Saturday, 16 April 2016
Cut the hedge
The hedge that runs across the back of the house is about 40m. It used to be kept in shape by the cows that lived here before us. I've always cut it back every spring. When we planted the fruit trees we measured the planting holes from the hedge. It was last year that I realised that something was up. The NW boundary had grown and got hacked back a good way. Now it was the turn of this hedge. Removed around 1m in the NW corner and around 1.8m in the NE corner. More cut and scratches than I care to mention.
Wednesday, 13 April 2016
Salomon ski boot custom liners
Used a SMD heat gun 20mm nozzle, 110C, fan 7 (almost max) Measured temperature as 110C at 3cm.
Only wanted to expand shin area, so heated this at 3cm for about 10 mins. I reckoned that full expansion was locally achieved in a few minutes. Measured an increase from 17mm at cuff to 20mm, although after re-fitting and cooling this was down to 18mm, but felt very snug.
From a number of posts, cooking temperature for liner (no footbeds) is 90-110C for 10-15 mins, convection or fan oven.
Refit footbeds and fit into shells. Jump in, buckle up on a medium setting and don't move for 10-15 mins.
Only wanted to expand shin area, so heated this at 3cm for about 10 mins. I reckoned that full expansion was locally achieved in a few minutes. Measured an increase from 17mm at cuff to 20mm, although after re-fitting and cooling this was down to 18mm, but felt very snug.
From a number of posts, cooking temperature for liner (no footbeds) is 90-110C for 10-15 mins, convection or fan oven.
Refit footbeds and fit into shells. Jump in, buckle up on a medium setting and don't move for 10-15 mins.
Thursday, 7 April 2016
Digital tyre pressure gauge
In a fit of spending, I bought a digital tyre pressure gauge. Now I have accuracy, I have dilemma.
This gauge reads 2.35bar, old faithful reads 2.6, tyre inflator reads 2.5bar.
It's a small error - say 10% between them all.
Out of a desire to not break something and leave it alone, I opened up the gauge. It's got markings that suggest you could display more than just bar/psi. It's a Shineway pcb and uses a cr2032 battery. No ID on the pressure sensor itself.
It has a tempting box marked R9. Putting a 1k resistor on there reduced the pressure reading from 2.3b to 1.3b. Whether this was a fixed offset of a linear change throughout the range (ie slope) will have to wait until a fit of enthusiasm to play. Or until I stand on it and it breaks.
For now I'm going to assume it reads under by about 0.5b (or round up the result)
The car was serviced about a month ago. The rear tyre should be 2.1 and it reads 2.1 on the digital and 2.4 on the silver old faithful. Front should be 2.3 and read 2.25, old faithful was 2.7. The original battery, a 2032 was not enough at 2.8V to make it work. A 2025 fits ok.
This gauge reads 2.35bar, old faithful reads 2.6, tyre inflator reads 2.5bar.
It's a small error - say 10% between them all.
Out of a desire to not break something and leave it alone, I opened up the gauge. It's got markings that suggest you could display more than just bar/psi. It's a Shineway pcb and uses a cr2032 battery. No ID on the pressure sensor itself.
It has a tempting box marked R9. Putting a 1k resistor on there reduced the pressure reading from 2.3b to 1.3b. Whether this was a fixed offset of a linear change throughout the range (ie slope) will have to wait until a fit of enthusiasm to play. Or until I stand on it and it breaks.
For now I'm going to assume it reads under by about 0.5b (or round up the result)
The car was serviced about a month ago. The rear tyre should be 2.1 and it reads 2.1 on the digital and 2.4 on the silver old faithful. Front should be 2.3 and read 2.25, old faithful was 2.7. The original battery, a 2032 was not enough at 2.8V to make it work. A 2025 fits ok.
Tyre inflator & power supply
For a good number of years I have been nursing a £3 12V tyre inflater. It wasn't particularly good when new, but was much better than a foot pump. I've variously replaced the piston, gauge, pipe and tyre attachment. Then the entire pump when I 'found' one without a case.
I must have blown a seal as it now takes 10 minutes to add 0.5 bar.
So I bought a new one. There seems to be a few basic designs re-labelled. I found a nice-on-paper Black and Decker one, seemingly a one-off. Mains and 12V. Around €50. The reviews were awful, particularly in America. The main fault was that if it worked at all on mains on receipt, it failed pretty soon afterwards. Whilst I'm not adverse to a bit of power supply repair, it was occurring too often. The next one on the list was an AEG KD 7.0 with a digital display and auto shut-off, which was being sold for €44 on French Amazon. German amazon had 6 'good' condition ones for €12.
So I bought that. The main review complaint was noise. I also bought a rubber boot mat (who'd have thought a Audi A4 2003 boot is the same width (and twice as long) as a Captur, which worked out €15 cheaper than the Captur specific one, with the advantage I can use the extra length to protect the bumper.
The pump swallows power. At least 10A to start and 9A to run. I could have taped 2 5A/12V bricks together, but I had an old AT PC power supply. This is plated at 9A/12V. It delivered 11.2 V. Loading the 5V rail with a 6.8R resistor got this up to 12.1V (A 4.7R got it to 12.2, a 2R to 13.5V, but the resistors were getting large and dissipating a lot of power ~13W) Snipped off all the old connectors, put on a big cigar socket. Works well, and it's in a nice steel case.
The inflater is a tad noisy, but will add 0.5 bar in 30s. The one thing I don't like, which seems common on a lot on inflaters, is the tyre connector is screw on, rather than clip on. I could replace it, but it isn't too bad, and at least it doesn't pop off. The original cardboard carton was battered (now in a skip) but other than that it was sealed in a plastic bag and was clean. Amazon used wins again.
I do have another problem, though. If the inflater reads 2.5b, the 'old faithful' stick gauge reads 2.6b and the new digital gauge reads 2.35b. On average, the inflater is correct....
I must have blown a seal as it now takes 10 minutes to add 0.5 bar.
So I bought a new one. There seems to be a few basic designs re-labelled. I found a nice-on-paper Black and Decker one, seemingly a one-off. Mains and 12V. Around €50. The reviews were awful, particularly in America. The main fault was that if it worked at all on mains on receipt, it failed pretty soon afterwards. Whilst I'm not adverse to a bit of power supply repair, it was occurring too often. The next one on the list was an AEG KD 7.0 with a digital display and auto shut-off, which was being sold for €44 on French Amazon. German amazon had 6 'good' condition ones for €12.
So I bought that. The main review complaint was noise. I also bought a rubber boot mat (who'd have thought a Audi A4 2003 boot is the same width (and twice as long) as a Captur, which worked out €15 cheaper than the Captur specific one, with the advantage I can use the extra length to protect the bumper.
The pump swallows power. At least 10A to start and 9A to run. I could have taped 2 5A/12V bricks together, but I had an old AT PC power supply. This is plated at 9A/12V. It delivered 11.2 V. Loading the 5V rail with a 6.8R resistor got this up to 12.1V (A 4.7R got it to 12.2, a 2R to 13.5V, but the resistors were getting large and dissipating a lot of power ~13W) Snipped off all the old connectors, put on a big cigar socket. Works well, and it's in a nice steel case.
The inflater is a tad noisy, but will add 0.5 bar in 30s. The one thing I don't like, which seems common on a lot on inflaters, is the tyre connector is screw on, rather than clip on. I could replace it, but it isn't too bad, and at least it doesn't pop off. The original cardboard carton was battered (now in a skip) but other than that it was sealed in a plastic bag and was clean. Amazon used wins again.
I do have another problem, though. If the inflater reads 2.5b, the 'old faithful' stick gauge reads 2.6b and the new digital gauge reads 2.35b. On average, the inflater is correct....
Tuesday, 29 March 2016
Pond liner
The pond liner has shifted a bit, probably when it got pushed out with rising ground water in a storm. It's not the normal butyl, but looks like a black version of the cheap tarpaulins. This material, though, is very strong and difficult to cut, let alone tear. It is largely covered all over, but the exposed bits remain strong.
I needed to increase the height on one side, and it had become the low point. Using bathroom silicon sealant, I applied 2 stripes to the back of it, and stuck a new piece on. Then once that had gone off, I put a small strip on the front, again with 2 strips of silicon. The silicon doesn't stick and peals easily. I left that to cure and left it in that position. It has a log to cover the edge and protect it from the sun (south facing edge)
The liner was not nice and flat and had a few U shapes in it. The job was fine on the large flat areas, but a bit variable around the curved bits. A few weeks on and it is water tight enough not to notice the level drop.
I needed to increase the height on one side, and it had become the low point. Using bathroom silicon sealant, I applied 2 stripes to the back of it, and stuck a new piece on. Then once that had gone off, I put a small strip on the front, again with 2 strips of silicon. The silicon doesn't stick and peals easily. I left that to cure and left it in that position. It has a log to cover the edge and protect it from the sun (south facing edge)
The liner was not nice and flat and had a few U shapes in it. The job was fine on the large flat areas, but a bit variable around the curved bits. A few weeks on and it is water tight enough not to notice the level drop.
Monday, 21 March 2016
Shiny
Shiny. 9km delivered.
medianav 5.2.8 (April 2016 - latest version 6.0.3)
LG SW LAN5200WR1 5201 5210 open source.
LG SW LAN5200WR1 5201 5210 open source.
Wednesday, 9 March 2016
New trailer
Neptun gn102/n7-202. Advertised at 117kg & confirmed on scales
Stored on end in the garage.
The accessories add around 16kg (15.2kg)
3 clamps (0.7kg),
jockey wheel (4.6kg)
2 props (1.9kg ea)
chocs (0.23kg ea)
lash points (40g ea)
winch 3.3kg + bracket 0.7kg
The additional side panels are 25kg
Stored on end. The joists are at 2.8m
Hoist, strop & shackle. The strop is around 25mm angle iron. The hoist has no brake on unwind. The trick is to lower the A frame, lock the hoist, the move the trailer body to meet the a frame. Lock the body to the A frame and then lower again.
The hoist is mounted onto the A frame using an Armco right angle bracket.
A close up of the locator. The trailer comes with plastic coated steel lugs which forces the trailer COG slightly back when it's on its end. A piece of 25mm angle with a welded stop forms a useful locator. A similar arrangement on the other side.
The lugs are largely useless as they slide on a concrete floor. Fine on gravel, or a rough, ridged concrete slab.
Stored on end in the garage.
The accessories add around 16kg (15.2kg)
3 clamps (0.7kg),
jockey wheel (4.6kg)
2 props (1.9kg ea)
chocs (0.23kg ea)
lash points (40g ea)
winch 3.3kg + bracket 0.7kg
The additional side panels are 25kg
Stored on end. The joists are at 2.8m
Hoist, strop & shackle. The strop is around 25mm angle iron. The hoist has no brake on unwind. The trick is to lower the A frame, lock the hoist, the move the trailer body to meet the a frame. Lock the body to the A frame and then lower again.
The hoist is mounted onto the A frame using an Armco right angle bracket.
A close up of the locator. The trailer comes with plastic coated steel lugs which forces the trailer COG slightly back when it's on its end. A piece of 25mm angle with a welded stop forms a useful locator. A similar arrangement on the other side.
The lugs are largely useless as they slide on a concrete floor. Fine on gravel, or a rough, ridged concrete slab.
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