Nice. A little sleuthing online, and I found the Honda Accord 2008-2010 Service Manual available for download.
There’s not much to report around here. I spent the majority of the weekend behind a desk working on an illustration, but we were able to get out a bit on Saturday to run errands with the girls and visit the Hoerrs’ barbecue in the evening. Sunday I ran the Scout up for the first time in two weeks and took her for a quick drive to the hardware store in beautiful fall weather.
While working, I’ve been doing a lot of research online about the battle of Gettysburg. My Dad has been talking about coming down to visit the battlefield, and this coming Friday we have plans to drive out there and see it. In preparation, I figured I’d find a copy of the Killer Angels, a historical novel based on the battle–something I’ve been meaning to check out for a while now. I got it on Amazon and started listening to it while at work, and it’s very good. I also had Netflix send me Gettysburg, which was made in 1993 and based on the novel. Certain parts of the film feel very dated (the production started out as a miniseries and from an aesthetic point of view it still feels very much like one) but the battle scenes are breathtaking and it definitely helped put faces to names and places (now I can only see Tom Berenger sporting a huge set of muttonchops when I hear of General Longstreet).
The novel focuses on several characters instead of jumping all over the battlefield, so it does a great job of personalizing the experience, but it fails to give a clear overall picture. I found several programs on Youtube dedicated to the overall battle, one of which was produced by the History Channel and which provides a broader view, and goes into detail about the technology and backstory. The show explains the design of the minié ball, different types of cannon ammunition, and reliance on Napoleonic tactics in the face of modern ballistics, helping make sense of the battle and why it was fought a certain way. It also sheds light on the incredible courage and waste of famous maneuvers like Pickett’s Charge; why else would thousands of men line up in neat rows and march straight into cannister fire from massed artillery?
There are also some podcasts available to help tour the battlefield, which I downloaded and put on my old iPhone for our trip. By the end of the week, I won’t be an expert on the subject, but I’ll at least know enough to be informed.
Monday we have plans to see Antietam, in Sharpsburg, which is another story entirely. I’ve done some preliminary research on this battle, but we’ll be joined by my cousin Brad, who I’m told is well schooled on the subject and willing to take us on a tour.
Now that things are getting cold outside, I’ve got to focus on things I can do inside. One thing that’s been bugging me since they stopped working are my wipers, which has proven to be problematic when it rains. I’ve got two spare wiper motors in my stash to work with and a can of electrical cleaner; I need some bearing grease to repack the interior and a clear set of instructions as to how.
1. My first clues about wiring are on the Binder Planet here:
It is a three wire motor with the common being the internal ground.
The wires to and from the Scout switch are:
82 +12 hot
82A +12 after going through breaker, feeds the park switch on the wipers, ( Green wire on Wiper plug) and hot into the switch.
82 B feeds high speed on the wipers, ( Black wire on wiper plug.)
82 C feeds low speed on wipers, (Red wire on wiper plug. )
A 187 goes to washer motor, on this setup, I have here, it`s a green wire, the rest of the wires are black..
The Scout switch in low speed position closes the circuit from 82 A to both 82 B and 82 C wires,
In high speed it closes the circuit from 82 A to 82 B only.
Also,
Check for frozen/binding linkage, especially the wiper pivots. Also running a separate ground from the motor case to the body helps, lots of times the ground path through the motor mounts isn’t very good and gets fixed accidentaly during motor replacement.
2. Key information for inside bench testing is here:
I would clean the inside good with electric parts cleaner. Then bench test it with a battery charger.
Trickle charge 2 amp for low, and 10 amp fast charge for high.
So, if and when I ever get some free time, this will be my next project.
→ This is a syndicated post from my Scout weblog. More info here.
I transferred my IPA last night and took a gravity reading which confirms it’s going to be good; I’m going to leave the hops in for 2-3 weeks and then keg it for the fall. My neighbor has our next kits at his place (we’re ordering in tandem to save on shipping) so all I need is time to get it brewing.
I’m in love with the new car. I dug an connector out from under debris on the workbench and tested my old iPod out this morning; it won’t hold a charge anymore but works fine when it’s powered, so I’m creating some new playlists and leaving it in the car. My next project is to put together a small get-home kit to stash in the trunk– stuff like a shovel, blanket, jumper cables, toolkit, first-aid, oil, a knife, matches, etc. First, though, I need to rotate the tires. Maybe the weather will hold this weekend…
Via Drawn: look at this beautiful piece by Eleanor Davis.
Friday night our friend Jen organized a weblogger get-together in Hampden, where I met up with friends old and new. Mama couldn’t find a sitter, unfortunately, so I had to go stag. Parking in Hampden has gotten cutthroat these days, especially on the Avenue where the party was, but I’ve gotten skilled at fitting the Scout into a shoebox. Inside the store (Trohv), I followed the sound of laughter to the basement where I found the meet-up in full swing. We chatted, sipped wine and beer, ogled the store’s goods, and the time flew by. At the conclusion, a gaggle of us packed up and walked down the street to a wine bar where we continued the discussion until about 11:30. It really was a lot of fun, and hopefully the next one will get organized sooner rather than later.
Saturday we handed Finn off to the neighbor and high-tailed it to Laurel to look at cars. On the lot under a threatening sky, we lined up two possibilities: a blue ’07 and a gray ’09 Accord with similar low mileage. The ’07 (seventh gen) was absolutely cherry, like it had just rolled out of the factory, and it handled like a roller skate for its size. The ’09 (eighth gen) was unkempt inside but bigger all the way around, felt tight, and offered more amenities. We opted for the newer of the two, wrote a big fat check, and drove it off the lot. Back at home, armed with a bottle of Armor All and some Windex, Finn and I cleaned up the interior, then installed her seat and took it for a spin. Because she hadn’t napped, she promptly fell asleep, which was all the approval I needed.
Sunday we got up early to get on the road, and headed out over the bridge to Easton to visit the Morrises. The plan was to hit the pumpkin patch and do some fun fall-oriented stuff, but the weather failed to cooperate so we went bowling instead. I’ve never seen this before, but this alley had these two-railed racks that can be used as slides for a bowling ball; both Zachary and Finn seemed to enjoy knocking pins over and visiting the sticker machine. After the thrill was gone, we took them to get some lunch, then some ice cream, and finally an outdoor playground to run off the sugar. It was great to see them and spend (a little) time in conversation; chasing the kids around makes it difficult but not impossible.
At one point, as we pushed the two of them on the swings, Rob turned to me and said, “Look at us. Who would have believed this?” Then he leaned over, shook my hand, and said, “Thanks for still being here 20 years later.”
These are designs we did for the University of Baltimore’s 2012 recruiting campaign. The evening was overcast, so the shots I got were not optimal. Original photography by Chris Myers.
I’m still shopping for cars months after I said I was going to get a new one. For a while I was set on a used Accord, mainly for the space and reliability, but lately I’ve been waffling between that and a Civic. It’s hard to argue against 32-35MPG, especially when 3/4 of my commute is highway miles. Given our current plan to add to the family, though, I’m leaning back towards an Accord for the added rear seat and trunk space.
The complication is that there aren’t a lot of them to choose from right now, and hardly any of them are sticks–even the available Civics are automatics unless one chooses to pay extra for the sport model, which I don’t want. So I’ll most likely be settling for a slushbox LX model. The other factor is that there even fewer Accords under 40,000 miles for less than $17K, which is more than our budget allows, while there are multiple Civics under $15K to choose from.
So, while I’d like to buy one car and stick with it for 10 years, current circumstances are dictating a more temporary solution. Maybe we could work with two children in a Civic. I think another test drive is in order, simply to gauge the space and comfort level of a midsize sedan.
As usual, Ars Technica does a fantastic job of breaking down a complicated subject: How car engine tech does more with less.