Erat

iTrader: (5)

Dat holiday pay. Still slightly less hours than i expected.

mgeoffriau

iTrader: (7)

Crunched the front of my Mazda 3 last night. Was driving home from dinner in a downpour on the interstate. I was in the middle lane, maybe 3-4 car-lengths behind a car in the right line. Heavy rain but road surface was okay. There must have been a big patch of standing water in the right lane -- the car ahead hit it and sent a huge spray over my car that covered the windshield for a good 2-3 seconds (it felt like forever).

I kept the wheel straight and braked as hard as I dared, but the car ahead must have swerved over into my lane and hit the brakes. Just as my windshield cleared I had a split second to see the car before I rear-ended them. Not sure how damaged their car was but they didn't stop.

The 3 isn't too bad. Corner of the bumper is pushed in (and the edge popped out) but the hood and fender appear unbent. Headlamp is smashed. Steering got super heavy but I couldn't tell if the power steering actually went out or if it was because the bumper got pushed back into the right front tire.

Sucks. That was the nicest, newest car I've ever owned. I think it's probably repairable, but I'm always surprised at how much bodywork costs, and it's probably worth $5000-5500 max, so I'm not sure.



Oh, and then we got in my wife's car this morning and discovered that the sunroof had leaked overnight and there was standing water in the center console and front seats.

kenzo42

iTrader: (6)

That's funny, I think the same thing about city/state outside of Los Angeles/CA that I've visited as well.

Where do you reside, my contentious friend?

EO2K

iTrader: (37)

Approx 4.25 leagues from MRLS

kenzo42

iTrader: (6)

Ahh, it's a North vs South thing - I've gotten used to that after living in SF for 8 years. In fact, I probably would have stayed in Norcal if it weren't for my wife.

You guys sure don't like sharing your water.

EO2K

iTrader: (37)

I may be a little more biased as I work in the AG industry, but yes, water and SoCal is a rather sore subject 'round these parts.

Midtenn

iTrader: (15)

Trying to decide if I should move to Atlanta this year. My wife finishes up her Master's in Nursing and will be looking for a new job anyway, so the timing makes sense but I can't seem to stop coming up reasons not to (only later to prove myself wrong on why they are bad reasons).

viperormiata

iTrader: (24)

The Strange Tale of the North Pond Hermit

shuiend

iTrader: (24)

What are the reason to move there?

Midtenn

iTrader: (15)

My wife is getting wanderlust and wants to live in a new city. We already have some good friends that live in the area and she wants to be closer to the beach (with a plane ticket). I'm at a point in my career where I can still change paths without much problem as well. It would be nice to be closer to more than one track.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

I have a lovely lake house southeast of the city I might sell for a reasonable price. You missed a couple of Miatas at the Lake events there with a pretty reasonable turnout of guys from this forum. There are some pics around here somewhere.

viperormiata

iTrader: (24)

We need another lake house meat.

Erat

iTrader: (5)

I've got a question for you fellas much smarter than me.

Here at the shop we have a Hoffman blower:


It's just a big low pressure air pump. Runs about 3-5psi and supplies air to pretty much all of our 70 tanks (anodizing process)(air agitation system).

On this unit there is a filter. It just sits on top of the machine and draws regular air from within the building.
The problem is, in the summer time these filters will last 2 or 3 months. We pretty much use only 2 or 3 of them in the summer.
Now in the winter, the filter needs to be changed every week or so.
Our gauge indicates 0 - 50inHg. At max(50inHg) air agitation in the tanks is little to nothing. This is after a while.

So the question is, why in the winter months would this filter clog up ten times faster than summer?

In the summer we have the doors open and a negative pressure in the building(roof fans on). So much negative pressure in fact that people have been hurt by doors closing fast.
Winter is the opposite. Doors closed and positive pressure. We can't have cold air leaking in anywhere, our caustic lines will freeze around 50F. Air temperature and humidity for the most part stays the same. Dust could be a factor, but there is no visible signs that it's more dusty in the plant during winter months. In fact, the filters in the winter that are clogged after a week look MUCH nicer than the filters taken off in the summer. My theory is chemicals in the air, but i need an easy way to prove this.

Anyone have any theories, or suggestions to fix the issue. I can't find any micron information on the filters either, which doesn't help.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

I am familiar with that type of blower. That is one of the two designs commonly used on sewer jet-vac trucks (the other being a Roots-Dresser PD blower). In our application a large cyclonic separator is usually employed as opposed to filters, but filters are used for baghouse-type applications.

I am not familiar with your process. Are airborne chemical particulates a part of your process? Some airborne chemical particulates are far more dangerous than the silica dust, pollen, organics, and other standard outdoor air particulates. Cyano-acetates from auto refinishing are pretty nasty, for instance. They are essentially Super Glue and stick to the aveoli in your lungs just like it sticks your fingers together.

rleete

iTrader: (21)

Simple. You're getting a lot more evaporation in the winter. Lower humidity means more solution in the air. It's condensing & crystalizing out on the cooler filter material.

BTW, I work in a place that uses similar processes, just not anodizing. We have the same issues in our copper plating area.

Erat

iTrader: (5)

Yes. The environment in the plant is extremely harsh, lots of chemical particulates in the air. We have 70 tanks and about 1/3rd of them is filled with a high concentration of some form of harsh chemical. Even though the harsh tanks like the process tanks, strip, and etch all have scrubber hoods, it is not 100% efficient. Plus with the air agitation and temperatures on some upwards of 180F, it just spews off. Though i'm not a chem tech so i really don't know to much about it, other that it destroys everything that isn't stainless, PTFE, or polypro.

Cyclonic separation probably wouldn't let harsh airborne particles fall out. Though, i'm not sure how necessary that is.
The blower moves upwards of 3,000CFM. I don't know how effective that filtration system would be either. We have the plague that is fish flies.

I'm going to be trying a different style filter with a different micron rating.
I may also plumb in the intake to just pull in outside fresh air.

I'm almost positive it's because of the atmosphere here in the shop during the winter. I just wish i had a way to prove it. I hate doing things without being able to explain why.

rleete

iTrader: (21)

Damned engineers; always wanting proof.

Midtenn

iTrader: (15)

Yeah, I was planning on be there at the one last year but something else came that I had to take care of. I started searching to see what sort of mechanical engineering jobs are open in the area last night.

rmcelwee

iTrader: (1)

We have a 40,000 KG Caustic tank at work. We had a problems with the lines freezing so one of the engineers put heat tracing around the lines. Now the lines plug 5x as often. Any guesses as to why?


(I know the answer, I just wanted to ask a question too)

Erat

iTrader: (5)

Hmm... You've got my brain thinking because i have personally put it on caustic piping it and have had positive results.(we have 2 8000 gallon tanks of caustic, and 1 8000 gallon tank of 93% sulfuric)

What are the variables here?
I've only used it on 1/2"+ sch80 PVC with positive results. I also zip tied it to the pipe instead of wrapping it around.

I have no idea why your lines would freeze and mine wouldn't using basically the same technique.