Zel's Fleet Blog - BX, Jag XJ-S, Sinclair C5, Mercedes 208D & 230TE, AC Model 70.

[CitroJim]

Don't forget the oil in the filter swirls round in a clockwise direction viewed from the top so over time tightening the filter by design rather than loosening it. So the longer between xhanges and the dirtier the oil the tighter it gets. Dirty oil has a higher drag factor than clean so the longer its left the tighter it gets. It was the same with traditional cartridge filters so not a new phenomenon!

That makes total sense Mick and explains it well why all of us who carefully torque find them tighter... Yep, 25 Nm sounds about right Paul and like you, I use a six-point socket...

[MattBLancs]

I'm going to "out myself as a rebel" - I routinely under tighten them, deliberately, and rarely have an issue getting them off with normal sized half in ratchet. I've never had one leak nor back itself off.

A little smear of new oil on the new O-ring and just "snugged up".

[CitroJim]

I'm going to "out myself as a rebel" - I routinely under tighten them, deliberately, and rarely have an issue getting them off with normal sized half in ratchet. I've never had one leak nor back itself off.

A little smear of new oil on the new O-ring and just "snugged up".

Now there's a plan Matt. I'll try tightening to 20 Nm on my next change and see how it goes...

[mickthemaverick]

With the old cartridge filters I used to do them hand tight and never had an issue, maybe that would work with the cannister type?

[Zelandeth]

Some long term readers of this thread might recognise this mess.



It's the control PCB for the air conditioner in my room. Over the last ~10 years it has become increasingly senile - hence the number of things unplugged. Today's exciting development was it deciding to run the condensate drain pump continually. I suspect it had actually been doing that for a while, however I wasn't aware of it until it took exception to this treatment and the bearings started screaming loudly.

They have quietened down after a bit of lubrication but I suspect they're just worn out. In fairness, the whole unit is from 1991 and spent its life prior to 2015 or so when I got it at a rental company so it had a hard life. I do actually have a replacement pump assembly I can swap in to deal with that. I need to unearth it first though.

To get us through to tomorrow though without making the pump any more irate than it already is though we've got a very ugly bodge dangling in the breeze.



I think the time may well have come to just ditch this control PCB and actually wire up my relay based circuit and my own control panel. Only bits I'll retain will be the corner of the original PCB with the transformer on it (as I'll be using 24VAC control) and the cap there (which is the run cap for the fan if I remember rightly). All the brains of the operation will revert to being relay logic and a dedicated refrigeration controller which will have control of the compressor - so anti cycle timers, hysteresis etc will all be handled by that which makes my life rather easier. I just need to make sure I've got interlocks in the logic so you can't do daft things like trying to run heating and cooling at the same time and ensure the safety lockouts for overheating, condensate overflow etc work properly. Of course it's an excuse for me to also cover the control panel with status indicators because I'm me and I'm a sucker for things like that.

That however will involve the thing being out of use for a good few hours, so that may well wait until after the current heatwave passes by. I will make a point of actually securing the relay added today though and finding an internal 24V source for it rather than the external supply it's currently tethered to. I was melting this afternoon by that point so getting up and running again was the priority once I'd established that the float switch was actually fine and got the motor to run again.

[Zelandeth]

I'm sure resorting to taping foil over the outside of all of the windows into the conservatory in an effort to keep the downstairs of the house vaguely habitable is an entirely normal thing to do in an English summer...

It is definitely helping though!

[MattBLancs]

I'm sure Mick won't mind me cross posting what he's been up to (shared in my blog) - similar lines: attempts to limit solar gains with something reflective on the glazing

viewtopic.php?p=871238#p871238

[Zelandeth]

I'm sure Mick won't mind me cross posting what he's been up to (shared in my blog) - similar lines: attempts to limit solar gains with something reflective on the glazing

viewtopic.php?p=871238#p871238

As it's very much proven the concept works I am probably going to grab some of the cheapest plywood I can find and make up some panels I can fix in place with some strategically positioned magnets or velcro. This is clearly going to be an ongoing thing so doing something that can be stowed away probably under the pool table when not in use but can be easily installed/removed.

Some family medical developments I'm not going to go into at the moment (as there are still a bunch of things we don't know) have come up in the last couple of weeks - which is largely why I've been so quiet. One of the outcomes of this is that it's looking like I'll be needing to drive to Oxford and back multiple times a week for the foreseeable. This is a heavier duty cycle than I really want to be placing on a 20 year old car, even one as nice and as sturdy as the Volvo. So I really need to think about something newer.

This is basically going to mean EV, EV or EV as I have precisely zero inclination to get involved in any petrol or diesel engines much newer than what I've already got. Definitely not any of the E6 nonsense where they started putting particulate filters even on the petrols. I also absolutely don't for a second trust that the goalposts aren't going to be moved and the various ULEZ areas suddenly made EV only - which given the Scottish ones mean you can't enter them at all rather than just paying your £10 or whatever for a day is a definite concern for me. It caused a lot of stress last time I was in Glasgow and a closure meant that the satnav was determined to route me into the ULEZ - that would have been £60 on the spot.

So I really need to do some research. I really don't want to deal with all of the post 2021 safety nanny features, but it is what it is. The only really modern car I've sat in and thought "I actually really like this" was a Kia EV6 as it felt like they had honestly tried to make something resembling what we were promised cars would be in the 2020s back in the 90s, and I have to admit that I've never been in a modern Kia which I didn't like. The Optima was far more comfortable and better equipped than the VW Passat we had at the time. Honestly I actually really liked the Pride, Kia's first effort over here. It was a car people seemed to love to hate but I always found them to be quite cheerful little cars and we sold a bunch of them at the garage and never had a single problem with any of them. I really doubt I can make the numbers stack up for the EV6 though as they're absolutely not cheap. I also have my doubts about the boot really being big enough to transport the dogs. I really need to take a proper look at the Renault 4 as I now know two people who have recently bought them and reckon they are actually a really well thought out car. Looks like there are some reasonable finance deals on them at the moment as well. I *like* the 5, but it really doesn't have the space I need.

It may actually come to nothing, but if nothing else it has given me a bit of a kick into catching up on the current and recent market. Last time I really looked at it was in 2009! Be a good excuse to blag a few test drives hopefully!

[Rp0thejester]

I've seen several Renault 4s at the dealership, they look like 5s on stilts, I'd be very surprised if they would fit your dogs in the back.

[Zelandeth]

I've seen several Renault 4s at the dealership, they look like 5s on stilts, I'd be very surprised if they would fit your dogs in the back.

I need to actually have a look. I'm not expecting them to have anywhere near as much room as in the Volvo - but that's going to be true of anything as nobody makes proper estate cars any more. Even the £100+K biggest SUV Volvo currently sells has about half the space of the V70.

I really, really, really don't want an SUV (especially a fake one!) which I think is why the Kia drew my eye as it's a proper big car rather than SUV, but I'm going to have to be realistic. If I want something that's decently sized and equipped I might just have to grit my teeth and put up with it because that's just what's out there now. I quite like that the Hyundai Ioniq range are their own things, but again they seem to be very expensive and I wasn't really that impressed with the interiors to be honest compared to the space ship exterior. Also have heard quite a lot of stories of people having issues with they main traction battery fuse blowing and the dealers taking months and months to sort it which doesn't exactly instill confidence.

[mickthemaverick]

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... 5182502521

[Zelandeth]

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... 5182502521

Sadly that would gain me nothing. Few years newer than the Volvo, but it's on more miles already, and isn't Scotland ULEZ compliant - that calls for E5 on a petrol or E6 on a diesel.

Also a manual and if I'm going to have to deal with Oxford traffic on a regular basis an automatic is an absolute essential for the sake of my sanity. Last trip took two and a half hours door to door (to do 42 miles). This used to be Abby's commute for several years (literally one corridor to the left of where we're going in the hospital now) so I know full well that's not at all that unusual. One reason she switched to using the bus so it was at least someone else's problem - but that's not an option for us here. Let's not get started on trying to *park* at the JR...that's a whole other headache in itself but again, we don't have a choice. These are the cards we've been dealt and we just have to deal with them.

[mickthemaverick]

Euro 6 version:
https://ebay.io/m/lFAUlS

[CitroJim]

Sorry to hear things are a bit troublesome currently Zel. I can be no help in suggesting suitable vehicles so will just wish you all the best and trust all will soon be satisfactorily resolved...