Gunner Asch wrote:

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 13:39:44 -0500, Jeff Wisnia
wrote:


pyotr filipivich wrote:

Greetings and Salutations

Other day, I'm sent over to the Mori Cell in Bldg 1, and the first
thing Bob says is "Okay, clear off the granite slab, get a cup of coffee,
pour it on the slab and wipe it off."
?Wash the slab with coffee?
"Yeah, it cuts the oil from the Komo." [The Komo has spray and chip
issues. Even with shower curtains going up near the ceiling, it still
manages to fling chips on our rock. Bad Komo, bad.]

Anyway, I figure "WTH, he's been doing this longer than I..." and clear
off the slab, pour the coffee and start wiping. It works, too! And after
all I've said about building 1's coffee, you really _can_ use it as an
industrial cleaner....


So, is this just one of those 'field expedites' or just something
Machinists Know, which Engineers lack the hands on experience to know?


tschus
pyotr


I'd say it'd be better if you used Coca Cola. The carbonic acid has a
better chance of cutting that oil film. Followed by a water wipe to get
rid of any sticky sugar.

Before the daze of windshield washers on vehicles I used to see guys at
truck stops buy a (glass) bottle of Coca Cola, put their thumb over the
opening, shake it up and let some squirt onto their truck windshields,
then drink the remainder of the bottle while they were wiping off the
glass with free paper towels. I tried it and it did seem to work.


Use diet, as the sugar leaves a film.

You're right, I should have added that I was still living in
Cal-ee-fornia then, where the temperature never dropped to freezing and
the "coolant" in our cars was just plain water. Every service station
had water hoses which pulled up out of a hole in the pavement at the end
of each pump island and a quick splash from one of those could be used
to wash the Coke off the windshield after it had done it's job. A tire
filling air hose pulled up out of the same location too.

When I worked as a pump jockey during high school, that was the way we
cleaned customer's windshields, a splash from the water hose followed by
a wipe with a squeegee. We also had to check the air in all four tires
most of the time, the oil and water levels, and even use a whisk broom
to flip sand off the front floor mats. That's what "Full Service" meant
back then. Nowadays what you get is more like the "service" a farmer
brings his cows to a bull for. :-)

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."