode as the generator will only run as fast as the load requires, hence gives the longest running time and most fuel efficient. However even not running in Eco mode, the surge current when the AC restarts it would often trip the overload protection of the generator. You cannot reset the electronic breaker without powering done the generator and then restarting it.

brunnhilde's broken skylight

 

Last year while camping at the racetrack a freak storm came with violent wind. I immediately rushed into the bath to close the slightly open skylight. I was a second or two too late, Before I could unlatch the handle which requires raising the skylight slightly, the wind ripped the skylight right off. I reckon the peak windspeed was no less than 60 miles per hour. It came towards the rear of the camper which made the skylight very vulnerable.

iPhone 12 pro max camera

I took some low light photos using the iPhone Pro Max which has three imagers and the wiz bang algorithmic image processing. 

brunnhilde's fresh water level sensor failure - part 2

 

The fresh water level sensor in Brunnhilde failed in June of 2013. I had since replaced it with a "new and improved" one that is constructed of a stainless steel tube rather than a plastic tube. Just when I thought it should last much longer than the original one of 9 years. Not so fast. In the owners' forum in North America there has been many report of the "new and improved" sender failed of late.

happiness is another small engine - part 3

I wrote this post a year ago but left in as draft. I decided to go ahead and publish it now.

I just add another small engine to my collection. This one is an essential equipment for the ranch. Happiness comes from the time and misery I save from using a lesser piece of equipment.

westy and westy

Strangely here in the US they call all Westfalia campers and motorhomes Westy, rather than referring to their specific names such as VW Westfalia Camper or Mercedes Benz James Cook motorhome.

fancying for a lotus - part 1

Fancying for a Lotus Exige V6.

servicing wheel bearings on the trailex car trailer

I was told that as soon as I arrive home from the cross country trip from Ohio I should repack the wheel bearings of the tailer. I thought that is odd that for a brand new trailer I would think it would be a few years down the road before I need to think about lubricating the wheel bearings.

renewing Burnnhilde's side turn signal lenses

I have been wanting to renew these side turn signal lenses a while now. The right side one has visible hairline cracks from UV damage. Most vendors want an arm and a leg for these simple lens. I found a cheap source and purchased two together with other parts to get free shipping. These are not OEM but I figure I would take a chance for 1/2 the price.

brake parts for brunnhilde - part 1

One of the reasons that I write this post is I need to have photo hosting to be able to make a post on the Sprinter forum concerning the procurement of brake parts for Brunnhilde. This is also why this post is a running one as I gather more images.

a few new tech toys

There is nothing that I don't try to do myself. This is my justification when it comes to tools and equipment and I enjoy learning new things. We live in an era that you can get excellent tools and equipment at very affordable prices. So affordable that rarely it is economical to go rent them especially when it is more than a one project use.

porsche love - part 2

Porsche is an aspirational brand and so is Apple. The main difference is the latter is an affordable one that is more accessible for most. I bought myself a little something - to borrow the Amazon's not so subtle tag line to entice you to spend.

trailex open car trailer towed by brunnhilde - part 2

When I bought Brunnhilde I would not have imagine that one day I would tow a car trailer. She served me well over the the years for my silent water sport. Now that I am really into performance driving on race tracks I managed to equip her with an open car trailer that is a marriage in heaven for this wonderful compact motorhome. Something that I nearly dismissed not being impractical given the 8,000 lb nominal weight of the James Cook plus circa 4,500 lb of car and trailer weight, all to be towed by a engine with 154HP/243 lb-ft.

mini love - part 50

I was very happy to complete the supercharger swap. The other major maintenance for the Mini is the diagnose of the vibration and shake which has been gotten worst started as a subtle tremor triggered by hard braking at the end of a long straight at the track. I suspected it is due to the CV joint(s) of one or both axles.

mini love - part 49

I had taken a month long trip to Asia in mid March. I planned all along to partake in HPDE days upon my return, and wanting to drive in the last two days of April. The problem is there is a long list of things to take care of in the street car named Desire before any track days can be entertained.