The grumpy thread

[cort16]

I went to change the light switch in the bathroom as the light flickers sometimes. I'ts one of those pulley down ones. When I took it off there were 5 wires. 1 of them was green (the earth) and the other are all red with three of them screwed into the same port. WTF. I just screwed it back on.

[myglaren]

Speaking of crazy flipping courier madness, at work we order a load of stuff from Farnell - just electronic components. They're not that cheap really but they are fairly reliable and stock a lot of stuff, but the way they send and pack things is mental.

 

Yesterday I ordered 4 DIP 8 ICs from them (10mm x 8mm each) that cost about 2 quid each.

 

They came in a 36 inch long IC tube, packed in a 26"x12"x9" box. From Belgium, next day UPS delivery.

 

This shit happens twice a week at least, so they must somehow still make money from it, and yet to send the same box within the UK via royal mail would probably cost over £20.

I used to get stuff from Farnell and RS and that was pretty much par for the course.

[cobblers]

I used to get stuff from Farnell and RS and that was pretty much par for the course.

I don't mind like cos the bloke in dispatch is always happy for the boxes, the mind boggles when the daily £40-50 order from each of them, with enough stuff to barely fill a pint glass turns up in 3 or 4 different shoeboxes via all kinds of different couriers from all over europe. 

 

Last week I ordered 350 cheap LEDs, something like 6p a piece. They turned up packed individually in anti static bags, each wrapped in a static dissipative bubble wrap bag - it took two lads 45 minutes to unpack them and tip them into a tub so we could actually use them.

[retrogeezer]

Evil-bastard-bay's latest cunning plan of adding final value fee to the postage.

 

Seriously??  How can they be adding a fee to someone elses business?

[Pillock]

I don't mind like cos the bloke in dispatch is always happy for the boxes, the mind boggles when the daily £40-50 order from each of them, with enough stuff to barely fill a pint glass turns up in 3 or 4 different shoeboxes via all kinds of different couriers from all over europe. 

 

Last week I ordered 350 cheap LEDs, something like 6p a piece. They turned up packed individually in anti static bags, each wrapped in a static dissipative bubble wrap bag - it took two lads 45 minutes to unpack them and tip them into a tub so we could actually use them.

 

My place used to get loads of stuff like that, but sometimes in the thousands for some SMD resistors and caps. They'd all get unpacked and put in the same storage bin, not one of them gets touched, and a year later some bugger has to count them for an audit...! 

 

I went to change the light switch in the bathroom as the light flickers sometimes. I'ts one of those pulley down ones. When I took it off there were 5 wires. 1 of them was green (the earth) and the other are all red with three of them screwed into the same port. WTF. I just screwed it back on.

 

Sounds normal. Switch housing is earthed, and it's just an inny and an outy - pull cord and they get connected together. 

If you've only got one bathroom light, it means the three-wire one is the inny and it just has more lighting circuits daisychained to it (like the landing, bedroom, perhaps loft or something).

 

(Note, inny and outy are not proper electricians terms)

[nacho man]

Speaking of crazy flipping courier madness, at work we order a load of stuff from Farnell - just electronic components. They're not that cheap really but they are fairly reliable and stock a lot of stuff, but the way they send and pack things is mental.

 

Yesterday I ordered 4 DIP 8 ICs from them (10mm x 8mm each) that cost about 2 quid each.

 

They came in a 36 inch long IC tube, packed in a 26"x12"x9" box. From Belgium, next day UPS delivery.

 

This shit happens twice a week at least, so they must somehow still make money from it, and yet to send the same box within the UK via royal mail would probably cost over £20.

I work for ups and big companies that send loads get great deals, say £6 anything upto 15kg, next day.

 

Sometimes loads cheaper. The bigger the better deal they will do.

[cort16]

Sounds normal. Switch housing is earthed, and it's just an inny and an outy - pull cord and they get connected together. 

If you've only got one bathroom light, it means the three-wire one is the inny and it just has more lighting circuits daisychained to it (like the landing, bedroom, perhaps loft or something).

 

(Note, inny and outy are not proper electricians terms)

 

Cheers that makes sense (I think). The switch I bought screwy in bit for the inny's won't take all 3 lives as it's too small.  The switch has 2 ports on one side and one on the other (negative I guess). Is the 2nd port to drive another device like a fan or something. I really know nothing about electricity I still sacrifice a chicken everytime the guy reads the meter.

[Pillock]

I'm going to just sort of suggest if you're not au fait with electrickery, might be best not to meddle.

 

You don't get positives and negatives on mains power, but you can think of the three wire "inny" like a car earth.... It's just a live part, so if a switch or light nearby needs a live feed you can tap into it. Sounds like two other devices have tapped into the live, given you only have one light that comes on.

 

Alternatively, like you suggest, you can use your new switch the other way and have one live connected to two devices which both go off when you pull the cord.

 

Please don't die. Mains scares the hell out of me.

[trigger]

My mate frazzled himself a couple of years back whilst wiring up his living room light switch, when he switched it on he got a zap that blasted him into the opposite wall. Luckily he was ok but he had to walk around with a hard on for the rest of the week.

[cort16]

I've nearly blown myself enough times to normally realise when I'm out of my depth. The Mrs's Dad's a spark so I'll need to try to lure him over to have a look at it.

[anonymous user]

My mate frazzled himself a couple of years back whilst wiring up his living room light switch, when he switched it on he got a zap that blasted him into the opposite wall. Luckily he was ok but he had to walk around with a hard on for the rest of the week.

 

I suppose it's cheaper than Viagra, did his missus make him do it again the following week?

[trigger]

She made him change all the light switches in the house and her mothers...

[myglaren]

My place used to get loads of stuff like that, but sometimes in the thousands for some SMD resistors and caps. They'd all get unpacked and put in the same storage bin, not one of them gets touched, and a year later some bugger has to count them for an audit...! 

 

We used to fire stuff like that into the false ceilings come audit time, along with all the 'good stuff' the MD had told us to chuck out.

[vulgalour]

yay, the summer fair is back on the common, how I've missed this annual event since not living with my parents*.  Queue music that sounds like a cat being sick and an over-excited DJ on a tannoy shouting "LET ME HEAR YOU SCREAM" to people on the rides who then scream.  It's amazing, really, that the sound quality is so good considering the distances involved.

 

I wonder if it'll continue to gone midnight like it used to all those years ago, it was great having music and noise blaring into the house from the moment you got home from work until shortly after you needed to be asleep.  I feel sorry for the people who live on the opposite side of the road to the fair.

 

The other wonderous thing is the increase in garden and car thefts that go along with.  I've had to move the Golf and make the drive really annoying because someone is snooping around the neighbour's metal shed and putting scratches and dents on both our cars.  Whether the thefts are from fair workers or someone using the fair as a cover is never known but I am happy that my parents at least have a fully fenced in garden and a security light that puts a lighthouse beacon to shame these days.

[jakebullet]

Seriously??  How can they be adding a fee to someone elses business?

 

Simples. Ebay is dominant so squeeze the pips until they squeek.

 

Turns out they also want 10% of the postage price that they work out, not 10% of real postage charged. So next time I have someone in Australia buy 6 items & pay £30 quid straight away, and I give then £25 back cos it actually cost a fiver, ebay will want £3 for doing sweet FA.

 

I can't wait till the post office gets sold off and cranks the price up + ebay's 10%. Prolly have to sell 20k a year to get a pound of profit.

[cobblers]

Fair

 

 

I've noticed this on the way back from work and actually thought "fuck me, I'm glad I don't live on that estate!"

 

I bet that house over the road that always has bikes for sale on the garden keeps the things locked up for the next week or so

[Mr Lobster]

Simples. Ebay is dominant so squeeze the pips until they squeek.

 

Turns out they also want 10% of the postage price that they work out, not 10% of real postage charged. So next time I have someone in Australia buy 6 items & pay £30 quid straight away, and I give then £25 back cos it actually cost a fiver, ebay will want £3 for doing sweet FA.

 

I can't wait till the post office gets sold off and cranks the price up + ebay's 10%. Prolly have to sell 20k a year to get a pound of profit.

 

What they really want is all business sellers to offer 'free' postage. If you are a business seller then there are ways round it - list on any of the European ebay sites for free and fvf is based on item selling price only. From what I've read the idea is partly to stop sellers charging a tiny amount for the item and then a rip off postage price. And also to increase their income of course.

 

Still, ebay is still about 100000000% better for selling on than Amazon or Play/Rakuten.

[Des]

Fucking modern forums. Looks like we've traded a knackered old Allegro, under the scrappage scheme, for a nice shiny Hyundai, and it's been fine and dandy but now the ashtray's full and it's fucked. I tolerated the new forum turning into a kind of bastard child of RR and Ovalchat as it was reliable and less spammy but now what? Bump start? Jump leads and 24 volt the bastard?

I vote we engine rape an early Metro for it, SU carb and a dizzy, noice.

[Cavcraft]

I don't get what you mean, Des. Surely this place if nothing else is 100% 'less spammy' than it ever was?

[cort16]

It's exactly the same as the old forum other than there's no spam and it's got a 7 year unlimited mileage warranty. It does seem to go down occasionally but that's just the interwebz for you.

[Des]

The fucking windscreen pillars are fucking huge.

[Rocket88]

DPF [Dickheads Posting Failure ]occasionally clags up, site goes into limp home mode

[Sigmund Fraud]

 

Fucking modern forums. Looks like we've traded a knackered old Allegro, under the scrappage scheme, for a nice shiny Hyundai, and it's been fine and dandy but now the ashtray's full and it's fucked. I tolerated the new forum turning into a kind of bastard child of RR and Ovalchat as it was reliable and less spammy but now what? Bump start? Jump leads and 24 volt the bastard?

I vote we engine rape an early Metro for it, SU carb and a dizzy, noice.

 

 

I disagree... There's no need to start taking the new forum apart at the side of the road... We'll just ring our 'mate down at the dealership' (that being Dave), and he'll drag it to the garage and sort it out for us FOC, like he has done numerous time in the past* !

 

*and despite the fact that we rarely thank him for his efforts.

[dollywobbler]

DPF [Dickheads Posting Failure ]occasionally clags up, site goes into limp home mode

 

It has gone into limp home mode a few times today. I really like it though.

[purplebargeken]

We could always hammer a smaller sized forum over the top of this one.

[trigger]

The BBC have put a complaint in to Youtube about my "The private life of the Ford Cortina" video and made me delete it and complete some copyright school thing. Fuckers.

[Partridge]

The BBC have put a complaint in to Youtube about my "The private life of the Ford Cortina" video and made me delete it and complete some copyright school thing. Fuckers.

I didn’t even know you were on there. Re upload it. Balls to them.

[trigger]

I've uploaded a number of old videos including that Cortina one which is very hard to find but the BBC have took a dislike to it, If i reupload it again my account with be closed. .

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/dockertrigger

[RedSparrow]

The BBC have put a complaint in to Youtube about my "The private life of the Ford Cortina" video and made me delete it and complete some copyright school thing. Fuckers.

 

I uploaded the Reliant Trouble at the Top episode. Weirdly they didn't make me delete it, just made it so I'm the only one who can watch it!

[vulgalour]

"BRRRAAP BRRAAP!"

 

I wasn't aware I lived in Essex, thank you for clearing that up Mr Fair DJ.