Safety – Page 5 – The Jeep Guru

December 10, 2011

Saving on Propane costs

I recently noticed that our propane costs have gone up a huge amount. I know the cost of propane has increased, but our usage is up as well. We use propane only for the stove and the water heater so we really should not use very much propane at all. In fact over the 15 plus years we have lived in this house I have pretty much ignored the propane bills and just let the truck driver stay on top of keeping my tank filled.

However I am paying the price for my inattention right now.

I started by setting back the thermostat on the hot water heater. There is no use heating the utility room any more than necessary. The clothes dryer does a good enough job with that.

Next I started checking for leaks. I mixed up a batch of soap and water and put it in spray bottle. I went around outside spraying joints. I started at the tank and worked my way back to the house. I checked the regulator vent as well because a broken diaphragm could be a big leak.

I finally found a joint that bubbled where the line entered the house for the stove. It had been repaired a few years ago and one of the fittings made a few bubbles. Snugging up the nut made the bubbles quit.

Next I checked around the hot water heater. It was relocated a couple of years ago when the floor was redone. Sure enough there was a leak where the copper pipe joined the shut off valve. I had to tighten the nut twice to get it to completely stop.

I had thought the smell around the hot water heater was just the kitty litter box but I guess it was the mercaptane in the propane after all. A couple of hours after I tightened the fitting, the air was much fresher smelling in the laundry room. I hope this will also translate in to lower propane bills as well.

November 8, 2011

Leaf Spring Repair on the Trail

This past weekend in Harlan, Ky our group experienced two serious leaf spring failures. In my case I was able to get my jeep back to camp make repairs there. In the second case, we had to repair the Jeep before it could be extracted from the obstacle where it broke.

On my Jeep, I noticed that the rear axle was moving back under braking. It would sometimes contact the rear of the fender opening. I carefully drove I back to camp minimizing the scraping on the tire.

Once I removed the wheel, I saw that the center pin of the spring pack had sheared off. This loss allowed the axle to move the rest of the spring pack along then main leaf.

I used a floor jack under the axle to support it. I then used a Hi Lift jack to lift the body of the XJ enough to unload the spring. I sat the Jeep down of a large log to give it stability during the repair.

After removing the U bolts, I was able to line up all the leafs of the spring pack and drive out the remainder of the pin. I then went into town and was able to buy a new set of pins at Advance Auto.

I used a screwdriver to line up the holes in the leaves and slipped the new pin into place. I used two C clamps to compress the spring pack while I tightened the pin. Once the spring pack was back together, I used a ratchet strap to pull the axle back into alignment with the spring pack. I then used the floor jack to press the pin into the hole in the axle.

I then reinstalled the U bolts and tightened then securely. I remounted the wheel and removed the blocks. I will inspect the other side and replace that pin in my shop at home.

The second leaf spring failure of the weekend was more serious. At the end of an especially difficult obstacle, my friend broke the main leak spring just in front of the axle tube. This breakage allowed the axle to move forward and back uncontrolled as well as side to side some. He was unable to move more than a few feet at a time.

His Jeep was also in a precarious place. We were able to get the spring back into place enough for him to roll back down to a somewhat level spot. We then used the weight of the Jeep to force the two parts of the spring close to the correct position.

Next we used two C clamps to press the main leaf into the supporting leaves. Friction between the leaves held it together. He added several wraps of baling wire to give some lateral support. He then added a ratchet strap to keep the whole assemble from sliding apart to the rear.

Which the spring secured in this manner, he was able have his XJ winched out of the hole it was in and then he was able to drive it a few miles down the trail to where we could pick it up on his trailer.

Through some clever thinking and working together, both of us were able to keep our Jeeps going. By working with the tools and supplies available both Jeeps made it home safely and without an expensive tow bill.

September 28, 2011

Electrical Safety Tip

Confusing House wiring and Automotive wiring can get you killed.

My favorite hobby is working with cars and Jeeps. I have no trouble repairing or trouble shooting automotive electronic systems. I am also a licensed electrician working with residential and commercial wiring.

In AC wiring the standard is to use the white wire for the neutral which is commonly connected to ground. The green or bare wire is the ground. You can typically touch either of these safely. The black wire is the “Hot” wire having the supply voltage above ground. You defiantly don’t want to touch that one.

In car wiring, the battery voltage is normally the red wire. Often the ignition switched “hot” wire will be blue or purple. While 12 volts will not hurt to touch it, you want to make sure it does not touch ground or you will pop a fuse or maybe burn a wire.

The ground wire in an automotive circuit is coded black. Notice that this is the exact opposite of home or commercial AC wiring. If you are an automotive mechanic making repairs to your home wiring, you need to be aware of this critical difference. The black wire is the “HOT” wire in AC.

Also with home wiring, it is never safe to assume that the white wire is always grounded. In most lighting circuits, the hot is transmitted to and from the switch using a single piece of romex. This will have both a black and white wire in it. The white wire should have a black stripe or tag at the junction but it is very often missing.

Also, if the path to ground in the white wire is interrupted, the wire can be energized through the load. Never assume the white wire is safe. And always assume the black wire is hot.

Use extra caution when switching back and forth between automotive and house wiring so that you do not confuse the two very different color coding systems.

August 26, 2011

Summer Safety Slogan

This summer I have had more than my fair share of injuries in the shop. It may be the heat. It may be the humidity. Louise Hay suggests that accidents and injuries are responses to anger and heat can trigger the emotion of anger.

So far this summer, I have burned my ankle with hot metal and injured my shoulder when a heavy drive shaft fell on it. In the first case, I was not wearing the proper protective equipment. In the second case I was simply not taking proper precautions.

I have read psychological reports that suggest that the summer heat has an effect on mood. In some cases the heat can cause depression. In other cases it has been links with an excessive feeling of mental fatigue. We have all observed that tempers flare more as the temperature rises.

I am sure dehydration plays a role in increasing accidents as well. I can see my own mental function start to fade and my muscle coordination also diminishes when I am dehydrated. These factors could easily contribute to accidents and injuries.

So in the summer heat my advice is to slow down, take more breaks and drink plenty of fluids. Take an extra amount of time to visualize the job process including things that could go wrong and take measures to prevent their occurrence. Wear the proper protective clothing even if it is hot.

If you fail to take proper precautions to deal with the added stress of summer heat you will then need to head my favorite safety slogan: “If you are gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough!” Have a safe summer.

August 5, 2011

Burning My Foot While Welding

It has been really hot in my shop this summer. So far some minor welding jobs, I have chosen not to wear full protective clothing and just take my chances with the sparks. My Australian friend Marcus Ohms has set a bad example for me in this regard.

Things were going pretty well until a glowing hot piece of metal fell into my shoe and wedged against my ankle to cool. It left a nice blister but I never stopped work, I just shook it out and kept on.

I was showing my dad the blister and he laughed and told me a story of him getting into a similar situation.

He said he had stopped by his father’s welding shop one day after his college class. He was wearing his dress slippers.

As he walked into the shop, they were working on a particularly difficult overhead weld that my dad had always done when he was working in the shop. My grandfather told my dad to hop up on the platform and finish the weld since he was quite good at it.

Dad said he was welding away and having to fill in a large gap when a large piece of molten metal fell into his shoe. He felt the burn so he just kicked off his shoe and continued welding.

The shoe however had flown across the shop and caught my grandfather right in the back of the head. My grandfather asked “Why did you kick me in the head?”

I told these stories to a millwright friend of mine who then shared this story:

He was welding structural steel on about the fourth story. He was sitting straddle of a beam welding in a cross brace. He had his legs wrapped around the beam to hold himself in place.

While welding, a hot glob rolled down the beam and then between his legs. The glob burned through his Levis and into the tender skin below. He tried to wiggle away form the burn while maintaining his balance on the beam. He burning piece of metal worked its way around inside his jeans burning his inner thigh and calf before finally falling out hit pants leg.

I guess the moral of the story is to always wear the proper protective clothing when welding. Or to remember that if you weld with fire you may get burned.