Remember to look for the simple things first!

I rode the bike to my brother’s house yesterday and because we are both a little deaf, I wore my hearing aids.  This resulted in me discovering the bike was making several alarming noises.  A horrible rattle from the front; creaking from the motor and clunking from the rear geared hub.

The bike will need to be in good condition for my planned seven week cycling holiday in Europe in a few months so these issues need to be resolved.  I tend to ‘think of the worse and pray for the best’.   Look for the simple things first!

The metallic rattle from the front of the bike had me checking the security of the front carrier, the panniers and the connection between the fork and frame.  Everything appeared to be secure.  Rather than commencing to disassemble everything I reviewed the situation.  That was when I realised I had the bag containing the tent poles and pegs strapped underneath the handlebar.

The bag now resting loose on top of the handlebar

The cause of the rattle were the metal tent pegs vibrating against the poles in the bag.   Some elastic bands will solve that issue.  “Look for the simple things first”

The creaking and groaning sound from the motor when pedalling had me worried.  Could a component inside the motor be failing?  The sound was coming from the vicinity of the bottom bracket and could only be heard when pedalling.  The bearings in the motor might be the issue.   They aren’t expensive but I would need to remove the motor from the bike and disassemble it.   Before starting that I decided to check the bolts that secure the crank arms to the bottom bracket.  “Look for the simple things first”   They were both slightly loose!   A simple task to tighten them.

The clicking and clunking sound from the internally geared rear hub was concerning.  I only consistently had gears 1 to 8.   Gears 9 to 11 either didn’t engage or intermittently did with a grind and clunk.  If the motor failed I could still ride the bike without it.  However if the hub failed I’d be in serious trouble.

It seemed an opportune time to strip, clean and relubricate the hub.  This would also enable me to inspect it for any damage.

After removing the gear mechanism from the hub I placed it into a container of petrol which was then placed into the ultrasonic cleaner for 20 minutes.   The clean gears look to be in good condition.

I let the petrol in the container settle to see what impurities had been extracted during the ultrasonic cleaning

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Some muck had been remove.   Was any of it metallic?

I used a small magnet on a wire to probe the bottom of the container.   The “black stuff” stuck to the magnet.

Afterwards

Next, the magnet was cleaned to reveal a very fine metallic paste,

Unfortunately the cleaning of the hub didn’t identify the problem.  Eventually I discovered the problem was a combination of the gear shifter on the handlebar and the gear cable that connects the shifter to the hub (it had stretched).  That was a relief as the cost of replacing cable and shifter is significantly lower than a replacement hub. 

These bike issues have been a distraction from the house skirting board project.  Everything is installed and prepared for painting.   I’m just trying to find the enthusiasm to do the painting.  Have I previously mentioned “I hate painting!”

I Wet the Bed!

It wasn’t an age thing….. or that I’d had too much to drink!

When I got out of bed this morning I noticed a bright blue patch on the light blue bottom sheet.  Couldn’t think what had caused it and promptly went off to do something else.

 

When making the bed Jan noticed it and told me as it was on my side I must have created the patch.  Probably when lying on the bed fully clothed in the evening watching the TV.  She thought it might be some type of chemical on my shirt!  That didn’t make sense to me as the patch was located around waist level. 

On investigating further I discovered the side of the sheet was damp along with the mattress cover.

Then the penny dropped!  The blue colour was from the copper sulphate Jan adds to the water in the waterbed mattress.  We have two bladders in the bed and mine was leaking.

Fortunately I’d just finished making the 12V water pump for the camper trailer shower and was able to use it to empty both bladders. 

Extracting the water from Jan’s bladder was relatively easy (the one she sleeps on…. the other she empties without my help!).  The leaking bladder on my side proved to be more difficult.   Apparently the bladders can be repaired.  However we’ve decided to replace them with a single king sized bladder.   With twin bladders there was a foam divider down the middle which formed a hard edge.  I suspect Jan found it slightly difficult to climb over the divider when she was feeling amorous.  OK, more likely feeling cold and looking for a large hot water bottle.  

The mattress has been disassembled to allow the surface water to evaporate.

The plywood top to the bed base was also damp and I used my heat gun to accelerate it’s drying.

The local waterbed shop had a king size bladder in stock so we should be alright for tonight..  

Slightly Annoying

A somewhat sigh of relief upon completing the media server project.  The Raspberry Pi has been reassembled and the data on the four attached usb hard drives repaired or replaced.

Jan asked me to print an email she had received.  That was when I discovered the black ink printer cartridge was empty.  Then I noticed the ink in other three coloured cartridges was very low.  We rarely use the printer as almost everything is done electronically.  The cartridges were the originals from the initial purchase of the printer two years ago.

I searched online for the cheapest replacement cartridges.  Unbranded cartridges for $65.  I used to refill ink cartridges and still have the bottles of ink and syringes.  These cartridges look difficult to refill and they also have a microchip to prevent refilling.  A new Epson printer (same model) was $69.  $4 difference between the price of replacement cartridges and a new printer. 

Old printer

I opted to purchase the new printer

The price difference seems crazy and I suspect the manufacturer sells the printer at a loss intending to make the money from replacement cartridges.  I wonder how many people purchase the replacement cartridges not realising the price difference.  Yes, it’s also highly likely that the cartridges included with the new printer don’t have much ink.   But they lasted two years.

This is the annoying part

For the last 12 months it has been getting steadily harder to start the 4WD.   Sometimes the engine starts and then after 10-20 seconds it stops.  On other occasions it won’t immediately start.  In both situations the engine has to be cranked for some time before it starts.   I thought it might be air leaking into the fuel line and checked all the hose connections were tight.

At it’s last service I asked the workshop to check everything.   The subsequent reply was “No faults in the computer!”  Two months ago I took the vehicle to a local Isuzu workshop and asked if they had a mechanic who had previously seen the problem.  I informed the workshop manager I wasn’t interested in paying for a “”fishing expedition!”   Well they found the fault, but I paid for a fishing expedition ($1000).  The problem was identified as the secondary (after market) fuel filter which they had removed.

I fitted the secondary fuel filter as a precaution against dirty fuel from a remote outback supplier.  There isn’t much to this filter and I had difficulty in believing it was the cause.   I replaced the fuel lines and reinstalled it.  The fault returned.  Obviously there was a problem.  The next step was to take the entire filter to a fuel injection specialist and have them check it for leaks.  They confirmed the assembly leaked and I should buy a replacement as “they weren’t expensive!” 

Looking online a replacement cost $250-450.  It’s the filter head that has the leak, but you have to purchase the entire assembly.   Eventually I found a filter head supplier on Aliexpress.   $37 for the required part.

The most annoying part of this saga is I should have taken the additional time to identify the faulty part and replace it, saving us $1000.