New POD Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 Got my Sparkrite SX4000 that I bought from SimonBBC off eBay. I believe Accuspark sell the same unit too. Quite cheap at £30 and that included 4 spark testers too. Naturally the first thing I did was to rip the lid off. I can't say I'm totally impressed with the build quality nor how long it'll last though. Take a look at this: The green LEDs is haphazardly bent across. Looks like the case designer didn't speak to the PCB designer. The red LED with a resistor is bodged in onto the switch and badly soldered to the back of the PCB. While the switch itself is not a waterproof or sealed unit. Moisture and condensation will get in and rust that out pretty quickly. The input wires are held in place by the back of the lid. No strain relief and worse, a sharp edge. Likely to chafe through and short out. As most older cars don't have their ignition circuit fused, this can easily cause a fire. The two electrolytic filtering capacitors on the back are not secured and left hanging. Fine for products in the home that aren't move but in an automotive environment they're likely to fall off from vibration work hardening the leads. The other side of the PCB isn't much better. There is solder residue left from some hand soldering. The routing of the PCB tracks is awfully messy and really not optimal. Looks like whoever designed the PCB either didn't really know what they were doing or did not care one jot. There is also no conformal coating on the PCB at all, so it's almost certainly going to corrode and rust away over time as moisture gets in. Before it does that, it's likely it'll cut out and die. The input voltage regulator doesn't appear to either be automotive rated. As automotive is a hostile environment electrically and environmentally, it's likely this will degrade and die. At least they bothered putting a TVS diode to try and soak up some of the bigger peaks. However this is a 53v part and the voltage regulator has a maximum input of 24v. So spikes will damage the part anyway. It's interesting they used a microcontroller. Not sure entirely what it's doing but I imagine it's probably debouncing the points and maybe sorting the dwell period. I may dig out my Microchip programmer and see if the memory is locked down from reading it. Then I can see what it's actually doing and going on. Also concerning is the lack of low impedance decoupling caps on the microcontroller power pins. Again it gives off a design smell that the designer didn't really know what they were doing. Even a bog standard 100nF capacitor is better than the zilch on here and literally fractions of a cent. So cheap that a lot of Chinese PCB assemblers don't bother charging for them. What looks to be a diode across the distributor points appears to be a late addition to the design as there is no footprint markings on the PCB for it. At least they used a automotive rated coil driver J-FET for driving the coil though. Probably the only decent part of the design. As the design is so simple, I quickly sketched a schematic of the board. It's a tad messy, as the last time I hand drew a schematic was over 10 years ago when I was at uni.. I didn't include the input switch or red LED but that basically only switches the distributor points input directly to the coil output. I honestly don't think I want to put this in my car given the crappyness of the design. At the very least I may swap out the switch for a waterproof one and give the PCB a spray of Conformal Coating. 2/10. I'm waiting for MikeR to respond on this one. He spent 30 years man and Boy at GecPlesseyTelecomunications which became MarconiComs ending up as a senior test engineer. I once gave him a very fucked central locking module off a mk2 cavalier, which had been sitting in a box which was full of water. It came back 2 weeks later with extra wires and new components and working. Apparently it had been fixed at "Lunchtime" with "reject parts" . DeeJay, Eddie Honda, SiC and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alcyonecorporation Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Yay* stomach bug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BorniteIdentity Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Busy arse day today - Friday I'm flat out anyway, and now trying to squeeze a car collection in this afternoon so as to not lose family time tomorrow afternoon with the kids. The plan WAS to sell my w202 to 'Balbir from Heathrow' this morning and then use that money towards the new one. However, being an internet buyer, he's all of a sudden gone quiet. Surprise surprise. Joke will be on him, as I'll re-advertise it for £295 at which stage he will immediately become keen again, and I'll either tell him to FRO or just waste a bit of his time by not turning up. The new purchase is having it's MOT today so it comes with 13 months, so I'll be eagerly F5ing the DVLA website almost constantly. clayts450 and alf892 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BorniteIdentity Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Busy arse day today - Friday I'm flat out anyway, and now trying to squeeze a car collection in this afternoon so as to not lose family time tomorrow afternoon with the kids. The plan WAS to sell my w202 to 'Balbir from Heathrow' this morning and then use that money towards the new one. However, being an internet buyer, he's all of a sudden gone quiet. Surprise surprise. Joke will be on him, as I'll re-advertise it for £295 at which stage he will immediately become keen again, and I'll either tell him to FRO or just waste a bit of his time by not turning up. The new purchase is having it's MOT today so it comes with 13 months, so I'll be eagerly F5ing the DVLA website almost constantly. Update - he's warmed up again, offering only £485 despite the call yesterday where I said explicitly that I wouldn't sell the car for that price - and that if he was to try again tomorrow I'd politely decline again and go back to work. He said ok. I said thanks for your interest. He's now calling me constantly offering £535 - more than I would have taken tbh. I'm leaving him to sweat it, because I still reckon he's a fucking messer. Angrydicky and alf892 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parky Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 You just know that even if you settle on £550 or whatever, when you actually meet to do the deal he'll "only have £350 with me mate, my Mums ill and my hamster needs an x-ray, both my sisters have just had babies and my council tax has gone up". Rusty_Rocket, The Moog, clayts450 and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BorniteIdentity Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 You just know that even if you settle on £550 or whatever, when you actually meet to do the deal he'll "only have £350 with me mate, my Mums ill and my hamster needs an x-ray, both my sisters have just had babies and my council tax has gone up". We went through a lot of this yesterday. "Yeah but he's gotta tax the car innit".Yes. They all require that old boy. "And the last car bust the gearbox after a week innit".Sorry to hear that, but it doesn't affect the value of this car. "He's at uni aint got much money innit".I've a cheaper car you can buy. I've told the guys from work to come out when he arrives. Not for solidarity or security, but because it's likely to be a right old laugh. clayts450, Saabnut, Angrydicky and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BorniteIdentity Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 We went through a lot of this yesterday. "Yeah but he's gotta tax the car innit".Yes. They all require that old boy. "And the last car bust the gearbox after a week innit".Sorry to hear that, but it doesn't affect the value of this car. "He's at uni aint got much money innit".I've a cheaper car you can buy. I've told the guys from work to come out when he arrives. Not for solidarity or security, but because it's likely to be a right old laugh. This bloke is fantastic. Remember - I said on the telephone yesterday that I wouldn't sell to him for less than £525. "Spoke to my son he says £535". then I told him if he's genuinely wanting the car, fine - but don't try and have another chip when you get here. He says cool, what's the address? I ignore him as I'm balls deep in work atm. "Can we pay £510 and the deal is done I've told him to go away. It's a shit tonne of grief over a cheap car, and he's lost it for the sake of £15. Well bloody done. I'm going to take some nice pictures on my MiL's gravel driveway, shine it up and stick it on ebay. If anyone needs a benevolence vehicle for a while then I'd gladly stick it out on loaner. Gr10 entertainment. RobT, Mr_Bo11ox, Pillock and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_Rocket Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Ugggghhhh, Bornite, I totally sympathise. Why do the cheap cars always attract the idiots?! (that is not a comment about the good people of this site BTW!) Parky is right of course. Even if you told him he could collect it for free, with a full tank of pez, he'd still not turn up at the right time/ ask you to deliver it to a random relative. How do these people get through life?! The right buyer will turn up. danthecapriman and HMC 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiltox Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 If you offered it for free he would ask you to pay him to take it away. Cretins. HMC and Rusty_Rocket 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bramz7 Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 It's part of the reason why I hate selling cars to the public. I had a guy message me (presumably) offering a swap for the AX. All he said was 'ST150'. I didn't reply. Someone else offered £250. I get the whole ' don't ask don't get ' mentality but get a grip. I've had people in the past expect me to lower prices due to distance too. That's like me driving to a supermarket 100 miles away and blaming them for it. BorniteIdentity and Rusty_Rocket 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hooli Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Yay* stomach bug. Busy arse day today Is it catching? Supernaut, Rusty_Rocket, Timewaster and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Bo11ox Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Bornite, yer man sounds like the worst kind of messer who doesn't even know what he wants himself (worse than the sort who does know, but doesn't see that its not achievable). He ain't gonna buy it at any price. Just tell him to FRO and block his number on your phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BorniteIdentity Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Bornite, yer man sounds like the worst kind of messer who doesn't even know what he wants himself (worse than the sort who does know, but doesn't see that its not achievable). He ain't gonna buy it at any price. Just tell him to FRO and block his number on your phone.Absolutely. He called 10 times in 13 minutes once I said ok thanks anyway. Blocked. Stanky, Angrydicky and alf892 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Bo11ox Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Ha!!!!! Nice work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scaryoldcortina Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Remember my nightmare customer with the fucked up focus? Yeah, her... I got a call at half seven last night, she's driven the replacement focus into floodwater and hydraulic locked the engine. She rang again just now to say they've dragged it out of the river but it still won't start, can I come and have a look. No, I can't. I'm putting a timing belt on a DCi engined clio right now and there are other jobs in the queue for people with who aren't a complete luckless nightmare. clayts450, tooSavvy, twosmoke300 and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pillock Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 I'll go in your place, I can tell her exactly why her Ford Focus won't start after being in a river. Or maybe she thinks you can just park it in a huge bag of rice and it'll work in the morning? scaryoldcortina, Angrydicky, HillmanImp and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scaryoldcortina Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 She was hoping it had dried out, yes. Thanks for the kind offer, I'll PM you her postcode and tell her you're on the way alf892, The Moog and Pillock 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BorniteIdentity Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Genuinely, SoC, I would give her the runabout just like she did to you. People eh? Tut. scaryoldcortina 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scaryoldcortina Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Oh she's getting that alright. Zero fucks given, no help available here unless she brings cash up front and waits until at least the middle of next week. She rang again - new theory is that the battery is too flat to turn the engine (which is why it doesn't turn) and that a different battery would fix it... Dropped herself in it though, I left a good battery on the car for her on the understanding that she would be returning the faulty one she'd just bought from a scrapyard and bringing mine back. Last time I asked she said she'd done that and would be returning mine next time she was passing but today (when I asked why she didn't just fit my battery back to the car to try it, even though it's not going to work...) she said she can't because my battery is still on her car and the "other one" won't charge. I've added her current number to my spam list but it won't take her long to ring off another phone. Stevebrookman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parky Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 She is going to be delighted when this costs more than £20 to resolve isn't she! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parky Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Can you tell her she needs to get some friends to help her roll it onto its roof to allow the water to drain out of the engine - and then block her number? JohnK, alf892 and BorniteIdentity 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timewaster Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 You know it's going to be your fault as a "knowledgeable" friend at the flat roof pub or dole office said so.Car must have been knackered for a bit of water to stop it etc. etc. And her kids were in the car, Her kids! I'm going to the local paper. dave21478, Stanky, HillmanImp and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonedagain Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 LMFAO! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
They_all_do_that_sir Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Oh she's getting that alright. Zero fucks given, no help available here unless she brings cash up front and waits until at least the middle of next week. She rang again - new theory is that the battery is too flat to turn the engine (which is why it doesn't turn) and that a different battery would fix it... Dropped herself in it though, I left a good battery on the car for her on the understanding that she would be returning the faulty one she'd just bought from a scrapyard and bringing mine back. Last time I asked she said she'd done that and would be returning mine next time she was passing but today (when I asked why she didn't just fit my battery back to the car to try it, even though it's not going to work...) she said she can't because my battery is still on her car and the "other one" won't charge. I've added her current number to my spam list but it won't take her long to ring off another phone.The mechanic I farm out the complicated / can't be arsed DIYing jobs out to has no end of these sort of customers. He's ended up with a few cars where the owner has said "do what it needs" then when he calls them to say "its ready, that'll be £££" they say just keep the car......which would be fine if half of them weren't puke stained powered by fairy dust zafiras.....even if he could manage to get the logbook off them he doesn't have time to be selling cars, space to store them and the market value isn't going to be anywhere near the money he's spent on parts plus his time. I couldn't do the job......he's a nice fella and he charges comparatively little for his time too. I don't know how he hasn't become a grumpy cynical old bastard by now Sent from my SM-A510F using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twosmoke300 Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Calls himself a mechanic and he’s not a grumpy cynical old bastard ! BeEP, Sigmund Fraud, They_all_do_that_sir and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HH-R Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Tell her that fire will dry it out nicely adw1977 and Parky 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egg Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Calls himself a mechanic and he’s not a grumpy cynical old bastard !Aye, or just that sad look behind the eyes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
They_all_do_that_sir Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Calls himself a mechanic and he’s not a grumpy cynical old bastard !I Guess I'm only seeing one side of him.....I tend to drop the car down with the parts in the boot, leave him alone and let him call me when he's done.....turn up with cash and have a natter about bikes and dogs Sent from my SM-A510F using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 As was: To now: Rebuilt the speedometer on my moped to look a bit more period fitting. Phil holbeck, Sigmund Fraud, Stanky and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pillock Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 I had one of those on my Raleigh Grifter?Does the front screw off? And it has a weird hook thing that goes into the wheel bolt? M'coli 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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