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PollyMobiles Rebuild
- Thread starter pollyp
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pollyp
Club Member
for some reason the printer has recently become more prone to stopping itself halfway through a print randomly.
it seems as though the control board simply resets itself and all the fans/motors/heaters turn off and USB connection cut. I had to restart the printer then reconnect the software.
at first I thought it was the controller chips overheating, so I added cooling but it still occasionally froze.
I checked the circuit power supply and during standby it got 12.38v but once I turn on the hungry heated bed where it sometimes freeze, it dropped to 11.3-11.7v
maybe the old chinese 150w 12.5a laptop power supply is failing?
as a test, I hooked up a 500w 38a ATX PC power supply to the printer and although the voltage dropped even more from 12.38v to 11.5-11.8v, it stopped randomly freezing
it seems as though the control board simply resets itself and all the fans/motors/heaters turn off and USB connection cut. I had to restart the printer then reconnect the software.
at first I thought it was the controller chips overheating, so I added cooling but it still occasionally froze.
I checked the circuit power supply and during standby it got 12.38v but once I turn on the hungry heated bed where it sometimes freeze, it dropped to 11.3-11.7v
maybe the old chinese 150w 12.5a laptop power supply is failing?
as a test, I hooked up a 500w 38a ATX PC power supply to the printer and although the voltage dropped even more from 12.38v to 11.5-11.8v, it stopped randomly freezing
OP
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pollyp
Club Member
ah crap, bad news.
after finishing a print when the fans/motors/heaters turn off, I noticed the heated bed temperature kept rising out of control
I kept trying to toggle the heater off in the program but the LED on the circuit board that indicated the heater circuit was stuck ON.
I cut power and restarted the printer but that bed heater LED was still stuck on
damn it I think the MOSFET controlling the bed heater has fried itself ON
sourcing and replacing this TINY chip is abit beyond my tool & skill set and paying some electronics specialist shop to to it may cost alot of time & money.
with a damaged mosfet I can't use the heated bed which is abit inconvenient, I have 2 major prints to complete for afew friends who paid.
I can't print ABS on a cold bed. PLA can still print on a cold bed but needs abit more prep work. major spanner in the works at the worst time.
I stuck some masking tape on the bed with a coating of glue-stick and a hotter printing temperature and this seemed to help the PLA stick, so for now at least I can finish the print jobs in PLA.
after finishing a print when the fans/motors/heaters turn off, I noticed the heated bed temperature kept rising out of control
I kept trying to toggle the heater off in the program but the LED on the circuit board that indicated the heater circuit was stuck ON.
I cut power and restarted the printer but that bed heater LED was still stuck on
damn it I think the MOSFET controlling the bed heater has fried itself ON
sourcing and replacing this TINY chip is abit beyond my tool & skill set and paying some electronics specialist shop to to it may cost alot of time & money.
with a damaged mosfet I can't use the heated bed which is abit inconvenient, I have 2 major prints to complete for afew friends who paid.
I can't print ABS on a cold bed. PLA can still print on a cold bed but needs abit more prep work. major spanner in the works at the worst time.
I stuck some masking tape on the bed with a coating of glue-stick and a hotter printing temperature and this seemed to help the PLA stick, so for now at least I can finish the print jobs in PLA.
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OP
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pollyp
Club Member
there is hope.
ever since Makibox has vanished, finding an A6 printer similar to mine for spares has become rarer than hens teeth.
but I just spotted someone on ebay was selling their partially built makibox A6 with the same heated bed and control board for £100
this is gold to me just for the spare controller and heated bed.
they're way down hernes bay 6hrs away and £100 in fuel which is abit steep.
I offered £70 and they accepted
to soften the blow I'm gonna drive down on thursday and then straight over to JAE in peterborough, 2 birds 1 stone
ever since Makibox has vanished, finding an A6 printer similar to mine for spares has become rarer than hens teeth.
but I just spotted someone on ebay was selling their partially built makibox A6 with the same heated bed and control board for £100
this is gold to me just for the spare controller and heated bed.
they're way down hernes bay 6hrs away and £100 in fuel which is abit steep.
I offered £70 and they accepted
to soften the blow I'm gonna drive down on thursday and then straight over to JAE in peterborough, 2 birds 1 stone
OP
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pollyp
Club Member
Printing & Painting K11 Micra Model
The 3D model of Garins SR Micra was ready to print, but then I noticed the printers heated bed LED was stuck on and overheating.
I soon concluded that the tiny integrated MOSFET chip on the circuit board for the heated bed has finally failed & stuck.
this means I have no bed temperature control which makes printing slightly difficult.
I definately can't repair this circuit myself and finding a replacement is almost impossible, so I'll have to find alternatives without a heated bed.
I tested with the common old trick of applying a layer of masking/painters tape with a smear of prittstick and it did the trick of keeping the print stuck.
but I had a feeding issue at 80% through the print which ruined the whole 10hr job
the detailing of the partial print was damn sweet though
so cleaned up the feeding gears and tried again with success
the tiny details of each feature the machine managed to create is amazing
Garin also requested me to paint it so got some enamel paint tools
tested the enamel on some strap PLA
after afew hrs of very delicate painting, the results is awesome
The 3D model of Garins SR Micra was ready to print, but then I noticed the printers heated bed LED was stuck on and overheating.
I soon concluded that the tiny integrated MOSFET chip on the circuit board for the heated bed has finally failed & stuck.
this means I have no bed temperature control which makes printing slightly difficult.
I definately can't repair this circuit myself and finding a replacement is almost impossible, so I'll have to find alternatives without a heated bed.
I tested with the common old trick of applying a layer of masking/painters tape with a smear of prittstick and it did the trick of keeping the print stuck.
but I had a feeding issue at 80% through the print which ruined the whole 10hr job
the detailing of the partial print was damn sweet though
so cleaned up the feeding gears and tried again with success
the tiny details of each feature the machine managed to create is amazing
Garin also requested me to paint it so got some enamel paint tools
tested the enamel on some strap PLA
after afew hrs of very delicate painting, the results is awesome
OP
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pollyp
Club Member
JAE 2017
The plan was to set off from 11am and get to Kent by 4:30pm to pickup my new 3D printer and then head back towards JAE at Peterborough by 8pm.
This was soon ruined when I reached the M11 towards M25 ring road and it became a 3hr car park after a serious accident with a motorbike & lorry had closed the motorway with a 8mile queue to the next turn off.
I was crawling on average 0.5mph in the sun and was soon losing the will to live was concerned about the engine heat melting the recently printed catch can lids.
Soon left the M11, took a detour towards the M25 Dartford Crossing and towards Kent to pickup the printer and then a long drive back towards JAE.
Got abit lost at a service station and ended up heading through Dartford crossing twice! I screamed at my silly tomtom
Arrived at a dark JAE by 11am on Saturday greeted by everyone familiar & new including max, chloe, joe, james, ralph, iris, kevin, chris, andrew, scott, rebecca, will, rich, joel & max
Was so tired I considered sleeping in car but thanks to Joe, who helped me setup the tent and got some sleep
Next Friday morning I took kevin & joel for some breakfast at tesco and then washed our filthy cars
Dave shaw soon arrived, luvely
Harlen & Faith also arrived in their shiny red MX5
Ralph giving David a ride of his drones
Andrew's been having issues with his turbo map idling irratically high so I checked out the map.
I tried adjusting every parameter and it was very difficult to bring the revs down.
even with the idle screw fully closed, IACV correct, timing & TPS correct, no vac leak, it idles 1500rpm and very rich 10AFR.
when I lean out the mixture towards the correct 14.7AFR it revs even higher and also begins to misfire.
only way to bring revs down towards 800rpm is to seriously richen it down to 8-9AFR but felt uncomfortable as it's bore-washing the cylinders and something is seriously wrong.
there's also no O2 feedback for the ECU to run closed-loop which doesn't help.
he ran normal NGK BKR5E plugs which imo is abit too hot so tried swapping my BKR6E plugs onto it, but in the process found out that his sparkplugs were also actually finger loose and was leaking
swapping plugs made no difference.
later on I had idea of uploading kasandras turbo map into andrews to see if it changes the rpm and this had brought the idle rpm back down to normal 800rpm with good mixture for afew secs but then it overcorrected and resumed fast idling, so I think we narrowed it down to an ECU mapping issue. back to Ed it goes.
followed him out towards the nearby Shell for fuel and dayum with the early punchy & broad low-end torque of the small turbo and small 13" wheels it accelerates same as mine
The night time chat, games & messing around was soo much fun
hehe I looked so happy here lol
Poor Ralph had abit too much to drink that night and ended up vomiting along a neighbours stand
James gave some ibuprofin and then few hrs later when I popped back out the marquee he was magically all sober wth?!
A misty early saturday morning
sun soon shined through into a glorious day. hilarious few cosplay groups passing by
and then Will appeared in his costume riding his BMX and omg it was the funniest sight hahaaha
had a long walk & look around the whole show with Ben and all the classic nissans brought back cool memories of my past family cars.
Andrew washing last nights BBQ soot off his cabriolet
This years firework was exceptionally big & loooong. not much engine revving allowed.
before I head home, we all voted the awards and I won Unique Mod, yay I won this at my first 2011 JAE too, thanks everyone
one to add to the shelf collection
what an awesome JAE once again
now for the long drive home and early morning for the next show
The plan was to set off from 11am and get to Kent by 4:30pm to pickup my new 3D printer and then head back towards JAE at Peterborough by 8pm.
This was soon ruined when I reached the M11 towards M25 ring road and it became a 3hr car park after a serious accident with a motorbike & lorry had closed the motorway with a 8mile queue to the next turn off.
I was crawling on average 0.5mph in the sun and was soon losing the will to live
was concerned about the engine heat melting the recently printed catch can lids.
Soon left the M11, took a detour towards the M25 Dartford Crossing and towards Kent to pickup the printer and then a long drive back towards JAE.
Got abit lost at a service station and ended up heading through Dartford crossing twice! I screamed at my silly tomtom
Arrived at a dark JAE by 11am on Saturday
greeted by everyone familiar & new including max, chloe, joe, james, ralph, iris, kevin, chris, andrew, scott, rebecca, will, rich, joel & max Was so tired I considered sleeping in car but thanks to Joe, who helped me setup the tent and got some sleep
Next Friday morning I took kevin & joel for some breakfast at tesco and then washed our filthy cars
Dave shaw soon arrived, luvely
Harlen & Faith also arrived in their shiny red MX5
Ralph giving David a ride of his drones
Andrew's been having issues with his turbo map idling irratically high so I checked out the map.
I tried adjusting every parameter and it was very difficult to bring the revs down.
even with the idle screw fully closed, IACV correct, timing & TPS correct, no vac leak, it idles 1500rpm and very rich 10AFR.
when I lean out the mixture towards the correct 14.7AFR it revs even higher and also begins to misfire.
only way to bring revs down towards 800rpm is to seriously richen it down to 8-9AFR but felt uncomfortable as it's bore-washing the cylinders and something is seriously wrong.
there's also no O2 feedback for the ECU to run closed-loop which doesn't help.
he ran normal NGK BKR5E plugs which imo is abit too hot so tried swapping my BKR6E plugs onto it, but in the process found out that his sparkplugs were also actually finger loose and was leaking
swapping plugs made no difference.
later on I had idea of uploading kasandras turbo map into andrews to see if it changes the rpm and this had brought the idle rpm back down to normal 800rpm with good mixture for afew secs but then it overcorrected and resumed fast idling, so I think we narrowed it down to an ECU mapping issue. back to Ed it goes.
followed him out towards the nearby Shell for fuel and dayum with the early punchy & broad low-end torque of the small turbo and small 13" wheels it accelerates same as mine
The night time chat, games & messing around was soo much fun
hehe I looked so happy here lol
Poor Ralph had abit too much to drink that night and ended up vomiting along a neighbours stand
James gave some ibuprofin and then few hrs later when I popped back out the marquee he was magically all sober wth?!
A misty early saturday morning
sun soon shined through into a glorious day. hilarious few cosplay groups passing by
and then Will appeared in his costume riding his BMX and omg it was the funniest sight hahaaha
had a long walk & look around the whole show with Ben and all the classic nissans brought back cool memories of my past family cars.
Andrew washing last nights BBQ soot off his cabriolet
This years firework was exceptionally big & loooong. not much engine revving allowed.
before I head home, we all voted the awards and I won Unique Mod, yay I won this at my first 2011 JAE too, thanks everyone
one to add to the shelf collection
what an awesome JAE once again
now for the long drive home and early morning for the next show
OP
OP
pollyp
Club Member
2017 Petrol & Pistons Show at Croft
Had a short 2hr sleep, soon met a local convoy at 6:30 and headed towards Croft circuit for the show
heard this nasty crunch as one of the guys reversed his skyline into a small tree while we were arranging the cars. Ouch!
afterwards we were all like, careful of the TREE! like this
ironic that he ended up parking inbetween the trees lol
spotting some luvely motors
signed up for the track session and went out with matthew for a 1pm track run
we did a fair few sighting laps for 5mins till we were released.
it was insane as literally everyone ignored the overtaking run and all the fast cars were passing through the corners and filling my mirrors.
it was abit hairy trying to take the corners, look at mirrors and avoid the maniacs from crashing into me.
after letting the eejits pass I soon settled inbetween a red mk2 escort and silver clio and it was a really good chase
T1Rs were abit loose in the fast bends but soon stablised once it got hot.
back at the stand, afew of the turbo elbow nuts had shaken off
a lad in the race pits had some spare M8 nuts and I soon tightened it back up and everyone headed home after 3
the front toyos had these odd looking defect on the tread afterwards. I thought there was a seperate inner layer wearing through, or a fake remould of different compound?
but antony suggested it's blistering from the short but very intense track run overheating parts of the tread
Had a short 2hr sleep, soon met a local convoy at 6:30 and headed towards Croft circuit for the show
heard this nasty crunch as one of the guys reversed his skyline into a small tree while we were arranging the cars. Ouch!
afterwards we were all like, careful of the TREE! like this
ironic that he ended up parking inbetween the trees lol
spotting some luvely motors
signed up for the track session and went out with matthew for a 1pm track run
we did a fair few sighting laps for 5mins till we were released.
it was insane as literally everyone ignored the overtaking run and all the fast cars were passing through the corners and filling my mirrors.
it was abit hairy trying to take the corners, look at mirrors and avoid the maniacs from crashing into me.
after letting the eejits pass I soon settled inbetween a red mk2 escort and silver clio and it was a really good chase
T1Rs were abit loose in the fast bends but soon stablised once it got hot.
back at the stand, afew of the turbo elbow nuts had shaken off
a lad in the race pits had some spare M8 nuts and I soon tightened it back up and everyone headed home after 3
the front toyos had these odd looking defect on the tread afterwards. I thought there was a seperate inner layer wearing through, or a fake remould of different compound?
but antony suggested it's blistering from the short but very intense track run overheating parts of the tread
OP
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pollyp
Club Member
The fun of the past few days soon came to a sudden halt when I returned home from croft only to discover my precious Koi fish, who I cherished since school for the past 23yrs and my best friend, was resting life-less on his side in the tank with glass-eyes, gills stopped, fins & mouth barely twitching
omg omg whatDoIDo WatDoIdo!? he was ok this early morning and now this. I felt soo helpless.
we tried circulating pump water through his gills with no effect.
slowly and very sadly came to realise I've lost my bestest friend
so sad to sit there seeing him laying there and feel a great loss & loneliness as I stroke his fins through the glass, fair well and RIP old friend I'll miss him alot and his infinite enthusiasm, full of life.
omg omg whatDoIDo WatDoIdo!? he was ok this early morning and now this. I felt soo helpless.
we tried circulating pump water through his gills with no effect.
slowly and very sadly came to realise I've lost my bestest friend
so sad to sit there seeing him laying there and feel a great loss & loneliness as I stroke his fins through the glass, fair well and RIP old friend
I'll miss him alot and his infinite enthusiasm, full of life.
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pollyp
Club Member
so I collected the new printer after the long trek down to Kent. exactly the same spec as my original one.
notice the new circuit board on the right is Rev: F
now the heated bed works again
since I won't be using the flimsey original plastic chassis, I took it all apart
and for £70 I now have quite abit of spares for making a 2nd printer
notice the new circuit board on the right is Rev: F
now the heated bed works again
since I won't be using the flimsey original plastic chassis, I took it all apart
and for £70 I now have quite abit of spares for making a 2nd printer
OP
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pollyp
Club Member
since tues, I printed a gift for Abi and posted it out 1st class to arrive in time for her fiances bday coming on sunday but nothing arrived by fri
so I had to resort to urgent plan B, printed & painted a second model and decided to drive all the way down to swindon/castle combe on saturday to hand deliver it in time
she was going to castle combe for Forge action day, so met her there, was a good day
found a clip of me boosting past the entrance on the way home @02:50
damn she smokes extremely rich when on boost
stayed over at her place
helped her fit some new bucket seats
and made a new sheet for her flat boot
so I had to resort to urgent plan B, printed & painted a second model and decided to drive all the way down to swindon/castle combe on saturday to hand deliver it in time
she was going to castle combe for Forge action day, so met her there, was a good day
found a clip of me boosting past the entrance on the way home @02:50
damn she smokes extremely rich when on boost
stayed over at her place
helped her fit some new bucket seats
and made a new sheet for her flat boot
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pollyp
Club Member
the previous catchcan lid was too thin & flexing under the strain and too smooth to grip onto, so I made a new thicker screw lid with little tabs making it easier to tighten/loosen.
the old seat pivot bolt holding the seat belt buckle tends to loosen over time and the buckle is too loose, so I machined a new tighter fitting collar and it's all snug now
machined some simple spring locking pegs for Ralphs towbar
and made this model of a Starwars AT-AT walker for a friends birthday
very delicate and tiny but turned out well.
the old seat pivot bolt holding the seat belt buckle tends to loosen over time and the buckle is too loose, so I machined a new tighter fitting collar and it's all snug now
machined some simple spring locking pegs for Ralphs towbar
and made this model of a Starwars AT-AT walker for a friends birthday
very delicate and tiny but turned out well.
OP
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pollyp
Club Member
ever since I brought this cheapo Halfords 2 ton trolley jack, the hydraulics have always struggled to hold up. I'd jack up the car and it slowly drops back down no matter how tight the relief valve is.
something ain't right so lets inspect it
removed the piston and straight away found the issue
it seems during manufacture, the piston wasn't assembled carefully which nipped & folded over a section of the plastic seal against the bore, making it leak
even after correcting the defect, it's still permenantly deformed and won't seal so I decided to machine a new seal on the lathe
it fits really snug, luv precision
reassembled and wow it now performs perfectly. job fixed
something ain't right so lets inspect it
removed the piston and straight away found the issue
it seems during manufacture, the piston wasn't assembled carefully which nipped & folded over a section of the plastic seal against the bore, making it leak
even after correcting the defect, it's still permenantly deformed and won't seal so I decided to machine a new seal on the lathe
it fits really snug, luv precision
reassembled and wow it now performs perfectly. job fixed
What material did you make the new seal out of Paul? Hope it wont degrade/fail when in contact with pressurised hydraulic fluid.........ever since I brought this cheapo Halfords 2 ton trolley jack, the hydraulics have always struggled to hold up. I'd jack up the car and it slowly drops back down no matter how tight the relief valve is.
something ain't right so lets inspect it
View attachment 55412
removed the piston and straight away found the issue
View attachment 55411
it seems during manufacture, the piston wasn't assembled carefully which nipped & folded over a section of the plastic seal against the bore, making it leak
View attachment 55416 View attachment 55410 View attachment 55408
even after correcting the defect, it's still permenantly deformed and won't seal so I decided to machine a new seal on the lathe
View attachment 55413
it fits really snug, luv precision
View attachment 55414
reassembled and wow it now performs perfectly. job fixed
View attachment 55415 View attachment 55409
OP
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pollyp
Club Member
after 1yr and 13000 miles of daily & trackdays, the front pads are wearing low (front left, front right, rear left, rear right)
history of front brake wear
and rear brake wear is pretty small
front discs slight score but will work fine
rear discs smooth & untouched
new thicker front pads
here's where the front tyres have been rubbing against the chassis during full lock when moving in/out the garage each day
new pads fitted and swapped to my trackday wheels so the heat & dust doesn't ruin my neat white set of road wheels
history of front brake wear
and rear brake wear is pretty small
front discs slight score but will work fine
rear discs smooth & untouched
new thicker front pads
here's where the front tyres have been rubbing against the chassis during full lock when moving in/out the garage each day
new pads fitted and swapped to my trackday wheels so the heat & dust doesn't ruin my neat white set of road wheels
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pollyp
Club Member
What material did you make the new seal out of Paul? Hope it wont degrade/fail when in contact with pressurised hydraulic fluid.........
it was given to me as spare, think it's nylon
Wouldn't have thought that nylon was suitable in that application Paul... See HERE for some info on hydraulic seals/material..
LiamC
I've ruined my car ?
Well done for not just being part of the f*ck it and chuck it mindset, going out of your way to fix stuff and make it betterever since I brought this cheapo Halfords 2 ton trolley jack, the hydraulics have always struggled to hold up. I'd jack up the car and it slowly drops back down no matter how tight the relief valve is.
something ain't right so lets inspect it
View attachment 55412
removed the piston and straight away found the issue
View attachment 55411
it seems during manufacture, the piston wasn't assembled carefully which nipped & folded over a section of the plastic seal against the bore, making it leak
View attachment 55416 View attachment 55410 View attachment 55408
even after correcting the defect, it's still permenantly deformed and won't seal so I decided to machine a new seal on the lathe
View attachment 55413
it fits really snug, luv precision
View attachment 55414
reassembled and wow it now performs perfectly. job fixed
View attachment 55415 View attachment 55409
OP
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pollyp
Club Member
the old broken seal looked like hard beige plastic nylon. I don't care if it's the perfect suitable material tbh, all that matters is that it works, it maintains pressure and I can get on with stuff. it's not worth the extra time, money, effort to get it perfect.
I do hope that you always use axle stands under the car when you use it then Paul, because if it does fail then it may well just collapse without warning......
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pollyp
Club Member
course I do
never ever trust any jack no matter how well it's built, they all wear & fail eventually
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pollyp
Club Member
decided to replace the 3D printers cheap 150W laptop power supply with this more reliable 500W PC power supply. there's alot of clutter so we'll remove all the useless cables.
all the 12v, 5v & 3.3v wires are basically bunched up together into a single big point on the board. I'll be using the modular connectors at the front so I'll simply desolder the entire bulky harness
a look at under the circuit board with the major bunched up voltage rails labelled
removed all the un-used harness.
connected the green "power-on" wire to Ground so it powers up.
notice the thick yellow, black, orange, red wires going to the modular connection panel.
a much nicer simple power source
connected a single lead from the power supply over to the printers control board, fans and the lights.
all the 12v, 5v & 3.3v wires are basically bunched up together into a single big point on the board. I'll be using the modular connectors at the front so I'll simply desolder the entire bulky harness
a look at under the circuit board with the major bunched up voltage rails labelled
removed all the un-used harness.
connected the green "power-on" wire to Ground so it powers up.
notice the thick yellow, black, orange, red wires going to the modular connection panel.
a much nicer simple power source
connected a single lead from the power supply over to the printers control board, fans and the lights.
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pollyp
Club Member
after 3yrs the ball bearing gear linkage bushes are rattling really annoyingly in their housing at 2800rpm so I took it out
and machined some nylon bushes as a temporary fix
the tube I welded at the bottom of the gear stick wasn't perfectly round due to warping from the old welds so I had to use the original point
didn't like losing the short shifter and with that extra tube poking down near the exhaust
so I did the old trick of whacking the pivot ball further up the stick and cut off the excess tube
finished linkages
the bushings ain't perfectly snug (+/- 0.5mm) and the increased friction of all the plastic bushes makes it feel standard again, abit like treacle rather than a smooth bolt action, but at least the rattle has vanished and the car drives real smooth
and machined some nylon bushes as a temporary fix
the tube I welded at the bottom of the gear stick wasn't perfectly round due to warping from the old welds so I had to use the original point
didn't like losing the short shifter and with that extra tube poking down near the exhaust
so I did the old trick of whacking the pivot ball further up the stick and cut off the excess tube
finished linkages
the bushings ain't perfectly snug (+/- 0.5mm) and the increased friction of all the plastic bushes makes it feel standard again, abit like treacle rather than a smooth bolt action, but at least the rattle has vanished and the car drives real smooth
there a fella over on retro rides polly thats into all this 3d printing stuff, built his own machine http://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/200068/3d-printing are ya not a member on there yet
http://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/200068/3d-printing are ya not a member on there yet
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pollyp
Club Member
there a fella over on retro rides polly thats into all this 3d printing stuff, built his own machine
That's cool
really nice finish too
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pollyp
Club Member
went to another local car meet on the weekend with car m8s, met some micra members too. was quite a large gathering full of young lads and the usual few blasting their cars round the place. I just stayed with the group out the way at the far end, good thing kids ain't around.
once it got abit quieter I took Kim, whose driving the red polo, for the odd boost down the motorway in kasandra, she luved it with smiles n giggles hehe
some black PLA filament arrived for the printer
once it got abit quieter I took Kim, whose driving the red polo, for the odd boost down the motorway in kasandra, she luved it with smiles n giggles hehe
some black PLA filament arrived for the printer
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pollyp
Club Member
with a better fitting lid, the catch can caught 100ml of vapour after 1100 miles
the gasket for the 2nd cat has been leaking abit
the inlet full of soot
while the outlet is ok
had some spare HG material so made a temporary gasket out of em. not exactly the right stuff for exhaust but it'll hold for the weekend of thrashing the car
washed & packed ready for japshow finale
made a little gift micra for a friend I'm seeing tomorrow
the gasket for the 2nd cat has been leaking abit
the inlet full of soot
while the outlet is ok
had some spare HG material so made a temporary gasket out of em. not exactly the right stuff for exhaust but it'll hold for the weekend of thrashing the car
washed & packed ready for japshow finale
made a little gift micra for a friend I'm seeing tomorrow
You do understand how hot catalytic converters get Paul? Don't give much to your chances of your HG material gaskets lasting very long at all. You would have been better off making the gaskets out of copper sheet (old immersion heater tank?)with a better fitting lid, the catch can caught 100ml of vapour after 1100 miles
View attachment 55486
the gasket for the 2nd cat has been leaking abit
View attachment 55478
the inlet full of soot
View attachment 55481
while the outlet is ok
View attachment 55483
had some spare HG material so made a temporary gasket out of em. not exactly the right stuff for exhaust but it'll hold for the weekend of thrashing the car
View attachment 55480 View attachment 55479
washed & packed ready for japshow finale
View attachment 55482
made a little gift micra for a friend I'm seeing tomorrow
View attachment 55485 View attachment 55484 View attachment 55489 View attachment 55487 View attachment 55488
OP
OP
pollyp
Club Member
it's a decat, got no copper sheet and I've already got some new gasket to fit afterwards
Take them with you Paul, just in case the HG material disintegrates.
Now that looks better
OP
OP
pollyp
Club Member
Fri 29th
removed the decat and the thin gasket made from HG and although it just blow a tiny amount it held up fine
fitted the new exhaust gaskets with the cat ready for MOT next week and I can't hear it anymore now
went down to swindon to visit sophie. we went for a drive, kebab and some karting, was a good night
getting late near 10pm I had to set off through the night towards Abi in salisbury asap cos we got an early morning for japshow finale at santapod.
satnav took me through some weird pitch black quiet sweeping country B-roads, which was quite a blast in kasandra.
but near Wilcot going 40-50mph with full beams making the scenery appear bland/flat, I saw the slight left bend on satnav but it doesn't tell you about elevation bumps and I didn't spot the small bridge & bend warning sign.
going over the sudden bridge, I saw the casted shadow of the headlight over the hump and thought Oh a crest hump, followed by screaching of the front tyres going light & skidding as I braked, suspension droops down fully going over the bridge followed by a bang! and then the steering veers off to the right towards the bush/trees and the road curves left so I'm having to turn left 90deg to keep her straight (there's a slomo moment where I saw kasandra heading towards the trees and I thought ****! there's nothing I can do in time and this is gonna hurt )
but luckily I was able to steer back onto the road, steering at 90deg, tyres rubbing badly against the arch. was thinking did my welded balljoint fail?
Hmm yeah I can't exactly drive all the way to Abi like this so better pull over.
drivers wheel was pointing the other way. looked under and holy ****!
the arm had snapped off the front mount. crap, I can't mend this and ain't got breakdown cover.
phoned Abi that I'm in trouble and can't make it with a broken suspension. I was able to send her my location on this unknown road middle of nowhere and abi/jonny immediately came to my rescue.
we were 14miles away with some hilly & sweeping bumpy roads so it's gonna be tricky to nurse it back.
my battery is dying. leaving the headlights & hazards on to warn drivers in this creepy dark road, it quickly drained the power.
jump started from Jonnys car and left the car running to charge the battery.
I tried attaching the front mount with the only zip ties I had, I moved 3 inches and it suddenly broke all the zip tie notches.
tried even more zip ties along with a length of electrical cable from my hand drill and again it didn't hold
things are getting desperate. some ppl on Abis FB offered help with trailers but never arrived.
abi rang AA, RAC, etc for quotes on getting it recovered back to her place and they quoted either £115 with £15/mth annual subscription (£300) and some said £350!
I was really considering just abandon her to the side and come back in morning with new arms to fix her.
abi was given numbers to afew smaller local private recovery places and was quoted £205, I was concerned about kasandras safety being left here and thought fook it, pay the premium and at least she'll be safely home to be fixed.
it was a long cold wait in the car and we were all tired at 3am
the flashing recovery flatbed soon arrived, guy inspected the damage and getting it onboard would be tricky.
he attached the winch to the LH arm and pulled the car towards the flat bed but the drivers wheel began to veer off outwards Woah woah stop stop!!
it could collapse and pop the driveshaft out spill all the LSD oil.
without any stronger zip ties or metal wires available I was clueless what else to do
could we just leave it here? guy said ppl could report it to police as obstruction and they'd end up calling the same recovery guy to get it off the road by any means (even if it rips the wheels off) and I'd lose the whole car so I was in a difficult spot and time was ticking away.
I wanted to reattach the arm and try again slowly, guy was ok with that cos it's his last job of the night.
he got a ratchet strap and decided to ratchet both arms together and it worked
we pulled the car on the trailer intact and got it back to Abi, we're saved.
paid the guy and now wallet's empty
removed the decat and the thin gasket made from HG and although it just blow a tiny amount it held up fine
fitted the new exhaust gaskets with the cat ready for MOT next week and I can't hear it anymore now
went down to swindon to visit sophie. we went for a drive, kebab and some karting, was a good night
getting late near 10pm I had to set off through the night towards Abi in salisbury asap cos we got an early morning for japshow finale at santapod.
satnav took me through some weird pitch black quiet sweeping country B-roads, which was quite a blast in kasandra.
but near Wilcot going 40-50mph with full beams making the scenery appear bland/flat, I saw the slight left bend on satnav but it doesn't tell you about elevation bumps and I didn't spot the small bridge & bend warning sign.
going over the sudden bridge, I saw the casted shadow of the headlight over the hump and thought Oh a crest hump, followed by screaching of the front tyres going light & skidding as I braked, suspension droops down fully going over the bridge followed by a bang! and then the steering veers off to the right towards the bush/trees and the road curves left so I'm having to turn left 90deg to keep her straight (there's a slomo moment where I saw kasandra heading towards the trees and I thought ****! there's nothing I can do in time and this is gonna hurt
)but luckily I was able to steer back onto the road, steering at 90deg, tyres rubbing badly against the arch. was thinking did my welded balljoint fail?
Hmm yeah I can't exactly drive all the way to Abi like this so better pull over.
drivers wheel was pointing the other way. looked under and holy ****!
the arm had snapped off the front mount. crap, I can't mend this and ain't got breakdown cover.
phoned Abi that I'm in trouble and can't make it with a broken suspension. I was able to send her my location on this unknown road middle of nowhere and abi/jonny immediately came to my rescue.
we were 14miles away with some hilly & sweeping bumpy roads so it's gonna be tricky to nurse it back.
my battery is dying. leaving the headlights & hazards on to warn drivers in this creepy dark road, it quickly drained the power.
jump started from Jonnys car and left the car running to charge the battery.
I tried attaching the front mount with the only zip ties I had, I moved 3 inches and it suddenly broke all the zip tie notches.
tried even more zip ties along with a length of electrical cable from my hand drill and again it didn't hold
things are getting desperate. some ppl on Abis FB offered help with trailers but never arrived.
abi rang AA, RAC, etc for quotes on getting it recovered back to her place and they quoted either £115 with £15/mth annual subscription (£300) and some said £350!
I was really considering just abandon her to the side and come back in morning with new arms to fix her.
abi was given numbers to afew smaller local private recovery places and was quoted £205, I was concerned about kasandras safety being left here and thought fook it, pay the premium and at least she'll be safely home to be fixed.
it was a long cold wait in the car and we were all tired at 3am
the flashing recovery flatbed soon arrived, guy inspected the damage and getting it onboard would be tricky.
he attached the winch to the LH arm and pulled the car towards the flat bed but the drivers wheel began to veer off outwards Woah woah stop stop!!
it could collapse and pop the driveshaft out spill all the LSD oil.
without any stronger zip ties or metal wires available I was clueless what else to do
could we just leave it here? guy said ppl could report it to police as obstruction and they'd end up calling the same recovery guy to get it off the road by any means (even if it rips the wheels off) and I'd lose the whole car
so I was in a difficult spot and time was ticking away.I wanted to reattach the arm and try again slowly, guy was ok with that cos it's his last job of the night.
he got a ratchet strap and decided to ratchet both arms together and it worked
we pulled the car on the trailer intact and got it back to Abi, we're saved.
paid the guy and now wallet's empty
OP
OP
pollyp
Club Member
Sat 30th
went to the convoy meet up point with abi, jonny & chris
set up camp at santapod. the field was damn wet/muddy and long grass. it's more of an off-road field unsuitable for everyones low cars.
peter arrived in his Jag with the tiny half-K11 towed behind, it was hilariously awesome
hayley, brandon & ben arrived
followed by marcos & andrew
saw a boosted facelift parked at the track collecting their time slips
Sunday 1st
japshow day, abi arranging the stands. it was a nice day hanging with ppl and watching the action, even if it rained abit. cars got alot of attention, especially Peters half-K11 and Andrews turbo hydraulic cabriolet K11
went to the convoy meet up point with abi, jonny & chris
set up camp at santapod. the field was damn wet/muddy and long grass. it's more of an off-road field unsuitable for everyones low cars.
peter arrived in his Jag with the tiny half-K11 towed behind, it was hilariously awesome
hayley, brandon & ben arrived
followed by marcos & andrew
saw a boosted facelift parked at the track collecting their time slips
Sunday 1st
japshow day, abi arranging the stands. it was a nice day hanging with ppl and watching the action, even if it rained abit. cars got alot of attention, especially Peters half-K11 and Andrews turbo hydraulic cabriolet K11
WTF like a nightmare ...Fri 29th
removed the decat and the thin gasket made from HG and although it just blow a tiny amount it held up fine
View attachment 55512 View attachment 55511
fitted the new exhaust gaskets with the cat ready for MOT next week and I can't hear it anymore now
View attachment 55513
went down to swindon to visit sophie. we went for a drive, kebab and some karting, was a good night
View attachment 55505
getting late near 10pm I had to set off through the night towards Abi in salisbury asap cos we got an early morning for japshow finale at santapod.
satnav took me through some weird pitch black quiet sweeping country B-roads, which was quite a blast in kasandra.
but near Wilcot going 40-50mph with full beams making the scenery appear bland/flat, I saw the slight left bend on satnav but it doesn't tell you about elevation bumps and I didn't spot the small bridge & bend warning sign.
going over the sudden bridge, I saw the casted shadow of the headlight over the hump and thought Oh a crest hump, followed by screaching of the front tyres going light & skidding as I braked, suspension droops down fully going over the bridge followed by a bang! and then the steering veers off to the right towards the bush/trees and the road curves left so I'm having to turn left 90deg to keep her straight (there's a slomo moment where I saw kasandra heading towards the trees and I thought ####! there's nothing I can do in time and this is gonna hurt
but luckily I was able to steer back onto the road, steering at 90deg, tyres rubbing badly against the arch. was thinking did my welded balljoint fail?
Hmm yeah I can't exactly drive all the way to Abi like this so better pull over.
View attachment 55510
drivers wheel was pointing the other way. looked under and holy ####!
the arm had snapped off the front mount. crap, I can't mend this and ain't got breakdown cover.
phoned Abi that I'm in trouble and can't make it with a broken suspension. I was able to send her my location on this unknown road middle of nowhere and abi/jonny immediately came to my rescue.
View attachment 55506
we were 14miles away with some hilly & sweeping bumpy roads so it's gonna be tricky to nurse it back.
my battery is dying. leaving the headlights & hazards on to warn drivers in this creepy dark road, it quickly drained the power.
jump started from Jonnys car and left the car running to charge the battery.
I tried attaching the front mount with the only zip ties I had, I moved 3 inches and it suddenly broke all the zip tie notches.
View attachment 55509
tried even more zip ties along with a length of electrical cable from my hand drill and again it didn't hold
View attachment 55507
things are getting desperate. some ppl on Abis FB offered help with trailers but never arrived.
abi rang AA, RAC, etc for quotes on getting it recovered back to her place and they quoted either £115 with £15/mth annual subscription (£300) and some said £350!
I was really considering just abandon her to the side and come back in morning with new arms to fix her.
abi was given numbers to afew smaller local private recovery places and was quoted £205, I was concerned about kasandras safety being left here and thought fook it, pay the premium and at least she'll be safely home to be fixed.
it was a long cold wait in the car and we were all tired at 3am
View attachment 55504
the flashing recovery flatbed soon arrived, guy inspected the damage and getting it onboard would be tricky.
he attached the winch to the LH arm and pulled the car towards the flat bed but the drivers wheel began to veer off outwards Woah woah stop stop!!
it could collapse and pop the driveshaft out spill all the LSD oil.
without any stronger zip ties or metal wires available I was clueless what else to do
could we just leave it here? guy said ppl could report it to police as obstruction and they'd end up calling the same recovery guy to get it off the road by any means (even if it rips the wheels off) and I'd lose the whole car
I wanted to reattach the arm and try again slowly, guy was ok with that cos it's his last job of the night.
he got a ratchet strap and decided to ratchet both arms together and it worked
we pulled the car on the trailer intact and got it back to Abi, we're saved.
paid the guy and now wallet's empty
View attachment 55508
Ligther but save. ...
Inviato dal mio SM-J500FN utilizzando Tapatalk
OP
OP
pollyp
Club Member
Monday morning we went out to get a new drivers side arm from eurocarparts for £39.
jacked the car up and removed the broken arm.
and here's the cracked arms
when the suspension drooped over the bridge, with the arms bending down and slight resistance of the PU front bushing, the top weld on the front mount must've cracked between the weld & metal arm along a stress rising crack
half of the bottom weld had cracked but the other half was still hanging on by afew mm of steel and this barely prevented the wheel from ripping off and saved me
the mangled silver half was from when I was yanking it apart so I could zip tie it back together
it was only attached two sides while the front weld was both tiny and totally cold-welded with zero penetration
fitting the new arms
but because I drilled the hubs with a straight 16mm hole for the extension bolt, the OEM tapered shaft simply pushes through and jams up
so I had to dremel this washer to sit on the taper
so now the hub sits away from the balljoint and can swivel.
I also had to dremel the nylon off the locknut so I can tighten the nut down cos without the OEM hole clamping on the tapered shaft it just kept spinning.
the shaft & nut would still spin loose so I'd have to constantly stop & recheck it but it holds.
straightened the wheels, went for a test drive and it works
it was a seriously long cautious 300 mile drive back home at 60mph with ridiculous amounts of closed motorways & diversions of the M147, M4, A1 from 7pm till 5am. totally exhausted but we're back home safe
jacked the car up and removed the broken arm.
and here's the cracked arms
when the suspension drooped over the bridge, with the arms bending down and slight resistance of the PU front bushing, the top weld on the front mount must've cracked between the weld & metal arm along a stress rising crack
half of the bottom weld had cracked but the other half was still hanging on by afew mm of steel and this barely prevented the wheel from ripping off and saved me
the mangled silver half was from when I was yanking it apart so I could zip tie it back together
it was only attached two sides while the front weld was both tiny and totally cold-welded with zero penetration
fitting the new arms
but because I drilled the hubs with a straight 16mm hole for the extension bolt, the OEM tapered shaft simply pushes through and jams up
so I had to dremel this washer to sit on the taper
so now the hub sits away from the balljoint and can swivel.
I also had to dremel the nylon off the locknut so I can tighten the nut down cos without the OEM hole clamping on the tapered shaft it just kept spinning.
the shaft & nut would still spin loose so I'd have to constantly stop & recheck it but it holds.
straightened the wheels, went for a test drive and it works
it was a seriously long cautious 300 mile drive back home at 60mph with ridiculous amounts of closed motorways & diversions of the M147, M4, A1 from 7pm till 5am. totally exhausted but we're back home safe
OP
OP
pollyp
Club Member
wirebrushed the damaged wishbone to analyse how it failed. notice how the damage had twisted how the tube sits on the arm
looking at how the crack propegated it looks like it started here where it wasn't welded all the way and left a hollow undercut at the corner making it a stress riser
a view of one side of the crack on the bushing.
the twisting damage had torn abit of the arm, circled.
view of the other side of the crack on the arm
the shocking discovery was that I fitted these cheap ebay arms back in early 2015
https://www.micra.org.uk/threads/pollymobiles-rebuild.35251/page-122#post-711708
and in the photo's the welds appear exactly the same which means this was a manufacturing defect and not caused by my welding.
which is scary.
so here back in 2015 it appeared to be barely tack welded
but looking now it's actually a cold-weld with zero penetration!
another look at the bottom weld from 2015
and that hollow undercut in the weld started a crack
with the arm literally hanging by the last few mm of metal here, it ripped the metal in afew places. I'm not sure about welding up & reusing this compromised arm?
John_D, what's ur thoughts?
I'm thinking I should scrap this damaged arm,
use the newer arm, adding reinforcements to both arms and I'll have to remachine some spherical bearing mounting cups once again to weld onto the new arms.
it'll take more time & cost to start all over but after this scare, it's necessary.
looking at how the crack propegated it looks like it started here where it wasn't welded all the way and left a hollow undercut at the corner making it a stress riser
a view of one side of the crack on the bushing.
the twisting damage had torn abit of the arm, circled.
view of the other side of the crack on the arm
the shocking discovery was that I fitted these cheap ebay arms back in early 2015
https://www.micra.org.uk/threads/pollymobiles-rebuild.35251/page-122#post-711708
and in the photo's the welds appear exactly the same which means this was a manufacturing defect and not caused by my welding.
which is scary.
so here back in 2015 it appeared to be barely tack welded
but looking now it's actually a cold-weld with zero penetration!
another look at the bottom weld from 2015
and that hollow undercut in the weld started a crack
with the arm literally hanging by the last few mm of metal here, it ripped the metal in afew places. I'm not sure about welding up & reusing this compromised arm?
John_D, what's ur thoughts?
I'm thinking I should scrap this damaged arm,
use the newer arm, adding reinforcements to both arms and I'll have to remachine some spherical bearing mounting cups once again to weld onto the new arms.
it'll take more time & cost to start all over but after this scare, it's necessary.
Well Paul, you have very effectively high lighted the high stress points on the K11 wishbones!
It has also shown how good your welding is on the bits that you did on the arm, far superior to the welding that failed..
With that in mind I'd be inclined to repair the existing arm, possibly adding a fillet of sheet metal of comparable thickness over the area where the cracks/splits have occurred, after welding them up. I would also suggest that you machine a plug (aluminium that won't be tempted to weld to the steel) to fit in the bearing tube to keep its shape during the repair work. (drill & tap holes in either end of the plug to facilitate removal). Most importantly remove the other arm, inspect it thoroughly and suitably strengthen the areas that failed on this one.
edit:- I would also be tempted to do the extra machining and convert the new arm as a 'spare', again reinforcing it, at the same time, in the areas that failed on the old one
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OP
pollyp
Club Member
I'm preparing myself for potential breakages in the coming weeks Paul, once I see what this new turbo puts out
business as usual then.
more power - more stress - weakest bit fails - reinforce/upgrade - evaluate if problem's fixed - repeat cycle
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OP
pollyp
Club Member
trimmed all the broken bits off the arm and wirebrushed it clean
seam welded all along the arm to ensure it stays rigid.
it's nice when the MIG welder settings are dialled in and it just works
welded the front mounting tube onto the arm from all 4 sides and welded up the cracks. hopefully it won't happen again
seam welded all along the arm to ensure it stays rigid.
it's nice when the MIG welder settings are dialled in and it just works
welded the front mounting tube onto the arm from all 4 sides and welded up the cracks. hopefully it won't happen again
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pollyp
Club Member
removed the new spare arm (bottom) and ready to fit the repaired arm (top)
the £39 arm from eurocarparts made by Starline 615700249 has a much better quality control than the cheapo £25 ebay arms that broke
notice every single weld has been inspected via the green dots
the front welding is more complete & smooth
fitted the repaired arm ready for it's MOT on saturday. gonna fit swaybar & check the other arm after MOT cos I don't have the time.
the £39 arm from eurocarparts made by Starline 615700249 has a much better quality control than the cheapo £25 ebay arms that broke
notice every single weld has been inspected via the green dots
the front welding is more complete & smooth
fitted the repaired arm ready for it's MOT on saturday. gonna fit swaybar & check the other arm after MOT cos I don't have the time.
Looking good Paul
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OP
pollyp
Club Member
Looking good Paul
cheers John
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pollyp
Club Member
getting ready for MOT tday, I connected the battery, IGN on and the engine light was flashing?
eh what's going on kasandra? crank, and doesn't fire up. oh wtf not now
checked for fault codes in datascan and shows "error code E1 & E6 after 2 starts"
sensors say the injectors simply not firing, Oh come on! there's no faults with any connectors, injectors, ecu etc etc
was almost about to abort the MOT when I then realised I've inserted the spare key when I was fixing the suspension
the master key was still in my pocket, used the proper key and wahey it fired up! Doh
drove out to the MOT shop, went through all the tests mostly ok. emissions were abit meh 0.6%CO 120HC cos I didn't go for a blast to clear the burning oil out of the engine.
the only issue is too much play on the coilover top pillowball mounts and the custom bottom spherical bearings (welding heat must have melted the teflon lining slightly).
it must be fixed for retest within 10 days so I just ordered a new pair of bottom bearings for £60 and a new pair of BC top mounts for £90!
£150 in total plus the recent expensive recovery, my bank account ain't looking good this month
eh what's going on kasandra? crank, and doesn't fire up. oh wtf not now
checked for fault codes in datascan and shows "error code E1 & E6 after 2 starts"
sensors say the injectors simply not firing, Oh come on! there's no faults with any connectors, injectors, ecu etc etc
was almost about to abort the MOT when I then realised I've inserted the spare key when I was fixing the suspension
the master key was still in my pocket, used the proper key and wahey it fired up!
Dohdrove out to the MOT shop, went through all the tests mostly ok. emissions were abit meh 0.6%CO 120HC cos I didn't go for a blast to clear the burning oil out of the engine.
the only issue is too much play on the coilover top pillowball mounts and the custom bottom spherical bearings (welding heat must have melted the teflon lining slightly).
it must be fixed for retest within 10 days so I just ordered a new pair of bottom bearings for £60 and a new pair of BC top mounts for £90!
£150 in total plus the recent expensive recovery, my bank account ain't looking good this month
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I did something very similar Paul. Did some work on the front brakes on my daughter's Primera P12, did one side, got back in the car to turn the steering straight again, put the key in the ignition and it wouldn't turn/unlock the steering.getting ready for MOT tday, I connected the battery, IGN on and the engine light was flashing?
eh what's going on kasandra? crank, and doesn't fire up. oh wtf not now
checked for fault codes in datascan and shows "error code E1 & E6 after 2 starts"
sensors say the injectors simply not firing, Oh come on! there's no faults with any connectors, injectors, ecu etc etc
was almost about to abort the MOT when I then realised I've inserted the spare key when I was fixing the suspension
the master key was still in my pocket, used the proper key and wahey it fired up!
Tried it about three times before I realised I was using the Micra key on my bunch of keys and not the Primera key, on her bunch, which was in the same pocket 
