Wow, I am back after almost a year and a lot has changed since.
Okay, so this is one important concept I have studied in my PM course
and sort of knew that it was true. But I got a good handson today. I have my
cousin’s diesel car with me for some days. But due to the monsoon, its engine
gets cold if not used frequently. And then it does not start. This happened a
few days ago and I had to call my mechanic to get it started. He used a simple
wire to heat-up the heater coil by connecting it to the battery electrode, but
charged me 150 bucks. Ya, labor in India is getting expensive.
I used the car a couple of times last week and then again it
would not start on Saturday. No way would I spend 150 on a lame wire trick this
time. I knew what to do, I only needed the material. I was not sure which type
of wire would work, and that was the toughest part because the wrong type would
even burn my hands or something else could go wrong. So I had to plan
everything properly and with a cool mind. Then I remembered I had a tool kit
which contained a battery to battery connection cable in my dad’s car. That would
surely work. So I got it last night and decided I would give it a try today morning
7 am. I leave for office at 7.45.
As planned I tried to start the car at 7 and it did not. So I
opened the hood, connected one clamp of the wire to one electrode of the
battery and took the other clamp near one of the heater coils. It touched the
engine covering in that process and gave out sparks. No don’t worry, this had
happened even when the mechanic did it, so I knew I was on the right track. I touched
the clamp to the coil and started feeling the heat in my hands. After 3-4
seconds of heating, I tried to start the car again, but no success. I knew it
needed more heat. I clamped the wire to the heater coil now. And tried again
after 3-4 seconds and VIOLAAAA!!! The engine came to life like when the
mechanic had done it. I was so happy that I could DIY some car stuff, which is
one of the wishes of a lot of us car owners to know what goes beneath that
hood. Total process took not more than 10 minutes. Had my
planning/design/conception been not proper, I wouldn’t have seen success.
Moral – Always take more time and effort to plan and design
a project properly and it will make the execution much easier.
More examples always welcome.
