Silca pump gauge repair how-to

On Mon, 05 Sep 2016 06:31:50 +0700, John B.
wrote:

Regarding civil law, I once read a science fiction story about some
distant planet where civil cases were extremely rare. It seems that
the inhabitants of the planet wee a bit on the "wild side" and when
the judge announced his findings in a case the spectators at the trial
leaped from their seats and literally tore the losing attorney apart.

I'm not sure whether that is applicably on all cases but it does seem
appropriate in some :-)

It's called "loser pays" in Europe and other parts of the civilized
world. However, in the wild west, also known as the USA, the object
of the game is to outspend and bankrupt your opponent in a civil
trial. Last man standing is deemed the winner of the case as the
opposition runs out of cash to pursue attorney fees, court fees,
witness fees, investigation fees, research fees, records production
and reproduction fees, bribes, political contributions, and other
costs of litigation. It's not unusual to spend more than the value of
any possible court awarded damages.

I haven't seen any cases where the spectators assault the loser. More
commonly, they assault or sue the winner in the hope of getting a
piece of the award to just go away. However, I have seen judgments
where both parties were seriously tempted to assault the judge. Ever
notice that "blind justice" carries a sword for self defense?
https://www.google.com/search?q=blind+justice&tbm=isch

Sometimes, I suspect that trial by combat was a more economical and
possibly equitable method.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On Fri, 2 Sep 2016 23:46:35 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

A few years ago, I used a laboratory dead weight pressure tester to
check the calibration on my collection of tire pressure gauges.

Yep, that's what I used.

To my
surprise, the most accurate were the pencil-style gages, the ones based
on a simple coil spring and piston. My floor pump (an ancient metal
Nashbar model with bourdon tube gage) was off by 7 psi, reading 100 psi
at a true 93 psi. A pocket sized Zefal gage with a dial was off by
nearly as much.

I should drag along my collection of pumps and try them all:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/pics/bicycles/misc/slides/bicycle-pumps.html
(Missing are 3 floor pumps, 1 foot pump, various automotive tire
inflators, and a few home made electric inflators).

It is possible to calibrate bourdon tube gages, but I just used a magic
marker to write "Add 7 psi" on the side of the pump. Really, even a 7
percent discrepancy makes little difference when riding.

Looking at a typical Bourdon tube pressure gauge calibration chart:
http://www.academia.edu/14648443/CALIBRATION_OF_BOURDON_GAUGE
it seems that the calibration is roughly a percentage of the indicated
pressure, rather than a percentage of full scale.

Incidentally, the error found in the last reading was 5.9
kNewtons/meter^2 which is 0.86 psi. Looks like the gauge they were
testing is much better than the most bicycle pumps. The table also
shows zero hystersis, much better than the few gauges I've checked.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On Sunday, September 4, 2016 at 6:18:03 PM UTC-7, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Mon, 05 Sep 2016 06:31:50 +0700, John B.
wrote:

Regarding civil law, I once read a science fiction story about some
distant planet where civil cases were extremely rare. It seems that
the inhabitants of the planet wee a bit on the "wild side" and when
the judge announced his findings in a case the spectators at the trial
leaped from their seats and literally tore the losing attorney apart.

I'm not sure whether that is applicably on all cases but it does seem
appropriate in some :-)

It's called "loser pays" in Europe and other parts of the civilized
world. However, in the wild west, also known as the USA, the object
of the game is to outspend and bankrupt your opponent in a civil
trial. Last man standing is deemed the winner of the case as the
opposition runs out of cash to pursue attorney fees, court fees,
witness fees, investigation fees, research fees, records production
and reproduction fees, bribes, political contributions, and other
costs of litigation. It's not unusual to spend more than the value of
any possible court awarded damages.


There are plenty of "loser pays" statutes -- any claim under the employment laws, landlord tenant, consumer fraud, most IP statutes, debt collection, etc., etc. Personal injury claims over a certain dollar amount typically don't include a right to fees -- just the fear of a giant judgment -- except in Colorado and some other states with aggressive tort reform statutes: http://www.denverpost.com/2016/06/30...ms-legal-fees/

BTW, except in bench trials, juries set the dollar amount of the judgment, subject to whatever caps might exist in a particular state. Juries are given instructions and render verdicts. The right to a jury trial in civil cases is guaranteed under most state constitutions. Juries are appropriate for resolving certain disputes and not others.

-- Jay Beattie.

On Mon, 5 Sep 2016 11:14:58 -0700 (PDT), jbeattie
wrote:

There are plenty of "loser pays" statutes -- any claim under the employment
laws, landlord tenant, consumer fraud, most IP statutes, debt collection,
etc., etc. Personal injury claims over a certain dollar amount typically
don't include a right to fees -- just the fear of a giant judgment
-- except in Colorado and some other states with aggressive tort reform statutes:
http://www.denverpost.com/2016/06/30...ms-legal-fees/

BTW, except in bench trials, juries set the dollar amount of the judgment,
subject to whatever caps might exist in a particular state. Juries are
given instructions and render verdicts. The right to a jury trial in civil
cases is guaranteed under most state constitutions.

-- Jay Beattie.

As I understand it, both parties only pay their own attorney fees. I'm
not sure how the court costs and various fees are distributed.

"Attorney Fees: Does the Losing Side Have to Pay?"
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/attorney-fees-does-losing-side-30337.html
"In the United States, the general rule (called the American Rule)
is that each party pays only their own attorney's fees, regardless
of whether they win or lose."

Of course, there are exceptions to everything in the US legal system:
"U.S. courts do have significant discretion when it comes to
the awarding of attorneys' fees, and while judges do not generally
like departing from the American Rule, they may require a losing
side to pay the other's attorneys' fees in certain limited
situations."

In other words, the judge and/or jury can stick the loser with all the
costs if they're so inclined or vindictive.

Juries are appropriate
for resolving certain disputes and not others.

Yep. If you're innocent, let the judge decide. If you're guilty, get
a jury, which tends to rule more on emotion and preconceived
impressions than a judge.

How did we ever get this far off topic?
Never mind... I don't want to know. Probably my fault.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On 2016-09-01, AMuzi wrote:
On 9/1/2016 12:08 AM, Tim McNamara wrote:
My 20+ year old Silca Super Pista pump has, for the first time,
malfunctioned and needs repair.

Unless it was badly smacked around, replace the screw,
tighten both of them (moderately, you're threading into a
brass block). If needed, lift the needle off and press it
back at the zero position. Try not to bend/move/alter the
bourdon tube[1] or its linkage in any way.

Now is a good time to check/tighten the two screws on the
very bottom as they work loose over years of use. You might
also remove the checkvalve and clear out any crud, a common
service issue on these.

[1] looks like a brass tortellini with soldered seams.

Thanks, Andy; yesterday I disassembled, cleaned andlubed my
Silca pump, which now works much better. Leather washer was
still well-lubed and supple, so the leakage was via the dry
gasket on the check valve.

Does anyone know where I can get a top spring for this pump,
shown here (second image)? Mine's missing.

http://www.terapeak.com/worth/vintag.../391375008872/

--
Gregory S. Sutter Mostly Harmless

On 2016-09-02, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Fri, 02 Sep 2016 12:48:18 +0700, John B.
wrote:

But how do you know that the calibration gauge is reading correctly?

It's actually quite easy. I drag myself over to the local
multiversity, prostate myself before the keeper of the calibration lab

Santa Cruz is a special place indeed if that kind of behavior is what
gets you assistance at the university, you perv!

(ITYM prostrate.)

--
Gregory S. Sutter Mostly Harmless

http://zer0.org/~gsutter/

On 9/8/2016 3:14 AM, Gregory Sutter wrote:
On 2016-09-01, AMuzi wrote:
On 9/1/2016 12:08 AM, Tim McNamara wrote:
My 20+ year old Silca Super Pista pump has, for the first time,
malfunctioned and needs repair.

Unless it was badly smacked around, replace the screw,
tighten both of them (moderately, you're threading into a
brass block). If needed, lift the needle off and press it
back at the zero position. Try not to bend/move/alter the
bourdon tube[1] or its linkage in any way.

Now is a good time to check/tighten the two screws on the
very bottom as they work loose over years of use. You might
also remove the checkvalve and clear out any crud, a common
service issue on these.

[1] looks like a brass tortellini with soldered seams.

Thanks, Andy; yesterday I disassembled, cleaned andlubed my
Silca pump, which now works much better. Leather washer was
still well-lubed and supple, so the leakage was via the dry
gasket on the check valve.

Does anyone know where I can get a top spring for this pump,
shown here (second image)? Mine's missing.

http://www.terapeak.com/worth/vintag.../391375008872/


Hardware store? It's not clear to me what that spring does
and in fact my own (very old) Silca and the ones we sell
here don't have that.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Thu, 08 Sep 2016 03:19:58 -0500, Gregory Sutter
wrote:

On 2016-09-02, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Fri, 02 Sep 2016 12:48:18 +0700, John B.
wrote:

But how do you know that the calibration gauge is reading correctly?

It's actually quite easy. I drag myself over to the local
multiversity, prostate myself before the keeper of the calibration lab

Santa Cruz is a special place indeed if that kind of behavior is what
gets you assistance at the university, you perv!

(ITYM prostrate.)

Oops. I had my cancerous prostate surgically removed many years ago
which makes me think in those terms. I would consider offering body
parts in trade for a gauge calibration, but suspect I would be getting
the losing part of the bargain. Conventional bribes seem to work well
enough.



--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On 2016-09-08, AMuzi wrote:
On 9/8/2016 3:14 AM, Gregory Sutter wrote:

Does anyone know where I can get a top spring for this pump,
shown here (second image)? Mine's missing.

http://www.terapeak.com/worth/vintag.../391375008872/

Hardware store? It's not clear to me what that spring does
and in fact my own (very old) Silca and the ones we sell
here don't have that.

Yea, I will add it to my hardware store list.

That spring keeps the pump handle from going "clunk" at the bottom
of every stroke, analogously to the internal spring, just above the
leather washer, which does the same at the top of each stroke.

--
Gregory S. Sutter Mostly Harmless

http://zer0.org/~gsutter/

On Thu, 08 Sep 2016 08:15:13 -0500, AMuzi wrote:

On 9/8/2016 3:14 AM, Gregory Sutter wrote:
On 2016-09-01, AMuzi wrote:
On 9/1/2016 12:08 AM, Tim McNamara wrote:
My 20+ year old Silca Super Pista pump has, for the first time,
malfunctioned and needs repair.

Unless it was badly smacked around, replace the screw,
tighten both of them (moderately, you're threading into a
brass block). If needed, lift the needle off and press it
back at the zero position. Try not to bend/move/alter the
bourdon tube[1] or its linkage in any way.

Now is a good time to check/tighten the two screws on the
very bottom as they work loose over years of use. You might
also remove the checkvalve and clear out any crud, a common
service issue on these.

[1] looks like a brass tortellini with soldered seams.

Thanks, Andy; yesterday I disassembled, cleaned andlubed my
Silca pump, which now works much better. Leather washer was
still well-lubed and supple, so the leakage was via the dry
gasket on the check valve.

Does anyone know where I can get a top spring for this pump,
shown here (second image)? Mine's missing.

http://www.terapeak.com/worth/vintag.../391375008872/


Hardware store? It's not clear to me what that spring does
and in fact my own (very old) Silca and the ones we sell
here don't have that.

I've seen a "top spring" on quite a number of hand pumps (some
predating the 10 Speed English Racer :-). I'd always assumed it was to
prevent an enthusiastic pumper from banging the pump plunger down on
the bottom of the pump cylinder.
--
cheers,

John B.