Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[mnementh]

Time to put yer spring-eater up for sale. 

mnem
*puts on best Rain Man voice* User error... definitely... definitely... user error...

[SilverSolder]

[...]
The latter had three problems recently: coil spring snapped sitting in the driveway (twice within a month!), ignition coil cracked. Apart from those, it hasn't seen a garage in a decade

I found a local garage where the mechanics are honest and not stupid expensive, so I've started doing something really unusual for me:  Ask them to put it (a 2006 with 200K+ miles) up on the lift, and tell me if they see anything which, in their opinion, is worth fixing to keep the car reliable!   They actually like being asked, nobody does that... and haven't suggested anything that I haven't agreed with yet.  Stuff like shocks, brakes etc. as you'd expect, but they also caught rusty fuel lines bordering on becoming a real problem, rusty handbrake mechanisms, worn suspension bushings etc. - preventive maintenance which has actually made the old girl feel much fresher and tighter on the road - and quieter too.   It makes a change from waiting for something to break before taking it there, LOL! 

[bd139]

Burns doesn't it

How often did you change the coolant in the car? Every 18 - 24 months like I do? Can't hear you. 

And I'm not talking this "Flush" BS. Just a simple the drain and top off. Flushing not needed if drained every 18- 24 months.

To wit: 16 year old Civic with 192K miles sitting in garage with original radiator. The water pump has been changed only because it's required with the timing belt.

Gets checked every 5k miles on routine service. Looks like a leak as it was checked 570 miles ago

This is 2014 Citroen with 23k miles on it.

OK, but did they ever drain and refill the cooling system during one of those 5K mile checks? 6 years on original coolant is far too long, regardless of mileage. And don't believe these "100K mile" coolants. It's a bunch of baloney.

Yeah complete refill. It left a puddle in the car park.

This is 2014 Citroen with 23k miles on it.

My algorithm for choosing cars, exercised once a decade if I'm unlucky:

• decide which class of car; usually a super mini like a Polo or Fiesta
• look in Which? see which types are reliable
• sit in examples of the 3 most reliable types, to see if they fit
• find example of reliable comfortable car, spend an hour in/round/under it
• if good, buy it

Currently my cars (don't ask) are 2003/50kmiles and 2004/120kmiles.

The latter had three problems recently: coil spring snapped sitting in the driveway (twice within a month!), ignition coil cracked. Apart from those, it hasn't seen a garage in a decade

Roughly similar.

I only put up with the old fiat because it was free 

[bd139]

Fleabay £1 selling fees again.

Not for me yet. I reckon they’re interlacing it every two weeks for different groups.

[Robert763]

Just been looking at the 2022E service manual. If the sellers description of the fault is correct it should not be too difficult to fix. I've looked at getting a 2022x for years mainly because of the small size. Performance in terms of phase noise and spurious isn't great but better than a new cheap bit of junk. Always fancied a 2017 but can't justify the cost, size or weight.
I'll have to wait and see what my £72.21 including shipping actually delivers.

[AVGresponding]

Burns doesn't it

How often did you change the coolant in the car? Every 18 - 24 months like I do? Can't hear you. 

And I'm not talking this "Flush" BS. Just a simple the drain and top off. Flushing not needed if drained every 18- 24 months.

To wit: 16 year old Civic with 192K miles sitting in garage with original radiator. The water pump has been changed only because it's required with the timing belt.

Gets checked every 5k miles on routine service. Looks like a leak as it was checked 570 miles ago

This is 2014 Citroen with 23k miles on it.

There you go, I've diagnosed the problem with your car.

[bd139]

New ones are fairly reliable. Older ones, not so much. This is the first issue so far. Looks like a hose is fucked.

Just been looking at the 2022E service manual. If the sellers description of the fault is correct it should not be too difficult to fix. I've looked at getting a 2022x for years mainly because of the small size. Performance in terms of phase noise and spurious isn't great but better than a new cheap bit of junk. Always fancied a 2017 but can't justify the cost, size or weight.
I'll have to wait and see what my £72.21 including shipping actually delivers.

Yeah I had the SM up. It’s likely one of the oscillators isn’t running. I reckon one of the filter caps for the osc is short or the BFR91A has given up. You’re right it’s not the nicest but it’s the most compact vs price unit.

2017 is nice. 2019A is probably better. They did an older one the PN that escapes me that was a work of art. It had more cans than a Tesco in it.

[mansaxel]

This is 2014 Citroen with 23k miles on it.

There you go, I've diagnosed the problem with your car.

My Volvo with 370k+ kilometers just signalled "low coolant" and said "check everything now". As I got into it and prepared to go home from work today. Yay.  The coolant level was just below the MIN level in the expansion vessel, so I braved caution and topped up with plain water, to just above the MIN mark. Warning disappeared, and I could drive to a petrol station and compensate with as much concentrated glycol as I'd filled water.  It's getting about time for a service on it, so that'll do.  Also, I need to do something about the crank case ventilation which I'm suspecting is clogged.

[Ice-Tea]

This is 2014 Citroen with 23k miles on it.

There you go, I've diagnosed the problem with your car.

Eh, mine has 150 000 km on it. Only unforeseen issue was a developping leak in the thermostat housing. Cost me a whopping 200€ to have it fixed. My previous citroen ran for 230 000km. Blew up a turbo once, but that was entirely my fault. I totalled the one before at 130 000 km but it ran flawless untill then. The one before ran fine untill that one met a highway barrier as well.

Also: yummy!

[AVGresponding]

All Citroens leak, regardless of age... I'd still own a DS or even SM if I could afford it though.
EDIT: Or even a CX, gotta love that concave rear screen!

Hoses perish regardless of whether you do a biennial coolant swap, though it is good practice. Don't ever ask me about my own car maintenance intervals, or I'll have to deflect the question, by any means necessary!   

Picked up an E-class Merc from Enterprise today, thoroughly unimpressed with both them, and the car.

I booked it a week ago, but they waited until last night just before close of business to "remind me" that the branch I had booked the car at was closed due to covid.
Call me fussy, but "reminding" someone normally involves repeating a previous statement, not dropping a bomb at the eleventh hour.

Had to arrange a different branch, at considerable inconvenience to me.

The car is meh...  engine is noisier than I would expect from a near-new Merc, interior and controls are needlessly "spaceship-like".
The marketing wanketeers have been at work, it has "ambient mood" LED lighting. What a load of bollocks.

The guy that showed me round it has this plastic strip with a transparent round window on it; any dent bigger than the window (50mm or so) is considered "damage".
Any dent smaller is considered "wear and tear".
The temptation to get out a small ball-peen hammer and turn it into a car shaped golf ball is strong...

[Specmaster]

Is this going to be the limo for your daughters wedding? So it is being hired or have you purchased an end of leasing life Merc?

[bd139]

Cute but psycho. Things even out. 

mnem
 

Try saying that when you're clutching the knife sticking out of your chest.

"It's OK. <Ngggh> It's just one of her <*Cough* *COUGH* Gurgle> moods."

Typical night out with someone with pink hair. So we descended upon a certain London club which is one of those places that if you know about it, you know what’s coming up. So we’re all completely toasted and this woman we know with pink hair has been floating around annoying us so we’ve been buying her drinks so she pisses off again. Well I’m working on a floozie and she comes over and sees that I’m actually enjoying myself and tries to punch me in the face just grazing my nose very slightly the rationale being it’d make someone more miserable than her. She then proceeds to stagger off and fall down some stairs. So an hour later we’re bored so head off and she’s outside sitting in the front of an ambulance coated in blood and tears. Another pink haired girl had bottled her in the face.

And there you go. 30% more psycho with factorial psycho if there are more than one.

[tggzzz]

[...]
The latter had three problems recently: coil spring snapped sitting in the driveway (twice within a month!), ignition coil cracked. Apart from those, it hasn't seen a garage in a decade

I found a local garage where the mechanics are honest and not stupid expensive, so I've started doing something really unusual for me:  Ask them to put it (a 2006 with 200K+ miles) up on the lift, and tell me if they see anything which, in their opinion, is worth fixing to keep the car reliable!   They actually like being asked, nobody does that... and haven't suggested anything that I haven't agreed with yet.  Stuff like shocks, brakes etc. as you'd expect, but they also caught rusty fuel lines bordering on becoming a real problem, rusty handbrake mechanisms, worn suspension bushings etc. - preventive maintenance which has actually made the old girl feel much fresher and tighter on the road - and quieter too.   It makes a change from waiting for something to break before taking it there, LOL! 

I have a similar garage, and when the coilspring broke I asked them whether it was worth pro-actively replacing the other. "Oh no" was the answer. Oh yes I had fun when I took it in for the second less than a month later.

I still can't understand why it they broke when the car was simply sitting in the drive. There was no sign of somebody jumping up and down on the front wing!

[bd139]

All Citroens leak, regardless of age... I'd still own a DS or even SM if I could afford it though.
EDIT: Or even a CX, gotta love that concave rear screen!

Hoses perish regardless of whether you do a biennial coolant swap, though it is good practice. Don't ever ask me about my own car maintenance intervals, or I'll have to deflect the question, by any means necessary!   

Picked up an E-class Merc from Enterprise today, thoroughly unimpressed with both them, and the car.

I booked it a week ago, but they waited until last night just before close of business to "remind me" that the branch I had booked the car at was closed due to covid.
Call me fussy, but "reminding" someone normally involves repeating a previous statement, not dropping a bomb at the eleventh hour.

Had to arrange a different branch, at considerable inconvenience to me.

The car is meh...  engine is noisier than I would expect from a near-new Merc, interior and controls are needlessly "spaceship-like".
The marketing wanketeers have been at work, it has "ambient mood" LED lighting. What a load of bollocks.

The guy that showed me round it has this plastic strip with a transparent round window on it; any dent bigger than the window (50mm or so) is considered "damage".
Any dent smaller is considered "wear and tear".
The temptation to get out a small ball-peen hammer and turn it into a car shaped golf ball is strong...

Typical Merc. They are shit now.

If you paid the damage wavier, it’s your right to treat the accelerator as a switch and rag the motherfucker to death. I nearly killed a hire Mundano once in only thirty minutes. 

[factory]

Getting a garage to work on anything seems to be difficult at the moment, I gave up trying to find one that would collect my stranded Berlingo from the work carpark, after a short gearbox linkage snapped, thankfully an ex-mechanic at work managed to get it going with a part taken from a scrap Partner van.

This afternoon after work I went over to pick up the HP universal counter, AVO digital multimeter & Airmec frequency meter I had won earlier this week, on the way back one of the van wheel bearings has failed again (noisy) , always the same side, must be the third one now. 

Anyway here is the TE, the HP doesn't count, the AVO only displays zeros, can't check the Airmec as I don't have the correct power lead handy (audiophool grade one).


And the less said about the power lead on the HP the better, now cut off & thrown in the bin. 



David

[bd139]

That HP power plug 

Looks like it was all in reasonable condition though. Thus it was a good win.

[factory]

Yes a definite win, The HP counter cost less than what shipping from the US would be. 
Hopefully I can clean up the connector, if not I will have to replace it.

I accidentally bought that Beckman counter I was watching, as it went down to $30, shipping is still a killer on it though. 


David

[mnementh]

Cute but psycho. Things even out. 

mnem
 

Try saying that when you're clutching the knife sticking out of your chest.

"It's OK. <Ngggh> It's just one of her <*Cough* *COUGH* Gurgle> moods."

Typical night out with someone with pink hair. So we descended upon a certain London club which is one of those places that if you know about it, you know what’s coming up. So we’re all completely toasted and this woman we know with pink hair has been floating around annoying us so we’ve been buying her drinks so she pisses off again. Well I’m working on a floozie and she comes over and sees that I’m actually enjoying myself and tries to punch me in the face just grazing my nose very slightly the rationale being it’d make someone more miserable than her. She then proceeds to stagger off and fall down some stairs. So an hour later we’re bored so head off and she’s outside sitting in the front of an ambulance coated in blood and tears. Another pink haired girl had bottled her in the face.

And there you go. 30% more psycho with factorial psycho if there are more than one.

Uhhh-huh... and whom do you think went home with the other pink-haired grrl...? 

mnem
mmmhmmm... angry sex... 

[Robert763]

This is 2014 Citroen with 23k miles on it.

There you go, I've diagnosed the problem with your car.

<SNIP>

Also: yummy!



Hmm Nice Pye 6001 instrument switches. Total switch resistance 700 microhms, variablity 20 microhms. I a CAM-Metric decade box by the look of it.

[BU508A]

Anyone here owning a 121GW? Looks like there is an issue with the VA mode when the current becomes bigger than 2.49 Amperes.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/eevblog-121gw-multimeter-issues/msg3281134/#msg3281134

[bd139]

Cute but psycho. Things even out. 

mnem
 

Try saying that when you're clutching the knife sticking out of your chest.

"It's OK. <Ngggh> It's just one of her <*Cough* *COUGH* Gurgle> moods."

Typical night out with someone with pink hair. So we descended upon a certain London club which is one of those places that if you know about it, you know what’s coming up. So we’re all completely toasted and this woman we know with pink hair has been floating around annoying us so we’ve been buying her drinks so she pisses off again. Well I’m working on a floozie and she comes over and sees that I’m actually enjoying myself and tries to punch me in the face just grazing my nose very slightly the rationale being it’d make someone more miserable than her. She then proceeds to stagger off and fall down some stairs. So an hour later we’re bored so head off and she’s outside sitting in the front of an ambulance coated in blood and tears. Another pink haired girl had bottled her in the face.

And there you go. 30% more psycho with factorial psycho if there are more than one.

Uhhh-huh... and whom do you think went home with the other pink-haired grrl...? 

mnem
mmmhmmm... angry sex... 

My colleague went home with her. He didn’t know until she got arrested the day after 

[Kosmic]

Anybody want a cheap nixie tube LC meter ? the seller just sent me an offer at 17.50$

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Systron-Donner-9400-Meter/274527728404?hash=item3feb20b314:g:-0sAAOSwy2NfgQqG

[mnementh]

Cute but psycho. Things even out. 

mnem
 

Try saying that when you're clutching the knife sticking out of your chest.

"It's OK. <Ngggh> It's just one of her <*Cough* *COUGH* Gurgle> moods."

Typical night out with someone with pink hair. So we descended upon a certain London club which is one of those places that if you know about it, you know what’s coming up. So we’re all completely toasted and this woman we know with pink hair has been floating around annoying us so we’ve been buying her drinks so she pisses off again. Well I’m working on a floozie and she comes over and sees that I’m actually enjoying myself and tries to punch me in the face just grazing my nose very slightly the rationale being it’d make someone more miserable than her. She then proceeds to stagger off and fall down some stairs. So an hour later we’re bored so head off and she’s outside sitting in the front of an ambulance coated in blood and tears. Another pink haired girl had bottled her in the face.

And there you go. 30% more psycho with factorial psycho if there are more than one.

Uhhh-huh... and whom do you think went home with the other pink-haired grrl...? 

mnem
mmmhmmm... angry sex... 

My colleague went home with her. He didn’t know until she got arrested the day after 

I was the same guy, only it was Pittsburgh. And I knew, but the cops never showed up... so we had wake & bake the next morning. But that is another story... 

mnem
   

"Little red-haired girl my ass."

[Cerebus]

So we descended upon a certain London club which is one of those places that if you know about it, you know what’s coming up.

Could you possibly be describing the Slimelight?

[capt bullshot]

I accidentally bought that Beckman counter I was watching, as it went down to $30, shipping is still a killer on it though. 

What kind of display is this?