Dec 3-7, 2012: Silver soldering, Chippers and Forklifts

This week was our last couple days of fall quarter 2012. I learned a great skill and that is how to silver solder. As you can see in one of my photos is my second attempt of doing it on a bolt and a brass "T". I also did a major repair on a 9" diesel chipper. As you can see the belt that transfers the power from the engine to the chipper flywheel broke. After asking around the shop I figured out to do the repair you have to un-bolt the engine and take off the belt on the flywheel pulley and then take off the bearing that is on the opposite side of yellow housing that is connected to the engine. Another picture of mine shows how bad the master cylinder looked off of a k25 forklift. I ended up cleaning it out and flushing the system. The worst I have seen to date. Last but not least, I learned about forklift chains. We had this unit come in off a 6 month rent and needed a lot of work. It turns out the chains had not been regularly lube and the became seized. I cleaned and lubricated them as much as I could to bring them back to life, but it didn't happen. I ended up learning that if there is any kinking in the chains that this can become a wear point and become a huge safety hazard.

Hours: 50
Hours to date: 509

Nov. 26 - 30, 2012 : Expo, Flaring, Electical diagnostics

This past week has been definitely something to remember. On Tuesday, I got to go to the Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle. My dad, Sven, also came to join as you can see in one of the photos. It was really eye opening to understand all the new technology in marine diesel. I got to check out some very large engines. It's hard to see in my photo, but it is a flake ice maker for a boat. I got to understand how it works and why the fisherman like flake ice instead of cubes. I also did an assignment with the Cummins ISX. I got to learn more about scanning with a computer. I adjusted the valves and the injector on one of the cylinders. To wrap it up I got to learn how to double flare a brake line. In my photo is one of the lines that I flared.

Hours: 40
Hours to date. 459

Nov. 18- 25, 2012: backhoes and hydraulic hoses

This past week was thanksgiving. I was able to get some work done before I went on break. I learned more about backhoes, Z60's hydraulic routing and propane regulators. I started with a checkin on a john deere backhoe. Nothin stood out in terms of problems, but it did give me a good refresher on going through them because I hadn't had the chance to check one in awhile. The next was a case 580. This unit needed some parts and small repair, but in the end turned out that I learned how the backhoes joystick system works. It had a bad gas shock that was supposed to keep the joysticks where you wanted. The Z60 had a bad hydraulic hose and when I went to take the cover off and replace it it had more hoses that needed replacing. As you can see in my pictures I also learned about how propane regulators work, backhoe hydraulic routing, bad PCV hose and air intake. Another good week!

Hours: 30
Hours to date: 419

Nov. 12- 16, 2012: The light board and learning new machines!

This past week I learned not only a lot, but of many new skills. I completed the truck and trailer board at school. I had pictures of it, but unfortunately I misplaced my phone that had the pictures. The task was to completely light up all of the lights so you could operate the board just like a truck. I had made some few mistakes, but after those mistakes  I was able to learn from them and complete the board. I was actually surprised how fast I did it in. One of those mistakes was hooking up to the turn signal switch. It was amazing to figure out that almost all the lights are ran through the turn signal switch. I also how some brands use relays to work the headlights and they are controlled on the ground side. Very interesting. You can see in the pictures that I worked on a Z60 at work this week. I am still marveled at how large this machine is and how all the components are run off of the hydraulic pump. Very cool week and I can't wait to get back to work!

Hours: 45

Hours to date: 389

Nov.5-9, 2012: starters, lab scopes and the Modis

This past week I completed all of my written assignments. I learned a lot about cmp's (camshaft position sensors). As you can see in some of the photos that show the lab scope function of the snapon Modis, you can see tdc with the different pattern. I also learned a lot about how to use the diagnostic tools like finding the trouble codes on the Modis. In some of my photos from work you can see a 9'' diesel chipper with a damaged ring gear and starter just like what my truck has. Overall this was a great week and I learned a lot.

Hours: 45
Hours to date: 344