Electrical – Modern Anachronist

Free Lathe

There’s tons of old tools sitting in people’s basements & garages. Tools that granddad or dad used to use, but that the current generation doesn’t have time or space for. Once people learn that you enjoy restoring and using old tools, they start being offered to you, as most people would rather see their tools being used than collecting dust & turning to rust.

A buddy of mine is retiring and moving into a condo. Last week at a party he asked me if I wanted his grandfather’s lathe.

Band saw cabinet electrical

The band saw project was almost as much electrical work as wood work. I replaced the power cord & switch for the saw and added lighting .

Adding Brakes to the Utility Trailer – Electrical (Day 3)

In which your narrator is flummoxed by a bit of electronics.

So, I’m a firm believer in “Trust but Verify”, so I wanted to be sure that I knew which wires in the trailer wire were carrying which signals to the junction box*. Because I can’t be both in the drivers seat of the Honda and sitting at the trailer tongue with a multimeter, I enlisted the help of the youngest offspring.

He loved sitting in the drivers seat, stepping on pedals, flipping levers and things were going pretty well.

I was able to confirm my ground, hot, turn signals & marker lights. That left two terminals unaccounted for and no trigger voltage for the trailer brakes. No matter how hard he stepped on the pedal or pressed the override button, I wasn’t getting voltage on either post, but I was starting to get pretty hot under the collar.

Time to pull the dashboard apart again and make sure that everything was working correctly. There’s only four wires between the controller and the Honda, so it shouldn’t be too hard to sort.

Adding brakes to the Utility Trailer – electrical (day 2)

Good day, and welcome to day 2.

First step – get the junction box hung so I can complete my day 1 tasks.

Adding brakes to the utility trailer – electrical (Day 1)

Last fall I installed the Tow-Pro into the Ridgeline, now I have to make it so the Tow-Pro can control the trailer brakes.

First off, the brake-less trailer has a four pin plug (Ground, Marker, Left & Right Turns), while a trailer equipped with brakes has a seven pin plug (added Brakes, Reverse lights and Power).

New trailer wire

Adding brakes to the utility trailer this spring. I’m going to post little bits as I go, instead of one big post.

I’m moving from a four-wire cable to a seven wire cable to support the brakes & break away safety system. I’m also adding a seven pole junction box.

More Power

When we go camping, I like to make sure that everyone has a charged phone or watch so that I can find my family. Unfortunately, Honda doesn’t think you should have access to electrons when the engine isn’t running. Time to add some charging ports, without looking like I added some charging ports. (See Rule 2)

Sometimes it’s just your fear holding you back.

I’ve often considered making nicer projects in the wood shop, but up till now, I’ve pretty much limited myself to camping equipment.

Mostly it’s been fear that I can’t make something perfect. Add in the fact that I’m good at sourcing things that are pretty close to what I really want and then modifying them.

And it really kills me when people ask me if I built the cabinets in the dining room.

But it’s been itching at me. I keep kicking around ideas for custom cases for some older tools that don’t have them. And I keep coming up with excuses why I can’t do it.

Garage Door Openers (pt.2 – the physical install)

I (mostly) installed both garage door openers (GDO) in a single day.

Trailer Brake Controller

I bought this controller years ago but never got around to installing it in the Excursion. Given how much lighter the Ridgeline is, I’m more concerned about being pushed about by the trailer.

I opted for the Liberty (highway) model over the Elite (off-road & highway) for the two obvious reasons – price and the fact that I don’t take a trailer off road. That being said install for the two should be identical.