Jim Warman Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 Jim Rogers replied to a post of mine in the electrical forumand that got me to thinking.... (not a good thing, sometimes). I have one ugly little tool that noe of the guys in our shop ever thought of but they have come to covet mine and have given it the name of "Jims brick" - starting at one end, there are two clips that fit on to the battery posts (IIRC $1.98 here in Canada) attached to about 30 feet or so of wire (one conductor red, the other black - about $10 at what used to be Radio Shack). At the other end, a scrap of 2X4 with a fuse holder and two posts - one B+ and the other B-. Wherever I go on the vehicle, I have a known good ground and a known good power. Like most, I also have an old sealed beam headlight with two wires for load testing a circuit.... current plans call for replacing this with something I can adjust the load on to some degree and to add an audible tone for those times where one cannot see the light. A third device sees limited use but has helped... it is a variable resistor substitution box that my dear old Dad made in basic training with the Royal Canadian Signal Corps - in about 1942. Other goodies.... my "amps amplifier"... A simple coil of wire taped and terminated so it can be inserted into a circuit. The wire should be looped 10 times - clamp your amps probe around it and divide the meter reading by 10. Great for getting a fine reading on low current draw circuits. Don't forget that the VMM comes with amps probes.... Years ago, I would take a two prong round TS flasher and substitute it for a fuse. Good for looking for shorts in lighting systems. Not sure how this will work now that wire gauge is selected more "carefully" by the manufacturer. Used to be 14 ga was "small".... now it's "big". If you don't have an amps probe and are a little worried about blowing the fuse in your DMM, get a one ohm resistor (10 watts or better) and put that in series into your circuit. Measure the voltage drop across the resistor and multiply that by 1 (pretty simple, huh?) to get current flow in the circuit. Hope these ideas give some food for thought.... Have a merry Xmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m-mathus Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 damn.........i was looking for advice on home brewing. cold beer is important when your a ford tech Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted December 27, 2006 Author Share Posted December 27, 2006 Mark... we have a new engine on the way... beer just ain't gonna cut it.... /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/poke.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/drinkingdude.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northman Posted December 27, 2006 Share Posted December 27, 2006 Quote: I have one ugly little tool I use a store bought equivelent (power probe II) It is my most used tool. not as inexpensive as yours but it is useful as a test light, has a ground wire, 2 white LED's for lighting up the area your working. has clips for battery connection or adapter for powerpoint. lights green for ground or red for power. also has an extension making it about 30ft long. costed about $70 usI don't have many home brewed tools. I do have store bought equivelents to everything you explained. I am a tool junkie. I include tool buying as one of my hobbies. kinda an illness.I also brew plenty of Beer and Mead /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/drinkingdude.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbup.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted December 28, 2006 Author Share Posted December 28, 2006 I'm too avid when it comes to tools, as well... I used to suffer from buying "sets" when all I needed was one or two somethings (they were on "sale" - OK?.... besides, it warms the cockles of my heart to send some toolmonger to Mexico in the winter /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/puke.gif ). Of course the "extras" usually get donated to my son or close friends or kept at home..... Add that I am somewhat of a woodworker, at times (meaning add a tablesaw, 3 or four routers, jigsaw, scrollsaw, bandsaw, "dremel" tool, umpteen sanders and Lord knows what else - not to mention hand tools galore, not the bargain store ones, either). I can boast that I own about 32 tape measures.... and can often have to search for one to use. And I'm too lazy to bring some things home from work..... so now we need two of a lot of things some guys don't have one of.... I often mention my loving brides shoe and purse collection..... thankfully, she hasn't thought to mention some of my vices... A lot of my old goodies predate some of the modern equivalents... My "headlight" tester is a 4001 seal beam purchased new.... You can never be too thin - too rich or have too many tools.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LARRY BRUDZYNSKI Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 Ok, Jim so now we officially have a "Tim the Toolman Taylor" amidst us. The next thing I'm waiting to hear is that it needs "More power"!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Amacker Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 "Jims brick" - starting at one end, there are two clips that fit on to the battery posts (IIRC $1.98 here in Canada) attached to about 30 feet or so of wire (one conductor red, the other black - about $10 at what used to be Radio Shack). At the other end, a scrap of 2X4 with a fuse holder and two posts - one B+ and the other B-. Wherever I go on the vehicle, I have a known good ground and a known good power. Like most, I also have an old sealed beam headlight with two wires for load testing a circuit.... current plans call for replacing this with something I can adjust the load on to some degree and to add an audible tone for those times where one cannot see the light. Years ago I built almost the identical thing as your brick for electrical testing, with one improvement- an LED across the terminals to verify your power and ground are present when you're 30 feet away. Mine is a piece of 1/4" pegboard cut into the shape of a big "H", so you can roll up the cord around it. The cord itself is an old trouble light cord, salvaged from the many trouble lights that have given their lives for the cause. The LED draws only a few MA, so you can leave it hooked up overnight and not worry about excessive drain. This works great for doing voltage drops, figuring out taillight problems and etc, because of its length. I use it in electrical classes and have seen several students mimic it on return trips. In addition to a headlight for doing load tests, I have a couple of blower motors to load a circuit. Most sealed beam headlights only draw about 2 amps, which isn't enough for me. The blower I use the most draws 9 amps and has a blower housing and fan attached to it. This makes for a good trivia question- If I block the air inlet, or outlet, does the amperage go up or down, and why? Most guess that if you block the airflow the amperage goes up, but actually, it drops to about 6.5 amps when blocked on either the inlet or outlet. Happy Holidays! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 Either of you guys have a skee-matik for buildin one of these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted December 31, 2006 Author Share Posted December 31, 2006 As a matter of fact, I do have a "skee-matic".... unfortunately, it is a tad complex and the file size is 624 gigabytes.... I have to go in again today (dammit.... a FQR 7.3 that smokes like a booger - they want me to fix it but they wont let me do what I want) so I can snap a picture.....of my ugly little tool.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamageINC Posted December 31, 2006 Share Posted December 31, 2006 Haha those are pretty mint little contraptions.. the closest thing I have to homemade tools are a 7/8 wrench that I cut in half to bust loose O2's and a slew of homemade fuel-line disconnect tools (because my actual ones keep getting lost.) As for taking pics of your ugly little tool... umm... yeah. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 cworley posted this picture I thought was interesting... a platform that fits over the heat exchanger group that could hold tools or support a technician while it protects those cooling fins. Great idea but do I need another "thing" cluttering up my shop? Mind you that is the very reason I haven't purchased an over the engine creeper. I haven't had to touch a single 6.4L yet (looks for some wood to knock on) but I might have to make me one of these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2003EDGE Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 I made my own harness to do cold injector cutout tests on I6 IH engines. I also made my own harness so that I can program IH ecm's without having to disconnect the abs or transmission computers. I have the power probe 2 as well as just bought the power probe 3 that just came out. I have a few other harnesses for testing that I can't think of right now. I also made my own harness for testing relays. I just couldn't see paying a ton of money for something that I can make better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CERTIFIEDFORDTEC Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 I have a visual short detector that my friend built me. You plug it in the place of the fuse and when the short is present the circuit breaker in it opens the circuit sending the power thru a 3156 bulb which protects the wiring. I keep several different size circuit breakers for different jobs. I think the bulb socket is an old villager one that was recalled years ago. It could use a audible device for when you're out wiggling wires. oh and my 6.0l glow plug remover before ford came out with one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CERTIFIEDFORDTEC Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 My bad...its more of a protector than a detector! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Wire terminal test pins a.k.a. Flex Probes. You know, the kits that came with the star tester, WDS, IDS and so on? Yep. The one's your coworkers lose, break or keep in their tool boxes. I have long desired my own but just never wanted to pay over $100 for a decent usable set. I don't know why it took so long to realize this but it dawnwed on my that I could make my own from all of those scrapped harnesses laying around and I spent Friday after work doing just that. I came up with about 8 pairs of different pins and wrapped the ends with heat shrink tubing. I did a search on the Internet and ordered a bunch of banana jacks for $0.70 each. If I want to get real fancy I can get some bulk heat shrink and sleeve the entire tool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoWilimek Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 I made an audible circuit tester out of an old backup alarm. I attached a 2 wire alligator clamp harness to it about 6 feet long. I don't know how many amps it draws, but it is good and loud and can be heard much better in a shop environment than my previous tool, which was made from an old seatbelt buzzer. The alligator clamp harness came from an old air mattress compressor which died, so my total cost was just the labour required to make it, as the backup alarm came from a propane service truck that they replaced the alarm every year. The only thing to remember, is the alarm is polarity sensitive. It only works one way. The alligator clamps I used have red covers on one and black on the other to avoid confusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skidonenko Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 I cannot wait to get ahold of a mill/lathe soon to see what I can come up with. We have an 3.0 water pump pulley as a axle seal installer on the super duty hubs. An old outer race from a fwd welded to a long tube for axle seals on exped/exploters. I made some trans pan adapters for jacks and a torqueshift lever/adapter for a bench ficture (mounts in the center so its a 1 man job to rotate) and im shure there are more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoWilimek Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 I made a nifty press adapter for use when replacing the rear hub bearings on 02 and up Explorer's. I took an old rear rotor off one that was getting new rotors as well as bearings. I carefully knocked the centre out of it(just the flat area that rests on the hub)with a large hammer. I cleaned up the inside diameter of a few rough edges left from knocking the centre out with a burr in a die grinder. Now when pressing the hub centre out of the assembly, the adapter I made sits nicely against the flimsy backing plate with out doing any damage to it and the hub pushes out the centre through the hole I made in the rotor. The other guys in the shop use it as well. I store it in the box the new rotor came in, marked as a tool so it doesn't go out to the scrap pile. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoWilimek Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 cworley posted this picture I thought was interesting... a platform that fits over the heat exchanger group that could hold tools or support a technician while it protects those cooling fins. Great idea but do I need another "thing" cluttering up my shop? Mind you that is the very reason I haven't purchased an over the engine creeper. I haven't had to touch a single 6.4L yet (looks for some wood to knock on) but I might have to make me one of these. Looks very professional. I made a low buck 6.4 heat exchanger protector from a quadruple thick corrugated section, 3'X3' square cut from a shipping box. I took advantage of a fold in the square 1' from the top to allow it the cover the top of the heat exchanger unit. I cut a small rectangular hole in it to allow the hood latch to pass through it. I put a couple of shop rags on the hood latch before installing my shield. It is held in place with a bungee cord along the top 6". Takes up very little space as it is flat. I can store it behind my tool box. Not as pretty at the one pictured but it works for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skidonenko Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 I made a nifty press adapter for use when replacing the rear hub bearings on 02 and up Explorer's. I took an old rear rotor off one that was getting new rotors as well as bearings. I carefully knocked the centre out of it(just the flat area that rests on the hub)with a large hammer. I cleaned up the inside diameter of a few rough edges left from knocking the centre out with a burr in a die grinder. Now when pressing the hub centre out of the assembly, the adapter I made sits nicely against the flimsy backing plate with out doing any damage to it and the hub pushes out the centre through the hole I made in the rotor. The other guys in the shop use it as well. I store it in the box the new rotor came in, marked as a tool so it doesn't go out to the scrap pile. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif One i had forgotten about. We have 2 laying aroung. Next time try sticking it on the drum brake lathe and cut it out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skidonenko Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Did the guy with the camera scare the shit out of that black cat in the background? We have a dealership pet that runs around but its a chicken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoWilimek Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Did the guy with the camera scare the shit out of that black cat in the background?Looks more like a dog to me. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/confused.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoWilimek Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Next time try sticking it on the drum brake lathe and cut it out I never though of that. If there is a next time, I will. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cheers.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted April 13, 2008 Author Share Posted April 13, 2008 Finally... here's my ugly little tool... . It doesn't get much simpler.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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