It was a seriously hard job.
Why?
Yeah.. you had to ask... cause I cannot disassemble the whole burner myself.. not allowed.. and so to get all the build up gunk and gack from inside .. from around the coils.. from under the burner main ring and around the bolts and things.... boy oh boy.. spraying.. wiping.. gouging hands on sharp bits... working soft cloth into places not seen since they were built and trying to get as much of said caked crap off... then wipe it all down inside and out... knowing that its impossible to remove a lot due to location and cleaner.... you go for the best that can be done short of high pressure spray with solvents...
and I am happy with it.
I would have been happier if I had remembered to buy heavy duty electronics swabs from the electronics store ( like cue-tips but bigger ).... When I do this again in seven years I will have the cue-tips.
Here are some shots from my Samsung Note 4 camera. Not the best but couldn't use the DSLR with gloves covered with black stuff... next best thing..
While getting ready to clean I adjusted the set screws for the burners so they are stiffer in their up/down left/right movement. They were loose last flight and I like then to stay where I point them.
Left side sprayed once.. still coated with gunk in the bottom... Right side sprayed and wiped down a few times.
Closer view of the build up from 7 years of flying. The fuel rings cant be cleaned much and I didn't want to be harsh with them.. but they cleaned up too somewhat.
Right side almost done. I forgot the Cue-tips so I couldn't get into spots on the rings and besides those supports. Sigh.
Another wipe down and it is as good as possible without full breakdown. Nice and clean by the way really.
Exterior has to be done carefully so it was wipe and shine and try to remove the burned water spots that show up all the time. I even made sure all the reachable air circle vents were cleaned up too.
Frame, center handle and blocks done next with a good wipe on the gauges and peizeos.
Check for any more little places.. and yes.. there are a few I need those cue-tips for... sheesh!
Interior whisper nozzle nice and clean and red... main burner ring and nozzles shiny shiny.... outside cans looking good.
Squeezers and handle re-polished and then gently packed away in their bag .. then secured in the basket ready for the next flight.
That was a very lot of work for what will last one flight before the build up starts again. It would be nice to have a burner I could take apart and clean and reassemble myself but these are so beautiful and powerful I'll just be happy with what I can do myself.
After all that it was pond time and dealing with that on a minor scale. New smaller pump on order as I cant use the pump in the old pond in the new pond at the same time... well I could modify a bunch of stuff but this was easier and cheaper.. Oh.. and I wanted to buy a pump locally.... yeah... twice the price or more than from online.. TWICE... wow.... really??? Little bit of overhead there? So yeah.. I had to buy off the nets instead.
Once that is in I will build another filter box and submerge it then get the new pond treated and running .. then go into the old pond and catch fish... if I cant catch them I will have to drain it to almost nothing and get them out of the muck.. It would be nicer if they cooperated.. but that's never gonna happen. Might have Mo herd them into my catch net..... How do you say .. her fishy fishy fishy?
While I was doing that I took a few shots with the DSLR.. now that my hands were cleaner....
The lone surviving lily pad plant in my old pond. Its there till Wednesday when it will be moved as it has not been assimilated by the mint death. The fish still need some shade so it stays for now.
This is my waterfall and it was cleared as of two months ago.. and every time the mint attacks and overtakes everything. They guy who owned our house had no clue about it.. silly man. Now it is everywhere. It dies Thursday.
Aprox 20ish fish still having fun in there and are much happier that they can get about and not get stuck in some mint root or runner. They look happier and were having a good time darting about and chasing each other.. and the water is much cleaner.
Then this bigish red dragonfly came to visit.. So I took pics from a distance.
Cropped in..
Cropped closer..... Super lens this Nikon 18 200 mm. If the reed had not been shifting in the breeze it would be crisp.
Another angle and he is now staring at me.. I can see his eye just watching.. no closer...
So we crop in on this 24 meg pixel shot.
Hi! I see you too! See the little spikes on his arms... woah!
Then I got called from work because our radar had died.... and that is max emergency with weather coming in.
So out of the pond and in and cleaned and on the road to the radar.. It sits on the mesa behind me or to the West. Got there to find it locked up and not wanting to behave.. some reboots later and a call to our hot line for a few answers .. and get some excellent assistance from them by the bye... saved me probably an hour or two of digging in the manuals....
We couldn't lock down the problem but after tests came back okay we started her up and let her run...
she is still running and the office is able to see the storms racing in and that means they can see the bad things that might be coming to people in New Mexico and West Texas.. whew! Fingers crossed she stays the course and keeps us safe.
I even got home in time to race off to see the new movie Valiran with my Son in law and Son in Son...
ROCKING MOVIE!!!
Damn but it was bright, loud, constantly moving, constantly rotating all around you. Well worth the time, money, some blood and will def go see it again if I get the chance... As good as The Fifth Element with some sparkles added. Wooo boy....
Back home.. edit some shots for the blog.. think about it... create a new banner for the Facebook page for day 75 and get this blog written...
In between there we got to see the Granddaughter create havoc in Cali.... Seriously funny kid. Off to see her very soon..... Maybe a trip to the Winchester house and other sights if that does not take away from Emmy time... Cause that is why we are going.. so everything else is secondary or tertiary.
So.. this week.. Work at things at work... get pump.. process new pump in..... throw out bad plants... pear back good plants.. refresh new pond and get ready to fly Saturday maybe.
Oh... also have a photo shoot Monday evening. That will be fun.
Off I go.. how was your week?
