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Mik the Miller

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Everything posted by Mik the Miller

  1. Been offered a damaged (seller thinks the piston has a hole in it) Stihl 391. I was looking for a Meteor piston rings and pot ... but they don't seem to exist ??
  2. Oak is my favourite. Yes it takes a while to season (2 years minimum here in Scotland) but it really is the best for my woodstove. Spliting is easy when fresh and I make up a stack of 30mm square pieces as well as the 100/150mm chunks. The smaller pieces are great for rejuvanating the fire and the bigger pieces for a long burn.
  3. It's never that complex nor that precise. If your stove has a grate it is designed to burn coal and if often classified as 'multi-fuel'. You will find a way to light your stove efficiently in the first few weeks that will stay with you. This 'method' may change slightly with different coal batches and differing weather conditions. Try making a nest with a layer of coal on the base and a small section of kindling in the middle. Loosly roll some newspaper with a pile of sticks on top and coal around the edge with perhaps a lump on top. Light the newspaper, open all the airvents, close the door and go away for 15 mins. If you must put 1/2 a firelighter at the opposite edges of the nest, personaly I don't use them. Putting hydrocarbons in a sealed hot box give me the creeps, those wax covered wood shaving things are OK
  4. I have a Stoxax too (Vogue Midi). I have the same (smoke) issue. Open the door and out pours smoke and ash particles. My take on this is that these are the new Eco/Clean Burn stoves which are designed to swirl the internal gasses so that they burn 'cleaner' and create less polution. In theory (and computer simulations) this probably works, but in reality the internal dynamics cause a downward (and forward) swirl of air, that when the door is open' ejects the internal gasses (air/smoke/ash) into the room. I've had wood/multi fuel stoves for years and they are fired up every day as we descend into and through the winter months. This Stovax is without doubt the worst stove I have had for filling the room with smoke and ash. Stovax aren't interested in my 'issues'. On the + side. The Stovax is more efficient than the my last stoves, it looks good too. Overall i use less wood and it burns/heats the room/house for longer. The stove is easy to control in that I can get my stove thermometer up to 150 to 200 C and hold it there or add a little more secondary air and take it up to 250C. What I can't do is open the stove when there are flames in the firebox or the indicated flue temperature is above 100C I have to let any fuel burn down to 'char' before I open the door (temp =100C or lower) and I have to add wood carefully and relatively quickly. If I dither or re-settle logs so they sit right, or get another one out the basket to add, then when I close the door, a fine rain of ash falls and you can feel the sharp smell of smoke in your nose. Opening the primary and secondary air the wood catches quickly and once I see the gasses being ignited I close down the air. I could go on as there are other 'issues' but needless to say I will NEVER reccommend or buy another Stovax.
  5. They're shooting their guns over there.. not, there shooting there guns over there.
  6. Whats a Diesel Jump Pack ?
  7. https://www.amazon.co.uk/wood-moisture-tester/s?k=wood+moisture+tester
  8. Yup, you need to burn (dry) wood efficiently or the glass will blacken. Wet wood and inneficiently low temperatures in the firebox will clog everything up. The Stovax Vogue Eco also suffers like Mudy42's Esse One for exactly the same reasons. I am thinking of adding an internal baffle extending the top (internal) lip lower into the firebox. The amount of ash I get in our living room with this new stove is silly, you just can't open the door without it pouring out.
  9. New Titanikel HYWAY piston and cylinder arrived today, qlong with new gaskets etc. The supplied exhaust gasket has a smaller hole than the port. Other than that would the new piston/pot need anything doing to improve performance ?
  10. The numbers 1756, MP (in a box) and ITALY on the other side.
  11. There is a 'W 15' on the top (dots) 'B' on the center left and an arrow pointing right with 4 dots above and below the shaft. Yes it's clean as I'd attacked it with a brass brush and it's been in my pocket for a few days. Both circlips were there, they had tangs. One side was bent back on itself. So the bloke who sold it to me lied then .... One quick question, how do I get the decompressor out ? A very thin wall 13mm socket ?
  12. I've bought the Hyway, new gaskets and a gudgeon bearing. I agree, for £35 for a piston/ring/cylinder set, how good is it ? Here's the photo's. It looks like the rings gave way and chewed everything up, no idea why, it's all OEM. I think its a 2007 so I guess thats not bad, doesn't have a hard life, my 880 gets used a lot more and I tend to use it with a smallish blade (20") Needs a bit of polish that ....
  13. My old 660 died that week, wouldn't start, seemed to be low in compression. To be fair it's not been right for a while and I should have looked at it earlier (rather then just when I needed it...). I took the exhaust off and it looks like the rings have given way. The piston and bore is well scored, past repair. What should I buy ? Is there any advantage in getting one of these 'big bore' kits ? The Hyway for example Or a standard 54mm set from Meteor ? The lower cost Nikasil/unbranded versions ?
  14. Thats what I did in the end as I needed to get the heat back on. Still no sign of the 'official' set. I don't get the tertiary air with the set I made up but I won't buy side pieces from Stovax ever again, apart from anything else the stuff I bought from eBay seems more robust (might be just me ...).
  15. I bought a Stovax to replace my old cast-iron stove It was a mistake. Stovax look nice, they have a big window so you can see the firebox etc but they push smoke into the room as soon as you open the door. The ropes/seals are made from flimmsium, the firebrick too is soft and fragile. I ordered a new set of bricks last May and they are still not available. Customer service is pityfull. The cast iron top sits on the steel firebox, it isn't fastened by anything other than gravity. An expensive (to buy) stove made with cheap low cost materials. Awful, awful awful.
  16. Because a 500 is 39 better than a 461 and a whole 138 better than a 362. ...
  17. Stihl MS362 C M tronic Two Stroke Petrol Chainsaw. 18" Bar And Chain Heated Hand WWW.EBAY.CO.UK Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Stihl MS362 C M tronic Two Stroke Petrol Chainsaw. 18" Bar...
  18. But the costs aren't the same, the costs vary depending upon location and volumetric weight/length. Proportional, it cost me more to send that you you, so you pay more. In reality I bet the majority are in the lower charge bracket and the postage charge only makes up the variance on a median number not taken from the whole but from a range. If it costs £2 to send to location A and £10 to location B and you send 100 items to location A and only 1 item to B then you only have to increase your postage to £2.08 (ie by 8p) to break even. In response to your sending a long bar to the USA via UPS, the answer is simple .... "Sorry we don't sell into the USA, thanks for asking".
  19. "A fullfiment center" ... as in you don't handle your goods at all, they sit on someone elses shelf and their staff pick, pack and dispatch to your customers, on your request and charge you for the privilege ? So basically you have just added a layer of cost which you then profitise and forward on to your customers ? I bet you've outsourced your accounts as well ? Your 'accountant' does your bookeeping, VAT returns and staff wages ? There's comment here that Amazon 'can't be beat'. Amazon operate as a fullfilment center as well as a marketing center. eBay is still a marketing center. The advantage of both of these (from a consumers and resellers point of view) is they offer a huge array of goods to a massive number of people. Up to a point they are good for the reseller too as because they have such a wide outreach, they do force resellers to reduce pricing as competitior pricing is very highly visible. If your 'sprocket' is £9 and mine is £8, i'll sell more. Amazon want you to send them your 'sprockets' and they dish them out as and when they are sold, they hold your money, deduct commission and send you what's left after the fact, and insist you send them replacement stock, for free.. . eBay have have adopted the 'holding on to your money rule' and simply take 12.5% off the top. Unfortunately there are a number of scammers out there, the "it never arrived" or" it was damaged" brigade that I personally think should be shot. These idiots don't win anything, they just put the price up for the rest of us. However, back to the point. £4.95 is too much for the sprocket buyers and not enough for the 36" bar and 2 chain buyers. It's too high for the occasional user/hobbyist/wood gatherer. Commercially it's a different kettle. I guess my point is that if it's obvious that the seller is layering profit on profit then they can Foxtrot Oscar.
  20. 2 caniballs eating a clown ... One says to the other ...... "Does this taste funny to you ?" What’s a cannibals favourite takeaway shop The orphanage Cannibal (n.) Someone who is fed up with people.
  21. @Rob D It's about being proportionate IMO. Charging a flat rate (say £5) for a filler cap or a rim sprocket v a 36" bar and chain, the fuel cap/sprocket guy will be pissed off (or is it just me ?) and go elsewhere. My solenoid went on my winch the other day and 1 company wanted £55 + £15 shipping + vat I paid another supplier £70 all in (with next day TNT) and I could have bought the same item on eBay for £59 all in, but had to wait for the 3 to 5 day inclusive shipping. As it was the item took 2 days to come rather than the 'next-day' but the £10, up to 2kgs next-day shipping I felt was worth it. In reality the eBay seller sold for £48 inc vat (less 12.5% fees and £4.50 shipping) so in reality less than 1/2 the price of the other 'sellers'. Back too the fuel cap, I just bought a genuine Stihl cap, off eBay, which arrived in 2 days with a 2nd large stamp and almost 33% less than a well known supplier/retailer. My question (in these examples) is how can they (eBay sellers) do that ? All I can think of is that the resellers are demanding significantly higher profit ? Do that to me once or twice and i'm not coming back, if it's an obvious rip (item £2.60 shipping £8)... then it's a 'No' before the starting pistol has fired. If it's a 16" bar and chain (£42) and £8 shipping or some other largeish (up to 5kgs) items, then thats fine. If it's over 10/15kgs or longer than 1M then the shipping will be £10 to £12, that fine too. Shetland costs more, so do other remote locations, the islanders know that. If you're going to charge me more than the retail cost of a 2nd class stamp to sent me a rim sprocket then i'll get my replacement chains and bars from A N Other. I agree with @GarethM too, "I hate companies that only add the postage at the very end", postage prices up front rather than after we've opened an account, been sent a 'code' to our phone and put in what colour socks we wear on a tuesday ...
  22. They are quite low power. Less dangerous than a micrwave. To be safe i'd stay around 4 to 6 feet away. You should put tin foil down your underpants too and line your safety helmet. To be really, really. really safe don't lick them 😎 There is a personal safety meter, I use one when working on RF transmitters etc. and there are quidelines for HSE and risk assesments. It's a minefield. I have difficulty getting my meter to 'sound off' when walking past a GSM antenna. https://www.tklink.co.uk/products/railway-specific-products/gauge/nardalert-s3-personal-monitor-s3/

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