fuel

[a96ute]

My rant
I work in retail that in part, sell petrol powered garden tools & lawn mowers, when you explain these are 2 stroke or 4 stoke the first question is - do you use unleaded , a lot of media also refer to unleaded petrol, another is - can I have "x" feet of that, or is that "x" inches diameter,
I wonder if they ask for a pound of mince or a pint of milk at the supermarket.

End of rant

[Interceptor]

Well..... in the automotive aftermarket world, fuel, oil and coolant hose, bundy tubing, and many other things are still using imperial measurments, ie fractions of an inch....

[LG17]

It's not that difficult to be fluent in both British and metric measurements...

[a96ute]

Interceptor that is true, I was talking outside the mechanical world & flippantly, but if you buy a length of timber for example, it is sold per foot or per metre, paint by gallon or litre, miles or kilometers, electrical cable per foot or meter - many still ask for imperial yet measure by metric??

[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by a96ute

Interceptor that is true, I was talking outside the mechanical world & flippantly, but if you buy a length of timber for example, it is sold per foot or per metre, paint by gallon or litre, miles or kilometers, electrical cable per foot or meter - many still ask for imperial yet measure by metric??

My father in law great up in the imperial system. He taught me a few things. I won't get into the metric dwmonititions because 5/8th and 17mm....or is that 15....

[DJR-351]

Here would be a good place to post your rant......

Geez! I hate that!

[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by DJR-351

Here would be a good place to post your rant......

Geez! I hate that!

Nice.

[Doreturnonfoot]

I blame the yanks - a lot of equipment is still made there

[11ford11]

some of us grew up before metric unless your french or similar
E10 or unleaded
do you pay 1/3 or 33% of your wage in tax or did they take 1/2 your over time in tax or 50%
is the missus the better half or the better .5

[Interceptor]

Originally Posted by a96ute

but if you buy a length of timber for example, it is sold per foot or per metre

Sheets of plywood and metal are most commonly found in 2400x1200 (actually a few mm more, but are generally sold as "precise" measurments), and 2400x1200 is down to a few mm from being 8 feet by 4 feet, which for a long time was the standard.....

Ever heard of a piece of wood referred to as a "Four by two"? Yep, four inches by two inches

What about trailers? I cant say I've ever seen a 1800 by 1200 trailer..... plenty of 6x4's......

Wheels? 14/15/16/17/18/19/20 inch wheels..... they tried introducing metric sized wheels, but obviously didnt catch on..... so we're left with metric width tyres on imperial sized wheels....

[a96ute]

Originally Posted by Interceptor

Sheets of plywood and metal are most commonly found in 2400x1200 (actually a few mm more, but are generally sold as "precise" measurments), and 2400x1200 is down to a few mm from being 8 feet by 4 feet, which for a long time was the standard.....

Ever heard of a piece of wood referred to as a "Four by two"? Yep, four inches by two inches

What about trailers? I cant say I've ever seen a 1800 by 1200 trailer..... plenty of 6x4's......

Wheels? 14/15/16/17/18/19/20 inch wheels..... they tried introducing metric sized wheels, but obviously didnt catch on..... so we're left with metric width tyres on imperial sized wheels....

Interceptor lighten up a bit - for your information I grew up with imperial & been around cars & metal fabrication for more than 45yrs.
I guess I'm just not young enough to know everything.

[mike_nofx]

Originally Posted by a96ute

My rant
I work in retail that in part, sell petrol powered garden tools & lawn mowers, when you explain these are 2 stroke or 4 stoke the first question is - do you use unleaded , a lot of media also refer to unleaded petrol, another is - can I have "x" feet of that, or is that "x" inches diameter,
I wonder if they ask for a pound of mince or a pint of milk at the supermarket.

End of rant

But don't even service stations themselves sell it as unleaded?
And aren't mowers sold with "X inch cutting deck"?

[Olbucko]

When we first went metric timber and other building materials were no longer sold by the foot but in 300 mm increments, eg 1.8m 2.4, 2.7, 3.0, 3.6, etc, metal, plywood and fibro reduced in size from 8'x4' to 1200 x 2400mm, yet Masonite was still sold in the old imperial size, an 8x4 sheet became 1220 x 2440mm. At the same time the sale of imperial tape measures were banned for about 25 years.

No wonder so many people were permanently confused by the metric system.

Didn't have many problems myself as I was taught to use the metric system in science at school many years before.

[Revolver]

Wow, talk about a mountain out of a Molehill.

"Do you use unleaded?"

"Yes, & in case you forget, check the owners manual"

Was that hard?

Some people just dont know what 2 & 4 strokes are, & their differences, its life, get used to it.

They may also be asking for clarification over normal ULP, 95 PULP, 98 PULP, or even if E10 is usable.

Also, we live in a country that has a combination of imperial & metric measurements.

Some industries still work to imperial as that is the norm & is considered "industry standard" in Your field you should be well aware of that. So don't think to use metric.

Most other industries switched to metric a long time ago, therefore, metric is not the industry standard. So you dont think to use imperial.

So its easy to see where you use metric & imperial measurements.

Not that hard........

Bad day at work?

[Dr Terry]

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

But don't even service stations themselves sell it as unleaded?

Yeah, the 'unleaded' title is a bit odd, because all petrol grades are unleaded. All the others have names. We have E10, E85, 95 RON, 98 RON etc.etc. but nobody has come up with a name for basic unleaded, except for perhaps 91 RON.

Maybe we could reinstate the name 'standard'. The old standard leaded petrol was extinct 35+ years ago.

Dr Terry

[stig_3754]

Bring back 'Super'

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by a96ute

I work in retail that in part, sell petrol powered garden tools & lawn mowers,
when you explain these are 2 stroke or 4 stoke the first question is - do you use unleaded a lot of media also refer to unleaded petrol,

So do servo's

[mike_nofx]

Originally Posted by Dr Terry

Yeah, the 'unleaded' title is a bit odd, because all petrol grades are unleaded. All the others have names. We have E10, E85, 95 RON, 98 RON etc.etc. but nobody has come up with a name for basic unleaded, except for perhaps 91 RON.

Maybe we could reinstate the name 'standard'. The old standard leaded petrol was extinct 35+ years ago.

Dr Terry

I think the word 'unleaded' is fine as a name and shouldn't be taken too literally, even though it technically IS unleaded.

It's stranger to call it a lead pencil when it contains no lead.
A propellor shaft when there is no propellor.
A fan belt, even though most new cars don't have the belt turn the fan.

[Ross 1]

Originally Posted by Interceptor

Sheets of plywood and metal are most commonly found in 2400x1200 (actually a few mm more, but are generally sold as "precise" measurments), and 2400x1200 is down to a few mm from being 8 feet by 4 feet, which for a long time was the standard.....

Ever heard of a piece of wood referred to as a "Four by two"? Yep, four inches by two inches

I measure and order all my supplies in metric but when working out the spans for bearers and joists it is easier in imperial. 6"x 3" joist, 6" x 1.5 and changed to feet equals 9', the distance a joist can span on bearers.

[barrys123]

You only have to read the paper done see when they are describing someone's height for example if say someone is 6'3" they convert it to 187.5 centre meters do you honestly think that if someone ran off with your wallet that you would say that height you would round it off. Look at all the countries that we changed to metric to be in line with them and their still in mph, mpg and so on. If I'm building something I still measure in inches.

[mike_nofx]

Originally Posted by barrys123

You only have to read the paper done see when they are describing someone's height for example if say someone is 6'3" they convert it to 187.5 centre meters do you honestly think that if someone ran off with your wallet that you would say that height you would round it off. Look at all the countries that we changed to metric to be in line with them and their still in mph, mpg and so on. If I'm building something I still measure in inches.

For someone who grew up using the imperial system I can see how it may be convenient to continue using. But for someone like me who only knew metric from a young age, well... imperial measurements seem ridiculous. Since I work in engineering I was forced to learn both systems and occasionally I will work in inches for rough measurements, but 99% of the time metric is the better and easier system to use.

[Ben73]

I occasionally use Feet and Inches for length measurements, but overall use Metric 99% of the time.

[CyberWasp]

I am lost,....should I be now going into Subway, and ordering a 304.8mm long, 30.48cm long or a 0.3048 of a metre long?

[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by CyberWasp

I am lost,....should I be now going into Subway, and ordering a 304.8mm long, 30.48cm long or a 0.3048 of a metre long?

Just buy a foot long and only complain if its under 300mm. If it's 7/16ths over then it's a bonus

[commodorenutt]

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

I think the word 'unleaded' is fine as a name and shouldn't be taken too literally, even though it technically IS unleaded.

It's stranger to call it a lead pencil when it contains no lead.
A propellor shaft when there is no propellor.
A fan belt, even though most new cars don't have the belt turn the fan.

Graphite pencil doesn't quite have the same ring to it.....

However, you don't need a propeller to "propel" something down the road, so it's still a viable term.

Most modern multi-rib belts aren't called fan belts anymore - people have adopted the term "serpentine belt" - relating to how the single, long belt is routed - rather than the older traditional V-belts from the days when fans were belt driven.

[Ben73]

Originally Posted by CyberWasp

I am lost,....should I be now going into Subway, and ordering a 304.8mm long, 30.48cm long or a 0.3048 of a metre long?

If you're a tradie use mm, everyone else probably would use cm