Rant of the Day v2.

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Capetonian

Re: Rant of the Day v2.

#2201 Post by Capetonian » Tue Sep 10, 2019 10:17 pm

Tesla drivers won't be smirking when the electric goes off.

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Re: Rant of the Day v2.

#2202 Post by llondel » Tue Sep 10, 2019 11:00 pm

Boac wrote:
Tue Sep 10, 2019 9:06 pm
Any opinions on the obd2 - I see prices start at around £9 on Amazon, but are these any good?
Build quality seems to vary a bit, as does the internal software. I got a Bluetooth one that talks to an app on my phone (Torque-lite) so it can plug in and there's no trailing cables. It seems to work quite well, and if you're the sort who uses it more than once every blue moon (depends on your car reliability, I guess) then there's the paid for app with more features. I think the Torque website gives a list of OSDB2 dongles that they know work with it. Mine is a BAFX Products one, should come up on an Amazon search for B005NLQAHS. I've only needed to use it a couple of times, plus a bit of playing, but so far so good.

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Re: Rant of the Day v2.

#2203 Post by Fox3WheresMyBanana » Tue Sep 10, 2019 11:52 pm

I have an old, high mileage pickup truck, so I invested in a Scangauge II, which is the next level up from a basic OBD2 reader. They are about $200. It can be programmed to give 4 real-time readings straight off the truck's computer, and engine check lights can be reset whilst driving. It also has fuel consumption calculators.
It's saved me a lot of money. I got it because I needed a transmission fluid temperature (TFT) gauge for towing. The sensor is in every model, and the truck's computer reads it, but only the deluxe model (which I don't have) has the physical gauge. The Scangauge was cheaper than an aftermarket gauge just for TFT. I has also enabled me to read the catalytic converter oxygen rates, so I know I can ignore the occasional converter failure light. Being able to clear the check light on the fly has enabled me to work out whether faults reoccur during the journey, and if so under what driving conditions. This has been essential to discovering the multiple parts which have needed replacing in this old vehicle.

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Re: Rant of the Day v2.

#2204 Post by Alisoncc » Wed Sep 11, 2019 4:37 am

Wrote previously
Alisoncc wrote:
Fri Sep 06, 2019 8:36 pm
Bought an Autel AutoLink AL519 OBDII EOBD six years ago for my Subbie.
Gives the engine or transmission error number, and then a cause list in order of probability. Can easily reset trips just to clarify whether error was a one off.

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Re: Rant of the Day v2.

#2205 Post by Boac » Wed Sep 11, 2019 7:07 am

So, is the opinion that £9 is not enough? The cheaper ones seem to work with a mobi rather than stand-alone. What does the extra price bring that you need?

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Re: Rant of the Day v2.

#2206 Post by Pontius Navigator » Wed Sep 11, 2019 7:17 am

Remember Amazon's 30 day return window. Provided it is not in a destroy to open package, get it and try it. Quite often they will be Chinese copies and their copies are getting better and for £9 there is no hassle of it goes tits up.

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Re: Rant of the Day v2.

#2207 Post by Rwy in Sight » Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:41 pm

Plumbers. Why they are so unable either to be on time or call to re-schedule an appointment. Even if you upside down on a pit have the decency before you go there to call your next customer.

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Re: Rant of the Day v2.

#2208 Post by llondel » Wed Sep 11, 2019 3:06 pm

Boac wrote:
Wed Sep 11, 2019 7:07 am
So, is the opinion that £9 is not enough? The cheaper ones seem to work with a mobi rather than stand-alone. What does the extra price bring that you need?
That depends on how you want to use it. The dongle I have just transmits the data to the phone app, so as car features change, presumably the phone app can be updated to read and interpret new data. The app does have stuff that can be interesting to use while driving, giving performance figures for the engine, and I think it will tell me in advance whether my car will pass a California smog test.

Mainly you will find that the cheaper ones may be poorer build quality (i.e. they break more readily), or are missing some feature that means that the phone app won't work properly. Most of them seem to use one of the same few chipsets so provided it's a supported chipset, it comes down to quality and features implemented. The other thing to be wary of is when the outside packaging looks the same but they've updated the electronics and broken something, so a product that used to work no longer does. I'm afraid I just bought mine on the basis that it was relatively cheap and if it didn't work I'd just get a different one.

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Re: Rant of the Day v2.

#2209 Post by OFSO » Wed Sep 11, 2019 3:17 pm

With diesel priced under a pound a litre in Spain and Ford Mondeos doing 70mpg, as against the main utility company ENDESA charging a fortune for electricity and having got solar cells banned on private houses, no wonder you never see a Tesla or Leaf on the roads here.

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Re: Rant of the Day v2.

#2210 Post by Fox3WheresMyBanana » Wed Sep 11, 2019 4:17 pm

Re: plumbers
There are few trades which have an excuse for poor timekeeping, but plumbing is one.
Having recently replaced my entire supply, vent and drain system, one really doesn't know what might need doing before one starts a job. It's also common to find that replacement parts are just the ones you don't have, since there's a wide variety. It's also a job that one usually can't suspend halfway through (for customer health reasons) and come back later, or where it is easy to accept or place a call (think of what the environment is, working in a dark, wet basement for example). None of this is as bad for, say, electricians or general builders.
I never schedule a time for plumbers. I tell them to come round when they are free, and I usually get a discount as a result.

That said, many people become tradespeople because they both hate and aren't good at the kind of math involved in scheduling. The success of a business often depends on the skills of the person you can reach, usually the wife at home.

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Re: Rant of the Day v2.

#2211 Post by Undried Plum » Wed Sep 11, 2019 4:25 pm

Capetonian wrote:
Tue Sep 10, 2019 10:17 pm
Tesla drivers won't be smirking when the electric goes off.
How to you think petrol pumps work? Clockwork? Steam?

My wonky wind turbine and solar array both go offline automatically in a power cut so the linemen and other repair crews don't get nipped, but I now have an automatic shunt which channels the power to the charger and to a pair of boilers which absorb the home-made wigglies.

Power cuts in this part of the world magically go away after 7hrs 58mins as after 8 hours the company would have to pay compensation for loss of service.

Of course I wish I had a ferkin great big batterypack for the house, but the costs are just silly.

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Re: Rant of the Day v2.

#2212 Post by Pontius Navigator » Wed Sep 11, 2019 4:31 pm

But a jerry can of diesel doesn't need electric to power it or cost a fortune to store.

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Re: Rant of the Day v2.

#2213 Post by Pontius Navigator » Wed Sep 11, 2019 4:35 pm

We used to get regular power cuts until they replaced several lines with one cable.

One night, we got the candles out. My car jump battery and light out. Caravan TV plugged in and cosy. Also had the rectifier in the car but only 120 watts so a bit limited.

Log burner, from Perth, kept everything cosy though.

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Re: Rant of the Day v2.

#2214 Post by Capetonian » Wed Sep 11, 2019 4:41 pm

I have seen fuel being pumped by hand in ZA in some small villages and rural areas where power is unstable. They use Blackomatic power.

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Re: Rant of the Day v2.

#2215 Post by Fox3WheresMyBanana » Wed Sep 11, 2019 4:41 pm

If only diesel generators were cheaper or more residentially-sized!
In practice, one needs a gas generator, and gas storage for even medium term is less easy.

I do have a battery pack for my electric boat, which I can use for the house in extremis. However, I picked up my batteries direct from the (excellent) manufacturers' door at a crazy discount, and very few can do that.
For my last outage, I used my small gas generator. I also have the advantage of needing gas storage for assorted other items, so it is routine for me.
We have a network of gas stations which have backup generators for their pumps, and this worked as advertised after this week's hurricane. Turns out there is also an impromptu network of coffee drive-thrus with backup power (hooked up to a tractor's generator in at least one case) - they do a lot of business! ;)))

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Re: Rant of the Day v2.

#2216 Post by CharlieOneSix » Wed Sep 11, 2019 5:08 pm

BT Executive Level Complaints phoned this morning and said Openreach had promised them my 5 week old line fault would be cleared today. Yet again neither the engineer nor the necessary contractors with a mini-digger turned up on site today. Nothing surprises me any more. Just keeping my powder dry and will let loose once it's fixed......
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Re: Rant of the Day v2.

#2217 Post by OFSO » Wed Sep 11, 2019 5:20 pm

On Monday our deLonghi espresso machine (big and expensive and years old) stopped producing the gallons of brown stuff we drink every day, although the pump was still going. Horrors ! Emergency !

Despite the storm I jumped in the car, rushed out, and spent €140 on a smaller espresso machine, same make.

This morning I decided I couldn't do any damage to the old one and started the mystery of dismantling it (no YouTube videos of our model available). After taking it apart, checking, and finding nothing wrong I started removing the VERY small bore hoses from the pump on, starting it up momentarily and getting soaked each time. Finally success: the pipe from the boiler to the coffee dispenser was blocked. Circlips out, hose detached, fine piece of wire pushed through and a miniscule piece of calcium emerged, grain-of-sand sized. All reassembled with needle-nose pliers, covers back on (eventually) topped up the tank and lo ! water emerged.

Ran two tanks of descaler thru it, then ditto plain water, then two excellent cups of espresso.

New machine back in its storage box for the next emergency, old machine (after a good polish) back in pride of place on countertop.

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Re: Rant of the Day v2.

#2218 Post by Pontius Navigator » Wed Sep 11, 2019 5:43 pm

We had a similar problem OFSO with a steam mop. Countless screws removed from plastic casing. Every piece of plastic that could be prised off prised off. Behind most pieces was a space with nothing in it, no screws, no seams, nothing. Finally concluded that it totally repair proof. Any further dismantling would have destroyed it.

Your years old was obviously before Chinese snap together plastic.

We got some garden furniture, awful design for Chinese. Little bits of plastic nut covers have fallen off so cheap Chinese nuts are rusty but the main flaw is the frame and seat fabric should last another 10 years at least :)

At my age 'safe life' takes on a whole new meaning. My Leatherman has only 5 years of guarantee left. My new Wolfe saw, well my daughter will be 80 when its warranty expires.

Best practice now is buy cheap Chinese rubbish and replace as required.

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Re: Rant of the Day v2.

#2219 Post by OFSO » Wed Sep 11, 2019 6:29 pm

Slight thread drift but we have gone thru a number of espresso machines and deLonghi are solidly built. Only need to pick them up and feel the weight. Some predecessors (French !) were positively dangerous, would never attempt a repair. I'm throwing out a Krups tomorrow, simple but primitive.

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Re: Rant of the Day v2.

#2220 Post by Pontius Navigator » Wed Sep 11, 2019 6:45 pm

We had a deLonghi electric kettle. First one some clown had broken the knob and stuck it on with super glue. It soon broke. The new lid lasted.

Over time we had a. buildup of line scale. One day, Mrs PN in a fit of enthusiasm cleaned the lime scale off. The kettle leaked like a sieve.

When we got married I brought va traditional Russell Hobbs stainless steel kettle into the marriage. Had had it 4 years. After 2 more years including a couple of boil dry where the plug got shot out it gave up the ghost.

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