Triumph gripes

I bought my t509 ten years ago or so.  Loved it.  Then I took it in for servicing.

I forget the details but the one experience that I really remember was a full service at a dealer:  dealers are reputable, right?

Maybe.  But thirty miles later I had stalling on first pull away, misfires and back-fires under acceleration.  My turn.

Spark plug problem I guessed.  Surely that's part of the major service?  Experience with my old Triumph and my Hyundai suggested a spark plug change was no big deal.

Truimph T509:  Tank off.  Air box off.  Coils off.  Sounds easy.  Well, it wasn't the first time, five years ago.  I spent a day getting the parts off to find a spark plug completely loose deep in the engine.

Dealers.  Strike One.

Torqued up:  problems fixed.

Years later:  same symptom.  Same replacement process.  Joy!  The leftmost plug outer electrode was completely gone.  Replace all plugs (they are cheap, after all).  Neighbour suggests the coil for that plug should be replaced.....  Bollocks I think but take it into work and test it electrically.  He's right!  It shows a completely different impedance from the second coil (that looks fine).  Okay:  new coil. Call dealer:  100 pounds including postage.  Okay....... (frown).  Check Ebay and Amazon.  30 quid including postage.  FROM HOLLAND.  STRIKE TWO!  Rightmost coil cross-threads in the head.  FFS.  I tightened that bitch up by hand (as I did all of them!).  Okay, take it on the chin:  accept I may have fucked it up (my first cross threading, since, well, fifteen years since on my Tiger90 sump nut).  Replace what I can.  Air filter back on. Tank on.  Hangon.  Why can't I do the tank nuts up?

The tank had changed shape in the three days it sat off the frame.

Eh?

Reading around:  it's not that uncommon.  Ducatis show it too, apparently.

Strike three.  No more f*cking Triumphs for me.  And I'm a Brit, eager to buy Brit.  But with rip off prices from the stealers and petrol tanks expanding at a different rate from the frame (with no recall) forget it.  I'd buy a new one and shit myself on the thought of basic maintenance.  Oh yeah, and the fuel filter is inside the tank.  Strike four (doesn't matter now anyway, Triumph, you're SO out).

Dremmel to the tank, slowly carving larger mounting holes.  Duh!  Remove the tank to make access easier.  Lift tank, snag the cheap plastic fuel connectors that no longer stop fuel pissing out of the tank (grrrr) on the frame; bend one.  Strike five.

FFS.

Order new metal fuel connector.  I've had enough of this.  :(  At least the fuel filter:  a Mahle KL145 is available from Opie Oils for about 14 quid (including 3 quid cheapest delivery).  :)  Small things.

Solar thermal installat

http://peplers.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/eco-refurbishment-installing-solar.html

solar supplies in the uk:
https://www.bes.co.uk/products/117b.asp

hot water diagram

 cold water 
  storage
       ___<__ font="">
      /      \
 ____O       | high pressure overflow into CWS
/            |       plas psh
|            |22mm T   ft1(n) ppf2(n)            22mm
|            |--HW out---X-----X-------T--->----Toilet HW
|         ___^_______  c    p     c    |
|        /           \                 |
|22mm    |            |                 \--->---Downstairs HW
|service |            |        
|push    |            |
|fit     |            |
|(need)  |            |
|        |            |  
|        |            | 
|        |            |
|        |            |
| cold   |            |
| in     |            |
\________|            |
/         \___________/
o
||
22mm
bleed
off
valve
(needed)

hot water cylinder connections program

http://www.heatweb.com/techtips/panex.html

For all those who thing the law is an indicator of right or wrong

https://bananas.liberty.me/youre-a-criminal-in-a-mass-surveillance-world-how-to-not-get-caught/

2d snappy meshing?!

http://www.wolfdynamics.com/tutorials_and_presentations/openfoam_tutorials/meshing.html

myStore: python persistence.

class myStore:
    # The store saves to self.fn, and drops a copy in self.fn+version.  This is the version
    # control.  So always load from the current version using the default filename.  It also
    # contains the current version number so no need for filename antics.  All results are 
    # kept in the local `res` directory so store functions ultimately load and save the `res`
    # dict.
    # Use as,
    # res = myStore() # instantiate, get latest version
    # r = res.res # shorthand.  Refer to r[] as result dict.
    # r['testValue'] = 1 # set dict value/
    # res.update() # Writes to disk and updates version.

    # del(r); del(res)
    # res = myStore() # instantiate, get latest version and data.
    # r = res.res
    # r['testValue'] # works.

    import os, pickle, cPickle

    def restore(self):
        """Opens the store file, pulls everything from it.  Run this at instanciation only."""
        with file(self.root + self.filename, 'r') as a:
            self.res = self.cPickle.load(a)
            self.version = self.cPickle.load(a)
            print 'Loaded data from store v%i' % (self.version)

    def __init__(self, filename = ''):
        self.root = '/home/starnesm/projects/FT/ipython/'

        # if a filename given, use it to name the store.  Otherwise, use default.
        if filename == '':
            self.filename = 'carAndBikeImpedanceMeasurementsData.pickle'
        else:
            self.filename = filename

        self.res = dict() # default values
        self.version = 1 # to be replaced if store exists:

        if (self.filename) in self.os.listdir(self.root):
            # the store exists.  Load it and get version number.
            with file(self.root + self.filename, 'r') as a:
                self.res = self.pickle.load(a)
                self.version = self.pickle.load(a)

        print 'myStore is at version ', self.version

    def update(self):
        """Opens the store file, pickles the thing and puts it in it."""
        self.version += 1
        with file(self.root + self.filename, 'w') as a:
            self.pickle.dump(self.res, a)
            self.pickle.dump(self.version, a)
        with file(self.root + self.filename + '.' + str(self.version), 'w') as a:
            self.pickle.dump(self.res, a)
            self.pickle.dump(self.version, a)

        print 'Version updated to v', self.version