What's made you grumpy today?

[portland_bill]

I think new builds all have linked smoke alarms, part of new building regs. As far as I know, as building regs are updated, there's no requirement to retrofit, but would kick in if major reconstruction work is done, such as an extension.
This house was built cheaply in the mid seventies. Burning it to the ground and rebuilding seems a great idea. Not sure how I'd empty the garage before the fire engulfed me though, but I'd give it a try. House contents, not important.

 

[Cheest]

The drive pulley let go on the 90 year old lathe yesterday.

It missed me, just, when it came flying off the motor. I don't know if the drive belt was too tight, the pulleys were misaligned, or if the pulley itself was bad. I picked up a new pulley today and will change it after my post lunch nap. I'll pay close attention to the alignment and tightness.

 

[AndyRKett]

The drive pulley let go on the 90 year old lathe yesterday.

It missed me, just, when it came flying off the motor. I don't know if the drive belt was too tight, the pulleys were misaligned, or if the pulley itself was bad. I picked up a new pulley today and will change it after my post lunch nap. I'll pay close attention to the alignment and tightness.

Looks like the sort of thing you could whip up on a lathe if you had a working lathe

 

[bugsymike]

The drive pulley let go on the 90 year old lathe yesterday.

It missed me, just, when it came flying off the motor. I don't know if the drive belt was too tight, the pulleys were misaligned, or if the pulley itself was bad. I picked up a new pulley today and will change it after my post lunch nap. I'll pay close attention to the alignment and tightness.

Have you checked the warranty?

 

[Cheest]

Looks like the sort of thing you could whip up on a lathe if you had a working lathe

In the continuing saga...

Obviously, the new pulley is next to the box. So I'm tightening the pulley set screw to the motor shaft and I bury it. The damn pulley spins on the shaft. WTF! I yanked the pulley off and found that the threads for the set screw were two threads short of going through. I run a 5/16-18 tap through it and now it's good. Before that though, I spent a good hour on the driven pulley. It's not the correct pulley. It looked like someone ran a Dremel through the bore to open it up and forced it onto the counter shaft. Sigh.
I used a small wheel cylinder hone to try to clean it up but wasn't having much luck, so I went Rambo on it with an adjustable reamer. That changed its attitude. Slides on the shaft like it was meant to now. Pulleys are lined up and I put just a tad of slack in the belt. Runs much nicer now.

 

[portland_bill]

90 years. When things were built properly.
Estimates on the life of its replacement?

 

[portland_bill]

I have a small laptop used for work. A clever thing that the screen folds back on itself to become a tablet, albeit a heavy one. The battery used to last all day, with some to spare, but recently has been struggling to last.
Ordered a new battery. Today, managed to dismantle the thing, after finding the screws hiding under rubber bungs, and then prising the keyboard off without breaking any tabs.
New battery in, no power. Plugged it in, it booted, and declared 'no battery fitted'.
Lithium ion batteries do not like being fully discharged, and can be a struggle to recharge if the go to zero. Left it plugged in for over 7 hours, still nothing.
Original battery now back in. There's a risk, as one of the three cells definitely has a bulge to it.
Now comes the fight for a refund or replacement, and a struggle to find a working one.
Everything else works, it is in good condition, shame to have to scrap it, especially as a replacement is around £700.

 

[bugsymike]

I have a small laptop used for work. A clever thing that the screen folds back on itself to become a tablet, albeit a heavy one. The battery used to last all day, with some to spare, but recently has been struggling to last.
Ordered a new battery. Today, managed to dismantle the thing, after finding the screws hiding under rubber bungs, and then prising the keyboard off without breaking any tabs.
New battery in, no power. Plugged it in, it booted, and declared 'no battery fitted'.
Lithium ion batteries do not like being fully discharged, and can be a struggle to recharge if the go to zero. Left it plugged in for over 7 hours, still nothing.
Original battery now back in. There's a risk, as one of the three cells definitely has a bulge to it.
Now comes the fight for a refund or replacement, and a struggle to find a working one.
Everything else works, it is in good condition, shame to have to scrap it, especially as a replacement is around £700.

Does sound like a duff new battery.
I had an old car customer who asked me to look at his laptop not working even when hooked up to the mains.
On taking the original battery out it worked fine, much like sometimes when trying to jump start a car, the original battery was killing the new power source.
I fitted a cheap new chinese battery for him and it worked for another two years.

 

[portland_bill]

I emailed the supplier last night. Got a reply, and offer of a replacement, at 6am this morning.
Replacement is on its way already.
They've ignored teh question about returnign the duff one, I guess it is too difficult, especailly if the supplier is really in China, not the Kent address it appears to be shipped from.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

In the continuing saga...

Obviously, the new pulley is next to the box. So I'm tightening the pulley set screw to the motor shaft and I bury it. The damn pulley spins on the shaft. WTF! I yanked the pulley off and found that the threads for the set screw were two threads short of going through. I run a 5/16-18 tap through it and now it's good. Before that though, I spent a good hour on the driven pulley. It's not the correct pulley. It looked like someone ran a Dremel through the bore to open it up and forced it onto the counter shaft. Sigh.
I used a small wheel cylinder hone to try to clean it up but wasn't having much luck, so I went Rambo on it with an adjustable reamer. That changed its attitude. Slides on the shaft like it was meant to now. Pulleys are lined up and I put just a tad of slack in the belt. Runs much nicer now.

when you sort something like this out it's just soooo satisfying isn't it?

Back in my college days we all ran around London on mopeds and small capacity motor cycles - like the Honda 50. My fascination was for Mobylette mopeds. They were chain driven but used a belt, like a fan belt, for the primary drive from engine to pedal cluster. With a wee 49cc two stroke engine they were quite nippy in heavy city traffic. At one time I owned 6 of them and was constantly experimenting with porting and exhaust systems, stuffing pistons and machining "slugs" to make the crankshaft full circle (thus increasing crankcase transfer pressure) all in the cause of increasing power. I also machined a number of different diameter engine pulleys to up the gear ratio for the more powerful engines. I had one which could get near 50mph down hill with the wind behind it! Of course the speedo didn't show such heady speeds so my friend would "clock" me by following on this Triumph 350. These "high speed" runs were always exhilarating and sometimes a bit too exciting as I suffered a number of piston and/or conrod failures, always at revs the engine was never designed to withstand. You had to be careful with the brakes too as they would smoke if you tried to do anything like a rapid stop from these sort of speeds! Those were exciting, carefree and "heady" days!

I kept up my interest in them long after I was married and running around in an Anglia. By then I'd collected even more, most notably an NSU Quickly (The "Rolls Royce of mopeds, it even had gears!) A couple of the more unusual ones I had was a BSA Dandy and Honda P50 with the engine, the only 4 stroke of all of them I owned, incorporated into the back wheel. Mrs J used to use the Honda to go to the local shops and continued to ride it when she was pregnant with our first child ride up till he was almost due. I learned later that she was a well known and commented on figure with her enormous tummy and white crash hat! Shortly after the birth her Mum got to know and she, Mrs J, was banned from ever again riding it.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I emailed the supplier last night. Got a reply, and offer of a replacement, at 6am this morning.
Replacement is on its way already.
They've ignored teh question about returnign the duff one, I guess it is too difficult, especailly if the supplier is really in China, not the Kent address it appears to be shipped from.

Same thing happened when a midlands supplier of space saver wheels supplied a kit - wheel, jack and wheel brace, for youngest boy's wife's Mazda 2. Wrong wheel/tyre supplied. No problem, a quick phone call and another was dispatched. Within a couple of days it arrived and was correct. The replacement was the whole kit again, so included jack and wheel brace. I contacted the supplier to find out how to return the wrongly supplied first kit and they said just to keep it, Return procedure and cost prohibitive! Anyone want a spare, very cheap and "nasty", scissors type jack?

 

[The Panda Nut]

I still remain unconvinced that manufacturers have any reliable long term replacement to ICE engine technology.
If they had not been forced into it by the environmentalist lobby, it wouldn't have happened.
It has done nothing for reliability or pricing for the consumer.

I tend to agree. Electric car have value but NOT for everyone. Hybrid seems to be a good idea. Why not a hybrid with LPG? Surely we need, less gadgets, less weight, lower performace & big toque. I remember something years back about LPG injection with diesel that looked efficeint. WHats certain is we need some broader thinking and less of this silly blinkered jump to electric battery cars as the sole motive source. I just wonder when car makers will start being responsible and moving their offerings properly to less damaging ways. We coiuld make 100mpg ice cars where the hell are they?? I would love a super efficient car for local useat the least.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I would love a super efficient car for local useat the least.

If only we could have something like our Panda Becky. No infotainment stuff, simple instrumentation but including a water temp gauge. Maybe an electric motor, but, for me, an efficient IC engine would do. I don't mind the technology this would entail to get good performance and emissions but the electronics would be operating in the back ground. No TV screens to distract and nothing unnecessary like stop/start, hill hold, lane assist, radar emergency braking, etc, etc. - cruise control is useful though. There are so many changes between 20 and 30 mph speed controls in Edinburgh now that my new Scala is constantly pinging me to remind me the speed limit has changed! Mind you I have to say I find that useful and you don't have to take your eyes off the road to respond.

 

[The Panda Nut]

If only we could have something like our Panda Becky. No infotainment stuff, simple instrumentation but including a water temp gauge. Maybe an electric motor, but, for me, an efficient IC engine would do. I don't mind the technology this would entail to get good performance and emissions but the electronics would be operating in the back ground. No TV screens to distract and nothing unnecessary like stop/start, hill hold, lane assist, radar emergency braking, etc, etc. - cruise control is useful though. There are so many changes between 20 and 30 mph speed controls in Edinburgh now that my new Scala is constantly pinging me to remind me the speed limit has changed! Mind you I have to say I find that useful and you don't have to take your eyes off the road to respond.

Some very good points. No touch screens either. Not appropriate in a car. Surely with the expense involved its not just old people. Youngsters starting out and many women would prefer simplicity efficiency economy and a much lower price.

 

[AndyRKett]

Some very good points. No touch screens either. Not appropriate in a car. Surely with the expense involved its not jyst old people. Youngsters stsrting oytvand many women would prefer simplicity efficiency economy and a much lower price.

touch screens cater to what people mainly want. Hence why a lot of new cars have full "glass cockpit" type set ups with LCD screens running the width of the dash with all the instruments and all other information on them.

Basically all people are children and like things to light up in bright colours, which is very easy to do with large LCD screens.

I am not a fan of putting simple controls on a touch screen. A button to turn on or off the AC, or adjust the temperature, do not need to be hidden behind multiple menus on a touch screen.

VW have proven for years that people don't care if every model in the range uses the same set of buttons and knobs to control the heating. I think now that Fiat is part of Stellantis they are finally getting that memo as in the past fiat is a company that would design a new set of heating controls for every new car, or a new set of electric window switches, which adds expense and complexity to every new car they make.

VW on the other hand just bungs the same climate control unit in pretty much every car. maybe stick a bit of chrome on it if its more up market.

Years ago when my golf went in to have some work done I had an Octavia loan car and everything in it the buttons knobs and dials were all exactly the same as the golf, just dialed down a notch to make it a little less posh, so no chrome on anything. The Golf also had a rubberised coating on knobs that the Skoda didn't have but aside from finish the workings where all identical. I think Skoda has really come into its own in recent years and competes pretty much at the same level as a VW these days. The only difference is the cost of the badge.

 

[Cheest]

when you sort something like this out it's just soooo satisfying isn't it?

Back in my college days we all ran around London on mopeds and small capacity motor cycles - like the Honda 50. My fascination was for Mobylette mopeds. They were chain driven but used a belt, like a fan belt, for the primary drive from engine to pedal cluster. With a wee 49cc two stroke engine they were quite nippy in heavy city traffic. At one time I owned 6 of them and was constantly experimenting with porting and exhaust systems, stuffing pistons and machining "slugs" to make the crankshaft full circle (thus increasing crankcase transfer pressure) all in the cause of increasing power. I also machined a number of different diameter engine pulleys to up the gear ratio for the more powerful engines. I had one which could get near 50mph down hill with the wind behind it! Of course the speedo didn't show such heady speeds so my friend would "clock" me by following on this Triumph 350. These "high speed" runs were always exhilarating and sometimes a bit too exciting as I suffered a number of piston and/or conrod failures, always at revs the engine was never designed to withstand. You had to be careful with the brakes too as they would smoke if you tried to do anything like a rapid stop from these sort of speeds! Those were exciting, carefree and "heady" days!

I kept up my interest in them long after I was married and running around in an Anglia. By then I'd collected even more, most notably an NSU Quickly (The "Rolls Royce of mopeds, it even had gears!) A couple of the more unusual ones I had was a BSA Dandy and Honda P50 with the engine, the only 4 stroke of all of them I owned, incorporated into the back wheel. Mrs J used to use the Honda to go to the local shops and continued to ride it when she was pregnant with our first child ride up till he was almost due. I learned later that she was a well known and commented on figure with her enormous tummy and white crash hat! Shortly after the birth her Mum got to know and she, Mrs J, was banned from ever again riding it.

Aggravated to find the problem, but yeah, satisfying to get it sorted.

Mo-peds weren't always popular here. They kind of came and went in waves. Sears would sell re-badged Puchs and Jawas. Monkey Wards did the same with other European brands. My first small bike was a Ducati Falcon 50 with a Puch rear wheel. It had a weird, by US standards, 3 speed transmission that was clutched and shifted with the left hand. All the cabling was missing and Dad never figured it out. Or maybe he didn't want to. We'd just put it 1st and push it to start. Sometimes it actually ran. Then we'd ride it around the yard.
Now I have the two VeloSolexes. I'm leaving those in stock configuration. I've seen videos of ported little stinkers racing(?)in France and have seen the flywheels grenade when the revs had exceeded the design limits.

 

[portland_bill]

... My fascination was for Mobylette mopeds. They were chain driven but used a belt, like a fan belt, for the primary drive from engine to pedal cluster.

I had a Raleigh Runabout, for two weeks. It was a real mashup. Engine was a Mobylette, fitted into a frame made by Raleigh. There were metric threads on the engine of course, but the frame was a mix of 'cycle' thread and BSF. The engine mounting bolts had metric heads, but had a BSF thread, and of course BSF size nuts. It was old, but Sister's boyfriend had run it for 15 months, without issues. It rarely completed a journey for me, with a different electrical failure each time. Replaced after a fortnight. A real mo-ped, it could be pedalled, after releasing the engine from the chain drive by turning the little butterfly on the rear pulley. It got pedalled a lot. I'm surprised Jock, you didn't mention that the belt drive was a CVT, with teh engine pivoting backwards as teh front pulley closed together.

Hybrid seems to be a good idea. Why not a hybrid with LPG? Surely we need, less gadgets, less weight, lower performace & big toque.

I like the idea of hybrid, like a turbocharger, you're getting something back that would otherwise be wasted. When the current fad of full electric wanes, I think we'll see more hybrids.

If only we could have something like our Panda Becky. No infotainment stuff, simple instrumentation but including a water temp gauge. Maybe an electric motor, but, for me, an efficient IC engine would do.

Sadly, people are swayed by shiny things. They want glitz, not substance. Ford are very good at making things look shiny, while behind the scene, all is as cheap as possible.
Current engine technology is brilliant. My Fabia, 1.2, turbo, direct injection, weighing about 1300kg, insists on returnign at least 50mpg, even with learners holding low gears too long. Imagine that in an 80s car, similar size, but weighing only 1000kgs. Do away with the safety cage, the airbags, etc., encourage people to pay attention or die. (Might struggle selling that idea) But then, I still want my aircon, but can manage without electric windows, or central locking.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

touch screens cater to what people mainly want. Hence why a lot of new cars have full "glass cockpit" type set ups with LCD screens running the width of the dash with all the instruments and all other information on them.

Basically all people are children and like things to light up in bright colours, which is very easy to do with large LCD screens.

I am not a fan of putting simple controls on a touch screen. A button to turn on or off the AC, or adjust the temperature, do not need to be hidden behind multiple menus on a touch screen.

VW have proven for years that people don't care if every model in the range uses the same set of buttons and knobs to control the heating. I think now that Fiat is part of Stellantis they are finally getting that memo as in the past fiat is a company that would design a new set of heating controls for every new car, or a new set of electric window switches, which adds expense and complexity to every new car they make.

VW on the other hand just bungs the same climate control unit in pretty much every car. maybe stick a bit of chrome on it if its more up market.

Years ago when my golf went in to have some work done I had an Octavia loan car and everything in it the buttons knobs and dials were all exactly the same as the golf, just dialed down a notch to make it a little less posh, so no chrome on anything. The Golf also had a rubberised coating on knobs that the Skoda didn't have but aside from finish the workings where all identical. I think Skoda has really come into its own in recent years and competes pretty much at the same level as a VW these days. The only difference is the cost of the badge.

After more than 2 weeks with the Skoda I'm now feeling pretty much at ease with it for daily driving. The driving experience, as far as what's going on when you're behind the wheel is very similar to the Ibiza - bearing out what you say above Andy.

Being basically the SE version with a few additions - reportedly worth £2000 if ordered separately - it has the ordinary dash display so is very similar to the Ibiza although, for some reason only known to Skoda? the speedo is marked in 20mph increments so doesn't have a 30mph marked?

It's not a problem because I just keep the central display defaulted to MPH. The wee 20 in a circle at the top is the current speed limit the car has managed to recognize from roadside signs and I do find this useful even if the "ping" every time it changes is a wee bit intrusive - does pull your attention to it though. Thank you also Skoda for giving me a coolant temp gauge. Of course the Ibiza had one too and on the Ibiza I could bring this up on the wee central screen as a figure which I quite liked being able to do. The Skoda, like the Ibiza, allows me to display oil temp on the central screen which I really like as it's a much better indicator as to when the engine is properly up to operating temperature. Quite a number of the competitor's products I looked at didn't even give you a coolant temp gauge, just a silly wee light which might as well be labeled "Too late, you should have shut the engine down two miles back down the road"!

Using the controls while driving is almost identical to the Ibiza so I was immediately comfortable behind the wheel. One thing that surprised me was that every used one I saw had a 3 spoke steering wheel - like the Ibiza - but my Scala, which must be one of the last built before the face lifted 2024 model, has the two spoke, more "blingy" wheel I've only ever seen on the face lifted car. Probably they started to run out of the earlier wheel so started fitting the two spoke on the last of them? I rather like it.

As you can see I've "only" got the manual air con, but that's what I've been used to with the Ibiza and it's all knob and button controlled so I'm very familiar with it. I'm in two minds as to whether it's worth the agro when it goes wrong though, the Ibiza's didn't work for the last couple of years I owned her and, apart from one or two cold winter mornings when the faster demist would have been nice, I can't say i missed it.

The "infotainment" screen though!

For a start it's all touch which I think is inviting folk to take their eyes off the road. If you swipe the screen there are 8 more icons displayed! The radio volume is controlled by the touch icons 2nd and 3rd up from the bottom left. Luckily the "twiddly" scroll on the left steering wheel spoke lets you adjust volume from behind the wheel and you don't need to look away from the road when "twiddling" it. The normal SE (which was what I thought I'd ordered instead of this upgraded SE Technology - bit of a story there) has a more basic infotainment screen with knobs for volume etc which I would rather have had. But, now I'm used to it, I'm getting on fine with the twiddly thingy on the steering wheel. I like where the emergency flasher triangle button is situated. Much easier to hit quickly if needed than the one on the Ibiza was.

Can't make up my mind if I like the silver finish on the dashboard face. The SE doesn't have this, it's just black like the rest of the dash. My youngest boy, the sign writer/vehicle wrapper, has already suggested wrapping it in carbon fibre effect vinyl

I suppose the silver does dispel the gloom of an all black dash though?

 

[vexorg]

for some reason only known to Skoda? the speedo is marked in 20mph increments so doesn't have a 30mph marked?

Maybe you got the welsh version??

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I had a Raleigh Runabout, for two weeks. It was a real mashup. Engine was a Mobylette, fitted into a frame made by Raleigh. There were metric threads on the engine of course, but the frame was a mix of 'cycle' thread and BSF. The engine mounting bolts had metric heads, but had a BSF thread, and of course BSF size nuts. It was old, but Sister's boyfriend had run it for 15 months, without issues. It rarely completed a journey for me, with a different electrical failure each time. Replaced after a fortnight. A real mo-ped, it could be pedalled, after releasing the engine from the chain drive by turning the little butterfly on the rear pulley. It got pedalled a lot. I'm surprised Jock, you didn't mention that the belt drive was a CVT, with teh engine pivoting backwards as teh front pulley closed together.

Yes, I remember the Raleigh, never owned one but a close friend had one and it did seem to spend a lot of time being "fixed".

The earlier models had a fixed engine pulley which were the ones I liked for their simplicity. I have worked with the later ones though, like half a DAF Variomatic without the vacuum override? Lots of scooters these days seem to use a version of it. For those not in the know, just listen to one when accelerating. If the revs rise rapidly and then level off but don't drop as the machine increases it's speed then it's got a vario type drive.

I like the idea of hybrid, like a turbocharger, you're getting something back that would otherwise be wasted. When the current fad of full electric wanes, I think we'll see more hybrids.

Aye, I find them interesting but. I do get a bit concerned by the complexity of them. Got an relatively expensive battery and all the control systems to go wrong too. Some seem to use metal belt CVT transmissions too - which are pretty notorious for going wrong. However i rather like the idea of Dyno-starter motors for stop/start which do away with conventional geared starter motors. I think I could be tempted by a hybrid but not as a long term keeper.