"Big Foot 50"

 

or

 

More then overdue ... (December 2009)

 

 

After more then 6 years I finally was able a while ago to tag off a very old „To-Do-Issue“ but was not able to finish the update till now. The operation of the venetian blinds for the air-conditioning so far had to be done by a standard "Up-/Down"-switch, which was accessible through the doors which allow access into the garage.

 

 

This was not so comfortable (as an average 10x per year up and down!!) and so it was strictly necessary to change that. The first automation trials failed. One attempt was to use a Master-Slave-plug to operate the venetian blinds. But even the best one which I tested had a too small setting range and I failed

To use the power supply for the fan from the outer unit would have required a disassembling of the unit which would have caused a lot of work

 

 

So I had the idea to use a micro-switch which is operated by the flaps of the inner airco unit. Although I was not sure that it will work I finally was happy that the idea worked. So now I had power which was switched on as long as the airco was in operation. But one problem remained: The fan of the outer unit runs longer then the flaps of the inner unit are open so here still a solution was required.

 

 

The power operated a relay to change the power from “up”-mode to „down“-mode. This function comes from the relay #1, very left.

The „up“-mode is directly connected to the switching on, so there was no further thinking required. But the “down”-mode needed some thinking. The power from the relay #1 for the „down“-mode went into a second relay (middle) where I used „impulse operated delay function“ which provides power after 2 minutes (that’s the value which I dialled in)” with a duration of 3 seconds. 2 minutes are more than enough to allow the fan to get rid of the remaining heat in the system before the venetian blinds close. But 3 seconds aren’t long enough by far to close them properly. So I required a third relay where I selected the function “switch off delay”. The 3 seconds impulse from relay #2 now let power run for 1 minute to move the venetian blinds down. And hurrah –it works!! (Of course the old switch remained in case something may fail.)

 

 

The cut-out in the floor for air-intake of the airco got a frame with a fine grid (to prevent small animals to get in).

 

 

On the grid I put an air-filter which is normally used in paint shops. On the long sides it is pushed into cableguards (without the cover) and in addition 2 long stainless steel pins fix them.

 

 

 

Another “ancient” „To-Do-‘Issue“ was to paint the garage. I used a 2 component paint normally used for floors in work-rooms. All edges which weren’t even had been cut even, polished, the gaps filled acrylic plaster and then painted. Now the garage is much brighter and looks better.

Before:

 

After:

 

 

This required that nearly all parts built in needed to be reworked since I build in spring 2009 the cage fort he new motorcycle. Here I have put them back for measurement purposes.

 

 

Most of the compartments needed to be shortened and / or modified to allow the cage with the Suzuki to get in. Of course the parts for the compartments were painted as well.

 

 

I carry a huge quantity of spares and tools with me. As a result I meanwhile had bought some twice and put them into a box where I found some space because I had forgotten that I had them and hadn’t spotted them. So I had taken out everything, put it on the floor and then and sorted by „purpose “ and re-packed. My old packing list was re-done accordingly and saved in Excel. So I can find things quicker by search-mode, in addition I have printed the list due to storing area / box and in alphabetical order.

Due to the new layout of the garage the boxes and tools now still need to be re-organized so that I have good access to the frequently used one and the rarely ones down to the bottom.

 

 

Finally I have built in a continuous interval switch fort he wipers, designed by Felix Hagemann and fits to more then just Mercedes. Who is interested in more technical details please read more here here (sorry, link is only in German).