On Sun, 2 Jul 2006 17:01:26 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote
(in article ):

In article ,
nospam wrote:
Are RS really just
taking the **** and listing a line that doesn't exist? Have I really
not been using it for over 10 years?

No RS just take the **** with the gawd awful web site.

They seem to have re-vamped it recently and it's even worse than before on
my browser...



Trying to search for things by categories seems very difficult to do.

It used to be possible to find an item using a text search and then to get a
list of items in its group. This is useful when you want something that is
slightly different or where there are several items in a range that you need
to buy to make a solution to do something.

Now both seem difficult to impossible.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
nospam wrote:
Are RS really just
taking the **** and listing a line that doesn't exist? Have I really
not been using it for over 10 years?

No RS just take the **** with the gawd awful web site.

They seem to have re-vamped it recently and it's even worse than before
on
my browser...
Not only the website. The CD catalogue is just about as bad (worse..). If
you run it off CD, even with a modern drive, you can reckon on five
minutes for some searches. Of the HD, it is 'slightly' better, but not
much. It won't find some items even with the right part number, and then
if you ask for a data sheet, it links you to the website, and asks you to
log in. Do this, and you are still pointing at the item you want the data
sheet for, but on the website. Select it again, now on the website
(already logged in), and it asks you to login again. Only on the third
attempt, do you get to the data sheet. Fairly often at this point, the
'sheet' is the wrong one for the selected product. I think they are trying
hard to discourage people from actually using them.... :-(
The version from a year or so ago, was about 50* better. Only took about
1/10th the time, and would link to the correct data sheet.

Best Wishes

In message , Andy Hall
writes
On Sun, 2 Jul 2006 17:01:26 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote
(in article ):

In article ,
nospam wrote:
Are RS really just
taking the **** and listing a line that doesn't exist? Have I really
not been using it for over 10 years?

No RS just take the **** with the gawd awful web site.

They seem to have re-vamped it recently and it's even worse than before on
my browser...



Trying to search for things by categories seems very difficult to do.

It used to be possible to find an item using a text search and then to get a
list of items in its group. This is useful when you want something that is
slightly different or where there are several items in a range that you need
to buy to make a solution to do something.

Now both seem difficult to impossible.


But they have a mission statement

c'mon you have to be impressed


--
geoff

General tips re room cooling in summer...

Solar gain from direct sunshine is your enemy
o Solar gain can add 5-10oC to a outdoor (shade) air temperature
o Solar gain downstairs can elevate temps markedly upstairs

Minimise solar gain...
o Keep curtains/blinds closed on windows facing the sun
---- directly reflect as much heat back out as possible
o Keep windows closed on windows facing the sun
---- avoid drawing in air heated near brickwork, fascia etc
---- avoid drawing in air heated in the "curtain-to-window" gap

Maximise natural convection...
o Heat rises - so can be used to draw cool air in as hot goes out
---- sash windows -- gap at top & bottom allows hot out, cool in
---- 2 floors -- open windows downstairs & upstairs
o Open windows opposite to those exposed to solar gain
---- sunset gives a marked drop in air temperatures
---- East has sunlight in the a.m., but not for hours by sunset
-------- ideally open windows on a shaded East side downstairs
---- West has sunlight in the p.m. right through to sunset
-------- ideally open windows on the sunset West side upstairs

Generally it can take 22:00-02:00hrs to see a real drop in air temps,
and building fabric itself will solar gain over several days
unfortunately.


Cooling systems...
o UK has high humidity even in summer
---- so evaporative coolers don't work so well here as say Arizona
o UK has high solar gain in summer re bricks/windows
---- bricks can be helped by cavity insulation (if you have a cavity :-)
---- windows benefit from both window blinds & curtains combined
o UK is trying HVAC more often, especially in loft conversions
---- key thing is heat rises + solar gain heats
---- both need to be minimised to avoid HVAC struggling away

Generally room fans make a big difference, particularly when combined
with careful window opening to use natural convection & cool night air.


As for which room fan is quieter, you'd actually have to try them.
Honeywell make very good quality fans (commonly radial hence tower),
and may be quieter - certainly of higher quality than the generic desk
fans.

Windows roller blinds up to 8ft, perhaps longer, are easy on Ebay,
29-35ukp.
They are effective for stopping room contents (& curtains) fading, and in
particular stopping UV degradation of materials - especially curtain
linings.

Working on the floor may sound odd, but it's a lot cooler down there :-)
A cool drink (fridge to cool drink cheaper than running a chiller) and a
cool shower/bath do plenty to reduce your temperature.

For PCs, HDs below max op temp (and verify individually because most utils
only report one HD temp if multipled fitted, not always the hottest one).

Small 7" fans of major names (Salton, Pifco etc) can be extremely quiet
on the lowest setting - but ideal in size for placement next to a
computer.
--
DB.

Hi DB - followed your tips for keeping rooms in house cool - closed all the
windows, shut all the curtains and pulled down the blinds and on exit,
closed all the room doors. Got home and the house was like a huge oven. My
current bedroom temp is now 30C / 86F. Now in the process of desperately
trying to get the temps down before we all go to sleep.

On Mon, 03 Jul 2006 19:15:37 GMT, "Wedell"
wrote:

Hi DB - followed your tips for keeping rooms in house cool - closed all the
windows, shut all the curtains and pulled down the blinds and on exit,
closed all the room doors. Got home and the house was like a huge oven. My
current bedroom temp is now 30C / 86F. Now in the process of desperately
trying to get the temps down before we all go to sleep.


Looks like you misread these bits:

Minimise solar gain...
o Keep curtains/blinds closed on windows facing the sun
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
---- directly reflect as much heat back out as possible
o Keep windows closed on windows facing the sun
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
---- avoid drawing in air heated near brickwork, fascia etc
---- avoid drawing in air heated in the "curtain-to-window" gap

Maximise natural convection...
o Heat rises - so can be used to draw cool air in as hot goes out
---- sash windows -- gap at top & bottom allows hot out, cool in
---- 2 floors -- open windows downstairs & upstairs
o Open windows opposite to those exposed to solar gain

Works well. Utilising the chimney convection effect (where the air
rising due to warming pulls in cooler air) is the best way to keep a
house at a liveable temperature. You have to have some cool air to
pull in, though!

Cheers - Jaimie
--
"Come now, my child, if we were planning to harm you, do you think
we'd be lurking here, beside the path, in the very darkest part of
the forest?" - Kenneth Patchen, "But Even So"

Hi DB - followed your tips for keeping rooms in house
cool - closed all the windows,

Why?

o Open windows opposite to those exposed to solar gain
o Ideally open windows on a shaded East side downstairs

At sunset you get a marked drop in temperature...
o East has sunlight in the a.m., but not for hours by sunset
---- use that to your advantage by opening all that side
o On the West side best to wait 30mins after sunset
---- temperature will then noticeably drop

Maximise natural convection...
o Heat rises - so can be used to draw cool air in as hot goes out
---- sash windows -- gap at top & bottom allows hot out, cool in
---- 2 floors -- open windows downstairs & upstairs

If you are going out...
o Lock upstairs windows in open position & small gap
o Lock downstairs windows in open position & small gap

Realise even a double-glazing window is easy to force apart,
it is a PVC skin over a metal frame. The shoot-bolts all around
the frame are because of the low torsional strength of uPVC.
So for some people the risks are too great, or they open one
window away from soil-pipes, low roofs & visible from road.


Got home and the house was like a huge oven.

Oddly enough considering you shut all the windows.

Read what I wrote and use some initiative.
--
Dorothy Bradbury.

On Sat, 01 Jul 2006 18:10:19 GMT, "Dorothy Bradbury"
wrote:

thoroughly sensible advice snipped

Working on the floor may sound odd, but it's a lot cooler down there :-)
A cool drink (fridge to cool drink cheaper than running a chiller) and a
cool shower/bath do plenty to reduce your temperature.

Keep some of those bottles you bought expensive water in, refill them
with tap water, keep them in the fridge.

Personally I find a long drink of cold water followed by a cup of hot
coffee has maximal cooling effect. YMMV.

On Sat, 01 Jul 2006 10:18:50 +0100, Alix wrote:

I am the OP. The only time I used self-amalgamating tape it was a
squishy thing when it was finished. I would much rather have
something "drier" and less sticky as a final finish.

There are about three different compounds used to make self-amalg tape,
some squishier / more flexible than others. I wouldn't rule it out
immediately.

Thinking about it, I've _never_ seen heatshrink tape - not sure if
there's a technical reason for that.

On 01 Jul 2006, Dorothy Bradbury wrote:

General tips re room cooling in summer...

-- big snip --




The following is a nice web page on this topic. It is a set of lecture
notes from Cornell University on thermal regulation of the environment.

http://ergo.human.cornell.edu/studen...s/Thermal/thre
gnotes.html

or use this: http://snipurl.com/t2js

On 01 Jul 2006, wrote:

Dorothy, this is off-topic to this thread but I know you are quite
good on fan cooling matters when I asked for some info about the
computer cooling fans you sell on eBay.

This is a pic of the typical sort of room cooling fan I used to
see:
http://www.currys.co.uk:80/images/206877_01_huge.jpg

In recent years the tall or tower fans have become popular in the
UK.
http://br / http://www.argos.co.uk...nt/i/font

I know fan specialists talk about air volumes moved, noise levels
and stuff like pressure levels (which I don't truly understand).

Can you compare these two styles of room fan to help me understand
which cools the most for the same level of noise.


If you don't mind an additional opinion to Dorothy's:

Generally large, slow moving fans produce less noise and are more
efficient than small, fast moving ones, for cooling a room.

A centrifugal (radial) fan, of which your tower fan is an example,
will produce a relatively small area of higher pressure, fast
moving air. They tend to be ideal in a trunked system where there
is back-pressure to overcome. Or if a very direct focused air
stream is required.

An axial fan, of which your Curry's model is an example, generally
moves a greater volume of air, at lower noise - but only if there
is no back pressure to overcome.

Thus, for cooling a room, where high pressure is not required, an
axial fan will be more effective and quieter. The larger the
diameter, the slower the rotational speed, the quieter and more
effective it will be.

For supplying forced cool air through trunking, a radial fan will
generate the pressures needed. The fan can often be sited outside
of living space, so will not be heard..



If I have a radial desk fan which goes too fast is there a simple way
to slow it down?

Would a cheap option be to put a resistor in line with the live or
neutral?

Seems these fans use about 20 to 30 W at 230 volts. What resistor is
indicated and will it need to be bloomin' big in order to cope with
it heating up?

Jon D wrote:
On 01 Jul 2006, wrote:


Dorothy, this is off-topic to this thread but I know you are quite
good on fan cooling matters when I asked for some info about the
computer cooling fans you sell on eBay.

This is a pic of the typical sort of room cooling fan I used to
see:
http://www.currys.co.uk:80/images/206877_01_huge.jpg

In recent years the tall or tower fans have become popular in the
UK.
http://br / br / http://www....nt/i/font

I know fan specialists talk about air volumes moved, noise levels
and stuff like pressure levels (which I don't truly understand).

Can you compare these two styles of room fan to help me understand
which cools the most for the same level of noise.


If you don't mind an additional opinion to Dorothy's:

Generally large, slow moving fans produce less noise and are more
efficient than small, fast moving ones, for cooling a room.

A centrifugal (radial) fan, of which your tower fan is an example,
will produce a relatively small area of higher pressure, fast
moving air. They tend to be ideal in a trunked system where there
is back-pressure to overcome. Or if a very direct focused air
stream is required.

An axial fan, of which your Curry's model is an example, generally
moves a greater volume of air, at lower noise - but only if there
is no back pressure to overcome.

Thus, for cooling a room, where high pressure is not required, an
axial fan will be more effective and quieter. The larger the
diameter, the slower the rotational speed, the quieter and more
effective it will be.

For supplying forced cool air through trunking, a radial fan will
generate the pressures needed. The fan can often be sited outside
of living space, so will not be heard..




If I have a radial desk fan which goes too fast is there a simple way
to slow it down?

Would a cheap option be to put a resistor in line with the live or
neutral?

Seems these fans use about 20 to 30 W at 230 volts. What resistor is
indicated and will it need to be bloomin' big in order to cope with
it heating up?

You could try on a.e.electrical, where people know what sort of motors
are fitted to these small fans.

Depending on the type, you may be able to use something as simple as a
rotary dimmer switch meant for lighting.

--
Sue

Alix:

I carry a 4:1 heat shrink ratio tube with or without adhesive.

http://www.buyheatshrink.com

I have a distributor in the UK if you don't wish to purchase from a US
supplier (where I am).

send me an email if you're interested.

Marc


Alix wrote:
I find that large diameter heat shrink sleeving which is large enough to
passes over wide parts of my cables does not contract enough to hold the
actaul cable when they are heated heated.

Is it possible in the UK to buy just one or two rolls of heat shrink
TAPE? I mean something similar to regular self-adhesive PVC insulation
tape but which contracts when heated. Does such a thing exist?

My web searches such as this one at Farnell's http://snipurl.com/skla
return heat shrink SLEEVES which is not what I want.

On 20 Jul 2006 18:34:45 -0700, wrote:

Alix wrote:
I find that large diameter heat shrink sleeving which is large enough to
passes over wide parts of my cables does not contract enough to hold the
actaul cable when they are heated heated.

Is it possible in the UK to buy just one or two rolls of heat shrink
TAPE? I mean something similar to regular self-adhesive PVC insulation
tape but which contracts when heated. Does such a thing exist?

My web searches such as this one at Farnell's http://snipurl.com/skla
return heat shrink SLEEVES which is not what I want.

Alix:

I carry a 4:1 heat shrink ratio tube with or without adhesive.

http://www.buyheatshrink.com

I have a distributor in the UK if you don't wish to purchase from a US
supplier (where I am).

send me an email if you're interested.

Firstly the requirements of the original poster were quite likely
satisfied by a posting 28 minutes after the original post (as archived
by google) which contained the web address of a local supplier, the
stock code, the price, the length, the width and the temperature
required to shrink heat shrink TAPE. This occurred on Saturday the 1st
of July, by ordering that day the original poster could have taken
delivery of a product precisely meeting their requirements on Monday
3rd July and the job might have been completed 10 minutes later.

Yes that was heat shrink TAPE, not sleeve tube or any round stuff but
linear TAPE, it comes on a roll 20mm wide 50m long and 0.07mm thick,
you wrap it round and then apply heat at around 130 deg C at which
point it shrinks, conforms and adheres to the underlying structure.
http://rswww.com stock code 170-5403 £13.15

Secondly top posting is and never has been the usenet convention

Thirdly, well there is no thirdly


--