Time sure flies, technology doesn't.

Once there was a linux, an user and hardware, none of them got along - bad ending.

So I have been a bit data hoarding when I purchased Seagate Archive 8TB (TeraByte) drive and used it as regular drive (you know what, it works! Also putting SSD (Solid State Disk) cache for it and you have basically very fast hybrid drive). 

Well that raised a question about windows backups, what files I want to backup, what I should back up. My old NAS (Network Attached Storage) suddenly decided to start writing bad sectors all over the place and almost lost my picture collection. My NAS was just single USB (Universal Serial Bus) enclosure attached to router, so not ideal.

So my grand plan was after a lan party that I want to build a beefy file server, nas, dedicated game server and host my pictures on website with gallery software so I can access them with my phone when I ever need those rare meme pics from my collection. 

I decided to use Linux/GNU (GNU's Not Unix) distro, I last time used one in 2008 and after that haven't touched them. Why? End user unfriendliness, bad GUI (Graphic User Interface) choices or lack of them. I have been using GUIs mostly since windows 3.1 and suddenly I have again to use CLIs (Command Line Interface) to config everything and use very badly made manuals? So yes, most Linux distros were not for me. 

I have always loved how Windows year after year has kept its ecosystem same, fine tuning here and there so users can adapt slowly... well up until Windows 8/10. For those who are reading this in future Windows 8 introduced whole new GUI layout for Windows OS (Operating System) ecosystem while having old one running under it. Windows 10 technically removed old one and forced everybody to use the horrendous GUI without ability to rollback to older ecosystem style. This is another reason why I am starting to warm up idea for using Linux distro and if you can use server one, you can use desktop one, right?

Well you might have already guessed what I am about to say what has happened during last 10 years in Linux enviroment? Problems installing NICS? Yes, especially if you're using "freedom" distros, where freedom means all drivers has to be open source. These distros ARE NOT FOR BEGINNERS! Trust me, I have been there 10 years ago and I am here again with same problem on 2017. So I purchased older server rack unit from fleamarket, quite cheap, and decided to use Debian because at the time it offered the best network GUI for NAS. OMV (Open Media Vault) is basically just a NAS software that runs on Debian. Because I want to do a lot more with my server I will be installing OMV after Debian distro. 

So what is the problem with Linux? I say in generally the lack of money profits for firms. Linux is seen as a free software and nobody wants to buy softwares on free OS. Another problem that I see Linux kernel APIs and so are constantly being rewritten without any sense for backward or forward compatibility. So newer software won't work on older kernel and older software won't work on new kernel. This is why the main reason why things that attract users won't adopt to Linux distros and it is a huge problem. When windows 7 support ends in 2020 we are pretty forced to migrate to Windows 10 or any other OS because Microsoft won't give anymore updates and probably shut downs update service like they did when Windows XP support ended.

Well if you managed to read all the way here lets go back to my plan. I purchased Dell Poweredge R410 server rack, just a bit under 100 euros including shipping. Didn't check much details when I purchased it, looked it has dual LGA 1366 socket Xeons processors, DDR3 ECC memory, Raid controller and reduntant power supply in 1U chassis, seems great eh? Well Raid controller supports only 2TB drives and there goes my plan to use 4TB drives with RAID controller... Of course I could purchase newer raid card but those support just 3TB drives, so no luck there. Luckily for me motherboard has 5 SATA ports also, so my ultimate plan is to use software raid, newer ZFS filesystem. So far my plan is this: 60GB SSD for OS, 3-4x 4TB drives in RAID5/6/10 and 8TB external drive for unpowered backups. 

Now to those who don't know anything about RAID. Reduntant Array of Inexpensive Disks is a way to give less down time for system when a drive or two goes bad. It is a misconception to think RAID equals as a back up, oh no. Usually when you buy hard drives you get pretty much same batch hard disks, these same batch disks usually are very close to break down at same time and when you're rebuilding array you could lose another disk and depending on your RAID level you might lose all your data. You can look up about this Linus Tech Tips video where they almost lost all the archived videos they made because they didn't have secondary backup, preferably offside backup.

It is very real scenario and should not be taken lightly as more and more your digital memories might not have another copy in safe place. So basically my back up plan: Client -> NAS (snapshot backup) daily/weekly -> Cloud + external drive backup (weekly/monthly).

This technically should give me 2-3 levels of failure until I lose my data. First I need to lose my Client data or NAS data, then I would have to lose external backup data and finally offside cloud backup. All happening at same time should be virtually impossible unless nuclear war starts, so my house can burn down but cloud data still should be there.

I will update how this setup works in next year when i have configured everything and tested them.

Windows 10 - The birth and death of troll

Windows 10 upgrade sure was total troll by all means possible

First, I didn't plan to upgrade Windows 10 until at least 6 months had passed since release but looks like Microsoft wanted me to upgrade no matter what. You see when you're playing fullscreen RTS you definitely do NOT want any pop-ups do you want to ugprade Windows 10 right NOW!. Well good thinking Microsoft, I have to admit, that you put pop up window to middle of screen and "Yes"-button would be under default position of the mouse when it returns from full screen application. Oh I was totally pulled rug under my feet when my online RTS session suddenly ended to message: "Please stand-by Windows is being upgraded" with no option to cancel and computer rebooted to automated installation. 

Second: I do not like new Win7/8 Mix layout at all. I liked Vista layout, when upgraded to Windows 7 I had to make it look like Vista. Still my Windows 7 layout is same as it was in Windows 7 and I tried Windows 8 and 8.1 until it broke down by itself and had to reinstall to Windows 7. Well anyway lets continue, problems with Windows 10 is that default explorer got huge face uplift that looked like Johanna Tukiainen after plastic surgery. I was totally, no no no no no no, nope nope nope nope nope. Anyway even though I hate Windows 10 I still tried to learn to use it and turns out you cannot power use same way as you did old one. Button icons are not in same place, old shortcut keys do not work, huge load of crap when logging in and trying to set up finger print scanner and software which ultimately failed because Windows 7 registers are still showing my fingers are registered for my current windows account but you cannot use old ones so you have make new ones but hey you cannot delete old ones, so you have to make new ones, but you still cannot delete old ones, so try make new.. Sigh...

Third: It self-destructs very interestingly. You know what you do not want computer OS to do to you? Halt all operation for no apparent reason and after rebooting you notice features are missing. First I lost search function, no search function in start menu or folders. Okay, I can live with that, I remember where everything is so no problem. Second it decides you're using too much calculator and it is bad for your brain, so let me delete that for you. So no search function or calculator, greeaaaaat.

Because second time doesn't come without third, the third deleted whole start menu completely and pressing command key (windows key) crashes Windows. Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! Hilariously absurd behavior from released OS that should have been tested a lot before put into field release. You know, I tried to use Windows 10 open-beta but after installation it crashed when I got to desktop and Windows core files gone and cannot boot windows or repair it.

Now we get to interesting part, I had my school works needed to be finished so I wasn't able to afford reinstall Windows and reinstall all programs that I need for my school projects so I kept just using Windows 10 without search function, no start menu or calculator. Then 14th day of December a miracle happened. Windows 10 installed some updates and start menu, calculator and search function came back to alive! So I am going to be trolled again in near future or did they fix these bugs? I checked virus program logs and it hasn't deleted or marked any files suspicious so I have ruled that out.

Brute force and electronics don't get along so well - episode 2

Another case for repair!

Somebody saw my original repair post for poor GPU and asked me if I could fix his motherboard.

Seems like owner has tried to install new CPU cooler and screwdriver pierced motherboard coating and one of the memory lines is cut. 

Here are the pictures that he shared with me

http://imgur.com/a/IzY0n

Things are a bit harder now because you see those are timing lines, which means instead of trusting chip to control when timing signals are released you trust good old physics. Electric flow speed is about 50-99% of speed of light depending on medium it is traveling. So with some length difference between lines you get wanted delay for signal to arrive at the destination (this design is utilized with some oscilloscopes to measure very high frequency signals (over 500MHz))

So for this repair I need to trace the line very carefully and use same width repair copper foil.

Below are pictures of the fix.

Now I just have to wait a bit until the board owner tests does the board work now.

Edit: Owner reported me that motherboard works perfectly. One less device for WEEE.

Logitech G500 mouse repair guide for cable, ghost clicks, switches etc

Logitech G500 fixes:

• Ghost click guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWJk4EWfyOA
• Cable repair guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmgcGRcuYtc
• Left / Right mouse button (general guide): http://superuser.com/questions/339587/logitech-m705-left-mouse-button-doesnt-stay-down-when-pressed
• Scroll wheel (middle) mouse button: This blog post

Tools needed

- Small screwdriver set

- Soldering station with iron (flat head works best)

- Solder (you need very small amount)

- Desoldering braid

- Tweezers

- Shear cutter

New parts needed:

- 4x4x0.8mm SMD tactile switch push button 4 pins (costs 2 cents each if you buy 100 of these)
You can buy these from ebay

Warnings:

• You should not try this fix during warranty (Logitech sends you a new mouse if button stops working during warranty cover time)
• It is recommended to have a cup or something for screws, springs, so you don't lose them
• You should not try this fix by yourself if do not have steady hand to solder SMD components. Main switch covers will melt if you touch them with your soldering iron.
• Fix takes about 5-10 minutes for experienced hobbyist / professional but if you have not soldered before take your time.
• I used 370C temperature for soldering and desoldering

Step by step: Or watch disassembly video (until to the metal clip removal)

1. With a small flat screwdriver or with tweezers take off the pads
2. With a small cross screwdriver loosen screws under pads, notice there is one screw driver under "Logitech G500"-sticker. You do not have to take off sticker, there is ready cut for access already (just push screw driver into the hole)
3. Lift cover off 
4. With finger nail, tweezers or screwdriver open ribbon cable connector from cover's side (smaller PCB), do not use force! 
5. If you have a small red cable attached between cover and base, unsolder the red cable from main PCB (Older revisions have this cable)
6. Unscrew red weight slot system (3 screws)
7. To take off wheel, next to the free-wheel button is a black plastic pin which slides sideways, take it off. Now you can lift scroll wheel out (no screws holding it) (note: next to SW3 switch are two very small springs, which are not secured to anything)
8. Unscrew metal clip at front of the mouse
9. Desolder SW3 pads
10. Remove broken SW3 (you probably can see the dome on switch has collapsed inside). To remove SW3 warm one corner with iron and lift that corner up a bit with tweezers and move to next corner. Again do not use force, you don't want PCB's pad to come off. Repeat this process until the switch comes off (takes a bit practice).
11. Desolder SW3 pads again and add solder to one pad
12. Cut extra length off from new switch's legs (short cut will happen when you screw the metal clip back during assembly)
13. Solder new switch in place
14. After soldering, connect mouse to PC without assembly and test does the new switch work
15. If no problems, assemble mouse in reverse order.
16. If you had to remove the red cable, solder it back.
17. Screw the metal clip
18. Attach two small springs next to the switch
19. Put scroll wheel back in (note the plastic part must go under the metal clip)
20. Put the plastic pin back in
21. Put the weight slot back in
22. Slide ribbon cable back into the connector and close the lid.
23. Screw the cover back and attach the pads

Assembly video:

Damaged switch (the button cover dome has collapsed)

Damaged switch has been soldered off

New switch in place, had to remove the switch to shorten legs (the metal clip will short cut button)

Couple devices to be fixed

Logitech G500

Alright, I have owned Logitech G500 4 years now and had it warranty changed once. Those who own probably have had problems with it like double clicking (brand new), middle-mouse button doesn't work, wheel doesn't spin, free wheel function doesn't work, cable problems and so on... Recently they admitted firmware problem with ~45ms delay with clicks. 

Anyway so my G500 problem has always been middle mouse button just dies, and it seems to be very cheap switch indeed. With patch of 100 it costs 2 cents each. With Logitech production size most likely cost is below 1 cent. Oh they use these switches even with their highest end G9 mouses aswell. I originally posted quick tutorial how to fix these mouses on Logitech forums but it got deleted right away and my account was set to banned status for a moment.

So logitech doesn't want information how their mouses can be repaired to be shared on their forums, so have to make a good tutorial for it. I am currently still waiting for switches to arrive from China and when I get them I will make full tutorial.

ZTE 931WII Modem

I received this free trough forum. Owner said it fried when plugged into outlet. So far only thing which I have checked is power supply which is dead. I will later get to laboratory and start inspecting PCB what is broken / fried if anything is wrong. Might just be that power supply died and the modem itself is good to go.

Stay tuned.

New year, old shit

I love winter but some guys don't like and keep pouring salt on roads to melt winter. Sadly car's don't like salty water at all

Last winter's damages: hand brake ceased (again), a dent on exhaust (pot hole), a crack under bumber (pot hole) and ARB bushes have splitted (MOT issue if they spot it).

How to fix hand brake? 100% Rubber hammer time, give a good beating to hand brake hook at brake caliper to get it moving then use a ton of CRC, hammer a lot more then clean hook from salty mud if any of that shit is left. Works? Yes

A dent on exhaust: no rust yet so cleaned it and put some rust cover mass on it, so most likely no problem.

The crack under bumber? No big deal, nobody sees it and it doesn't affect anything. I will hang MOT dude if he says anything about it, it is just a decoration under car.. For fucks sake

The next issue is ARB bushes. I was working whole 2014 year and I didn't have time to fix everything so I let guys at garage to look at those bushing and call me if there any cracks. Well shit 3 months later a crack on both ARB bushes, I bet they did nothing so probably not going there anymore. Okay for some miracle those bushes could have splitted after the garage visit but I had symptoms (shaking, no wheel alignment issue) and car would't stabilize during turns (shock issue or ARB issue or both).

Shocks are fine, no leaks and shaking on standstill stops just fine so probably bushes then. I should have known but there is next project for summer to change those ARB bushes. Need to put whole car front on jacks, go under it, unbolt ARB, take out old bushes and put in new ones with white grease. 

Do not buy wheels that do not have enough big center bore hole. Seriously, it costs damn a lot for simple job.

So I bought new summer wheels that were on Nissan before. Nissan uses 66.1mm center bore and my Forfour 67.1mm. Not big difference but enough big for wheel not to go on hub. Dealer said to me it has aluminium rings to make bore smaller but surprise surpise. Behind wheels under all that dirt you find "Nissan" word and then you know you're screwed.

So what this happy nice operation costs? Now first thing you need to get the rubbers off first. Yes they cannot make center bore bigger without removal of tires. It won't fit into machine.  (Unless you got clown car wheels). Well anyway tire removal costs 10-30€ depending on shop but if you go at busiest time of the year then you have to use more expensive ones if you want to get your wheels before autumn. 1mm removal costs me a total of 30€, not too bad thank god but then comes the fun part... Fitting new tires... Now because it is the busiest time for tire shops, cheap ones cannot do it within month so off to blood suckers. Blood sucker took 19€ for one wheel. 19€!!! Grand total: 20+30+76 = 126€ to install wheels. Great deal! Now you see they only charged 30€ from me, how much other shops would have? 50? 100? Lesson: Always check center bore diameter on wheel, you can make it smaller very cheaply, making it bigger... Well that costs about 15 times more

Everything will be repaired soon

Just a small update

Tiny update what will be done and what has been done. Basically 170.000km driven and took the car to garage to change engine and transmission oils. Transmission was feeling already a bit stiff so decided that it was time to change the oil. Also asked them to change front brake disks and pads because didn't have time to do that myself.

Anyway noticed how the old gang repairmen know a lot more than youngsters. This garage was next to my workplace and they had never serviced Smarts before but how hard it can be? Not really hard because they managed to do full A-service, change brake disks, check every little detail on the service menu in meager two hours. Other garage that I liked wasn't able to do just hand brake repair in that time. Oh they were cheaper with labor costs also so guess. 

Anyway they also mentioned that driver's side rear wheel bearing is noisy (hadn't noticed) and rear brake disks also are very worn. Well decided to do those repairs myself, so probably next week time to jack up the car if parts arrive on time.

Other than that? Nope it is completely repaired with all hidden problems fixed also. Damn buying used car is not easy. Just need to order expensive spare key and then time to start modding.

Mods? But you fixed your car and now you're going to modify it?

Yup but you spend a lot time inside your car when you commute to work and do nice weekend trips so you probably want to enjoy the ride.

Mods that will be done:

- Mud flaps to front (actually bought already these, just need to think about how to mount these)

- USB charging ports

- Converting to ethanol fuel

- Upgrading radio to multimedia / car computer one

- Changing interior and parking lights to LED's

- Trying to find original center arm rest (TwinFace)

More posts probably coming when I start modding the car.

Smart ForFour - MOT passed, a couple things needed to be repaired.

MOT, most people are afraid this, what is broken / what I need to fix to pass this and drive legally?

Well I knew my car wasn't going to pass at first try (noise from wheel) but I bought this car a half year ago and I haven't yet even looked underneath of it so there could be surprises that need to be repaired. I thought lets go fail once and do after check to pass the car with all problems fixed.

So what did I fail for? 

There was no bite on left handbrake, so over 70% difference fail. Then I got also two warnings. Wheel bearing is worn (my original thought what was going to fail but just warning) and right side lights foggy. The funny thing is I took my car to local garage to fix handbrake (left side!) and now there is no bite. So under warranty they fixed it and cause was jamming brake cylinder (rusty). Next morning took car back to MOT check and passed with previous warnings.

So the warnings

I made a video how the failing wheel bearing sounds inside your car but camera's microphone is so bad that you maybe cannot notice the difference. Basically it sounds like someone is flying a propel airplane next to you. I added text boxes to tell you can hear the sound and what is regular engine noise.

Turns out the failing wheel bearing in Smart ForFour is expensive fault if you repair it at Smart-Center because they want to change whole wheel carrier which takes long and carrier costs over half grand. Cheaper option is to use indies who have SKF 2.1 wheel bearing (hub) removal and installation tool or something similar to take out the hub and put a new one back in. The spare hub costs 60-250€ depending on what you want but the original is manufactured by SKF and its part code is VBKA 6680 which costs 100-300€ depending on seller. I ordered mine from topautoosat.fi and paid 100€ for one. I ordered two because I noticed other one was starting to get bad also. Labor cost was 120€ which I thought was pretty ok.

Other warning was foggy lights because dirt and condensation have made inside the light assembly so I have to take them off and clean them which is pretty simple job thanks to easily removeable plastic panels. (18-26) screws/bolts depending do you have sideskirts installed. After that just unbolt light assemblies and clean them and let them dry well. 

What else?

Well turns out CV-joint is in suberp condtion still and bad wheel bearing was making those clanking noises. And garage told me the other side wheel bearing is still in good condition so they didn't bother changing it thus reducing labor costs 120€ and I have a spare wheel bearing (hub) ready if it fails.

Hopefully no more costly repairs awhile.

 

Brute force and electronics don't get along so well

Okay here is a friendly reminder what happens when you rush when things are not going as planned.

Picture owned by V1N3 @ Murobbs

Ouch... That is a dead graphics card now. Busted screw and tried to use pliers and shit happened. 6 lines broken and very deep scratch on PCB. Dead card for most.

But hey because I read MuroBBS often and saw the cry for help decided to help V1N3 with this problem. He sent that card to me trough postage when I promised to fix it at work during my lunch break.

I took my camera with me but forgot my storage card on my desk so it was not really use. Managed only take one some what good picture when I finished fixing the lines

Picture owned by ME! (yeah wanted to say that, feel free to use when you mention the owner)

And after some make up

Yeah fixed them good and pretty. Nobody will notice

Sadly I wasn't able to test the card because I don't have any spare GPU cooler that fits to HD6970 so going to send it back to its original owner and hear his thanks trough email or grief how I have failed. Did it succeed or not? To be continued

A bad day it was. Front wheel bearings giving up

So dear Mercedes (Smart). WTF?

So you might think wheel bearings die naturally at some point and manufacturers know this so they make changing them a standard job with reasonable prices. How wrong then you and I were, how wrong.

Let me paste here a wall of text.

Send message: (translated for your)

Hey,

MOT inspector noticed some becoming faults and I would like to know what are the prices for the following parts:

- Wheel bearings for front right
- Shock absorber for for front left
- Brakedisks and cylinders to front left and right
- Brakedisks and cylinders to back left and right

Have a nice summer

Received message: (yeah he mixed sides)

Hey,

Wheel bearings are not available (ever) from us because we sell whole wheel carrier. Left wheel carrier (A4543300120) costs 674,99 euros and delivery time is 3 days.

Right front shock absorber (A4543204030) costs 236,00 euros and delivery time is 1 day
Oikea etuiskunvaimennin (A4543204030) maksaa 236,00 euroa ja toimitusaika 1 päivä.

Front brakedisk set (A4544200001) costs 233,00 euros and delivery time is 1 day. Left front brake cylinder (A4544200501) costs 264,00 euros and delivery time is 3 days. Right front brake cylinder (A4544200601) costs 264,00 euros and delivery time is 1 day.

Back brakedisk set (A4544200072) costs 203,00 euros and this item is on shelf. Left back brake cylinder (A4544200701) costs 341,00 euros, delivery time is 3 days. Right brake cylinder (A4544200801) costs 341,00 euros and delivery time is 1 day.

Have a nice day
Veho Autotalot (Mercedes)

So 675 euros for one wheel bearing!!! Oh my god, this can't be.

Yeah it can't be. Okay Smart / Mercedes wants you to buy whole wheel carrier when you can order original SKF wheel bearings from online suppliers. The problem is to find a garage who is willing to change them and has a special SKF wheel bearing removal / installation tool. Which costs as chinese brand around 300€ and SKF branded 1000€. Your pick.

Anyway. I ordered today two new wheel bearings from topautonosat.fi. Original SKF wheel bearings for a bit less than 100€ a piece. And I found a garage who has the special tool and they quoted 240€ for labor. 

So don't believe everything car dealer tells you. You often can get things a lot cheaper. Notice I will change both wheel bearings because usually when other side is bad the other one is following shortly. So I change both at the same time. Googling saves money

ForFour - How to change tail gate microswitch?

My tail gate won't anymore open! How to open it?

How to open the trunk door when microswitch doesn't anymore work please refer to this video:

1st. way: Pick-locking trunk door open from inside without taking off plastic cover

- Get a small flat screwdriver

- Put it between the lock hook and the lock (like in video)

- Push the screwdriver gently until you hear clack from the lock

- Push the trunk door a bit until it jams into second stage

- Put the screwdriver into the lock from inside the hook loop

- Push the screwdriver gently and also gently push the trunk door until it seems to open

- Pull the screwdriver out slowly while also pushing the trunk door

- Voilá!

2nd. way: Pick-locking trunk door open from inside when plastic cover has been removed

- Get a small sturdy screwdriver that doesn't bent or something similar

- Push the black arm towards the white arm

- Voilá the lock opens

3rd way: Jump wiring lock open

- Get a paper clip

- Remove the microswitch plug from the microswitch

- Insert paper clip into the plug's holes

- Push the trunk door open

- Remove paper clip from the plug

How to remove the trunk plastic cover?

- There are two T25 torx-screws behind two small caps. The caps are easily removed with a flat screwdriver

- Unscrew torx-screws

- Pull the cover from top until it you hear 4 clips popping

- Push the cover upwards

- Watch out angry spiders!

How to change the microswitch?

So to remove the microswitch you need following tools:

• 10mm wrench (rear wiper motor, inside bolts)
• 13mm wrench (rear wiper arm bolt)
• 21-23mm wrench (not sure on size, rear wiper motor outside nut)
• T25 Torx screwdriver (tail gate plastic cover)
• T20 Torx screwdriver (microswitch)
• Small paper clip or small jump wire (for testing if the microswitch is faulty)
• Small wire cutter or knife (microswitch)
• wooden mallet, wrench, or similar tool for gently hammering (microswitch)

How to get to the microswitch:

1. Open the tail gate and remove the plastic cover, refer the guide given above
2. Remove the microswitch cable (small one behind the rear wiper motor)
3. Test with a paper clip is the microswitch faulty, if you heard lock opening == faulty microswitch
4. Order new microswitch from Mercedes (code: A), new one costs just 21€, you cannot repair the old one
5. Plug the new microswich into the cable and test does it work
6. Remove the rear wiper motor
7. Unscrew the microswitch (T20)
8. Cut two small plastic hooks with wire cutters. The microswich doesn't work anymore so you don't need those anymore.
9. Gently tap the microswitch a few times at plug area until it starts moving. There is a tiny amount glue / sand etc jamming it in place
10. remove the old microswitch
11. Push the new one inside, the hooks guide themselves easily into correct position
12. Fasten the screws
13. Connect the cable
14. Test
15. Put the rear wiper motor back
16. Put the cover back

A quick update about my ForFour

Good news everyone!

Had to try it. Managed to sell my original ForFour "Strokeline" 15" alloys. 120€ for whole set with minor cosmetic faults. 

As you can see that kind damage is hardly even seen but dropped price pretty much. Asked for 200€ at start, no offers. dropped it down to 150€, one guys applied it to his favorites then I knew there was someone who wanted these. Waited a few weeks to see are there any others then dropped price to 120€. After a week a guy left his contact information and I called him and he decided to buy them and come fetch them a few days later. 

Selling alloy wheels, actually even steel ones is a bit tricky. You see you cannot fit just any wheel to your car. Like how tall they are, wide, bolt size, bolt circle diameter, offset, bolt pattern and centerbore hole. If you're able to provide all of those information you are pretty good to go and sell or buy a set. Mine 15" strokelines were

15" tall, 6" wide, max. 21mm bolt size, 114.3mm bolt circle diameter, 4 bolts, offset (ET): 46mm and 67.1mm centerbore hole.

In short: 15"x6", 4 x 114.3mm, bolt: 21mm, ET: 46mm, CB: 67.1mm

You can experiment here: http://www.wheel-size.com/tire_calculator/

And the bad news

First I told in previous post about clanking CV-joint. It has gone a bit worse and I probably need to fix it as soon as possible. Second problem is that my trunk door won't anymore open. And as you might have guessed right already it doesn't have key slot. 

First way to open:

So what you need to open it is a small flat screw driver, slide it between lock and hook at right side and push until you hear 'clack' and you opened first stage. Second stage is opened same way but if your screw driver is too big it won't open. 

Second way to open:

Remove the plastic panel that is covering the lock from inside. It is hold in place by two T20 or T25 torx screws and then you pull it gently towards you from window edge (you hear four spins napping off) and then you pull it upwards. Easy eh? Then you can either short cut that small green / black plugin that goes to outside switch (if motor works) or you can push plastic slider hand with metal stick to open the lock. (I will post a picture later what thing to push, well there is a black and white plastic arms behind the lock. Pushing the black one towards white opens the lock)

Then you need to figure out what is faulty. In my case it is the micro switch which is dead. And to replace it I need to take off rear wiper arm motor assembly and for that I need to go buy a few tools.

The lock is easy to take off from trunk door. It is hold in place by three large T30 torx screws and two cables go to it. First one is easy to take off and second one needs you to take the lock outside first and then you have enough room to unlock the holder. The opener motor is held inside the black plastic box which is hold in place by two small screws. Inside you can find very average DC motor, two sprocket wheels, a spring and a screw bar. Simple design, almost impossible for it break down. More of this in later post when I open the trunk again to remove the microswitch.

Smart ForFour - repairs & mods to be done

Repairs to be done

• Fix paint on windscreen wiper arms (looks ugly)
• Remove rust from roof's cross bar (behind trunk door)
• Fix passenger side paint with good waxing. Classic "f*ck you" scratch with key
• Brakes overhaul (new discs, pads and calipers). Probably painting calibers also so they don't rust.
• Fix clanking CV-joint. (not so bad yet). 
• Buy new rear wiper arm

Total cost: 500-600€ for brakes overhaul DIY, other small repairs less than 100€, 150€ for used/new CV-joint?

Planned mods

• Two USB charging ports on dash. 
• USB charging port to each rear door (why not?)
• Lounge Concept mod, basically front seats fall completely flat
• Coffee maker for "Lounge", what would be a lounge without coffee maker?
• OBD/II Computer for better mileage (Android head unit with touch screen and Torque App, and Bluetooth OBD-II scan tool)
• Stickers? At least removing Advertisement stickers that are blocking rear view
• New shorter radio antenna? Stock one is guide long and it is stuck. Well the problem is you should remove it when you drive into automated washing machine
• Mud flaps, all that mud flies up to the window... Have to install these even though they create some drag
• Install heated mirrors. Seriously, You would thing you get these as standard item when they bring cars into Finland but no. Veho is certainly doing bad job selling Smarts to be used in Finland
• Modify engine to use E85 meaning 85% ethanol, 15% unleaded benzine fuel. Costs about 1€ litre and increases consumption by 30%. Yearly saving with my yearly driven distance is 300-400€

Mods/repairs I have done

• Underseat subwoofer, for that vocational college feel! No, just because two-way speakers were not doing so good job with bass so decided to install one small subwoofer. Have to thank NedCar assembly line doing fine job. Nothing is resonating with subwoofer which was really surprising
• Fix two-way speakers that are making cracking noise. two out of four were broken. Managed to fix one with some hot glue but other one wasn't fixable so silenced the mid-woofer. (just tweeter works)
• Used dielectric grease used on engine compartment plugs, battery and light bulb plugs etc etc.
• Cleaned! Vacoom cleaned, cleaned windows by hand and washed exterior by hand. Rubber mats just need to be power washed
• Fixed handbrake that didn't return (cables were the problem) and changed rear brake pads

I will make posts about mods / repairs that I have done in future. I will not post about mods/repairs that I have done unless somebody asks how to do it.

Smart ForFour Snow tires

Scandinavia Snow tires

Quickly put: 6 months of the year Finland is covered by snow and ice so regular middle-European winter tires are not enough for our winter season. Those tires are for wet asphalt conditions where some snow might fall on the ground but would melt on roads thus never freezing it. And here again roads are in constant snow or ice cover so driving those tires are very dangerous and you most likely crash into something. 

So now we need to start looking for snow labeled tires which are studded or non-studded. Because currently I live in in southern parts of Finland studded tires are over kill for road conditions that warmer parts of Finland has so I want to look for non-studded tires.

So we know what we need now lets find good snow tires for ForFour

So Smart Forfour Pulse and Passion models comes with 15" alloy wheels as standard but Pure model comes with 14" steel wheels. Now the ideal tire size for my 15" alloys would be 195/50 but there are no "snow" labeled tires available for this size. Going up increases tire size to 195/55 where we have some but they are 30-50% more expensive than 195/60 but this later size won't fit under ForFour. So lets try go for smaller sized 15" tires and we see same problem repeating again that there is little to none trust worthy Snow labeled tires.

Source studded: 195/55 15" studded

Source: friction "nordic compound": 195/55 15" nordic compound friction

source: mid-European winter tires: 195/50 15"

Now lets see some quality brands that I would trust I have to pay at least from 110€ up to 150€ for one tire. With 195/60 size the price comes down about 30€ for one tire.

Now lets have a look at 14" rims.

For 14" the best sizes are: 185/60, 175/65 , 165/65, 155/70 where diameter difference is close to 1%.

185/60 14" nordic 70€

175/65 14" nordic 70-90€

165/65 14" nordic no trustworthy options

155/70 14" nordic none available

Lets increase our difference to 2,5% and we get also these sizes:

195/60 14" nordic none available

175/60 14" nordic none available

165/70 14" nordic 110€

So we our choices are 185/60 and 175/65. In snow tires the narrower tire is better choice because more pressure on smaller area and we know grip increases when contact area gets smaller. So it is matter of personal taste do you appreciate more grip or better handling. Well anyway as you can see quality brand which has performed well in Finnish Tekniikan Maailma magazine only coming second to Nokian and costs 70€ less than Nokian for 15"? That is why I decided to buy 14" alloys for winter use and sell my second set of 15" alloys.

Lets find 14" alloys that fit

So we need 14" alloys with 4 x 114.3 mm PCD (pitch circle diameter), 46 mm offset (ET) with 67.1 mm center bore. Easy eh? Well as it stands out 4 x 114.3 mm PCD is commonly shared by Mitsubishi and Hyundai and they both often have same offset and center bore size.  

So because I didn't want to pay 150€ for one new rim I started searching used ones. After a month of searching and waiting I finally found a complete set with minor paint damages. And the price was only 40€ for whole set! Almost free for alloys because you can only find steel wheels for that price. 

These used to be old Mitsubishi Galant 1996 wheels but now they are in storage waiting for new snow tires and next winter. You want to look for simple design because otherwise snow won't fall off the wheel.

Smart ForFour Passion and 3rd owner problems

Hello, I am Smart ForFour

The Smart Forfour is a supermini car produced by the Smart division of the German manufactuer Daimler AG, between April 2004 and June 2006 and available only in Europe. Unlike the other models of the marque, the Forfour was a more conventional five-door hatchback with a relatively roomy interior, available as a four/five-seater.
[source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Forfour, 3.5.2014 18:59]

Lets talk about a bit first about my needs and how my old car was

Okay, because I have owned Smart ForFour for 5 months now and I have hopefully found out what things were broken and what is in superb condition. But lets talk first a bit first about my old car

My old car was Nissan Primera P12 2.2 Tdi Sport deck 5D 2005 which I bought from my parents as my first car. Well quite nice car other wise but too big, tax was too high and turn radius was gigantic. It had almost every factory option but in Finland those don't matter. Most of the cars here are sold as we say "karvalakki malli" meaning minimum amount of factory options. Well I started a search for my new car with following criteria

• Consumes less fuel than my old one (5.8l/100km average)
• Is smaller in size (therefore turns in smaller radius)
• Feels good to drive and is comfortable
• Doesn't look too bad
• 2000€ exchange payment
• 4 people inside and has enough room to move stuff around when needed
• Rear wheel drive if possible

Well then I asked around and they said Smart ForTwo is rear wheel drive but holds only 2 people. Then someone remembered Smart has also four seat version but it is front wheel drive. Well started to look around it, saw tests of it and so on and went to drive one. Felt absolutely marvelous. Almost perfect.

Then to find best deal around Finland. Around Christmas I finally found 1.3 liter version with good kilometers and price. How horrible wrong I was. I found after deal following things:

• Extra 50 tkm on total trip
• No another key (old owner had lost it)
• No service done in 50tkm
• Broken rear wiper arm (saw that at park but thought it was just removed because I saw arm inside but it is broken)
• All tires in very bad condition (though it was expected) but other wheels had missing parts: missing center cap and bore reducer spigot missing also these weels are slightly bent (based on my ass feel) and they have pretty a lot balancing weights
• Almost not any factory extras. Just automatic air conditioning and rubber mats. (there are over 10 pages of factory extras, well this was expected for Finnish car)
• Handbrake cables in very bad condition
• two speakers broken (blown)
• Rusty brakes

So I think I personally paid at least 500€ too much for the car. 300€ for key and 200€ for missing service.

Now what were good things in this car?

• No useless features == less maintenance / broken parts
• Almost no rust on body. Only rust I found is behind trunk roof pillar which I fix later in this summer.
• Engine sounds good despite lack of maintenance records
• All things were in car work! Radio works, air conditioning works, wipers, 2 speakers that work sound good, rear seat folding system works, very clean and no smell of chemicals == not cleaned chemically == no barfs on seats (no traces)
• Damn fun to drive
• Transforms from 4-5 people car to mini van! You can probably can put a fridge in the car

So now I have driven it for 8tkm already and totally love it. I just hope nothing big breaks that cause me to do expensive repair.

So in other words the car is just perfect?

Yes and no. Sometimes it feels it doesn't need more power but sometimes it does that it needs a turbo or something. But again turbos might be from very reliable to very very cranky things so I am avoiding those for just purely "Smart" driving meaning low driving costs (fuel, repairs, taxes etc).

Another fault for car is the very expensive tire choice. The standard tire size is 195/50 15" which is not so common size for summer but it is still being made. In other hand then when winter comes and it starts snowing you don't get 195/50 snow tires labeled "nordic compound" which are a must here so you need a little bigger 195/55 which are 30-50% more expensive than next one step bigger size but they are too big for '44'. More about this in other blog post.

Philips Electronic 202 [22 GA 202/33T] turntable refurbishment done

An apology to anyone who became interested

Alright this was finished many months ago already. About a half year but for some reason I forgot to update the blog. Well anyway the sound is awesome and I am in complete awe how things were designed before I was even born. Totally unbelievable experience if you ask from me.

What was done:

• Replaced main power button, old one had fried probably thanks to dust and other litter inside of it. Sadly original button cap couldn't fit on new one so it doesn't have a cap at this moment.
• Took off whole circuit board panel off and the plastic cover under it. The plastic cover or what ever it was was crumbling off so replaced it with thin new brown plastic cover. This is insulating the circuit board from aluminium casing.
• Replaced both motor bands. Finding the correct band wasn't easy. First tried ebay and trusted a turntable dealer with replacement band for 22 GA 202/33T but it was totally wrong. I tried to stretch it with heat but in the end it snapped when it was starting to be correct size. Then back to google and after rigorous searching with different terms, registering to different forums and checking their posts I ended up finding this store Svalander Audio. Down below are links to find correct bands faster for anyone who needs them. I guarantee they are the correct ones.
• Motor band: Motorrem till Philips 22GA202/33T
• Disc band: Tallriksrem till Philips 22GA202/33T
• Fixed automatic LDR based stop function which jammed the needle arm to 3/4 length of LP. The casings holder legs weren't installed properly so they blocked the blinder arms path thus jamming the needle arm. Legs simply weren't bent at the factory.
• Replaced original wiring inside the casing which was falling apart and used common color coding. (Red for positive low power, black for negative low power, brown for high voltage "line", blue for high voltage "null".
• Re-soldered cartridge because the old one was poor and one of the cable was actually not soldered.

• I Didn't fix speed fine tune slider because the spring had lost its tension and replacing it would have been too much hassle. It pretty much does nothing at this moment.
• Bought 5 din to 4 rca adapter so I don't have to cut original cable off. (just to preserve it properly)
• Also bought an adapter to fit old euro style power plug into new schuko type socket. Not perfectly save solution because voltage might get leaked on the casing even thought all parts should be "floating" but accidents can happen. Thus why I never let anyone else use device or touch it.

How it looks after refurbishment? 

Pretty much to original just power button cap missing. Have a look:

My current amplifier doesn't have phono input, so bought Cambridge Audio Azur 551P Phono Pre-Amp

How it sounds?

See and hear by yourself:

Philips Electronic 202 [22 GA 202/33T] turntable refurbishment underway

Hello,

Alright finally decided to start writing a blog, an archive of things that I have repaired, used, tested, destroyed or simply just bought and made it into an article.

This time lets start with a classic Philips Electronic 202 turntable.

Manufactured: 1970
Made by: Deutsche Philips-Ges
Power supply: In build 110, 127, 220, 240 Volt alternating current
In build preamp: N/A
Audio output: Stereo
Turntable speed: 33, 45, 78 rpm +- 2% pitch adjust
Special features: Speed alternation screws for fine tuning, auto stop,
Tracking force: 0.7g to 4.5g
Power: Max 3.5 Watts (based on label, probably means motor)
Dimensions: 390 x 330 x 120mm
Weight: 7.5 kg

Needle (not original)
ADC 10E Mk IV

Type: Induced magnet
Output: 4mv at 5.5 cms/sec. recorded velocity
Tracking force .7 gram
Frequency Response: 10 Hz to 20kHz +- 2 db
Channel Separation: 30 db from 50 Hz to 12 kHz
Compliance: 35 x 10^-6 cms/dyne
Elliptical Stylus Tip: Contact radius: .0003"; lateral radius .0007"
IM Distortion: Less than ½% - 400 & 4000Hz at 14.3 cms/sec. recorded velocity
Vertical Tracking Angle: 15 degrees
Recommended Load Impedance: 47,000 ohms nominal

-----------------------------------------

I got this unit from Kainuu Vocational College when our wing was moving to another wing. This baby had been sitting in a storage for over 20 years waiting to be repaired. It only had a paper on it saying: Broken.

It has scratches on plastic cover but otherwise in good condition outside. Power button doesn't have a cap. Inside was whole different story. In those 20 years many students had tried to fix this turntable but without any luck. I spent a week going trough electronics of this baby and finally tracking the problem to power switch which had deformed and always short circuited. After fixing the power switch and replacing other required parts and hopefully plugged into a power socket and to see first time light bulbs turn on.

After that started to assembling back all those mechanical components that were taken off (no idea why all of them, it has enough space for servicing all electronic parts... weirdos). Thankfully vinylengine.com had a service manual and I was able to assemble all those springs etc back into their own place.

I noticed belts were totally worn out and tried quickly the needle working just with hand spinning the disc plate to see does it work. Luckily no problems with it. After that took the turntable home because nobody knew anymore whose it originally was and it had been sitting there for over 20 years. Tried local dealers to find replacement belts but no luck so the project sat in my storage then 2 years (poor bastard). Now wanted to finish my A/V equipment completely to play most common audio sources mankind has produced within 50 years and just turntable missing and I have this wonderful item just waiting for new belts.

As you might have already guessed I have absolutely no knowledge about turntables, so all of my knowledge about them is based on manuals, internet threads and purely just testing and seeing how everything works. Now we have belts changed and I am waiting for RIAA-preamp to arrive to shop for me to pick up then I can finally hear this baby sing.

I still need to change all wiring inside because insulation is falling off and probably causes someday a short circuit and eventually burning down whole thing. I am just hesitating with audio cable because I want to keep 5 din audio jack for historic value but getting them with good quality is not easy task. Chinese ones exist but they are so crappy that I won't accept them. Bought one for test and I was totally disappointed in it. So might be I will be just shortening original cable to change start of the wiring and keeping original. Also need to an in depth analysis of electronics because I was thinking making this device fully working with earthed sockets (ATM: Do not earth yourself and touch this thing when it is on <3). So basically modifying this unit to be an earthed unit or making its metal case isolated from electronic connections.

To do list:
- Test with RIAA-amplifier
- Rewire
- Re-solder horrible repair attempts
- Modify unit to work safely with earthed devices (newer earthed SCHUKO sockets)
- Buy wine and a relax while listening classical music

I will post pictures outside and inside as soon as I can