What have you done today

[purplebikeunicorn]

I'm glad you seem to have more morals than some in the community Mick! Order some beers in and enjoy them at home 👍

[Barbel Mick]

My emergency supply arrived today. 

[Rusty Nuts]

Order more - quickly!



BBC News - Climate change could make beer taste worse
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-67078674

[Barbel Mick]

I'm on it!! 

[2112]

Today we had a 4 1/2 hour power cut and then I took the Tigger (once I could get the garage door open) for it's first ever MOT, which it passed with flying colours.

[Rusty Nuts]

Power cut? The man who makes electricity and keeps it behind his house?

[2112]

I know, I know, we didn't bother with the Tesla Gateway (the Gateway allows you to run in 'island' mode and power the house from the batteries when an LOM (loss of mains) event occurs) as it means allocating a percentage of the battery which can never be used, except in LOM events. This means, say 20%, of the battery is always held back 'just in case' and I really need to use all of the energy stored. If I had power cuts more often I probably would have gone with this feature, but I'm fairly close to the Primary Substation (Bedlington Reservoir 66/20kV) so it's pretty reliable. Apart from yesterday when a tree decided to fall onto the OHL and bring down one of the conductors. Inconsiderate wooden twat...

[Rusty Nuts]

2112, your insights into the world of solar and battery are very interesting. For anyone considering going for a solar setup, impartial advice and information - such as your g98 /g99 are a mine of information. By and large, most of us consumers only get to hear what the sales team want us to hear. The systems are so new to us we just don't know enough about them, or where to look, to make an informed decision. I've no doubt there are more than a few companies hawking unsuitable/ inferior systems at over inflated prices. Same with the heat pump bandwagon.

[2112]

 

Sadly, you are spot on. There are a LOT of companies out there who sell people an incorrect or not fully suitable product just because it's what they're used to or what they stock. It's a big investment, so it has to be right. I've met a (now) customer of ours who was badly mis-sold a heat pump of the wrong size. It basically ran flat out 24/7 just to make the house luke warm... The electricity bills were horrendous too because the poor little heat pump (nothing wrong with the heat pump, if it had been a 1 bedroom flat it was trying to heat and not a 3 bed semi...) was working at it's maximum output constatntly. We managed to force the company to come back and fit the correct size heat pump at no cost to the customer under threat of legal action/loss of contract with Daikin.

It's a minefield out there and a lot of companies just want to make a sale. Solar Thermal (where the hot water is pre-heated to save energy) is another frequently badly specified type of system. We've seen them way too small, so a negligible decrease in energy useage, to oversized where you can get dangerously high tempretuures in the system. Almost always because people can't use a calculator or can't be bothered to...

If anyone is considering a renewable energy sytem (PV, solar thermal, battery, heat pump etc) please feel free to get in touch with me to review any proposition you may have or just to give some impatial information 

[pichulec]

New brake pads, new fork stanchions and fork oil replaced. Thanks kwackboy

[UK_Vstrom650]

Washed the V-Strom and the kids' bikes. Then spent some time tidying the garage as its too cluttered. Used to be quite spacious until various push bikes and kids' go-karts invaded, now I'm forever dodging stuff. May need to invest in a bigger garage 

[Barbel Mick]

A couple of months ago I purchased a petrol hedge trimmer/grass strimmer. It was a cheap one from Screwfix (Titan). I didn't want to pay a lot for one as I haven't got much use for it. 
Got it home & put some E5 petrol (two stroke mix) into it. Tickled it, pulled the cord & it fired up first pull. A few weeks later I went round to my mums & cut her hedge with it, it worked fine for 3/4 hours. Filled the tank at least 4/5 times with the same petrol. 
A few weeks later I took the grass strimmer part to the allotment to strim the paths, it worked OK for about 30 minutes then it started to cut out on full revs, I had to release the trigger until the revs steadied then start again for a couple of minutes, this kept happening.
A couple of days later I wanted to use it again, it refused to start, nothing!
I took it back to Screwfix who exchanged it for me, same make, different model.
For a number of reasons I didn't try the new one until yesterday. Put the petrol in it (from the same can I had used before), tickled it & pulled the cord & kept pulling the cord, nothing, not a sign of life.
Of course, I thought what am I doing wrong, surely two units, both new, can't have the same fault. I checked for a spark & that the cut off switch was operating correctly. The plug was sparking & it was wet so was getting fuel into the cylinder.
Today I went to the petrol station & got some fresh fuel, mixed a container of two stroke, emptied the old fuel out as best as I could. Filled the tank with the new stuff, tickled it, pulled the cord & it fired up first time!! 
Does anyone want half a gallon of suspect petrol? 

[Rixington43]

I've had the axact same issue with a Tutan multi-tool at the missus' place.
Each time I use it, I have to remove the mixture screw and degunk the recess before re-fitting and then resetting the mixture.
It's so annoying that I bought some beefy electric trimmers instead and she promptly borrowed them and cut through the cord

Normally I object to replacing petrol with electric but I'm *just* young enough that I bloody hate 2 stroke (sound, smell and histrionics).

[purplebikeunicorn]

Bloody hedge trimmer, the trimmer itself is about 20 years old and it's had just as many cords and repairs because almost every time it gets used the cord gets cut through.

He rides a bike too...

Plan for today is to fit the old man's new chain and sprockets, and then my bike will get XCPd since I didn't have chance before today, and it's a bit warmer!

[Barbel Mick]

I'll keep an eye on that Rixington, thanks.
But that doesn't explain why the brand new one wouldn't start on the 'old' petrol but fired up straight away on the 'new' stuff. 

[Upt North]

I know they're bloody expensive........but, Honda make great petrol garden tools.
On the advice of a mate we bought a Honda powered mower and Honda Strimmer/Brush Cutter/Hedge trimmer about 10 years ago when the new larger plot became a part of my life. They just work, changed the plugs once and oil changed every Autumn.
Money well spent in the end.
The mate said if we bought owt else we'd regret it.
They are always run with Super Unleaded and Honda Pro Fuel Stabiliser. They're very economical too.
Upt.

[TLPower]

I too have a Titan brush cutter. I left it over last winter with an E10 2stroke mix in the tank and in the carb. I came to use it this year and guess what?







It started first pull and continued to go even with yonks old E10 that had also seen  use as paintbrush cleaner. I did wind out the screw as it used to bog at high revs. This year I've winterised it by emptying the tank and running it until the carb was empty. I also treated it and the lawnmower to E5.

[Barbel Mick]

Were you lucky or was I unlucky?   
I might use mine a few more times before it gets put away for winter but I think I'll drain it before I do.
Upt North, if I was going to use it on a more regular basis I'd be happy to spend my hard earned on something better. 
When this one is running it does work well though.

[mr_diver]

I've had issues with my ancient Lawnflyte (Kawasaki heavy industries) 2 stroke stimmer for quite a while.
Well it was about 30 years old so bought one of the Titan multi tools. 35cc compared to 25cc on the old one.
Ran great with some old E5 petrol I had premixed ages ago... when I refilled with E10 premix the thing was a bugger to start, took ages to warm up and bogged down all the time unless there was a bit of choke on, which was awkward seeing at it has an auto disengage on the choke.

Did a bit of research and it's a common issue... turns out when the jets get a little film of oil and old petrol on them they close up the openeing and you need to back out the main mixture screw.
E10 being the bastard that it is make the situation worse as it has a lower volatility and is harder to ignite than E5.
I found it still bogged going from idle so I backed out the idle screw and it runs perfectly again.

If you ring their customer services, jump through the hoops they will send you the mixture screw tool FOC... but I just used a recent little needle nose pliers 

Also it says in the manual, not that any of us read it that you should not store it with fuel in it for any length of time... I use it maybe once a month in summer... so I let it co-ol down and drain the tank back into the premix bottle.

[Barbel Mick]

Thanks for that Nathan, something to keep in mind.
I think I'll drain mine & as TLP does, run it until the carb' is dry.