Thursday, September 07, 2017

site description, Pt 7 [ '17 Solar Eclipse, Oregon ]

I got to Mina/NV, pulled into dirt road. Camped out (slept in car), got morning pics of sunrise. Left, got to Bishop/CA. As I left Carl's Jr (fast food), my voltmeter indicated my charging system FAILED! (didn't read 14v). OMG WTF? I used voltmeter to check the Alternator AC windings -- ZILCH! ALternator FAILED.

Luckily, there was NAPA auto-parts 2 blocks away. Bought new alternator, did the install

I figured out the front-suspension vibration was due to "road surface roughness" on hwys in N. California & Nevada & Oregon. The highways near LA -- NO vibration. The damn Jeep DW (Death Wobble) is a harmonic vibration condition, due to THIN track-bar tab (passenger side). The circular hole gets "ovalized", leading to "play". Lesson in Physics -- oscillation.

The long drive in hot conditions, apparently caused the Alternator failure. Another lesson in Physics -- Heat.

^^^ eclipse-trip was an ass-kicker!! Ambitious eclipse-program, exacerbated by some issues with car.