The grumpy thread

[richardmorris]

8 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

 

The difference between super and regular unleaded seems to have skyrocketed since the whole E5/E10 thing kicked off.

Companies seeing an opportunity to price-gouge motorists?  Surely not!

Certainly one reason to sell the w124 was super unleaded fuel concerns. £1.60 A litre for the 2cv or x1/9 as an occasional toy at 48mpg is fine. At 26mpg as a daily car it’s a fair cost jump.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

40 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

The difference between super and regular unleaded seems to have skyrocketed since the whole E5/E10 thing kicked off.

Companies seeing an opportunity to price-gouge motorists?  Surely not!

Fortunately the CX's super unleaded at Sainsbury's has been entirely funded by accumulated Nectar points for over a year now, so I haven't had to spend actual cash for it. 

£1.66/ltr is taking the piss; that was motorway service prices not that long ago. Down here it's more like £1.45/ltr.

[Spurious]

6 minutes ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Fortunately the CX's super unleaded at Sainsbury's has been entirely funded by accumulated Nectar points for over a year now, so I haven't had to spend actual cash for it. 

£1.60/ltr is taking the piss. Down here it's more like £1.45/ltr.

Paid £1.52/L for Tesco super last weekend in Oldham. It's the preserve of the Audi now and it's elderly K-Jetronic 

Everything else is getting E10 even if it's slightly not recommended. 

There's not a lick of difference in MPGs out of the Suzuki with E10 or E5, it's all 33-35mpg. I do feel like getting a little oil burner for Uber economy on the way to work now. Can feel the cost of fuel now. It's taking the fun out of driving now, constantly watching the speed on the motorway, always trying to hover about 55-60mph 

[Zelandeth]

52 minutes ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Fortunately the CX's super unleaded at Sainsbury's has been entirely funded by accumulated Nectar points for over a year now, so I haven't had to spend actual cash for it. 

£1.66/ltr is taking the piss; that was motorway service prices not that long ago. Down here it's more like £1.45/ltr.

Saw £1.72/litre on the M6 on the way south last week!

[paulplom]

Diesel was £1.49.9 to fill the van yesterday. I thought that was taking the piss.

[New POD]

14 hours ago, wuvvum said:

There are a few topics of conversation which it is generally wise to steer clear of on Autoshite.  New POD's marriage is on that list.

Aye. 

 

[sierraman]

11 hours ago, Spurious said:

Paid £1.52/L for Tesco super last weekend in Oldham. It's the preserve of the Audi now and it's elderly K-Jetronic 

Everything else is getting E10 even if it's slightly not recommended. 

There's not a lick of difference in MPGs out of the Suzuki with E10 or E5, it's all 33-35mpg. I do feel like getting a little oil burner for Uber economy on the way to work now. Can feel the cost of fuel now. It's taking the fun out of driving now, constantly watching the speed on the motorway, always trying to hover about 55-60mph 

It’s an impossible predicament, a diesel could save you a few quid a week, then shit the DMF. Wiping the savings out. 

[Talbot]

1 hour ago, paulplom said:

Diesel was £1.49.9 to fill the van yesterday. I thought that was taking the piss.

it is.

Diesel at my local Tesco is 149.9   Go 8 miles up the road and diesel at that Tesco is 142.9

[Jamie]

14 hours ago, richardmorris said:

Goes with my experience from the neighbouring unit - most gym goers are far too lazy to walk from  the car park.

Well you can see from the pic I'm parked on the front row, so it's kind of true 😂

[carburettor]

ULEZ charges.

I’m sorry but why is my Skoda, a 3 cylinder sub 1litre car this much?

and a 2.9 litre twin turbo Ferralfa  the same fucking price? 
Fuck London. Thats that, I’m not going.

seriously how can that be logical?

[Tadhg Tiogar]

10 minutes ago, carburettor said:

ULEZ charges.

....

Fuck London. Thats that, I’m not going.

seriously how can that be logical?

The cynical might say that this is all designed to make that London look even wealthier because it will only have new / nearly new / electric cars in it.

Londoners did have a chance to vote for over-earnest Shaun Bailey who aimed to do away with the whole ULEZ extension thing as well as review the cycle lane arrangement but, since nobody likes Tories even if they're black, they voted for a second helping of Khan instead.

It is what it is.

[grogee]

35 minutes ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

The cynical might say that this is all designed to make that London look even wealthier because it will only have new / nearly new / electric cars in it.

Londoners did have a chance to vote for over-earnest Shaun Bailey who aimed to do away with the whole ULEZ extension thing as well as review the cycle lane arrangement but, since nobody likes Tories even if they're black, they voted for a second helping of Khan instead.

It is what it is.

Khan is doing the rest of the country a favour, holding back the tide of corrupt, racist Tory bilge subsuming the rest of the country. 

Congestion charging is the same as ULEZ - it doesn't discriminate between a Mini or a Maserati, they both have to pay the same. I'm not saying it's right, but it is at least consistent with CC and (to a degree) VED. 

VED by CO2 is another awkward 'multi-choice' solution that suits no-one. Why should someone emitting 119g/km pay £30/year, but us shiters get penalised x10 for twice the pollution? It should be £1.50 per g/km across the board. That's a fair incentive and it would bring in more to Govt coffers. 

[vulgalour]

I have spent days doing this stupid euro torch conversion on the welder.  I had the option of fitting an OEM replacement torch or getting the arguably better euro torch upgrade.  I'm well out of my comfort zone with this one, but I've soldiered on with it, as you do, in the vain hope I'll learn something.  I've learned my welder doesn't work properly now and I've no idea what's actually wrong with it.  I can get the wire feed to run nice and smoothly right up until I actually do any welding and then it goes all to pot and makes copper bird nests inside the case.

Do I chance getting a new wire feed at £100-150, or do I splurge on a new welder which I can't sensibly afford right now?  Either way I've got to fix it otherwise the car won't go through the MoT given it has no outer arch on one corner at the moment.

[captain_70s]

21 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

I can get the wire feed to run nice and smoothly right up until I actually do any welding and then it goes all to pot and makes copper bird nests inside the case.

My Clarke welder started playing up last time I changed a reel.

Ran fine until you tried to weld at which point the tiny resistance against the wire would stop it dead.

@GingerNuttz, did you ever get anything out of it or has it just been in the naughty corner?

I know @blackboilersuit successfully converted his similar machine to Euro torch and it massively improved it.

[GingerNuttz]

9 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

My Clarke welder started playing up last time I changed a reel.

Ran fine until you tried to weld at which point the tiny resistance against the wire would stop it dead.

@GingerNuttz, did you ever get anything out of it or has it just been in the naughty corner?

I know @blackboilersuit successfully converted his similar machine to Euro torch and it massively improved it.

I didn't bother opening it up once you got the GYS, didn't see the point until either of the decent ones pack in 😂

[vulgalour]

I'm not feeling the joy for the conversion.  Well outside of my comfort zone and far from a straight swap, it's required modification to parts and soldering, and a spacer to be fabricated (I'm on attempt three of that) and now I have a welder that works badly, rather than not at all, which is somehow more frustrating.  A new equivalent welder is about £430ish and can be got on finance, so that's very tempting right now, rather than throwing money at a problem I don't understand with this old welder which, up until very recently, has behaved spectacularly well.

[GingerNuttz]

7 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

I'm not feeling the joy for the conversion.  Well outside of my comfort zone and far from a straight swap, it's required modification to parts and soldering, and a spacer to be fabricated (I'm on attempt three of that) and now I have a welder that works badly, rather than not at all, which is somehow more frustrating.  A new equivalent welder is about £430ish and can be got on finance, so that's very tempting right now, rather than throwing money at a problem I don't understand with this old welder which, up until very recently, has behaved spectacularly well.

try spacing it closer to the rollers so it doesn't have the space to birds nest. 

I don't know if it'll work but it looks a bit far away in your pic

 

[vulgalour]

I'd have to modify the brass tube or the wire feed housing to do that since the brass tube is too thick an outer diameter to fit in the groove of the wire feed housing so it's as close as I can get it with chopping more things up.

[Stevebrookman]

Wifes Focus has started leaking power steering fluid again-3rd time in 9 years. There's a fault on the pipes for the 1.6 100bhp model. I could take a chance and replace the pipes £45 - but if the pump is leaking I have to replace the pipes anyway. The pipes have a one use push fitting thingy on the pump.  Really would like to get another estate-but even shit is expensive!

[blackboilersuit]

3 hours ago, vulgalour said:

I have spent days doing this stupid euro torch conversion on the welder.  I had the option of fitting an OEM replacement torch or getting the arguably better euro torch upgrade.  I'm well out of my comfort zone with this one, but I've soldiered on with it, as you do, in the vain hope I'll learn something.  I've learned my welder doesn't work properly now and I've no idea what's actually wrong with it.  I can get the wire feed to run nice and smoothly right up until I actually do any welding and then it goes all to pot and makes copper bird nests inside the case.

Do I chance getting a new wire feed at £100-150, or do I splurge on a new welder which I can't sensibly afford right now?  Either way I've got to fix it otherwise the car won't go through the MoT given it has no outer arch on one corner at the moment.

The euro socket I used for the conversion had a brass feed tube that clamped into the original liner holder and had to be cut to length so that once fitted it was as close to the feed rollers as possible without touching. Here's a pic of mine with the end of the tube circled. 

I'm guessing the gap between roller and tube on yours is at least part of your problem. 

Fitting the socket to the sloping front panel was a faff but in the end I just packed out around the bolt holes with penny washers and live with the unsightly gap between socket and panel. 

Wiring in the gas solenoid was a faff too because these machines are built down to a budget and don't have a conventional welding contactor. IIRC the welding power uses a switched neutral through an unfeasibly small relay on the wire speed PCB to switch power to the primary side of the transformer. I think I piggy backed that and a permanent live from the back of the on/off switch to power the (240v) solenoid.

Happy to take mine apart and check connections if needed just let me know.

 

Edited November 19, 2021 by blackboilersuit
spellings and grammer

[vulgalour]

I didn't opt for the gas solenoid extra, I didn't want more complication and since I'm used to the machine only having a one-stage trigger whenever I need wire and not gas, I just turn the bottle off so I don't waste gas.  As for the wire guide, looking at your picture I reckon that's going to be at least part of the problem.  I'll have to fettle mine just a bit more to make the tube fit better and hopefully that'll stop the birds nest issue.  One more go at it tomorrow and we'll see if that fixes it.

[grogee]

Tesco 'Finest' ready meal curries. Tasteless wank. 

Although probably because they're not allowed to put loads of salt in. 

Yeah, I know, lazy lardasses not cooking - tonight was Shopping Night and that's the only time we have a Reddy Meal.

[carburettor]

5 hours ago, grogee said:

Khan is doing the rest of the country a favour, holding back the tide of corrupt, racist Tory bilge subsuming the rest of the country. 

Congestion charging is the same as ULEZ - it doesn't discriminate between a Mini or a Maserati, they both have to pay the same. I'm not saying it's right, but it is at least consistent with CC and (to a degree) VED. 

VED by CO2 is another awkward 'multi-choice' solution that suits no-one. Why should someone emitting 119g/km pay £30/year, but us shiters get penalised x10 for twice the pollution? It should be £1.50 per g/km across the board. That's a fair incentive and it would bring in more to Govt coffers. 

Politicians? Every single one of them is as bent as camp Freddie. They all make me absolutely sick.

Khan, as Johnson did before him has done nothing positive in his entire tenure, in my opinion.

 

[carburettor]

45 minutes ago, grogee said:

Tesco 'Finest' ready meal curries. Tasteless wank. 

Although probably because they're not allowed to put loads of salt in. 

Yeah, I know, lazy lardasses not cooking - tonight was Shopping Night and that's the only time we have a Reddy Meal.

😂😂😂

maybe you need to spend a little more money on your food. TV dinners are absolutely horrible

I like this line in the song, 

TV dinners I'm feelin' kinda rough
TV dinners this one's kinda tough
I like the enchiladas and the teriaki too
I even like the chicken if.... the sauce is not too blue.

[blackboilersuit]

1 hour ago, vulgalour said:

I didn't opt for the gas solenoid extra, I didn't want more complication and since I'm used to the machine only having a one-stage trigger whenever I need wire and not gas, I just turn the bottle off so I don't waste gas.  As for the wire guide, looking at your picture I reckon that's going to be at least part of the problem.  I'll have to fettle mine just a bit more to make the tube fit better and hopefully that'll stop the birds nest issue.  One more go at it tomorrow and we'll see if that fixes it.

The gas valve was a necessity on my Clarke. The original Clarke torch has a gas valve built into the trigger in the handle. My euro torch (and all euro torches AFAIK) only has a microswitch in the handle as they are meant for machines with a solenoid in the unit itself. If I hadn't fitted the solenoid then the gas would have been flowing out the tip all the time as soon as the bottle was opened. 

It's worth persevering with the conversion as it really does make a difference. Even just the extra torch length and the ball joint on the handle make it so much nicer to work with. Ultimately though it's just a tool for fixing cars and with the price of useable old motors with a ticket feeling like it's through the roof right now £430 for a nice new R-Tech machine with a good warranty is perhaps easier to justify than it was a couple of years ago.

[LightBulbFun]

7 hours ago, carburettor said:

ULEZ charges.

I’m sorry but why is my Skoda, a 3 cylinder sub 1litre car this much?

and a 2.9 litre twin turbo Ferralfa  the same fucking price? 
Fuck London. Thats that, I’m not going.

seriously how can that be logical?

 both Vehicles in your screenshot you have posted are ULEZ compliant and dont have to pay for ULEZ 

what your looking at there is the Congestion charge only, which applies to pretty much all vehicles, (even electric vehicles these days I think need to pay it)

ULEZ is £12.50 for what thats worth (if they where not ULEZ compliant, it would say they would have to pay 2 charges)

not that im happy with any of it either! but just figured id let you know whats what exactly  (dont worry I have seen a fair few people get confused about the matter!)

[MikeR]

when u have loaded up the car for home , set up the sat nav for home , and under way in the dark in a strange place ....

and some one has forgotten something and wants to turn back .......

then after all that , white van man nearly side  swiped us off the road !!

glad to get home !

[Mally]

1 hour ago, vulgalour said:

I didn't opt for the gas solenoid extra, I didn't want more complication and since I'm used to the machine only having a one-stage trigger whenever I need wire and not gas, I just turn the bottle off so I don't waste gas.  As for the wire guide, looking at your picture I reckon that's going to be at least part of the problem.  I'll have to fettle mine just a bit more to make the tube fit better and hopefully that'll stop the birds nest issue.  One more go at it tomorrow and we'll see if that fixes it.

Wire guide should be as close as possible to the rollers, but mine is about the same as yours and works fine.

If you lift the top roller up, can you easily pull the wire through from the torch end? 

If it runs free, then  try reducing roller pressure to a minimum. Start with not enough so the rollers slip and do not feed wire,  increase pressure slowly until wire feeds constantly.

In an ideal set up, as soon as the wire snags, or blobs to the tip or shroud, the rollers should slip rather than feed a birds nest.

[vulgalour]

I did all that, it was feeding fine right up until I struck up a couple of tacks.  Given how many people have suggested moving the brass rod nearer the rollers I reckon that's probably the sensible approach, just might need to chop a little bit out of the plastic of the clamp that would hold it in place to accomodate the brass rod.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

4 hours ago, grogee said:

Tesco 'Finest' ready meal curries. Tasteless wank. 

Although probably because they're not allowed to put loads of salt in. 

Yeah, I know, lazy lardasses not cooking - tonight was Shopping Night and that's the only time we have a Reddy Meal.

My little* digestive problem at stupid o'clock this morning involved a home-cooked curry. Maybe a supermarket one might* have been safer*, if miles blander.

3 hours ago, carburettor said:

....Khan, as Johnson did before him has done nothing positive in his entire tenure, in my opinion.

Wrath of Khan is London's first Muslim Mayor. He won't be the last.

Bailey had my vote because of ULEZ and the cycle lane review, but during the campaign he came over as way too earnest and yet floundering at the same time. Will he try again? No idea.

London cycle lanes could have been that much better, I think, if TfL had hired the Dutch or the Danes to do the design work. What we have ended up with is haphazard and TfL signal timings seem to actually cause congestion rather than relieve it - Victoria Embankment to Blackfriars is a prime example, traffic sitting on red for quite long periods.