16 February, 2015

Shop time in service of the blog and vlog...

I have been doing video shoots, and editing in an effort to bring you the absolute best in online HOWTO tutorials, and entertaining videos showing you not only HOWTO, but also giving you a peek into the workings of my at times organized, and at others utterly chaotic shop, and mind...

However, my current camcorder is old, not as in Super 8 kind of old, but as in SD but at least it records to a hard drive and can transfer over USB old... My current cell phone, a Samsung Galaxy S4, shoots far better photos, and video than my camcorder. 

To say the least, I have not been super pleased with the quality of the productions coming out of my computer with this equipment, even as I learn more, and practice more on the videography side of the coin as it were, the results from my camcorder were looking, old...

So out shopping for a new camcorder I went, and I admit I am REALLY liking the GoPro Hero 4 Black Edition, but I just can't bring myself to separate from that kind of money right now, not this close to tax day... 

I did mention my phone takes much better video than my camcorder didn't I?

Now while I know these guys music isn't everyone's taste, but I must admit I really like the video quality they pulled off with a Galaxy S4....

So yeah, with proper use of the video function on the phone, I CAN actually produce some good, high resolution videos...

But oh that audio...

Talking into a phone, 10 or so feet from me while laying under a truck spinning a wrench might be a bit hard to manage...

Well, okay let's address the issues one at a time...

#1. In order to get stable, clear footage, I need a way to adapt the phone in place of a camera or camcorder on a tripod...

That's easy enough... A quick browse to Amazon and I quickly had a workable tripod adapter. It's a little bit of a stretch to get the S4 in the Otterbox Defender in place, but it goes, and it is held solidly in place... It's the Arkon Smartphone Grip Tripod Adapter


Now that you have that camera mounted up to a tripod, are you going to rely on the built in mic to record your beautiful voice from 10 feet away? talk about a miserable failure of a speakerphone!

No, you need a lapel mic to accurately capture your voice. Of course you don't want to use just any lapel mic, otherwise known as a Lavalier microphone, but you want a wireless mic...

Being careful with the workshop budget, I opted for a low budget approach while I dipped my toes into the waters of wireless lavalier mic recording. And I must say I am far more impressed than I thought I would be with this mic system... The unit I opted for is the Pyle Pro PDWM96 Lavalier Wireless Microphone System which is a great bargain way to get my feet wet with wireless mics. I mean it's no Audio Technica, but it's also not $300.00 either! 

There is just one eensy weensy little, or actually big problem...


The receiver for this mic has a 1/4" phone plug. Now this is all well and good when connecting to my mixer, but it's a bit of a conundrum when trying to connect to the 3.5mm TRRS jack in the phone...

After a great deal of research, I found that the wiring on TRRS goes from tip, speaker to audio left, first ring to audio right, second ring to ground, and sleeve to mic.

More research, and I found that the wiring in a standard headset was green and red wires are speaker +, the copper color wire is for the mic, and the green /red stripe or blue wire is the ground / common.

It also appears that line level inputs for a headset and line level inputs from a lav are both still line level inputs...

So some churning in my skull took place...

I started with an old cast off headset that had an earbud torn off that came with my old HTC Inspire 4G I guess 4 years ago now... Cut everything but the TRRS plug and as much uninterrupted cable as i can salvage then..

Back to Amazon...

First off, I needed a project box, big enough to house a 1/4" jack, and some wire. I went overkill but then again, I have room for more advanced circuitry should the need arise down the road...

Of course I needed a 1/4" jack and of course Amazon had just the ticket.

Of course I needed a soldering iron and solder. I already have an older Weller, but if you need one and need to get started with solder right off the bat, Amazon has that too..

Once I got it all gathered, I drilled a hole to pass the cable through, stripped about 1.5 to 2" of insulation off the outside of the cable and separated the wires...

Using a BBQ lighter, I singed off the insulation from the ends of the blue and copper color wires, and rubbed off the burnt waste.

I then clipped off the red and green wires, leaving only the copper and blue...

With the soldering iron heated up, I tinned the connectors, and the wires. Don't know what tinning is? I will have a video on that shortly!

With the wires, and the jack prepped, I proceeded to solder the copper wire to the tip connector and the blue wire to the sleeve connector allowing for a good solid connection.

Once the electrical connection was made, I proceeded to test it out, and found it works exactly as planned...

Next I simply centered a 3/8" drill bit on the opposing side of the project box, and drilled it through, CAREFULLY to not snag the wire, or jack.

Once I determined how much slack in the cable I wanted inside the housing, I determined location for, and tied a small stress relief knot in the cable, I then mounted the jack, secured the cable down into the project box and sealed the pass through to cable connection with 3M clear silicone adhesive caulk, screwed the lid on the box, and then applied a label clearly identifying this for anyone not able to figure out what on earth this doo dad is for...



While it's not the most stunningly beautiful thing to look at, it allows me to record with good clarity and volume at a considerable distance from the camera, and at unusual angles.

You will soon be seeing some of the 1080i video with radically improved audio. Including some better video of the work on the Saturn...

You wouldn't believe how many times I have taken the same bolts on and off of the car in order to allow you to have a better view of what I am doing!

07 February, 2015

It's a beautiful day for a video shoot! Moving along with the Saturn

Today has been a gorgeous day here, highs in the upper 60s, and sunny. The skies aren't so clear as to make glare everywhere, so today was a GREAT day to work on the Saturn a bit.

As I may or may not have mentioned previously, I was replacing more or less all the rotating assemblies on the front of the engine excluding the harmonic balancer, and the alternator which is somewhat recent...

Since I am not in an obscenely huge hurry, I felt this was a good opportunity to work on a video for you guys, and off to work I went so to speak...

I did jump the gun a hair, going with the assumption that folks know how to connect and disconnect a battery, I opted instead to remove the battery terminals, and serpentine belt ahead of time to maximize my video shoot time.

It would seem plans don't always go as you expect them to, and neither did this video shoot. I was shooting the segment about the bolts on the back side of the air conditioning compressor, and I had thought I had the camera running. I didn't. So in order to NOT skip that very important scene, I reassembled the bolts back on and effectively ran out of usable daylight.

This video I am spending a large amount of time, and effort honing, and am throwing together the first video, really taking a break from video editing to hammer out this blog entry.

This project will be in a series of videos. The videos in the series will be...

  1. Introduction to the project, and moving the AC compressor assembly aside, and replacing the compressor clutch.
  2. Water pump removal, replacement, upper and lower radiator hose replacement,,and cooling system flush and fill. I am seriously considering for the few bucks extra it will cost, and the reliability of a critical system, I am considering swapping out the thermostat at the same time.
  3. Idler pulley and tensioner assembly removal and replacement.
  4. Power steering pump and pulley replacement. Notes on the Harbor Freight pulley press tool. Power steering rack and pinion fluid bleed and flush.
  5. Battery top off and charge service (assuming it will take a charge).
  6. Lifting and supporting a teeny tiny car with jack and jack stands intended for a large 4x4 truck. Supporting your vehicle SAFELY while servicing it is critical, and there are times size matters more than other times...
  7. Rear wheel stud replacement, rear wheel cylinders replacement and brake bleeding.
  8. Engine flush, and full oil and filter change. 
  9. Transmission Service (Saturn makes it soooooo easy...
  10. Saturn (Pretty typical GM) seat back recliner mechanism R&R.
Once we have finished with these repairs and services, we should be serviced up, and ready to roll. I simply need to get the car through at least 2 drive cycles and then take it in for an inspection and new registration stickers.

And I am bringing you along for the tour! I will be going over the tools and materials used, along with good options (I own a lot of old Snap On from when I worked full time as a young professional mechanic, age and wisdom has taught me that you don't need the high end fancy schmancy tools, and I will show you good lower cost alternatives and steer you as clear as I can from the duds...

03 February, 2015

Tearing into the Saturn...

So my 2001 Saturn SL2 is a bit long in the tooth these days, but I just hate car payments, so I need to fix what ails the old eccono box...

First and foremost, she looses coolant at the rate of about a pint a tankful. I find no evidence of oil in the coolant, nor coolant in the oil. No evidence of coolant fouled spark plugs, or steam emissions out the tailpipe.

I purchased a Harbor Freight "Pittsburgh Automotive" Item #61666 Radiator Pressure Tester Kit. Long time followers of my workshop blog, and my writings on various woodworking, and Automotive forums will know, I am not a Harbor Freight hater. If what they sell works as well as the next guys, lasts just as well, and costs less. You betcha I am going to use it...

Sadly this item was a FLOP....

I waited far too long after purchasing it to actually try it out. MY FAULT... But I was gravely disappointed when I did. I first tested it on my 2004 Ford F150 5.4L which I KNOW has no cooling system leaks. The tester simply refuses to build up pressure. It seems the female end of the tester coupler leaks like a sieve, and it just sill NOT build up pressure...

I would love to exchange it for a working unit as mine has never worked once. But like I said, I kept it too danged long before testing it and am out of the far too brief 90 day warranty period...

I need to figure out how to make this connection get a good seal and hold pressure, but I digress....

So with my own personally owned test set bad, I headed off to Autozone for the loan a tool for the pressure tester set.... Brought it home, and tested the system, looks like I have some weeping around the bearing on the water pump. That actually makes a wee bit of sense...

The water pump on this thing is on the passenger side of the engine, and from the direction of rotation of the belt, coolant / water etc... would likely get slung straight down, and if the leak only happens at temp / rpm then the heat of operation should dry it up before the car comes to a full parked stop....

Also, I have had an intermittent squeal out of the front of the engine...

Considering the cars mileage, the leakage, and the horrid squeal, and considering the fact that I have eliminated the alnterator as a potential source for the squeal if indeed there is only one, as it seems to be coming from the water pump / AC clutch area, AND the power steering pump. Just so I only have to get into this once and be done, I am going to replace the following...

#1. AC Compressor clutch. Already have a brand spanking new AC/Delco clutch ready to go in.
#2. Water Pump. Again brand spanking new GM parts...
#3. Power steering pump. Same as clutch and water pump.
#4. Power steering pump pulley, idler pulley, and tensioner. All aftermarket (Goodyear).

While I am in there, I am throwing a new Goodyear belt, and hoses with new clamps at it. Throwing new rear brake slave cylinders (The drivers side is weeping), new pads, Turned drums. Drums have less than 2K miles on them, I just want to scuff any crap the leaking cylinders might have put there off of them... I will also be replacing a wheel stud the imbeciles at Discount Tire broke off for me...

With that work done, I need to source up a drivers side seatback recliner as the factory piece broke. Or better yet, a pair of fresh sport seats that are more comfortable than the OEM GM back manglers...

With everything buttoned up, fresh coolant, and brake fluid flush, battery charged up, next is to service the oil with a fresh AC/Delco filter and Mobil 1 High Mileage 5w-30, and transaxle per MFG spec (Need to look that up!)

Lastly service the K&N filter, and then head on in for a state inspection and to refresh the registration of the car....

Once the Saturn is on "level ground" as it were, and its reliable old goat self, I will dive into the truck's issues, including finishing installing that trailer harness, / backup light set...