It's just really annoying having someone tell you they know more than you do when clearly, they haven't the first clue! Grin
The breaking point for me, when I stopped trying to help idiots, was when one of them asked for help to solve a pump problem. His newly installed pump took forever to dribble water from his collection tank to the header tank up the hill. His reasoning for the pump selection was based on the pump's nameplate Q
max and P
max, but no way would he accept that you don't get both performance characteristics concurrently, and nor would he acknowledge the existence or use of a pump curve. So I just shut up and listened to the rant, occasionally nodding until he then solved the problem by concluding that a bigger pump was necessary. At this point I stopped nodding and asked if that would fix the problem.
"Of course it will. I need a pump with a bigger flowrate" was the inevitable response.
So a couple of weeks later I stopped by to see how he got on, and guess what. He bought a bigger pump alright, nearly twice the Q
max but slightly less P
max. His ranting was somewhat subdued from the previous visit, and when he asked me what I thought was wrong I simply asked if he thought the pump was big enough and should he have bought an even bigger one. I think he got the message, but he's never asked for my help again. And good riddance. There are plenty of others I enjoy helping because they have an open mind and will take on board the advice and suggestions of someone who does actually know more about some stuff than they do.
So, a big
thank you to those of you on the Lister Engine Forum who are willing to share your expertise and experience with those of us who don't know as much as you about Listers, generators, engine balancing, anti-vibration mounting, fuel system trouble shooting, hard starting and all the other stuff that goes with owning, operating and maintaining these things.