MilesA Posted May 22, 2019 Posted May 22, 2019 Well, I didn't get the beer but I did have meal cooked for me in lieu which I will settle for. Although your thesis would be correct with the other daughter. In fact so persistent an advocate is she that I would have ended up buyer her a beer for the privilege of preparing her stuff! Miles
rogerguzzi Posted June 28, 2019 Posted June 28, 2019 Hello All Well another nice repair done this time something not elegant but needed!(the Toilet seat!!!) So there I am after our little jaunt to foreign parts and I thought this seat does not feel right as I manovered! So closer inspection (after a GOOD flushing) revealed a hinge about to let go! now the problem here is it is an older toilet and is a shade of grey plus we have about 30 people coming tomorrow for our 50th round. So a slight panic do I rush to B&Q and get something else but probably not what we like? No take out to the workshop and try and fix it as always so about 1.5hrs later there we are all fix with 2 strips of aluminium and a couple of 4mm screws and nuts. Now it should see me out and only the gents will see the repair when the seat is lifted! Roger ps and saved me £30/40 (but kids today would have ripped the downstairs toilet and shower out for a broken bog seat) I am right am I not? no photos this time!!!
JohnD Posted June 30, 2019 Posted June 30, 2019 On a less basic note, I have been plagued by the attatchment of a sink plug to the chain, which is one of those 'string of balls' chains. A tiny, thin piece of metal, pierced and folded (TTPMPF) was all it came with, and it kept letting go as I pulled theplug out. Pliers restored the shape of the TTPMPF, but it only let go again. Now a short length of locking wire and my self twisting wiring pliers have, I hope, fixed it for good! JOhn
Chris W Posted July 1, 2019 Posted July 1, 2019 On 6/28/2019 at 8:16 PM, rogerguzzi said: Hello All Well another nice repair done this time something not elegant but needed!(the Toilet seat!!!) So there I am after our little jaunt to foreign parts and I thought this seat does not feel right as I manovered! So closer inspection (after a GOOD flushing) revealed a hinge about to let go! now the problem here is it is an older toilet and is a shade of grey plus we have about 30 people coming tomorrow for our 50th round. So a slight panic do I rush to B&Q and get something else but probably not what we like? No take out to the workshop and try and fix it as always so about 1.5hrs later there we are all fix with 2 strips of aluminium and a couple of 4mm screws and nuts. Now it should see me out and only the gents will see the repair when the seat is lifted! Roger ps and saved me £30/40 (but kids today would have ripped the downstairs toilet and shower out for a broken bog seat) I am right am I not? no photos this time!!! I admire your thrift Roger and that time was short but a pair of replacement chrome hinges are a fiver on ebay.
rogerguzzi Posted July 2, 2019 Posted July 2, 2019 10 hours ago, Chris W said: I admire your thrift Roger and that time was short but a pair of replacement chrome hinges are a fiver on ebay. Hello Chris But they would have been on show my repair is not seen unless the seat is up and I am £5 better off (or not worse off)that's a bottle of vino!!! Roger
JohnD Posted July 3, 2019 Posted July 3, 2019 Nearly half of that fiver is tax, Roger. Try to spend a little more? £7-8 IMHE makes for a much nicer wine! John
rogerguzzi Posted July 3, 2019 Posted July 3, 2019 5 hours ago, JohnD said: Nearly half of that fiver is tax, Roger. Try to spend a little more? £7-8 IMHE makes for a much nicer wine! John Hello John Silly me I was still on Spanish prices! Roger
JohnD Posted July 8, 2019 Posted July 8, 2019 Sometimes there are things that just shouldn't be 'fixed'. Went to watch TV on Sunday, nothing. Tried re-scanning the stations - there's recently been a redistributuion of channels, it seems - nothing. Message -"Weak signal". So it's TV repair man time. He came today, looked at the aerial lead - AND SHOOK WATER OUT OF IT!!! His diagnosis - a leaking cable, probably due to wear against a roof tile. He referred me to his colleague who climbs on roofs. His demonstration was even more dramatic - he cut the cable outside - and a stream of water fell out! So new cable, and new aerial, as the old one was an antique, however well it worked, and we have a nice picture again. OK, I suppose I could have replaced the cable, but not me up on that roof! John
Janner Posted July 8, 2019 Posted July 8, 2019 1 hour ago, JohnD said: OK, I suppose I could have replaced the cable, but not me up on that roof! John John Come on, I look at your avatar and it just shouts 'find me a roof' John
Nick Jones Posted July 8, 2019 Author Posted July 8, 2019 5 minutes ago, Janner said: Come on, I look at your avatar and it just shouts 'find me a roof' Not sure gorillas a great climbers though, especially the silverbacks - too big and heavy. Chimps and orangutans much more so, though I think the big male orangs get a bit heavy too. This one will still do trees if pushed - not that fond of pitched roofs though...... This morning's little trial was no hot water as the immersion heater had not come on. This is supposed to be switched automatically by a solar switch which is part of our PV system, but that box of trickery was claiming that the heater was in short circuit. It continued to do this with the heater isolated and refused to reset so go the off-wait-on treatment - which solved the problem. Presumably it had some electronic TIA event in the night...… Hopefully it won't do it again as it wasn't cheap! Management was displeased by her "very tepid" shower...…..
JohnD Posted July 8, 2019 Posted July 8, 2019 (edited) TIOATIBOA - Turn it off and turn it back on again. I was shocked a while ago, when still at work, when in response to a call to IT about the way my desk top was misbehaving, that was the advice. "Surely that's for idiots, who don't know to turn it on in the first place?" "No! It often works!" And it did, and I've done it many times since. John, when I was first brought to civilisation, I was wild (I was FURIOUS!), but since, I've learnt to shave (all over) wear a suit, and have got a bit, well, bulky! Trees and roofs are in my past! John Edited July 8, 2019 by JohnD
mpbarrett Posted July 31, 2019 Posted July 31, 2019 Jaguar Parts..... My wife has a very pretty 4.2L XK8, it has a switch near the gear shift that puts it into 'Sport mode' tightens up the suspension and makes the engine even faster, should really be called the fun button... Its a simple plastic button that latches up or down (think retractable pen mechanism). It had stuck so you could not get it into Sport mode. I thought that cant cost much but had forgotten the Jag tax, this is a super inflated version of the TR tax! One specialist had one in stock for a £120.00, even £70 for NOS on ebay.... SO out with the switch, 30 min in the garage stripping it down, trying not to loose the springs, and cleaned out all the old dried grease and its back in and working perfectly Very satisfying. BTW Its a lovely grand tourer and we have taken it all the way down to Modena (ironically to visit the Ferrari museum), really at home blasting around Europe but not as fast as an MX5 up Stelvio, ok on the straights but its a big car around the hairpins. Mike
Janner Posted July 31, 2019 Posted July 31, 2019 41 minutes ago, mpbarrett said: BTW Its a lovely grand tourer and we have taken it all the way down to Modena (ironically to visit the Ferrari museum), really at home blasting around Europe but not as fast as an MX5 up Stelvio, ok on the straights but its a big car around the hairpins. Bugger the MX5 Mike, what a nice Jag I'm envious! My (elder) sister has just taken delivery of a beautiful Blue, 3L F Type soft top. The noise is lovely and I'm hoping against hope that, as she is 70 (her 8th decade I reminded her today) this year, she may decide to pass it on to her favourite brother!
Nick Jones Posted July 31, 2019 Author Posted July 31, 2019 20 minutes ago, Janner said: I'm hoping against hope that, as she is 70 (her 8th decade I reminded her today) this year, she may decide to pass it on to her favourite brother! Not fancying your chances that much........ but hope is what keeps us going! 1 hour ago, mpbarrett said: SO out with the switch, 30 min in the garage stripping it down, trying not to loose the springs, and cleaned out all the old dried grease and its back in and working perfectly Very satisfying. Top work Mike. I would like to be able to report similar success for the repair of a slightly similar (and also ridiculously priced) fuel cap release button on Senior Managements Mk1 TT. However, it has suffered a plastic fracture in a designed-to-fail-area. It still sort of works, but incautious use can fire the button across the car, usually into an awkward corner and no button means no refuelling.....
JohnD Posted August 1, 2019 Posted August 1, 2019 10 hours ago, mpbarrett said: Jaguar Parts..... I thought that cant cost much but had forgotten the Jag tax, this is a super inflated version of the TR tax! One specialist had one in stock for a £120.00, even £70 for NOS on ebay.... Well done, Mike! Jag tax? Nothing compared with Citroen tax! My C5 has a little plastic trim on the doors, that surrounds the lock. Not that anyone uses a lock, these days. The trim fell off (!). Citroen will only sell a new one as part of a complete door lock mechanism, for £370! Silly, I've dealt with other parts myself with new replacements, like a failed windscreen wiper motor for less than half that. The trim just glues on, so an easy fix. I've had enquiries out at various online breakers but never had an offer, maybe because I've never seen a C5 in a breakers yard. So the lock goes naked. John
richy_rich Posted August 1, 2019 Posted August 1, 2019 I'm yet to play with one but I wonder how useful these new-fangled 3d printers will come in for fixing this sort of stuff in the future.. From what I've seen there's a huge community effort sharing 'shapes' (e.g. thingiverse/yeggi) to print out and a very cursory glance from work shows that some 'parts' are already available e.g. https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-honda-seat-belt-button-86-91 OK, that one it's a bit roiugh looking, but a colleague has one and the stuff he's shown me looks much better.. Actually, since starting writing this I've almost decided to get one, the only thing holding me back are my 3d CAD design skills which I know are poor
mpbarrett Posted August 1, 2019 Posted August 1, 2019 Maybe 3D printing is the answer if you can get the dimensions of the broken part. The only down side is the quality (resolution) and strength of the 3D part. Very much you get what you pay for, a cheap one is useful to learn how to use them and to master the 3D drawing but you need a good quality one to produce replacement parts. Having said that I am tempted to get one to try, I had access to a very good quality one when I was working so it spoilt me for the cheap ones. Citroen Tax sounds worse that the Jag Tax. However I might have found an even higher tax rate... Our 13A mains charging cable for our Golf GTE Hybrid has broken cant even get a quote for a new cable until they plug the car into a laptop (£65.00) to tell me the cable has broken which I already know...... More about that later.. Mike
JohnD Posted August 1, 2019 Posted August 1, 2019 I'm sure you're right about 'additive manufacturing' (AM), but the cost is still high. To replace an existing, but lost part, the obvious and easier answer is to laser scan another identical part, or else the one from the other side and make it as a mirror image. But we're still into at least £2K for a scanner, or £100 to have a small item scanned, and then then a high-res 3D printer will cost twice as much. The cost is never going to fall far enough to make buying the kit for a one-off part economical. Rather, the cost saving for manufacturers and dealers as it would vastly reduce inventory by making stocks of spare parts unnecessary, will be enough for them to invest in high quality machines, that can produce copies from the original drawings. However, I doubt if the AM quality is yet as high as they can achieve from their present technology. A different question is parts for obsolete vehicles. Already, the broken engine block of a unique 1914 de Large racing car has been scanned, repaired virtually, a mould made by AM tech and a new block cast. The car is now running again. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-27/saving-the-last-delage-type-s-grand-prix-car/8310958 Recently on the TSSC board there was a thread on making an unobtainable door lock part by AM, led by Adrian Cooper and son Louis. https://forum.tssc.org.uk/topic/2577-ok-how-practical-is-it-to-generate-and-develop-3d-parts/?page=2 Success was announced and allegedly a plan by the TSSC to take the technology solution forward to make unobtanium parts, but as usual, they treat such ideas as Top Secret, no news has emerged and I suspect they have forgotten about it. John
DeTRacted Posted August 1, 2019 Posted August 1, 2019 Is it this bit you need John? https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Genuine-CITROEN-C4-Picasso-C5-08-Door-Handle-End-Cap-With-Chrome/649985299?iid=223474357865&chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&itemid=223474357865&targetid=519689845627&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9046067&poi=&campaignid=2068027898&mkgroupid=78029382442&rlsatarget=pla-519689845627&abcId=1139106&merchantid=9860074&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzt62pLDh4wIVS0HTCh1sGQKbEAkYAiABEgL1bPD_BwE
richy_rich Posted August 1, 2019 Posted August 1, 2019 1 hour ago, JohnD said: To replace an existing, but lost part, the obvious and easier answer is to laser scan another identical part, or else the one from the other side and make it as a mirror image. But we're still into at least £2K for a scanner, or £100 to have a small item scanned, and then then a high-res 3D printer will cost twice as much. That's one approach, but to me the most obvious and cheaper answer is to measure it and draw the part yourself and crank it out on a 300 quid 3d printer from amazon. Consumer printers aren't *that* low res these days and a bit of futzing with some wet and dry paper should sort most imperfections. Admittedly your approach would give better results, but if it's to replace a piece that's not visible then resolution and exact dimensions don't even really matter as long as it's functional. My concern would be how suitable the material would be, I guess it depends which feed stock you use and what the application is but I can think of plenty of non-critical things I could print up for the race car such as vents/ducts, wee mounting brackets, loom mounts, lugs etc. where I'm sure the output from a consumer level 3d printer would be fine (can always print more)
JohnD Posted August 1, 2019 Posted August 1, 2019 But very, very slow! Overnight at least to make one part. Surely you could make up, say a bracket or some loom anchors from sheet alloy in half that time? It's fun doing things a new way, but everyone has to factor in their time and effort. And I've made quite a few GRP parts. Always did so from flame resistant resin. Is there a flame resistant plastic feedstock for these things? John
richy_rich Posted August 1, 2019 Posted August 1, 2019 Of course I could and do... But it's much less futuristic that way.. Yes, there's flame resistant stuff also stuff that looks a lot like chemical metal, but I really don't know much about it all I just find it interesting (and a bit geeky).
Adrian Cooper Posted August 1, 2019 Posted August 1, 2019 2 hours ago, JohnD said: Recently on the TSSC board there was a thread on making an unobtainable door lock part by AM, led by Adrian Cooper and son Louis. https://forum.tssc.org.uk/topic/2577-ok-how-practical-is-it-to-generate-and-develop-3d-parts/?page=2 Success was announced and allegedly a plan by the TSSC to take the technology solution forward to make unobtanium parts, but as usual, they treat such ideas as Top Secret, no news has emerged and I suspect they have forgotten about it. Well remembered John. We heard nothing from the TSSC but Louis uploaded his 3d plans to the online 3D printing service Shapeways where about 25 of the parts have been ordered, some in ABS plastic but most in metal https://www.shapeways.com/product/4FDV2ZPUP/spitfire-door-control-rod-outer-door-handle-lh?optionId=63458914&li=marketplace This seems to be the way forward; have the part copied and then printed by an online service in whatever material you want, from soft rubbery stuff to 24 carat gold. The creation of the 3D file is the difficult bit but 3D scanning is now as easy as taking loads of pictures with a good DSLR from all angles and uploading the pictures to an online service which produces the 3D file from them (some editing will be needed). Louis has done this with great success for a variety of bizarre commissions. Adrian
JohnD Posted August 1, 2019 Posted August 1, 2019 Wow! Not ssurprised to hear that the TSSC wasn't enterprising, but that the tech has advanced much further than I thought. Just a bunch of multi-angled pics in HiDef to make a CAD model? Could you extend this into a service for Sideways? After all, you have the experience and contacts. Anyone have an unobtainable part that Adrian and Louis could make? I suppose you would need a model. Even a broken part, mended with glue, or a mirror image part? JOhn
Adrian Cooper Posted August 1, 2019 Posted August 1, 2019 5 hours ago, JohnD said: Just a bunch of multi-angled pics in HiDef to make a CAD model? Yes! I was really sceptical when Louis first tried this, especially when he set the model (a full size horse racing saddle) up in the middle of our conservatory with complex and, frankly, cluttered surroundings. Louis explained that having complicated backgrounds was actually desirable as it helped the software to link the pictures together and orientate them in 3 dimensions. Louis is away with friends at the moment but I will suggest that he re-visits his classic car parts service. However, I'm afraid that his experience with the TSSC might have put him off, despite the regular small monies he receives from Shapeways, he was not impressed by their lack of response to his work. He may actually be out of our league now too as he often earns more than me per month despite being just 17. Still can't keep his bedroom tidy.
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