Week 9 (9/8-9/11)

Another late post, remembered it today and just got home. Some more aluminum welding. I've gotten the settings down pretty well, however, the welds are still giving me trouble especially in the corners. For this weld I used a Miller 211 with a .035" 4043 alloy and 100% Argon shielding gas. As you can see, my lines are improving but rounding those corners is showing to be difficult. This week we are refabricating an aluminum box on the back of the catering truck, pics next week.

Hours this week: 32
Total:

Week 9 (8/31-9/4)

Testing Glow Plugs

One of our beltloaders was having a hard time starting according to the operator. I asked if he was allowing the glow plugs to warm up before attempting to start it, a vacant stare ensued. After explaining further what I meant he assured me that he was using the switch to allow the plugs to warm up before starting and stated that one of them must be fouled. Not having much to do that day my co worker and I set out to test the glow plugs. As I had never done this before, I began researching how to test glow plugs. One blogger recommended hooking each glow plug up to a 12v battery and see if the tip would glow. Another suggested conducting an Ohm test. We went with the ohm test. The rule of thumb I heard was any more than 1.5 ohms resistance and the plug was bad. After removing the plugs we found that one was beginning to warp, and it was showing over load on the meter. After replacing the the plug and educating the operator on how to properly operate the glow plug switch the equipment is starting much easier now.



Hours for the week: 27
Running total: 264.25