What did you do today (2015)

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

On the subject of stirling cycle coolers.

A large ( jerry and ben?)..icecream company is investing in stirling cycle freezers.

While thermo acoustic Stirling coolers are being developed to liquefy methane ..powered by the heat in part from the raw gas…sounds a bit like magic… looks awfully like it too…

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

Bees again, today i completed my winterisation of the bee hives by wrapping the sides with red plastic flashing that is used on roadworks, this deters the Green Woodpecker from attacking the hives. I have already fitted mouse guards to the entrances as I had 2 attacks last winter where mice entered and made nests in weak hives. The bees are still active flying out on cleansing flights as they have been kept in by the rain. There is nothing being collected as I watched any bees coming in , but they had no pollen in their corbicles. They did not seem bothered as I worked around the hive, the temperature will drop soon and they will be clustered in the hive and as it gets colder the cluster will contract to keep warm. I noticed 2 hives have sealed the entrance for about half the length with propalis, a sure sign that they expect cold weather soon. I now have to find some house bricks to weight down the roofs against strong winds.

Clive

[Phil WhitleyParticipant @philwhitley94135]

Spent the day fixing my workshop roof where next doors rats have chewed their way through it, YUCK! Tomorow I take down all the roof insulation to make sure they are not still in residence. OH FEKKIN JOY!!

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

I am one of the VW owners affected by all the problems that have arisen from the present troubles with engine exhaust pollution.

My car was given the software upgrade a few weeks back and since then it is a totally different car. The engine response on pressing down the accelerator is very poor, it needs to be down at least halfway before the engine responds whereas before it was responding as soon as you touched the pedal. The engine appears to be very, 'Woolly' in response and the acceleration time is now longer. This means quite careful anticipation of your place on the road regarding other cars. It is my feeling that the mpg has dropped too.

I have also engaged with Leigh day who are spearheading a legal claim at VW who have been tardy in responding to the claim here in the UK. In the US they have (VW) offered $500 to owners to spend as they wish and $500 to spend in VW garages. This of course likely to be rejected by the legal eagles who are representing the US driver of VW's.

All together now, I am not a happy bunny.

Clive

[Jon GibbsParticipant @jongibbs59756]

Posted by Clive Hartland on 11/11/2015 08:26:06:

I am one of the VW owners affected by all the problems that have arisen from the present troubles with engine exhaust pollution.

My car was given the software upgrade a few weeks back and since then it is a totally different car. The engine response on pressing down the accelerator is very poor, it needs to be down at least halfway before the engine responds whereas before it was responding as soon as you touched the pedal. The engine appears to be very, 'Woolly' in response and the acceleration time is now longer. This means quite careful anticipation of your place on the road regarding other cars. It is my feeling that the mpg has dropped too.

Sorry to hear that it's so bad Clive – it was never going to result in anything other than worse fuel consumption and poorer performance but that sounds significantly worse than I'd expected.

It would be interesting to know whether you could refuse the "upgrade". I'm anticipating a similar call.

Jon

[Danny M2ZParticipant @dannym2z]

Tested my 9 year old C3 Minilathe (after reading of Brian John's tribulations and Hopper's remedies).

After minimising the X-slide errors, the dti revealed that the carriage gibs (brass) had a little play and the X-slide gibs were allowing the slide to lift slightly. So I got stuck into it (thunderstorms outside).

Carriage gibs adjusted in-situ by using a cut down Allen key ¤

Inspected X-slide gib wear pattern and lapped away few small ridges, tested with bearing blue ¤

Added 3 small ball bearings under X-slide cup-point gib adjusting screws – now it's smooth ¤

Lapped and scraped away a few small ridges under tailstock V groove.

Put a 12" length of 3/4" steel bar in the 3-jaw and leaned on it while watching the dti, 0.01mm, not bad! ¤

Put 3MT centre in headstock spindle, 2MT dead centre in tailstock and tried a razor blade test ¤

After 9 years of regular use, a bit of fettling and some TLC the little C3 just gets better.

Just to test the new set-up I treated the tailstock to a new toy ¤

* Danny M *

 

 

Edited By Danny M2Z on 11/11/2015 09:39:39

[Eric CoxParticipant @ericcox50497]

Converting my LPs to MP3. Didn't realise how much rubbish I had bought when I was a teenager.

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

It would be interesting to know whether you could refuse the VW "upgrade". I'm anticipating a similar call.Jon

You probably can, but it may be an MOT fail until it gets done

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Posted by Ady1 on 11/11/2015 10:08:40:

It would be interesting to know whether you could refuse the VW "upgrade". I'm anticipating a similar call.Jon

You probably can, but it may be an MOT fail until it gets done

Why would that be? My 140HP Skoda has just passed its MOT – I've had the letter but no mod yet. The emissions are going to be no worse than they are now but the real CO2 emissions may belong to a higher tax band which is probably what the downgrade will attempt to fix.

Clive, which engine do you have? I'm afraid your comments are what I have been fearing for after the fix.

Rod

[Eric CoxParticipant @ericcox50497]

The "suspect" software altered the Nitrogen Oxide levels (NOx) not CO2. The MOT doesn't test for NOx.

[Gordon TarlingParticipant @gordontarling37126]

Those of you who have a VW or similar engine that's affected by the problems and subsequent recall should contact a reputable tuning company who ought to be able to re-map the ECU for either performance, economy or a blend of both. Cost is likely to be £200 – £300, so might be covered by your compensation payout. Check any company's credentials thoroughly, particularly to ensure that the MOT emissions test requirements will be met. Sorry, I can't recommend any particular company right now, but I have used Celtic Tuning in the past for a remap on a Mercedes, so probably worth a call to them.

Gordon

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

Hello Rod, it is a Passat. Blue Motion 2 ltr. engine. I too feel that i would like to go back to the original software set up. I have already had a bust up with them regarding another matter where they would not accept a warranty repair.

Clive

Edited By Clive Hartland on 11/11/2015 11:14:58

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

> it was never going to result in anything other than worse fuel consumption and poorer performance but that sounds significantly worse than I'd expected.

I suspect that the poor fuel consumption will be owners being 'heavy footed' trying to recapture the lost performance.

> re-map the ECU for either performance, economy or a blend of both

I suspect that all VW's official 'upgrade' is is a remap in the other direction.

> After 9 years of regular use, a bit of fettling and some TLC the little C3 just gets better.

Ah, a new one. Mine is dated 1998

Neil

[Jon GibbsParticipant @jongibbs59756]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 11/11/2015 14:42:00:

> it was never going to result in anything other than worse fuel consumption and poorer performance but that sounds significantly worse than I'd expected.

I suspect that the poor fuel consumption will be owners being 'heavy footed' trying to recapture the lost performance.

Well you may be right, but from what I heard, the NOx conversion process requires a proportion of unburned fuel to enter the exhaust system which is why I thought the fuel consumption was bound to be hit.

Jon

[Roderick JenkinsParticipant @roderickjenkins93242]

Posted by Eric Cox on 11/11/2015 11:10:06:

The "suspect" software altered the Nitrogen Oxide levels (NOx) not CO2. The MOT doesn't test for NOx.

I understand that but a change to the engine performance to minimise NOx is likely to reduce both CO2 emission and fuel consumption – at least to my suspicious mind.

Rod

[Jon GibbsParticipant @jongibbs59756]

Posted by Ady1 on 11/11/2015 10:08:40:

It would be interesting to know whether you could refuse the VW "upgrade". I'm anticipating a similar call.Jon

You probably can, but it may be an MOT fail until it gets done

…but the "dodgy" software is supposed to detect when a test is being performed and give the right response.

So, unless the MOT test is altered my guess is that it'll do just fine when tested.

Jon

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

< Warning; this is a Tea Room gossip post >

Intrigued by the Vauhall Zafira fires, I found this thread from 2012

Any thoughts ?

MichaelG.

.

Edit: here is the ITV News page which includes a copy of the recall letter.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 12/11/2015 21:53:18

[MuzzerParticipant @muzzer]

One for Neil here!

I bought an Arduino Uno R3 and a couple of H-bridge driver "shields"(??) from China on Monday afternoon. They arrived on Thursday morning (wow) but will probably have to sit on my desk for several days. Why? Because they use the good old fashioned "B" type USB cable which are like hen's teeth these days. I must have thrown dozens of these out over the years – they used to come free with every printer and USB device. Nowadays everything is Micro USB or possibly even Mini USB.

Luckily our IT guy has a box full of old cables so I won't have to get fleeced at Maplin. Funny that they still come with an obsolete connector. The youngsters probably think of them as "Arduino USB" connectors.

Looking forward to getting it up and running at some point….

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Along one of the grass banks of the M25 I saw a yellow jacketed dude just standing and about 50 ft away a sort of go cart. Turned out to be a radio controlled mower. I guess it saves the safety cage and has lighter loading and generally can be used o steeper slopes instead of the gang with strimmers.

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

Probably the fastest thing on there!

[David Clark 13Participant @davidclark13]

Does that mean there is no longer three men sitting in yellow lorries reading newspapers while one man does all the work?

Edited By David Clark 1 on 13/11/2015 18:28:44

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Posted by V8Eng on 13/11/2015 18:19:04:

Probably the fastest thing on there!

normally but just when I would have preferred to be at a standstill to examine it we were rocketing along at over 30. Probably get a speeding ticket.

[Tim ChambersParticipant @timchambers76147]

Quite a few out there.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

It was 36C (98F) in the shed by lunchtime today, and 70 per cent humidity, so I'm inside doing a bit of armchair engineering. Got a big stack of old MEW's to work through. A C3 to set up in the air-conditioned spare bedroom is sounding better and better all the time.

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Ha Tim

Thanks! They have recently built a link road near here – it is through a cutting and has very steep banks. I wondered how they would cut this – and now I know!

Norman

[Author]

Posts