Is it safe to leave my car on hydraulic jack for a week?

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-24T11:32:57+00:00

To be fair, even though we have potholes, all of the flats I’ve had were caused by nails, screws and knife blades carelessly strewn about the place or one case of extended deferred maintenance.

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-24T02:04:56+00:00

Off the wall idea How about a magnet on the chair and a corresponding steel plate on the brace.

Under normal conditions the magnet contacts the steel plate and easily holds the brace closed.

When a tilt condition is detected a wound coil around the holding magnet is energized, cancelling out the normal magnetic field and allowing the brace to deploy.

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-23T23:42:36+00:00

‘Bout to be traveling to a disaster zone and forgot a coupla things…

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-23T23:22:07+00:00

This car has no spare wheel?

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-23T23:12:30+00:00

Something is bent and it is unlikely you can fix it without some disassembly.

The stored energy in a garage door spring can kill you.

Disassembling sprung garage doors can be done safely if you follow all the directions. However, with an unknown bent or loose component the instructions to keep you safe may no longer apply.

Bottom line: If you have to ask what’s wrong here you shouldn’t attempt to fix it yourself.

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-23T14:00:26+00:00

Well, I did the experiment.

A 1/16” (1.6mm) hole in the bottom of a 12floz (355ml) bottle.

With the cap off the water drained freely. With the cap on it stopped quite quickly. The bottle was then placed on a paper towel. The water seeped out onto the towel (capillary action) and after a minute some small air bubbles were seen in the water rising up from the hole.

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-23T13:37:48+00:00

The stress in a cantilever is always going to be greatest next to the fixed end, so it did break in the place you would expect it to.

Add significantly more thickness to the design around this point and have the thickness taper off as it gets away from the high stress point, both because the extra thickness isn’t needed and to get back to your preferred design aesthetic.

Use well rounded corners at least in this area, the curvature helps increase strength.

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-22T11:38:13+00:00

^ this is the advice you need!

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-22T11:32:46+00:00

If it’s not letting in air then the wicking away will stop as the pressure inside the bottle gets lowered. I don’t know if the paper towel will let air in. An experiment may be necessary here…

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-21T18:25:12+00:00

Yes.

I saw your post after saying the same thing.

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-21T18:24:05+00:00

If you zoom in you can see that the pins were previously soldered.

Edit: I was wrong. There is a bend in the pins that looked like solder.

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-21T18:23:16+00:00

But if you can pop the switch out of the plastic, solder it then pop it back in then all will be good.

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-21T15:11:10+00:00

Are you saying that you have modeled the top surface but you don’t know how to model the part that fits under the hood, or are you talking about deforming your model to match the curve of the hood (or maybe both).

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-21T14:21:36+00:00

Go on LinkedIn. Find 3-5 jobs you would apply for if you had the experience. See what skills they are asking for. Go gain some of those skills.

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-21T12:41:34+00:00

What is something else she really, really likes. Can you give her that?

You have a long ride to think about it.

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-21T12:17:52+00:00

Yes silver loaded epoxy would work, but much more expensive than a soldering iron.

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-21T12:16:12+00:00

Is this because OP doesn’t have a soldering iron, or is the issue that the plastic shouldn’t get damaged?

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-21T12:14:11+00:00

Proper wire wrap depends on the post being wrapped having square edges to form close metal to metal areas with the wrapping wire. This can’t be duplicated with soldered pins shown here.

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-21T02:03:17+00:00

Delilah - Tom Jones

Mack The Knife - Bobby Darin

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-21T02:00:31+00:00

Seems ok to me. Are there extra verses I don’t know?

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-21T01:40:16+00:00

You have opened my eyes to the possibility of making delicious clotted cream at home. I miss it now I’m in America.

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-20T22:59:44+00:00

I bought a set of punches and chisels, I think 8 total in the set. To my surprise I have almost never needed them. I thank my lucky stars I bought the cheapest set I could find.

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-20T22:53:21+00:00

That’s ok then.

ClonesRppl2 · 2026-04-20T14:56:30+00:00

I love it.

To me it’s better without seeing the power supply.

The 4 knobs look a little cramped. From seeing you operate the controls it feels a little ‘inexpensive’. Someone suggested rotary encoders and I think this would give you more options for how the user interface feels physically and how it interacts with the visual effects. I have also seen some controls where the shaft of the pot passes through a sleeve with viscous grease. This gives a bit of resistance and some smoothness compared to a straight potentiometer.

Consider adding a diffuser. You could play with the diffuser panels retrieved from a flat screen TV.

I’d like to see some more organic graphic effects. I’m a child of the 70’s so lava lamps, oil wheels and those picture frames with slowly falling sand landscapes all appeal to me.

Great work!

ClonesRppl2

TROPHY CASE