MrKev

Hi Mark. Yes please, it would be good to try one. I can make some new measurements and help to prove/disprove the theory. I stripped the winch gearbox down since your experience with it, removed all the caramel sludge that was in there and replaced it with fresh grease. The thing now pays out on freespool almost under the weight of the rope (well, not much effort at all, anyway) and is a definate mechanical improvement. I think I may need to replace a bearing in the motor as there's still a little bit of a rattle, but I thought I should check the rest of the system out properly, as a winch can only be as good as it's power supply, after all. Certainly the thing I've got in there would be hopeless, as some simple calulations show: It's supposed to be a 5.5HP motor, that's 4kW assuming 100% efficient, or at least 330 Amps. This suggests an effective winding impedance of around 30-40mΩ. As there are two contact to go through on the control solenoid, plus the isolator, that's a total load in the region of about 120mΩ, i.e. 1.2kW or 30% of what the winch should be rated for - not to even start thinking about the head dissipation in the contacts themselves. These calculations seem to stack up with the performance of the winch under the like for like comparision we carried out against a truck with an EP9 in the front. Kev

I've made some resistance measurements for the contacts, using a LCR bridge at 120Hz, which seemed to be capable of reasonable mΩ readings. Isolator: 13mΩ Albright contacts: from 30 to 38mΩ, depending on which set. It does stack up with the voltage drop readings made previously, in that the winch must have been drawing around 13A pulling the truck horizontally. So, I think I should be throwing away the albright copy, and trying the real thing, plus seeing about improving the isolator somewhat - at least using two in parallel, if not finding something better. Kev

Yeah, I didn't think much of the tin-can solenoid when I got it, which was the solenoid pack, so I replaced it with the Albright copy. Should have perhaps used the real thing . I then needed to fit an isolator, and preferred the remote controlled solenoid, rather than the standard removable key type, so resurrected one of the tin-cans. 1. No. 2. All of them - all about the same. 3. No idea. 4. Fresh wiring, I installed it myself. The circuit is the standard arrangement, direct from battery to isolator solenoid with 35mm², then more 35mm² to the Albright-copy. 70mm² to and from the winch, and 35mm² from winch back to battery negative. 5. It maintained around 14V. I can try and make some more measurements later. Kev

Having been disappointed with the performance of my T-max EW11000 winch (unknown history), I decided to have a bit more in depth look at what was going on electrically, and found out that I'm loosing quite a lot of energy in the solenoids - 180mV approx across the tin-can solenoid I'm using as an isolator, and about 0.5V across the Albright copy. These figures are hauling the truck along the flat, with the handbrake on a small amount to give a little more resistance. Now, clearly It'll never pull the few hundred amps it's meant to if there's already 0.7V lost in the solenoid etc at this sort of load, but this loss will only go up as the load on the winch goes up. Does anyone have any figures for volt drops across their isolators and solenoids in any situations, and ideally in comparable situations? Thanks, Kev

I'll be there.

I replaced the prop donut when I bought the truck, and it lasted me about 3 months. That was with no lift, indeed 14 year old tired suspension, probably. I replaced the donut with a genuine proper good one (I've a feeling in my early naivety, the first may have been a britpart one), and lifted the truck by a small amount at roughly the same time. So far, it still looks healthy. The chap at the local dealer also said that some trucks just east donuts, even non lifted and using proper donuts. He did not know why.

Solidworks is a fairly friendly 3D CAD program - much easier to use that some of the others I've tried. The tutorials that come with it are pretty good too, the biggest thing you'll discover as you get used to using it is planning how the best way to draw something is for dimensional reasons. For example. A cylinder can either be constructed by drawing a circle, and extruding it, or by drawing the profile (as you would travel on a lathe) and revolve it about an axis. Both methods clearly work, but it's when you get to need to make that cylinder more complicated that one method may triumph over the other. Feel free to shout if you have any questions. Kev

Sounds scary. Like you, I'm struggling to work out what they've done! I don't believe just a resistor would be enough. Putting a typical 12V relay on a variable power supply shows that there is quite a bit of hysteresis between the ON voltage and the hold voltage - once the contact has pulled over onto the coil, it takes a lot less force to keep it there. Potentially, the fuse holder could contain a diac, if the right one could be found, which would hold the relay off till the voltage rises enough, then energise the relay. But this would have no off method, other than dropping the battery voltage off completely. Other than that, I'm at a loss to device any kind of voltage sensing circuit without a ground reference! I currently have a diac, capacitor and resistor on my notepad, and I'm on the verge of having something that might work as you describe, but.... Kev

I think the 200tdi has a tail light fitted in the door, such that when the door is fully open - blocking the main tail light on the D pillar, there is a substitute. The 300tdi has the tail lights on the bumper too, negating the need for this one.

I read it as the wiring for the socket in the loom, as oppose to the 12N socket.

Uploading piccies slowly now - about 63 I thought were worth sharing. There might be more of you or your team, PM me if you want more. Pictures are here: www.flickr.com Kev

Whilst in these days of internet ordering, ebay and so on, the expectation for many is next day delivery on anything - as oppose to days gone by when you sent a cheque off and waited a few weeks patiently for your goodies - I do think that there are suppliers out there that have forgotten that it's the customers that make the business happen. I see no harm in naming and shaming poor service, but be fair, make it constructive, and allow the suppliers a second chance if they put in place measures to correct the issues raised. I use a couple of suppliers for model helicopter parts, one of which is absolutely excellent, and I put as much business their way as I can. Another once sent me only one complete thrust bearing when I ordered a complete set for a rotor head (2 bladed = 2 bearings), their excuse was that the girl in packing was new - fair enough, but at the same time, a friend who ordered a purple tail boom got sent a black one. Just how new do you need to be to get that one wrong? Do remember to credit the good suppliers as well as slate the bad ones, and hopefully the standard will improve. Kev

Thanks organisers and competitors for a good show. I managed 518 picures of the event, so there's a good chance there might be one of youif you competed. I'll post again when they're up again on flicker, but I think I've got some wheat vs. chaff work to do... Kev

Gave you opened a file in notepad? Sometimes you can learn a bit more about what it opens in from that. If you're expecting it to be an image type file, then CorelDraw does sound very likely. It should open in Paint Shop Pro too, but possibly only the later versions. Kev

From the tech archive: http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=2527 http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=2115 http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=13723 There are others on this forum too.... Kev

Was that directed at me or Retroanaconda? I'm still interested...

M is a WLL multiplier - i.e. if the sling is used in that particular configuration (i.e. doubled up with sides parallel) then it's safe working load is 2.0 times, i.e. 6000kg. It should be made to BS EN 1492, and so the design will have been tested to not fail at 7.0 times it's WLL, but please bear in mind these figures are for static loads, and do not account for any snatching or other forces generated by the load moving. Kev

Edit: I meant 20% Sulphuric Acid solution. Don't use Hydrochloric Acid!

Out of interest, and possibly a little pedantic: Do you know the age of the strap? As far as I recall, the term SWL (safe working load) was depreciated in favour of the term WLL (working load limit) for labelling 'general purpose textile straps'. WLL implies calculation be applied to determine the correct Safe Working Load under the conditions of use...

If it helps, I have a disco with transfer box in it, and I'm looking for a 1.4 defender box to replace it with... and I'm not far away from you!

I PM'd rather than posted here, so for completeness, 1x Polo Shirt and 1x Rugby Shirt please. Kev

With taps breaking off in aluminium, dunking the part in 20% Sulphuric acid will get eat away the steel, but not harm the aluminium. I've been experimenting with anodising small aluminium parts at home, and found this to be quite effective. Kev

I spoke to Lucy yesterday, and camping appears to be £10 per person. Can't speak for the entry list though. Kev

The electronics that read the 'tag' in the keyfob usually run a bit of co-ax up to the coil that goes around the key. It's a bit like an antenna, but very short range. Not for the keyfob remote, but for the key-in-the-hole immobiliser. I don't honestly know if this typeof immobiliser is present on the 200tdi '93 disco - I know that there is not a functioning one on my 300tdi '96 disco. As for anyone elses - that's for the experts! Kev

Not strictly directly on topic, but funny: A miniature BP disaster.Kev