CitroJim's AX, C3 Picasso, Cycling and Running Tales

[CitroJim]

One of the first things I do when I get a new to me car is to grease the under tray screws. If not done they rust into the flimsy fast clips and then when being undone damage the plastic under tray as the clips rip out of the plastic. Also put some copper grease on the wheel hubs where they contact the wheels, saves them rusting on and being difficult to remove, especially if a puncture and removing at the side of a road.

I was going to say "me too" but now I come to think of it what the should say is

One of the first things I do when I get a new to me car is to...


... Buy and fit the under tray that's gone missing in it's previous owner's hands

But yes, plenty of copper grease on those fittings plus wheel bolts (and where alloy wheel and brake disk contact one another)
Doing the bolts with the torque wrench also gives me confidence I'll not be jumping up and down on the cheap bendy wheel brace at the side of the road!

That's been done and done again last time I had the undertray off to conventionally change the oil I'm a massive fan of copper grease...

Yesterday saw me in a Renault Main Dealer as Robyn's big white modern SUV thingy that I can never recall the name of went in for a service. We had to be there for 8AM and were able to pick the car up at 5PM. This meant I had to drive diagonally across MK from the top North-East corner to the deep South-West corner of the New City during both rush-hours. That diagonal is 12 miles! Not something I relish even at quiet times. Happily I aced it and surprised myself at just how well I coped with it

Thinks are clearly on the mend with me

The service on the big white thing cost me £299 A 'B' Service allegedly... I did not delve deeper. It has a fault with a flap in its anti-pollution system it seems. That one is being done under warranty to the relief of my credit card.

Whilst in the showroom, I had a quick look at the new R5... Nice colour Shame about the rest of it and it's bloody huge. As is the new R4 also in the showroom but in a dull grey ditch water colour so I didn't bother to photograph it... Both are electric allegedly...

This one might be a Clio - I confess I didn't really look that closely - is in a gorgeous colour Love it! That's just the colour, not the car.

Do you get the impression I'm not really very enthusiastic about modern cars? You're dead right, absolutely no interest at all

After a very busy few days, yesterday not least, I unexpectedly find myself with a relatively free day today. It's very likely a certain amplifier sitting on my bench

That's not to day my plans are immune from hijack

Fully occupied days resume tomorrow and are expected to continue well into the foreseeable future.

[bobins]

After a very busy few days, yesterday not least, I unexpectedly find myself with a relatively free day today. It's very likely a certain amplifier sitting on my bench

I wait with bated breath..... whatever that means

[mickthemaverick]

Good to know you have a worthwhile job to make use of the time gained from my postponement Jim. Probably more enjoyable than the original plan too in view of the weather forecast!!

[myglaren]

Had a ride in an electric Clio, the only electric I have been in.
South African woman saw me walking with a load of shopping and insisted on giving me a lift home. All seemed quite nice but it wasn't far. I did tell her that I was almost home but she insisted.
She lives in the next street to me, two doors away from my daughter.

[CitroJim]

After a very busy few days, yesterday not least, I unexpectedly find myself with a relatively free day today. It's very likely a certain amplifier sitting on my bench

I wait with bated breath..... whatever that means

I'm sorry, your breath will have to remain bated for a while longer Bobins The day determined it had other plans for me and it rapidly became anything but a free day... In retrospect, it was a good job you postponed Mick...

Such is life

In answer to your question Bobins

"Bated breath" means in a state of great suspense, anxiety, or excitement. The phrase describes waiting anxiously for something to happen, as if one is holding their breath in anticipation. The word "bated" is a shortened form of "abated," which means to have stopped or reduced

[CitroJim]

Due to modifications to plans today on account of the perfectly normal foibles of toddlers and babies, the latter of whom celebrates her one month birthday today, I've had a little bit of time to play with an amplifier

And Bobins, I'm pleased to say you can now unbate your breath

The culprit has been found:

A little transistor right at the front end of the amplifier, just after the volume control. It has a collector-emitter leak and this is enough to upset the biassing of all subsequent stages and causing the output pair to be turned hard-on...

It's always fun chasing down a fault in a multi-stage DC-coupled amplifier. Often it's a bit like a dog chasing its own tail, especially in such as bizarre circuit as this amp. has

Spares are on order from a reputable source. Such items I never buy from eBay or similar sites as fakery abounds

I've bought enough to fully rebuild one channel, just in case

[myglaren]

I have just repaired my amp too. The on/off switch refuses to latch any more.
After three days of intermittently prodding it I bit the bullet and fixed it.

[bobins]

And Bobins, I'm pleased to say you can now unbate your breath

The culprit has been found:



A little transistor right at the front end of the amplifier, just after the volume control. It has a collector-emitter leak and this is enough to upset the biassing of all subsequent stages and causing the output pair to be turned hard-on...

It's always fun chasing down a fault in a multi-stage DC-coupled amplifier. Often it's a bit like a dog chasing its own tail, especially in such as bizarre circuit as this amp. has

Spares are on order from a reputable source. Such items I never buy from eBay or similar sites as fakery abounds

I've bought enough to fully rebuild one channel, just in case

Fantastic Jim, bloody marvellous Thank you for taking the time and effort to take it on.
I do hope you've bought audiophile quality replacements though - you know..... the ones that improve the noise floor and reduce inaudible sibilance and things like that

[CitroJim]

I do hope you've bought audiophile quality replacements though - you know..... the ones that improve the noise floor and reduce inaudible sibilance and things like that

Oh yes, it is essential to only use audiophile quality transistors. The ones I have on order have been matured and conditioned for a full year in an anechoic chamber and any stresses in their silicon wafers have been gently relieved by spending time in a tempering bath of dry ice.

You'll only get the full benefit if you replace the mains plug fuse with one having gold-plated end caps

[bobins]

Glad to hear it, Jim. I'm sure I'll be able to hear the difference

Though I'm disapppointed that I now need to replace my platinum tipped fuses with ordinary gold tipped ones

[mickthemaverick]

You only running Platinum Fuses bobins? I've got Krypton ones in the Subaru!!

[bobins]

I'm going to get Jim to paint 'go faster' stripes down the side of the amp to make it sound better

[mickthemaverick]

I'm going to get Jim to paint 'go faster' stripes down the side of the amp to make it sound better

A good plan, and maybe a nodding dog on the top?

[Zelandeth]

I need to attack the amp that's used between my PC and the speakers over my workstation. There's an intermittent connection *somewhere* on the right channel. However I've not the foggiest idea *where* as as soon as you touch basically any of the wiring behind it the problem immediately resolves itself for about a week. Which makes actually testing in any sort of meaningful way kind of difficult.

It needs to come apart anyway as the balance and treble controls are also quite scratchy and occasionally need to be poked. If the worst came to the worst I could just hard wire appropriate resistors in there though as the controls are totally superfluous in this application anyway.

Thing owes me nothing anyway given it cost me a whole £20 from Cash Converters in Aberdeen (back before they had a clue what to do with older audio gear, oh those were the days), and I've used it daily for near enough 20 years - and after 46 years it probably is due a service. Being Pioneer kit from their golden era of dependability I very much doubt the cover has ever been off.

Looks like the same amp goes for £150-350 mark now, so my £20 was definitely a bargain!

[CitroJim]

I'm going to get Jim to paint 'go faster' stripes down the side of the amp to make it sound better

A good plan, and maybe a nodding dog on the top?

to both those Maybe I could have the nodding dog hold the failed transistor in its paw and with some spare fuses in a barrel around its neck