JJkizak Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 On 12/27/2016 at 9:41 PM, Seadog said: Yesterday, I replaced the plastic thermostat housing that was leaking coolant on my '98 Explorer. The lower shell of the housing is a "one piece" plastic part (probably polycarbonate), however, it is manufactured from two molded componets that are ultrasonically welded together. Of course, the leak was at the weld seam. I had replaced that housing about two years ago, so it should not have failed. But upon closer inspection, there was a small gap between the welded components with obvious signs of a poor ultrasonic weld (the new replacement part had no gap at the seam). Anyway, the plastic material itself was not the problem. The manufacturing process was not robust so the product failed, giving the material a bad name. Ironically, the defect would have been easy to detect in a final inspection at the factory. I have never trusted ultrasonic welding ever since one failed in the electronic waveguide impedance matching transformer assembly costing thousands of dollars which was used in our 50K continuous power transmitters in the tropospheric waveguide system. I want to see that welding bead before I trust it. JJK 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbert Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 On 12/25/2016 at 8:03 PM, dwilawyer said: Have read people having similar experience people have had with Fram, like why bother to changer the oil. I have had really good results with Wix on filtration tests, as well as Royal Purple when Wix equlevant wasn't available. how did you measure your results, and against what benchmark? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Travis In Austin Posted December 31, 2016 Moderators Share Posted December 31, 2016 10 hours ago, Gilbert said: how did you measure your results, and against what benchmark? As I mentioned, for me in started with the airplane when our mechanic recommended that the oil and filters from the gas turbine engines be sent to lab for testing periodically. You have to send in the filters because they are typically 10 micron and don't leave much in the oil for them to test what might be wearing or breaking down. The reports tell you about the life of the oil, debris found in the oil, size, and probable source, detergent capability, contaminants found (for autos this would include coolant, fuel, additives, etc. From there, I started sending oil from cars in for testing, using primarily Blackstone Labs, with the additional particul analysis. The lab measured the results, and they provide you with a detailed analysis of what your oil is doing compared to their extensive database, and they give recommendations. The particle analysis tells you right away if what size the filter is removing particles down to. The SAE has published a couple of articles that correlate the size of debris in vehicle engines with excessive wear, and IIRC they were bigoing on trapping everything above 20 to 25 microns. Travis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason str Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 On 12/27/2016 at 8:41 PM, Seadog said: Yesterday, I replaced the plastic thermostat housing that was leaking coolant on my '98 Explorer. The lower shell of the housing is a "one piece" plastic part (probably polycarbonate), however, it is manufactured from two molded componets that are ultrasonically welded together. Of course, the leak was at the weld seam. I had replaced that housing about two years ago, so it should not have failed. But upon closer inspection, there was a small gap between the welded components with obvious signs of a poor ultrasonic weld (the new replacement part had no gap at the seam). Anyway, the plastic material itself was not the problem. The manufacturing process was not robust so the product failed, giving the material a bad name. Ironically, the defect would have been easy to detect in a final inspection at the factory. I have done repairs that have lasted years using only a zip cord tie strap for extra material and soldering gun. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Quality control is quickly becoming a lost art.I agree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbert Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 On 12/31/2016 at 6:59 AM, dwilawyer said: As I mentioned, for me in started with the airplane when our mechanic recommended that the oil and filters from the gas turbine engines be sent to lab for testing periodically. You have to send in the filters because they are typically 10 micron and don't leave much in the oil for them to test what might be wearing or breaking down. The reports tell you about the life of the oil, debris found in the oil, size, and probable source, detergent capability, contaminants found (for autos this would include coolant, fuel, additives, etc. From there, I started sending oil from cars in for testing, using primarily Blackstone Labs, with the additional particul analysis. The lab measured the results, and they provide you with a detailed analysis of what your oil is doing compared to their extensive database, and they give recommendations. The particle analysis tells you right away if what size the filter is removing particles down to. The SAE has published a couple of articles that correlate the size of debris in vehicle engines with excessive wear, and IIRC they were bigoing on trapping everything above 20 to 25 microns. Travis Thanks... good to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.