Good afternoon folks,
Gears and Beers are heading back to the playa, and as a fixer camp, we would love to hear for anyone out there who had mechanical issue what you ran into, what you ended up needing and were you able to find it.
Last year we made this call out and it was really useful for planning our tools and extra supplies/parts that we brought out with us last year. For our part, we did a lot more onsite welding than in 2014, so we are bringing more supplies for that. Also we do a ton of stripped out bicycle pedal repairs, so we are bringing taps and heli coils (and likely and HF tig welder) out this year based on that.
Please let us know (also any suggestions are also very welcome)
Cheers
-H
G&B request for what went wrong..
Re: G&B request for what went wrong..
I still have one of the sheets somebody printed with a list of 14 repair camps. Our front desk made good use of that information!
At Yellow Bikes Camp they had a list of 20+ bike repair camps. Still not enough.
I chase pedal threads, from the back, but... are you able to install heli-coils straight enough? Of course, a wobbling pedal is better than none, but sure feels goofy.
At Yellow Bikes Camp they had a list of 20+ bike repair camps. Still not enough.
I chase pedal threads, from the back, but... are you able to install heli-coils straight enough? Of course, a wobbling pedal is better than none, but sure feels goofy.
Re: G&B request for what went wrong..
Elliot,
I am glad that those sheets were useful. We will do them again this year. If we can pull the crank arm off and get it into a vise, we should be able to keep is straight. If we can repair the threads, that will be the first option. We are bringing a tig welder this year so we can braise (or weld if it is steel) in some material for the tap to cut new threads in, if we are not happy with that, we will ream and heli-coil, provided we have the correct size for their pedal. I just want to avoid having to doing any more welding of pedals unless is to absolutely the only way.
Cheers
H
I am glad that those sheets were useful. We will do them again this year. If we can pull the crank arm off and get it into a vise, we should be able to keep is straight. If we can repair the threads, that will be the first option. We are bringing a tig welder this year so we can braise (or weld if it is steel) in some material for the tap to cut new threads in, if we are not happy with that, we will ream and heli-coil, provided we have the correct size for their pedal. I just want to avoid having to doing any more welding of pedals unless is to absolutely the only way.
Cheers
H
Re: G&B request for what went wrong..
You guys are awesome.
We had some failures with audio gear: 1/8" cords, jacks, etc, power adapters for speakers, PA fuses, audio cables getting kinked, broken. We didn't expect it and didn't have a lot of backup gear or soldering kit to repair audio stuff (while we usually travel with a few bike parts, camping gear, and car-repair stuff). Cheers!
We had some failures with audio gear: 1/8" cords, jacks, etc, power adapters for speakers, PA fuses, audio cables getting kinked, broken. We didn't expect it and didn't have a lot of backup gear or soldering kit to repair audio stuff (while we usually travel with a few bike parts, camping gear, and car-repair stuff). Cheers!
Re: G&B request for what went wrong..
I like your idea of building up material by brazing, rather than welding. ("Braising" is a culinary thing.) You might try oxy-acetylene for brazing. Conceivably, welded steel might be a bit hard for hand-tapping. And if I remember right, to weld aluminum you would want DC TIG, which is a more costly machine. Hopefully, Motzky or another welding expert can inform us on those two points.
I have tapped a couple 1-piece cranks, which take 1/2" pedals, for 9/16 pedals, but they came out rather wobbly. I don't think I've ever seen a crank arm, of either type, that fit squarely in a vise.
A couple years ago, Cranky & Sons came up with a last resort fix in the form of a wood pedal that bolts to the crank arm with a nut on the back. Pretty clever. I've stolen this idea with old steel pedals. See photo.
But my preferred fix is to replace the arm. To this end I collect spares year 'round. I pick up any and all junk bikes, harvest usable parts, and take the rest to the recycling yard. That's one reason I always drive a small pickup-truck.
Since you work on MVs and all sorts of vehicles and whatnot.... Last year I was asked to help with a late-model Chevy that would not start. The battery had a good charge, but it would not crank. Not even a click. I traced circuits and checked fuses -- nothing. So this may have been a computer problem. My suggestion is that you might want to have diagnostic equipment for such.
I have tapped a couple 1-piece cranks, which take 1/2" pedals, for 9/16 pedals, but they came out rather wobbly. I don't think I've ever seen a crank arm, of either type, that fit squarely in a vise.
A couple years ago, Cranky & Sons came up with a last resort fix in the form of a wood pedal that bolts to the crank arm with a nut on the back. Pretty clever. I've stolen this idea with old steel pedals. See photo.
But my preferred fix is to replace the arm. To this end I collect spares year 'round. I pick up any and all junk bikes, harvest usable parts, and take the rest to the recycling yard. That's one reason I always drive a small pickup-truck.
Since you work on MVs and all sorts of vehicles and whatnot.... Last year I was asked to help with a late-model Chevy that would not start. The battery had a good charge, but it would not crank. Not even a click. I traced circuits and checked fuses -- nothing. So this may have been a computer problem. My suggestion is that you might want to have diagnostic equipment for such.
Re: G&B request for what went wrong..
I am not an expert on this topic, but I can get around in it okay.
You can actually use MIG to weld aluminum, but you need a spool feeder and a helium-argon gas mix. I would not go below about 220A with a MIG welding aluminum.
The big reason most people think TIG, when they want to weld aluminum is when you are welding thin gauge aluminum. That is where TIG shines. If the material is 1/16", or greater, then MIG will work just fine, as long as the machine is setup correctly.
You want AC, not DC. The constant reversing of polarity will help break loose the oxide on the aluminum, which has a significantly higher melting temperature than the substrate does. You want peddle control as well. Aluminum takes a lot of energy to get the weld started (the reason you want as much amperage as possible from what can be provided), but as you weld it takes less and less. This is due to the material being a great heat sink.
You can actually use MIG to weld aluminum, but you need a spool feeder and a helium-argon gas mix. I would not go below about 220A with a MIG welding aluminum.
The big reason most people think TIG, when they want to weld aluminum is when you are welding thin gauge aluminum. That is where TIG shines. If the material is 1/16", or greater, then MIG will work just fine, as long as the machine is setup correctly.
You want AC, not DC. The constant reversing of polarity will help break loose the oxide on the aluminum, which has a significantly higher melting temperature than the substrate does. You want peddle control as well. Aluminum takes a lot of energy to get the weld started (the reason you want as much amperage as possible from what can be provided), but as you weld it takes less and less. This is due to the material being a great heat sink.
I would like to treat my gas pedal as a binary operator and get the cooperation of everyone in front of me!
Re: G&B request for what went wrong..
I love the wooden/replacement pedal! I am going to have to steal that as well. That is a great idea. We do have a acetylene torch we bring out each year, I will play with it and see which one I like better, thanks for the suggestion.
We also do have a cheap ac/dc tig rig that I am bringing out, but I am going to try to avoid doing any aluminum welding if at all possible as I don't have a lot of experience on that, and none doing it dirty. I will stick to steel, unless there is no other option. I will be happy to leave that for all the better tig welders out there. (You are all welcome to use my cheap Alpha tig 200x if you need it).
Cheers
H
We also do have a cheap ac/dc tig rig that I am bringing out, but I am going to try to avoid doing any aluminum welding if at all possible as I don't have a lot of experience on that, and none doing it dirty. I will stick to steel, unless there is no other option. I will be happy to leave that for all the better tig welders out there. (You are all welcome to use my cheap Alpha tig 200x if you need it).
Cheers
H
Re: G&B request for what went wrong..
Thanks for setting me straight on the TIG, Skuzzy!