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Elliott's Trackside Diner - May 2012 Locked

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Posted by blownout cylinder on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 5:21 PM

Ray:  There was rotation seen around south of London ON from the line that must have come through earlier. Bad stuff!!

............................................................................................

Good Evening...

Well, the cool down has started..when I left for my appointment this morning it was really humid...it got to 80F with the heat index at 98F this morning..now it is 75F and no humidity....

Tomorrow will be ICD clinic time then a visit with cancer clinic...oh joy, oh bliss...Whistling

Tomorrow I will also find out if I need a driver to take me all over the dang place as well...hopefully I won't....

Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry

I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...

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Posted by Packer on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 5:23 PM

Evening guys

Just got back from work and a few errands. The manager keeps changing the schedule, I was originally off today but wound up rescheduled 8-1. But then I wound up staying till 3:30 because of a mix-up on the schedule.

After work I ran to the LHS to see if they had .03 x .03 styrene rod. No go, so they ordered some for me. I just have to wait till next thursday. Also picked up some 91% alcohol on the way back home to strip the GP5 and Fs before I do some more work to them. Rooting around in my room before work, I found a atlas dual-mode decoder... Dunno what I'm gonna do with it because my zepher apparently can't read them (one of my Atlas GP38Xs has one).

On the way back from work there was a ton of smoke all over, enough to make the sun look orange... IDK what that's about, I'm guessing it's a controlled burn on the base, but I overheard some lady saying "... 90% (un?)contained..."

Jeff, strange you still kept the blue and yellow number area on the green and black repaint.

Jim, That's actually close to what I did the first time. I just used a fine-point sharpie. Since I ordered some rod, I'll just wait on the rods to arrive.

Dave, I don't know how well heating and bending would work. It might be worth a try becuase there are 10 strips in a bag, and I may only need 1 if I do the cut and sand method.

Chris, Ack. I should have grabbed the white squadron putty while at the LHS. I've been using some automotive body filler (IIRC, it's "nitro stan's spot glaze" or something like that) and it seems to work pretty good (I used it on the bachmann NE12 cabooses with some decent results), but I think the squadron stuff may work better because it'smeant for models. Asfor the Des Plaines insert, there is no glazing, but there is a cut-out in the back to add glazing. I just wish someone made a somewhat-flush window glazing for it rather than have a piece of glazing about .02-.03 back. It'd look strange with windshield wipers IMO.

Vincent

Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....

2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.

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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 5:57 PM

Packer

Jeff, strange you still kept the blue and yellow number area on the green and black repaint.

Nothing strange about it at all. I have decals for the L&A and the MGRy  roadnames. I don't have any for cab numbers.

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Posted by Curt Webb on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 6:21 PM

Evening All,

Well my day is finishing worse than I had hoped. I got up this morning with intense pain so went to the ER. As a result I am now a admission to the hospital. I have had fluids, ABD CT Scan, and 2 rounds of IV antibiotics with a 3rd starting at 8 PM. I have a meeting with a Colo-Rectal Surgeon tomorrow to determine the best course of action. Finally I have been started on pretty strong pain killers so although it still hurts badly at least it is manageable. I may get out tomorrow but looks like I will be here 2-3 days depending on the surgeon. I have been officially diagnosed with a Peri-Rectal Abscess.The ER doc said it might not be developed enough to do anything for a couple of days,

Curt Webb

The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad

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Posted by Cederstrand on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 7:12 PM

Burritos, please.

***Curt, so sorry to hear you are going through such misery.

***Ray, were you able to reach your son?

Healing thoughts to those in need, especially you Curt.

Looks like a lot of you have been having an interesting day. Not much to report on from the ol' farm here. Been hearing thunder, but the storm seems almost stationary.

 

Have a goo dnight all.

Cowboy Rob

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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 7:12 PM

Curt: Good luck with that. The closest I've had to it is a diverticulitis infection that abscessed and nearly resulted in peritonitis. Nasty! They had me on antibiotics for about six weeks.

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Posted by AmanaMedic on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 7:14 PM

Goooooooooooooooooooooooood (for some of us, apparently) Evening. A plate of cheeseburgers sounds pretty good with a large RBF. Thankya.

CURT: Geech, sorry to hear about the pain in the posterior. Did they at least let you start your own IV?

VINCENT: One strip "should" do the job just fine. I started on the engineer's side (only 'cause THAT side was closest to me at the time). The first piece went from the back edge of the nose to the front angle. I let it set up good, then trimmed a piece to fit the angle. Another for the flat spot on the front of the nose, another angle, then the final long run along the fireman's side. Wasn't too tough, and it let me know without a doubt where any gaps were. I use the white Squadron putty since I'm using white or very light gray primers under the CNW yellows. For a BN engine, I'd go ahead and use the green stuff. Either way, I look at what would cover the easiest. I don't think there is any difference other than color 'tween the two.

RAY: Glad to hear all concerned are OK, THAT is a bit "too close" for comfort! Asparagus provokes gout 'eh? Thanks! One more reason for me to avoid THAT stuff...Ick! 

Have a good evening folks, continued prayers and thoughts for all in need.

Chris

An early chop-nose using the wide-body Athearn shell. 

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Posted by howmus on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 7:28 PM

Cederstrand

***Ray, were you able to reach your son?

Cowboy Rob

Yes, he called me on his cell phone to tell me not come over for dinner.  No damage where he is, but lots between where his wife works and their home.  The event went to the East of them on a North East path that included a direct hit on Seneca falls.  They are now saying it was either a "microburst or a tornado"  The National Weather service is investigating.  Both can have a fairly narrow path and can do a lot of damage.  A microburst can develop winds over 168MPH and do as much damage as a tornado, but has a different pattern in that it has straight lines winds leading away from where the shear hits the ground, rather than rotation.  Still 1,100 7600 people without electricity in the area (read the news wrong...).  Other than a little wind, there was nothing here.  Roads are now open again over there.

Curt, sorry to hear you are hospital bound for the moment, but it sounds like you are better off there than at home!  Prayers for all to go well for you!

Later!

73

Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO

We'll get there sooner or later! 

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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 9:55 PM

Time for me to call it a night. No watermelon today. Had tacos instead. Put the Alaska GP9 in the paint shop this morning. It came out with a BNish paint job similar to a Tyco GP20 I had many years ago. Dug up an old Bachmann light board decoder and wired it into the Rivarossi/Athearn U25C. It'll suffice until I get something better. See y'all tomorrow.

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Posted by Packer on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 10:41 PM

Evening guys

I found out where all the smoke and ash (my car had a fine covering of the stuff when I went out for a bit) was coming from. Turns out there was a big forest fire (500 acres in a swampy area unaccesible to equipment) west of here, and the wind was blowing east. Luckily the wind blew some showers in and the smoke seems to have disapated somewhat. On top of that, there is a second wildfire in the area. I wonder if the lack of rain in the past few weeks and the high temperatures have something to do with the two fires.

Here's some news on the thing:
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/articles/field-49962-base-wildfire.html
http://www.wunderground.com/wximage/viewsingleimage.html?mode=singleimage&orig_handle=cincobayou&orig_number=1609&handle=cincobayou&number=1612&album_id=438#slideanchor

Curt, That stuff sounds nasty. Hope it goes away ASAP.

Chris, I though you said before that the white putty was finer than the green putty or something? I'm wondering if the Nittro Stan's putty is the same thing as squadron white? I pretty much was thinking of doing what you were doing, except notching the pieces at the back so the cab can slide on and off.

Vincent

Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....

2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.

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Posted by cudaken on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 11:02 PM

 Evening All!

 Flo, a Beer for me please.

 Curt, Sorry to hear about the infected Caboose! They let you have a computer in the hospital? Boy that says something about how he are addicted to them.

 Shaddy the Wolfhound. Still not eating her dog food, I am worried. My wife on the other hand is besides her self. Shaddy will eat people food, so she will eat. But Tiffany did the same thing before we had to put her down. If Shaddy is not eating dog food by Wednesday off to the Vet Thursday. Just when I thought I might have a few nickels to spend at my LHS.

 Train Front Boy it is being a pain in the caboose tonight!

  I posted last week about my Diamond being rough on the main page. I could hear the trains when they went across it, I could all so feel high spots on the flange ways. Main engine that was having a problem was my Hudson, it would often derail after it passed the diamond. Today I ran the Hudson as it passed the diamond, it was darn near jumping sideways! Angel of attack of the turn is off where it meets the diamond. 

 

 Diamond is at the top of the picture. As you can see there is a rock faces there and no real room. Turn is part 22 inch and then a 18 inch section where it meets the diamond. To get all of the turn 22 inch I will have to lose the turnout that is closes to the turn. It is for a reversing loop that I intended to use, bought the devices for it but never installed it. So I guess it will not be a real lost. But it sure  looks cool!

 

 Turnout that needs to go is under the bridges.

 See you all later.

 Ken

 

 My sick Shaddy.

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Posted by hon30critter on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 11:08 PM

Vincent

Just a word of caution based on my own experience. I have a tube of automotive spot putty (different brand) that I use to fill voids. What I have discovered (the hard way) is that it contains a lot of solvents which will soften most plastics if it is applied in anything other than a very thin layer. I believe the Squadron putty is designed to avoid that problem.

Dave

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

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Posted by cudaken on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 12:32 AM

 Happy, its Wednesday right? Yes it is Happy Wednesday!

 It is my Friday.

 Wake up Flo, I need a Beer

             Ken

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Good Morning...
Posted by wetidlerjr on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 4:37 AM

 

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

 

 

 

 

Cool

 

 

 

 

 

Bill Tidler Jr.

Near a cornfield in Indiana...

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Posted by blownout cylinder on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 6:07 AM

 

Good Morning

We are getting sun with a 30% chance of showers later on...high will be 70F...

We got one of them there 'wall of water' thingees come through here yesterday morning...actually lifted a few manhole covers off the road surface as well http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif  

Today I have another appointment for my ICD to contend with then i have an appointment with the oncologist...oh joy, oh bliss...Whistling

We had a bit of a puzzler in our morning paper today...why would someone go into a schoolyard to take a kindergarten class's tree planting project rootballs and all? All of them...poof gone. http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/images/smiles/icon_mad.gif Nice little lesson for the little one's to have innit? http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/images/smiles/icon_mad.gif

And I am not going to mention the foot that was mailed to the PC office in Ottawa....Whistling

Ken:  I know that with cats one can use a sort of cream like substance that comes in a tube that you can use to stimulate their appetite...is there something like that for dogs?

Curt:  Sorry about the infected 'caboose' ..those things are not good...Angel

Anyways, better be off and getting ready to do this...

Have a great day!!

 

Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry

I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...

http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/

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Posted by Packer on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 7:59 AM

Morning guys

It's my only day off this week, and I've already been "working on the railroad." Managed to get those rear wall cab inserts back in on my atlas GP38s. I also took a look at the Atlas SSW EV caboose and the Athearn RTR MRL EV caboose. I'm probably going to wind up selling the MRL caboose (it's too short for BN) and seeing if anyone wants to trade a similar GN, NP, CB&Q, or SP&S caboose for the SSW one. Granted if I can't find a bite for the SSW, it'll get stripped and repainted. Which also reminds me to find a tub so I can (using the alcohol from yesterday) stip the  2 L&A and 2 MILW F-unit shells I have

Vincent

Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....

2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.

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Posted by Stourbridge Lion on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 9:10 AM

Angel Angel Angel Angel Angel Angel Angel

Just saw some news that we lost Ed Murphy (Ed's OJ) in the last few days.  Even though I never got the chance to do some Railfanning with Ed down in Mexico I considered him a friend and will be missed.  My thoughts to Fran and family.

 

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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 9:13 AM

Good morning. It's 79° and partly cloudy. The high will be 92°.

I've decided to retire my SDP40F's or FP45's or whatever the heck they are. They're too big for my layout. Today I'll be removing the decoders from them. They can be better used elsewhere. I have no other plans for today.

Running Bear, Sundown, Louisiana
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Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running Bear
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Posted by howmus on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 9:31 AM

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe, I'll have a short stack of blueberry pancakes with real maple syrup and a cup (or 3) of dark roast coffee in a a FGLK Mug, please and thank you!

It will be a very pleasant day here in the Finger Lakes today.  Sun is out and the temp will stay in the low 70's.  I will be out at my son's house most of the day baby sitting the granddaughters.  Usually their grandmother's w*rk schedule is such that she goes in to w*rk on the days that my son has off so she is the built in caretaker for them.  Today she has to go in around noon so I will be covering the job until my DIL gets home from school around 4 this afternoon.

I am considering not putting in a garden this year.  I like to give it a rest every so many years anyway, and the whole raised bed needs to be rebuilt.  Since the season is so very early and I don't know when I will get around to actually get anything planted, this may the year to do all that work.  The back yard has a slope that goes down to a seasonal shallow drainage ditch which is the reason for the raised bed.  back almost 30 years ago, I got hold of some old railroad ties that have been forming the back of the garden ever since.  They are completely rotted now and need to be gotten out of there.  So I think that will be the gardening w*rk for this summer.  I may put in a few peppers and/or some summer squash in a different location, but keep it small this year.

Very sorry to hear about Ed!  His family will be in my prayers.  Anyone know what happened?  I know his has been among the missing for quite some time now.

Barry, good luck with all the docs!  bet you are looking forward to having all this stuff done and talking about it in the past tense!

Curt, hope you are recovering and on the mend!

My foot feels much better today, so I think the worst is over with the gout!  Swelling has gone down and I can move the joint again with very little pain.

Need to get moving!

Later!

73

 

Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO

We'll get there sooner or later! 

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Posted by Cederstrand on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 9:55 AM

Coffee in a SUNNY SOUTHERN mug, pelase.

***Ray, glad your son dodged the mess. I watched (and heard the roar of) a micro-burst go through my pasture once while in the barn "holding on". Missed the barn but did nock down some trees along the creek. Was pretty wicked. That was many years ago and nothing like the tornado which messed up the entire farm. Both are best avoided. As ofr potted gardens, I skipped this year, too. In my case, it was do to so many peacocks they would have eaten all the produce. Still chipping away at selling them all off. Sometimes a green house starts looking pretty good, but I imagine it would not be ceap to build a really large one?

Healing thoughts to those in need.

Cheers! Cowboy Rob

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Posted by Packer on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 10:18 AM

Morning again guys

Just got off the phone with Walthers. They didn't have any spare sideframes for the SD7/9. If anyone was wondering, I was going to use them on my Kato CB&Q/C&S SD40. The trucks on these can be modeled farily easily by using the P2K sideframes, because the P2K sideframes mount the same way. Guess I"ll try looking at BLI's SD7/9 or even athearn's SD7/9 sideframes, I know atlas has some that are right (used under SD24 and SD35) but the mounts are totally different.

Sorry to hear about Ed, but I don't think I was around when he was in. Best wishes to his family.

Vincent

Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....

2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.

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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 10:18 AM

Well this is the last time on my layout for this old veteran. It's decoder and the decoder of it's mate #505B have been reset to factory default and will be carefully removed. The locos will be packed away in a box and put in the closet.

Running Bear, Sundown, Louisiana
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Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running Bear
Space Mouse for president!
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Running Bear Enterprises
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beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam


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Posted by Stourbridge Lion on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 10:40 AM

act
Ed, Fran and Paco on FVTM #9138
This loco was switching at Lecheria, just north of Mexico City, and the crew invited us up for a photo..

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Posted by cudaken on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 11:00 AM

 Morning

 Flo, Coffee please.

 Sigh Shaddy still has not eaten her dog food. She normally trots around the house, now she is just walking.Still getting around good, but not the way she use to. I just wish it was not such a finical burden for me to take her to the vet. Heck, everything is a finical burden right now. Sigh Just wish this job went the way it was suppose to.  

 Train Front I think I can solve my problem with the diamond. I will need to remove part of the loop for the mining section and move it about 6 inches outward.

 

 That way I will have a straight section going into the diamond.

 Well, time to see if I can make my bills, never a fun thing anymore.

 Ken


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Posted by last mountain & eastern hogger on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 12:03 PM

Sigh

My sincere condolences to the Murphy Family in Mexico.

ED  (OJ)  was a fun and knowledgeable  Member of this Diner for many years.  We have seen less of him the last couple, but that doesn't mean he wasn't missed.  He possibly was fighting the battle of his life and just lost that battle.

To Fran and the rest of the Family may you rest secure with the fond memories of a hard working, caring Guy who is now at peace in his eternal home.

Your "ED" will definitely be missed by many.

Johnboy out....................................in remembrance.

from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North.. 

We have met the enemy,  and he is us............ (Pogo)

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Posted by cudaken on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 1:06 PM

 Well, I just checked my funds, I can make the house payment but I will need to dip, hum, more like jump into my savings to make it to payday. Will only have $400.00 left as a nest egg.

 I hope to have my settlement from Mattress Giant around June 15th so that makes getting into saving a little easier. But with lawyers being involve your guess is as mine. Whistling

 Shaddy goes to the Vet Thursday, I am hoping $75.00 will cover the visit.

 Bank Of Stupid Just went to there web site to start the modification process. If they will do it (Not Holding My Breath) my payments would drop to around $605 to $675. That would sure take some burden off my shoulders!  

I hate Rust

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Posted by Packer on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 3:07 PM

Afternoon guys

I managed to get a tub and started stripping 3 of the 4 F-units that need to be stripped. Up first were the L&A/MGRY F9s and the MILW F7. The MILW loco was pretty much done in a couple of hours, but the black on L&A/MGRYs is a bit more stubborn. I suppose after those 3 are done, I'll try stripping the other MILW F7 and the GP5. Maybe I'll knock out of few of those NKP Geeps while I'm at it. I normally would do the scrubbing outside, but there is still a lot of smoke for the 2 wildfires in the area.

Not train related, but I was playing my xbox for about a little while before this post. It used to be fine, but now the A/C adapted overheats randomly and stinks. I'm thinking take it apart and do some cutting to let some air through.

My brother should be back from ocala any minute now. He went over their to pick up a 6.6K miata that he got off of ebay. What's weird is he already has a 94 mustang cobra, but I guess the miata is less likely to be stolen and would be better around a college town when he goes off later this summer.

Vincent

Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....

2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.

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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 3:21 PM

Packer

Not train related, but I was playing my xbox for about a little while before this post. It used to be fine, but now the A/C adapted overheats randomly and stinks. I'm thinking take it apart and do some cutting to let some air through.

Get another AC adapter. That random overheating and the smell are indicative of a short in the transformer coil. It's only a matter of time before it shorts completely or starts a fire.

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Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running Bear
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Running Bear Enterprises
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Posted by Packer on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 4:06 PM

jeffrey-wimberly

 Packer:

Not train related, but I was playing my xbox for about a little while before this post. It used to be fine, but now the A/C adapted overheats randomly and stinks. I'm thinking take it apart and do some cutting to let some air through.

 

Get another AC adapter. That random overheating and the smell are indicative of a short in the transformer coil. It's only a matter of time before it shorts completely or starts a fire.

Here I was thinking it was getting too hot. One thing I noticed in the design was that the bottom heat sink has no ventilation through the plastic case, but the top one gets a fan and some vents. I noticed burn marks where the lower sink is soldered to the PC board. So I though that it just needed vents on the bottom sink, so I used a drill and a cut-off wheel to cut the plastic case in a few spots for vents.

Guess I should look around for another cable locally then. Just out of curisity, what would cause one of those coils to go bad?

Vincent

Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....

2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.

  • Member since
    June 2004
  • From: Orig: Tyler Texas. Lived in seven countries, now live in Sundown, Louisiana
  • 25,640 posts
Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 5:01 PM

Packer

Guess I should look around for another cable locally then. Just out of curisity, what would cause one of those coils to go bad?

Repeated power surges are the most likely culprit. Anytime the wire coils get too hot it weakens the lacquer coating on the wire and eventually electricity starts arcing from one part of the coil to another. I've seen this happen with wall warts a lot. I even had it happen to my computers power supply and it was on a very large type of surge protector that has no upper limit. I found that while many surge protectors do a great job of blocking high surges they aren't much good for blocking lower ones that are below their clamping level. Even these lower surges and power drains (voltage drops) can do harm to electronic equipment. The steady power coming into your home isn't steady by any means and can spike or drop by as much as 60%. These increases and decreases in power use cause the power to fluctuate and the power provider (power company) has to be on top of it every second. When there's an increase in demand they have to increase the supply to keep the available voltage from dropping too much. Then when that increased demand stops they have to decrease the supply to keep the voltage from spiking too high. When these changes take place there's a momentary fluctuation. At times you can see this as your lights dim a little or brighten a little.

Running Bear, Sundown, Louisiana
          Joined June, 2004

Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running Bear
Space Mouse for president!
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beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam


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