Thanks Pixie, I’ll let you know how I get on with it once this snow has melted…
I see no pictures on my side but I’m certain your metal detector is coming along nicely
Yesterdays mobile test went better than expected Minx, but it’s a bit cumbersome holding the end of a stick, so the handle is the next piece of the detector jigsaw…
I got sidetracked yesterday…Our cordless vacuum cleaner packed up. We have had it for quite a while and I’ve already made a few modifications to keep it going, but we decided it was the end of the line and the new one we ordered came yesterday.
So it was time to salvage any usable parts off the old one before it was despatched to the bin. There were two excellent motors recovered, and the handle might just come in handy for use on the detector…Christmas has come early…
Exactly my philosophy, OGF.
I never throw away anything like that. My most recent acquisition is a motor which came from the fan at the back of our oven when it was repaired under warranty.
I connected it up and it spins quickly and freely. In fact, I can’t really understand why the engineer replaced it. :surprised:
We had a structural rather than an electrical failure of our battery rechargeable vac last year.
We have a mains multifunction jobby, but use the rechargeable thingy for the smallest rooms or the top floor of our three storey house, or for minor spillages.
The swivel joint of the sweeper head part broke, so I used all sorts of bits of plastic pipe, nuts and bolts, and large washers to rebuild the swivel head.
The vac cost about £150, the battery is shot and only lasts less than twenty minuets, but a replacement would cost about £50, so repairing it for a few pence and keeping it for minor jobs was worth the three days it took me to repair it.
I always salvage as much as I can JB, and with most things it makes them small enough to to bagged up and disposed of in the black bin…
Motors are a particularly good find, and of the two I recovered from the vacuum cleaner, I fancy making a model windmill with one of them. As a DC motor will act as a generator as well as a drive motor, I will fit the windmill out with lights so it will illuminate when the wind blows…
Incidentally, I discovered what was wrong with the vacuum cleaner as I disassembled it. But apart from it being old and Mrs Fox demanding a new one, I would have had to cut away some of the plastic to get to the faulty part.
Sounds like a good fix Fruitcake… Mrs Fox doesn’t like it when I can repair things like the vacuum or the washing machine, she would prefer to buy a new one…
But I like the challenge. The previous repairs on the vacuum cleaner were mobility ones (the wheels fell off) No seriously!
So I had to redesign the undercarriage and make it more substantial.
That’s a good idea!
Yes, they like to make things inaccessible, don’t they? Security screws and deeply set screws. They want you to buy a new one rather than try to repair.
I do have some long screwdriver heads and several security screw heads, but no long security screw driver heads.
Naturally I’ll keep you posted on my progress JB…
Thanks. Would you use LEDs? Can they be driven by a generally increasing and varying DC, as with a wind driven DC motor/generator?
Ah, glad you asked me that JB…
Using a large capacitor to stabilise the voltage, and a voltage regulator to prevent surges, I think it should be possible JB…
Rechargeable batteries could be used to store the charge and a circuit containing a light sensitive diode to turn the lights on when it gets dark, as in commercially produced garden lights .
Ah, it becomes more complicated!
That’s all part of the fun JB…I love this stuff…
How’s it going, Foxy?
Good Morning Tabby, it’s not going so good just lately what with the gout an all… Not being able to run or walk presents all sorts of other problems. Old bones and muscles don’t like inactivity…
You’ll do it - I know you will!
Sorry to hear that OGF. I suppose we’re all getting older. Hopefully, things will improve in time.
Thanks Tabby and JB, Take no notice of me, you know what they say about old blokes with gout…They can be so GRUMPY…:mad2::mad2::mad2:
You’re not old. You’re only two years older than me, and I’m nobbut a lad!
Apparently, there may be pieces of meteor scattered in Cheltenham. It’s providence! Time for a test run !