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Old 07-06-2018, 12:03 PM   #1
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I over engineered it.....

My name is Dave, and I have a problem. I tend to over engineer things.

My retirement hobby is making motorcycle parts, mostly for Harley's witha sprinkling of Triumph, Moto Guzzi, BMW and Indian's in my garage machine shop.

When I changed out my oem 12 volt house batteries for 6 volt golf cart batteries last year I noticed a hole about 2" in diameter on the inner panel of the house battery box. I am assuming it's for ventilation, but I see it as an open door for mice. I got to thinking about it and came up with this fix today. I took some aluminum stock and made three parts, a threaded housing for some aluminum wiindow screen I cut, a plug to hold the screen in place, and a nut to tighten the housing to the battery box.

Works great and a lot of time and work for something nobody will see. I can't call myself a perfectionist as I should have made the shoulder about 1/4" bigger in diameter....
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Old 07-06-2018, 01:05 PM   #2
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I figured I have my troubles just dealing with my OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder).

I feel pretty good compared to your problem.

But damn you do nice work 👍
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Old 07-06-2018, 01:12 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chengdave2003 View Post
My name is Dave, and I have a problem. I tend to over engineer things.

My retirement hobby is making motorcycle parts, mostly for Harley's witha sprinkling of Triumph, Moto Guzzi, BMW and Indian's in my garage machine shop.

When I changed out my oem 12 volt house batteries for 6 volt golf cart batteries last year I noticed a hole about 2" in diameter on the inner panel of the house battery box. I am assuming it's for ventilation, but I see it as an open door for mice. I got to thinking about it and came up with this fix today. I took some aluminum stock and made three parts, a threaded housing for some aluminum wiindow screen I cut, a plug to hold the screen in place, and a nut to tighten the housing to the battery box.

Works great and a lot of time and work for something nobody will see. I can't call myself a perfectionist as I should have made the shoulder about 1/4" bigger in diameter....
At least you can show it here. Nice piece of work.
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Cut it 3 times and it's still too short...

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Old 07-06-2018, 01:14 PM   #4
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Hey... I am impressed with the knurl

The only real OCD deal I have is eating and cussing
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Old 07-06-2018, 01:34 PM   #5
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my mice don’t like the battery compartment anyway

too ‘dangerous’ in ‘thar!
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Old 07-06-2018, 07:38 PM   #6
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Very nice job!
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Old 07-07-2018, 10:54 AM   #7
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Obviously have a lot of time on your hands - very nice work and the detail is great!
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Old 07-07-2018, 11:01 AM   #8
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Yes, you can say that you over engineered it! However, you did a beautiful job!
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Old 07-07-2018, 01:23 PM   #9
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Nice knurling.

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Old 07-07-2018, 01:49 PM   #10
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WOW! Awesome! I can only imagine what a whole rig would look like coming out of your shop! No more fresh water tanks bouncing off the roads! LOL NICE JOB!
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Old 07-07-2018, 02:34 PM   #11
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Wow. Machining skill envy.
That is nice!
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Old 07-07-2018, 06:17 PM   #12
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Thank you for the compliments. I am always looking for ways to improve the motorhome. So far I made some mud flap extensions out of some diamond plate aluminum, an exhaust extension for the generator out of stainless, brass drain plus for the outside co.partments thst have drains (replaces cheesy plastic ones), hooked up a switch (temporary quick wiring job for now, will do a better job when I get a chance) to allow the house batteries to crank the truck in case the truck battery goes desd (already happened once when Ihad an inverter plugged into the 12vdc outlet under the dash....I had never considered it would be unswitched on!), and glued a Mercedes Benz emblem on the engines air filter cover. Future plans is to wire in a 12vdc solenoid for the drain line of the water tank and installing the switch in the generator compartment so I don't have to climb underneath to empty the tank), wire in a switch so the house radio can be turned off completely, figure a way to install a switch in the smoke detector as it goes off everytime my wife cooks (I know I will hear some negative feedback on this!), and a brake controller).
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Old 07-08-2018, 06:30 PM   #13
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Draining the tank.

If you need to drain your water tank, just let my sister-in-law take a shower. Nice work, I wish I lived next door to you!
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Old 07-08-2018, 06:36 PM   #14
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Old 07-13-2018, 12:27 PM   #15
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Conyinuing to over engineer

The shirt, wide compartment just behind the drivers seat has a couple threaded 1/2" studs sticking up. I have been concerned with the studs grabbing something as I'm pulling itoutso I mde a couple of covers for the studs. I probably could have cut the studs, but not knowing what they're for I decided to deal with it this way...besides it was more fun....
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Old 07-13-2018, 06:02 PM   #16
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Nice work. When I retired I sold off every single tool I had collected in 50 years of working on cars. Second Worst decision of my life. Right after the first wife. Slowly replacing them now at 90% more than I sold them for.
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Old 07-13-2018, 07:20 PM   #17
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Well of course you over engineered it! You're a Coasty! Semper Paratus!

Fair winds and following seas.....
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Old 07-13-2018, 07:58 PM   #18
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There's an old saying in the Coast Guard: "We have done so much for so long, with so little, we can do anything with nothing...". Now that I'm retired, and I have most of the tools I want, and the tooling, and stock my brain gets active.....

Thank you!


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Well of course you over engineered it! You're a Coasty! Semper Paratus!

Fair winds and following seas.....
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Old 07-15-2018, 04:20 PM   #19
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Nice work. When I retired I sold off every single tool I had collected in 50 years of working on cars. Second Worst decision of my life. Right after the first wife. Slowly replacing them now at 90% more than I sold them for.
You are talking about the cost of the tools or the wife?
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Old 07-15-2018, 04:36 PM   #20
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I imagine the answer to both is "Yes".
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