The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.

[Pingu]

What is that contraption in the bath?

BFO digital clock.  Wacky races, for the timing^[1] of.  It's notoriously difficult to photograph (though generally looks okay on video).



Seen above with most of the electronics replaced by tissue paper, while the case undergoes a waterproofing test.

More in the fettling thread.  And a full write-up in issue 146 of Laidback Cyclist.



_{[1] Technically the jam-filled Babbage engine does the timing, and this is just a massive repeater display for the benefit of those who didn't bring bifocals, squinting through steamed-up velomobile hoods, etc.}

I knew it was a time machine.


A transmogrifier would've been differently orientated.

[Mrs Pingu]

Very good, many geek points.
May I point out clover = good for bees, glyphosate prolly not so much.

[Kim]

I've got an "I don't tidy up, you don't sting me" arrangement with the bees that have taken up residence in that outbuilding on the right, and they seem to be doing reasonably well.  Probably helped by the impressive meadow that has sprung up through the gaps in the block paved BloodyStudent garden on the left.

[Jurek]

I put an overnight wash on last night.
This morning I had to literally tear one of my socks to get it out of the machine where it had got wedged between the drum and the rest of the machine.
Drum was also full of fractured material - not sure whether it was metal or stone or what.
It is very difficult to turn the drum by hand, and it makes very gravelly / graunchy noises when you do manage to turn it.
New washing machine ordered from John Lewis.
Delivery in a two hour slot next Saturday.

[Hot Flatus]

I ate two chilli and cider pickled eggs on Thursday evening in a fit of neophyte over-enthusiasm, and tbqhwy, in hindsight, it was a mistake.

[rafletcher]

Ah, the Royal Academy. I pay for my wife’s membership by annual DD. This is not a problem. The problem is not getting any warning email from the RA telling me it was going to take payment. Nor has it informed my wife that her membership has renewed. Complete incompetents.

[Kim]

I put an overnight wash on last night.
This morning I had to literally tear one of my socks to get it out of the machine where it had got wedged between the drum and the rest of the machine.
Drum was also full of fractured material - not sure whether it was metal or stone or what.
It is very difficult to turn the drum by hand, and it makes very gravelly / graunchy noises when you do manage to turn it.
New washing machine ordered from John Lewis.
Delivery in a two hour slot next Saturday.

Our washing machine bearing is in the process of disintegrating.  I finally determined that it's 8 years old, so I suppose that's not unreasonable.  Also means that it's probably not worth spending all day dismantling it to its component parts, replacing the bearing, and putting it back together again, only for everything else to fail in the next couple of years (assuming it doesn't acquire a leak).

Wondering if overspecifying the load capacity of the new machine would prolong bearing life...

[hatler]

Wondering if overspecifying the load capacity of the new machine would prolong bearing life...

I'd like to be able to think "almost certainly".

Another ploy would be to not let it spin at max speed whenever you can. Radial forces are a function of the square of the spin speed after all.

[Tim Hall]

Wondering if overspecifying the load capacity of the new machine would prolong bearing life...

I'd like to be able to think "almost certainly".

Another ploy would be to not let it spin at max speed whenever you can. Radial forces are a function of the square of the spin speed after all.

Or not spin at max speed with an uneven load. Bath towels are good at doing this.

[Kim]

Wondering if overspecifying the load capacity of the new machine would prolong bearing life...

I'd like to be able to think "almost certainly".

Another ploy would be to not let it spin at max speed whenever you can. Radial forces are a function of the square of the spin speed after all.

Or not spin at max speed with an uneven load. Bath towels are good at doing this.

Which is annoying, because bath towels are one of the things that most benefits from a good hard spin.

(It also occurs to me that a larger drum means more force on the laundry for a given spin RPM.)

[rafletcher]

Most modern “quality” machines won’t spin with a significantly out-of-balance load. My wife found this out when, shortly after we acquired a Bosch washing machine, she called an engineer out as it wasn’t spinning at all. There was a fault - he tested the spin with their newest technical aid, a small pink hot water bottle used to simulate the out of balance load.

With bath towels, if we get the oob issue, we do a 400 or 600 spin - which are more tolerant of lack of uniformity - then follow up with 1 or 2 1400 spins, depending whether outdoor or indoor drying is on the cards.

[Kim]

TBH, I find bedding is worse than towels in that respect.  Has a habit of balling itself up inside the duvet cover about 50% of the time.

[Jurek]

TBH, I find bedding is worse than towels in that respect.  Has a habit of balling itself up inside the duvet cover about 50% of the time.

How does it do that?
Everything, literally, dives for cover.

[Kim]

I should add that the other 50% of the time, the cover is inside-out, so it all balls up *outside* the cover.

[Flite]

I just do the buttons up on the duvet covers when I take them off for washing, so other stuff can't get inside

[Basil]

I just do the buttons up on the duvet covers when I take them off for washing, so other stuff can't get inside

Yes. 2 spaced buttons does the trick for me.

[Jurek]

I ate two chilli and cider pickled eggs on Thursday evening in a fit of neophyte over-enthusiasm, and tbqhwy, in hindsight, it was a mistake.

Blimey.
Three days.
That's going some.

[Kim]

I just do the buttons up on the duvet covers when I take them off for washing, so other stuff can't get inside

Yes. 2 spaced buttons does the trick for me.

Doesn't stop it doing the swiss roll thing, though.  I think it's the fitted sheet that's the instigator, collecting a bundle of pillowcases in one corner to form a lump around which everything else gets wrapped.

[Flite]

Ah - we gave up on fitted sheets when I couldn't work out what size was needed for the depth of new mattress.
So it's flat heets and hospital corners

[hellymedic]

I ate two chilli and cider pickled eggs on Thursday evening in a fit of neophyte over-enthusiasm, and tbqhwy, in hindsight, it was a mistake.

Nominative determinism...

[hellymedic]

Ah - we gave up on fitted sheets when I couldn't work out what size was needed for the depth of new mattress.
So it's flat heets and hospital corners

Bought some extra-deep fitted sheets from John Lewis after our old sheets failed with our new mattress...

[Kim]

Can confirm that you can't do hospital corners in an actual hospital, because the sheets are the wrong shape.

[Beardy]

Can confirm that you can't do hospital corners in an actual hospital, because the sheets are the wrong shape.

Nurses don’t generally have time for hospital corners these days and anyway, as most hospital stays are spent on trolleys there’s no real need. 

[Tim Hall]

Ah - we gave up on fitted sheets when I couldn't work out what size was needed for the depth of new mattress.
So it's flat heets and hospital corners

Pillow openings away from the door or Sister will get cross.

[Mrs Pingu]

I hate baths.