What's made you grumpy today?

[SB1500]

I've never had a touch screen device, My laptop is a mouse driven and click windows 10 type, so I've a lot to learn when I get the phone, not least of which being that the touch keyboard looks so small I do wonder how I'm going to get on with it and my big clumsy "sausage" fingers.

There should be plenty of features even on Android for you if you'd find they make the experience easier. Magnification, making the text size bigger everywhere, high contrast modes to tune out all the visual effects and crap that you might find annoying, there used to be a 'Simple Mode' on Samsung phones a few years back. It tunes out a lot of the distractions and simplifies the menus as well.

Best advise for the keyboard is just go boldly towards tapping on the letter you need and don't worry too much about the precision of your finger in the box on screen around the letter. Despite how it looks (tiny and like you'd need precision) the actual touch input area around the key is often larger / skewed as the phone - depending on which letter you tap - anticipates which keys you're likely to tap next. You don't need to think about it, it's a bit like driving - you look where you want to be, but the second you start worrying what's in front of the car you go all wonky across the road. And if you're like me, half of what you type is incorrect anyway and the spell check is able to figure out and continuously replace the mess with the right word 9/10 times!

 

[StevenRB45]

We were at my oldest boy's yesterday afternoon and evening for our dinner - very nice, chicken and smoky paprika chorizo casserole with patatas bravas finishing off with a delicious cheese cake - My boy does the cooking and is very good at it! Anyway, I mentioned that I'm almost certainly going to buy a Google Pixel 8 and was met with a "barrage" of "That's what we've got!" Turns out my boy has a very old one, maybe a 6 or 7? Grandson has a pixel8 and his wife has a pixel9. All said how well they get on with them. This is very good news for me as they'll be able to help me get mine going if I have any problems with mine. Very busy just now with other boy's family helping prepare for their village Gala Day on Saturday - Grand daughter is a "cushion bearer" whatever that is? Because she's part of the "entourage" their house and front garden have to be decorated and other preparations made. There's a big parade through the town and then in the park. After the ceremonials there's a traveling fair already set up so it'll be "lets all bash grandad on the dodgems but I'll get them back on the rifle range - I gained my marksman badge in the ACF! Weather not looking too good for Saturday though so fingers crossed

Due to all this I think it'll be Monday or Tuesday before I get round to ordering the phone. It'll be going in a protective folding case so I suppose case colour won't matter? I'll let you all know when I've got it and I'm sure you'll all be relieved that at last I've actually done it!

Personally I hate folding cases (think about where it folds to when you're taking a photo)...also 6 very old...bless my poor phone.

I have a Spigen rugged case on mine it has been dropped many times in the last 3 years and never shattered (they are glass).

Handily they are also properly waterproof given I accidentally walked into a pool with it in my pocket at one point.

Screen wise I just used to have a protector on it but it got damaged I'm going to say 18 months ago and they are discontinued so I have nothing on it because it was all paid up and I was like "if it breaks I can get a 9" but they have gorilla glass and the rugged cases have a lip round the edge so even dropping it face down doesn't lead to the screen hitting the ground (unless there's a high point). As a result the screen is unmarked. As long as it doesn't go in the same pocket as your keys it's unlikely to suffer at all.

 

[porta]

I used to get the armoured cases, JCB and then gorilla, the gorilla one was better but managed to break screens with both…just like the easy way to break glass, go for a corner, if you drop them they will inevitably land butter side…the gorilla glass remained intact though…so now have a full case and gorilla screen protector and never broken a screen

 

[StevenRB45]

The Spigen tough armour ones have padded bumpers on the corners.

To be fair due to the camera bar on the pixel the do have a lot of padding in them as the case makes the back of phone flush with the bar and that bar is about 50% of the width of phone this leaves a lot of air space in the case except at the camera bar which they fill with foam.

If this is giving the idea of it's going to be an absolute chunk you'd be accurate but it's survived me and my son for years.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Personally I hate folding cases (think about where it folds to when you're taking a photo)...also 6 very old...bless my poor phone.

I have a Spigen rugged case on mine it has been dropped many times in the last 3 years and never shattered (they are glass).

Handily they are also properly waterproof given I accidentally walked into a pool with it in my pocket at one point.

Screen wise I just used to have a protector on it but it got damaged I'm going to say 18 months ago and they are discontinued so I have nothing on it because it was all paid up and I was like "if it breaks I can get a 9" but they have gorilla glass and the rugged cases have a lip round the edge so even dropping it face down doesn't lead to the screen hitting the ground (unless there's a high point). As a result the screen is unmarked. As long as it doesn't go in the same pocket as your keys it's unlikely to suffer at all.

I used to get the armoured cases, JCB and then gorilla, the gorilla one was better but managed to break screens with both…just like the easy way to break glass, go for a corner, if you drop them they will inevitably land butter side…the gorilla glass remained intact though…so now have a full case and gorilla screen protector and never broken a screen

Hmm, I'd thought of a folding case because of the screen protection. My existing wee "dumb" phone is a Samsung folding phone and the screen is still perfect after umpty tumpty years of use - hinge not so much though. Mrs J opted for a folding case for her iphone and it's pretty neat but does increase the bulk. However she keeps it in her voluminous handbag not in a pocket. Maybe I should think on this a little more.

 

[The Panda Nut]

In fairness, my nephew - could just be a 'him' thing, but he lacks most of the tech literacy I had by his age (and most people in my class at the time, even those who weren't really into technology but still used it for Facebook and MSN etc). For example... when he has issues with his Playstation account the entire idea of resetting the password.. checking for the email... or if he gets some new game, the idea of finding that website and 'signing up' via the standard form (username, email, password) and the verification email - none of that is second nature to him.

We all grew up with Windows computers in the corner of the classroom / in school - Microsoft Word and the likes. The new generation now, most of them grew up in some primary schools where they were all given iPads or Chromebooks with next to no UI or conventional mouse and click layouts. 'So easy a baby could use it', the iPad was/is, but it's left an entire generation lacking what in the 80s / 90s were new computer skills, in the 90s/2000s my generation knew them inside out, but the 2010s generation and beyond, they don't understand anything outside of their 'apps'. Sort of going backwards I reckon.

I LIKE YOUR NEPHEW. Hes one of us!

 

[There all puntos]

In fairness, my nephew - could just be a 'him' thing, but he lacks most of the tech literacy I had by his age (and most people in my class at the time, even those who weren't really into technology but still used it for Facebook and MSN etc). For example... when he has issues with his Playstation account the entire idea of resetting the password.. checking for the email... or if he gets some new game, the idea of finding that website and 'signing up' via the standard form (username, email, password) and the verification email - none of that is second nature to him.

We all grew up with Windows computers in the corner of the classroom / in school - Microsoft Word and the likes. The new generation now, most of them grew up in some primary schools where they were all given iPads or Chromebooks with next to no UI or conventional mouse and click layouts. 'So easy a baby could use it', the iPad was/is, but it's left an entire generation lacking what in the 80s / 90s were new computer skills, in the 90s/2000s my generation knew them inside out, but the 2010s generation and beyond, they don't understand anything outside of their 'apps'. Sort of going backwards I reckon.

So much for the ' Coding is the only thing that should separate everyone'. Quite simple in form (even better when you can decipher a hard drive, by code) Android has took all the fun out of the old Magnetic stylus driven gramophone hard drives. When one of them is ruined, I used the discs as mirrors and the magnets for hanging metal (and metal alloyed) tools up in my garage.

And even a small magnet from a useless Hard drive, can make any metal tray magnetic, good for seeing how much metal your engine tears off its surfaces via the filtered oil

I call it my 'oil a sketch'.

 

[SB1500]

So much for the ' Coding is the only thing that should separate everyone'. Quite simple in form (even better when you can decipher a hard drive, by code) Android has took all the fun out of the old Magnetic stylus driven gramophone hard drives. When one of them is ruined, I used the discs as mirrors and the magnets for hanging metal (and metal alloyed) tools up in my garage.

And even a small magnet from a useless Hard drive, can make any metal tray magnetic, good for seeing how much metal your engine tears off its surfaces via the filtered oil

I call it my 'oil a sketch'.

That's a cool use for them. Anytime we service a relatives car that's fairly old or not looked after and the oil sits before we take it to the dump we usually stick a magnet in and see the damage. Dreadful how much can be found sometimes! It's one of those ethical 'they're probably better off to not know' things though..

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

That's a cool use for them. Anytime we service a relatives car that's fairly old or not looked after and the oil sits before we take it to the dump we usually stick a magnet in and see the damage. Dreadful how much can be found sometimes! It's one of those ethical 'they're probably better off to not know' things though..

I always make sure the oil is nice 'n hot before draining and it sits in the drain can while I do the oil filter and then fill the new oil into the engine. My "drain can" is a 5 litre plastic oil container with the side cut out and I have a large robust plastic container, of about 30 litres, which I then transfer the waste oil into. When that's getting full I take it to the waste oil disposal at my local recycling centre. Of course, being an old oil container, the 5 litre container has a very convenient screw on cap which, when removed, makes pouring the old oil into the 30 litre container easy. This leaves a thin layer of oil in the bottom of the 5 litre container consisting of much of any solids which have settled out as it sat while I did the filter and new oil fill - the oil being hot helps solids to settle out. I find if you slant the emptied 5 litre container a wee bit so the thin layer of oil slowly slides down the surface you get to see much of the metals - if there are any - which have worn off the bearing shells etc. Sometimes it's quite a glitter show! but often, thank goodness, nothing but dark coloured used oil. I find it specially relevant to my horticultural engines as the smaller ones have no oil filters so you get a really good idea of engine condition.

PS Hadn't thought of doing the "magnet trick" which I could do as I have a magnet on the end of an extending wand - like a radio aerial. Of course that wouldn't pick up soft metals like used with bearing shells

 

[PuntoHowTo]

PS Hadn't thought of doing the "magnet trick" which I could do as I have a magnet on the end of an extending wand - like a radio aerial. Of course that wouldn't pick up soft metals like used with bearing shells

What happened to magnetic sump plugs?

Anyway no it won’t show bearing shell material or any of the alloys that a lot of modern engine blocks are made from. Chances are if you’re seeing something in the oil, the engine has probably had it.

 

[SB1500]

I always make sure the oil is nice 'n hot before draining and it sits in the drain can while I do the oil filter and then fill the new oil into the engine. My "drain can" is a 5 litre plastic oil container with the side cut out and I have a large robust plastic container, of about 30 litres, which I then transfer the waste oil into. When that's getting full I take it to the waste oil disposal at my local recycling centre. Of course, being an old oil container, the 5 litre container has a very convenient screw on cap which, when removed, makes pouring the old oil into the 30 litre container easy. This leaves a thin layer of oil in the bottom of the 5 litre container consisting of much of any solids which have settled out as it sat while I did the filter and new oil fill - the oil being hot helps solids to settle out. I find if you slant the emptied 5 litre container a wee bit so the thin layer of oil slowly slides down the surface you get to see much of the metals - if there are any - which have worn off the bearing shells etc. Sometimes it's quite a glitter show! but often, thank goodness, nothing but dark coloured used oil. I find it specially relevant to my horticultural engines as the smaller ones have no oil filters so you get a really good idea of engine condition.

PS Hadn't thought of doing the "magnet trick" which I could do as I have a magnet on the end of an extending wand - like a radio aerial. Of course that wouldn't pick up soft metals like used with bearing shells

Would you ever send off you used oil for one of those lab analysis tests? You see YouTubers and fanatics online doing it. Never looked into the pricing (something tells me that's the kicker) but would be fascinating. Then again... perhaps would uncover something that in reality is no big deal, only to cause anxiety over whether your car 'going bang' is impending.. I think it'd be interesting though.

Big mistake I made at my last oil change, we got one of those big containers with the drain on the side - just slide it under, drain the oil and make sure it's aimed correctly. In theory. I did this, but to my terror it completely bounced off with force and splattered all over, filled up the little indent and began spilling all over the front of the garage ground. I forgot to unscrew the air cap. So pretty much... I might as well have been pointing the oil stream at the other side it just completely refused to go down. Damn physics. The stains still there a few months later despite attempt after attempt with sawdust to soak it in.

My uncle has those big huge drums to pour the oil into but sometimes they're already full so the drain pans will sit for a while until they're emptied. This new container I hope solves that problem (I actually bought it for the garage). As I can at least take my own waste oil right to the dump and leave the container up again a few days later without making the problem any worse. That's if you overlook the giant oil stain I caused from above... oops.

 

[SB1500]

So much for the ' Coding is the only thing that should separate everyone'.

Oh, I read this as the 'everyone should learn to code' thing - remember that around 2017? All the lorry drivers and other manual jobs going away and the journalists publishing 'they just need to learn to code'. Well, brilliantly, around the 2020s there many of those got laid off and told to 'learn to code'. But then the actual cocky programmers also who echoed the sentiment have now found most of their drag-it-out jobs are being replaced by AI and they aren't needed.... perhaps now we can tell them to 'learn to plumb' or 'learn to join'.

If I ever have kids I sure as hell will try convince them to learn a trade in the same way my parents drummed into me to go to uni. At the end of the day, be it a future where we all bow to some foreign dictator.... or some free information age where we live with flying (electric) cars in a world where everything is done by machine, I'm sure the plumbing behind the toilets will still work the same, and the craftsmanship in the banister posts will still need to be hand carved out of mahogany.

 

[irc]

Would you ever send off you used oil for one of those lab analysis tests? You see YouTubers and fanatics online doing it. Never looked into the pricing (something tells me that's the kicker) but would be fascinating.

Its definitely not only a YouTube fad... been doing it since long before sharing videos online was even possible (although not on simpler engines like the 1.2 Fiat).
You can get a lot of information from old oil, and on an engine that's expensive to remove, pull apart and reassemble, it's a great tool for making good decisions.
Cost is surprisingly low considering the potential savings on stripping down an engine unnecessarily (or not stripping one down in time to avoid a bigger problem) - the last time was a V8 GM LS2 engine where the oil analysis pointed to a damaged camshaft bearing, allowing a MUCH cheaper fix than a full strip down.
I use Millers Oil lab for mine - kits are cheap and readily available and they've never let me down yet. Others are available.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Would you ever send off you used oil for one of those lab analysis tests? You see YouTubers and fanatics online doing it. Never looked into the pricing (something tells me that's the kicker) but would be fascinating. Then again... perhaps would uncover something that in reality is no big deal, only to cause anxiety over whether your car 'going bang' is impending.. I think it'd be interesting though.

Yes, I've seen this too and wondered what it actually tells you - and whether I would understand it if it's very technical. However I've gone my whole life without ever knowing and so see no need for it. Maybe very valuable for racing teams or large emergency generators etc?

Big mistake I made at my last oil change, we got one of those big containers with the drain on the side - just slide it under, drain the oil and make sure it's aimed correctly. In theory. I did this, but to my terror it completely bounced off with force and splattered all over, filled up the little indent and began spilling all over the front of the garage ground. I forgot to unscrew the air cap. So pretty much... I might as well have been pointing the oil stream at the other side it just completely refused to go down. Damn physics. The stains still there a few months later despite attempt after attempt with sawdust to soak it in.

I feel your "pain" It's a horrid feeling when you see an oil spill taking place and can't stop it.

My uncle has those big huge drums to pour the oil into but sometimes they're already full so the drain pans will sit for a while until they're emptied. This new container I hope solves that problem (I actually bought it for the garage). As I can at least take my own waste oil right to the dump and leave the container up again a few days later without making the problem any worse. That's if you overlook the giant oil stain I caused from above... oops.

A couple of the garages near me, where I'm a well known face, have large used oil bunkers and I've been meaning to ask whether they pay for getting it emptied or do waste oil companies "buy" the contents from them. Back in the days I managed workshops we had to pay but oil is much more valuable and "recyclable" today so I wouldn't be surprised to find waste oil has value? If they get money for it they might allow me to dump my couple of 30 litre containers a year into their bunkers? Which would save me booking a slot at the recycling centre and the drive there and back.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Its definitely not only a YouTube fad... been doing it since long before sharing videos online was even possible (although not on simpler engines like the 1.2 Fiat).
You can get a lot of information from old oil, and on an engine that's expensive to remove, pull apart and reassemble, it's a great tool for making good decisions.
Cost is surprisingly low considering the potential savings on stripping down an engine unnecessarily (or not stripping one down in time to avoid a bigger problem) - the last time was a V8 GM LS2 engine where the oil analysis pointed to a damaged camshaft bearing, allowing a MUCH cheaper fix than a full strip down.
I use Millers Oil lab for mine - kits are cheap and readily available and they've never let me down yet. Others are available.

Interesting. So what's a ball park figure for cost and how much "technical speak" is involved in the result you get sent?

 

[irc]

Interesting. So what's a ball park figure for cost and how much "technical speak" is involved in the result you get sent?

Kit is about £40.
You get a listing of the findings, from the state of the oil (you tell them how long its been in, they work out if it is still correct viscosity, oxidised, etc.), presence of contaminants (water, coolant, fuel etc) plus information on wear metals found in the oil. Plus anything which SHOULD be there but isn't (additives, etc)
It's a bit technical, but they explain the reasoning, and I've always found they will help decipher anything odd, if necessary.
By knowing what engine type, modifications, usage type and expected condition of the engine is, they can deduce some really useful things.
As I said, never bothered to do one on a small simple engine, but the last test saved over £4k in stripdown and workshop costs, and I've probably had similar savings in the past a few times.
(As well as that nice warm feeling when everything came back as fine after a rebuild and bedding-in period.)

 

[PuntoHowTo]

A couple of the garages near me, where I'm a well known face, have large used oil bunkers and I've been meaning to ask whether they pay for getting it emptied or do waste oil companies "buy" the contents from them. Back in the days I managed workshops we had to pay but oil is much more valuable and "recyclable" today so I wouldn't be surprised to find waste oil has value? If they get money for it they might allow me to dump my couple of 30 litre containers a year into their bunkers? Which would save me booking a slot at the recycling centre and the drive there and back.

A quick look online suggests while used cooking oil has some small value. engine oil is linked to the price of a barrel of oil and right now, they charge a flat rate to collect it.

I suppose it depends on what that oil is to be used for and how easy it is to recycle. There are a lot of nasty chemicals in used engine oil which are quite hazardous to health so I suspect those transporting and storing it, need a lot of specific waste management licenses.

Get your self a little £80 diesel heater off Amazon and you can probably burn the old engine oil off to heat the garage when you're out their doing work.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Portable-Convenient-Integrated-Parking-Heating/dp/B0DLFNRVPQ/ref=asc_df_B0DLFNRVPQ?tag=bingshoppinga-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80814302374772&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=41470&hvtargid=pla-4584413770160596&psc=1&msclkid=a8506c35764e148e05e004644d45dba4

 

[SB1500]

Its definitely not only a YouTube fad... been doing it since long before sharing videos online was even possible (although not on simpler engines like the 1.2 Fiat).
You can get a lot of information from old oil, and on an engine that's expensive to remove, pull apart and reassemble, it's a great tool for making good decisions.
Cost is surprisingly low considering the potential savings on stripping down an engine unnecessarily (or not stripping one down in time to avoid a bigger problem) - the last time was a V8 GM LS2 engine where the oil analysis pointed to a damaged camshaft bearing, allowing a MUCH cheaper fix than a full strip down.
I use Millers Oil lab for mine - kits are cheap and readily available and they've never let me down yet. Others are available.

Oh wow, £40 or so would be cheap enough to do it once just to have a heads up if anything major were to go wrong (boot it back into the trade to make it their problem) and move on, or, have that warm fuzzy feeling that it's fine for now. I honestly don't think I'd trust any mechanic locally to strip down and rebuild any engine competently. Between proving something wasn't put back right and their general tendency to rush jobs out the door as soon as possible, and the huge money involved. Definitely only worth it on big engines, by people who are specialist/passionate about them and on rare cars worth preserving even at great cost.

A couple of the garages near me, where I'm a well known face, have large used oil bunkers and I've been meaning to ask whether they pay for getting it emptied or do waste oil companies "buy" the contents from them. Back in the days I managed workshops we had to pay but oil is much more valuable and "recyclable" today so I wouldn't be surprised to find waste oil has value? If they get money for it they might allow me to dump my couple of 30 litre containers a year into their bunkers? Which would save me booking a slot at the recycling centre and the drive there and back.

Our council recycling centres are where I take mine, though one lately has the shutters down for the oil disposal section because apparently the third party company they use to collect it haven't been in a while... odd. Left it outside the door in the old bottles that time, as others had. However.. eh, burning the leftovers in a little space heater, not a bad idea! Even if it wouldn't please Greta...

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Kit is about £40.
You get a listing of the findings, from the state of the oil (you tell them how long its been in, they work out if it is still correct viscosity, oxidised, etc.), presence of contaminants (water, coolant, fuel etc) plus information on wear metals found in the oil. Plus anything which SHOULD be there but isn't (additives, etc)
It's a bit technical, but they explain the reasoning, and I've always found they will help decipher anything odd, if necessary.
By knowing what engine type, modifications, usage type and expected condition of the engine is, they can deduce some really useful things.
As I said, never bothered to do one on a small simple engine, but the last test saved over £4k in stripdown and workshop costs, and I've probably had similar savings in the past a few times.
(As well as that nice warm feeling when everything came back as fine after a rebuild and bedding-in period.)

As, in the past, I've never really encountered the sort of situation where I think I'd use this, it's pretty much of academic interest to me. But it's very interesting to know this facility is available if I ever thought it could help. There are times when a "nice warm feeling" would be very welcome! As long as it's not mistaken for incontinence!

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Oh wow, £40 or so would be cheap enough to do it once just to have a heads up if anything major were to go wrong (boot it back into the trade to make it their problem) and move on, or, have that warm fuzzy feeling that it's fine for now. I honestly don't think I'd trust any mechanic locally to strip down and rebuild any engine competently. Between proving something wasn't put back right and their general tendency to rush jobs out the door as soon as possible, and the huge money involved. Definitely only worth it on big engines, by people who are specialist/passionate about them and on rare cars worth preserving even at great cost.

I've rebuilt and modified a number of engines in my life, some just for refitting into cars I've owned and some for increased performance. They were all from the 60s/70s/early 80s and you need to pay great attention to detail and cleanliness also have a number of specialised tools like DTIs and Micrometers which are not everyday stuff. I wouldn't know where to start with some of this modern modular stuff and some where you can't dismantle the bottom end without everything warping and going out of line. There's also the problem of lots of very breakable sensors which can get physically damaged if you're not very careful. I don't think most average type workshops would entertain it - or gearbox rebuilds for that matter.

Our council recycling centres are where I take mine, though one lately has the shutters down for the oil disposal section because apparently the third party company they use to collect it haven't been in a while... odd. Left it outside the door in the old bottles that time, as others had. However.. eh, burning the leftovers in a little space heater, not a bad idea! Even if it wouldn't please Greta...

Now that's interesting. Last time I went to ours the waste oil bins were locked down and the chap said they were full. Luckily I'd called in just on the off chance with the 30 litre container only about half full, so I just took it home. It's had a couple of oil changes in it since then so I'd better check up on the situation.

Edit. I like the idea of a space heater. Am I going to asphyxiate myself with the fumes though? I nearly killed myself with cellulose fumes first time I sprayed a car with the garage doors closed to avoid dust blowing about! once was enough!