Any question answered...

Got a Robert Dyas nearby?

judging by their site, Robert Dyas maybe bought them as they seem to be the only stockist?

and a tale of woe
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/the-rise-and-fall-of-sugru

(new page fail)

So, TV vs monitor?

Trying to decide between a Samsung M7 or a TV equivalent. Both 4k.

My only condition is that it has Airplay, to stream from an Apple device.

I’m not sure what a TV is nowadays, as I haven’t bought one in a long time. Do they still need to be plugged into an aerial? Or do they operate just on wifi?

So what’s the difference between a monitor, like the one above, which has Airplay, Netflix etc and a TV remote, and a ‘TV’? Am I missing something?

Tempted to go for the monitor as I could use it in an office in future.

Help appreciated.

They're pretty similar these days. TVs will still tend to have an aerial socket and freeview receiver plus all the apps.

That 'smart monitor' is the first I've seen of such a thing, looks to me like a TV without the ability to receive any sort of broadcast signal.

Edit: It's not obvious why the monitor is more expensive though, nor why the cheaper TV wouldn't be just as suitable to use as a monitor.

Monitors tend to have shorter response times, it's not even listed on the TV specs but comes up as 'poor' on a google search

I think Samsung are going fairly big on smart stuff on all their devices.

The monitor has USB C input and a hub which would probably swing it for me if I was going for a monitor.

I have a mtb triple on our tandem a 9 spd fr mech, a 9 spd rear mech and an 8 spd shifter on 8sp cassette, the only thing is front shifting is an arse.
I can change this now because I recently found a 9spd shifter, bought a nicer front mech and found both a wider range 9 cassette and a normal 9spd 11-32 cassette. The conventional approach would be 3x9 on the normal cassette but I am tempted by the idea of 2x9 and running something like 26 or even 28 inner and 38 or 40 middle with the wide cassette. This way, the chainrings could come inboard a bit (by not having an outer which the old mech couldn’t fully reach) and there’d be one less of them. of course it might not like the jump, and cause chain length issues. what do you think?

3x is the new 2x

preach

In what quantities are you buying?
-Kilo of citric acid is easiest from a Turkish wholesaler or larger shop as lemon salt.
-caustic soda is available in 5l containers from a cash and carry

IPA seems to be difficult in larger quantities, usually from electrical supplies places that sell boards but you can get away with rubbing alcohol from places like PAK hair products. Also a good source for 1l and 5l of peroxide cream.

I need an oring type gasket for an oblong inspection cover on an engine. I can’t find one for sale but it should be possible to just buy a length of the oring material and push that into the groove right, what would you search for though? And is there a generally accepted formula for working out what thickness of o ring you’d use for a given size of groove?

Search for 'O Ring Cord' but check chemical compatibility of whatever material you pick depending on the fluids you're sealing against. Probably nitrile/NBR/HNBR for engine oil but silicone and Viton/FKM may be ok too. If you need to make a continuous loop you can superglue the cut ends together.

The thickness of the material should be more than the depth of the groove by 20-30% but it depends on o ring material hardness and the stiffness/fixing arrangement of the cover.

it should be possible to just buy a length of the oring material and push that into the groove right, what would you search for though? And is there a generally accepted formula for working out what thickness of o ring you’d use for a given size of groove?

"O-ring cord" should yield search results. Select material suitable for the temperature regime and compatible with whatever fluid you're trying to keep inside the engine. Cut the ends square with a razor blade and join with suitable cyanoacrylate adhesive. The cord diameter needs to be bigger than the groove depth but less than the groove width. If it's just a seal and not for pressure retention, you only need about 10% squish.

Borrowed a FLIR Thermal Imaging camera from Library of Things.

Annoyingly only displays relative temperature on the images, but apparently

It captures the thermal images in JPG format with 14-bit radiometric temperature data embedded in them for each pixel, so you can change the color palette and adjust the temperature scale afterwards on your computer in the Flir Tools software.

Anyone know of any software that might be able to read this data that doesn't require a licensing fee (because subscription software can jog on)

Looks like there are a few Python/R libraries, e.g. https://pypi.org/project/flirimageextractor/

Thank you Tester and Hiraethus, will measure up and get ordering.

Since I’m here, anyone know of an easy way to remove ‘RTV silicone sealer’?

No easy way, gasket remover works well ISH but goes through disposal gloves so take care.

Would not want to get any of that stuff in an engine.

It’s all on the cover that’s removed from the engine, plus the cover bolts to the cylinder head which is currently separated from the barrel which is currently separated from the crank cases…

It’s stuck remarkably well, maybe it wasnt put there by the same previous owner that’s spunked normal clear silicone on just about every other mating surface because it all comes off pretty easily 🙄

Two pin shaver plug - can you just cut them off and stick a normal three pin plug on? It’s on a turntable so no real need for it to be stuck in a shaver socket.

Two pin shaver plug - can you just cut them off and stick a normal three pin plug on?

Yes

Almost certainly, yes.

Yes.

Likely yes.

Royal Mail lost an item I sent next day by 1pm delivery so I've refunded the seller and am currently owed £150. I put a claim and got an email about a month ago saying they are looking into it but I've heard nothing back so want to follow this up by email. When I try this option on the RM website I just go in circles because the "Click here to get in touch" and the "Complete our form" buttons don't do anything for me... can anyone help?

This is the URL - https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/contact#category-tree-after and this is said button...

1 Attachment

can anyone help?

Well, not Royal Mail, that's for sure 🙂
If they are already over the 30 days they allow themselves, I guess you'll have to write to them since their online system doesn't allow you to prod them. The address is in the email they sent you, print the email so they have all the details and add a note that you're still waiting for a resolution.

Usually they send a cheque within a week or two, and they don't send any electronic communication, so the issue might be that they've issued the cheque but it hasn't been delivered to you.