#linuxcnc Logs
Feb 28 2021
#linuxcnc Calendar
01:59 AM Deejay: moin
02:06 AM sensille: any ideas how to attach this spring? i want to use a few of them for a vibrating tumbler
03:23 AM veegee: I need to put some sulfuric acid in one of the old forklift batteries
03:23 AM veegee: Where can I get lab grade sulfuric acid?
03:25 AM veegee: I could just buy a bunch of sulfuric acid drain cleaner if it's available in Canada and remove the organic buffer with hydrogen peroxide and such but I'd rather not have to boil concentrated sulfuric acid if I can avoid it
03:40 AM enleth: veegee: don't canadian gas stations sell jugs of sulfuric acid for topping up batteries?
03:41 AM veegee: enleth I have _never_ heard anything close to that lol
03:41 AM veegee: Topping up is done with distilled water, not acid
03:41 AM enleth: barely anyone drives with a battery that needs topping up nowadays, but I can still buy that stuff sold for that very reason on many gas stations
03:41 AM veegee: In my case, I'm giving life to some very old forklift cells
03:42 AM veegee: there's some hard sulfation in some cells that greatly reduced the electrolyte density. Just need to give it some more acid
03:43 AM veegee: I think you're referring to deionized water haha
03:44 AM enleth: no, they actually do sell the acid as well
03:44 AM veegee: To the idiot general public? Are you sure?
03:45 AM enleth: I figured maybe there are enough trucks with non-sealed batteries or something that selling this is useful
03:45 AM veegee: the average person is incredibly stupid, I can't imagine they'd make such a dangerous substance that easily accessible
03:45 AM veegee: I've never seen it recommended in any battery manual to fill acid
03:45 AM veegee: You're only supposed to add water
03:45 AM veegee: adding acid is a great way to accelerate plate corrosion if you don't know what you're doing
03:47 AM veegee: Then again, I guess it is available in acidic drain cleaner. Just a nuisance to purify it
03:51 AM enleth: I have one jug of it in the chemistry stash at the hackerspace, someone dropped it off last year, annoys the heck out of me because it *looks* like a jug of distilled water - clear HDPE, clear liquid inside, typical car stuff imagery on the label - but it is actually labeled as electrolyte with all the warning labels, and it is the stuff, I checked to be sure
03:52 AM enleth: I don't remember how concentrated it is, though
03:54 AM enleth: a few drops on steel corroded it, but the reaction was a bit anemic
03:55 AM enleth: ultimately, I have no idea *why* they sell it, but I've seen it being sold, too
03:55 AM enleth: not a super common thing, not like every gas station has it, but it happens
04:06 AM -!- #linuxcnc mode set to +v by ChanServ
04:06 AM -!- #linuxcnc mode set to +v by ChanServ
04:56 AM -!- #linuxcnc mode set to +v by ChanServ
04:56 AM -!- #linuxcnc mode set to +v by ChanServ
05:27 AM JT-Cave: morning
06:48 AM Tom_L: morning
06:51 AM JavaBean: shhh, daystar has yet to rise here... if'n you are quiet maybe it will forget
06:58 AM jymmmm: morning
07:28 AM -!- #linuxcnc mode set to +v by ChanServ
07:28 AM -!- #linuxcnc mode set to +v by ChanServ
08:34 AM -!- #linuxcnc mode set to +v by ChanServ
11:07 AM miss0r: I've had some engine problems during the weekend. This is driving in my 101" land rover. It has a good old fashion distributor the the sparkplugs. I've had some buildup of white stuff on the spark gaps(where the router runs by and sparks to). This buildup must be very insulating. I had to pull over on the way home on a 100mile trip and scrape them to get the engine to run properly again. I'm thinking/hoping perhaps
11:07 AM miss0r: some of you might have an idea what is and what causes it/how to stop it from happending.
11:08 AM Rab: miss0r, sounds like an accumulated combustion byproduct, maybe coolant? Are all plugs equally fouled, and is there a turbo? (Don't know much about LR specifically.)
11:09 AM Rab: White plugs typically means the engine is running too lean, IIRC, but that's more of a color than a crusty accumulation.
11:09 AM miss0r: I can tell that I must not have been clean :D
11:09 AM miss0r: clear*
11:09 AM miss0r: The white buildup in inside the distributor cap
11:10 AM miss0r: on the electrodes that the rotor gaps to
11:10 AM Rab: Ohh, I thought you meant the plug gaps.
11:10 AM miss0r: I could tell from your answer :D
11:10 AM Rab: Hmm, condensation inside the cap?
11:11 AM miss0r: I guess that is an option. Although, by the time I experienced the issue the engine was already warm and was quite dry in there
11:11 AM Rab: I would expect water to vaporize cleanly though.
11:11 AM Rab: So maybe water is entering the cap some other way, carrying minerals or other contaminants with it...
11:11 AM miss0r: Was also a thought of mine. two issues though:
11:12 AM miss0r: 1) we've had no rain all weekend and the roads are dry.
11:12 AM miss0r: 2) I removed buildup this friday, and had to do it again today
11:12 AM miss0r: I would think that should take a decent amount of water to carrie so much minerals in there
11:12 AM Rab: I have seen worn and crusty distributor caps, but never white.
11:13 AM miss0r: what are the electrodes made of in your dist cap?
11:13 AM Rab: Could it be a wear byproduct? Shaft vibrating, plastic wearing off as powder, powder accumulating?
11:14 AM Rab: I don't know, they appear metallic when new. (Volvo)
11:14 AM Rab: Some matte silver coating over copper, I suspect.
11:15 AM miss0r: At this point anything is possible I guess. There doesn't seem to be any wear though. the cap looks new, apart from the while crud collecting on the electrodes
11:15 AM miss0r: white*
11:15 AM miss0r: I do start to wonder if some vapors rises from the engine through a busted axle seal and gets burned to the electrodes with the sparks
11:16 AM miss0r: I've just never come across this problem before
11:17 AM Rab: Nor have I, sorry...sounds very unusual.
11:17 AM miss0r: I guess I should remove the entire distributor assembly and go through it step by step
11:18 AM Rab: I guess I would check the ignition system too, for normal operation. Measure advance, voltage going to the coil, check spark across a plug, look for anything unusual inside the HV caps.
11:19 AM miss0r: basically everything but the distributor is new and tested.
11:19 AM Rab: huh
11:20 AM miss0r: yeah... And it has been running nicely for almost a year. the BOOM two times of this crud buildup over one weekend
12:14 PM rs[m]: miss0r: rainwater doesn't contain minerals
12:15 PM roycroft: well it kind of does - raindrops form around tiny specs of dust
12:15 PM roycroft: but certainly no appreciable amount
12:22 PM rs[m]: those dust-specs probably don't dissolve
12:27 PM roycroft: likely not
12:59 PM XXCoder: enleth: hope its *very* clearly label danger, expecially if it looks like safer chemical container.
01:24 PM XXCoder: internut: hey heh
02:18 PM andypugh: I was printing labels for my set of filing drawers (the shallow ones, I have a 20-drawer unit). I was wondering if it was worth dedicating a whole drawer to DC-DC converters. I think it was: https://photos.app.goo.gl/y8Z4RMwvVHMwndKg9
02:18 PM andypugh: How did I end up with so many?
02:21 PM XXCoder: magic
02:22 PM XXCoder: or make take em to vet ;)
02:23 PM jymmmm: andypugh: I do things like: Electronics #1, Electroncis #2, etc
02:24 PM andypugh: I have another drawer of 8x20 LCD displays. I have never used one. Maybe that is why I have a drawer full?
02:24 PM andypugh: I was hoping one was OLED, as there seems to be an issue with a ghost cursor on those.
03:01 PM JT-Shop: hmm rain water collected off the house (composite roof) is not very clear a bit of a green tint while collecting rain water off the metal carport is crystal clear
03:02 PM JT-Shop: I need another gallon or two and it's more or less stopped raining...
03:13 PM Tom_L: andypugh, fixed voltage or adjustable?
04:02 PM JT-Shop: finally found a publication on making soap from wood ash
04:03 PM XXCoder: nice
04:04 PM XXCoder: isnt it need some fat nd lye
04:04 PM XXCoder: and you'd need to safely balance lye so it dont scour your skin
04:04 PM JT-Shop: yea get lye from the wood ash and fat from animals
04:04 PM XXCoder: nice indeed
04:04 PM XXCoder: if you get plenty of both its great way to save some money
04:04 PM XXCoder: some labor but well
04:05 PM JT-Shop: not so much for saving money but more for the experience of making soap using an old method and roycroft made me do it
04:06 PM XXCoder: ahh ok. nice though :D
04:06 PM XXCoder: i only made soaps once long time ago
04:07 PM JT-Shop: hard or soft soap?
04:07 PM XXCoder: i cant really recall much of it, its been over 35 years
04:07 PM XXCoder: is bars "hard soap"? or is difference more refined than that?
04:08 PM JT-Shop: bar soap is hard soap soft soap is like a can of goop
04:08 PM XXCoder: ahh hard it is then :D
04:09 PM XXCoder: what kind you going for?
04:10 PM JT-Shop: https://www.soapmakingfriend.com/soap-making-recipe-builder-lye-calculator/
04:10 PM JT-Shop: prob soft as potasssium hydroxide usually makes a soft soap
04:11 PM Tom_L: the things we get dragged into..
04:12 PM andypugh: Tom_L: Mainly adjustable, and with an LED display of output and input voltage. Some step-up. Some also with a current limit for battery charging.
04:12 PM Tom_L: garden variety
04:13 PM andypugh: I have only made soap by accident. Using my own skin as the animal input.
04:14 PM andypugh: (I used to work with NaOH a lot)
04:14 PM JT-Shop: ouch
04:16 PM XXCoder: i used beewax and coconut oil 76 degree for lols. checking lye options now
04:16 PM XXCoder: "Cleansing 34 12 - 22"
04:16 PM XXCoder: 34 is pretty strong cleasing. recommanded 12-22
04:17 PM XXCoder: https://i.imgur.com/yXVkhZ8.png
04:23 PM JT-Shop: https://classicbells.com/soap/woodAshLye.asp
04:24 PM XXCoder: interesting
04:26 PM XXCoder: it suggests hardwoods, but I wonder if that inclues balsa
04:26 PM XXCoder: its "hardwood" type, but very soft
04:26 PM JT-Shop: interesting
04:27 PM XXCoder: yew wood is "soft wood" but very tough
04:27 PM XXCoder: https://www.horizonwood.com/hardwood-vs-softwood-understanding-the-difference-part-1/
04:40 PM roycroft: balsa is a hardwood
04:40 PM roycroft: the terms "hardwood" and "softwood" are misleading
04:41 PM XXCoder: yep. like my link said.. :)
04:42 PM roycroft: the more accurate terms are "angiosperm trees" and "gymnosperm trees"
04:43 PM roycroft: as i'm sure jt can attest, southern yellow pine, a "softwood", is a lot harder than many common hardwoods
04:43 PM roycroft: anyway, my bandsaw project is almost finished
04:44 PM roycroft: the wiring is all done, and it works great
04:44 PM XXCoder: awesome
04:44 PM roycroft: i just have to make a guard for the sheave in the rear, and a couple baffles to help contain sawdust, and it's done
04:44 PM roycroft: i'm firing up autocad right now to make drawings for the sheave guard
04:47 PM roycroft: i have to do a resaw test still
04:47 PM roycroft: to see if the motor upgrade helps
04:48 PM roycroft: not that resawing was a big problem before, but i'm not sure if horsepower or cheap clearance rate was the bottleneck
04:49 PM roycroft: if horsepower, the new motor should help a lot
04:49 PM roycroft: if chip clearnace rate, i'll need to experiment with different blades
04:52 PM roycroft: it is so nice out today
04:52 PM roycroft: the sun is out, and it's 15 degrees
04:52 PM roycroft: we'll get up to 17 by later this week
04:53 PM roycroft: daffodils and snowdrops are in full bloom
04:53 PM XXCoder: 15 degrees k? ;)
04:53 PM roycroft: it's about time to start work on the garden
04:53 PM roycroft: c
04:53 PM XXCoder: :)
04:53 PM roycroft: as in "normal" degrees :)
04:53 PM XXCoder: nahh very scienific degrees ;)
04:53 PM roycroft: i've had my garage door open this afternoon while working out there
04:54 PM roycroft: fripping windows 10 decided it needs to install a bunch of updates right now
04:54 PM roycroft: i had no choice
04:54 PM roycroft: it just did it
04:54 PM roycroft: so i have to wait until it's done to fire up autocad
04:58 PM unterhaus_: mine asks me when to update, I tell it 3 in the morning
05:00 PM unterhaus_: all my win computers are upgraded from win7 pro though.
05:00 PM roycroft: i've configured my windows 10 virtual machines to never update
05:00 PM roycroft: as in doing the registry setting thing
05:00 PM roycroft: but over time they insist on updating anyway
05:01 PM roycroft: now the goddamn thing is trying to force me to log into my microsoft account that i don't have
05:01 PM roycroft: but finally, autocad is loading
05:02 PM * roycroft had to turn on the a/c in his office today
05:11 PM -!- #linuxcnc mode set to +v by ChanServ
05:12 PM JT-Cave: I use these resaw blades https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/woodslicer-resaw-bandsaw-blades.aspx
05:12 PM JT-Cave: not that I do a lot of resawing but they seem to work well for me
05:13 PM roycroft: yes, i use woodslicer blades
05:13 PM roycroft: they're the best i've used
05:14 PM roycroft: and resawing does not go too slowly for me, but i'd like a little better performance
05:14 PM roycroft: i'm going to be doing a lot of veneering with shop-sawn veneers
05:14 PM roycroft: so resawing will be a pretty big thing for me
05:18 PM roycroft: ok, i has drawing
05:18 PM roycroft: back to the shop
05:46 PM JT-Cave: weird Viasat says I've used 13.7 GB of my 14 GB allowance but I only have 10 GB of data per month
05:46 PM XXCoder: surcgarges on overusage?
05:46 PM XXCoder: *surcharge
05:47 PM JT-Cave: something is still using data 3.7 / 10 * 31 is 11.5 which is way over my normal usage
05:48 PM JT-Cave: naw they just throttle you... hughes net is the one that will let you just keep adding up the bill
05:48 PM XXCoder: just glad I have unlimited
05:55 PM JT-Cave: wife made sourdough pizza for dinner but I have to make the pizza's
05:57 PM JT-Cave: new mystery... two hens laid an egg today who done it?
05:57 PM XXCoder: dna test it
05:58 PM JT-Cave: Trudy has laid an egg the last couple of weeks just got to catch them in the nest box to see who it is lol
08:39 PM veegee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hid7EJkwDNk
08:39 PM veegee: I love it
08:39 PM veegee: you can hear the anger in his voice
08:39 PM XXCoder: no i cant ;)
08:39 PM veegee: god damn americans
08:41 PM * roycroft notes that canadians are americans
08:43 PM XXCoder: yep
08:44 PM puff: Evening, anyone know if there's a channel that's suitable for general CNC questions?
08:45 PM XXCoder: yeah. this one
08:52 PM veegee: puff this one lol
08:54 PM puff: Okay then!
08:54 PM puff: I'm in the process of fixing my makerspace's laser CNC.
08:54 PM puff: Though it looks like we just figured out the problem of the moment... apparently LaserCut Pro and Windows 10 don't play well together.
08:55 PM veegee: Windows in general is a shitty OS
08:56 PM veegee: what CNC controller are you using?
08:56 PM veegee: Is it driving it from the parallel port or is the real time control done by external hardware?
08:58 PM puff: Yeah, re: windows.
08:58 PM puff: The CNC is one of these https://www.gwklaser.com/co2/LC6090.html
08:59 PM puff: The CNC controller is built into it, it's an MPC6515 v2.0.
08:59 PM puff: Similar to this one https://rabbitlaserusa.com/Manuals/MPC6515HardwareManual.pdf
09:00 PM puff: Though the docs and the actual hardware don't quite match, our controller hardware has two extra 3-pin jumpers that aren't in the docs, JP5 and JP6.
09:02 PM veegee: puff so it's a fully standalone realtime controller?
09:03 PM veegee: I see it mentions data download via a USB flash drive
09:04 PM veegee: If so, then what's the issue with windows? And what's lasercut pro?
09:48 PM skunkworks: https://youtu.be/LoxpqbGFl2g
09:49 PM XXCoder: YAY MORE VIDEO
09:49 PM XXCoder: oops caps
09:54 PM XXCoder: waiting for captioning to hit heh
09:56 PM skunkworks: sorry.. how does the cc work on my videos?
09:56 PM XXCoder: oh evenually youtube will auto caption it
09:57 PM skunkworks: haven't looke
09:57 PM XXCoder: its not amazing but works well
09:57 PM XXCoder: look at your earlier video, turn on caption
09:57 PM XXCoder: you may have to enable autocaptions in settings
09:57 PM XXCoder: so you can see CC icon
09:59 PM XXCoder: yay it hit
09:59 PM XXCoder: hey
10:04 PM XXCoder: nice