Where the Harbor Freight 70A AC arc welder failed

Though I've had a sheet of metal screwed to the inside of the bottom window of the back door for as long as I can remember, it was always the plan to replace the window with sheet metal. Thus yesterday I made a start. The weather forecast was for several days of dry weather.

The rubber gasket around the window had a cord pressed into a groove that kept the gasket and the window in place. Locating and levering up the end was pretty straightforward and it peeled out quite nicely.

The next stage was to remove the window and gasket. That was achieved by lifting the edge of the gasket all the way around then inserting drywall screws as wedges to keep the outer flap down. Once I'd worked all the way around the top of the window I could work on the tops of the sides.

After that it was a case of staring on one corner. I chose the top left and pressing gently while moving slowly to the top right and then going back and forth until the window finally began to push inward. I did have to go inside and lever the gasket on the inside a bit because time and paint are great adhesives.

Slowly I worked on it before finally the window and gasket came out all in one piece. Many people would have smashed the glass for speed of disassembly but then spent longer picking up shards of glass.

With the glass removed I'm able to put it back if everything goes belly up. I can also use the glass for something else.

Inside the window frame there was a trace of rust but nothing worth mentioning. There were some pencil marks from whoever installed the window. 

Next I put my carefully cut and shaped sheet of steel into the window frame. The plan is to make the bottom of the door just flat as though there was no window ever there. I did have reservations about that, thinking I could get moisture trapped. Then I realised that once the steel is welded in place I can just paint inside thickly with rust killing primer then fill with fibreglass body filler.

Unfortunately my only welder yesterday was a 70A Harbor Freight stick welder. That's AC and really did not get on well with the thin sheet metal from a fridge that I was using to fill the void. Sure - it's tacked into place but the welds are blobby and ugly. I'll have to grind that lot flat - that's of course where the welder hadn't burnt the fridge steel away.

Cue a modicum of research. It seems that DC welders not only weld aluminium but also put down steel as opposed to burning it off. They're better suited to thin steel. Thus today as I had to go to a dental appointment, I called into Harbor Freight and picked up some 6013 welding rod in both 1/16th and 3/32 sizes. While I was at it, I picked up a fresh air blasting head for the air compressor and some glass blasting medium. Sugar really did work well as a blasting medium but left the blasting head sticky. No matter how much rinsing I do, it remains sticky. Thus I needed a new head.

So today's haul was 4 packs of welding rods, one DC welder, some breathing masks, a blasting head and a box of media. I didn't get much change from $250! I did consider the wire welder but as I already have a ton of welding rods it made more sense to stay with stick.

As the weatherman clearly must have been born on the wrong side of the tracks, the weather is 100% different from the weather promised. Perhaps we should take out a contract on the weatherman. Maybe even tell him that if he doesn't send me sunshine I'll have his head impaled on the gatepost.  So yes, today it is indeed raining. Tomorrow the weatherman promises sunshine.  Thus my new toy will be unplayed with until tomorrow.

Looking at the blasting media in Harbor Freight, they has walnut media. I'm wondering if that would remove the paint from the rubber on the bus. That would be well worthwhile.

Meanwhile, more on the LCD backup screen saga. The screen I use works just fine. I've been trying to get another that I can move about and use to test other cameras etc. I ordered one from eBay and it was dead on arrival. It did not work. I secured a refund and ordered a different one from Walmart. That arrived dead. Today I used Walmart's return label to send that one back. In the time between sending it and initiating the return, Walmart sent me a replacement. That too does not work. That's three screens that are dead on arrival with two different models.

I have been getting a lot of DOA electronics lately. Different suppliers and different brands. It must just be the time of year. Speaking of electronics, I looked at the bus electrics yesterday. Internally the bus will be fine with a 30A supply. There really isn't much to run anyway. There's a fridge, a microwave and whatever else. There are just 3 sockets. Lighting, ventilation etc all run off 12v.

Both the master breaker and the breaker box will work fine with 50 or 100A. At the moment the inlet is a Nema 6-30I. That takes a 30A cable to the master breaker. Thus the maximum there would be a 30A supply. Given the things I run from my 3 sockets there just didn't seem to be much point in having a 30A breaker or a 30A outdoor cable so I have a 20A main breaker and a 20A outdoor cable.

When I was welding yesterday I had to switch the socket from a Nema 6-30R to a standard 5-20 socket in order to be able to use my welder closer to the bus. That set me thinking as the main breaker is currently a 20A breaker and I'd looked for a 6-30R plug in Lowes but not found one. Online such plugs were $10. Thus I asked the question why not replace the 6-30I with a standard 5-20 inlet. That would mean just about any extension cable from any hardware store would be able to supply power - as long as it could carry 20A.  Thus today I ordered one. I'll have to see when it arrives. It just doesn't make much sense having to have a short converter cord. Also the current inlet has a Hubble style locking plug. That means that if I drive off having forgotten to disconnect I could quite literally rip the inlet out of the bus. With a standard household cord, the cord would just unplug itself. The worst I'd get would be bent pins on the inlet.

More paint seems to be peeling from the rub rails on the bus. My lovely grey paint is continually peeling there. Thus I have decided that I'm going to scrape all the loose paint off all the rub rails and paint them black. That way if the black paint peels and takes the grey with it, I'm back to the original black. The yellow is going to stay grey though. This just makes my work easier.