Member postings for John Doe 2

These domestic LED down-lighters I used in the house are awesome. Completely self contained - mains in, 700 lumens out; nothing else required, except to mount them suitably. Sealed to IP 54, so no worries about dust or metal filings getting in. Choice of two colour temperatures. Claimed 30,000 hour life.

Flange and clips could be used to mount them or be removed.

No connection with the company.

Edited By John Doe 2 on 22/10/2022 10:31:35

Nothing, except I don't have a workshop yet. No bench grinder, nor probably the ability to regrind precision flat tips. And would I ruin the temper by overheating them? Too many imponderables !

So the flat tips will be bent over to become mini pry bars, (I already have another old flat tip for opening paint tins), and the Pozis will be turned to thin conical ends, (somehow - not worked that out yet, having no lathe), one to act as a podger and one bent 90° to become a hose release tool, to break the stuck hose ends when removing car radiator hoses from their stuck-on connections.

Both will have to wait until I have built and equipped the workshop, but at least I know not to throw them away. I thought the old steel might be worth keeping hold of.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Edited By John Doe 2 on 22/10/2022 10:14:50

Looking for some advice please.

These screwdrivers have been my faithful companions through several house renovations, car maintenance and numerous other projects over about 20 years.

They are now worn so they are starting to cam-out of screw-heads, and have all been replaced. However, rather than throwing them away, I am going to make the flat bits into mini pry bars by bending the tips over by 45 - 90° or so.

Two questions: what is the best way to bend the tips? I only have a butane blow lamp, a vice and a sledge hammer. Presumably I can heat to a dull red or orange then bend the tips over? Should I then quench and if so, into water or oil?

Secondly, what if anything, could I use the pozidrives for? Are the metal shafts any good to keep in stock for anything?

Thanks.

Edited By John Doe 2 on 20/10/2022 12:00:38

Just thinking aloud:

Structure aside, this is a difficult legal situation. If the bridge were to collapse as the "lady" was crossing it, no doubt she would sue you for damage to her vehicle, and/or personal injury.

I wonder what the legal definition of 'access' is in this case. Footpath, bridle path or vehicle roadway.

A possible option might be to remove the decking completely, and replace it with a person-wide path on one of the beams. You and her sheep could then cross the river, (on foot). When you start renovating the derelict, you can temporarily replace the full decking.

A shame that you (presumably) cannot charge a toll.

Depending on the legal view of the 'access' in this case, I wonder if you could put a locked gate across the bridge with "Unsafe Structure" signage, and tell the "lady" that funds are needed to replace the decking, and she needs to contribute a reasonable proportion of that cost.

Edited By John Doe 2 on 20/10/2022 10:52:38

McDonalds claim that the burger is just minced meat, nothing else, and I have no reason to doubt them. The fish burger is a pleasant enough product - just like a big square fish finger. I have probably eaten at MacDonalds about 5 times in my life.

What you have to watch is the sauces, and the bread buns, which contain a lot of sugar. So do the milkshakes, and the cokes, and the apple tart thing.

And the fries have an horrific amount of salt on them. And they add salt to the coke to disguise the huge amount of sugar in those.

Sugar and salt are the real problem; both have serious detrimental effects on our long term health.

As to why people eat there, well it is a very consistent product, not real food but pleasant enough in an 'emergency', although I personally don't indulge. Advertising helps of course, and faced with the archetypal cramped, rough and ready English 'greasy spoon' café (which closes at 5), or a big clean shiny MacDonalds, open 'till 10, many folk choose the latter, (which is often also cheaper).

Many years ago I was in Japan, where the restaurants often have a little display cabinet outside containing plastic models of the food they serve. So customers like me who couldn't speak any Japanese could point to what they wanted. We were really amused to notice that even MacDonalds in Japan have a little display cabinet with models of a big Mac etc !

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Edited By John Doe 2 on 19/10/2022 12:07:26

I remember years ago a colleague asked on our work forum which was the best mobile network, (UK). I answered vodafone, since they do have the best network - from a radio coverage point of view. I got flamed because it wasn't the cheapest, or the one with the most pointless freebies or add-ons.

But in 24 years with vodafone I have always had a signal when I needed it apart from literally a couple of times in remote locations. Most of the time the vodafone network is very reliable. (Just a happy customer).

These days cellphones have a setting to enable them to use your house Wi-Fi to make and receive phone calls. Well iPhones do, I would assume other makes do too.

Regarding the OP's problem; is there not a neighbour with a camera phone or web camera who would let you use it for half an hour and a couple of beers? Or your local library or internet café perhaps ?

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Edited By John Doe 2 on 18/10/2022 15:28:48

If you can submerge the parts, then normal household clothes washing powder works quite well. Add Bold powder or whatever, and soak for a few days, agitating it every time you walk past.

Well, frankly, that is ageist.

Airline pilots, (I am one, but unemployed airline-wise), can fly until aged 65; as long as they pass their annual CAA medical*, and their twice yearly, two day Simulator exams.

* Includes hearing and vision tests.

Being forced into early retirement, partly as a result of Covid; I volunteered for the RNLI lifeboats. I lived a 5 minute jog from the lifeboat station and have been around boats and water all my life. Being retired meant that I was available 24/7 and would not have to take time off from a workplace. I thought it would be fun and interesting as well as being useful.

I did an interview on zoom with two interviewers. One of the first questions was "what is your age?", and it turns out that their top limit for the lifeboats is 55. (I was a couple of years over that at the time).

How stupid is that? Someone who is 54 but has only one leg, or who couldn't swim would be no good for the lifeboats, so it's not age they should be looking at but physicality, fitness, and health - all things that I score highly on, along with a virtually fat-free body and a low BMI. (daily intensive exercises and a weekly 10km run, along with healthy eating).

A physical ability test is what they should do, not use an arbitrary age limit. They asked me nothing about the sea, tides, weather, boats etc, (all of which I knew), just my age. Ridiculous and frankly, by barring older but fit people; a waste of a good resource

A hole too close for the bolt head: a school-boy error, which we all make from time to time !

Use a side cutting tool bit* and 'slot' the holes diagonally out towards the corners, keeping the width of the slot the same as the diameter you require, but thus allowing room for the bolt head and a washer.

(@MG: The picture of the bolt hole might look oval, but that is almost certainly owing to the distortion caused by the wide angle lens of the camera and the angle the shot was taken from.)

*I don't know the correct term.

Edited By John Doe 2 on 13/10/2022 10:14:43

By coincidence I have just been changing my bathroom down-lighters for LED units, and have found some really good ones.

They are by Xcite in Worcestershire; order code: XCBDL10WW. I got mine from City Electrical Factors: CEF, and they are available on line. There are two colour temperatures available. 115mm diameter, including the flange, and 82mm in length.

They are completely sealed to IP54 - the LEDs are integral and not plug-in - and are double insulated and self contained: mains in, no external driver required. Plastic housing with a flange on the front. I am sure they could be easily adapted by removing the side clips and mounting to a bracket for machine work.

They give out an astonishing amount of bright light - 700 lumens - and the LEDs are mounted behind a diffuser layer, so are shadow free. A claimed 30,000 hour life with a 3 year warranty.

By spinning my variable speed hand-held battery drill close under one of the lights, I can just make out a weak strobe effect at some speeds, but I don't know if that would be a problem on a large machine tool.

I have no connection to Xcite or CEF.

Edited By John Doe 2 on 12/10/2022 11:31:57

Tricky to get copperslip in between the threads of an already sheared bolt though.......

Lots of videos on Youtube about removing sheared bolts/screws. Most involve heat, or drilling, or both. And penetrating fluid. As an example; you could go to Abom79 and search his videos for seized bolt removal.

Edited By John Doe 2 on 11/10/2022 21:52:32

Allendale tell me that the 3L model I purchased has an operating noise level of 82-86dBA. Which seems about what I am hearing.

The operating noise initially sounded as if a transformer core or transducer was loose, but after a few cycles, the noise has settled down to a much more refined buzz rather than an "angry ragged loose core noise", so I guess the transducers have bedded in now.

Allendale have very good service, you can easily email them with questions and receive intelligent replies from real people.

I have to say the cleaning is remarkable: for example: an old rusty, dirty, soft faced hammer of my Dad's I was about to throw away has come up looking almost new, all the old paint and dirt that would not come off simply disappeared after using the degreaser solution and two 20 minute cleaning cycles, and all the rust - and I mean all the rust - has completely gone in the de-rust solution. I wish now I had taken before and after photos.

The cleaning fluids Allendale sell are really good too - a range specifically formulated for different cleaning tasks.

No connection to Allendale at all, just a happy customer.

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Edited By John Doe 2 on 10/10/2022 17:14:46

Ah, thank you for the clarification. I stand corrected.

I once wanted to do a gentle bit of SCUBA diving on holiday in Australia, and answered truthfully about having had bronchitis, aged 5, (about 40 years previously at the time). I had done a SCUBA diving course in the UK, but did not have any paperwork with me. The fact that I had been perfectly fit in the many years since the bronchitis; with no medical issues whatsoever relating to my lungs, and the fact I am very fit and run 10km every week, did not sway them.

So I just snorkelled instead, and actually, I noticed the SCUBA class were all kneeling on the bottom doing mask-off, mask-on, and mask clearing drills, which is SCUBA diving basics. I would have wanted to actually look at the wildlife down there, not do basic drills, so a lucky escape for me I suppose.

It was P&O who just sacked 800 staff and hired cheaper staff from elsewhere, so I wouldn't give them my money in principle - even if I had it.

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Edited By John Doe 2 on 08/10/2022 15:53:37

I come from a time when there was ice on the inside of the bedroom windows in the mornings, so I quite agree with putting on a jumper indoors rather than running a tropical household.

Our house thermostat is currently set to 13° C and that is perfectly adequate for us. But the boiler also heats the hot water, so it sometimes needs to come on before we have our showers etc. and it is nice if the bathroom is not also icy cold when one is in one's birthday suit ! In the summer there is no need for the boiler to run in the morning though - the house thermostat takes care of that automatically.

Regarding a boiler anticipating when you get up; as part of my house renovation work, I am going to add a switch by our bed to turn our boiler on remotely, if required, without having to get up and walk all the way downstairs !

The non-electronic radiator valves, (TRVs) I was talking about are fitted to the radiators themselves, and are mechanical but still automatic - operated by wax capsules I think? - like the so-called "thermostats" in car engines. You set a required temperature and the valve will automatically regulate to maintain that, as far as it can. Saves a lot of money because the house thermostat cannot "see" all the individual room temperatures, so can overheat a non-regulated bathroom, for example, and waste gas.

One thing that can happen to heating systems is that there is not sufficient inhibitor fluid circulating, so internal corrosion occurs and radiator valves etc. can get blocked up or be prevented from moving.

In the last two houses I have owned, I have seen this and completely flushed the systems out and added inhibitor. I also fitted cyclone type filters for the circulating central heating water. These 'filters' actually have a cyclone and a very strong magnet. The cyclone spins out any debris, and the magnet collects the iron and steel particles - preventing them from blocking valves. Every 6 months or so, you can isolate the unit and clean out the collected debris.

The last house I did this in, the (combination) boiler was not working very well, and I discovered that its internal valves were full of these corrosion debris particles, which were blocking valves open or closed, and preventing correct operation.

Inhibitor and a cyclone filter costs way less than the cost of having to have a new boiler fitted.

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Edited By John Doe 2 on 07/10/2022 10:16:13

OK, thank you. Well I am using my Allendale cleaner exactly according to the instructions: Using their cleaning solution, diluted and heated to the instructions, de-gassing the solution, using a basket.

I have done a foil test and a few holes appeared, but not very many.

But I hadn't expected it to be so loud in operation. It sounds to me like a loose transformer element, and I am wondering if one of the 40kHz transducers is loose or something?

Just bought an Allendale 3L ultrasonic cleaner. Great service.

Never having used an ultrasonic cleaner before, how loud should they be in operation? Mine really needs ear defenders to stand next to it while it's cleaning.

I assumed it would be fairly quiet, since I definitely cannot hear 40kHz ! but it makes quite a loud buzzing. There are also almost no bubbles produced in the cleaning solution. Should I expect any?

I have emailed Allendale, but just wondering if others could comment on their own cleaners for comparison.

I am amazed, Vic. Do you literally turn the heating on and off manually, without using the thermostat or a timer?

What about in the morning before you get up? That can't be what you meant.

The reason for not having a thermostat in the same space as a TRV is that if the TRV shuts off the radiator at a lower temperature than the room thermostat is set for, the boiler will keep running, to try to satisfy the thermostat, but with the TRV shut, all that will achieve is to keep the circulating water hot, thus wasting gas.

Likewise if the thermostat is in a space with no radiator, the whole house will have to warm up to trip the thermostat, unless it is set low.

Sorry to hear about Drayton TRVs. I have never had trouble. Have they gone downhill, to a lower quality?

I personally don't like having things relating to me being potentially visible on the internet, via Wi-Fi. Who knows who is snooping; logging when you are probably on holiday, because your heating has been turned down or off for two weeks?

Also, Apps and computer devices usually need navigating through menus and often have passwords - which need to be remembered. Not usually an impediment to those of us with an engineering mind, but can be very difficult for some users. An old-style electronic controller with on/off times is much easier (and far quicker) to understand and re-programme.

I am surprised that some houses don't appear to have a house thermostat, and occupiers have to switch the system on and off themselves according to temperature, (although they could still use a timer and the boiler thermostat to control it).

Good quality mechanical thermostatic radiator valves, (e.g. Drayton, Honeywell)*, seem to work fine, and I personally can't see the point in getting involved with wireless radiator valves, incorporating batteries and the inevitable App and Wi-Fi link up and programming. It takes only a few seconds to adjust a radiator with a mechanical thermostatic valve, with no menus or Apps to have to worry about. Having said that, those with teenagers at home, might find remote-control of bedroom radiators useful, to reign-in heat hungry occupants who don't pay the gas bill !

*As with anything, don't expect the cheapest valves to work as well as decent ones from a known brand.

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Edited By John Doe 2 on 06/10/2022 10:41:38