I’m doing some (much needed) maintenance work on the 240 these days, and one thing that has been a problem for the last couple of years is that is will overheat when idling/standing still.
Now, the thermostat was changed a few years ago so in my mind it should still be fine. And water does flow, so it seems to be working as it’s supposed to.
Also did consider the radiator, but hoped it was alright, since all is well temp-wise when driving.
Non-working Dolce Gusto Circolo
I fancied some coffee from the capsule machine the other day, instead of using the brewer. Just wanted a quick cup, so no need to brew a whole litre.
Anyway, found the machine after it had been standing unused for 1.5 years-ish. Plugged it in and fed it water. As soon as I started it, it made a muffled sound instead of the normal ‘brewing-sound’. And no coffee came out. But all the water came out of the underside 😛
First I tried cleaning the injector, but to no avail. Still the same. So I figured it had to be something with the piping somewhere inside it.
Operation fix!
I required a set of torx-drivers, the security-type. Can’t remember the size, sorry.
Removed the backside:
Swapping the entire groupset
It was finally time to try and swap all the parts for my groupset on my racer, a GT GTR Series 5. I like the bike and frame, but I was not happy with the drive train. I like (apparently, didn’t know that myself when I started with the road bike) to tackle uphills. But the ratio on the bike was on the heavier side, with 39/53T and 11-28T. I do not mind going slow up the slopes, but I would like to do them in one go without pauses 😛
So I bought a complete groupset to swap out all parts. I did this instead of buying the separate parts since this meant that all the components would fit together.
I’ve never really wrenched a bike before, so I had planned to send it all to the local bike shop, but figured I could try and see how much I could get done myself.
New groupset is a Shimano 105 5800, 34/50T Â and 11-32T.
Swapping brake calipers
…on the bike this time.
When I bought my racing bike I wasn’t sure if I’d like that kind of biking, so I bought a used one without knowing anything about the drivetrain.
Turned out I really liked everything about the race bike style, so I’ve traversed quite some kilometers now. Anyway, the drivetrain could use some upgrades it turned out.
It came with a 53/39 front chainset and 11-28T rear cassette, 8-Speed. Turned out this makes it quite hard to tackle the uphills.
So I bought a new, complete groupset. The 105 5800 11-Speed. 50/34 front and 11-32T rear. Now the problem is I have no idea how to swap all the parts 😛
Except for the brake calipers, they seemed easy enough and didn’t require any special tools.
Fixing up the ATV
My father bought an ATV and I thought it needed some buffing up. It wasn’t bad, but you could see it wasn’t the latest model.
The plastic has faded a bit, so the red started looking pink. The bars in the front and the back was gray instead of black, etc etc.
A spot of paint
The two steps up to the room over the garage was looking a bit grey, though better after a good scrubbing. But still, could be better.
Found some paint I had for terrace, so it should do fine here.
Before:
After a layer of paint:
Amazing what a stroke with the paintbrush can do 🙂
Straightening up the storage room
When I bought the house, it also came with an annex with a storage room. The storage room wasn’t finished, just concrete for floor and plywood for walls. No ceiling either for that matter.
Started with some paint then…
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Green thumbs?
I might not have the greenest thumbs, but they are getting there.
I do like a green lawn. And it should consist mostly of grass. Not moss or dirt and rocks. That latter was a problem near the entrance to the house, not much growing there at all. So today I did a little work there.
New brake caliper
I recently replaced the front right caliper on the 240 as it had a broken bleeder nipple. It was leaking brake fluid, so it was due for a change.
I didn’t have anyone else around here to apply the brake pedal for me to help with the bleeding, so I have acquired a tool that runs on compressed air that sucks the fluid out. Then it is easy to do the brakes yourself. Just be sure to check the level of the brake fluid so it does not go empty.
Went for a test drive afterwards, brakes felt good now. Was a bit more squishy before the change.
Building a technical rack
I am a little bit of a tech-freak, and as I also work in IT, I have become accustomed to using rack cabinets for containing all the techy equipment I’ve got to run in the house. It is practical and keeps everything quite tidy.
After acquiring a few pieces of what I needed, I had to make an actual rack to house the equipment.
This is what I did: