In praise of ... what is your belated good find?

rotrax said:
I discovered Chinese copies of the excellent Racor 500 series fuel filters. The Racor Patent has long run out, so anyone can use the tech.

Under 50 quid from ebay, Racor filters and O rings fit so dependable filters and seals can be used.

A top loading fuel filter is so much easier and cleaner to change than dropping a full of fuel one off the bottom of a filter head.
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Got a link to those filters?
 
Lightwave395 said:
Look useful but how do you melt the solder without melting the sleeve ?
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These are not allowed under some codes. The problem is that it is very difficult to observe the quality of the joint, and quality of the sleeve varies widely. Sometimes the heat shrink blows when the solder melts (remember, the heat shrink will be soft when the solder melts!). Some produce cold joints. The solder must be extra low melting (must melt before the heat shrink!) and therefor prone to melting under high load. Many of the cheaper ones are VERY unreliable. I have tested them and will never use them.

Trash, IMO.
 
Thanks for that. As you say, the idea is that the solder melts and joins the conductors, the hot melt glue in the heat-shrink melts and holds/seals the insulation, while the heat-shrink itself shrinks, and spreads the glue while making a tidy and fully insulated joint. In theory.

Many reviews are positive with a few saying they melted the heat shrink. A heat gun is recommended

Probably (as per your comments) too good to be true (or reliable)
 
mobeydick said:
Thanks for that. As you say, the idea is that the solder melts and joins the conductors, the hot melt glue in the heat-shrink melts and holds/seals the insulation, while the heat-shrink itself shrinks, and spreads the glue while making a tidy and fully insulated joint. In theory.

Many reviews are positive with a few saying they melted the heat shrink. A heat gun is recommended

Probably (as per your comments) too good to be true (or reliable)
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I know of Model guys using them to test and they get subjected to vibration and of course the odd crash ! So far they have held up and guys are giving thumbs up.

As to ampage going through them - some of them are pushing 40 ... 60A or more through ...
 
mobeydick said:
Thanks for that. As you say, the idea is that the solder melts and joins the conductors, the hot melt glue in the heat-shrink melts and holds/seals the insulation, while the heat-shrink itself shrinks, and spreads the glue while making a tidy and fully insulated joint. In theory.

Many reviews are positive with a few saying they melted the heat shrink. A heat gun is recommended

Probably (as per your comments) too good to be true (or reliable)
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The real problem is quality. The 3M fitting s are pretty good. Many are not. And they are hard to tell apart. I would rather solder and then heat shrink as separate processes. I can use better solder and check each step.
 
Diamonds. A couple of weeks ago I bought a set of diamond cutters for a multitool from Lidl. Thought they might come in handy for something. Next day I snapped an easy out trying to remove a broken M4 screw for the 4th time. I was thinking an expensive spark eroding job but managed to easily grind it out with one of the diamond tools and even save the thread. Today I made a new mirror for my sextant. Sawed it out of a bit of broken mirror with a diamond tile saw and sanded it down with a diamond sharpening tool. Worked like magic.
 
gregcope said:
What things would you praise that you belatedly discovered?
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Brown rice in a pressure cooker & bean chilli!!
First one not quite discovered but past few days has near perfected the recipe - 1 wine glass brown rice , 1.6 same glass water and a dash of oil to stop frothing. 16 minutes hissing let it cool down naturally. Perfect tasty healthy cheap little water needed :cool:

Just add some chick pea or black bean curry. Delicious, cheap as chips and perfect when you're stuck in the windy anchorage for a few days. Soak overnight, about 8 minutes in pressure cooker for chick peas. Yummy. :)
 
Vacuum cleaners off the rubbish dump! When you are building a boat you generate an enormous amount of rubbish which needs to be removed periodically. My wife won't let me use hers so I found one on the rubbish dump and it works fine.

I built a "portable" gantry but it is too heavy to move on my own so I went out to the dump to see if there was a two wheel hand trolley to put under one end so I could wheel the gantry. And..... well I suppose you've guessed the rest!

I found a battery in a wrecked car at the dump so brought it home and gave her a charge. I used that in the yacht to test wiring for a couple of years (but it is still going in a tractor I have now sold)

I found a stainless steel urinal at the dump (quite heavy gauge sheeting) and I am still using that to make up various bits and pieces for the yacht.
 
Reusable mesh produce bags of various small sizes. Good for containing separate small items like electrical chargers than can otherwise get into a big tangle. And of course vegetables ... preferably then held in a vegetable hammock.
 
Electrician's hanging tool bag; good for tools, but dumped out is also a great bosun's bag for up the mast. Also the zip-style overnight toiletries bags for mini-tool bags.

Borax, in a number of formulations, for mildew cleaning and prevention.
 
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