CPI update

 It's funny how decisions you make linger, when you should have bitten the bullet and just changed it.

For years I've lived with a PCB I made with a scrap of copper clad, some really old ferric chloride, some clanky software that limited the size, a inkjet and some veggy oil. It housed a 8 way 1W mux master and the corresponding 8 way IO 1W device. It worked just fine until a few years ago when 1 channel in the 8 way IO reset itself randomly. Then the mux played up. I changed that but the replacement never worked. I'd also had to patch opto couplers around spare IO on the ESP32. It was starting to look a mess

On top of that I had various UPS and regulator designs that had used a toroid which also gave a Vref to AD power meter, then a modified 12V psu to waste minimal energy whilst keeping a lion battery charged weekly.

Finally I'd had enough and bought a MCP23017. That matured for a couple of years then it got to the top of the development pile. That was straight forward. But the UPS function lacked a lot. The battery was now too old, and I could only monitor the battery current through 1W. Enter the INA3221. I'd used one for a quick and dirty UPS for the RPI and I'd found that a single 3.7V lion cell could happily sit on a cheap usb charger, and be boosted back to 5V with really very good efficiency.

Now I have a PCB that I made as a UPS and 4 way IO, but could be cut to provide the remaining 4 IO.

That's better. I also tidied up the wiring, but not that much. Krone blocks are so useful.

New washing mahine Bosch WAN28209FR

The Haier hw60-14829 drum bearings failed about 2 months ago. It was nearly 7 years old. I've heard some bad ones, but this approached a jet engine. Couldn't be in a room with it. I would have replaced them, having replaced the brushes in the last year. About 3 hours work. However, it's not particularly well made and has no out-of-balance detection. This means it slams around the kitchen units and we're not always in the house to sort it. There is also the mystery leak. Never found it despite a lot of investigation.

After a lot of looking around 6kg machines it transpires that only no-name or non-EU made brands are 6kg and nearly all of those are 1200 spin. The Haier is 1400 and that makes a difference in winter drying outside.

Finally plumped for the Bosch WAN28209FR which is 9kg & 65 litre, made in Poland. 9.1 on repair index and 380€ It's massive by comparison going from about 450 deep to exactly 600mm. This meant recessing some worktop brackets and moving the power and water. Drainage was fine. The only other problem was the control knob which they omit from their side elevation. The door is shown and I'd planned to remove that (easy - 2 screws). I ended up hacking the door frame. Thanks Bosch. Let's hope you do know how to draw and, well, follow the drawing to build your products.

It really is quiet, and the door opens almost flat. It leaked on the floor below the detergent drawer on the recommended drum clean, and it looks like either it over-foamed or it's condensation coming up the filler pipe from the drum. Other candidates are too high water pressure, but ours is pegged at 3 bar. Apparently quite normal. A run at 40C/1 hour wash later on was dry.

12V PD car charger

 This is a really nice bit of work. Simple, using mainstream chips, and largely works as advertised

CO emissions

 Using on-line calculators

1 flight from Tarbes to London 226kg (920km)

1 person drives 1000km in a diesel car 5l/100km 234kg

In a year we use 2MWh and buy 1MWh.

To buy 1MWh in France, typical emission is 45g/kWh or 45kg (45kg) 

Put another way, I can fly or drive 180km (45/226) with electricity that we generate/save

The return journey to the supermarket we use is 26km, which is 6kg of CO. After 38 weeks of just food shopping our carbon emission is the same as a flight to London.

Our ISP reckons we use 3.8kg of CO per month = 45kg/year, which is about 8 shopping trips.

Internet globally 3-4% https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2024/05/the-average-internet-user-spends-3230-hours-online-every-year-heres-the-carbon-footprint-of-that/

cement accounts for 8% of global emissions. The IET 9/24

World-wide military operations >5% France 2 climatologue 19/11/24

World-wide tourism 9% of global emissions,  11% of France's. France 2 climatologue 9/1/25

Agriculture 19% France 2 climatologue 4/12/24

Car tyres shed a quarter of all microplastics in the environment. The IET https://eandt.theiet.org/2024/11/29/car-tyres-shed-quarter-all-microplastics-environment-new-research-reveals

Kitchen drain blocked

 After 15 years the 10cm pipe from the kitchen sink wasn't draining quickly. Even the dishwasher was filling the sink. Too little washing by hand to push the grease through?

A drain snake cleared the block at what felt like a T with the utility.

Garage floor

It's been coming for a while. I built the new garage in 2021 and put on a coat of floor paint. I'd bought enough for 2 coats, plus a third (?) on the main garage floor. It's the amount of stuff to move that's put me off.

Yep, that's 2 trailers, 2 generators, homebrew boiler, firewood and a chipper. 1 trailer stayed in place!

Not too much outside for 2 days. It was economy paint from Leroy Merlin. It dried in 3 hours, but 48 hours are recommended before traffic. Even 2 months on, paint is peeling off where tyres are left standing.

Shameful packaging - or is it just me

 iLast care hyaluronic moisturising cream. 30mL

I use a tiny amount of this stuff, despite it's eye-watering price, it works for me. About 25€.

After 18 months it ran out. Well I thought it had. I took it apart and found a disgusting waste of plastic and packaging. A lovely design, but for fuck's sake, I need a finger to apply this stuff, so just put it in a pot and let me dab some on my finger. I cut open the 'empty' pot and carried on using it for 4 weeks. There are various type of plastic, O-rings, pistons. These parts will have taken precision moulding, so more expense and energy, in the manufacturing plant, design office, prototyping and consumer trials to name just a few.

Note it's stated open time is 6 months. Why? It has this totally over-engineered dispensing system that keeps it sealed. Well, it must keep it sealed as there is nothing to remove to start using it. It made it from the factory, with a use by date of a year or so, but once I press the dispense button, it magically has to be used in 6 months? Not a chance I'll buy this every 6 months. In fact, I'll now look for another brand in a little-heard-of thing called a pot.