Ask a Shiter

[garbaldy]

Probably a stoopid question but a mate of mine has just told me he has 3 life insurance policys, recons he's worth 4 mil dead by claiming on all 3.

I know you can't have more than one on a car or house or should I say you can't claim of more than one but he recons you can have as many as you want. Who's right?

[Des]

Don't know about your mates multiple policies, but I'll wager his missus is busy mixing draincleaner into his horlicks.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Probably a stoopid question but a mate of mine has just told me he has 3 life insurance policys, recons he's worth 4 mil dead by claiming on all 3.

I know you can't have more than one on a car or house or should I say you can't claim of more than one but he recons you can have as many as you want. Who's right?

You can have as many as you want,in fact I think I've got 3. There's no point in all the extra paperwork though, why not just have one for £4,000,000 the premium would be the same presumably, I've only got more than one because I took them out at different times with mortgages or something and then kept paying afterwards.

Unless your mates a millionaire,I'd be very surprised if he actually has that much cover the premiums would be astronomical .

[garbaldy]

Turns out he pays for two and one came with his bank account. So that's two then, he said he pays £120 odd a month which includes critical ilness as well. I'm still taking the piss out of him.

[garbaldy]

Reason I'm asking this is I've got a policy but it only pays what we owe on the morgage. In effect if I die in say 12 years time it will pay of the outstanding which will be about 2k pounds.

[willswitchengage]

Yes, Pinzgauer. Newer British redesign with the 5cyl VW engine I think

[Leyland Lawrence]

If you have a device like a laptop that says it needs 12v DC 3A but your transformer is broken. Could you use a higher rated transformer that fits? i.e. Does the appliance draw only what it needs so it wouldn't be a problem with a 15v transformer?

 

I have found some flexibility with the transformers on my various early 90s synthesisers.

 

H

[dave21478]

I personally wouldnt piss about with laptops chargers - too much to go wrong IMO.

 

Replacements can be had very cheaply off ebay or amazon - order one quick before your battery runs out!

[Asimo]

If you have a device like a laptop that says it needs 12v DC 3A but your transformer is broken. Could you use a higher rated transformer that fits? i.e. Does the appliance draw only what it needs so it wouldn't be a problem with a 15v transformer?

 

I have found some flexibility with the transformers on my various early 90s synthesisers.

 

H

Power supply bricks for laptops are more than just transformers. They supply a regulated DC voltage , ie the voltage is controlled and won't vary as the load varies.

 

The current rating, ie 3Amps, is the maximum that can be supplied. Using a psu brick with a higher current rating is fine, the laptop will take what it needs.

 

Because the voltage from the psu brick is regulated, the electronics in the laptop can be designed around that regulated voltage and problems are likely if you use a power supply with a higher output voltage. I might risk a 15v psu on a 12v laptop if it was mine but certainly no higher voltage than that but I strongly suggest you do not try it. Not worth it, PSU bricks are cheap, laptops are not.

 

Audio kit from twenty years ago often just used a transformer /rectifier, all of the regulation was done in the audio unit. Not the same thing at all.

 

Laptops have really complex DC to DC converters inside them that chop the12v or whatever from the brick and turn it into many other supplies for this that and the other. 

 

Also, there is no common polarity for the plugs used: some are +ve to the centre pin, some aren't.

[mat_the_cat]

Also, Dell PSUs at least have a third wire to the laptop with a signal which identifies the power rating of the charger, and that it's a genuine Dell. Without this some will plain refuse to boot at all!

[catsinthewelder]

I've had the 'you know about cars,  tell me about.....' today off the boss.  Someone else at work is selling an 06 plate Pug 207 1.4 and the gaffer is wondering about buying it for his daughter.

 

I know all modern cars are shit and I know that 307's are pretty crap but is the 207 any better?  I don't think they do a 1.4D so it must be pez which can only be a good thing with modern stuff.

 

Any clever things to tell him?

[mat_the_cat]

Car Mechanics magazine is doing a diagnostics article on them this month; that's all I know...

[willswitchengage]

I know all modern cars are shit and I know that 307's are pretty crap but is the 207 any better?  I don't think they do a 1.4D so it must be pez which can only be a good thing with modern stuff.

 

Any clever things to tell him?

 

My Grandad has one with only 20K miles. It's already had an engine fault that Peugeot couldn't fix so they charged him £100 to switch off the light, all the electric windows are broken, the gear stick boot is torn off and the 1.4 16V pinks under any engine load. It's also impossible to engage first, third or fifth gear without pressing the button that locks the doors.

[Station]

Just a query - my driveshaft clicks on full lock. Is this an MOT fail. Gaiters are otherwise intact (the clip at one end came off and all the grease came out over time).

[Noel Tidybeard]

I've read that the first series of Eurovan MPV (Synergie, 806, Ulysse, Zeta) was available with the 2.1 12V XUD engine - but does anyone know if they were ever sold like this in the UK? I've been looking for something cheap in the usual places and have only seen the 1.9s for sale so far.

 

Thanks!

OMG there was a Lancia version

[Tayne]

OMG there was a Lancia version

 

 

Lancia par Tayne, on ipernity

 

Lancia par Tayne, on ipernity

[twosmoke300]

As long as the gaiters are secure and intact its a pass. Madness but thats the rules

[drum]

Why do brake discs warp?

I had the discs on the A4 skimmed as they had somehow warped while the car was in winter hibernation. All was fine for about three weeks but they seem to have become warped again! I've ordered new discs but is something causing this that will wreck them too?

[nigel bickle]

Sticky calipers are probably the issue.

[drum]

^cheers nigel, I'll check that.

[mat_the_cat]

Or they aren't seated properly. Crap on the mating surface of the hub (that's not an instruction) means the disc will rub on the pads more at one point, making it thinner. Hence judder - not really warping but it feels the same through the pedal.

[Spiny Norman]

Apologies for dragging the subject back onto computers but I also have a query relating to the power supply on a laptop.

 

Mine keeps flashing the display between battery power and AC mode, and iI've traced it to the wiring at the laptop end of the power cable. The power supply brick itself seems to be OK but right beside the male end of the plug there's a little black cylindrical thing and it seems to be the wiring coming from that to the plug that's breaking up.

 

What is that little device for and if I were fixing the cord would I need to replace it or could I just cut it out altogether?

[burraston2006]

Have you tried asking the children?    I ask mine and they gaenerally know how to sort it!!

[saucedoctor]

That wee thing is a ferrite cylinder or ferrite "choke" Supposed to keep interference down. The wire wraps around it. Not really necessary unless you listen to a MW radio and sit it ON TOP of the laptop charger brick. If you cut it out and do experience problems, you can buy clip on ones for pennies of eBay.

I'd jst buy a new charger. £10 ish on eBay. Make sure it isn't actually the jack on the laptop, though.

[Micrashed]

Ive spotted a French registered moped for sale locally at a price thats very good.

 

Any problems with riding a left hand drive moped on the UK roads?

[catsinthewelder]

Just a RHD headlight (or well shaped gaffa tape) and MPH clocks (drawn on in crayon) for MOT and possibly a NOVA headache.

[Cavcraft]

Ive spotted a French registered moped for sale locally at a price thats very good.

 

Any problems with riding a left hand drive moped on the UK roads?

 

Only if you have a stripey jumper, string of onions and a beret.

[burraston2006]

Need to be smoking a filterless Gitane aswell!

[DeeJay]

And pissed up on Pernod.

[saucedoctor]

Speaking of headlights. Are squinty lamps an automatic MoT fail? One is "TOO FAR RIGHT" (like me) and the other is "OFF SCALE". (also like me, when Chelsea won the UCL)

 

Also - a foglight (OE, separate in lower bumper) with a bust lens (hole in it). MoT fail?

 

Thx.