Physiological degeneration and the oil filter

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Thu 18 Jun 2009 20:41
Physiological degeneration and the oil filter - oilrag
You can `tell` there`s sufficient torque on it can`t you ( the increasingly feeble forearm) - even if you can get only one hand onto it like me.

Perhaps similar in some ways, to auto kinetic feedback in vision... Only now sometimes it feels like the head bone is connected directly to the leg bone and the middle bit`s still in bed - asleep, or worse.

Do you trust your built in `torque wrench` though as the old arms weaken a bit due to too much lolling on the sofa? What if the `right torque` now registers as enough - but due to a bit of degeneration it`s not..

Do you find yourself looking at those rubber strap wrenches?

None of this applies to me of course.....
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Thu 18 Jun 2009 20:44
Physiological degeneration and the oil filter - Martin Devon
You can `tell` there`s sufficient torque on it can`t you ( the increasingly feeble forearm)
- even if you can get only one hand onto it like me. None of this applies to me of course.....

Will you stop talking about me like that!!

More beeeeer...MD. After all, I'm not driving
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Thu 18 Jun 2009 23:22
Physiological degeneration and the oil filter - 1400ted
When I was a young buck I used to dream of a ' rubber strap wench '......sorry, I think I misread that, I'll go and get me glasses !

Ted
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Fri 19 Jun 2009 02:24
Physiological degeneration and the oil filter - Lud
Clean the mating surface of the block. Oil the washer. Screw the thing on as tight as you can by hand. Obviously it can't be covered with oil for that bit. Run the engine. It won't leak.
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Fri 19 Jun 2009 03:16
Physiological degeneration and the oil filter - brum
Actually for the old screw on cannister type, its just a question of cleaning the mating surfaces, lightly oil the rubber seal, spin on the filter until the seal just makes contact, then tighten further by between one quarter and half a turn.

note: This only works for new unused filters as the seals expand with exposure to oil/temperature.

Newer designs i.e. VAG plastic housing types, use O rings that dont rely on "tightening"
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Fri 19 Jun 2009 06:27
Physiological degeneration and the oil filter - oilrag
This thread is more about degeneration, the sofa, muscle feedback into perceived torque and in particular that `head bone connected to the leg bone` feeling you get when laying on the drive for a long time.

Put simply - the arm muscle gives it`s max torque - it`s now not what it was - but the brain gives the message that it is due to feedback from the tortured muscle in the arm - which is operating at maximum effort.

(The actual oil filter giving an incidental and exchangeable pragmatic focus to a possibly surreal thread)


Edited by oilrag on 19/06/2009 at 06:30

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Fri 19 Jun 2009 09:02
Physiological degeneration and the oil filter - Cliff Pope
It's commonly said that DIYers always underestimate their strength, so in consequence naturally tend to overtighten everything.
So declining strength in old age might in the end match the torque to the component.
If you are still strong enough to adjust your own Zimmer frame you are doing all right.

Edited by Cliff Pope on 19/06/2009 at 09:03

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Fri 19 Jun 2009 10:37
Physiological degeneration and the oil filter - Number_Cruncher
in consequence naturally tend to overtighten everything.


Yes DIYers often go too far, over-zealously snapping the M6 bolts which hold the rocker cover on, the cork gasket having long since split or squashed out under the load.

Happily, I'm not "sufficiently experienced" to contribute to oilrag's main theme in this thread!

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Fri 19 Jun 2009 12:03
Physiological degeneration and the oil filter - ForumNeedsModerating
Put simply - the arm muscle gives it`s max torque - it`s now not what it was - but the brain gives the message that it is due to feedback from the tortured muscle in the arm - which is operating at maximum effort.


As I understand it, the leverage effect in producing torque is determined by shaft length of the tightening instrument - so there must be an 'average' calculation done ny manufacturers as to what 'average' strength is.

Bearing this in mind, and having some inkling of your engineering prowess - might I suggest your pre-knowledge & self-awareness (of declining forearm strength) might induce to over-compensate? In fact this could mean you might over-torque fastenings instead of the opposite.
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Fri 19 Jun 2009 12:24
Physiological degeneration and the oil filter - OldSock

I'd be more concerned about psychological degeneration if I were you... :-)
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Fri 19 Jun 2009 12:57
Physiological degeneration and the oil filter - old crocks
Maybe a pint of eolys will help with regeneration. ;-)
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Fri 19 Jun 2009 21:16
Physiological degeneration and the oil filter - Clanger
Never worried about it until now. Thanks oilrag. Yes I trust(ed) the old forearm to tighten the oil filter the same as I trust the same mechanism for tightening the sump plug. I suppose it's something you have to learn the hard way. If I'm lucky, it'll be one of the mowers that drops its oil on someone's lawn because I haven't tightened the sump plug up enough.

My previous motorcycle's manual specified tightening the oil filter hand tight and then a further TWO turns. I always interpreted that as a misprint for half (1/2) a turn and never lost a filter. Getting the old filter off for the first time was an epic involving strapping the headstock to the garage door up-and-over struts in case my torque on the oil filter removal tool (multiplied by a length of scaffold) tipped the bike over.
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