hjw5774, Author at HJWWalters

Side Quest: Petrol Pressure Washer Repair

This pressure washer came to me from storage – I’m unsure on how long it had been in storage, nor if the storage was water-tight. There was fuel in the tank, but despite my best attempts, it would not start. So began the diagnosis.

It was quickly established that there was a fuelling problem caused by a large build up of rust clogging the filter and carburettor. The rust had also turned the petrol to a funky colour.

Upon draining the petrol tank and cleaning it with rust remover, it was evident that the corrosion was endemic to the whole fuelling system, so a new carb, petrol tank and fuel lines were ordered.

Existing petrol tank before and after cleaning

These were installed along with the other general service items such as a new air filter and spark plug.

Old Vs New carb – highlighting the blocked fuel inlets

The initial test proved fruitless and a subsequent compression test yielded zero-PSI. Unsure of how far the rust had spread, a boroscope camera was used through the spark plug opening to examine the inside the cylinder chamber.

It turns out that when putting petrol in a new tank and carb, a bit more is needed to prime the system – so after adding more fuel the beast roared in to life.

Overall the quest was successful! The low-compression was likely due to the compression release mechanism to make starting easier.

Electric Quad: Steering Bracket

After test riding the quad, it became obvious that this quad bike was made for children and I am an adult.

One of the main issues with this is that the handlebars hit your knees when trying to turn.

To mitigate this issue, a bracket was fabricated from 5mm aluminium plate to extend the handlebars forward.

The design was kept as simple as possible – the measurement of the extension was the same measurement as the distance between the original bolt holes.

Fabrication was also kept as simple as possible. First a carboard template was tested for fit and it’s shape transferred to aluminium plate.

The main shape was rough cut with a jigsaw fitted with these blades specifically used for aluminium.

The fixing holes were then drilled and the top two fixings were tapped out to suit an M8 thread.

From there; the final shape was formed with a set of files and some good old elbow grease. To give a nice ‘brushed’ look; the edge was sanded down with some P180 grit sand paper.

The extension plate also provides a good mounting location for potential future lights.

Bark-Blind Update

After a two-month hiatus, more progress is made on the bark-activated blind and Version 3 has been designed.

Changes in version 3:

Revised 2 part chassis
Changed motor and spigot
Relocated IR sensor
Modified switch position
New tactile buttons

Have a play around with the 3D model above

Electric Quad Update

After a fair amount of time in various states of disrepair, the quad has finally been reassembled and taken for a test ride.

Check out the video below.

A blistering top speed of 19 mph was recorded (30 km/h).

Side Quest: Kitchen Whiteboard Unit

You can never have enough kitchen storage. This was a short project to turn a bog-standard wall unit in to a multi-function magnetic memo board, key holder and mail carrier.

The whiteboard surface is a self adhesive sticker with a dry wipe finish and a ferric core to give a magnetic attraction: FerroFlex® 600mm Wide Flexible Ferrous Sheet – Self-Adhesive / Dry-Wipe | Large Metre Sheet from First4magnets.com

It’s worth noting that the surface works best with neodymium magnets; the attraction with a ferromagnets is not that great and they can’t support much weight.

The door handles were custom designed to incorporate storage for the dry-wipe pens and eraser. The subsequent design was 3D printed with PLA and screw-fixed to the underside of the door.

The left hand handle was a mirror copy of the right hand

To finalise the unit and add more functionality; a mail holder and set of key hooks were added to the side closest the door.

This holder was a literally ‘butchered’ from a previous noticeboard (i.e. cut in half), re-drilled and resprayed.

Final cost

For anyone thinking of trying this at home; here is a bill of materials.

Item	Supplier	Cost
Wall unit & doors	Wickes – 1000mm wall unit	£ 122.00
Dry-wipe surface	(via eBay): Ferroflex sheet (1 metre)	£ 21.68
Dry-wipe pens	Morrisons – pack of 4 pens	£ 1.50
Mail & key holder	Not on the High Street	£ 35.99
Pen holder	About 80 gram of white PLA from stock	£ 1.23
Misc. fixings	Screws and plugs to mount the unit and small screws to fix the handles in place (nominal cost from stock)	£ 2.50

Total cost was approx. £185.00

Side Quest: Garage Lights

Salvaged a pair of LED batten fixings that were being thrown out and used them to upgrade the lighting in the garage/workshop. The difference between the original bulbs and the new fittings is day and night (pun intended).

Knowing that the camera would auto adjust the images for brightness, I took some before and after light intensity readings as summarised in the table below.

Location of Measurement	Starting Illuminance (Lux)	Finishing Illuminance (Lux)	Difference
By door	57	635	578 Lux (+1,014%)
Over pit	115	710	595 Lux (+517%)

It’s worth noting that the original halogen bulb heats up to high temperatures within a short space of time, as evidenced in the photos below.

Overall; chuffed with the new lights. Many lumens.

Rust Removal

Iron (III) Oxide. Great for making thermite, crap for structural/mechanical systems. Thankfully there are rust removers available that will rid you of this troublesome oxide.

In this instance, ‘HG rust remover’ was used. After a bit of research, it seems that anything with phosphoric acid works well as a rust remover.

Acetic acid (vinegar) will also work, however, it’s not as effective. Avoid stronger acids such as hydrochloric acid as this will damage the metal.

Other tools you’ll need are:

A plastic or glass container large to soak the rusted items.
A measuring jug or other graduated container.
A second vessel to hold water to form a wash station.
Brass wire brush.
Rubber/latex gloves (VERY IMPORTANT)

Simply follow the instructions on the container; in this case – form a 1:5 dilution of the rust remover with water. Then submerge the rusted items, wait an undetermined amount of time (about 6 hours in this instance) and watch the bubbles form.

Items first placed in the rust remover solution and separated with plastic spacers.

The solution will dissolve the rust and turn a reddish-brown colour.

Once the solution has done the job, remove the item, wash it with clean water while scrubbing the loose rust off with the brass brush. A second treatment might be required for more stubborn and deeper patches of corrosion.

Upon completion, dry the item and treat the surface with WD40 to prevent rust from reforming!

Tips on Stripping Paint Off Metal

When it comes to removing paint from metal there are many options involving heat, chemicals and abrasives.

As part of the quad project, I hope to strip back the existing paint (and rust) and respray it with a new colour.

Due to the size and shape of the frame, the chemical route was not viable and burning the paint off required an investment in to new tools with no guarantee of success.

Therefore the abrasive route was chosen. But what abrasive to use? Wire cups, flap wheels, sanding belts?! So much choice; so little budget.

Below is a photo of the different effects you get when you use an angle grinder with a steel wire wheel (right) compared with a brass wire cup (left).

The twisted steel wire wheel is very aggressive and gouged the steel tubing below. The brass wire cup was much softer on the base metal, only removing the paint.

Link for the brass cup: Abracs Wire Crimped Cup Brush 75mm | Toolstation

Link for the wire wheel: Abracs Twist Knot Wheel Brush 100mm | Toolstation