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

Week 8 (8/24-8/28)

Last week one of our lifts was having issues with its headlights. This particular lift is used by the airplane mechanics to work on the planes at the airport. They said it was an on going problem of the headlights getting dimmer and dimmer. After hooking up a multimeter I found that the was a voltage drop of about four volts on the passenger side. I traced the wire back to find some "custom" wiring where an aftermarket connection that was made and had come loose and became corroded. After replacing this chunk of wire, both headlights were working at full capacity. I checked the driver side wiring just in case to confirm that no other "custom" wiring jobs would be an issue later down the road.

Unfortunately, I forgot to get the pictures from my co worker but will get those by tomorrow to post here to show. 

Hours last week: 32

Running total: 237.25

Week 7 (8/17-21)

Was lucky and got my hands on a starter that we didn't have to turn in for a core. So, I set out to take it completely apart! Here are some pictures of my endeavor.

*The photos posted out of order and my phone would not let me tag each photo. 

Hours: 40
Running total: 205.25

Starter motor out of a generator for one of our De-Icer trucks

Week 6 8/10-14

Not much to report on last week. More pictures of bad fuel in rigs. This is the result of poor fuel sources and possibly bigger problems at our fuel farm at the airport. The drip pan you see is JUST diesel from two fuel filters on a belt loader at the airport. Pretty nasty, eh? Test your fuels and record your PM's for the next crew to avoid this contamination.

Document document document.

Hours: 30

Running total:185.25

Week 5 (8/3-7)

This last week at the airport we conducted a series of fuel tests for our fueling trucks. The kit we used had small white test disks with a very fine membrane to them, these were placed in a container that had ports on either side to allow the fuel to travel through them and saturate the disk. A total of one gallon must be passed through the test disk on the inlet and outlet side of the pump. These samples were then compared to a chart to show the quality of the fuel in addition to detecting any water in the system or bacteria growth. However, as the trucks were due for new filters I was able to see first hand the potential damage that bacteria growth can do to a system. The first step to draining the housing that contained the filters is to check for any water build up in the bottom of the housing by simply cracking the valve for a few seconds and then shutting it off to inspect the quality of the fuel. After this, the fuel must be completely drained from the housing so that we we could remove the filters. This was no easy task, because of regulations at the airport we could not bring the fuel trucks to our shop on the other end of the airport. Instead we had to drain them on the designated concrete slab where they are stored in between re-fueling aircraft. One of the trucks so happened to be contaminated and required cleaning of the system as well as treating the tank with a Microbicide. 

Product used 

Test disks contained in these 

Fuel after passing through test

Full set up, inlet is closest to me and outlet is farther away

Fuel filter housing, 

Cleaning out the housing with lint free rags

Beautiful life forms found

Bacteria!! 

Hours this week: 30

Running total: 155.25

Week 3 (7/20-24) Aluminum Welding!

We were asked to make a minor repair to a hand rail on one of the ramps for Alaska Airlines. We have a welder at the shop and I have been itching to have an excuse to use it, and here it was!

So after reading the instructions (I totally did NOT jump the gun and try to go at it without reading the instructions first...) I managed to get all of my settings dialed in. I used a solid .035" aluminum welding wire with 100% Argon flowing at 25cfm and was fortunate enough to have a 220V outlet to supply sufficient power. We had a piece of scrap aluminum laying around the shop that I had the opportunity to practice on and dial in these settings along with the help of my Miller app on my phone.

My bead on the scrap metal was looking pretty good and decided to go for the hand rail. Of course, It started to fail miserably as I did not take into account that the hand rail was thicker than the scrap aluminum I had been welding. So, after readjusting to the settings I listed above, I managed to save my weld. Upon completion, I took a step back and felt an overwhelming sense of pride and accomplishment in my first aluminum weld. Take a look!

The weld on the far right is my co-worker, the middle and one directly to the right are mine.

The ramp. The bottom of the last post down is where I welded. 

Not to shabby for first time!

Hours for last week: 31.25

Running total: 115.25