Jump to content

Russ Johnson

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    1,128

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    5

Posts posted by Russ Johnson

  1. Posted · Report reply

    PB200108.jpg

    This is the floor in a 125 year old farmhouse we bought 3 years ago. The boards were cupped and hard as a rock. Started out with 60 grit to knock the peaks down to even get to the stain that had been applied ages ago. Switched to 80 grit, then 120. Hours of sanding and 3 coats of gloss polyurethane, applied 24 hours apart and steel wooled between coats, and this is the finished product...not sure what kind of wood it is...was real white after sanding and the poly oranged it up. I'm delighted with the results.

    PB200107.jpg

  2. Posted · Report reply

    This is the time of year when we think back to the very first Christmas, when the Three Wise Men; Gaspar, Balthazar and Herb, went to see the baby Jesus and, according to the Book of Matthew, "presented unto Him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh." These are simple words, but if we analyze them carefully, we discover an important, yet often overlooked, theological fact: There is no mention of wrapping paper.

    The words "wrapping paper" do not appear in the Bible, which means that the very first Christmas gifts were NOT wrapped. This is because the people giving those gifts had two important characteristics:

    1. They were wise.

    2. They were men.

    Men are not big gift wrappers. Men do not understand the point of putting paper on a gift just so somebody else can tear it off. This is not just my opinion: This is a scientific fact based on a statistical survey of two guys I know.

    One is Rob, who said the only time he ever wraps a gift is "if it's such a poor gift that I don't want to be there when the person opens it." The other is Gene, who told me he does wrap gifts, but as a matter of principle never takes more than 15 seconds per gift. "No one ever had to wonder which presents daddy wrapped at Christmas," Gene said. "They were the ones that looked like enormous spitballs."

    I also wrap gifts, but because of some defect in my motor skills, I can never completely wrap them. I can take a gift the size of a deck of cards and put it the exact center of a piece of wrapping paper the size of a regulation volleyball court, but when I am done folding and taping, you can still see a sector of the gift peeking out. (Sometimes I camouflage this sector with a marking pen.) If I had been an ancient Egyptian in the field of mummies, the lower half of the Pharaoh's body would be covered only by Scotch tape.

    On the other hand, if you give my wife a 12-inch square of wrapping paper, she can wrap a C-130 cargo plane. My wife, like many women, actually likes wrapping things. If she gives you a gift that requires batteries, she wraps the batteries separately, which to me is very close to being a symptom of mental illness. If it were possible, my wife would wrap each individual volt. My point is that gift-wrapping is one of those skills like having babies that come more naturally to women than to men. That is why today I am presenting:

    GIFT-WRAPPING TIPS FOR MEN:

    * Whenever possible, buy gifts that are already wrapped. If, when the recipient opens the gift, neither one of you recognizes it, you can claim that it's myrrh.

    * The editors of Woman's Day magazine recently ran an item on how to make your own wrapping paper by printing a design on it with an apple sliced in half horizontally and dipped in a mixture of food coloring and liquid starch. They must be smoking crack.

    * If you're giving a hard-to-wrap gift, skip the wrapping paper! Just put it inside a bag and stick one of those little adhesive bows on it. This creates a festive visual effect that is sure to delight the lucky recipient on Christmas morning:

    YOUR WIFE: Why is there a Hefty trash bag under the tree?

    YOU: It's a gift! See? It has a bow!

    YOUR WIFE (peering into the trash bag): It's a leaf blower.

    YOU: Gas-powered! Five horsepower!

    YOUR WIFE: I want a divorce.

    YOU: I also got you some myrrh.

    In conclusion, remember that the important thing is not what you give, or how you wrap it. The important thing, during this very special time of year, is that you save the receipt.

  9. Posted · Report reply

    No, no, and no. An inverter will never give you the amperage required to start the motor(s). A 2 hp electric motor will pull almost 18 amps (2,150 watts), but it needs about 6,500 watts to start. If you go with hot water, you've got another motor to get started after the pump is running (1/5 hp, 5 amps (600 watts, 2,000 watts to start). Plus, the best you can get out of a 2 hp is either 2 gpm @1,500 psi or 3 gpm @ 1,000 psi. Not much for mobile washing. I did set a customer up with 2 3.5 gpm @ 2,000 psi hot waters running off a generator...but it was a 30,000 watt, 6 cylinder diesel.

    It would be really difficult to plug in to a customer's electricity, too. You'd have to be on a 30 amp breaker and no more than 50' of 10 gauge extension cord.

  11. Posted · Report reply

    The "flag" he refers to is a centrifugal weight that keeps the compression release engaged when the engine is stopped (It's the hook shaped piece attached to the inside of the cam gear below). I think I have only seen one ever break...I have seen them hung up with debris to the point they couldn't move. Your RPMs aren't too high, are they? The Honda shop should have double checked the RPMs when they installed the new cam. I hope they replaced the tappets, too.

    ZK60E0900.gif

    It just shouldn't break...

  14. Posted · Report reply

    Jeff, does that machine have a standard Suntec fuel pump A2VA-7116 on it? I know Alkota (what the PP machine is based on) starts and stops the whole burner on trigger engagement and they light and go out dirty (dribble from nozzle causing smoke). If yours is like this, a new fuel pump won't fix the problem unless it's adjusted properly. This condition is due to the motor slowing gradually and dropping the fuel pressure causing the dribble. There is a little known screw for adjusting the "cut out" pressure. It will stop fuel flow as soon as the pressure starts to drop. Directly below the outlet of the pump near the "inlet" port there is a plastic plug. Remove it with something sharp and pointy (awl, nail, knife, etc.) The cut out screw is in there. Start the machine and fire the burner. Back the screw out until the burner quits, then turn back in just until it relights. There will be about a 5 psi differential between operation and out, and the burner should light and go out cleanly. I adjust every Alkota that comes in my shop like that.

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Hi all. As Beth has posted, I will be hosting a chat on November 15th regarding equipment maintenance and service. Take some time to jot down questions you have about the care of your money makers. Not the emergency "I've got no pressure and have a fleet to wash first thing in the morning" but the everyday "how does this work? What do I do if...?" kind of stuff. You know you can always jump on the Equipment forum with fires to be put out. We'll talk about winterizing, long term storage, routine maintenance, minor problem troubleshooting, types of equipment (pros and cons), tools you really need to have on hand for repairs, etc. You can use this thread to give me ideas of spots you'd like to see covered. I could ramble for hours about some topics and never come close to an issue that concerns you. Hope to see ya there....

    ...all I need to do is figure out how to get in. I'm sure Beth will help....

×