Hey LeChat, What Are You Working On?

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 10:01 pm

Oh, and here's a pic of the tires still wrapped up from shipping:

The flippin' things are 44" tall!! Zooks!!! And... they have a chevron tread pattern, like ordinary tractor tires.

And a detail shot with the flash on to show the brackets holding the smokestack.

Tiahaar · Post by **Tiahaar** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:30 am

Major smoke stackage! I'm intrigued by the valve setup you've got there...very nice, and gives me ideas...how many hours of runtime do you suppose you'll get out of a 20lb tank?

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 8:39 am

I honestly have no idea about the run time. I'm bringing four tanks and figure by just using up the first one, I'll get a gauge for how to ration out the others.

That valve assembly was pretty interesting to figure out. The large weed burner that I got didn't have an "idle" so to speak. It was either always on, blasting out at full tilt, or off. The levered valve (actually called a whistle valve) was in effect a "deadman" switch. So I plumbed a bypass around it and put a needle valve inline to allow for an adjustable tiki-torch style flame to be burning all the time, and the whistle valve now gives the quick blasts of higher volume for the *PUFF*

The whistle valve is also adjustable so that I can get the puff flame at the height I want. The burner heads has already been tested repeatedly and the idle flame doesn't blow out. I think the biggest problem will be the tank freezing off, but since this is really intermittent, and comparatively small, blasts of propane, I think itâ€™ll do fine.

And by the way, if you're plumbing for propane, I suggest using the paste style thread sealer, instead of the tape. Most of the tapes are not meant for gas... only the ones with a yellow case, NOT the blue. It should clearly say its for gaslines, or have â€œWOGâ€

StevenGoodman · Post by **StevenGoodman** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 9:55 am

I would recomend replacing the needle valve with a regulator. Depending on the flow rate it is easy to "freeze up" a needle valve.

We tried needle valves as part of DDI last year, and they were a pain. They are hard to adjust right. An adjustable regulator is much better.

And yes, ALWAYS use the correct dope/tape; you don't want it being desolved by the propane!

A good sized "poofer" can easily use up a 20lb tank in one night; except you will freeze up the tank before then (if you use it very often).

What are you using for an ignitor? I am always looking for new good ignitor designs.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:50 pm

It's in the works

click for pictures

http://community.webtv.net/unjonharley/doc0

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 1:00 pm

Good to see Salem is keeping after you to get things done..

That guy with the hippie bus has not shown any pics lately... Lets see that bunny powered trike..

Dragon fly is hiding his stuff in a secret la-bore-a-tory..

Same with Robotland..

MozyBonz · Post by **MozyBonz** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 1:22 pm

LeChatNoir wrote:Oh, and here's a pic of the tires still wrapped up from shipping:

The flippin' things are 44" tall!! Zooks!!! And... they have a chevron tread pattern, like ordinary tractor tires.

And a detail shot with the flash on to show the brackets holding the smokestack.

WOW....

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 6:00 am

unjonharley wrote:Good to see Salem is keeping after you to get things done..

That guy with the hippie bus has not shown any pics lately... Lets see that bunny powered trike..

Dragon fly is hiding his stuff in a secret la-bore-a-tory..

Same with Robotland..

Yeah... where are the projects those turkeys are workin' on, anyways? They're all hiding out in some workshop. I haven't seen robot around anywhere, lately. He must be buried up to his hips in spacesuit parts.

I'm liking the rickshaw. Looks suitable rigged up. Is it going to have a cover too?

By the way, robot... I found out that the batteries in those powerwheel-kid cars have deep cycle batteries in them. I saw one new the other day for $50 that had a 9.5 amp/hr rating. I measured the draw on my lighting and best I can figure its abut 50 milliamps. I couldn't believe it was that low, but that's what the meter said. So I should be able to run all week on one charge!! (+/- 190 hours) Yippie!!

I'm on the lookout for cheap one now from a yardsale... which I assume will have less amp/hrs, but still be in the neighborhood of 7-8 or so.

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 6:01 am

Oh, and Mozy...

I got the rear tires on last night. Wait till you see it.

Pics eventually.

joel the ornery · Post by **joel the ornery** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 6:49 am

wow.

i just caught up...

incredible work you ave done.

congratulations.

i must get off my dead ass and do something.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 6:57 am

We have a store called Batteries Plus.. 12v 10.5amh run you 35$..

My personal transporter (Zappy) runs on 6 of those batts.. The dealer wants $135. for a set.. Not a bad price..

I have a 5 batt 12v 7.5amh for solor store to run the camp and for the sterio.. Batteries Exchange ask 16$ where sports stores are 25$ for the same thing.. Sports stores sell them for trolling motors..

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 7:11 am

LeChatNoir wrote:
I'm liking the rickshaw. Looks suitable rigged up. Is it going to have a cover too?

\/
To much wind factor on the playa.. It's going with a umbrella.. Four holders holes to ajust for sun angel.. That way it can be folded down in a big wind.. Hoping my pipe dream of the lites works out.. Can't wait to get that far..

Heat and age play a role in how much work I can put in, in a day.. Been slow going the last few.. Other "get ready" projects are eating up some time also..

Keep up the good work K¿

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 8:28 pm

It has tires all the way around!!

After tweaking it and adjusting the linkages, the smokestack had to come off because there was not enough ceiling height for it with the tires on...

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 8:31 pm

joel the ornery wrote:wow.

i just caught up...

incredible work you ave done.

congratulations.

i must get off my dead ass and do something.

Thank you, Joel. I appreciate that.

Tiahaar · Post by **Tiahaar** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 3:35 am

Oh that's awesome, rubber is on! I am insane sitting here with only 4 hours before I'm supposed to get up and go to work but it was great to find new Contraption updates

I ate this whole big bag of mms while going over and getting my art and flame effects questionaires completed earlier tonight, yeeps. The cool propane valving on the Contraption pushed me to doing the flame effects on my trike, I see a way now. Thanks! No new pictures of my stuff (sorry Unjon!) but work continues with projects.

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 12:18 pm

StevenGoodman wrote:I would recomend replacing the needle valve with a regulator. Depending on the flow rate it is easy to "freeze up" a needle valve.

We tried needle valves as part of DDI last year, and they were a pain. They are hard to adjust right. An adjustable regulator is much better.

And yes, ALWAYS use the correct dope/tape; you don't want it being desolved by the propane!

A good sized "poofer" can easily use up a 20lb tank in one night; except you will freeze up the tank before then (if you use it very often).

What are you using for an ignitor? I am always looking for new good ignitor designs.

I keep forgetting to address the point you made about needle valves. In this case I'm using the same valve as I use on my forges (never had any problems), but with much less flow since its only on the "tiki-torch" pilot flame side of the plumbing. So I'm thinking it should be fine for this case. Field tests seemed to point to this being the case, at least. Although... I'm running around 5-8 psi on the forges and the burner head will be at tank pressure (but with minimum volume I'm still feeling ok about it).

You bring up a good point for other places where needle valves are used. Since they are the small point in the line of flow, they can freeze up quickly in high volume lines.

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 12:20 pm

Oh, and I'm leaning towards an grill ignitor with extended wiring to the button right now, but have yet to get it setup.

StevenGoodman · Post by **StevenGoodman** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 1:47 pm

LeChatNoir wrote:Oh, and I'm leaning towards an grill ignitor with extended wiring to the button right now, but have yet to get it setup.

"Spark" type ignitors are very difficult to make work with a "poofer". Since the propane/air mixture only ignites at a limited range of ratios it is hard to get the ignitor in the correct place. That is why the most people use "flames" to ignite the poofer.

This shoulds like what you are doing? You are going to use the grill ignitor to light your "tiki-torch". That should work fine.

LeChatNoir wrote:You bring up a good point for other places where needle valves are used. Since they are the small point in the line of flow, they can freeze up quickly in high volume lines.

For DDI we tried using needle valves to control the flow to high pressure low volume "torch heads"; did not work well.

If you want to make the BM Fire Safety people very happy, make sure to have lots of easy to reach shutoff valves. The flame operator should be able to shutoff the propane into the system without having to move, or get people out of the way.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 2:29 pm

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 10:23 pm

I have a question.. What are you going to do with that glorified hay rake??

I just took the back roads home on a two hour ride.. I saw trip rakes side delivery rake wind rowers and all other kinds of rusted out junk..

As I was going through a small town I spoted a RR engine a block in from the main drag.. Jumped on taking a couple of pictures.. It is a French six driver narrow gage.. I have been wanting to see one of these for over 35 years.. Has a fuel box design that indicates it was a wood burner and a whole lot of other good stuff.. This type of engine was used in the lumber industry..

There is one of my long storys that have to do with the french 6 driver.. But it's late and I wont bore ya all.. Might put up pictures if any good ones come out.

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 6:37 am

You know... other than drive it around on the playa, I don't know. I've toyed with the idea of putting it in some local parades. Lots of people are asking me to bring it places and Louisville has a big art car parade every year. In fact this year it's being kicked off by Harrod Blank.

But I gotta admit that the idea of someone finding it tucked back in the barn in 100 years or so just tickles the hell out of me. I'm striving, as much as possible with the time I have to complete it, to make it look like a "factory job". Grinding the welds and make it appear as though these various parts were actually made to fit together. Hopefully some folks will second guess themseves when they see it and wonder...

And I want to see the pics of that steamer. I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff. There's an old time farm equipment show coming up near here in September. I'm hoping to be back in time to go visit and look around for an old "hit and miss" engine.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 7:30 am

LeChatNoir wrote:Dragon fly is hiding his stuff in a secret la-bore-a-tory..

Same with Robotland..

Yeah... where are the projects those turkeys are workin' on, anyways? They're all hiding out in some workshop. I haven't seen robot around anywhere, lately. He must be buried up to his hips in spacesuit parts.

By the way, robot... I found out that the batteries in those powerwheel-kid cars have deep cycle batteries in them. I saw one new the other day for $50 that had a 9.5 amp/hr rating. I measured the draw on my lighting and best I can figure its abut 50 milliamps. I couldn't believe it was that low, but that's what the meter said. So I should be able to run all week on one charge!! (+/- 190 hours) Yippie!!

I'm on the lookout for cheap one now from a yardsale... which I assume will have less amp/hrs, but still be in the neighborhood of 7-8 or so.[/quote]

Sorry to be a stranger, lately...Been horsing around with the new highspeed connection. HUZZAH! The Contraption is truly magnificent! Don't hold yer breath while hunting yard sales for those Power Wheelz batts...usually the whole kit and kaboodle gets thrown in the landfill (!!!) when the batts go flat or catch fire. (Which the older ones used to do A LOT, I guess...there was a big recall a few years back.) But comparable batteries can be had for around 20 bucks from Gander Mountain, as well as from "The Battery Store" and places like it. The Power Wheelz batts are terribly overpriced, and have specialized connectors that you have to cut off in order to attach more utilitarian ones, while the Gander Mountain 7Ah cells have standard fittings for spade terminals.
Yes, I AM waist-deep in spacesuit parts...and spacecraft components. Just finished the hatch for the PBR MOD, and had a lovely time antiquing it with various Implements Of Destruction. Next, some seats....

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 2:23 pm

By the way, the Hello Kitty exhaust works best if you leave the cats in place.

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 8:09 am

Oh, any cat would love to ride around sportin' such feline bling.

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:04 pm

New stuff that you can see:

Fenders and a colapsable awning frame for the rumble seat!!

And the new stuff you can't:

Added four more cold cathode tubes (thanks chaiguy for helping me track down the ones that matched the ones I had), two at the front and two at the back, and ran the wiring for the taillamp. I'm working on making the headlamps right now and hope to have them done and mounted by the weekend.

And check out the tush on this thing...

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:21 pm

\/
I'm bring a buggy whip..

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:26 pm

Watch out... the ladies I know that'll be riding around on this thing might just take that whip away from you and use it themselves...

Oh wait...

That may well be your plan.

Box Burner · Post by **Box Burner** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:36 pm

Awsome LeChat! Totally Awesome!

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:37 pm

LeChatNoir wrote:Watch out... the ladies I know that'll be riding around on this thing might just take that whip away from you and use it themselves...

Oh wait...

That may well be your plan.

\/
Can we get an Amen here??

Just figured out a stree test for that corn binder of yours.. I'll bring three SAlem girls.. That would put it in full stall.. This is the home town of the elaphant asses of the world..

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:44 pm

All you contraptioneers eat your heart out..

This weekend I get to go and watch Elliot race his Herry Ford art sculpture..

I'll try for a couple pictures..

Still have to post that steam engine.. will soon..