About 5 years ago we bought a Quigg (German) branded bread maker, based on its low power consumption for off-grid use, and price. It was pretty cheap at €45. The seal on the baking tin failed very quickly, so oil was needed to keep it free on every use. Occasionally it would reset itself, normally towards the end of the bake, which meant the paddles tore a hole in the bread.
Over the years it has been apart for
1. fixing the reset; poorly put together and bits shorting out
2 replaced a dodgy looking capacitor on the power supply
3 failed over temperature sensor
4 drive bearings going oval
The last item, combined with a failing tin seal has condemned it. In trying to find spares, it turned out that this item was a re-labelled Moulinex product.
We've now got a Kenwood BM250, which claims to be 'designed in UK, made in china'
The display is identical to the Quigg one, as is the annoying bleep on power up. From the little I can see through the base, the gears are similar. Whilst there can't be many variants on some items, the element and tin are fabricated in an identical fashion, even down to the machining marks.
The tin bearing failed after ~ 3 years and was nursed until July 2019, where I yanked it out and put some normal low temp o-rings in until a high temp bearing + seal turned up. Turns out the seal is non-replaceable unless you split the tin at the rivets.
https://www.instructables.com/id/Kenwood-Bread-Maker-BM-450-Bread-Pan-Shaft-Seal-Re/
The original is marked 19mm, but that's at the bottom; it's 17mm at the top, which is the largest you can push in. The first seal worked its way out and failed. The second one I glued in with liquid gasket which is also temp rated. Seems ok after a few uses. (Sep 19)
Wednesday, 19 August 2015
Monday, 13 July 2015
Finished the en-suite
Well, almost. It's a lot more finished than it was 5 years ago when we started using it, needing just the skirting.
Put the half-floor tiles on the wall, as a skirting. This would have been easier if the guy that had installed the log burner hadn't damaged a lot of them.
Let me explain. The so-called professional that installed the log burner decided that it had to be fitted on ceramic tiles (it didn't if he'd read the manual) Unfortunately, he also botched the flue, so needed around 5cm of tiles to jack the fire up. The only box of tiles were the ones left for the en-suite skirting. By rocking and scraping the fire side to side while he 'installed' the fire and tiles, he scratched around 20 of the 25 tiles. Luckily, there are lots of blind spots in an en-suite, so the damage isn't readily obvious on the tiles, but it just took much longer to sort, move and cut damaged tiles.
I needed some caulk, around 4m. Ended up mixing about 50g of flour with the same volume of PVA and a drop of water, then put it in an old skeleton gun tube. We'll see how it lasts once painted, but I've yet to find a caulk that doesn't crack after a few years.
Now to paint the tile edge to match the wall.
Put the half-floor tiles on the wall, as a skirting. This would have been easier if the guy that had installed the log burner hadn't damaged a lot of them.
Let me explain. The so-called professional that installed the log burner decided that it had to be fitted on ceramic tiles (it didn't if he'd read the manual) Unfortunately, he also botched the flue, so needed around 5cm of tiles to jack the fire up. The only box of tiles were the ones left for the en-suite skirting. By rocking and scraping the fire side to side while he 'installed' the fire and tiles, he scratched around 20 of the 25 tiles. Luckily, there are lots of blind spots in an en-suite, so the damage isn't readily obvious on the tiles, but it just took much longer to sort, move and cut damaged tiles.
I needed some caulk, around 4m. Ended up mixing about 50g of flour with the same volume of PVA and a drop of water, then put it in an old skeleton gun tube. We'll see how it lasts once painted, but I've yet to find a caulk that doesn't crack after a few years.
Now to paint the tile edge to match the wall.
Sunday, 5 July 2015
DIY grain mill, or how to turn wood without a lathe
I brew beer. You can buy crushed grain, but it's more expensive and goes off quicker. As I go through 25kg in about a year, it's better whole, uncrushed. It's also quite difficult to find mail order. Buying crushed quantities less than 25kg doubles the cost, so €33 to €66.
Commercial crushers are around £150, being knurled steel rollers in a frame.
Having had a go at a crusher using a 13mm roughed up rod and a fixed plate (ok, but very very slow ~2kg/hour) I got a quote for some turned steel 40mm diameter, 200mm long, knurled. That worked out at around £50 + delivery.
You can use a corona style flour mill, but this is generally reckoned to be no good longer term, as the bits wear out, the genuine ones are expensive, and the copy ones are junk.
A google revealed that people had make wooden mills.
The hard bit is making round wood. Anything bought, like a rolling pin, cannot be post-drilled perfectly in the centre. As I have a few tonnne of beech and oak, it seemed a good idea to make some round stock.
Starting with a log that I cut for firewood this year. About 3 years old.
marking out the round - about 50mm. Hack it to rough size with an axe. Square cut one end. Mark centre on other end. Drill the hole on a pillar drill to suit a threaded bar. I used 8mm. Length was dictated by the longest drill bit.
Secure wood onto bar with 4 nuts and a few washers.
The 'lathe' 2 brackets to hold the blank at the ends. The uprights will support the router. All this lot is clamped to a work bench.
Mount the blanks and stick a very low rev motor on the shaft
Add a router. Start the rotation, ACW in my case.
Take small slices in many passes and create the stock.
If one end is a larger diameter than the other, pack the larger diameter end with half the diameter difference.
Voila. A run out of pretty much 0. A taper of around 0.3mm.
Next make a box and mount the rollers. One is 42mm, other 50mm. These were the biggest bits in the store. I added some horizontal slots to one roller for grip, but as both rollers must rotate, it doesnt really matter. It is reckoned that about 100mm, you don't need grip or drive both rollers (1 youtube video shows a metal version make out of 4" steel tube with just the odd groove) The 8mm shaft is rolled steel I had lying around. I drilled a 2mm hole in the shaft, fitted a pin and made a corresponding slot in the wood to get drive.
This moves about 0.5kg/minute, but does need two drills at say 200rpm. I'll need to make some cogs, and more importantly add some bearings. The box above just used a dab of grease and the gap adjustment to 1mm was done with some drilled plate screwed over over-size holes in the frame.
The rollers have a bit of denting, but are hardly marked. I'll try flaming the wood, which is apparently done on baseball bats. And make some bigger rollers. More importantly, mount the box over a barrel somehow, as it fills after about 700g of grain has passed through.
Bearings on order. 8mm shafts are used on skateboards, so bearings are readily available in 4 packs for a few £.
I have a motor and gearbox from an old can opener somewhere which should work well..
A few extra pictures from a later turning. I took ~200mm slices of beech, put a rod down the middle and reduced them to 100mm. The rig grew a little, but the same principal. And some skateboard bearings. Run out & taper around 0.1mm
Currently waiting to see if the 3 I cut will split before assembling a crusher.
Update 2/8/20. 5 years on, the rollers have not split. Did a quick test to check they work well enough to justify a full rig. Had to run both rollers, but only very slowly. Gap varied a lot, but statically about 0.5 - 1mm. Ran the grain through a second time, but it didnt change it very much. Rollers have a patina, but no great dents.
Commercial crushers are around £150, being knurled steel rollers in a frame.
Having had a go at a crusher using a 13mm roughed up rod and a fixed plate (ok, but very very slow ~2kg/hour) I got a quote for some turned steel 40mm diameter, 200mm long, knurled. That worked out at around £50 + delivery.
You can use a corona style flour mill, but this is generally reckoned to be no good longer term, as the bits wear out, the genuine ones are expensive, and the copy ones are junk.
A google revealed that people had make wooden mills.
The hard bit is making round wood. Anything bought, like a rolling pin, cannot be post-drilled perfectly in the centre. As I have a few tonnne of beech and oak, it seemed a good idea to make some round stock.
Starting with a log that I cut for firewood this year. About 3 years old.marking out the round - about 50mm. Hack it to rough size with an axe. Square cut one end. Mark centre on other end. Drill the hole on a pillar drill to suit a threaded bar. I used 8mm. Length was dictated by the longest drill bit.
Secure wood onto bar with 4 nuts and a few washers.
The 'lathe' 2 brackets to hold the blank at the ends. The uprights will support the router. All this lot is clamped to a work bench.
Add a router. Start the rotation, ACW in my case.
Take small slices in many passes and create the stock.If one end is a larger diameter than the other, pack the larger diameter end with half the diameter difference.
Voila. A run out of pretty much 0. A taper of around 0.3mm.
This moves about 0.5kg/minute, but does need two drills at say 200rpm. I'll need to make some cogs, and more importantly add some bearings. The box above just used a dab of grease and the gap adjustment to 1mm was done with some drilled plate screwed over over-size holes in the frame.
The rollers have a bit of denting, but are hardly marked. I'll try flaming the wood, which is apparently done on baseball bats. And make some bigger rollers. More importantly, mount the box over a barrel somehow, as it fills after about 700g of grain has passed through.
Bearings on order. 8mm shafts are used on skateboards, so bearings are readily available in 4 packs for a few £.
I have a motor and gearbox from an old can opener somewhere which should work well..
A few extra pictures from a later turning. I took ~200mm slices of beech, put a rod down the middle and reduced them to 100mm. The rig grew a little, but the same principal. And some skateboard bearings. Run out & taper around 0.1mm
Currently waiting to see if the 3 I cut will split before assembling a crusher.
Update 2/8/20. 5 years on, the rollers have not split. Did a quick test to check they work well enough to justify a full rig. Had to run both rollers, but only very slowly. Gap varied a lot, but statically about 0.5 - 1mm. Ran the grain through a second time, but it didnt change it very much. Rollers have a patina, but no great dents.
Sunday, 21 June 2015
De-frosted freezer
De-frosted freezer, about 15 mins & cleaned rear fins.
First fin clean since new (3 years)
First fin clean since new (3 years)
Sunday, 14 June 2015
Deck spring repair
How to repair a spring. Well, bodge a repair to a spring. This spring is pretty large - say 30cm total length. The hooked end snapped off with what looked like a manufacturing shear defect after only around 20 years service. Spares are available but around €20.
I simply got 2 cage terminals out of a 4mm din rail terminal which where the same width as the spring steel. Then I found some steel of the same diameter, put a hook on one end, then overlayed on the spring steel and tightened down the terminal clamps, locking them with thread lock.
As this spring takes up the slack on the deck blade engagement, when it's engaged, it's pretty well stretched out. OK after 1 hour.
I simply got 2 cage terminals out of a 4mm din rail terminal which where the same width as the spring steel. Then I found some steel of the same diameter, put a hook on one end, then overlayed on the spring steel and tightened down the terminal clamps, locking them with thread lock.
As this spring takes up the slack on the deck blade engagement, when it's engaged, it's pretty well stretched out. OK after 1 hour.
Friday, 29 May 2015
Oil change Harry + bikes
Halfords 10/40 semi-synthetic for the bikes + filter HF303 (+ about 1l of Motul same spec)
me 47440km
Stella 30718km
Ecauto (Intermarche) 15/40 for Harry 1.4 L.
Deck was thick with grass. Belt wear on inside edge closest to the ground. The old pulley was rusty on the inside edge, so used a rotary brush to clean in smooth. Replaced belt the other way up. All bolts needed tightening
Stripped and greased starter.
Clean all airways.
Cleaned & oil foam filter. (junior too)
Put long spring from governor to carb back on.
Filled holes in exhaust, new metal covers and put in some new fibre glass.
Spark plug was quite black, so brushed it clean. This suggest too rich, but idle mix was made richer turning ACW.
Turned idle mix out (ie richer) by 1/8 turn, so now 1 7/8 out, Reduced idle by 1/2 turn acw.
Plug was greyish on checking.
Warm starts ok on mid throttle now. Cold start fine. Oil clean
Bike discs.
me
rear 4.8 . pads both 5.3
front
left 5.0 pads 4.46, 4.34
right 4.95 pads 4.2, 4.3
Stella
rear 4.9 pads both 4.6
front
left 5.0 pads 4.4, 4.0
right 4.9 pads 4.6 4.2
me 47440km
Stella 30718km
Ecauto (Intermarche) 15/40 for Harry 1.4 L.
Deck was thick with grass. Belt wear on inside edge closest to the ground. The old pulley was rusty on the inside edge, so used a rotary brush to clean in smooth. Replaced belt the other way up. All bolts needed tightening
Stripped and greased starter.
Clean all airways.
Cleaned & oil foam filter. (junior too)
Put long spring from governor to carb back on.
Filled holes in exhaust, new metal covers and put in some new fibre glass.
Spark plug was quite black, so brushed it clean. This suggest too rich, but idle mix was made richer turning ACW.
Turned idle mix out (ie richer) by 1/8 turn, so now 1 7/8 out, Reduced idle by 1/2 turn acw.
Plug was greyish on checking.
Warm starts ok on mid throttle now. Cold start fine. Oil clean
Bike discs.
me
rear 4.8 . pads both 5.3
front
left 5.0 pads 4.46, 4.34
right 4.95 pads 4.2, 4.3
Stella
rear 4.9 pads both 4.6
front
left 5.0 pads 4.4, 4.0
right 4.9 pads 4.6 4.2
Thursday, 14 May 2015
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