Oh, the times they've been a-changing

[bigegg]

I said this should be the way it's done to a couple of our design team the other day.

Slightly more diplomatic than "yer kin useless. You need to go back to school, the lot of you"

 

[DAPPH]

On a further note, some skill has been lost in the mechanical/electrical trades though as individual component subassemblies have become so complicated, and in a lot of ways significantly cheaper than they ever use to be instead of trying to fix them we generally just use an unplug and replace method. Trying to fix them would generally be a waste of time and therefore money in todays world where profit margins are being cut to the bone.

There is also the perennial problem of a circuit board that fails , it often causes damage to other parts in the board or other components going out of specification might be the cause of a component failing elsewhere .
To keep the reliability of the board & equipment it is fitted to up with components passing their allotted / estimated lifespan that will also result in failures . You renew the the whole board if at all possible thus giving everything the new estimated new / proposed length of component life.
Most people don't realise that a tremendous amount of electronic components suffer electronic decay from the moment they are powered up . All components are built to a designed life of use .

Repairing piecemeal is usually a false economy , the other thing is it's often it is better to replace the whole machine /equipment just before its estimated use / life come round so you don't suffer inconvenient break downs .

 

[DAPPH]

I make natural cordage with willow bark,nettles,burdock.

Last week I plaited 254 home grown onions in to 14 inch long bunches , I also made 40 pound or so of Rhubarb jam & preserved almost 30 pound of carrots in jars . Dried a pound or so of podded peas and blanched & froze the rest of the 12 litre bucket of them ....... does that count for old skills?

 

[magnet]

Last week I plaited 254 home grown onions in to 14 inch long bunches , I also made 40 pound or so of Rhubarb jam & preserved almost 30 pound of carrots in jars . Dried a pound or so of podded peas and blanched & froze the rest of the 12 litre bucket of them ....... does that count for old skills?

Does in my book..........Well done mate That must be some garden you've got

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Last week I plaited 254 home grown onions in to 14 inch long bunches , I also made 40 pound or so of Rhubarb jam & preserved almost 30 pound of carrots in jars . Dried a pound or so of podded peas and blanched & froze the rest of the 12 litre bucket of them ....... does that count for old skills?

Does in my book

In mine too . Two houses back, part of the back garden was turned into a veg patch. I double dug it and planted tatties for 2 X seasons to 'clean the ground'. Then I planted rows of cauli, cabbage and carrots, expecting a supply of 'pot > plate' veggies.....no so! The carrots were go at by carrot fly and neither the caulis nor cabbages 'hearted' . That was the end of that!

 

[awemawson]

In the last 13 years since I retired and bought a little farm where I could build my ‘ultimate’ workshop I’ve learnt MANY new skills, both in terms of engineering and agriculture!

How to program in Fanuc, Heidenhain, and Siemens CNC
How to use (and rebuild) a Wire EDM machine And a Sinker EDM machine
How to operate (and rebuild!) four CNC lathes
How to operate (and rebuild!) two CNC milling machines
How to operate (and rebuild!) a big induction furnace
. . . And several other machines including farming machinery

How to keep and breed pigs
How to keep and breed sheep
How to cure and make my own bacon. and hams
How to put a huge Ram on it’s back to trim it’s nails when all it wants is to kill you !
How to pull a Ewe out of a ditch and survive the experience when it’s intent on drowning!

oh, and driving tractors excavators, trenchers and a myriad of other kit far removed from my career of fixing industrial computers while wearing a suit

. . . So sorry, if people can’t work out how to wire a plug, their genes should be forcibly removed from the gene pool to ensure survival of the human race !

 

[magnet]

In mine too . Two houses back, part of the back garden was turned into a veg patch. I double dug it and planted tatties for 2 X seasons to 'clean the ground'. Then I planted rows of cauli, cabbage and carrots, expecting a supply of 'pot > plate' veggies.....no so! The carrots were go at by carrot fly and neither the caulis nor cabbages 'hearted' . That was the end of that!

Remember Robert the Bruce and that spider. If at first you dont succeed try try try again. I had an allotment much the same there were biblical plagues of pests the first year but a year or so later all was well. Theres a lot to be said for some home grown veg.

 

[Shox Dr]

In the last 13 years since I retired and bought a little farm where I could build my ‘ultimate’ workshop I’ve learnt MANY new skills, both in terms of engineering and agriculture!
.....

How to keep and breed pigs
How to keep and breed sheep
How to cure and make my own bacon. and hams
How to put a huge Ram on it’s back to trim it’s nails when all it wants is to kill you !
How to pull a Ewe out of a ditch and survive the experience when it’s intent on drowning!
!

Farmer once said to me. Sheep spend their whole life trying to kill themselves. Once found a Ewe wrapped up in a briar, spent 30mins untaffilin it, for it to run straight over a bank

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Remember Robert the Bruce and that spider. If at first you dont succeed try try try again

I prefer, if at first you don't succeed.....cheat. It's now cheaper & easier to source fresh produce if you chose wisely, e.g. farmers' markets etc now that they're opening up again.

 

[awemawson]

I sold all my sheep after a particularly difficult session with a Ewe. I dragged it out of a deep ditch, leaving my Wellies in the ooze at the bottom. Got the beast on dry land and just as I got to the top of the bank it plunged back in. Repeat performance but this time in bare feet (never found the socks !) and when out she charged down the field and got stuck under a container that bridges the stream. Very shortly after that they ALL went to market. The wife kept her sheep, and as I said, when something’s stuck and bleating I KNOW it’s not one of mine and WHO-has to sort it

 

[DAPPH]

In mine too . Two houses back, part of the back garden was turned into a veg patch. I double dug it and planted tatties for 2 X seasons to 'clean the ground'. Then I planted rows of cauli, cabbage and carrots, expecting a supply of 'pot > plate' veggies.....no so! The carrots were go at by carrot fly and neither the caulis nor cabbages 'hearted' . That was the end of that!

That was your problem ............... giving up . Had you a bit of experience and ambition after seven years you'd have cracked the gardening lark ............. once you discovered manure , humus & the right times to sow .

 

[DAPPH]

In the last 13 years since I retired and bought a little farm where I could build my ‘ultimate’ workshop I’ve learnt MANY new skills, both in terms of engineering and agriculture!

How to program in Fanuc, Heidenhain, and Siemens CNC
How to use (and rebuild) a Wire EDM machine And a Sinker EDM machine
How to operate (and rebuild!) four CNC lathes
How to operate (and rebuild!) two CNC milling machines
How to operate (and rebuild!) a big induction furnace
. . . And several other machines including farming machinery

How to keep and breed pigs
How to keep and breed sheep
How to cure and make my own bacon. and hams
How to put a huge Ram on it’s back to trim it’s nails when all it wants is to kill you !
How to pull a Ewe out of a ditch and survive the experience when it’s intent on drowning!

oh, and driving tractors excavators, trenchers and a myriad of other kit far removed from my career of fixing industrial computers while wearing a suit

. . . So sorry, if people can’t work out how to wire a plug, their genes should be forcibly removed from the gene pool to ensure survival of the human race !

Surprisingly many people who think they can wire a plug ..................cannot . Despite having been a C&G'd industrial electronic test & service engineer & electro mechanical engineer I was sent to a health and safety session where this " expert "
decided to tell us how to do it.
He was exceedingly well embarrassed when at the course critique I stood up and said , " Perhaps you should learn how to make it so that the earth wire is long enough so it always pulls out the plug last of all . ( MOD defence standards )

 

[4String.]

I sold all my sheep after a particularly difficult session with a Ewe.

 

[bigegg]

Surprisingly many people who think they can wire a plug ..................cannot . Despite having been a C&G'd industrial electronic test & service engineer & electro mechanical engineer I was sent to a health and safety session where this " expert "
decided to tell us how to do it.
He was exceedingly well embarrassed when at the course critique I stood up and said , " Perhaps you should learn how to make it so that the earth wire is long enough so it always pulls out the plug last of all . ( MOD defence standards )

And none of the bare copper showing.
And cable inners not twisted over each other...

But people who are doing a *second year* electrical course - and don't know which colour goes to which pin - or what the strain relief is for.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

That was your problem ............... giving up

Aye, no staying power, me.....

 

[Maker]

or what the strain relief is for.

You mean it's not just two spare screws for when you lose the one holding the back on?

 

[DAPPH]

You mean it's not just two spare screws for when you lose the one holding the back on?

If the plug has them they are usually a different size & different thread ... usually much smaller

We have several plugs that have over lever swing gates or Vee's as the cord grip .

Much prefer the fused on fused plug but it does pay to check the right wire goes to the right pin .
Several years ago I purchased a Chinese made soil heating cable direct from China for a couple of pounds , it died after a few days of use.
So I took it apart the yellow & green earth was soldered on to the fused live and white to negative in the three pin square plug , no earth wire in the cable at all but a black wire had been snipped off. Cut the heating element out snipped off an inch at each end put on a new three core 5 amp flex then soldered them up & ran a crimped earth to the elements outer screening & cast a high resistance silicone plastic joint inside a pipe over the joints ,

 

[Robotstar5]

Repairing piecemeal is usually a false economy , the other thing is it's often it is better to replace the whole machine /equipment just before its estimated use / life come round so you don't suffer inconvenient break downs .

That's the theory we had a load of hydraulic lift tables that had been running fine for over 10 years so one of the managers decided we should get all the cylinders changed before they failed. One of our approved contractors changed all the cylinders during a shutdown and by the end of the first week back in production 2 of the new cylinders were passing oil through the neck seals and over the next couple of weeks 4 more failed. Due to the high cost of any line stoppage we just kept topping up the tanks on the power packs and letting the leaks fill the pits with oil until the cylinders could be changed on a weekend.

 

[DAPPH]

That's what happens when you buy untested gear at the cheapest prices. Wasn't there any comeback on the contractors ?

 

[Robotstar5]

That's what happens when you buy untested gear at the cheapest prices. Wasn't there any comeback on the contractors ?

Any contractors have to "jump through hoops" to get on the approved list, the company installed the lifts originally and are normally pretty good, they replaced all the cylinders (again) at their own cost. A later autopsy found the neck seals fractionally undersize allowing them to be forced past the retaining collar.