240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[Othen]

Amazon has a lot to be responsible for; whilst sorting out Xmas gifts for my son, parents, siblings and loads of nieces and nephews I thought I'd indulge in getting myself something: a proper digital in and out calliper, this arrived this eve:



... incredibly this cost me only £16.79 (and even included a spare battery). It was made in China of course - one wonders how such a nice instrument could possibly be manufactured and shipped to me at a profit for that price.

:-)

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Amazon has a lot to be responsible for; whilst sorting out Xmas gifts for my son, parents, siblings and loads of nieces and nephews I thought I'd indulge in getting myself something: a proper digital in and out calliper, this arrived this eve:



... incredibly this cost me only £16.79 (and even included a spare battery). It was made in China of course - one wonders how such a nice instrument could possibly be manufactured and shipped to me at a profit for that price.

:-)

Now you're being naughty Alan - putting tempting toys like that in front of me!

Joking aside, i've already got its less expensive brother with the plastic instead of stainless.

Assuming the electronic back-bone of it is the same, the battery is an LR44/AG13 and they don't like being stored in cold areas such as garages, workshops, sheds etc. For that reason i keep mine indoors, in my hobby-desk area of my bedroom where my soldering stuff usually lives plus a few basic hand tools neessary for the occasional electronic project.

I also bulk buy the batteries as once they start to get low, their remaining lifespan is incredibly short. If they are the same batteries, these are nice and cheap :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-X-AG13...K/283867761960

As it stands so far, i've found no benefit in using brand name batteries over the unknown Chinese versions except to the sellers profits. Even working on a 20% DOA rate for the cheap ones (never had it that high to be honest) they last just as long as say a Maxell, Panasonic or similar. Not tried a Duracell but doubt it would fare any better, after all the physical size is against it to start with!
Given that you're getting 10 batteries for under 22/- delivered that seem to last just as long as the more expensive ones that you only get one of for more money and you have plenty of time to get more once you run low, it makes no sense to me spending on the posh stuff for this.

Low battery is indicated by a flashing display and it can still be used for a while after that first appears.

Just for the record when i bought mine some 10 ish years ago, i paid about the same and the stainless versions were about £30 so you've got a comparative bargain!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Now you're being naughty Alan - putting tempting toys like that in front of me!

Joking aside, i've already got its less expensive brother with the plastic instead of stainless.

Assuming the electronic back-bone of it is the same, the battery is an LR44/AG13 and they don't like being stored in cold areas such as garages, workshops, sheds etc. For that reason i keep mine indoors, in my hobby-desk area of my bedroom where my soldering stuff usually lives plus a few basic hand tools neessary for the occasional electronic project.

I also bulk buy the batteries as once they start to get low, their remaining lifespan is incredibly short. If they are the same batteries, these are nice and cheap :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-X-AG13...K/283867761960

As it stands so far, i've found no benefit in using brand name batteries over the unknown Chinese versions except to the sellers profits. Even working on a 20% DOA rate for the cheap ones (never had it that high to be honest) they last just as long as say a Maxell, Panasonic or similar. Not tried a Duracell but doubt it would fare any better, after all the physical size is against it to start with!
Given that you're getting 10 batteries for under 22/- delivered that seem to last just as long as the more expensive ones that you only get one of for more money and you have plenty of time to get more once you run low, it makes no sense to me spending on the posh stuff for this.

Low battery is indicated by a flashing display and it can still be used for a while after that first appears.

Just for the record when i bought mine some 10 ish years ago, i paid about the same and the stainless versions were about £30 so you've got a comparative bargain!

Many thanks for the tips about the batteries Dave - I think keeping it inside with my micrometer in the watch/mobile phone toolbox is sensible.

I think you are right about the battery: AG13; they are also available (Kodak branded) from £land on a card with 5 each of AG1/AG3/AG4/AG10/AG12/AG13 - 30 useful batteries for a pound can't be bad!

What a world we live in - a high quality tool (that I should have bought years ago instead of taking do) for under a twenty, and 1.5v batteries for 3p each - and people still moan :-)

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Many thanks for the tips about the batteries Dave - I think keeping it inside with my micrometer in the watch/mobile phone toolbox is sensible.

I think you are right about the battery: AG13; they are also available (Kodak branded) from £land on a card with 5 each of AG1/AG3/AG4/AG10/AG12/AG13 - 30 useful batteries for a pound can't be bad!

What a world we live in - a high quality tool (that I should have bought years ago instead of taking do) for under a twenty, and 1.5v batteries for 3p each - and people still moan :-)

I had a card of batteries like that Alan, branded Hitachi and i ended up using only the AG13 and a couple of one other type.
That meant there were something like 20 batteries i just threw away as i had nothing that used them.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I had a card of batteries like that Alan, branded Hitachi and i ended up using only the AG13 and a couple of one other type.
That meant there were something like 20 batteries i just threw away as i had nothing that used them.

Well, that is always a risk, but I find that it is worth having a couple of the cards around and from time to time I find something that needs them. I notice from the missing ones I have used AG1 and AG13 recently (I can't remember what I used them in). Anyway, at 3p/battery they are pretty good value.

I take your point about the AG13 (which seems to be quite a common size for all sorts of things) - and if my smart new calliper does start going through them I'll get a pack of 10 for a guinea as you suggest.

The other size I use a lot of is the larger one for key fobs and so on (I think it is CR2032), they seem really common so I pick up a card of them (the current ones are branded JCB) in £land from time to time as well.

I inadvertently joined Amazon Prime last week (must have forgotten to tick a box somewhere), but then found I could watch the rugby (England vs France - really good match) on Saturday, which was a nice bonus. Since them I've found the quick delivery to be somewhat addictive, and find myself buying stull I didn't even know I needed most days. Our consumer society is so cheap for everything that it hardly matters though :-)

Alan

[Stephen Edwin]

I think we all know in principle how and indeed why China sell products so cheap.

It is exploitation of the population and economic wa.


For myself I do as much as I can to avid buying made in China.

Similarly door bells for example. Whish? have found that some send information to China .... there is coffee to smell.


Comrade Stephen Edwin

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Well, that is always a risk, but I find that it is worth having a couple of the cards around and from time to time I find something that needs them. I notice from the missing ones I have used AG1 and AG13 recently (I can't remember what I used them in). Anyway, at 3p/battery they are pretty good value.

I take your point about the AG13 (which seems to be quite a common size for all sorts of things) - and if my smart new calliper does start going through them I'll get a pack of 10 for a guinea as you suggest.

The other size I use a lot of is the larger one for key fobs and so on (I think it is CR2032), they seem really common so I pick up a card of them (the current ones are branded JCB) in £land from time to time as well.

I inadvertently joined Amazon Prime last week (must have forgotten to tick a box somewhere), but then found I could watch the rugby (England vs France - really good match) on Saturday, which was a nice bonus. Since them I've found the quick delivery to be somewhat addictive, and find myself buying stull I didn't even know I needed most days. Our consumer society is so cheap for everything that it hardly matters though :-)

Alan

I'm fairly sure it was AG1 for the type i couldn't remember. The CR2032 (20mm dia, 3.2 thick) are pretty common. I have some LED flashy collars which use them and also the OE fob for my Rover uses them. The aftermarket fob for my Volvo uses the CR2016 as does the aftermarket fob for my Rover.

You should be on a months free trial of Amazon if you inadvertently joined Prime, go into your account and cancel it unless you're happy spending £80 a year for no good reason. If the rugby is a good enough reason to spend £80 a year then leave it be and cough politely when they raid your credit card!

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

You should be on a months free trial of Amazon if you inadvertently joined Prime, go into your account and cancel it unless you're happy spending £80 a year for no good reason. If the rugby is a good enough reason to spend £80 a year then leave it be and cough politely when they raid your credit card!

Yes, agreed about the month's free trial - to its credit Amazon did make that clear in the email I was surprised to receive after what I thought were a few normal purchases.

It is £7/month I think, but I think there is an annual fee that is a bit cheaper (maybe £70?). My son and I might try it for a while to see if it suits us. Thinking back, there have been a few items (like the prop bearing support) where I did end up paying a few pounds postage that would have been delivered free, I'm not sure that would come to £70 though. I've bought quite a few items (Xmas presents for family) that have been at the Prime members' price - which is sometimes quite a bit lower than the normal price. There is the question as to whether I'd have bought more stuff than I needed because I've been suckered in to the Amazon way - there may be some truth in that, but we all buy much more stuff than we need. The films and TV look quite good, but then we already have Netflix, so I'm not sure my son and I would use another streaming service.

The Prime logistics system is absolutely first class - and I suppose that is the most attractive part of the package. I have to work out whether I like that bit enough to pay £7/month :-)

PS. Talking of stuff I didn't know I needed, these chaps have just arrived via the Amazon delivery man:



... they are just chocky-block, but with neat over-centre catches instead of screws. They were pretty cheap (£6 for this box, so okay, more than chocky, but still only about 10p/unit). I thought I might give them a try - there have been lots of times I've struggled to join wires with chocky or crimps, usually with one hand in some confined space.

I didn't even know I needed these until yesterday - I think I'm disappearing into the Amazon black hole of shopping!

[Laird Scooby]

I don't use things like Netflix and i doubt i would even if my broadband was stable enough to use a streaming service, the closest i get is YouTube and that was the main reason i bought my Amazon Firestick which came with a free trial of Netflix. Couldn't find anything i liked on there and haven't bothered since.

Be careful, that Amazon black hole has a huge vacuum applied at frequent intervals!

Those choccy blocks look like a rehash of an Entrelec idea from about 20-25 years back. Wasn't successful then with panel builders (new technique, they were faster with the normal screw terminals) and from what i found on the maintenance side, not as reliable as they could be, the sprung contact bends to shape over time and then gets weaker, resulting in a poor connection that can't be remade. Hopefully that's been sorted by now but at that price i doubt it. They were a hard sell because of the price (despite Entrelec being cheap) back when i first knew them and looking at what you paid for that box, i'd guess they are just a simple copy of the original Entrelec items. Hopefully i'm wrong and they do everything you need them to do!

[CosmicBike]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I don't use things like Netflix and i doubt i would even if my broadband was stable enough to use a streaming service, the closest i get is YouTube and that was the main reason i bought my Amazon Firestick which came with a free trial of Netflix. Couldn't find anything i liked on there and haven't bothered since.

Be careful, that Amazon black hole has a huge vacuum applied at frequent intervals!

Those choccy blocks look like a rehash of an Entrelec idea from about 20-25 years back. Wasn't successful then with panel builders (new technique, they were faster with the normal screw terminals) and from what i found on the maintenance side, not as reliable as they could be, the sprung contact bends to shape over time and then gets weaker, resulting in a poor connection that can't be remade. Hopefully that's been sorted by now but at that price i doubt it. They were a hard sell because of the price (despite Entrelec being cheap) back when i first knew them and looking at what you paid for that box, i'd guess they are just a simple copy of the original Entrelec items. Hopefully i'm wrong and they do everything you need them to do!

They have come on a bit, at least the branded WAGO stuff has. That said, the re-usable type as pictured i only trust about 5 times, perfect for temporary joints when doing house re-wires, or when decorating to have the socket and switch fronts off.
The single use WAGOs are recognised as a maintenance free connection when boxed, tied and secured to a joist, so useful for placing in inaccessible locations where we used to use junction boxes but the Regs now prohibit.