Well I guess its time for an update on the house purchase of 1 Brindley Bank.
Today 15 weeks after having our offer accepted on the bungalow and being asked if we could complete in four weeks we are now no further forward than we were when we started.
The vendor of the property has now decided not to pursue the dispute any further with British Waterways as they have come back with a document for 1800s stating the land belongs to them.
Now were does this leave us, we don't actually know.
Can we buy it? who knows its like a Chinese whispers property purchase.
We have currently have an offer accepted on another property as we have no clue as to when the saga of the bungalow will be resolved or the outcome of the land at the bottom of the garden.
so we have told the estate agent that she needs to tell the vendor if he is unable to clarify the process and start to commit to some time plan he will loose our purchase position against the new property.
I think 15 weeks is more than enough time.
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Sony Ericsson W980 Walkman (Auto Switch Off When Called)
On Saturday 19th September I went to the Carphone Warehouse in Walsall and asked to purchase a Sony Ericsson W980 Walkman on PAYG.
The assistant appeared out of the back holding a new boxed phone and took my details, I told him i wanted to use my old sim and keep my existing number or have the number changed over to the new PAYG sim card, either way i did not mind as long as i kept my number.
This is were the problems started. He explained to me that I would have to use my old SIM card and the phone would work (BUT) the phone might stop working after five days or so. Note the words might, and if it did I would have to change the sim card to the new one supplied with it when it stopped working.
I asked him if it was going to defenetly stop working and he said no it may keep working with your old sim he did not know.
I told him I was disapointed in the lack of certanty in this process and i needed the phone to rely on, I had a phone i was replacing due to it crashing and i did not want to buy a new one that may or may not stop working.
Anyway I walked out and did not purchase the Phone.
I drove to Stafford Carphone Warehouse and asked the same questions above. The assistant told me there was no problem took my current phone PAYG sim number, did not supply me with a new SIM and told me it would work fine with my current SIM and number.
Wow strange, same company 15 miles apart and now i have a New Sony Ericsson W980 Walkman Phone.
I took the phone home and read the book about charging the phone, it told me the battery was part charged on purchase and to charge the phone for 2.5 Hours.
I charged the phone for 3 hours and then tested it.
In summery, when my wife called my new phone it rang about 2 rings the front screen flashed white and the phone turned off.
We tested this about 5 times, sometimes it rang two,three or four times before power off once it even managed to get to answer phone without power down.
I had read about Sony Ericsson phones turning off on the net and my daughter that told me not to get one was laughing telling me she told me not to purchase one, but i said i am sure they will have resolved this issue bu now as it is not a brand new model.
I Jumped back into the car and drove back to Stafford about 10 miles from my home.
It was now 4:30pm on Saturday and the shutter was down and a sign was up closed early due to sickness. the man was still in the shop that sold me the phone about 4 hours earlier. I banged on the shutter and told him the phone was not working and I had only purchaed it 4 hours ago.
I explained that the phone was turning off when it was called, he took the phone off me and re-shut the shutter leaving myself and my fife stood outside like a spare part. (Customer service at its best).
He rang the phone from his phone 3 times and it did not switch off, I would not beleve it. He told me it may be because i had not charged it for 16 hours, dispite the manual never mentioned anything about 16 hours.
He told me he could not replace the phone as he could not find a fault, and I should take it home and charge it over night and try it on sunday and if it was still playing up and i could replicate the problem then to bring it back as i have 28 days.
I told him it was faulty and i had all reddy traveled 40 miles returning it as it was.
Anyway I asked my wife to call the phone wile I held it in front of him so he could see it, I was hoping it would crash as I was 100% confident it was nothing to do with the charge and I definitely did not want to travel back again on Sunday.
Luckily on the 4th ring sure enough the front screen went white and the phone had shut off, thank god for small blessings.
He took the phone chuntering to himself.
Bare in mind and try and picture the moment as we are stood in the Gild Hall passing paperwork and phone through slits the a roller shutter door that you can see through as he would not let us in the shop.
He replaced the Phone for a new one and gave me a new receipt.
The new phone is now working fine with no Problems.
Fingers Crossed !
The assistant appeared out of the back holding a new boxed phone and took my details, I told him i wanted to use my old sim and keep my existing number or have the number changed over to the new PAYG sim card, either way i did not mind as long as i kept my number.
This is were the problems started. He explained to me that I would have to use my old SIM card and the phone would work (BUT) the phone might stop working after five days or so. Note the words might, and if it did I would have to change the sim card to the new one supplied with it when it stopped working.
I asked him if it was going to defenetly stop working and he said no it may keep working with your old sim he did not know.
I told him I was disapointed in the lack of certanty in this process and i needed the phone to rely on, I had a phone i was replacing due to it crashing and i did not want to buy a new one that may or may not stop working.
Anyway I walked out and did not purchase the Phone.
I drove to Stafford Carphone Warehouse and asked the same questions above. The assistant told me there was no problem took my current phone PAYG sim number, did not supply me with a new SIM and told me it would work fine with my current SIM and number.
Wow strange, same company 15 miles apart and now i have a New Sony Ericsson W980 Walkman Phone.
I took the phone home and read the book about charging the phone, it told me the battery was part charged on purchase and to charge the phone for 2.5 Hours.
I charged the phone for 3 hours and then tested it.
In summery, when my wife called my new phone it rang about 2 rings the front screen flashed white and the phone turned off.
We tested this about 5 times, sometimes it rang two,three or four times before power off once it even managed to get to answer phone without power down.
I had read about Sony Ericsson phones turning off on the net and my daughter that told me not to get one was laughing telling me she told me not to purchase one, but i said i am sure they will have resolved this issue bu now as it is not a brand new model.
I Jumped back into the car and drove back to Stafford about 10 miles from my home.
It was now 4:30pm on Saturday and the shutter was down and a sign was up closed early due to sickness. the man was still in the shop that sold me the phone about 4 hours earlier. I banged on the shutter and told him the phone was not working and I had only purchaed it 4 hours ago.
I explained that the phone was turning off when it was called, he took the phone off me and re-shut the shutter leaving myself and my fife stood outside like a spare part. (Customer service at its best).
He rang the phone from his phone 3 times and it did not switch off, I would not beleve it. He told me it may be because i had not charged it for 16 hours, dispite the manual never mentioned anything about 16 hours.
He told me he could not replace the phone as he could not find a fault, and I should take it home and charge it over night and try it on sunday and if it was still playing up and i could replicate the problem then to bring it back as i have 28 days.
I told him it was faulty and i had all reddy traveled 40 miles returning it as it was.
Anyway I asked my wife to call the phone wile I held it in front of him so he could see it, I was hoping it would crash as I was 100% confident it was nothing to do with the charge and I definitely did not want to travel back again on Sunday.
Luckily on the 4th ring sure enough the front screen went white and the phone had shut off, thank god for small blessings.
He took the phone chuntering to himself.
Bare in mind and try and picture the moment as we are stood in the Gild Hall passing paperwork and phone through slits the a roller shutter door that you can see through as he would not let us in the shop.
He replaced the Phone for a new one and gave me a new receipt.
The new phone is now working fine with no Problems.
Fingers Crossed !
Friday, 14 August 2009
3 Weeks Off work !! ( Over )
Well this is the last day of my 3 Weeks summer shut-down at work.
It has been one of the most wasteful holidays i have ever had. Mainly due to waiting to hear from solicitors about the new house purchase.
The plan was to gain a completion date of the first week of the shut-down, this would have been great as we would have had 3 weeks to get settled in. (But no such luck)
We had the land dispute instead!
Well still no news, Got another viewing tomorrow for another property, just something to take our mind off this waiting.
Time will resolve it I am sure and a few extra pounds sterling.
Regards
Richard
It has been one of the most wasteful holidays i have ever had. Mainly due to waiting to hear from solicitors about the new house purchase.
The plan was to gain a completion date of the first week of the shut-down, this would have been great as we would have had 3 weeks to get settled in. (But no such luck)
We had the land dispute instead!
Well still no news, Got another viewing tomorrow for another property, just something to take our mind off this waiting.
Time will resolve it I am sure and a few extra pounds sterling.
Regards
Richard
DIY FIX broken heater blower on 307 peugeot
I would just like to thank everyone for the great feedback i am still reviving even as of yesterday.
It makes updating the Blog worth my time if i know some people have found information i have posted benafitial to them.
Best Regards
Richard.
It makes updating the Blog worth my time if i know some people have found information i have posted benafitial to them.
Best Regards
Richard.
Thursday, 6 August 2009
1 Brindley Bank WS152EY ( House Purchase )
Well Just a quick update
Not a lot to say to be honest without boring everyone to death.
We have purchased it in principle but there is still a discrepancy with the ownership of the bottom of the garden that leads onto the canal.
It is clearly shown on the deeds of the property that the land owned by the property and goes down to the waters edge, but the waterways registered about 30 foot into the garden some time in the past.
Now its under dispute.
Need i say more ........
Watch this space for outcome.
Not a lot to say to be honest without boring everyone to death.
We have purchased it in principle but there is still a discrepancy with the ownership of the bottom of the garden that leads onto the canal.
It is clearly shown on the deeds of the property that the land owned by the property and goes down to the waters edge, but the waterways registered about 30 foot into the garden some time in the past.
Now its under dispute.
Need i say more ........
Watch this space for outcome.
Peugeot 206 HDI GLX ( Remap )
Today Jamie from SP_Tuning arrived at my house on time as arranged to Remap my daughters 206 HDI car. The process took around 30 minuets in all, and this included a backup CD of the STD map con-fig.
We opted for the Stage-1 Remap as the stage 2 can cause the clutch to slip in 4th and 5th gears when pulling hard.
On test drive the Car runs very well, smooth power range with a good increase in pull.
The Remap gives the 206 a boost from 90 BHP to 116 but also smooths out the power curve and you can feel this as soon as the car is driven.
I still have had no problems with the Remap on my 307 HDI that was remapped back in late 2007.
I have also requested a Quote for a friend to have his Audi TT Remapped, i will pass this information on to him when we return to work.
I will let you know how it goes.
Next
Daughter wants new black alloy wheels and window tint.
Better get saving !!
We opted for the Stage-1 Remap as the stage 2 can cause the clutch to slip in 4th and 5th gears when pulling hard.
On test drive the Car runs very well, smooth power range with a good increase in pull.
The Remap gives the 206 a boost from 90 BHP to 116 but also smooths out the power curve and you can feel this as soon as the car is driven.
I still have had no problems with the Remap on my 307 HDI that was remapped back in late 2007.
I have also requested a Quote for a friend to have his Audi TT Remapped, i will pass this information on to him when we return to work.
I will let you know how it goes.
Next
Daughter wants new black alloy wheels and window tint.
Better get saving !!
Sunday, 28 June 2009
28/06/09 Time For An Update.
Wll we are a good half way through the the year, yes half way. again i would like to thank everyone for the feedback on the Blocked Particulate filter, Its great to know my post is still helping.
Since I cleaned out my filter in later september 2007 i have had no problems warning lights or any other problems relating to the particulate filter ( Touch wood )
Last week my Turbo stopped working out of the blue, i did not think it was anything serious due to the fact it just stopped no smoke or noises.
i was quickley able to find the route cause of this problem by crawling under the front of the car, finding the vacume tube that passed from the turbo waste gate and passed under the engine to a small black electric vacume valve " there are 4 on the front of my car that all look the same ".
I removed it, managed to prise it apart cleaned it put it back together and hay presto the turbo was working again.
I did pop down our local brakers yard and purchased a second hand one due to the fact i had pulled apart a sealed unit and wanted to replace it with one that had not been stripped.
The cost of the new ones are £45 but i paid £10, now i have a spare lol.
Since I cleaned out my filter in later september 2007 i have had no problems warning lights or any other problems relating to the particulate filter ( Touch wood )
Last week my Turbo stopped working out of the blue, i did not think it was anything serious due to the fact it just stopped no smoke or noises.
i was quickley able to find the route cause of this problem by crawling under the front of the car, finding the vacume tube that passed from the turbo waste gate and passed under the engine to a small black electric vacume valve " there are 4 on the front of my car that all look the same ".
I removed it, managed to prise it apart cleaned it put it back together and hay presto the turbo was working again.
I did pop down our local brakers yard and purchased a second hand one due to the fact i had pulled apart a sealed unit and wanted to replace it with one that had not been stripped.
The cost of the new ones are £45 but i paid £10, now i have a spare lol.
Thursday, 28 May 2009
This could be the one......
We have currently made an offer on 2 property's
The First Property
One in Burntwood. This is currently being marketed as a business and we have applied for change of use to the council from Commercial to Domestic.
We are awaiting for a reply from the planning department on this and our offer can not be taken any further until we have confirmation from the council this can be done.
This is a large property 267 + 267A High Street with a large amount of ground at rear and car access to the rear also.
The Second Property
This has had an offer accepted by the vendor with us on No. 6 Catholme Lane Barton Under Needwood.
This is a 3 Bedroom Detached Property, Now this is a little small in its current state but the bonus with this house is that it sits on 2.3 Acres of land
Now i guess this says it all, and you can guess what house we are focusing on.
This is a Small Holding Property with what we would class as a huge ammount of land and potential.
Fingers crossed, will keep you up to date.
The First Property
One in Burntwood. This is currently being marketed as a business and we have applied for change of use to the council from Commercial to Domestic.
We are awaiting for a reply from the planning department on this and our offer can not be taken any further until we have confirmation from the council this can be done.
This is a large property 267 + 267A High Street with a large amount of ground at rear and car access to the rear also.
The Second Property
This has had an offer accepted by the vendor with us on No. 6 Catholme Lane Barton Under Needwood.
This is a 3 Bedroom Detached Property, Now this is a little small in its current state but the bonus with this house is that it sits on 2.3 Acres of land
Now i guess this says it all, and you can guess what house we are focusing on.
This is a Small Holding Property with what we would class as a huge ammount of land and potential.
Fingers crossed, will keep you up to date.
Missed Property
4 Bedroom Bungalow came on market in Armitage, I called Boot and Son 1 week after it was placed on Rightmove.
You guessed it Sold ( Was on for 300k )
House for sales on Bridge Road Burntwood.
Under offer but been sold to same person 3 times kept falling through.
Vendor arranged a viewing of the house with us based on the fact we were in a purchasing position and they had left the house on the market due to the amount of times it had fallen through.
You guessed it 3 days later we recived a call canceleing the viewing as the other party had completed.
so i guess our interest made the someone get there act together, never mind the benefit here was that to the seller, speeded it up for them. Anyway every cloud and all that........
You guessed it Sold ( Was on for 300k )
House for sales on Bridge Road Burntwood.
Under offer but been sold to same person 3 times kept falling through.
Vendor arranged a viewing of the house with us based on the fact we were in a purchasing position and they had left the house on the market due to the amount of times it had fallen through.
You guessed it 3 days later we recived a call canceleing the viewing as the other party had completed.
so i guess our interest made the someone get there act together, never mind the benefit here was that to the seller, speeded it up for them. Anyway every cloud and all that........
Buying a Repossession House. ( Second House update !)
We decided to arrange our mortgage through our bank Lloyds TSB and agreed to use the Connells solicitor just to keep them happy.
After having our offer accepted at 225k for the house and a completion date of the 20/05/09 was given.
All items in place and a extra money in case a new offer is submitted.
20 Days until Completion, All looking good
Wile at work only 17 days away we received a call from connells stating that they had received a higher offer and asked us if we wanted to increase.
They could not - would not tell us how much the new offer was.
In summery over 5 days the cost went from 225k to 175k
At this point we knew we had lost the house as it had gone well over our budget.
we asked connells to ask the other party if whey would contact me directly on the presence to cover my £1000 outlay on mortgage applications.
Mohammed contacted me via phone and agreed to set up a gentlemen agreement that he would pay me the sum of £1000 if i placed no further offers on the property.
He has placed this in Wrighting and sent a signed letter to me to support this offer.
He has emailed me today to inform me he is expecting to complete tomorrow and that he will post me a cheque in the post next week.
This is good news as I will not be financially out of pocket as well as loosing the house.
After having our offer accepted at 225k for the house and a completion date of the 20/05/09 was given.
All items in place and a extra money in case a new offer is submitted.
20 Days until Completion, All looking good
Wile at work only 17 days away we received a call from connells stating that they had received a higher offer and asked us if we wanted to increase.
They could not - would not tell us how much the new offer was.
In summery over 5 days the cost went from 225k to 175k
At this point we knew we had lost the house as it had gone well over our budget.
we asked connells to ask the other party if whey would contact me directly on the presence to cover my £1000 outlay on mortgage applications.
Mohammed contacted me via phone and agreed to set up a gentlemen agreement that he would pay me the sum of £1000 if i placed no further offers on the property.
He has placed this in Wrighting and sent a signed letter to me to support this offer.
He has emailed me today to inform me he is expecting to complete tomorrow and that he will post me a cheque in the post next week.
This is good news as I will not be financially out of pocket as well as loosing the house.
Buying a Repossession House. ( Second House )
This process is defiantly not for the fainthearted be warned !!
We picked up on a property 37 Wolseley Road Rugeley at 189k. we were unaware at at first that the house was a repossession.
We went to connells in Lichfield to show our interest in the house in the next day. At this point in connells we were told the house was a repossession and that the house would probably go for about 120k as the 189k was low.
we made an offer of the asking price of 189k before we had viewed the house based on the fact it was under priced.
Now this is were the fun starts,
We had arranged a viewing of the house for Saturday morning.
It was a block viewing with about 15 people on the site. ( we were not told it was going to be a block Viewing )
We had another Meeting with connells estate agents to review our purchasing position and mortgage setup etc.
We were put under a lot of pressure to use Connells Solicitor and Mortgage arrangement.
I lost count of the amount of times we were told that we could be at a disadvantage if connells did not have full control of all aspects of this purchase and may not recommend us over another party if it come to a like for like offer.
This made a stressful process even more stressful, as the last thing you want to do is place yourself at a possible disadvantage even if it is real or not. You have to remember you are 100% in the hands of the estate agent and they want to get as much for the property as poss.
We picked up on a property 37 Wolseley Road Rugeley at 189k. we were unaware at at first that the house was a repossession.
We went to connells in Lichfield to show our interest in the house in the next day. At this point in connells we were told the house was a repossession and that the house would probably go for about 120k as the 189k was low.
we made an offer of the asking price of 189k before we had viewed the house based on the fact it was under priced.
Now this is were the fun starts,
We had arranged a viewing of the house for Saturday morning.
It was a block viewing with about 15 people on the site. ( we were not told it was going to be a block Viewing )
We had another Meeting with connells estate agents to review our purchasing position and mortgage setup etc.
We were put under a lot of pressure to use Connells Solicitor and Mortgage arrangement.
I lost count of the amount of times we were told that we could be at a disadvantage if connells did not have full control of all aspects of this purchase and may not recommend us over another party if it come to a like for like offer.
This made a stressful process even more stressful, as the last thing you want to do is place yourself at a possible disadvantage even if it is real or not. You have to remember you are 100% in the hands of the estate agent and they want to get as much for the property as poss.
Buying a Repossession House. ( First House )
77 Bower Lane was on the market for 139k as a repossession property with C Residential.
we made a number of offers starting at 200k and working our way up to 208k this offer was agreed with the vendor.
when I returned home from work i received a call from c Residential saying the there had been an over-site by the vendor (The Bank) and because the property had been on the market for more than six months it needed to be re valued. ( Company Policy apparently )
Now this seemed a little bit of a waste of time due to the fact the property would have gone down in price not up.
But hay this is just another fun part of Buying a Repossession.
2 weeks passed and i received a call from c Residential stating my offer of 208k had now been rejected, and they had received another offer of 210k also rejected.
I offered 215k that was also rejected and this is were we decided to step back. ( We had seen another property come on the market 37 Wolseley Road, see next post.
we also picked up the property had been placed with a second estate agent in cannock, just to complicate the process even more.
So we decided to just keep an eye on this House to see what happens.
Move On !!!
we made a number of offers starting at 200k and working our way up to 208k this offer was agreed with the vendor.
when I returned home from work i received a call from c Residential saying the there had been an over-site by the vendor (The Bank) and because the property had been on the market for more than six months it needed to be re valued. ( Company Policy apparently )
Now this seemed a little bit of a waste of time due to the fact the property would have gone down in price not up.
But hay this is just another fun part of Buying a Repossession.
2 weeks passed and i received a call from c Residential stating my offer of 208k had now been rejected, and they had received another offer of 210k also rejected.
I offered 215k that was also rejected and this is were we decided to step back. ( We had seen another property come on the market 37 Wolseley Road, see next post.
we also picked up the property had been placed with a second estate agent in cannock, just to complicate the process even more.
So we decided to just keep an eye on this House to see what happens.
Move On !!!
Its a buyers market. Well Apparently it is....
Well i guess the question for us was what do we need in a new house.
well this is the list
Budget 250k
Things To Have
3 / 4 large bedrooms ( With room to develop )
Private Rear Garden
South Facing Garden
Parking for 4 Cars without car shuffle
Car access to rear garden
Room for garages and sheds on rear garden.
within 10 Miles from Rugeley (Ideal In Rugeley)
Must Not Be
New house on housing estate.
Overlooked
small garden ( North Facing )
Now on this budget this list makes finding a house that ticks most or all of the boxes has proven difficult.
well this is the list
Budget 250k
Things To Have
3 / 4 large bedrooms ( With room to develop )
Private Rear Garden
South Facing Garden
Parking for 4 Cars without car shuffle
Car access to rear garden
Room for garages and sheds on rear garden.
within 10 Miles from Rugeley (Ideal In Rugeley)
Must Not Be
New house on housing estate.
Overlooked
small garden ( North Facing )
Now on this budget this list makes finding a house that ticks most or all of the boxes has proven difficult.
Purchase of a new House Late 2008
Well its been some time since i have updated my Blog.
2009 has been a difficult year, we were going to purchase a house in shire oak ( just outside Brownhills ) late September.
This was a relatively large property on the 29 Chester Road with a large north facing garden to the rear.
We got to the point of offer accepted but the Company I worked for JCB and the rest of the World started to predict Armageddon due to loss of sales and the housing market collapse. (Nick Named the Credit Crunch)
This prompted us to place the purchase on hold and pull out until we could see some light at the end of the tunnel.
We did re approach the vendor in March this year as the property had been removed from rightmove but was still for sale.
We were informed the property we had been looking at was under offer all be it slightly under the 230k we offered.
The vendor decided to go with the new buyer probably due to the fact we had pulled out several months prior.
So we began the new house search.
2009 has been a difficult year, we were going to purchase a house in shire oak ( just outside Brownhills ) late September.
This was a relatively large property on the 29 Chester Road with a large north facing garden to the rear.
We got to the point of offer accepted but the Company I worked for JCB and the rest of the World started to predict Armageddon due to loss of sales and the housing market collapse. (Nick Named the Credit Crunch)
This prompted us to place the purchase on hold and pull out until we could see some light at the end of the tunnel.
We did re approach the vendor in March this year as the property had been removed from rightmove but was still for sale.
We were informed the property we had been looking at was under offer all be it slightly under the 230k we offered.
The vendor decided to go with the new buyer probably due to the fact we had pulled out several months prior.
So we began the new house search.
Thursday, 18 December 2008
Merry Christmas to you all --- 2008 !
I would like to thank everyone for the great feedback you have left, I am very happy this has helped a number of people to save some money and not have to pass on more money to the dealer.
Well this is 2008 over and i guess 2009 will be here in a blink of an eye.
will we have a JOB to go back to? who knows in today's manufacturing markets, we will see.
Merry Christmas to you all.
Richard
Well this is 2008 over and i guess 2009 will be here in a blink of an eye.
will we have a JOB to go back to? who knows in today's manufacturing markets, we will see.
Merry Christmas to you all.
Richard
Goodbye Jo ............... Last Day 19/12/2008
Well what can I say just 12 months ago you started at Cabs......
I would like to say thank you for your help over the last 12 months, its a shame you are leaving us, but I know you need to move on.
Your new employer will be gaining a very good asset in you, and we will be loosing one (As usual), you have done a great job and helped me no end on a regular basis.
I will personally miss you. Both as a good friend and a very conscientious work colleague who has picked up some of the issues I may have missed. Its been a great 12 months working with you and I have made a good Friend.
Hope it all goes well in your new JOB in 2009.
Your always welcome back if you don't like it......
Fingers Crossed.........
Regards Richard
Ps
I will look after Jen for you.
I would like to say thank you for your help over the last 12 months, its a shame you are leaving us, but I know you need to move on.
Your new employer will be gaining a very good asset in you, and we will be loosing one (As usual), you have done a great job and helped me no end on a regular basis.
I will personally miss you. Both as a good friend and a very conscientious work colleague who has picked up some of the issues I may have missed. Its been a great 12 months working with you and I have made a good Friend.
Hope it all goes well in your new JOB in 2009.
Your always welcome back if you don't like it......
Fingers Crossed.........
Regards Richard
Ps
I will look after Jen for you.
Friday, 21 November 2008
Just Another Day
Well I guess today has been a mixed bag. The company I have worked for over the past 19 Years JCB has also been hit hard by the world wide credit crunch. You have probably seen it on the news. Today we had a number of office staff workers that have been told their jobs where under threat, also all contract personnel where told that they would be finishing.
As you can imagine it was not a nice time for anyone as we work with a relatively small team and you know all the people on a personal basis.
so how does this also become a good day, well i guess you are thinking to yourself that I am going to say i was not one of the unlucky ones that may be looking for work. I guess this is correct but not what I am referring to specifically.
Today my wife and I where in the fortunate position to walk into our local bank and say to the lady over the counter, "we would like to make a extra payment off our Mortgage" she replied " How much would you like to pay" we said "the full amount 45K". My wife made the cheque out and handed it over.
We are now a REAL home owner. This is what made today 21st November 2008 a very special day for us Both.
Nice!
As you can imagine it was not a nice time for anyone as we work with a relatively small team and you know all the people on a personal basis.
so how does this also become a good day, well i guess you are thinking to yourself that I am going to say i was not one of the unlucky ones that may be looking for work. I guess this is correct but not what I am referring to specifically.
Today my wife and I where in the fortunate position to walk into our local bank and say to the lady over the counter, "we would like to make a extra payment off our Mortgage" she replied " How much would you like to pay" we said "the full amount 45K". My wife made the cheque out and handed it over.
We are now a REAL home owner. This is what made today 21st November 2008 a very special day for us Both.
Nice!
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
My Homepage ( 306 information )
Hi everyone just in case anyone is interested there is also a number of DIY Projects i have recorded, information and Pics about a fix on a Peugeot 306 tension pulley, Pic and Information, again you may find something of interest.
This is my Personal webpage ( its easier to upload pics etc on here than on the BLOG )
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/maxtor/
This is my Personal webpage ( its easier to upload pics etc on here than on the BLOG )
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/maxtor/
Thursday, 25 September 2008
Thanks. Pug owner, Scotland
In my experience nothing would be changed other than adding special Eolys fluid to your car.
The fluid is expensive and there are 2 types dependant on your car age.
They will also have to reset your car computer to reflect the top up of your Eolys fluid tank.
This fluid does not have a level gauge, it uses a secser that is linked to you removing your fuel filler cap and this action adds a set amount of fluid to your tank each time.
So putting £10 in every day will deplete your fluid faster then filling up the tank once a fortnight.
there may be a seal that would have to be replaced, other than that this is about it to the best of my knowledge.
Once the fluid has been added Peugeot may do a manual re-gen cycle that burns out the dirt inside the Particulate filter.
This is the idea anyway, this is done again by connecting the car to a computer, you can probably achieve the same result by getting your car on the motorway and doing a constant 70 ish for about 20-30 Min's.
Hope this helps
Regards
Richard.
The fluid is expensive and there are 2 types dependant on your car age.
They will also have to reset your car computer to reflect the top up of your Eolys fluid tank.
This fluid does not have a level gauge, it uses a secser that is linked to you removing your fuel filler cap and this action adds a set amount of fluid to your tank each time.
So putting £10 in every day will deplete your fluid faster then filling up the tank once a fortnight.
there may be a seal that would have to be replaced, other than that this is about it to the best of my knowledge.
Once the fluid has been added Peugeot may do a manual re-gen cycle that burns out the dirt inside the Particulate filter.
This is the idea anyway, this is done again by connecting the car to a computer, you can probably achieve the same result by getting your car on the motorway and doing a constant 70 ish for about 20-30 Min's.
Hope this helps
Regards
Richard.
Friday, 29 August 2008
Drain Cam update
Well this all began about 10 Months ago when i had a drain block in the sewer. I had sewer cover with home serve and called them up with the information i had collected from the drain cam pictures.
Home serve sent an engineer around and reviewed the situation, i told them i believed my drain had been damaged by an earlier job carried out as the brake came directly under where the tarmac had been dug up in the past.
This was dismissed and i was told it could not be proven.
Homeserve came back with a £2500 bill to do the JOB and i was only covered for £2000 so they wanted £500 of me to continue. I argued this quote and asked if i could get my own engineer in if they would come in at £2000 so i would not have to fork out £500.
They would not allow this only their contractors could do the work. I was allowed to make 2 clams per year on separate jobs but nothing over 2000 per job, i discussed a number of ways that we could work around this issue but hmeserve where not helpful and demanded £500.
later in the year we decided to move house sell or rent and wanted to get this JOB resolved so i rang homeserve and agreed to pay the £500 to close the JOB off.
You guessed it. The fault was now logged on the computer as a known fault with the sewer and as i had not agreed to have it fixed when reported it was not marked as not claimable. they would not discuss so i canceled my insurance as it was just a waste of money.
This is why i decided to dig up the sewer pipe on my land and dig under the path until i got to the damage to see if i could see any reason why it was broken.
I did this and discovered a blue water pipe sitting on top of my clay pipe exactly where the damage was.
long story short, about 10 phone calls between seven Trent and south staffs and they agreed to repair the damage free of charge now they could see the damage.
Morel
Never give up and don't shell out money just for the sake of it.
Watch out for Homeserve insurance.
Thanks for reading.
Dig hole on my drive and dig under path at angle to view damage to my sewer. I had to do this as i was not allowed to dig up the footpath and a contractor needed a road opening licence. But i could not get the repair done without proof of damage and pics as it was underground 5 foot or so.
Found Blue plastic water pipe sitting on top of my broken clay sewer pipe. Proof it had been damaged by the water board.
water board came out to review damage and agreed the fault was with them and sent Webb Contractors to dig footpath and carry out repair.
As can now be seen at the bottom of this hole a new section of clay pipe has been put into place and secured with rubber couplings each end. Nice fix thanks for a job well done.
Home serve sent an engineer around and reviewed the situation, i told them i believed my drain had been damaged by an earlier job carried out as the brake came directly under where the tarmac had been dug up in the past.
This was dismissed and i was told it could not be proven.
Homeserve came back with a £2500 bill to do the JOB and i was only covered for £2000 so they wanted £500 of me to continue. I argued this quote and asked if i could get my own engineer in if they would come in at £2000 so i would not have to fork out £500.
They would not allow this only their contractors could do the work. I was allowed to make 2 clams per year on separate jobs but nothing over 2000 per job, i discussed a number of ways that we could work around this issue but hmeserve where not helpful and demanded £500.
later in the year we decided to move house sell or rent and wanted to get this JOB resolved so i rang homeserve and agreed to pay the £500 to close the JOB off.
You guessed it. The fault was now logged on the computer as a known fault with the sewer and as i had not agreed to have it fixed when reported it was not marked as not claimable. they would not discuss so i canceled my insurance as it was just a waste of money.
This is why i decided to dig up the sewer pipe on my land and dig under the path until i got to the damage to see if i could see any reason why it was broken.
I did this and discovered a blue water pipe sitting on top of my clay pipe exactly where the damage was.
long story short, about 10 phone calls between seven Trent and south staffs and they agreed to repair the damage free of charge now they could see the damage.
Morel
Never give up and don't shell out money just for the sake of it.
Watch out for Homeserve insurance.
Thanks for reading.
Dig hole on my drive and dig under path at angle to view damage to my sewer. I had to do this as i was not allowed to dig up the footpath and a contractor needed a road opening licence. But i could not get the repair done without proof of damage and pics as it was underground 5 foot or so.
Found Blue plastic water pipe sitting on top of my broken clay sewer pipe. Proof it had been damaged by the water board.
water board came out to review damage and agreed the fault was with them and sent Webb Contractors to dig footpath and carry out repair.
Update Long Overdue
Hi Everyone I would just like to thank everyone for spending time to update and leave comments on the my Blog.
Sorry for the lack of posts lately, we have been busy working on the house etc.
Just like to give everyone an update.
1. 307 110 BHP HDI Remap still working 100% without any problems, Recommend to anyone, much more exciting to drive once remap has been done.
2. Particulate Filter Removal, Clean and refit. Again 100% no further errors reported on the car ECU or warning messages about Antipollution faults, blocked filter etc.
3. Heater Blower fix. I did have to cut the Plug off the main harness and solder wires onto the spade connectors, ii had to do this about 2 weeks after the fix by cleaning up the terminals. working 100% without any problems since.
Drain Cam See next Post.
Sorry for the lack of posts lately, we have been busy working on the house etc.
Just like to give everyone an update.
1. 307 110 BHP HDI Remap still working 100% without any problems, Recommend to anyone, much more exciting to drive once remap has been done.
2. Particulate Filter Removal, Clean and refit. Again 100% no further errors reported on the car ECU or warning messages about Antipollution faults, blocked filter etc.
3. Heater Blower fix. I did have to cut the Plug off the main harness and solder wires onto the spade connectors, ii had to do this about 2 weeks after the fix by cleaning up the terminals. working 100% without any problems since.
Drain Cam See next Post.
Friday, 23 November 2007
My information has moved onto my web page.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/maxtor/
Please go to link above for updated info.
I have created my personal homepage to make update easier.
Tuesday, 23 October 2007
Peugeot 307 HDI 110 Bhp Remap Shires sp-tuning
Ok Had my Remap done by Shires sp-tuning ( http://www.sp-tuning.co.uk/ ).
I did some research on the internet on remapping my car; SP Tuning always received great feedback for a good remap without problems.
How much did it cost?
£189.00
Could I tell the difference?
For sure it made the car far more responsive and fun to drive.
Would I pay this amount of money again for this result?
100% yes I would
Why have a car that has so much performance to offer and never make use of it.
Jamie came to my house as planned on time.
Spent about 30 to 40 mins downloading and uploading the remap
Test drove the car and within 100 foot of pulling away I could tell the response change in the engine.
I received a Backup Cd with the STD map data burnt on for reference but I could never imagine wanting to return to STD spec.
Smoke
I have followed the car and no smoke was present to the eye.
I have a particulate filter on the car that I recently washed out after getting a blocked warning and this is currently not showing any warnings.
I did encounter a warning light come on the dash after the remap during the test drive before Jamie left.
This was when I shot around an island with a large smile on my face.
Jamie told me this light was the traction control warning ( this would make sense as I did push it hard into and around the island.
So in summery
If you want a remap of your car and Shires sp-tuning can do it I would without hesitation recommend them.
Friendly service and very very happy with the outcome.
"A1" service
I did some research on the internet on remapping my car; SP Tuning always received great feedback for a good remap without problems.
How much did it cost?
£189.00
Could I tell the difference?
For sure it made the car far more responsive and fun to drive.
Would I pay this amount of money again for this result?
100% yes I would
Why have a car that has so much performance to offer and never make use of it.
Jamie came to my house as planned on time.
Spent about 30 to 40 mins downloading and uploading the remap
Test drove the car and within 100 foot of pulling away I could tell the response change in the engine.
I received a Backup Cd with the STD map data burnt on for reference but I could never imagine wanting to return to STD spec.
Smoke
I have followed the car and no smoke was present to the eye.
I have a particulate filter on the car that I recently washed out after getting a blocked warning and this is currently not showing any warnings.
I did encounter a warning light come on the dash after the remap during the test drive before Jamie left.
This was when I shot around an island with a large smile on my face.
Jamie told me this light was the traction control warning ( this would make sense as I did push it hard into and around the island.
So in summery
If you want a remap of your car and Shires sp-tuning can do it I would without hesitation recommend them.
Friendly service and very very happy with the outcome.
"A1" service
Sunday, 16 September 2007
DIY FIX broken heater blower on 307 peugeot
Why Am I posting this data.
Hopefully it will help other people with the same problems.
Well on the same day Saturday 16/09/07 I started to try and follow the wire diagram in the Haynes manual for the heater system with Aircon.
I started by removing the glove box and surrounding panels to gain access to the heater blower fan.
This was not to hard and do risk of braking anything.
1. I removed the blower motor and navigating it past the wire looms and brackets.
2. Tested the motor blower on the battery charger in the garage, spun up no problems.
3. So fault still lies somewhere behind this dash.
4. Located the resistor inside the blower aperture, if the reach in and twist it anti clock it will pull down and reveal the electrical connection.
5. The resistor contains 5 connections that pass the voltage across different tappings of the power resistor to give the speed settings 1 to 4.
6. Pin 1 must have had a poor connection at some point and was slightly tarnished crating a faulty connection on the spade terminal and on the connector plug also.
7. I cleaned the connections and added a little copper slip to the pin connections and refitted the resistor to the loom.
8. Refitted the blower motor and tested the system.
Result 2
I now have a heater blower in the car.
What is better i did not give Mike Thompson Stafford Ltd £650 of my money to fix such simple problem.
If the connection goes again i am sure if i was to cut the plug off the loom and solder the wires directly to the pins on the resistor i would get a 100% fix probably better than replacing the loom.
I have seen a few references to looms and 307 cars.
I think Peugeot are making money out of customers through poor product in some cases.
they should be trying to put a fix in place that does not cost £650.
Hope you enjoy the read.
some pics below.
Hopefully it will help other people with the same problems.
Well on the same day Saturday 16/09/07 I started to try and follow the wire diagram in the Haynes manual for the heater system with Aircon.
I started by removing the glove box and surrounding panels to gain access to the heater blower fan.
This was not to hard and do risk of braking anything.
1. I removed the blower motor and navigating it past the wire looms and brackets.
2. Tested the motor blower on the battery charger in the garage, spun up no problems.
3. So fault still lies somewhere behind this dash.
4. Located the resistor inside the blower aperture, if the reach in and twist it anti clock it will pull down and reveal the electrical connection.
5. The resistor contains 5 connections that pass the voltage across different tappings of the power resistor to give the speed settings 1 to 4.
6. Pin 1 must have had a poor connection at some point and was slightly tarnished crating a faulty connection on the spade terminal and on the connector plug also.
7. I cleaned the connections and added a little copper slip to the pin connections and refitted the resistor to the loom.
8. Refitted the blower motor and tested the system.
Result 2
I now have a heater blower in the car.
What is better i did not give Mike Thompson Stafford Ltd £650 of my money to fix such simple problem.
If the connection goes again i am sure if i was to cut the plug off the loom and solder the wires directly to the pins on the resistor i would get a 100% fix probably better than replacing the loom.
I have seen a few references to looms and 307 cars.
I think Peugeot are making money out of customers through poor product in some cases.
they should be trying to put a fix in place that does not cost £650.
Hope you enjoy the read.
some pics below.
Saturday, 15 September 2007
DIY FIX Blocked Particulate Filter on Pageout 307 HDI 110BHP.
started with the "Diesel Filter Blocked"
This error actually means "Particulate Filter Blocked"
Misleading as to me the Diesel filter is a Fuel filter, not in this case though.
I jacked the car up to give good access to the Particulate filter,
1. removed Rubber pipes located just forward of the filter.
2. do not remove steal clips the rubber pipes pull off plastic junction held in clip on car.
3. Just follow the rubber pipes until you ket to the point where they are held against the car body.
4. pull pipes out of plastic clips and you will see the plastic union you can pull the rubber pipe off.
5. unscrew the sensor off the side of the filter and unplug wire connector put this in safe place.
6. undo the front clamp and rear clamp off the exhaust and a a little wiggling and the filter comes off.
7. If your filter is like mine (see pics) you can undo the 4 bolts and split the unit to aid cleaning.
8. Also undo feed pipe that joins front and rear section.
9. The unit then splits into 2 sections making it easier to wash out.
What did use? well I did not want to damage the filter so i used fairy liquid, hot water and a hose pipe on jet.
I washed both sections about 3 times until the water started to remain clean.
I found shaking the filer wile hose was in one end affective.
I would NOT recommend any banging of the unit.
I washed the unit out many times to ensure all soap was out of the matrix.
I used and Vax on wet to suck out any excess water, this was due to the properties of the filter matrix held water like a sponge.
don't tell Louise but i also slipped the unit in the oven to dry it out.
Well worked for me.
Fitted the Unit back together with a little "Note little" Gasket joint and fitted it back to the car.
Started the car and left to tick over for 30 mins just to dry out some more.
Result ........
So far error "blocked filter" has now gone away and it even seems to pull a little better.
Time will tell......
Next its The £650 Heater Blower.
I
This error actually means "Particulate Filter Blocked"
Misleading as to me the Diesel filter is a Fuel filter, not in this case though.
I jacked the car up to give good access to the Particulate filter,
1. removed Rubber pipes located just forward of the filter.
2. do not remove steal clips the rubber pipes pull off plastic junction held in clip on car.
3. Just follow the rubber pipes until you ket to the point where they are held against the car body.
4. pull pipes out of plastic clips and you will see the plastic union you can pull the rubber pipe off.
5. unscrew the sensor off the side of the filter and unplug wire connector put this in safe place.
6. undo the front clamp and rear clamp off the exhaust and a a little wiggling and the filter comes off.
7. If your filter is like mine (see pics) you can undo the 4 bolts and split the unit to aid cleaning.
8. Also undo feed pipe that joins front and rear section.
9. The unit then splits into 2 sections making it easier to wash out.
What did use? well I did not want to damage the filter so i used fairy liquid, hot water and a hose pipe on jet.
I washed both sections about 3 times until the water started to remain clean.
I found shaking the filer wile hose was in one end affective.
I would NOT recommend any banging of the unit.
I washed the unit out many times to ensure all soap was out of the matrix.
I used and Vax on wet to suck out any excess water, this was due to the properties of the filter matrix held water like a sponge.
don't tell Louise but i also slipped the unit in the oven to dry it out.
Well worked for me.
Fitted the Unit back together with a little "Note little" Gasket joint and fitted it back to the car.
Started the car and left to tick over for 30 mins just to dry out some more.
Result ........
So far error "blocked filter" has now gone away and it even seems to pull a little better.
Time will tell......
Next its The £650 Heater Blower.
I
Time to fix it myself. Fix Heater Blower and Particulate filter blocked.
Ok got up this morning and decided to try and sort out the error and heater problem.
I have posted pics on this blog to aid other people who may have the same problems with 307 HDI car.
Mike Thompson Stafford Ltd dont give good customer support unless your paying £100's pounds.
I have posted pics on this blog to aid other people who may have the same problems with 307 HDI car.
Mike Thompson Stafford Ltd dont give good customer support unless your paying £100's pounds.
On the way home
Yes on the way home, sure enough the error "Diesel additive minimum level " was gone "Phew"
But guess what i got a new error Complete with an engine management light.
First
"Diesel Filter Blocked"
Then it flashed up
"Anti pollution Fault "
Then the engine management fault light came on.
The car then Limped home with a maximum revs of 2000
I turned the car off when i got home and when i restarted it, management light had gone off and it seemed to run ok.
Called Mike Thompson Stafford Ltd from work next day and got a useless reply.
went something like maybe the Particulate filter is just setteling down after the regen.
mmmmmmmm i dont think so......
anyway gave up with that avenue of support.
But guess what i got a new error Complete with an engine management light.
First
"Diesel Filter Blocked"
Then it flashed up
"Anti pollution Fault "
Then the engine management fault light came on.
The car then Limped home with a maximum revs of 2000
I turned the car off when i got home and when i restarted it, management light had gone off and it seemed to run ok.
Called Mike Thompson Stafford Ltd from work next day and got a useless reply.
went something like maybe the Particulate filter is just setteling down after the regen.
mmmmmmmm i dont think so......
anyway gave up with that avenue of support.
Update New Peugeot 307 110 BHP 4 Door.
Well did a little Research on the net about the "Diesel additive minimum level"
Special fluid top up required £20 per litre, and peugeot dealer required to reset the computer.
oh well never mind i can live with it.
Took it to peugeot Stafford for job to be done and asked them to do the cam belt also wile on the job.
Mike Thompson Stafford Ltd Phones me at work to tell me the water pump was leaking and if i wanted them to fit a new one wile it was in bits.
Well i knew it would be silly to say no so i let them continue, I did not mind because the car was cheaper that the 90bhp one i looked at and it was going to be all done.
I also asked if the mechanic could look at the heater blower wile they had the car, based on they should know the faults and be able to fit a new relay or switch whatever.
Got a call at about 4:45pm saying the car was done and ready for collection.
I asked if there where any problems and they said no its all gone fine.
I asked if they managed to find the fault with the heater blower and they said yes but they have not been able to fix it.
I said "no problem what's it going to cost" ( Wait for it ) ...........
£650 That the hell are you going to do to my car....
I said I wanted the heater to work not a new crankshaft fitted to the engine.
The lady on reception said it was a fault with the loom and resistor.
and the dashboard must be removed to fit the new wire loom. this is why it is £650 ( mostly labour )
The Materials to fix the car where aprox £70
I said thank you I will try and fix it myself.Publish Post
so off I drove with the car with its new special Fluid for the particulate filter.
Next......
Special fluid top up required £20 per litre, and peugeot dealer required to reset the computer.
oh well never mind i can live with it.
Took it to peugeot Stafford for job to be done and asked them to do the cam belt also wile on the job.
Mike Thompson Stafford Ltd Phones me at work to tell me the water pump was leaking and if i wanted them to fit a new one wile it was in bits.
Well i knew it would be silly to say no so i let them continue, I did not mind because the car was cheaper that the 90bhp one i looked at and it was going to be all done.
I also asked if the mechanic could look at the heater blower wile they had the car, based on they should know the faults and be able to fit a new relay or switch whatever.
Got a call at about 4:45pm saying the car was done and ready for collection.
I asked if there where any problems and they said no its all gone fine.
I asked if they managed to find the fault with the heater blower and they said yes but they have not been able to fix it.
I said "no problem what's it going to cost" ( Wait for it ) ...........
£650 That the hell are you going to do to my car....
I said I wanted the heater to work not a new crankshaft fitted to the engine.
The lady on reception said it was a fault with the loom and resistor.
and the dashboard must be removed to fit the new wire loom. this is why it is £650 ( mostly labour )
The Materials to fix the car where aprox £70
I said thank you I will try and fix it myself.Publish Post
so off I drove with the car with its new special Fluid for the particulate filter.
Next......
New Peugeot 307 110 BHP 4 Door.
Well stroke of luck, Back on ebay found another car 307 hdi 110 4 door Same day.
Ticked all the boxes for a start.
Went to view the vehicle, found no real problems with the car such as body work bumps etc.
It had done 97k with a full service history from Peugeot.
What problems did it have that i knew about from the inspection.
Error on screen "Diesel additive minimum level "
Heater Did not work.
Not to bad i am sure i can get it sorted.
I offered £3500 for the car and a deal was done at this price.
So we drove away with the new well second hand car.
you can tell its 110 BHP it wants to pull all the time and you can feel the turbo in all gears.
Ticked all the boxes for a start.
Went to view the vehicle, found no real problems with the car such as body work bumps etc.
It had done 97k with a full service history from Peugeot.
What problems did it have that i knew about from the inspection.
Error on screen "Diesel additive minimum level "
Heater Did not work.
Not to bad i am sure i can get it sorted.
I offered £3500 for the car and a deal was done at this price.
So we drove away with the new well second hand car.
you can tell its 110 BHP it wants to pull all the time and you can feel the turbo in all gears.
307 Update
Well some time has passed since my last post so I thought I should pose an update.
The 307 I purchased of Ebay on buy it now never went through.
The seller of the car
karl924 was a pleasure to deal with, gave no hard sell and was fine with me giving it a good look over before a final commitment to buy.
I decided not to complete and and karl was fine and a pleasure to deal with.
So we where back on the market for a new car.
I knew i wanted the 110 BHP and not the 90Bhp.
Also i did not like 2 door, it just did not feel right.
Back to auto trader and Ebay to look for another car.
The 307 I purchased of Ebay on buy it now never went through.
The seller of the car
karl924 was a pleasure to deal with, gave no hard sell and was fine with me giving it a good look over before a final commitment to buy.I decided not to complete and and karl was fine and a pleasure to deal with.
So we where back on the market for a new car.
I knew i wanted the 110 BHP and not the 90Bhp.
Also i did not like 2 door, it just did not feel right.
Back to auto trader and Ebay to look for another car.
Sunday, 2 September 2007
New Car "2003 PEUGEOT 307 HDi S"
When i returned from the car boot on Sunday Louise asked if we could buy the 2003 PEUGEOT 307 HDi we had been watching.
It was on bidding but it had a buy it now price of £4350.
Louise had looked at some of the other cars that had been sold and all had very good feedback.
The other vehicles had also been placed on Auction bid with a buy it now option, and most of them had just been purchased close to the end of the auction.
She did not want to miss it, so I just took the mouse, asked her if she liked it and then I pressed the buy it now button.
So we are now the proud owner of a 2003 PEUGEOT 307 HDi S
£4350 without even viewing the car heheheheeh
The car is only in Cannock so will not be to hard to collect.
So there is now some questions that will be answered over the next week.
1. Is the new car OK ( was it a bargain or a lemon ) ?
2. Where does it leave my Gold PEUGEOT 306 D Turbo?
3. if i do get it how will i get it back 140 miles?
We will have to wait and see
Pics of new car
It was on bidding but it had a buy it now price of £4350.
Louise had looked at some of the other cars that had been sold and all had very good feedback.
The other vehicles had also been placed on Auction bid with a buy it now option, and most of them had just been purchased close to the end of the auction.
She did not want to miss it, so I just took the mouse, asked her if she liked it and then I pressed the buy it now button.
So we are now the proud owner of a 2003 PEUGEOT 307 HDi S
£4350 without even viewing the car heheheheeh
The car is only in Cannock so will not be to hard to collect.
So there is now some questions that will be answered over the next week.
1. Is the new car OK ( was it a bargain or a lemon ) ?
2. Where does it leave my Gold PEUGEOT 306 D Turbo?
3. if i do get it how will i get it back 140 miles?
We will have to wait and see
Pics of new car
Bargain Day
Well Its Sunday and the sun is out.
Time for a trip around the car boot sale,
I am always on the lookout for a bargain purchase, this is either to add onto ebay or to increase my tool collection.
My daughter Joined me this bright and early Sunday morning.
We arrived about 8:30am and wandered around for about 3 hours, buying a few bits and bobs, nothing to exciting,
Although Zoe did get 6 Neons for her car. I guess some wiring will now be in the pipeline for me.
We also purchased a lovely unusual bunch of flowers for Louise my lovely wife who was missing us loads.
We left the large morning sale and decided to call in on the afternoon boot sale on the way home, it had started to spit with a little rain, This always turns the tables towards the buyer getting a bargain :-)
wile walking around i noticed a Bosch Jigsaw half under some bits and bobs.
I used to have a jig saw many moos ago, just a cheep one, but it packed up and ended up down the tip, so i have been looking for one for a wile, ( only if it is a bargain though)
I asked how much it was and the girl said "£5.00 And it has some blades with it to"
oh wow looks good how quickly can i get my hands on the saw and the £5.00 in her hand before she changed her mind, fast I can tell you.
Purchased a large 15mm masonary drill the one for drilling through a wall to fit radiators.
This was a Top quality drill bit also, not one of the rubbish things you can buy.
£2.00 Jackpot another winner ( put it in the bag quick ).
Anyway got home gave Louise Flowers, she loved them becasue she had never seen them before .
And I looked up the Jigsaw on the net £138.00 new .......
I like bosch tools, they still seem to have retained a good element of quality given the current manufacturing antics going on.
As you can see from the PIC the saw is in very good condition.
And yes it works flawlessly.
Time for a trip around the car boot sale,
I am always on the lookout for a bargain purchase, this is either to add onto ebay or to increase my tool collection.
My daughter Joined me this bright and early Sunday morning.
We arrived about 8:30am and wandered around for about 3 hours, buying a few bits and bobs, nothing to exciting,
Although Zoe did get 6 Neons for her car. I guess some wiring will now be in the pipeline for me.
We also purchased a lovely unusual bunch of flowers for Louise my lovely wife who was missing us loads.
We left the large morning sale and decided to call in on the afternoon boot sale on the way home, it had started to spit with a little rain, This always turns the tables towards the buyer getting a bargain :-)
wile walking around i noticed a Bosch Jigsaw half under some bits and bobs.
I used to have a jig saw many moos ago, just a cheep one, but it packed up and ended up down the tip, so i have been looking for one for a wile, ( only if it is a bargain though)
I asked how much it was and the girl said "£5.00 And it has some blades with it to"
oh wow looks good how quickly can i get my hands on the saw and the £5.00 in her hand before she changed her mind, fast I can tell you.
Purchased a large 15mm masonary drill the one for drilling through a wall to fit radiators.
This was a Top quality drill bit also, not one of the rubbish things you can buy.
£2.00 Jackpot another winner ( put it in the bag quick ).
Anyway got home gave Louise Flowers, she loved them becasue she had never seen them before .
And I looked up the Jigsaw on the net £138.00 new .......
I like bosch tools, they still seem to have retained a good element of quality given the current manufacturing antics going on.
As you can see from the PIC the saw is in very good condition.
And yes it works flawlessly.
Saturday, 1 September 2007
A Stroke Of Luck Update!!
On Friday I called up Homeserve with reference to my 3 months free cover on the drains and plumbing.
I asked if I was covered.
The Rep replied yes I am and asked if I would like to take out the cover for the year at £35.88/year
I replied I would be delighted to take out the cover, Pay them £35.00 and they will dig up the sewer and repair it. ( bargain ).
They arranged to send an engineer out Saturday morning between 9am and 12pm.
The engineer Pitched up just before 12 and i showed him the area the drain was collapsed.
He asked me how i knew it was damaged at this point and I showed him the video footage you can see on the blog ( If interested ).
He was pleased because he did not have to do anything to investigate the fault.
There was one problem though.....
The fault was under the public footpath just outside my gate.
The engineer made a phone call to check i was still covered, he confirmed this was fine and another company with a licence to work on the public footpath would have to come out on Monday for an estimate to repair the faulty pipe.
I am covered for up to £2000 per claim and 2 claim's per year, so i hope it will not cost more than this.
So all in all it still looks fine, so my fingers will remain crossed.
we will have to see how this works out........
I asked if I was covered.
The Rep replied yes I am and asked if I would like to take out the cover for the year at £35.88/year
I replied I would be delighted to take out the cover, Pay them £35.00 and they will dig up the sewer and repair it. ( bargain ).
They arranged to send an engineer out Saturday morning between 9am and 12pm.
The engineer Pitched up just before 12 and i showed him the area the drain was collapsed.
He asked me how i knew it was damaged at this point and I showed him the video footage you can see on the blog ( If interested ).
He was pleased because he did not have to do anything to investigate the fault.
There was one problem though.....
The fault was under the public footpath just outside my gate.
The engineer made a phone call to check i was still covered, he confirmed this was fine and another company with a licence to work on the public footpath would have to come out on Monday for an estimate to repair the faulty pipe.
I am covered for up to £2000 per claim and 2 claim's per year, so i hope it will not cost more than this.
So all in all it still looks fine, so my fingers will remain crossed.
we will have to see how this works out........
Road Kill
Well last night we went out for a meal in Lichfield, this was a very short notice night out but a little juggling and rearrangement of my busy schedule i managed to free up a night.
11 of us from work managed to meet up and make our way over to a lovely curry house.
We all had a great night and it was great to catch up with Jon who had left our company some time ago.
He misses us so much he wants to come back. I miss his good quality of work also, please come back all is forgiven.
Anyway, where did the title of this post come from you may ask.
Well wile on the way home from Lichfield to Rugeley, our chauffeur ( Driver ) made a comment there is something in the road. and its moving......
Oh gosh its a rabbit... "someone said"
I was sitting in the back so i never made eye contact.
Next thing there was a loud thud from under the car.
Rob made a comment that made me laugh " maybe its ok "
Get lost it was 100% Road Kill for sure. ( Fear Factor Prop Creation )
A nice night out to catch up with everyone.
And the meal was very nice also.
11 of us from work managed to meet up and make our way over to a lovely curry house.
We all had a great night and it was great to catch up with Jon who had left our company some time ago.
He misses us so much he wants to come back. I miss his good quality of work also, please come back all is forgiven.
Anyway, where did the title of this post come from you may ask.
Well wile on the way home from Lichfield to Rugeley, our chauffeur ( Driver ) made a comment there is something in the road. and its moving......
Oh gosh its a rabbit... "someone said"
I was sitting in the back so i never made eye contact.
Next thing there was a loud thud from under the car.
Rob made a comment that made me laugh " maybe its ok "
Get lost it was 100% Road Kill for sure. ( Fear Factor Prop Creation )
A nice night out to catch up with everyone.
And the meal was very nice also.
Thursday, 30 August 2007
Peugeot 306 D Turbo
I have found this Peugeot 306 D Turbo on ebay.
Its currenly running with a bid of £360.
I know its rarther old and needs some work but if it goes cheep enough i may be tempted to part with some money to buy it.
Its funny when we wanted to buy this modle about 6 years ago and we could not justify paying about 8k for it.
Now i am thinking of purchasing it for a project.
what is wrong with the car
well the head gasket is going and needs repair, and the aircon rad has been removed becasue a pipe was damaged.
well i guess it will all depend on how much the car goes for and if i want to part with the money without seeing the car.
One other slight snag, the car is 140 miles away...........
We will just have to wait and see
Update on drain cam "A Stroke Of Luck"
Well i have been deciding when to dig up the drive and repair the drain pipe that is broken.
I have been waiting for some good weather and the motivation to do the job.
The major problem is that the brake in the pipe just protrudes onto the footpath by about 3 foot.
So the plan was to open up a hole on my drive big enough to remove the broken pipe and then to just the 3 foot under the path and then backfill.
This will eliminate the need to dig up the footpath.
I had a plan.
Today for a change i may have had a stroke of luck.
you know all that junk mail you get through the post, you know the stuff you need to purchase a large industrial shredder just to cope with the volume of it.
I received a letter, well to be honest about 6 but hay who is counting.
When i opened the letter i did read it because it looked slightly official, and it was from the Staffordshire water board.
It reads thank you for taking your 3 months of free internal and external sewage and water utility's cover but you 3 months of free cover ends on the 20/9/07.
could this be true, looks good to me.
Apparently i am covered for up to £2000 for external drain repairs.
What makes it extra special is that i have never had to pay anything.
Can I pull this off.
I will keep you all updated on this.
A phone call tomorrow should give me an answer to this question.
Rick
I have been waiting for some good weather and the motivation to do the job.
The major problem is that the brake in the pipe just protrudes onto the footpath by about 3 foot.
So the plan was to open up a hole on my drive big enough to remove the broken pipe and then to just the 3 foot under the path and then backfill.
This will eliminate the need to dig up the footpath.
I had a plan.
Today for a change i may have had a stroke of luck.
you know all that junk mail you get through the post, you know the stuff you need to purchase a large industrial shredder just to cope with the volume of it.
I received a letter, well to be honest about 6 but hay who is counting.
When i opened the letter i did read it because it looked slightly official, and it was from the Staffordshire water board.
It reads thank you for taking your 3 months of free internal and external sewage and water utility's cover but you 3 months of free cover ends on the 20/9/07.
could this be true, looks good to me.
Apparently i am covered for up to £2000 for external drain repairs.
What makes it extra special is that i have never had to pay anything.
Can I pull this off.
I will keep you all updated on this.
A phone call tomorrow should give me an answer to this question.
Rick
Just Another Day "Lier" "Lier"
Well today has passed and its time to sit down and relax.
Today at work wile wading through many lines of SAP workflow, a small action made me smile.
A certain lady sent a TXT to her friend to say that she would not be able to go to the Gym tonight.
Now this seems fine, until she added to the TXT I have to work over, i am sorry.
Myself and a good friend looked at each other and started to laugh.
we both new there was no intention of working over and it was just a "Bair Face Lie"
We took the mick for the rest of the day. as you do.
I know its sad but hay you have to do something to distract the monotony of SAP.
You know who you are " you should hang your head in shame" :-)
Today at work wile wading through many lines of SAP workflow, a small action made me smile.
A certain lady sent a TXT to her friend to say that she would not be able to go to the Gym tonight.
Now this seems fine, until she added to the TXT I have to work over, i am sorry.
Myself and a good friend looked at each other and started to laugh.
we both new there was no intention of working over and it was just a "Bair Face Lie"
We took the mick for the rest of the day. as you do.
I know its sad but hay you have to do something to distract the monotony of SAP.
You know who you are " you should hang your head in shame" :-)
Wednesday, 22 August 2007
Drain Cam
I will try not to bore you all to much.
Well over the last few months our drain has backed up and required me to get the drain rods out to clear it through.
As you can imagine only minimal time is spent doing this task as you just want to finish and clean up.
During the summer shut down from work again the drain backed up, I felt wile trying to clear it this time the blockage seemed harder to shift than normal.
The blockage seemed about 9 - 10 meeter's down the line.
This gave me a position around the middle of the public footpath.
How was I going to see what if anything was wrong.
so I set to with the "Drain Cam" Project,
This consisted of robbing a second hand web cam off my daughter i had purchased from a car boot some months prior and wondering how i could get it 10 meeters down a drain pipe.
Challenges
1. web cam to large to fit in pipe.
2. No light
3. Length of USB cable ( half a meeter )
4. software because of the age of the web cam
Well last Friday when i finished work i decided to get stuck in and try to overcome these problems and get a £1.00 web cam to return a visual of the drain 10 meeter's underground.
Step 1
First thing i did was to spend 15 mins on the web looking for a suitable driver for this old cam.
what more can i say the web came up trumps as usual,
downloaded it, installed it to my main system ( Running xp to my son's disgust) ( could be worse VISTA ) I don't think so......
Anyway back onto the subject.
The display was a little poor given today's web cam standards but hay what do you expect for £1.00
so at least i knew it worked,
Step 2
Strip the cam down into its main component a PCB , lenses with attached USB cable.
Step 3
What to put it in?
After standing in the shed for 5 mins glancing at all the junk and thinking there is somthing in here there has to be, something caught my eye, don't laugh it was an empty no-nales tube that was still on my bench.
I know why was it not in the bin? Who knows but if it was well i may have had to stand in the garage even longer.
so i cut the Tube in half and just long enough to ensure the PCB and lenses would fit inside to protect it and be water resistant ish.....
Using the current hole that dispensed the old contents of the tube i opened it out to 15mm dia
this allowed the lenses to be pushed nicely into place from the inside of the tube.
This was a manual focus and required the end of the lenses to be turned to bring items into focus.
I pre-set the focal length to close items given the application it was gong to be used.
Step 4
Lights ? what to use ?
The USB line could supply 5V total with about 500ma.
I was nervous about the voltage drop over a 10m length cable that was home made, so i made decision to use torch bulbs 2 of them purchased from wilko's 59p each.
I also decided to run a separate cable to the bulbs and run the two 4.5v bulbs in series across a 9v battery.
So i had a PLAN !
Step 5
I drilled two holes either side of the CAM lenses just big enough to make the bulb a push fit into the tube.
First Error
On lightly forcing the bulbs into place, One broke ( Bugger ) the error was, i never purchased a spare.
I was so determined this would work i set off down town to get a new build and left my son shaun to take some pics of drain cam wile I was gone.
( guess what i now has a spare bulb because i purchased two this time, will i ever use it probably not.)
Anyway lights went in a treat and wired up nicely.
A quick connection to the 9v battery and result we have light.
Because the lenses is set back inside slightly it stops the glare i thought may be a problem being so close to the lenses.
Step 6
seal around the two bulbs and lenses with a small amount of "Blue Tack" i know this is not going to be waterproof to 1 foot let alone 100m. It was just to keep any splashes out of the electronics.
Step 7
I made the PCB secure in the tube by wedging some polystyrene down both sides.
this worked well.
step 8
Connected the cam to the PC, with fingers crossed, " A small ding noise " came from the computer and a message usb device found .
Great start !
Oh dear then followed by a message " device not recognised " The small red LED on the cam did not come on, this also indicated a problem.
:-(
Oh well you have to have some problems don't you.
I had a feeling we may have to change the cable type ( maybe speaker cable, Less loss in speaker cable )
But being on a high and the sun being out we continued
we cut about 1 meeter off the cable taking it to about 9 meters + the 1m std cable and tried again.
"Ding" (Device found) Red LED lit up and then the message ( your device is installed and reddy to use )
Bingo !! we had a result.
Step 11
Move Web CAM software to Laptop (sinking feeling) would we have a voltage problem on the laptop USB?The USB line could supply 5V total with about 500ma.
I was nervous about the voltage drop over a 10m length cable that was home made, so i made decision to use torch bulbs 2 of them purchased from wilko's 59p each.
I also decided to run a separate cable to the bulbs and run the two 4.5v bulbs in series across a 9v battery.
So i had a PLAN !
Step 5
I drilled two holes either side of the CAM lenses just big enough to make the bulb a push fit into the tube.
First Error
On lightly forcing the bulbs into place, One broke ( Bugger ) the error was, i never purchased a spare.
I was so determined this would work i set off down town to get a new build and left my son shaun to take some pics of drain cam wile I was gone.
( guess what i now has a spare bulb because i purchased two this time, will i ever use it probably not.)
Anyway lights went in a treat and wired up nicely.
A quick connection to the 9v battery and result we have light.
Because the lenses is set back inside slightly it stops the glare i thought may be a problem being so close to the lenses.
Step 6
seal around the two bulbs and lenses with a small amount of "Blue Tack" i know this is not going to be waterproof to 1 foot let alone 100m. It was just to keep any splashes out of the electronics.
Step 7
I made the PCB secure in the tube by wedging some polystyrene down both sides.
this worked well.
step 8
How to seal the rear of the tube?
I know i could have filled it all full of silicone and it may have done 100m but i wanted to be able to change it if it did not return a clear enough pic. ( hard when sealed with silicone)
So I opted for a plastic bag and insulation tape and 2 cable ties to hold the USB cable secure on the outside of the Tube of the cam.
Looks naff but seems that it will work and who is going to care how it looks down that pipe.
Step 9
extend the cable what to use?
wile in wilko's I settled for some 4 core bell wire at 14p per meeter.
This gave me the four wires needed to duplicate the four uses in the USB cable.
I had no idea if this would work 10m is long for a USB cable.
I cut the original USB cable and added 10m of four core bell cable in its place.
Step 10I know i could have filled it all full of silicone and it may have done 100m but i wanted to be able to change it if it did not return a clear enough pic. ( hard when sealed with silicone)
So I opted for a plastic bag and insulation tape and 2 cable ties to hold the USB cable secure on the outside of the Tube of the cam.
Looks naff but seems that it will work and who is going to care how it looks down that pipe.
Step 9
extend the cable what to use?
wile in wilko's I settled for some 4 core bell wire at 14p per meeter.
This gave me the four wires needed to duplicate the four uses in the USB cable.
I had no idea if this would work 10m is long for a USB cable.
I cut the original USB cable and added 10m of four core bell cable in its place.
Connected the cam to the PC, with fingers crossed, " A small ding noise " came from the computer and a message usb device found .
Great start !
Oh dear then followed by a message " device not recognised " The small red LED on the cam did not come on, this also indicated a problem.
:-(
Oh well you have to have some problems don't you.
I had a feeling we may have to change the cable type ( maybe speaker cable, Less loss in speaker cable )
But being on a high and the sun being out we continued
we cut about 1 meeter off the cable taking it to about 9 meters + the 1m std cable and tried again.
"Ding" (Device found) Red LED lit up and then the message ( your device is installed and reddy to use )
Bingo !! we had a result.
Step 11
We had not tested with the Laptop.....
We plugged it in and luckily it all seemed to work fine but we must have been running on on the maximum limit with the length of the usb cable.
The picture would become dark and pixelate than then disconnect just after 1 min of being switched on.
Oh dear again the cable may have to change from the bell cable to speaker cable as we are unable to reduce it further or we would we to short see the possible fault.
Step 12
How to resolve the problem?
I asked shaun if he could try and get a cam driver for linux and use his laptop to try and see if it would resolve the issue, this was a long shot as we know the problem was defenetly down to the length of the cable.
But we hoed the flexibility of Linux may allow the signal gain to be increased or smething.
Shaun spent about 30 Mins finding some software that would support the cam and we ran the test again.
Bingo !!!!
Result Linux and open source software gave a better picture and no disconnections.
Linux has again given a better end result than windows.
We where off
Sorry No AVI files can be uploaded.
Drain collapsed 9.2m into drain pipe
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