Oh boy...

Jamie Hall · May 3

I just ran across a rumour that Google is ending support for older Nests, eliminating the ability to control from a smartphone. Anyone know about this?

HydronicMike · May 3

Yup. Saw it last week.

EdTheHeaterMan · May 3

That is sad….

And you wonder why the industry does not like NEST products on HVAC equipment.

This is more fuel for our favorite Nest Lover @pecmsg

Screenshot 2023-05-25 at 12.37.53 PM.png

Jamie Hall · May 3

Thank you, This should be fun…

ethicalpaul · May 3

They will keep working, making them more like a T87. That should make people happier.

13 years of support is a pretty good run for an internet appliance—longer than some boilers last that we see here.

And at least when if you replace it you won't have to figure out the C wire again!

EBEBRATT-Ed · May 3

Just like Mod Cons built in short life expectancy.

They won't support it so you have to buy a new one.

mattmia2 · May 3

can't you still get most of the parts for a munchkin?

Long Beach Ed · May 3

Choice is good. You can choose what is most important to you. This is why we carefully survey our engineering clients of their priorities.

Love high-tech? Love reliability? Love longevity? Return on investment? Easy repair?

Our opinion: Google this!

SlamDunk · May 3

I have a feeling that anything connected to wifi has a shelf life. Even devices that can be updated eventually runs out of updates. I'm thinking of my car……

ChrisJ · May 3

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1854473#Comment_1854473

Considering what the typical life of a car in the 1950s-60s was, modern cars still have them beat by a long shot. If we go back to the 20s-30s it'll become laughable.

1970s for both somewhat short engine / trans life and even worse (bad rust in 2 years?).

No wifi or connectivity on any of them.

SlamDunk · May 3

I like having a new car, just not one that requires updates. The car had more HP before it's first update. Transmissions were being stressed. it is no longer the car that I bought anymore. It feels like a bait and switch.

mattmia2 · May 3

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1854473#Comment_1854473

the car will still work without wifi, it is just a gimmick, sort of like the cadillac with the liquor cabinet in the glovebox

Jamie Hall · May 4

Just posted this in another thread… the most reliable vehicle we have on the place is my 1970 Chevy C10 stepside longbed. Not sexy. Not fast (straight six, three on the tree). But it's always there when you need it, and I can tune it pretty well with a good ear, a screwdriver, a sparkplug wrench and a dollar bill (for the point gap, you know!). Parts are cheap if you ever need one… good heater. Decent gas mileage. Always been our farm truck. What's not to like?

ChrisJ · May 4

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1854487#Comment_1854487

Engine shot in 80-100k tops.

Tuneups constantly.

Pretty bad brakes even by 1970s standards.

Excessive rust if ever exposed to salty roads.

Gas tank behind seat is small

Not the best ride though I guess a light c10 wouldn't be as harsh as the c20.

Slow, even with the 396 or later 402.

Good style, perhaps Chevy's best but there's plenty not to like.

Jamie Hall · May 4

I'll agree about the brakes! Although most of the problem is there is no power assist, and modern man doesn't have the strength to apply them… (no power steering either. The combination reduces requests to borrow it) tuneups? Yeah, every 3,000 miles or so. Takes 10 minutes and about five bucks worth of parts, unless you need new plugs… rust? Well, yes — but this one is the farm truck and pretty much never gets out in the salt. The K2500, yeah, body is pretty well gone…

Ride? Actually quite nice — torque tube and coil spring rear axle. Not leafs. I suppose I should put new shocks on it, though…

Engine? That is a debatable one. the 250 cid six is pretty well indestructible, unless you starve it of oil. The 454 in the K2500 seems fine, but only has about 350,000 miles on it so it's still young and too early to tell.

mattmia2 · May 4

4 wheel drum is likely more the issue

ethicalpaul · May 4

drums stop easier than discs, they are self applying, but I think that term is wrong.

Update: that term is ok! But self-energizing is more commonly used I guess, says wiki

bburd · May 4

My first car had drum brakes on all four wheels, and a single hydraulic circuit: an early '60s Mercury. My next cars had front discs and rear drums, then four-wheel discs.

I can assure you that disc brakes are entirely superior. That Mercury had a dangerous degree of brake fade.

ChrisJ · May 4

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1854498#Comment_1854498

A 1995 engine most certainly can last a very very long time. 1970? Not so much.

But you do have me confused. I've heard heard of a torque tube on an "Action series" pickup? The c20 doesn't have one and I can't find any info that shows a c10 having it either. Just a 2 piece driveshaft with center support bearing.

Jamie Hall · May 4

Since we're well off track here anyway… the 1970 C10s had a very different rear suspension to the C20s and up (not sure what other years were involved). Much more like the contemporary Buicks. Solid rear axle, of course, but torque was taken up by a long torque tube which went from the diff. to the rear transmission mount and enclosed the drive shaft, which was one piece. Fore and aft location and braking forces were handled by two long what you might think of as lower control arms running fore and aft (I don't recall Buicks had those; I think that was just the trucks. Have to go look…). Lateral control was by a lateral control arm, and support was from coil springs (which came in two flavours — normal half ton and "heavy half", 1500 lb. payload). C20s and up used conventional leaf springs for everything. The result was much better ride quality particularly at no load or light load and no chance of breaking a spring from torque loads if you really got a grip fully loaded.

And I agree on drum brakes. They do indeed fade, something which discs do much more slowly. On the other hand, until they fade they are self-energizing, so require less pedal force than discs (actually, a lot less). The fade aspect was something most of us were aware of, back in the day, and anyone engaged in hauling much weight around on not flat ground either learned very quickly or bent metal. The last car I had with drums was that '66 Buick GS, which had 13.5 inch aluminum finned drums nestled in 14 inch wheels. And they were only just able to stop it, just once, from a full out drag run. Fun times. One drove differently…

I'd say all the engines across all makes from about 1967 for the next decade are a bit squirrely. Some are really good, but that was the "malaise" era, and some got tweaks to maintain air quality which didn't help longevity one little bit. One of the least obvious was that they were tuned to run insanely lean, which led to burnt pistons and valves and other mischief. If you retuned them to more normal they lasted better — but then they wouldn't pass the emissions tests.

ChrisJ · May 4

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1854513#Comment_1854513

You're mistaken c20s also used coil springs by default but leafs were optional.

But I can't find any pictures of any 1970 Chevy with a torque tube? I know exactly what it is but I'm not seeing it.

But let's take it to pm. You're right we're off topic .

EBEBRATT-Ed · May 4

I had a 73' Chevy C10 long bed 3 on the tree with a 307?? V8. First new vehicle I ever bought $3000.00 right off the showroom floor.

The body started to rot after 4 years. Awful.

I traded it for a 1977 same truck but with the 250 six, 1 bbl carb (due to the gas crisis & embargo). The engine was a dog and the truck couldn't get out of its own way. But that one I kept for 13 years and put 140,000 on it. One of my co-workers had a 78'GMC same engine but with a 2bbl carb and his ran great.

Almost every time you drove mine through a puddle it would stall out. Something was getting wet. Most of the time if you let it sit for 5 min and the engine heat would dry it out and it would restart, run rough then be ok until the next puddle.

Changed plugs, wires, coil, distributor cap, rotor, points etc multiple times sprayed with Silicone everything and she still didn't like puddles

PC7060 · May 4

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1854521#Comment_1854521

similar story to Ed’s except it was a ‘88 Mazda B2600 pickup. Mazda couldn’t get thier fuel injection to work in time for first year of series so they dropped in a Mitsubishi 4 cylinder with a Mazda card. Got worse mileage than my 1970 Buick GS until they finally got the setup right. Many got returned to the dealer under the lemon laws. I was young and stupid and kept it for 10 years.

I’ve got a 2019 Honda CRV now. 1.5l Turbo engine. Averages 32mpg and has amazing performance for a small engine. Approaching 100k miles and run like new.

SlamDunk · May 4

@Jamie Hall sorry for taking original post offtrack. My point was wifi- anything is a loss of control. And I am a control freak which makes modern cars unpleasant. Same with Google Navigation. I am coming to the conclusion that it creates traffic. Using it going to a destination took 8 hours. Ignoring it on the way back was interesting….there were no cars one routes we chose. Traffic went one way and we went the other by ourselves. Took us 5-1/2 hours on return.

EdTheHeaterMan · May 4

Since we are all talking about cars, I thought I might try to bering us back arounds to the original topic.

But I forgot what the topic was. So here is a picture of my 1923 Ford as the North Charleston Coliseum. I have no idea who the girl is, but you can't let her go by without a Photo Op.

Oh boy...

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