Flyinfool

All the cash has run out........ AND you seem to have gone sneaking past my house a couple more times and didn't even wave as you went by....... As @Condor said, I am down playing in the sewer again..... So a bit preoccupied, I might have forgot to swing the nozzles or to turn it off. Good thing I put on a bigger hopper, Would hate to see it run out of materials and seize up or something......

Well all of the quotes are now in. All of the "trenchless" methods run from $9800 to $13,500. They all still require a hole to be dug in the basement floor. The one low bid that I had was from the original plumber that cleared the line and did the camera work. His plan was the same as mine, to push 4" PVC down thru the 6" clay line. He did not think that the 2 small bends would be a problem. His quote was the one for 3500 complete or 1800 if I do the hard part. The angle of the bends is about 10° and there is 12 feet between the bends. According to my math, a 4.215 dia pipe going into a 6" dia pipe will need to bend at about a 40 foot radius to get around that bend. I went and bought a 10 footer of the D2729 sewer pipe to play with and that comes out to the 10 foot length being able to be deflected 4 inches at the center. I was able to deflect it that far repeatedly with no damage. I also found that a hair drier blowing down the pipe heating it to about 120°F also made that small deflection much easier. I am back to leaning toward me just doing everything for an all in price of around $1000, This would include me getting some new toys like a small rotary demolition hammer, and a real drain camera and a new 5 foot farm jack. OK so most of that price will be new tools..... I get to keep the new toys (I mean tools) after the job is done. I do have another job in progress that the Rotory hammer will be VERY handy for. I would be digging a 12 foot x 2 foot by 2 foot hole in the basement floor and using the 10 foot sections of pipe instead of cutting it into 5 foot sections. If the pushing gets hard I will also get a 5 foot long farm jack to supply more push power. The weight of the pipe will only be about 50 lbs and the last section will not even need to go into the old clay. I have already started to make some special tools for this job. First is a disk that will fit into the end of the pipe to give me a solid surface to push evenly on and spread the force evenly over the end of the pipe. It will also have a hole in it to feed the camera thru so that I can see the end of the pipe as it goes. This will allow me to stop at exactly the correct spot where my lateral joins the city sewer. I do want to line all the way to the very end of the lateral but I do not want to stick out into the city sewer at all and possibly cause a blockage there. Second will be a U shaped piece to hold hold against the flared part of the pipe to prevent it from pushing into the clay pipe while I am gluing and pushing on the next piece of pipe. If the joint slide in before I am ready I will not be able to tell if I have the joint fully engaged. I have not decide yet on my course of action, But like I said I am leaning to me doing it all. IF I hire it out it will be the $3500 deal with the pro doing everything. The hard part is the digging part. If I feel that my health will hold out for that long then I can dive right in, But my health issues are the one unpredictable part right now. I hate to get half way and be unable to finish. Geeze, everyone has always called me a heartless old bas...... How can that nonexistent li'l thing be causing me so much problems right now? It is still an option that a pile of PIZZA, Ice Cream, and some cold drinks, and maybe even a batch of RUM BALLS (for desert after the work), will make short work of digging the hole.

BIG trouble!!

In my owners manual it does call for 20W-50 in very hot weather. That would be appropriate at that time, but for cooler temps it recommends a lighter oil, and for cold temps a much lighter oil. That is why I say to look in the owners manual and run the recommended weight of oil. Any oil that has the correct service ratings will be a good oil to use.

I don't know what bike you are putting this in so here is a very general answer. You are best off running whatever type AND weight of oil that the owners manual recommends. Going to a heavier weight oil is NOT better for the engine and can in fact be worse for the engine by running hotter and wasting power from the oil pump having to work a lot harder to push the heavier oil thru spaces that were not designed for that oil.

In order to get meaningful voltage readings the RLU must be plugged in and a good headlight bulb must be plugged in. Otherwise the RLU is trying to fix the problem for you and giving bad info. The HI/LO switch has 3 wires to it. Yellow, Green and a Blue/Black. The blue/black wire is the one that is supplying power to the switch. It should show pretty close (within .5V) to battery voltage at all times that the key is on. If not start following it down where it goes thru several connectors until you find the bad connection. once you have proper power to the HI/LO switch then we can start chasing the other problems. NOTE - In some places wires will change colors as they go thru connectors, so watch for that so as to not get confused and end up chasing the wrong wire.

I have a complete engine from an early 85 that has the 2nd gear issue. The engine was completely disassembled to repair the 2nd gear issue and is now in several boxes. Reassembly was never started. I got this as part of a package deal. I never inventoried the parts but was told it is all there. I have it priced accordingly. FREE!! I would prefer to meet someone to take this as it would be very expensive to pack it all up for safe shipping. I would prefer it all go as a package because once some parts are cherry picked out then it is no longer complete and even harder to find a new for for the remainder. I am offering it here first. If there is no interest then it will get parted out on ebay for very cheap and whatever does not sell in a month will go to the scrap yard. If you have any other ideas on how to make this go away from my basement, Fire away.

I have a complete engine from an early 85 that has the 2nd gear issue. The engine was completely disassembled to repair the 2nd gear issue and is now in several boxes. Reassembly was never started. I got this as part of a package deal. I never inventoried the parts but was told it is all there. I have it priced accordingly. FREE!! I would prefer to meet someone to take this as it would be very expensive to pack it all up for safe shipping. I would prefer it all go as a package because once some parts are cherry picked out then it is no longer complete and even harder to find a new for for the remainder. I am offering it here first. If there is no interest then it will get parted out on ebay for very cheap and whatever does not sell in a month will go to the scrap yard. If you have any other ideas on how to make this go away from my basement, Fire away.

Key words being "some operators" and "special training" and "anti collision lighting". These will need a bunch more explanation.

Our condolences to you and your family.

And don't forget that the Upper half of Michigan that should have been part of Wisconsin is known as the U.P.

That is interesting. But still looks expensive. I tried to find an installer and the nearest one is about 100 miles away. I may give them a call anyhow just for the fun of it.

Well the pipe is nice and clean now. The hydro blaster cleared out what 5 hours of snaking could not touch. Follow up with the camera did reveal 2 holes in the pipe. Note the location of the water, the camera just happened to be nearly upside down at this point in the pipeline. This first pic is right smack in the middle of the basement floor. This second pic is right exactly as the pipe is going under the outside foundation. Or if you like sewers, here is the vid of the camera on the way out, The whole vid was to long. Now the good news is that the pipe damage is not severe. Te bad news it is still there and needs to be dealt with. I have sent the camera vid to several places that do repair to start getting quotes, the plumber that did the hydro blasting and the work so far has quoted a trenchless reline at $3500 complete. I asked him what if I brake the concrete and dig the hole and then place the new concrete. He dropped his price to $1800. BUT AT LEAST I CAN FLUSH FREELY AGAIN!!!!!

For you home owners or renters, most insurance companies will only cover RC anything under your umbrella policy. Whatever your agent says you need be sure it is in writing, Agents can and do give wrong info that you will only find out about the first time you try to use it.

Most people that are active in RC model aircraft do carry $2 Million of liability insurance or more. There is an organization in the USA called the Academy of Model Aeronautics, (AMA), There is a similar organization in Canada, I do not recall its name right now. The AMA has education and rules for safe operation and provides the insurance. This takes care of most active flyers and most of those are also in clubs that provide a safe place to fly. Where the issue comes in is that with the new Quad rotor drones that are now cheap and available everywhere where anyone can go and pick one up. These new things pretty much fly themselves, with no operator skill or knowledge needed and are capable of traveling a half mile or more where the operator is just watching the camera feed. Many of then even have GPS capability so that when the battery gets low they can quickly find there own way back home. These are the ones with the cameras on them that dummies think it is cool to go peek in a neighbors window, or to try to get close up pics of an airliner in flight with no clue as the issues that they are causing. This is what shut down the London airport for a day, a couple of weeks ago. A few birds took down an airliner in NY, they are made of flesh and bones but still killed the engines and put the airliner in the Hudson river. A Quad rotor is made of plastic metal and carbon fiber, it is a LOT stronger and harder than a bird and stands a good chance of doing major damage to an airliner.

The FAA in the USA defines a drone as any remote piloted aircraft that is between 1/2 lb and 55 lbs. Less than 1/2 lb and they don't care about you. Over 55 lbs requires a special license with about the same written test that you take for a private pilots license. This includes all RC model aircraft. The AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics) is still in the process of working with the FAA to lessen the impact of the new rules on RC model aircraft.

There is already 4 inch for part of the system, It is never good to reduce the size of a sewer pipe, almost guaranteed to clog up at the reducer. I think I just shot down the plan to push a new pipe thru the old pipe. I found 2 spots where the old pipe makes a slight bend. I don't think PVC will bend that far to get past that spot. To do the push I would now have to dig 3 holes in the basement floor. One at the beginning and one at each of the 2 bends so that I could put in an elbow. Then I have to hope there are no more bends hidden where I can not see them now. This might get real ugly real fast........

It also matter a lot on the exact definition of a drone. Are all types of RC model aircraft considered drones? Even if they have no guidance system, or autonomous capability or camera? There are many RC model aircraft that will be effectively grounded by these rules, even though these are the least likely to be doing stupid things or causing problems.

Not by a long shot...... I have to tune it up for Sunday. I'll need everything shes got.

That is kind of what I was saying. Yes you need to do another test please. My poor brain is hurting.

1. If I want to use 10 foot sections I have to dig a hole thru the basement floor 12 feet long instead of just 6. 2. 3. and 4. The existing pipe will be hydro blasted to remove the clog and any debris from the pipe collapse to make a clear shot for the new PVC. 5. OH YUCK!!!! Thanks, I need some luck for a change. The only reason for 5 foot sections is to have to dig up only half as much floor and avoid having to move a lot of heavy things. It is possible that the gas co damaged the pipe, Once the pipe is hydoblasted so we can get the camera down there to see what is really there we can determine if that is a realistic possibility. Either way I have to get this fixed NOW and deal with trying to collect from the gas co later. The plumber will give me a SD card with the full video from the camera. I am making a tool to cut a smooth radius on the inside of the cut ends of the PVC pipe to make the transitions between sections smoother. Call it a glorified counter sink that will be worn out by the end of this job. I did this on other joints that I did last year (by hand) and the camera showed there is zero collection of derbies in the joints so far after about 1 year of use. The plumber says that since this is a repair and not a replacement, (the original pipe is still there and connected) no permit is required. I feel so useless not being able to do anything but sit here on the puter, I have never had any issue before that I could not do myself. In 40 years of home ownership this is the first time I have HAD to call in a pro because I could not get it done. This is why I am hoping that the final diagnosis on Sunday morning is something that I can fix.

Looking back I am really talking myself into the idea of the problem being fixable by pushing a pipe and that I can do it myself. I sure hope it does not turn out to have to be plan 2 of hiring the plumber to excavate and to fix the pipe.

That puts it in the 10K ballpark. $150 x 70 feet is $10,500, then there is digging and repairing the basement and adding some more pipe to go around a corner to connect up to the existing pipe, then there is another hole to dig at every branch location. If I can do the push the pipe thru plan it will be $250 worth of pipe and fittings, and another $250 worth of gravel for the back fill and a couple bags of cement to fix the floor. And some sweat from the breaking, digging hauling the dirt out of the basement hauling in the new gravel and mixing and placing the cement. I have a lot more sweat than money. I can also then do it in stages, first is to make the plumbing usable, so that is to dig the hole, cut off the old pipe, push the new pipe, connect to the existing. and at that point I am back to functional. The plumbing does not stop being functional untill I cut the old pipe off. I am hoping that it should mean the pluming is only actually completely down for a day at the worst. It does not matter if it takes me a couple months to refill the hole and fix the floor. If I have to hire it out, it will all be done in a day or two, and I will not break a sweat, but I will pay dearly for that connivance. I was even looking at buying my own drain camera. Any excuse for new toys is a good one. Looking online I am finding them for $350 on up. To rent a camera for 4 hours is $200 plus a $300 deposit. Then I can PM the line every once in a while to look for small issues before they become big issues. It will also give friends a family another option for PM of their systems.

Anywhere in the USA already requires a FAA license to fly any remote piloted vehicle that is between 0.5 lbs and 55 lbs. I believe the license is $5 every 3 years. The reality is that they will never show up at a flying field to check licenses. The only time it might come into play is if you were to have an accident and cause injury, or property damage, or Doing something stupid or illegal. Your insurance company can and will also use your lack of a license as grounds to deny a claim for damages. In the case of doing something stupid or illegal it is just one more charge to be added to the pile. There are also regulations as to the the operation of your drone, there are places where it is illegal, like over any gathering of people, sporting events, within 5 miles of an airport, maximum 400 foot altitude above the ground, etc., these are federal regs, your state regs are in addition to the federal regs. It would be wise to at least give the regs a once over so that you are not the one hauled off trying to use the "I didn't know that" defense, and trying to use that to fight the $10,000 fine.

That voltage at the battery is exactly correct to what it should be. That really does not sound right. All the power on the bike goes thru the main fuse. You should have the same voltage everywhere on the bike. By chance did you recheck the voltage at the headlight at the same time as you were getting the battery readings. The only thing I can think of offhand is that you have an intermittent RR that was not working when you tested the headlight but was working when you tested at the battery. More pondering required........