Briggs & Stratton 8hp Engine Internals Complete

This article details a method I used to fix a large hole in the crankcase of a 8hp Briggs & Stratton Vertical Engine.

First a little background:

When we first bought our property we quickly realised we would need either a tractor or a ride on lawn mower. Whilst I would have loved a tractor, cost meant we went for a ride on lawn mower. However this ride on mower was unique. It was a 1977 Rover Ranger mower. Go Kart style steering, Briggs and Stratton engine, all steel construction, etc.  Built solid as a rock but it was in need of some work. After about 6 months restoring the mower it was ready for testing – restoring the mower not the engine that is.

With the mower restored I added some oil, fuel/gas and gave the engine pull cord a tug, then another tug, and another…eventually I got the engine going. The mower worked great! Cut through thick grass, drove hard, ran smooth -though fast until… I hit a brick. Hidden in the long grass was a house brick and after hitting it at full speed something had to give. Normally this would be the mower blades. However, unknowingly at the time, the previous owner thought it was a good idea to weld the blades fixed. The engine did not like this and after spluttering a little decided the connecting rod (conrod) was the piece of metal that had to break. Sadly as it broke it put approximately a 5cm/1.5″ hole in the crank case wall. Not surprizingly the mower then stopped.

I was devastated. Months of work were now down the drain. A hole in the crankcase surely was unrepairable – especially since I’d never opened up an engine before. Consequently the mower was wheeled into the shed and left for a week. That week was a slow week. However, it also gave me time to think about the motor with a clear head. In particular: Why is a hole in a crank case unrepairable? After eventually pulling the engine apart I came to the conclusion I would try and repair the hole.

The hole was in the side wall, the conrod had created a few additional cracks as it flew through the crankcase side wall, but in general the engine looked repairable. Luckily when the conrod went, the various small pieces of broken conrod didn’t destroy any of the valve stems, oil slinger, etc. The main damage was the side wall.

Initially I thought “I’ll just weld something over it”. That was a nice theory but I very quickly discovered that the crank case was made from cast aluminium. One touch with the Arc welder and it would turn to molten metal! (Aluminum melting point is quite low in comparison with steel – about 700 degrees C vs 2300 degrees C). Hence my options were either TIG weld the case or find some other method of repairing it.

Sadly I’m not rich enough to own a TIG welder and none of my friends had one either. Hence I was left with finding some other method of welding aluminium. After searching Google I found out about a product called Durafix. Durafix is a type of welding rod, or more accurately a solder rod that can be used on aluminium. A little more searching revealled there was a number of products on the market that do a similar products. These can be found by searching for the names Alumaloy, Aladdin, HTS2000. They all do the same thing. So I started looking around for some of these welding rods. Sadly they were not cheap. Hence before I bought them I thought I’d check both prices of new engines as well if the rest of the engine I had was still any good.

New engines turned out to be much more expensive than I thought and I sadly I soon found the piston didn’t run smooth.

Piston with scoring marks from sanding to fit cylinder

One of the side effects of the conrod giving way is the rod arm in the piston had slightly deformed the piston. Hence it wasn’t correctly round any more. At this point I realised I needed a parts list. Going to Briggs and Stratton’s website I punched in the engine numbers and guess what – the parts list was still available. So after ringing around locally and checking Ebay I discovered a new piston wasn’t cheap. Especially since I didn’t know if I could repair the engine. I left the entire project for a few more weeks whilst I thought about what to do.

I eventually decided that if I could get the piston running smoothly I’d get the welding rods and try and repair the crank case. After all a set of aluminium welding rods could always come in handy. The problem was how to fix the piston. Everything I read said it had to be machined round, or replaced. I thought to myself, this is just a lawn mower, not a Ferrari V12. So I did the next best thing. I put the piston in the vice and crimped it until it was reasonably round. This got most of the shape back but it did still catch a little. (A note for anyone attempting a repair, I found the piston would only correctly work when put in from the bottom of the cylinder, it wouldn’t fit from the top).

To fix the small catch that it had left I sanded the side wall of the piston. I figured since it’s only the side wall the worst that would happen is a little movement (later I found out this is called piston slap and can be harmless or can destroy the rings depending on the amount of movement).

With the piston now running smooth I bought aluminium soldering rods off Ebay (It was cheaper to buy them in the US and get them shipped to Australia than buy them in Australia). After a few weeks they arrived and I replicated a couple of youtube videos I’d seen that welded coke can together. This was pretty easy stuff to work with – so I thought. Turns out small things are easy! The biggest issue was I was working with a large crank case.

After cleaning up the crankcase as best as I could with degreaser, some elbow grease, water and a stainless steel brush (as it

doesn’t cause the aluminium to oxidise) I began to heat the case. I’d borrowed a propane blow torch for the job and also had my electric heat gun. Initially I used the heat gun to get the entire crank case to a temperature where it was hot to touch (Electricity wasn’t a consumable like the propane tank).  I then used the propane torch in the cracked areas on the welding rods. It took ages!! Heating, heating, and more heating. Eventually the crank case got hot enough.

(At this point a little side note. The best way to use the welding rods is to heat the surface you want to repair. The rods are designed to melt below the melting point of aluminium. If you heat the rods they just turn in to little solder blobs but never cling to the surface your trying to weld. If you heat the surface your trying to weld then touch the rod to it, the solder melts and clings to the surface).

Finished Weld

With the surface now hot enough (hot enough to smoke the plastic grips in my vice), I began welding…er soldering. It was at this point I realised fixing this would be a little tricker than expected. You see the rods are more of a solder than a welding compound. My aim was to weld a piece of scrap aluminum I’d picked up at a local steel recycler over the hole on the outside of the crank case, then seal the inside with more weld. Being a solder this was a difficult task. The outside weld went perfect. The inside on the otherhand was not so successful. Turns out because the rods are a solder, touching the inside of the piece of aluminium covering the hole, ended up shifting the outside (as the piece was sitting on a layer of molton solder). Quite a few attempts later I had finished the repair.

Sealing the inside of the crankcase with liquid gasket

After 2 hours cool down time (the case took that long). I then did a water test for leaks. Drip………….Drip…….. Drip……… sadly the weld was not water tight. Due to time constraints and limited propane, sadly I could not reweld the case. Instead I applied liquid gasket to the inside of the weld, let it set the retried the water test – I was now water tight – success!

So with the case welded, it was a matter of putting the engine back together. (See the shots below for step by step instructions). By this time I had already bought a new after market conrod which fitted perfectly and despite quite a few mistakes where I had to take bits apart to put other bits in I eventually got the engine back together.

With the engine together, I added oil, petrol a new spark plug and crossed my fingers. I tugged on the pull cord….then again… and again… finally, the engine coughed to life. After quite a bit of spluttering whilst I adjusted the carby, it was running really nice. Time to put some load on it  – This time I had removed the fatal welds on the mower blades, if I hit anything THEY were going to give first.

The mower worked a treat, ran smoothly – after a few adjustments (the safety wire on the flywheel was rubbing against the flywheel cover making a awful noise) and kept running well.. so I thought.

It wasn’t until about 15 minutes into mowing I noticed the excess smoke coming from the mower. There was a little smoke as it accellerated but the amount of smoke had certainly increased quite noticable. Not wanting to destroy the Briggy any more I stopped the mower to inspect what was happening. Sure enough there was a small leak of oil through the weld.

You see Briggs & Stratton engines are designed to run with a negative pressure in the crank case. This helps suck the oil back down when the piston drop and prevents excessive oil burning. Without this negative pressure the oil get up to the combustion chamber and burns – also makes a nice black coated spark plug.

That’s what was happening here. The leak in the crank case weld was letting air in, stopping the back pressure and causing oil to burn. As a quick fix I wedged some metal putty over the hole, topped up the oil and tried again.

It still smoked and leaked. Though dramatically less than the first time. A little more putty and practically no leaks.

So now 5 months down track with the mower use pretty much ever weekend (A lot of grass grew whilst I was repairing it). The repaired B&S 8hp is still going strong. By using some premium unleaded (98 octane) it’s got a lot more punch, and getting the right spark plug gap (0.3″/.72mm)  it works very well.

When summer comes and I can’t mow due to the temperature (due to bush fire regulations). I intend to rip the engine apart again and reweld-solder the cover plate I put over the hole, and not give up until it’s water tight.

I’ve also learnt a lot in the process of doing this. All about engines, how to get them running, keep them running etc. A tip I want to try with the welding is to use a dremel and carve a V groove before welding. Especially over the cracks that are hairline but widen as the engine heats up this should fill them better. (This tip was from a site asking about welding a motorbike crank case with JBWeld – though I can’t find the link again). I also think I’ll purchase a rebuild kit and replace the rings to help eliminate smoke due to a worn piston/rings. The engine runs well enough to justify this. The rebuild kit also has a complete gasket set which will help.

So if suddenly you find yourself with hole in your crank case, a broken conrod and a warped piston,  but otherwise the engine looks fine, don’t believe everyone that the engine is scrap metal. You just might be able to fix it yourself!

Putting a 8hp Briggs and Stratton Engine Back Together

]]> http://www.clearchain.com/blog/posts/fixing-a-hole-in-a-brigg-stratton-engine-crankcase/feed 3 http://www.clearchain.com/blog/posts/top-tips-for-moving-house http://www.clearchain.com/blog/posts/top-tips-for-moving-house#comments Mon, 29 Aug 2011 07:36:52 +0000 Benjamin Close http://www.clearchain.com/blog/?p=1023 We’re now well and truly settled into our new home, but moving into a different house – even one which isn’t newly built – can often be a little tricky. With this in mind, here are just a few top tips which can help ‘move day’ to go as smoothly as possible. If you have [..more..]]]> We’re now well and truly settled into our new home, but moving into a different house – even one which isn’t newly built – can often be a little tricky. With this in mind, here are just a few top tips which can help ‘move day’ to go as smoothly as possible.

If you have friends or family who are often offering to lend you a hand with various tasks, then it can be a great idea to take them up on the offer when you are moving house. Be clear about what needs doing, and give anyone who volunteers specific tasks to carry out, in order to make the most of the help which you have. Often, it is the most menial tasks which can prove to be the most time-consuming when moving house, so it can be extremely useful if you have a group of willing helpers. Just make sure you’re willing to return the favour in the future!

Make a list of what you are likely to move shortly after your move, and make sure they are easily accessible. It is a good idea for each house member to pack a small holdall for a few days, so that they will not require immediate access to the rest of their belongings. In addition to clothes and toiletries, you may also want to make sure you are able to set up your computer shortly after your move – not just so that you can relax with a game of partypoker, but to help you get in contact with anyone you might need to speak to regarding any problems which you may have encountered while moving. You may also want to get appliances such as your fridge up and running as soon as possible, so that you will be able to store basic food provisions.

Lastly, remember to label EVERYTHING. Keep track of your belongings as best as possible, so that you can easily check if anything has gone missing. Don’t let important documents get lost in the move, and protect anything which is breakable. If you follow these basic guidelines, you can help to make move day as straightforward as possible.

Rich Short Crust Pastry

A little while ago I was making a quiche and found I had no shortcrust pastry left. Rather than ducking out to the local shop and buying some I decided to make some. Searching through the recipie books I had I found a the following recipie (per Breville Inspirations book)

Recipie:

• 180g butter chopped
• 2 & 1/4 cups plain flour
• 1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
• Extra Flour for kneading

Steps to make the pastry

1. Using a beater, cream butter until soft.
2. Add flour, baking power and salt. Gradually add lemon juice and egg youlk to form a slightly crumbled dough.
3. Tourn dough onto a lightly flour dusted board and knead lightly to form a smooth ball.
4. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes before using

Things to remember

After making this recipie there would be a few things I’d change for next time. The pastry is Very rich and hence I’d add the entire egg rather than just the yolk. Also the comment about refrigerating for 20mins depends on how cold the pastry is before it goes in the refrigerator. Don’t do what I did and refrigerate it all day until you make the quiche that night – the pastry will be rock hard and need microwaving before you can even make an indent in it!

Also remember to blind bake this pastry. (That is bake it for about 20minutes on 200 degrees Celcius) before filling it. If you don’t do this it might not be cooked before your filling is!

Husqvana 136 Chainsaw

It was the middle of winter, the nights were cold and we needed some firewood for our little combustion heater.  Out I went with my 2 times hand-me-down Husqvarna 136 chainsaw to cut some wood up. After only a minute of cutting the blade began to smoke. Despite the cold I thought “That ain’t right” and quickly stopped the saw to investigate.

I did the usual checks. I checked the saw had enough oil – it did. I checked the blade was sharp.. it wasn’t any more – though it was when I started only minutes before. I then checked that oil was getting to the bar and the chain. Ah, that’s the problem.

The chain was bone dry!  I checked the bar. There was some dirt in the bar but not enough to prevent oil getting on to it. Finally I checked where the oil is meant to come out on the chainsaw – Nothing was coming out.

Old Oil Pump With Slice in top left

A little digging and I found that the oil pump cover had a slice in it. How it got there I’ve no idea. The fact it was there proved to be the problem. The oil pump cover performs two jobs. It creates a seal so suction can build up for the pump and acts as a dirt cover.

I began to pull the chainsaw apart to check the state of the oil pump. Pulling the saw apart started off quite easily. Off with the steel outer cover, remove the rubber insulator.. then I hit a road block. The oil pump was actually under the main drive socket/chainsaw clutch. It was held in by two screws that I had no chance of getting into. Hence the drive socket/clutch had to be removed.

The drive socket/clutch is actually a reverse thread screw type setup attached directly to the main crackshaft of the engine.
Every attempt I did to unscrew this piece simply turned the cylinder.  I gave up for the night in frustration.

Google is a friend and I soon found the reason I couldn’t undo the part.  In the official repair manual, a special ‘cylinder lock tool’‘ is required to brace the cylinder in position and a special ‘drive socket/clutch release tool’ is used to grip the clutch. These tools allow the clutch/drive socket to be unscrewed and hence the oil pump removed. A quick inquiry – $58 for both! No way was I going to pay that for tools I’d only use once. I was at a loss.

Luckily I eventually found the following forum post. In the post the person mentions using an old nylon rope as a cylinder lock – Ironically they mention the official tool often pokes a hole in the cylinder! Anyway back to the shed I went to give it a go. Nylon rope in cylinder, vice grips as release tool – It worked! The drive socket/clutch released and I was able to access the oil pump.

Oil pump with cover removed, stripped gear visible

Worm Gear That Drives The Oil Pump

With the oil pump removed it was clear the part needed replacing. The oil pump in the chainsaw is driven by a worm thread on the main drive shaft. This worm thread turns a plastic gear which causes a half cylindrical piece of metal to rotate. As it rotates it creates suction. This suction draws the oil from the oil tank, through an oil filter into the oil pump. The oil pump passes the oil from one side of the pump to the other and out via plastic channels to the bar/chain. In my case the plastic gear on the oil pump was stripped in one place. It looks like the slice on the pump cover allowed dirt to get in. The dirt jammed the plastic gear and the metal worm thread did a nice job of stripping the gear.

After downloading the parts list for the 136/141 from the Husqvarna website (Note: IPL = Illustrated Parts list) I was soon able to work out what part I needed – it was part 530014410 (apparently also the same as: 530029838, 530029834, 530029835, and 530029912, 545036801). A trip to the local chainsaw shop had the part listed at $32. A quick trip to eBay and I found the part for less than $10 delivered! (Thanks to user/ebay store Mowers4u)

The replacement oil pump

I ordered the part and waited for it to arrive.

A few weeks later (it was an international trip) the part arrived and after giving the chainsaw an extremely good clean using degreaser, petrol and a wirebrush; I set about putting the chainsaw back together. At each stage I checked that the pump was working. Turns out the model of pump I got (as stated in the eBay ad) was actually an enhancement to the original part with better dirt protection – looking at the part this modification was clearly visible.

Eventually I finished putting the entire chainsaw back together and test it out – it worked! Oil now flowed nicely on to the chain again. A fine line of oil was now clearly visible when spinning the chain next to an object. So for the cost of a couple weeks worth of waiting, a couple hours of my time and less than $10, my trusty Husqvarna 136 Chainsaw was back in action and ready to finally cut that much needed firewood! (The backup stock was getting really low

One final side note to anyone wanting to replace the oil pump; the part I used is actually is able to be used by many chainsaw makes an models. Taking direct from the Mowers4U eBay Add:

“This is an oil pump assembly Poulan, Husqvarna, Jonsered, and Craftsman chainsaws. The oil pump is part number 545036801, which is the latest version and supercedes part numbers 530014410, 530029838, 530029834, 530029835, and 530029912. The pump fits a large number of models including Poulan and Poulan Pro 2200, 2500, 2600, 2750, 2775, 2900, 3050, PP255, PP295, PP310, PP315, PP4620, and Husqvarna models 36, 41, 136, 141, 137, and 142. This is a genuine Poulan part, not an aftermarket part”

Installing The New Oil Pump on The Husky

1 Oil Pump Fully Removed

2 New Oil Pump Installed

3 Washer Installed

4 Clutch Housing Installed

5 Clutch Installed

6 Tightening The Clutch Housing ("Special Tool Used"

7 Rubber Guard & Covers Installed - Pump Changed

Edit: A kind reader (Eino Yooper) contributed the following when replacing the pump of his Jonsered

From Benjamin Close: Many thanks Eino Yooper for the feedback and the photos!

“A thousand thank yous for the Chainsaw rope trick.  My Jonserud was not oiling and I spent hours searching the internet before I found this wonderful posting.  I could find no directions or an exploded diagram of my clutch assembly.

It took 8 ft of twine to fill the cylinder head of my 2045.  I had to buy a vise grips, but it was well worth it.  The Jonserud is a little different in the appearance of the clutch and that the oil pump is not enclosed withing a nylon enclosure.  I found that there is a rubber oil channel.  It was completely filled with greasy sawdust blocking the passage of oil.  I cleaned it out and the oil flowed by hand rotation.

I’m sure the pump is about the same as the Husky, a small piston pump.

This didn’t come easy to me.  I am mechanically challenged.  There are about four parts on the engine shaft that need to come off after removal of the clutch.  There is the clutch housing with integral sprocket, a bushing that rides inside the clutch housing, an inner bushing, a screw to hold a thin sheet metal plate down and the sheet metal plate.  Pay close attention to their orientation.  I did this about 2 in the morning and mixed them up.  I ended up using the chainsaw rope trick three times before I got them together right.

While the machine is apart, this is a good time to clean and gap the plug as well as to clean filters and the inner guts of the saw.

The chain should turn as easily as before when the unit is completed.  If not, the rope may need to be gently pushed into the cylinder head again for dis-assembly. 

Test the chainsaw on some snow to see if a line of oil shows up.  Point it at the snow and rev her a bit.  Don’t spill gas and oil on yourself like I did.  If you live in an area without snow, you are lucky.”

“I’ve had that oiling problem for months, brought it into a chainsaw person and he installed a new pump. Then the problem came back as an intermittent
problem. You’ll see the black rubber oil channel. It filled with oily sawdust and probably will again, but now I know how to fix it. My house will be warm. The propane bill collector will not trouble me this Winter. “

The Jonsered Chain Saw

Taking the Clutch Cover Off

Below the Clutch

Clutch Exposed

Pump Channel

New Tool

Sheet Metal

Plug and Rope

1.33Fathoms-in

Dirty Plug

Dirty Filter

Oil on the Snow

All Fixed For A Happy Result

Evacuated Tubes On Our Roof

On the 15th of February 2010, after much investigation, we bought an Apricus Gas boosted evacuated tube solar hot water system. The system consists of a  315 Litre Stainless steel tank, 30 evacuated Tubes & manifold, a LPG Gas Booster and Solar controller. This type of hot water system is classed as a Split Solar hot water system. Whilst technically the system is working extremely well, sadly the installation and buying the system did not go without a hitch. This article aims to explain why we chose the Apricus hot water system, the issues we had with buying the system, the installation of the system, post installation issues and documents why if we were to do it again, we’d chose another company.

Everything started when Carly and I decided to build a new home. Where we chose to build sadly had no electricity grid near by. Hence we ended up with a solar panel only electricity system, which works surprisingly well. With Solar panels providing the electricity, using a electric hot water system was out of the question. We have no mains gas supply either so our only option was bottled liquid petrolium gas (LPG). To aid in reducing the amount of gas used we began to look at solar hot water systems.

Solar Panel Types

Very quickly we discovered the main types of systems available were flat panel or evacuated tubes. Initially we found that flat panels were much cheaper, at least until we found that we were  in a frost region. In flat panels the risk of frost changes the type of panel you need. Instead of water going through the pipes in the panel, glycol is used and a heat transfer system is used to heat the water. This prevents the pipes from freezing and splitting on those cold winter nights. With our only water source being tank water collected from the roof, this could be a problem. Ie if a pipe burst/leaked, then glycol could end up getting into our water supply. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to drink antifreeze. Hence evacuated tubes which don’t suffer the same issue were the only real choice.

Unlike flat panels, evacuated tubes are self contained. Inside the outer glass layers a copper pipe containing a small amount of compressed liquid exists. This liquid as it is under pressure doesn’t freeze until about -15degrees C. A single evacuated tube can also be replaced independent to any other tube simply reducing the system efficiency not disabling the system.

At the time evacuated tubes were still very new to the market. Hence there was only two manufacturers: Hills and Apricus. After a bit of research, Apricus seemed like the best option due to warranty and price. So we contacted a number of Apricus suppliers for a quote. This is where the issues began.

One supplier took over 3 weeks to get back to us, the other we had to chase for a quote, with the call centre staff for the company eventually telling me to go Hills?!? This was simply not good enough – Later I was told the issues seemed to resolve around us wanting the Stainless Steel tank. Apricus do not have a large market penetration in South Australia so sourcing the Stainless steel tank was an issue. Also in South Australia apparently it is more common to use the Vitrous enamel tank due to the water quality – the high calcium/magnesium rate in the water apparently reacts with stainless steel tank degrading it quicker. I must admit this comment surprized me. Didn’t the company want to cover the 10 year warranty? Anyway we are not on mains water so this was not a problem for us and we preferred the longer warranty.

After getting the run around I wrote an email to Apricus Australia, detailing how I wanted to install one of their systems, and indicating what their suppliers had said, even pointing out the fact that a competitors system had been recommended. I also mentioned a number of broken links on the Apricus website (which at the time of writing this article still aren’t fixed). Wow did the email’s bounce around. From Apricus, from the supplier, to head office, etc. Eventually I received a call both from the supplier and  Managing Director of Apricus. The supplier simply apologized for their staff, indicating it was all a mistake and the staff member was new. The Director on the other hand was very concerned with what had happened, asked lots of questions, explained about the company and as an act of either thanks or goodwill, offered us a system at cost price. Certainly an offer we would have been mad not to take. He also indicated he’d get his SA representative to contact me – which he did.

Apricus Tank, Rinnai Gas Booster & Apricus Solar Controller

Since our house was not yet ready for the system I asked the SA rep if we could defer the purchase/installation until the house was ready. That was not a problem. Time passed and our house reached the stage where we could install the hot water. I contacted the SA rep and ordered/paid for the system. The pro-forma invoice came through to me with the wrong delivery address on it. A quick phone call and all was resolved (The address was actually the installers address as the installer would be bringing the system out).

The installation date arrived and the installer arrived on time as promised. The team of two set about installing the system, first the evacuate tubes (which we placed on the Northern side of the house) then the tank, tempering valve, pressure reducers and gas booster. Everthing was going very smoothly.. so I thought.

Late in the day (the system had taken most the day to install) the SA Rep for Apricus showed up unexpectedly. It was nice to finally meet the person I’d been talking to on the phone. The installer and Rep had a fairly lengthy conversation and then the Rep had a chat to me. He spoke about the system, and how the temperature line (2 wires) we had installed during the construction of our house was wrong and hence they would run another line instead. He also indicated on occasion the solar controller may show ‘SSD‘ in which case simply push the ‘Pump’ button on the controller and it should go away.. “It’s cased by air in the line” he said.

The installers finished connecting everything up, tested the system and after getting rid of a lot of air in our water lines (we’d never used the hot water lines until that point),  hot water came out our taps. This was great! Finally we had hot water. As expected the gas booster was in full use as the tank was still cold. Being late in the day the Installer indicated he’d get the paper work for the job to us in the next week. Being past 6pm I agreed and he left.

A few days later and to his word the Installer dropped in the paper work. Sadly forms that he should have sent in to Apricus were given to us to fill in and send. After a few phone calls to the installer to get serial numbers and certification numbers we eventually cleared this up and send in the forms to Apricus and registered our warranty online.

Label On Apricus Tank (Writing is under plastic membrane)

That weekend and after a few nice days of hot sunny weather I finally got time to have a good look at the installed system. I noticed quite a few things. First the unprofessional changes to serial numbers on the stainless steel tank, the fact cables were left hanging everywhere, then the fact a Rinnai booster had been installed whilst I’d been quoted for a Bosch. Finally I saw the solar controller was reading ‘SSD‘.

Apricus Stainless Steel Tank (315l)

To fix the ‘SSD‘ issue I tried pressing the ‘Pump‘ button on the controller as indicated. Sadly even after repeated pressing the controller still indicated ‘SSD‘. I used the relieve valve at the top of the hot water tank to check the temperature of the water in the tank… it was cold.  At this point I found the instructions for the solar controller. Turns out that when the controller reads ‘SSD‘ it’s not caused by air in the line but a fault somewhere in the system. Infact the controller indicates exactly where (tank sensor, roof sensor or pump) the problem lies. In this case it was indicating the issue was with the roof sensor.

The roof sensor is a simple two wire temperature sensor that records the temperature is in the solar collector manifold. Since the Installer had run a new line for the sensor I found this very strange. I got in the roof to see what had happened. What I found did not impress me. It turned out that the line that come with the solar controller was about 5 meters too short. So to fix the problem the Installer had cut the sensor line and .. ironically enough .. used the wire from the original line (the one that wasn’t appropriate) to extend the sensor. I

I looked at the connection. It was shocking. The wires had simply been twisted together, no shielding, no solder. Looking closer, the wires were shorting. I fixed the electrical short and checked the controller… it worked! Now the controller was getting temperature readings from the roof sensor.. 76 degrees. Immediately the controller kicked the pump into life and the temperature of the roof sensor slowly started dropping. The tank temperature slowly started rising.

At this point I was not happy. The install was not just bad it was dangerous. I also noticed whilst in the roof that the Installer had neglected to insulate some of the heat transfer pipe. Knowing this I called the installer. Two days later he came out and fixed the issue properly (solder, proper insulation). He indicated he was still new to the install process and had never had to extend the cable before. He also indicated the SA Rep had told him just to twist the wires together.

Apricus Solar Controller (after the wiring fix)

Rinnai Gas Booster

At this point the system was now working how it should. In fact it works great! During summer the tank sits on 70 degrees most the time and the gas booster doesn’t fire up – it’s not needed.

Finally I attempted to resolve the issue of the difference between the different gas boosters. Apricus has an interesting warranty. The manifold, frames, controller and tubes are all covered by Apricus. For the tank, gas booster and pump the owner must contact the supplier direct. For us this was a problem. It would be pointless me contacting Rinnai if all I could show them was a receipt for a Bosch system. Techincally I was happier with the Rinnai. The Rinnai used less gas and has the same warranty as the Bosch (Apricus quote 3 years on the Rinnai. Rinnai’s website indicate 10 years).

Hence I contacted Apricus via their Australian phone number. After explaining the situation I was informed the SA Rep would be contacted who would issue an updated invoice. Sadly there was no phone call. Over the next 3 month I contact Apricus Australia and the SA Rep a number of times. Each time being promised an invoice would be send. Sadly never receiving it. I left the issue for a month as life got busy.

Finally I contacted Apricus Australia again and this time got someone who cared (my comment about major dissappointment in past experiences probably helped with this). The person I spoke to was great, she asked for a copy of the original ProForma invoice I had received and I emailed it off. A day later I had an updated invoice. It didn’t list the Rinnai but it also didn’t list the Bosch. Hence hopefully if anything happens to the booster under warranty this will be enough.

So after almost 8 months of working to get everything resolved things are now finally finished. We are very happy with the final system, it works great! During winter we averaged 32 degrees in the tank. The booster was still needed but certainly at a much lower gas rate than heating 6 degree water! Spring is here now and the tank is already pushing 67 degrees and the days are only just getting sunny.

In conclusion, the system is great, does what we want. However, we would never go with Apricus again. Getting the initial quote, the install and follow up service have all left a bitter taste in our mouth- the customer service was very lacking. If we did it again we would go the Hills system. They were excellent with the quote and they cover all the components of the system under warranty directly, ie, you contact them not different suppliers. So why did we go Apricus? Due to cost, warranty and technical reasons. Though after the experience we’ve had, I’m not putting any faith in the warranty if we do need to make a claim.

3G Modem At Focal Point of Galaxy Antenna

Having moved into our new home, it was time to get internet access up and running. We have no fixed phone line and with us both having mobile phones had no intention to get one. Hence we began looking into what wireless options were available. Eventually we settled on a 3G wireless mobile broad band option. Our carrier of choice was Vodafone Hutchinson Australia (VHA) or three (3) as it’s more commonly referred too.

We signed up for a $49 combocap, which gave us a free USB modem (a Hauwei E122) which we selected as we knew it had an external antenna port. The $49 combocap was great. I was already paying $49 a month just for a phone, getting 2GB of internet access for free sounded excellent.

However, nothing in life is easy. We live in a semi rural area with poor 3G reception. They told us when we signed up to the combocap that we were not in a 3G broadband zone. To which I simply acknowledged. Hence I knew things would not be easy to get internet access up and running. Hell Carly can barely make a phone call without manually forcing her phone to Roaming (aka Telstra).

The TV Antenna Before Adding the 3G Modem

So not being deterred. I plugged the modem into the laptop. It sat flashing, blue, then green and the ’3 Mobile Broadband’ application eventually said ‘EDGE Roaming’ and the light on the modem went solid green. Certainly not a good start. Whilst we had internet access using roaming is not part of the allowed 2Gb on the cap. Instead it’s charged at 50c per Mb. Hence that wasn’t an option. I forced the broadband application to 3G only and the modem just started flashing again. Infact it never stopped. Simply put no 3G access.

By moving the modem to various different spots and testing it eventually we found a couple places in the house where we could get a flakey, 1 bar signal strength GPRS connection. A quick test showed we had a blazing speed of 2kb/s.. wait 1kb/s… 2kb/s – pretty slow what ever. It was enough to start with – we had Internet! Good enough to pay bills anyway, just get a coffee between screens and hope it doesn’t time out.

3G Modem + USB Cable, in Peanut Butter Jar

The next step in getting better access was trying an antenna. Not wanting to spend any more, I tried using the USB modem as the pick up coil and various reflectors. Eventually I used an old galaxy dish I had lying around and after a lot of tweaking, the flashing green light turned blue, went solid. We had 3G! Well sort of. 0-1 bars of signal strength with a download rate of 4-6kb depending on the weather. Still it’s progress.

This was the setup we used for over four weeks. It was very touch and go. If you knocked the antenna just a little the whole thing would move and you’ld spend the next 20 mins trying to get any reception again. For those trying this route this website was very helpful in working out which way to point the antenna.

Night View Of an Active 3G connection

Finally late one night, checking email I’d had enough. The next day I decided to try the next logical step. Using it outside.. up a lader. So on a 3 degree night, Carly at the base of the ladder with the laptop, me 11 foot up it with an antenna, USB modem on a 5 meter usb cable we tried to see what we could get. Turns out whilst inside the antenna worked, outside it seemed to drop signal strength. Putting the usb modem on top of our home made TV antenna vertically mounted seemed to work a treat – a whopping 7kb a second. (Now I know many of you would be thinking 7kb a second, how slow. But consider the alternative – this was gold).

2 Bars 3G reception - none inside

After recovering in front of the heater for 15 minutes, I set to work giving us reliable internet. An old peanut butter jar, some decacant crystals, some silcon, cable ties and some creative cable management (through a window and up the TV antenna). Our new setup is complete. Even better is our speed. With the modem actually steady we can now get up to 24kb/s – we’ve now reached par with 256kb ADSL! Certainly this is not the finally to our internet access but it is the end of this article… not quite

Good 3G Reception

Update:After 3 months using this setup, we finally decided to see if we could get better access. The problem we found with the antenna mount was.. well it wobbled in the wind. This would make the signal change. Hence on a much warmer day I dug up that old galaxy antenna, calculated the focal point properly and started working out where we got better signal strength. Turns out that a combination of the antenna and also the vertex of the roof seemed the best. The problem with this location is it was too far away for a USB cable. I tried a 10 metre USB

Our Speed Test

cable but the modem kept dropping out. Hence I thought I’d try a cat5 usb extender. $3 latter off ebay and a few week wait, the extender arrived. It was only usb 1, but that wasn’t a problem based on the speeds we were getting (though Windows keeps reminding me it can perform faster!). So with modem in this time a cable tie container with USB extender at one end, 10 meter cat 5 cable to the other end, via a wall, window and creative cable management to other end of the usb extender, we now have 3 bars, HSPA and a download rate of 108kb/s – not bad – almost 1.5M adsl.

A side note: The bars that people think are signal strength aren’t. They are actually the bit error rate. Hence you can have really strong signal but very few bars if the bit error rate is bad. In our case I believe we have very good signal and a reasonable bit error rate.

If your game (of crazy enough) to do something like this yourself. I recommend the following tools:

• Mobile Data Monitoring Application
  This little app shows the signal strengh in useful readings (not just bars). Initially we had -113DB signal, now we have -107DB
• OzSpeedTest
  A great little website that gives a reasonable accurate speed assesment. Try the 3MB test.. if you can wait that long
• Australain Communications and Media Authority: Registration of Radiocommunication Licenses
  A government site which lists registered carrier licenses.. useful for finding out where the closes 3G tower is
• Radio Frequency National Site Survey
  A above but much more usable (use the ‘Guest Login’ button)
• Australian Geographical Frequency Map
  A Great site linked to Google Maps which allows you to see where the closes towers to your house are

Finally if you think this is all too hard and just want to buy and antenna. Well you might like to know that the Hauwei E122 USB Broadband modem requires an antenna with CRC9 connector. Ironically this little bit of information took a lot of research to find.

The building process was relatively painless, there were certainly a few quirks along the way but that was always to be expected where we built – a semi-rural property. The finish of the house is excellent and despite the fact there’s lots of mud around, we’ve now converted our house to a home. Below are some of the shots of the finished house. Having never built a house before this was certainly a learning experience. One that certainly had it’s ups and downs. I’ve got a list of tips for anyone building a house, especially one with Format Homes – though that will be a later article.

Format Homes have continued working on the house and each week a little bit more has been done. Since the last update the following has happened:

• Gyprock has been completed
• Doors have been installed
• Cornus has been put up in all rooms except the bathrooms (we’re having ceiling high tiles)
• The Bath has been installed
• The showers have been water proofed
• The screens have been put on the doors & windows
• Tiles have been delivered and begun to be installed
• The bricks have been cleaned
• The kitchen has been installed
• The Bathroom & Ensuite Vanity has been installed
• The linen press has been installed
• Eaves have been put up
• The Gable has been capped

All of this happened over the few weeks since the last update. Sadly it doesn’t look like we’ll be in by Christmas. This seems to be due to the Tiler who, whilst doing a good job, is also quite slow.

On the flip side, Solaris has almost fully installed our 3.3kw Solar system. Including batteries, inverter, regulator and panels. It took the guys a week to install and they did a great job at making it work, look good and were very professional.

Below is some photos of the progress of both the house and the solar system installation.

In building our new house we decided to install a solar hot water system. The reasons for this was simple. We have no mains electricity and only LPG bottled gas. Hence continually heating water would have cost us a lot. Solar hot water on the other hand has an upfront cost but substantially reduces the ongoing cost. Only having rain water and being in a frost region, we quickly decided on evacuated tubes rather than flat panel collectors. Not only is it safer for us (no glycol to leak into our water supply) but there is also an added benefit of better solar performance.

With the decision to use evacuated tubes made, it was now a matter of what brand. This is where the real issues began.
In Australia there is two main contenders for evaculated tube hot water system. These are Apricus and Hills. So began the investigation as to which is better. The Apricus system is significantly cheaper than the Hills. The Hills system is a ‘name brand quality’ company. A little more research finds that both companies are actually Australian (Apricus Australia) and the collectors are all imported anyway.

Not believing in hype about name brands the investigation began into the real differences of each system. It turns out there is quite a few. The below table lists the differences and a comment related to each.

Update: 20091124 – Chris Taylor Director of Apricus Australia has provided updated information to each comment – see below in red

Since the most likly point of failure in an evacuated tube system is the Heat Exchanger/Manifold the Apricus system does sound more promising.  This ironically is the one component that Hills don’t seem to trust as much as Apricus. Clearly indicated by the 5 year difference in warranty.

For instance the bricky really looked out for us. First a little background. We’ve no mains water hence we’ve only had water available for the bricky via a 1000 litre tank. Initially we didn’t even have a pump hence it was all gravity fed. This gave the bricky great fun trying to clean his tools – he had to fill buckets up and use them to make his mix. However, he didn’t complain, just went about his job. He mentioned he would need pressurised water for his saw but that would be later down the track. We are also madly trying to collect rain so that we have water when we move in. Hence once the roof was on we put some temporary down pipes in place. These led into the tank.

One morning I noticed a piece of steel proped between the shed and the tanks. After talking to the bricky about this it turned out the previous day when it had been raining, the downpipe had shifted in the wind, spilling water everywhere. After one attempt to put it back in position – where he got covered by water, he grabbed a spare piece of steel and wedged the pipe back in place.

There was many little things like this that really made having the bricky working on the house great. He also did a fantastic job with the bricks!

The roofing guys (that I never met) took a little longer than expected to get the roof on. They put it up in stages, with the rain being an issue as well as the wind (we’re in category 3 wind zone). Each stage it went up we were trying to collect more and more water.

The sparky’s took 1 day to get the house ready. Very neatly done and all spot on the first time.

The plumber on the other hand really had no idea. We requested a hot water plumbing loop but this was not done.. well not properly. 1 call to the super and he said he would take care of it. Which he did. The plumber came out again and the setup got even worse – certainy not the super’s fault though. Another call to the super and this time he got me to meet the plumber on site. After quite a few attempts of explaining the concept he (and his super) finally caught on and got this done correctly.

To Format Home’s credit, the issues with the plumber were the contracting service that they use. Something that they have indicated they might re-consider in the future. The whole time the super was excellent in dealing with the issue.

So now it’s a new week and everything is happening. Monday the bricky finished – sad to see him go. The gyprock and the insulation was also delivered. Mid Monday, the insulation got put up (Walls anyway). Today (Tuesday) the gyprock started going up and within the day, all the bedrooms are done! Tomorrow the plaster starts.

Check out the progress shots of things happening….