Old Sticker Removal

 You know that bumper sticker you put on your old car, like 12 years ago, and has been cooked on to your fender for 12 years.  It seems like that would be a permanent bond, but it's not.  To liberate this old, cured adhesive is actually pretty easy.  In this example I have a piece of aluminum that has a product label on it.  I'm starting to surface finish the piece, and this label is in the way.  It's been on there for around 13 years.

There are chemicals that are specifically formulated for adhesive removal, and I hate all of them.  They are usually potent VOCs that are both flammable, and noxious.  So, what is the alternative?  Heat...  It is an electronic solvent.  How do you loosen something up at an atomic scale?  Heat...  It causes the atoms to expand, and you get mobility.  With mobility the adhesive gets gummy again, you can manipulate it again, and remove it easily.  My process is to use a heat gun, or hair dryer, and warm up the old sticker.  Then, in this case, I used a plastic scrapper to prevent gouges in the aluminum.  There is a residue of the adhesive left on the aluminum after scrapping the label, and adhesive off the part.  I use penetrating oil to remove the residue.  Then to remove the penetrating oil I'll use a degreaser like 409, or ammonia.  Now I can get back to the surface finishing...

Office Chair

 After refurbishing the original RX300 driver's seat, now I have an extra RX300 driver's seat.  Originally I got this seat because the seat in the RX300 was worn out, and covered in duct tape.  This link, RX300 Seat Renewed,  covers the work I did on the original driver's seat in the RX300.  This thread is about the spare seat that I used in the RX300 when I was working on the original seat.  So, anyway, now I've got an extra RX300 driver's seat.  I should do something with it...

So, my wife suggested that I get a new office chair at my desk.  The old chair is 25 years old, and broken in many ways.  It is so bad I don't want to publish a picture.  So, like a lot of the stuff I build there needed to be some adaptation to use the RX300 Seat in the Office Seat role.  It needs wheels, so I can roll around the house.  I need the interface between the wheels, and the seat.  Also, I need a theme to tie this automotive part into our home, and the office, so Fence Posts it is...

I want to do this cost effectively, and utilize the materials I have at hand as much as possible.  In our home we have a lot of rustic furniture that it made from aged Cedar, and in order to tie this chair into the house I am going to use big hunks of aged Cedar.  No, question there.  So, I chopped up an old fence timber, and it will become the frame for the Office Chair.

Of course I want this platform to be very strong.  The RX300 Seat is really heavy because it is a full power seat with five motor control systems.  Sure, I could have got a light weight seat, and trimmed down the size of the base, but all at a cost.  I wanted to use materials that I have at hand, but as few new parts as necessary.

But, I did have to get some new parts, all hardware.  I used 3/8" x 6" Lag Screws to put the frame together.  Then, I picked some 4" rubber casters on steel mounts, like you would find on a piece of equipment, or a big tool box.  The heavy platform holds the seat well, and together they have the heft of a high quality chair, with an advanced level of comfort.

Next I needed to connect the seat to the platform.  I like to use 1/2" hardware in my projects, so, that is the choice here as well.  The size of the platform was dictated by the mounting pads on the seat, and I had to factor in the screw paths.  All the hardware seems to fit alright.

The next task was to interface to the electrical controls.  The motors that control the positions of the seat are all 12 Volt powered.  So, I needed a wiring diagram for the RX300 seat.  This took a little digging on the Interwebz, and resulted in a similar wiring diagram for a compatible seat.

 The RX300 Seat has the motors that control the seat positions. and the switches that control the motors.  So, in order to move the seats I needed to supply 12 Volts, and Ground to the right connections on the seat harness connector that goes to the body wiring harness.  This was fairly simple, and I used a shop power supply to test the seat controls.  My little bench top power supply provided enough current to run the Slide, and Tilt motors in the seat, but not the seat elevation.  I also tried this with a 7 Amp Hour battery, and it was still deficient to run the elevation controls.

So, I need a little bigger power supply, or bigger battery, but then I should be able to use all the controls.  This is a little more work that simply buying a new office chair.  But, this is something that is customized for me, by me, and I like it...