The best bicycle pump for high-pressure tyres

I own an electric bicycle, for which the recommended tyre pressure is 65psi. Purchased a couple of years ago and used occasionally to get around locally.

Maybe I'm getting weaker in my old age, but I find it a struggle to pump the tyres to 65psi with my floor pump. I get to 60psi and decide that's good enough.

The pump has a 45mm diameter tube. I don't know anything about bicycle pumps, but I reasoned that a pump with smaller diameter tube would be easier to pump to higher pressure. Less air per plunge, but less effort. I don't know what law of physics would apply, but that reasoning did seem rational.

So, looked around, and chose one with the smallest diameter tube. Bought this off ebay, with 29mm diameter tube:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/223709304985

Here are the two pumps, showing clearly how much narrower is the tube of the new one:

But then hit a snag; the header, the part that goes onto the tyre valve, didn't work. It refused to pump air into the tyres. The tyres have schrader valves, same as car tyres, and the header is a multi-purpose type with a single hole that is supposed to also work with schrader valves.

Lifting the lever, that clamps the header onto the valve, seems to be also blocking air flow!

Bare in mind I know nothing about tyre pumps, headers, and so on. Was I somehow putting the header incorrectly onto the valve? Tried and tried, but no joy.

Anyway, decided to buy a header that has two holes, one of them dedicated to fit a schrader valve. Bought this:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/144792618581

Very interesting, the lever works the opposite way to many other brands:

...and I find that to be preferable. It is an easier action to pull the lever down toward the inlet tube.

So, put this new header onto the NIxeycle floor pump, and works great. And yes, very easy to pump to 65psi. In fact, effortlessly went to 70psi and released a bit of air.

Knowing what I now know, if I was in need of a floor pump, I would buy one somewhat cheaper, such as this one with 32mm diameter tube and with dual-hole header:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/321413387296

The pump I now have works great, no need to buy anything else. Just posting this info in case it helps someone else who might be wanting to buy a bicycle pump.   

Tags: general

Can you guess who this young lady is?

Post deleted.

 

Tags: general

Happy New Year

Western Australia remains covid-free, at least we tentatively think so. Not so on the other side of Australia. Despite outbreaks in NSW, Sydney managed to put on a New Year celebration, with a smaller crowd practising social distancing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67qEUh3F334

I would like to thank everyone who tested EasyOS in 2021 and reported issues and in some cases provided fixes. I won't post a list of names, in case I offend someone by missing out their name!  

Tags: general

Strawberry tree and Feijoa one year on

Spring is well and truly under way, Summer approaching -- officially, summer starts here in Australia on first day of December. One year ago, I took a photo of newly-planted Irish Strawberry tree and Feijoa:

https://bkhome.org/news/202010/garden-before-photos.html

They were dormant all through the winter, even though winters are very mild here. The Feijoa even lost leaves. Now though, they have rebounded:

Heaps of new growth on the Irish Strawberry tree, but the Feijoa is recovering very slowly -- I wonder if it doesn't like the soil conditions? The ground cover plants have done well.    

Tags: general

Various helpful feedback

I would like to thank Tom and Holden for information and links about AMD CPUs. Currently not sure whether to invest in an AMD-based PC, as I already have a collection of PCs and laptops. OK, they are all Intel-based, but if I buy another one, it might just sit there unused, or alternatively, the Lenovo PC that I bought in 2020 will sit unused -- which would be a shame. So shelving that one for now.

I will still attempt to get the 5.10.x kernel to be "AMD friendly", for those who want to run EasyOS on modern AMD hardware.

David W. sent me a link to an old chap who retired from a very active job when he was 102. Have appended to this post:

https://bkhome.org/news/202101/roly-86-and-brother-88-still-powering-on.html

Rick sent me some great dog photos, on the theme that dogs are better than humans. Here is one of them:

 

Tags: general

Christmas greetings everyone!

Another year has rolled by. Back in 2018 I posted a photo of Santa having difficulty delivering presents in Australia:

https://bkhome.org/news/201812/xmas-and-new-year-best-wishes.html

This year, Santa is taking some time-out on the beach:

Probably a good time to reflect on the meaning of life, and not just see it as presents, drinking and making merry.

Photo courtesy of the Youth Hostels Association of Australia:

https://www.yha.com.au/travel-and-tours/traveller-stories/how-to-celebrate-christmas-like-an-australian/   

Tags: general

Simple water inlet design for a courtyard tank

I grew up in a rural location, without scheme water. There was one huge concrete tank, that collected rain water. We had no qualms with drinking that water, nor water from any other rainwater tanks.

These days it is deemed inadvisable to drink rainwater. Anyway, I don't want to drink it directly, but for the kettle, for making tea and coffee. I also boil water then cool it and keep in the fridge for drinking. I would rather use rainwater -- suspicious about what comes out of the tap.

I know that rainwater is said to have pollutants in it, from the atmosphere. That would depend where you live. I live very close to the coast, and most rain-bearing weather comes from the direction of the ocean, so should be relatively pure. Also the surfaces on which the water flows and is collected, are factors. The roof is clay tiles.

I bought a small tank, 720 litres, which is 190 gallons. Good enough, got it delivered to my backyard. But then, how to connect it to the downpipe?

Devised a simple solution, so thought to post it here, as it might be useful for anyone else browsing the web looking for ideas how to do it.

I made it with 50mm PVC pressure pipe and fittings, here it is:

...only difference from that photo, is I stuck a small length of pipe underneath near the 45 degree elbow, to hold it up more securely.

The top of the tank has a screw-on lid, with a leaf-strainer and mozzie-barrier inside. It was easy to cut a round hole:

But the other end, connection to the downpipe, that is a challenge. I wanted it to be variable, so that when the tank gets full, water can be diverted to flow down the downpipe and not into the tank.

But firstly, cutting the round hole in the downpipe. I know it is due to my inexperience, but when I used the hole-cutter attachment to the electric drill, the central hole started to "wander" and the hole being cut became erratic. So, I resorted to a nibble-tool. Have one of these from my electronic construction days, works fine on thin galvanised steel:

The idea I came up with, to vary water diversion, is a pipe-joiner, that can be turned. The pipe that inserts inside the downpipe looks like this, a cutout-section:

Then I riveted a piece of 0.5mm thick aluminium:

The idea is that the aluminium flanges can be bent inward, for insertion of the pipe, then once inside, can reach in and push them out again. Yeah, that worked.

Perhaps a heavy downpour will bend those flanges. I could have bought some thicker metal, but then, so what if they bend? Even if only half the water gets diverted into the tank, that should be enough. It is a small tank. Perhaps then, no need for those flanges.

It came together and installed OK, but I wonder about that one-in-ten year downpour? If the flanges are turned to vertical, thus minimising water diversion to the tank, there will be a partial blockage in the downpipe. So what happens if the water backs-up, right back to the gutter?

My place has high-front type gutters, with slots cut in the front so that water overflow will be out the front and not back into the eaves, as this photo shows:

That is probably good enough protection. Even if water does flow back into the eaves, it will, at worst, flow into the wall cavity. My place is double-brick, so the inside wall won't perish. Even so, not something that I would want to happen.

I notice that most new houses built in Perth do not have eaves, the gutter is mounted right on the outside wall, so that extra runoff protection is not there.

I could maybe insert something further up the downpipe, to vent-out excess water. Or maybe that is overkill.

EDIT 2020-12-24:
Here is a photo of the completed pipework, showing the small piece of pipe glued on to support the 45 degree elbow:

EDIT 2021-01-02:
At the downpipe-end, the pipe-joiner can be turned, so as to divert the water either into the tank or to continue down the downpipe. I have a tube of "heavy industrial grease", that I applied to make it easier to turn the pipe-joiner, however, later on reconsidered -- ideally I should find a grease that is rated for potable-water.

There are some available, and I purchased HydroSeal tap lubricant:

https://www.bunnings.com.au/hydroseal-15g-thread-lubricant-tube_p4923331

Bunnings also have another brand, Kinetic tap lubricant:

https://www.bunnings.com.au/kinetic-15g-tap-lubricant_p4920449    

Tags: general

Malabar Spinach continues to flourish

I posted a snapshot of the Malabar Spinach soon after having planted it:

https://bkhome.org/news/202011/malabar-spinach-is-taking-off.html

Look at it one month later:

...and that's after I have pruned it a bit! It was sending tentacles out along the ground, that I cut off, have also been cutting off leaves for salads.

A comment about that, using the leaves in salads and cooking...

On the Internet in various places it is stated that the leaves taste like Spinach. Hmmm, vaguely yes, but the plant is mucilaginous, so the leaves are slightly slimy to chew. Not too slimy though, and I found them OK in salads. Cooked, they turn to mush very quickly.

I also read on the Internet that the stems and berries are edible. Can't say about the berries yet, but the stems are inedible -- they are just too stringy. I cooked them in a curry, leaves and stems. Chew the stems, and you end up with a wad of string in your mouth. Even cutting them very short didn't help.

On the left of the photo is another that I planted recently, the "alba" variety. The two on the right are the "rubra" (red stem) variety. I want to find out if there is any difference in taste and texture. The alba leaves do look slightly lighter green. 

Interesting also, they are not getting any direct sunlight. Mid-summer, the roof eave keeps them in shade all day. In winter however, they will get direct sunlight, which might keep them going all year round. 

Tags: general