OT - the devil in the vacuum cleaner

Re: OT - the devil in the vacuum cleaner

Todd O. Cronkhite Maine Native, Presently Away

>That is pitiful Bill. To complicate something as simple as switch is just ridiculas.

Was listening to Click and Clack over the weekend, and while trying to solve a callers problem they admitted to being totally in the dark corning how a new design of throttle connection works. Apparently, the pedal is somehow connected to some type of motor that inturn operates/controls the fuel entering the engine. Unbelieveable.

Todd O.

Does it wear Prada...

Scott Burr in cold/hailing Ben Lomond, CA

>I see a Diason (sp)in my future. Good luck Bill!

Scott who's vac is dying a slower death than yours...

Re: OT - the devil in the vacuum cleaner

Joe Rogers, Northern Virginia

>Yep Todd...the new cars have drive by wire. The foot pedal dosen't connect to the throttle at all. Now days most everything the driver does is a "request for action" and the modules in the car decide if it does the action. Kinda scarey huh?JR

Re: OT - the devil in the vacuum cleaner RANT

Rob Brophy...lost in Niagara

>A servo for a throttle? You gotta be kidding me! I've heard rumors about BMW doing away with a direct linkage steering column but didn't believe it.

I know I'm wandering way off topic here but I don't think all this hi-tech engine gadgetry is such a good idea...sure, our cars get a few more miles to the gallon but they are trashed in ten years and I suspect the manufacturing pollution from the 'improvements' does away with any real environmental savings. My 'new' car is 26 years old (Volvo 244) and runs just fine. No fancy electronic ignition, auto transmission or fuel injection just good old breaker points, stick shift and a single SU carb. If volvo could manufacture a car in 1980 easily capable of travelling a half million reliable miles in its lifetime why can't we (Volvo included) do that now?

There would be a lot less traffic mayhem if we were all driving cars without power steering, power ABS brakes, auto transmissions and air conditioning. People would have to pay attention to driving their cars and spent less time gabbing on the phone and throwing McFood down their gullets.

Sorry for the rant folks,

Rob

1980 Volvo 244

1974 Triumph TR6

both stick shift, with breaker points and no air conditioning, and neither has had it's engine opened for repairs.

Re: OT - the devil in the vacuum cleaner RANT

Norman (Metcalfe, Ont.)

>Rob,

I hear you!

I'm afraid we are becoming a culture of gadgetry.

Like you, I like simpler technology, something we can at least repair if it breaks. You might find this odd coming from a hi-tech person such as myself, but the whole hi-tech movement has actually steered me back to simpler devices and methods of performing work.

There appears to be a whole movement dedicated to designing products to make our life easier... problem is these devices are essentially non-repairable , disposable, and have a extremely limited lifespan

due to built-in obsolesence.

I hang on to my older, option-free truck for the same reasons, I can actually get in and fix or diagnose any problems.

Norman

Thank god for Radio Shack

James Watriss

>I dunno, man. I think that's a no-brainer. Replace the relay with a toggle switch.

It's pretty antithetical to all this talk about drive by wire, and hopelessly overcomplicating some otherwaise basic stuff, but the toggle switch is like the duct tape of the electrical world. I had a buddy who had so many toggle switches in his car it wasn't even funny. Wipers, washers, power to his radio, headlights... $3 vs $30 for a factory switch is a no brainer, and you can drill and mount them anywhere you feel like. This was in the military, which explains how he got his hands on the fancy toggle switch with the big red shut-off cover for the radio.

If you're really feeling froggy, I'm sure you can put it in line with the switch on the hose, but then you'd have to make sure both switches were on... still, if you opted for an aftermarket hose to connect to a router table or something else, might not be a bad idea. Of course, you could also solve that problem by putting in a 3 way toggle in the vac, and another 3 way toggle switch on the hose...

Thanks - further OT

Bill Houghton, 24 deg F today, Sebastopol, CA

>Yes, I've done plenty of that kind of thing in the past (including, on a VW bus post-steering-column-lock on which the ignition switch fried, breaking the key off with the steering lock unlocked, drilling through and putting in a roll pin so it couldn't unlock then epoxying the ignition switch as a backup; then installing an aftermarket $25 ignition switch). I have promised LOML that I won't take the vacuum apart until after Christmas, but I suspect the relay is somehow hooked into the light that comes on when the HEPA filter is full up, so the toggle switch may not work. We'll see.

Sears sent me a coupon for $10 off my next parts order, so the relay is now down to $25, unless Radio Shack happens to have one that will do the job.

Hey Bill - What year VW bus?

vlparisian - in rainy Houston

>Mine was a '67 with sliding roof, extra windows in the top and painted Porche Red from the factory. :>) How many times did you have to drive it home with no clutch because the clutch cable yoke thingy broke? Tose were fun days except driving in winter at -5 degrees. :>(...Another blanket anyone?

Victor - still rainy tonight in Houston.

71, if I recall correctly

Bill Houghton, warmer but winter, Sebastopol, CA

>The last year of the upright "doghouse" engine, before they put that dreadful (to work on - though this is a relative concept) Type 4 engine in it. Possibly the best of the VW buses, also a relative concept.

When I first got together with LOML, she had a 64 bus, Olga, with a 40 hp motor and the death heater, which vented exhaust gases into the passenger compartment if your gaskets weren't all tight. Fortunately (!), the motor needed repair so often the gaskets were always being replaced. We got so we could pull and reinstall the motor in 30 minutes.

Only had the clutch cable die once, but had plenty of other exciting episodes. When we moved from California to Philadelphia after LOML's father died, to help her mom out, we ran Olga over a truck scale in the Midwest, and we were carrying 2200 pounds of cargo, counting the turtles (and my motorcyle and a friend's sitar and, oh the list just goes on) - not bad for a bus that weighed 1950 pounds with a motor putting out less horsepower than the average modern small motorcycle.

My second one was a 71 camper.

vlparisian - in Rainy - Cold & Rainy Houston

>Many excellant camping trips in it. Know well what you mean about pulling the engine. Never got good enough at it to do it in under 30 minutes. Usually pull it one evening, disassmble, get parts next day and back in the next evening.

Tried to rebuild the CV joints myself once. That sucked. Ended up buying new.

In the end I gave it to my BIl who promptly ran into something with it. Turned it into a yard ornament until FIL had it towed off.

Similar experience with my 67 with all the weight. Someone gave us a huge roof rack for it. Moved from San Antonio to Ohio with the thing way overloaded. I remember inflating the tires to 45 psi and they still seemed a bit low...:>(

Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Victor