Gate motor

The RH gate motor has always been a bit weaker than the other, and usually requires a service before winter to ensure it runs properly when the temperature drops.
I'm pretty sure the motor itself is shot. It's not possible to fully strip it, as there is a cog on the output shaft which can't be removed. I'm told it's either cryo fitted or glued. I can't risk damaging it as there are no spares for the SCS 2 ram (verin). The best I've managed is access to the commutator which I thoroughly scraped, cleaned and leveled. The gaps between poles are full again, but it runs ok with the 2 supplementary gearboxes removed. I found the first box a bit stiff; it seemed to have too much black (molybdenum?) from the next box and not the green stuff which had dropped out the bottom. A clean and re-grease with surplus grease made it feel a bit better.
A few months ago I dropped a tree on the gate motor. A big tree. The motor had been a bit worse and when I finally took a closer look, all 3 rods that run the length were bent, and, worse, the end caps had fallen apart. This meant that hold the whole thing was flapping about a bit.
The rods straightened quite easily, and the end caps are back in place, but still in pieces. A few stainless washer stop the rods from pulling through the caps.
Off load running current in is 1.1-1.2A, out is 1.2-1.3A. I think this is a bit high, but normal for this motor.
I think I was conned when I bought this off ebay. The electronics are dated 2007, but the motors are dated 1998. The part number (3j3712 johnson) gives nothing. I think it's a HC785LP-025 42mm diameter https://www.johnsonelectric.com/en/product-technology/motion/dc-motors/industry-dc-motors.  Datasheet readily available.

Water meter sensor

For nearly 5 years I've been monitoring water usage.  Thoughtfully, the water company provided a meter with a special slot to insert a reed sensor, which I used for about a month until they decided to install an automatic reader. Whilst having brass case, there must be some magnetic shielding, as a reed sensor adjacent detects nothing.  
Undeterred I bought an AH3503 electronic sensor. A single one will detect the meter magnet, but the variance is in the order of 30mV. Detectable with a comparitor, but it doesnt take much to ruin the reading. So I put 2 sensors back to back into a differential amplifier. It worked well, and I got an output of about 0.6V to 2V with the meter. I made a sensor, and put a ferrite in for good measure, as this somehow magnified the effect.
Several times per year I had to repair it, usually some sort of water ingress (the meter is underground about 70m from the house) despite conformal coating. You can see the home made vero board and the black heatshrink (~65mm long) removed from the sensor pair on the right. The adjacent device is the sensor and this was the latest failure. Despite being sealed in glue lined heatshrink, verdigris got in rotted off the legs. I started off with a LF351 in a socket, then removed the socket, then bodged in a LMV321 rail to rail device covered in wax.

new pcb left, old sensor + circuit right

new sensor sealed up

I had a bit of space left on a recent pcb order, so I made a compact replacement sensor. It's small enough (double sided) to hold both sensors soldered on the bottom, 4 resistors, 2 capacitors, a diode and a SOT23 LMV321 opamp. A very respectable output of 0.06V to 4V (5V supply). The finished device (4 coats of hair spray) and heatshrink is little bigger than the original sensors alone. The output in situ is 0.1V to 1.6V as the magnet moves in the meter. Supply volts are around 4.6V once it's made the 70m trip on cat 5 CCA cable. Current consumption is trivial.
Hopefully the water company won't think I'm trying to frig their meter somehow. I say their meter. I had to buy it and pay for the install.
1/6/20 random readings.  Either the sensor has been touched or it just moved. It was at an angle so a bit far away to register. Tested with tip of little yellow screwdriver and got the range as above. It was below the official sensor, but it fits above a lot tighter. In use it goes from 2.215 to .

Gutters

East and north gutters cleared. Plenty of moss on the roof needs to be removed.

17/11/20 cleaned all gutters. Full of oak tree leaves.