#flex-dev Logs

Jun 25 2025

04:22 AM Tom_L: morning
04:49 AM JT-Chicken: morning
07:23 AM Tom_L: 75F hi 91F
07:44 AM rdtsc-w: hump-day morning
08:09 AM JT-Chicken: payday here
08:09 AM JT-Chicken: looks like monday before a tiny break in the tropical heat wave
08:50 AM JT-Shop: toe jack is filled and bled and ready to jack
09:14 AM rdtsc-w: for the grinder + skates?
09:45 AM rdtsc-w: thought you already had that on the crane
11:11 AM JT-Shop: gantry crane is in the big shop, the surface grinder is in her (machine shop)
03:22 PM JT-Mobile: Yo
03:30 PM rdtsc-w: What's goin on JT
03:39 PM JT-Mobile: Picked up the C8 and relaxing at River Ridge Winery
03:41 PM JT-Mobile: They didn't find anything wrong, so it's a mystery
03:49 PM rdtsc-w: oh boy... take it to River Ridge? and is this issue something that a scanner like this could help with? https://www.ebay.com/itm/235866303476
03:52 PM JT-Mobile: It looks like a control module didn't go to sleep
03:53 PM JT-Mobile: He watched it for 3 days and the draw was 6ma
04:01 PM JT-Mobile: How much current draw would it take to draw a battery down in 4 days
04:06 PM rdtsc-w: far more than 0.006A
04:10 PM rdtsc-w: 0.1A over four days would consume 12V*0.1=1.2W/hr*24h*4d = 115w-h; typical car batteries are like 600wh, so 0.1A load over four days would drain about 1/5 of it
04:10 PM rdtsc-w: sure it's not a flaky battery?
04:12 PM JT-Mobile: They have a fancy battery checker
04:12 PM JT-Mobile: That was the first thing they checked
04:13 PM rdtsc-w: have a bench power supply?
04:15 PM rdtsc-w: One of these: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=bench+power+supply
04:16 PM rdtsc-w: if so, measure battery voltage, set power supply to same, connect to battery, then disconnect a terminal from the battery. This means all the current is being supplied from the bench supply... can see on its display what the current is. If it never spikes, then it must be the battery.
04:17 PM rdtsc-w: could be a faulty cell, "electrically leaky"
04:17 PM JT-Mobile: Yes I do
04:18 PM rdtsc-w: keep in mind I know nothing about a C8 :)
04:18 PM JT-Mobile: If a control module didn't go to sleep that would drain the battery down
04:19 PM rdtsc-w: true. bench supply will show you what the current is; just being able to see if it's low or high (or variable) will help diagnose it
04:20 PM JT-Mobile: 20 to 26 control modules on a C8
04:20 PM rdtsc-w: cheese and rice
04:20 PM rdtsc-w: more than the Apollo! ;)
04:20 PM JT-Mobile: Yup
04:21 PM rdtsc-w: also check the battery at the start and after four days - if it went down significantly, also points to battery
04:22 PM rdtsc-w: (voltage that is)
04:23 PM JT-Mobile: Only if the battery is disconnected
04:23 PM rdtsc-w: right, to see if it is self-discharging
04:24 PM JT-Mobile: Problem is it has not happened since the first time
04:26 PM rdtsc-w: hmm... seen all kinds of weird issues - perhaps a sliver of lead in a cell which gets moved around and sometimes causes issues, sometimes not? intermittent issues are the worse.
04:26 PM rdtsc-w: *worst
04:31 PM JT-Mobile: Heading back to the barn
04:34 PM Tom_L: don't stir up the chickens
06:28 PM JT-Shop: they were impatiently waiting for their treat lol
06:28 PM JT-Shop: so I need a way to record current draw and voltage on the C8
06:34 PM Tom_L: https://dataloggerinc.com/products/current-data-loggers/
06:34 PM JT-Shop: they seem to be proud of them
06:35 PM Tom_L: there's bound to be one for automotive
06:36 PM JT-Shop: you would think there is... I wonder if there is a pi way to do that
06:36 PM Tom_L: it's easier to capture AC
06:36 PM JT-Shop: yup
06:38 PM Tom_L: http://tom-itx.no-ip.biz:443/~webpage/logger/mega8_logger_board.png
06:38 PM Tom_L: rif and i did one
06:38 PM Tom_L: he put it on a windmill i think
06:38 PM Tom_L: i never could get the sd write to work
06:39 PM Tom_L: http://tom-itx.no-ip.biz:443/~webpage/logger/mega8_logger2.jpg
06:39 PM Tom_L: that was one he breadboarded
06:39 PM JT-Shop: yea it's important to be able to view the history to see if there was a spike in current draw
06:40 PM Tom_L: i got a power meter off some china site i was gonna use on my spindle but changed spindles instead
06:41 PM Tom_L: https://www.ebay.com/itm/116657138851?_skw=digital+power+meter&itmmeta=01JYMPW2ZJEZ8ASB38THE1EAZ0&hash=item1b294eaca3:g:ejkAAOSw3rxfyTIW&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA0FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1dIYlqBEtUsO2D57go8HeiXwKS1Fs6QTJM7siELyjGa57GEDFLbe7khLfDhW5hUDdDnLmGSvxVPMvVRSy4RdXSS5lAh6M0jsbqxhd7QQymaLeoZOs%2FmotQcUid60aDTeQNJwRVeTeazxysOMzllYqKYk9ZTiq9ae0PxI9mliT%2BvaqVNoqHvpLNC5cckjzHlALVGMhFk3aKRzdEd4a5ouX0GIGOS3PPiGykNpudWXUDkAJnKPuzpZb4e1QDfSduWCLs%3D
06:41 PM Tom_L: %7Ctkp%3ABlBMUPav8Jb1ZQ
06:41 PM Tom_L: woops
06:42 PM Tom_L: AC
06:42 PM Tom_L: i'm sure fluke makes one
06:43 PM Tom_L: https://www.ebay.com/itm/122029089742
06:43 PM Tom_L: that looks like one i got
06:43 PM JT-Shop: a clamp on that just goes to sleep on you won't work
06:43 PM JT-Shop: what kind of sensor is needed for that
06:44 PM Tom_L: i think it has a 'resistor' in it
06:44 PM Tom_L: and it measures the drop
06:44 PM Tom_L: i got it still in the bag if you wanna play with it
06:44 PM JT-Shop: looks like it might have a shunt resistor a few photos down
06:44 PM Tom_L: i'll never use it
06:44 PM Tom_L: doesn't log though
06:45 PM JT-Shop: yup need logging
06:45 PM Tom_L: $$
06:45 PM Tom_L: more than likely
06:46 PM Tom_L: put a chicken camera on it and record that
06:47 PM JT-Shop: I did a pi data logger that recorded temperature at revere plastics
06:47 PM Tom_L: i haven't done any electronics for several years now
06:48 PM Tom_L: i decided i didn't have time to do both that and cnc and i enjoy cnc more
06:49 PM JT-Shop: iirc it saved the data points to a database so you could graph it
06:49 PM Tom_L: i don't rememeber much about our logger now
06:51 PM JT-Shop: I might take a look at that tomorrow while I hopefully wait for the repair person to show up
06:52 PM Tom_L: i getta visit the dmv tomorrow :)
06:53 PM JT-Shop: fun fun fun
06:53 PM JT-Shop: I'm whipped and going to call it a day
06:53 PM Tom_L: he went yesterday and got his "M"
06:58 PM JT-Shop: cool
09:03 PM rdtsc: she got a newer Ford Edge, and I noticed that it frequently makes all kinds of sounds all on it's own. dunno what it's doing, but every 30-60min or so, can hear some relays click and whatnot. If the C8 is anything like that, I'd expect an interesting chart
09:08 PM rdtsc: dunno how well this would work - might require USB to a computer - but cheap https://www.ebay.com/itm/354953876968
09:12 PM rdtsc: $88 https://www.ebay.com/itm/357057000387
09:20 PM rdtsc: $58 if ya can find a cartridge: https://www.ebay.com/itm/365514780092