Compressor Fan

Its Memorial day, 95 degrees Fahrenheit outside, and the Air Conditioner quit working.  We knew that the Compressor Fan motor bearings were dying, making squealing and grinding noises.  Well last night (Sunday) it quit running.  No way to get parts on Sunday night, and today is Memorial Day so none of the Industrial Supply places are open.  Last week we had the air Conditioner company give us a quote to replace the Compressor Fan motor, and it was $670!  We decided to wait until the motor failed.

No Air Conditioning makes some people in my house very cranky.  So I really needed to get this fixed pronto today, and had to find someplace that was open who would have a quarter horsepower, single phase, AC motor.  Turner Hardware in Farmers Branch came to the rescue, again.  They had the right motor, and the matching capacitor it needed.  This is a universal motor, so it required that I modify it a little for this application.

I needed to trim the case bolts, and also cut the shaft to the length on the original motor.  It was fairly easy to trim the case bolts and the shaft with a hacksaw.  The motor is mounted from the backside, and the shaft points down when its mounted in the Air Conditioner chassis.

There are four wires that go to the electrical control box, a ground wire, and a couple of wire to control the direction of rotation.  It is a proper replacement, so I didn't need to alter the mounting, and it fit the same holes.  There is a conduit which routes the AC wires away from the fan.  The ground wire needed to be attached to the chassis in close proximity to the motor.  I used a sheet metal screw to secure the ground wire to the sheet metal frame.  I used a couple tie wraps to secure the direction control wires to the louvers on the top of the assembly, keeping them away from the fan.

After the motor and wires were secured I fitted the top back on the rest of the Air Conditioner, and secured it with its screws.  I would up taking to unit apart and putting it back together a couple of times because I had the rotation wrong.  It was turning the fan counterclockwise, and should have been turning clockwise.  This is a simple change, by reversing the rotation control wires, but you have to take the Air Conditioner top off again, change the rotation control wires, and then put it back together again.

Then the last step is to wire the new motor into the control box.  This new motor was a little different than the units original wiring.  This unit had been modified by service people before, so its not quite the same as the wiring diagram posted on the unit from the factory.  Between the wiring diagram on the motor, and the wiring diagram on the Air Conditioner I was able to get it hooked up right, and working.  I only paid $130 for the motor at Turner Hardware, which is only about 20% of what the Air Conditioner guy wanted for his repair.  I did also have to buy a 5 uF Capacitor, which was $15.  I took about four hours total to make this repair, and now we're cool again...

Jalapeno Bacon Mac-n-Cheeze

Bacon makes everything better.  Toss in some Chiles and its Heaven.  I was thinking noodle Bowl, but wanted something more like comfort food.  So Mac-n-Cheeze it is.  First we'll start with the Bacon.  I fried up a pound of thick cut, hickory smoked bacon.

I'm going to use the bacon grease for the oil in the Roux for the Jalapeno Mornay sauce.

I diced one Jalapeno and a thick slice of white Onion.

I'll fry the Jalapenos and Onion in a tablespoon of bacon fat for a few minutes.

Then add a tablespoon of flour to form a Roux, well really a Jalapeno Roux.

Add a cup of heated milk slowly, while whisking to make a Bechemel sauce.
Also added Sea Salt, Black Pepper, and Red Chile flakes here.

Finally, adding a cup of shredded Cheddar turns the Bechemel sauce into a Mornay sauce.

Add the noodles, and crumbled Bacon last.  In this case I used wide Egg Noodles, but any pasta will work.

Garnish with some more crumbled Bacon on top.
Mmmm, Nomlishious Bacon....

Porx Stir Fry

One of the quickest things for me to make is Stir Fry, and I do it often to save time.

Olive Oil, sliced Onions, and sliced Mushrooms in a hot pan.

Let the Onions, and Mushrooms cook a while, then throw in some Garlic.

Then throw in some shredded cabbage, and a little Red Chile.

This is the last of the Porx Butt from last weekend.

So, we'll dice that and throw it in the Stir Fry.

I'm gonna make this on Tex-Asian, and add some Barbeque sauce to it.

It seems like a strange combination, but its totally nomlishous.

Then to keep it simple, I serve the Porx Stir Fry with white Rice.

Eclipse Harvest

Last Sunday, May 20, 2012, I was out in the garden harvesting the last of the Winter vegetables from last year.  This Garlic has been in the ground since October of last year.  You can tell when it gets too hot for Garlic here when the tops fall over and start turning brown.

You can store them, and plant them again in the Fall, or you can use them.  Each of these Garlic Heads was planted as a single clove.  The Turnips that I planted this year are overcrowded, so I needed to thin out this bed.

Turnip leaves are delicate, and break easy.  Gotta be really careful to get the leaves you don't want to break out of the way before you start pulling Turnips.  I pulled the largest one, and what I needed to pull to thin the bed.

The Cilantro bolts in mid Spring, and goes to seed.  I'll take the whole plant, and hang them upside down on the fence to dehydrate.  Then I'll go back later and harvest the Coriander, an unbelievable supply of Coriander.

I also had a number of Carrots, some which have gone to seed.  When a Carrot produces its flower the root turns "woody" and it is hard to chew.  So those get used for seed rather than their root.

This is the bed that had all the Vegetable Flowers.  Now that I have harvested all those vegetables I need to till the bed, mix in some new compost, and replant it for this year.  I haven't decided what to plant in there yet.  There are still a couple of Cilantro plants which are covered in flowers in the bed, and I'll harvest those once the seeds have developed.

The Cultivator, or Tiller that I am using is called a Tyne.  Well, a more proper description would be a Rotary, Cross Hatching Tyne.  It works really well in my organic beds that I have been working for years, but it doesn't like the native clay soil.  My organic beds have some of that clay soil in them, but they are augmented with generous quantities of organic matter.

Mo Tacos

You may have noticed that I have a bit of an obsession with Tacos.  They are the perfect carrier for Hot Sauce.  Eating Tacos is my excuse to eat more hot sauce.  Its really more of a Chile thing than a Taco thing...

This one is the whole Taco Platter, with Rice, Beans and a Salad.  Gonna need a nap after this one.

This is quicker and lighter for lunch, Maise Soft Tacos with sliced Tomatoes, and of course Hot Sauce.

UABMM2 New Mount Test

Now I have the Rotor repopulated with its magnets.  Now I am re-assembling the UABMM2 for the first test with the new mount.  There are some caveats with the new shaft assembly.  The tremendous forces generated by the opposed magnets are causing the split taper bushing to slide around on the shaft.  Also needed some half inch shaft collars and couldn't get them, so I made a couple.

I am impressed with the split taper shaft's ability to hold the Rotor square, but my first shaft key installation is slipping a bit.  I noticed that when I was trying to position the Stator the Rotor would slip into a different position.  After playing with it a while I was able to find a sticky spot, and positioned the Stator there.

I needed some half inch shaft collars to set the limits of the shaft in relation to the bearings.  Couldn't find them at the hardware store, so I decided to make some.  I took some half inch nuts, and drilled out the threads to 0.500 inches.  Then drilled a 0.159 inch hole through the center of one of the nut facets.  I ran a 10-32 tap through the 0.159 hole, and inserted a set screw.  Basically a shaft collar for 25 cents.

After I got done with the fitting issues, I could finally get everything lined up good, and give it a spin.

I added a gear on the front to help spin it.  With the magnets installed its takes some torque to spin it.

Now I need to play with it for a while, and start looking at its idiosyncrasies.

Porx and Green Chile Breakfast Burrito

Pork and Green Chile get paired together in a lot of foods.  I refer to my Hickory Smoked Pork as Porx to differentiate it from any sort of regular Pork.  So, I smoked a Porx Butt a couple of days ago, and have a few pounds of leftovers.  This is one of my favorite uses for leftover Porx.

I'll takes some diced slices of the Porx Butt, and a large, diced Jalapeno and warm them up in a pan with some butter.  The Porx has been refrigerated, so we need to heat it, and then cook the Jalapeno a little bit.

I like to use Jumbo Chicken eggs, so two is probably enough for a Breakfast Burrito.

Then we'll get the Burrito Tortilla prepared on a microwave safe plate, and generously apply some shredded, mild Cheddar Cheeze.  I'll microwave the Burrito Tortilla enough to melt the Cheeze.

Once the filling is cooked I'll chop and mix the filling in preparation for filling the Burrito.

Both parts of the Burrito come together hot so there is no need to cook the completed Burrito.

Then we'll fold it like a Burrito, roll one side of the Tortilla over the filling, fold in the sides, and roll.

I have sides of Frejoles del Fuego, Brown Rice, and Rosemeade Hot Salsa.  Definitely not a light breakfast.

Vitalizer Repair

I love my Water Vitalizer.  The water from this machine gives me energy that is unparalleled by anything.  There are several books out there about Vitalized (Hexagonal) Water, Hexagonal Water: The Ultimate Solution by M.J. Pangman, The Water Puzzle and the Hexagonal Key by Mu Shik John, and Miracle Molecular Structure of Water: Human Body Loves Hexagonal Water by Yang H. Oh.

I have had this machine for almost five years.  In that span of time I have had to service it three times.  The first time I sent it in to the factory under the factory warranty.  All three time it has had the same symptoms.  The motor would become intermittent, and then quit working.  Well, the second time it failed the warranty was expired.  So I figured I would give repairing it a shot.  First unplug the unit.  There are two screws per foot, extract those and remove the feet.  Then there are three screws that hold the base together, extract those, and then carefully split the two halves of the base and you should see something like this.

In the above shot I have also unplugged the motor, removed the four screws that hold it to the base, and pulled the motor out of the base.  There are some very strong magnets in the rotor, so you can use them to hold the motor on a magnetic surface, like my vise here.

There are strong electrical and magnetic forces at work inside the motor, and these forces cause the motor to vibrate.  This puts stress on the wires that are connecting the motor to the circuit board.About a year ago the red wire came loose, first causing intermittent behavior, and then motor failure (wouldn't spin).  The whole of the problem is the stress on the wire which causes them to eventually break.

So, first we need to clean up the terminal on the motor, and expose the solder eyelet.  Then we'll trim the wire and strip it about a quarter inch.  Feed the exposed part of the wire through the eyelet, and finally solder the wire in place again to make this connection strong again.

Then it is just a matter of reassembling the base.  We put the motor back in its mount, being careful not to pinch the wires in the mount.  Next insert the four motor base screws and turn them in until they are seated, no need to apply a lot of torque here, these are plastic parts and they can be damaged by excessive torque.  Then we'll put the base back together, aligning the screw holes, and being careful not to pinch wires.  Insert the three case screws and seat them.  Finally adding the feet and their two screws.  The result is the motor runs smooth again, and I can make more Vitalized Water...

Flowers

These are flowers in my yard right now.

Pink Hydrangea

I think this is a Heritage Rose.

White Rose of Sharron, or Hearty Hibiscus.

Trumpets of a Trumpet Vine.

Another White Rose of Sharron.

Ruellia, or Mexican Petunia.

 Purple Wandering Jew with pink flowers.