[Make-wifi-fast] Car tire tracking

[Dave Taht]

So, I have a diesel from 1972. It's BIG. It's HEAVY. And it *still
runs*. It's developed a fuel leak and I think is mixing oil and fuel
internally and the manual has what seems to be thousands of parts all
working together in it.

but *it still runs*, spitting fuel. I really sit there and just admire
how well we built things in the good ole days....

And she doesn't have bluetooth. Or a computer. Or nothin, just things
geared up just the right way. It's a marvel to me... I've loved learning
about how it works.

I've gone and looked at new motors, and in comparison they seem
impossibly fragile. I've also looked over the latest in electric
propulsion... but I cannot imagine an electric motor at this stage of
the game surviving 40 years in an aquatic environent. And the best
batteries are kind of a fire hazard.

I don't know if I'll rebuild this motor or not, as finding a mechanic or
shop willing to work on it has been impossible thus far.

For the record, the boat has eaten two phones, 1 tablet, one archer
C7v2, and a raspberry pi so far. And I needed to switch to VGA from HDMI
as the darn cables kept vibrating out. There's a picostation going on
the mast at some point, I have some hope that will last a while.

Jonathan Morton <chromatix99 at gmail.com> writes:

>> On 21 Nov, 2018, at 11:01 pm, Dave Taht <dave.taht at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> I'm going through a terribly retro phase. I got a boat. It doesn't
>> have any tech later than 1976 in it, powered up, most of the time. I'm
>> looking to replace the bluetooth enabled radio entirely... once I get
>> the diesel repaired and the autopilot working again (can't find one of
>> those that isn't also cross connected, either)
>
> By coincidence, I've come across a vlog series about (UK) canal
> boating.  Small marine diesels currently on the market turn out to be
> astonishingly primitive machines compared to anything automotive; the
> vlogger's engine actually has a sticker on the sump warning that it's
> non-compliant with US emissions regulations for marine diesels.  The
> larger models produce a nominal 50hp from over 2 litres displacement;
> these are technically oversized for a narrowboat, but often fitted
> anyway.

Simon (of dnsmasq) has one of these wonderful boats. I went for a ride
a few years ago. I'd love to wander the canals of england one day...

> And these are called "modern" engines, to distinguish themselves from
> truly ancient designs from the 1940s and earlier, which are sometimes
> still fitted to new or refurbished boats due to their quirky
> character.  One vlog showed a classic engine which required starting
> on petrol, with compression valves opened, before switching to diesel,
> and another one which actually required a derogation to be fitted
> without a silencer, because it would reliably coke one up if so
> fitted.

I totally get how "modern" is such a wonderfully english way of putting
it.

> The "modern" engines actually take almost as much fuel to keep
> themselves running at idle as to drive a 20-ton boat at the canal
> speed limit of 4 mph.  Some of the more forward-thinking boaters are
> now fitting hybrid systems which can better than double their fuel
> economy by allowing the diesel to be switched off when not actively
> recharging the batteries, as well as allowing long periods of quiet,
> fume-free cruising (particularly important when it takes 2 hours to
> traverse the Standedge Tunnel).  The fuel economy improvements are
> particularly marked if electric drive is used to traverse a long
> series of locks, in which long periods of idling could otherwise be
> expected.
>
> The main upside to such primitive technology is that it's easy to
> service the engine in situ, using hand tools and ordinary mechanical
> knowledge.  Only major overhauls need the attention of a workshop.
>
>  - Jonathan Morton
>
> _______________________________________________
> Make-wifi-fast mailing list
> Make-wifi-fast at lists.bufferbloat.net
> https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/make-wifi-fast