This was installed at least 20 years ago.

And this was an actual threaded fitting they soldered, not that they chose a solder version. 

Tue Apr 14 2026 02:07:18 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar Subject: Re: water water everywhere

But, the previous installer soldered down screw on connectors ( wtf ) so it has to be cut out. 

A lot of fixtures now come with ports that can be either soldered or threaded.  Shower valves, for example.  Many of them have a bore for 1/2" copper to be sweated on, and that bore is inside a male thread fitting to which you can attach a PEX adapter.

That threw me for a loop when I re-plumbed my shower, until I realized that it was a one-size-fits-all fitting.

But, the previous installer soldered down screw on connectors ( wtf ) so it has to be cut out. 

A lot of fixtures now come with ports that can be either soldered or threaded.  Shower valves, for example.  Many of them have a bore for 1/2" copper to be sweated on, and that bore is inside a male thread fitting to which you can attach a PEX adapter.

That threw me for a loop when I re-plumbed my shower, until I realized that it was a one-size-fits-all fitting.

Oddly, i just was going to do plumbing at my sisters yesterday too. Swap out an old dead softener. Should have been a 10 minute project.

But, the previous installer soldered down screw on connectors ( wtf ) so it has to be cut out.  Normally id not care and just cut it off as i can solder just fine ( and/or crimp ), but the lines are so short between the 1000 elbows and 2x the needed shut offs ( another wtf were they thinking, it actually had 4 shutoffs, 2 bypasses, and connectors going in circles in the space less than a foot square... ), that i suspect it has to be cut from inside the wall and start over.   And i don't want to be cutting into her wall. 

in theory i could unsolder some of the connectors and regain the extra pipe to grab on to, but that is tricky, im way out of practice for that, and if you screw it up, you have hosed the entire house water supply and have to cut the wall out to rescue things. Once you start, you cant punt..

Tue Apr 07 2026 01:44:33 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar Subject: water water everywhere

Unscheduled fun project! I went to the garage to see if the final coat of poly had dried on my new custom speaker stands, and there was water all over the floor. Wandered over to the laundry closet and found a hot water heater spraying a fine mist of hot water all over the place. Fun.

Removing the old water heater was an adventure. Some shady mamaluke had used solder on pro-press fittings, and used compression fittings where they should have used solder. So tomorrow I have to redo all that before I can put a new water heater in.

You know what ... I'll enjoy the project, I always do. But it's frustrating to spend time and money just to get back to where you were before. It's way more fun to have something new at the end of a project.

Yeah, it’s been that cold. Cold enough that my electric bill showed up looking like a ransom note. $1400 just to keep the pipes from turning into modern art.

At this point I’m convinced the whole “AI economy” is just a polite way of saying “hope you enjoy financing the grid upgrades we didn’t build for the last 30 years.”

Tankless heaters freaking out, utilities freaking out, my wallet freaking out… winter’s the only thing around here that’s running reliably.

So this weekend ( and this morning ) it was soooo cold.   how cold was it?   Well, the water temp in the lines freaked out my new heater and it was beeping "freeze warning".  Wouldn't turn on. Which seems dumb, dont you want heat if the water was that cold but still moving?  

Ran it for a couple of minutes. Felt the temp change just slightly. Shut it off. .wait for beeping to stop.. try again. and it worked. 

Ran into the similar issue with the old, smaller, heater where it had a hard time keeping up every so often mid-winter. Figure this is a by-product of having those huge city water tanks up in the air. Or the lines around the houses are not as deep as they really should be to protect them from air temps.

Other than pressure issues due to our smaller than average incoming main, and no regulator on the lines after they split ( which i *could* fix.. ) so it meant you had to 'balance' the use or it would turn off due the low pressure sensor, as designed. Tho the new one seems less sensitive on that. And i guess that is really no worse than some kid turning on the washer when you are in the shower with a tank heater.... I guess this is the one downside i have seen yet of tank-less, the not keeping up as well in *really* cold weather. And i guess if you get a HUGE one, it would over compensate. But as always, i went with 'what was needed' and didn't over do it.

But considering they are lusciously cheap, take up no space, save tons on energy and dont run out ( unless you hit the safety timer, a simple reset of the water flow restarts ) that is a small price to pay.

Ok i was thinking "same family idea, but different parts, with owner living in 1/2" not a rental. 

Other than perhaps tax reasons, why would having 2 families in a house you own be illegal? 

So. Washer freaks out..  seems we lost water and it made it angry.

Call the water company "we don't know of anything we will send someone"   get a call 10 mins later, hey this is bob from the water company, we have a main break a few houses down and are working on it, turned the water off 2 hours ago..

Nice the office knows what the crews are doing.  

At lunch " we might get a dusting tomorrow night" Happened to look at the radar a big ago, seeing if the snow was going to stop soon, noticed now its 3-6" tomorrow night.  LoL.  Being a weatherman is the only job you are expected to screw up and not really know the answer, AND get rewarded.

And i donno, 6" i might have to dig out the shovel, as that is pushing it a little. The jeep dont really care upwards of 9", but i park it outside, so id have to trudge out to clean it off if i go anywhere.. 3", not worth it, other than the front steps or the mailwoman, but not the drive, since our mailboxes are on the house, she goes thru lawns )

annnnd   get to replace my water heater this weekend.  

Might have told this story already, i dont remember.  Had a valve starting to leak. Cant find a replacement since they changed the design just enough not to work with the old housing....  Not knowing what was behind the wall, i had a plumber rip it out and replace it ( and was not cheap.. at all... ). But due to new government rules they cant just replace them as is unless its just the cartridge, no, it has to be totally changed to a single handle. "for your safety" grrrr.  Turns out what was inside the wall was fine, so i could have done it myself, but its an old house, and i didn't want to take the risk of getting in over my head physically. Im not 30 anymore. sigh.

So it means you get lukewarm water, at best. 

But in my case, it was worse. On the low end of warm... I did not buy a huge water heater last time, 68k BTU or so. It was plenty for what we need, and since we could actually adjust the water, showers were fine. Actually it was more than we needed as if you turned the heat all the way up it was too hot.  So it sat about 1/2 of what it could do.. 

So a new one has arrived @ 120K BTU.  That should make up for the difference with this stupid valve. And of course the layout is not quite the same so not plug and play, i have to redo a bunch of the work i did a few years ago and there goes my Saturday afternoon. 

I know i should not bitch, im able to do this myself and not have to hire people.. but its still an annoying event, and for no real good reason, just the government getting its fingers in my business.

And along the lines of not being 30.. actually having someone come to trim my huge bushes and apple tree.... i started, but just didn't feel secure enough on my ladder this year doing it...   this getting old stuff sucks.

Yay generator wont start.

Was going to get it ready for winter.  nope.   Now i have to drag it out into the yard tomorrow and see what is wrong with it ( impossible to look at it in the box )

This is a bar ratchet.  Not a strap.

I have a comealong in a box. It used to go with me when i took my old jeep truck out into the woods if no one had a winch. Better than nothing.

Wed Aug 20 2025 00:48:08 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

I've done it. I own several ratchet straps, I don't own a spreader or a comealong, and in a pinch you use what you've got (as long as you can do it safely).

Family member noticed i was using a ratchet clamp as a spreader in the garage ( details not important ).  They had never heard of such a thing.

Isn't that a pretty common practice? I cant be that different..

I have a peach tree on property. Every year we get a bunch off it, so many we share with neighbors.  ( used to have 2, but one stopped producing anything for several years, and it was too close to the house anyway so down it came )

This year, not a lot of peaches on it, but still enough to want to pick them.  Oddly a lot were rotten.. Not all, just more than normal for some reason ( heat? i donno ).  Had plans on picking this weekend since i had help here doing other things with us.  Yesterday evening coming back from walking dogs, saw 3 squirrels sitting under the tree eating what had fallen. ( and why i dont pick all the fallen, unless so many that its effecting my mowing or starting to kill the grass, i leave them for the birds and squirrels, and bugs and such )

Fast forward to this afternoon, go out to make plans, the tree is empty..   what the hell..   Ground looks about the same as the day before, a few but not tons.. 

Lol

So as i mentioned i have solar and some batteries.   The portables will only suck around 60 watt max to charge ( ill never buy that brand again ).  I now have 5 panels of solar on my shed. ( 5 more panels in storage for emergencies, and a bunch of mini ones if we bug out  )

Since they wont suck much i put a splitter on the incoming, and plugged them both in.  I use them every so often to cycle the batteries ( mostly crypto mining.. might as well ).  One wasn't charging..  pulled the wires off to check for voltage, one side was hot. . the damned thing melted. .. lol 

Even if those panels were at 100%, which none are, the battery would not take more than 60 of it anyway.. should never have got that hot.   I wonder if they were lying on the wire gage.. and it was REALLY tiny wire.

The story i was reading, i cant find with a simple search now. It was in news headlines of that day.   But one example below.  If Trump did nullify it, why is a bill being introduced this summer?

And for the record, while its always possible something i read wasn't true and I fully admit that, as these days you never really know, nothing i say was made up by me, unless i specifically say ' i think ' or 'my opinion' or something similar.

https://www.energy.senate.gov/2025/5/chairman-lee-introduces-bill-to-end-biden-era-lightbulb-ban

You know what? I'd appreciate it if you started citing the sources from which you derive your information, otherwise I'll just assume this is you:

Apparently, no.

Thu Aug 14 2025 21:51:05 UTC from SouthernComputerGeek

Didn't Trump sign an executive order undoing the light bulb regulations?

Wed Aug 13 2025 17:43:25 UTC from Nurb432

"In 2028, new U.S. federal regulations will require most common light bulbs to be significantly more energy-efficient, specifically achieving a minimum of 120 lumens per watt. "

 

So, banning CFLs without actually banning them by name, unlike what they did with incandescents.    Fool the sheep.. 

 

Didn't Trump sign an executive order undoing the light bulb regulations?

Wed Aug 13 2025 17:43:25 UTC from Nurb432

"In 2028, new U.S. federal regulations will require most common light bulbs to be significantly more energy-efficient, specifically achieving a minimum of 120 lumens per watt. "

 

So, banning CFLs without actually banning them by name, unlike what they did with incandescents.    Fool the sheep.. 

"In 2028, new U.S. federal regulations will require most common light bulbs to be significantly more energy-efficient, specifically achieving a minimum of 120 lumens per watt. "

So, banning CFLs without actually banning them by name, unlike what they did with incandescents.    Fool the sheep.. 

I was thinking cat litter instead of sand. Its actually approved for disposal of oil...  Sand would not be. Perhaps not 100% following the rules but only bending, not breaking.

I figured it was empty, but after a couple of decades i was curious anyway and the pipes were in my way of something i had planned there, so, i dropped a stick in and I don't think there is much in there judging by the average size of a tank around here ( im guessing... cant be sure ). but enough i don't want to seal it up and walk away, just in case.   When i bought the place, the inspector " i don't see this, but you should do something about what i don't see "   I guess here, if they find that, you don't get loaned the money.

Having it done professionally would be stupid expensive, for what i think is little risk in reality..  I have heard some will fill it with foam instead of pulling. Slightly less expensive and far less destructive. but still not cheap.

I wish i could find the outlet that went into the house. be far easier since its designed to come out that hole... . but its gone.. 

Tue Aug 12 2025 17:50:34 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar Subject: oil tank

Ooooh ... yeah, get that outta there. If it's still full of oil when you try to sell the house, that's an expensive remediation. Or if it leaks into the ground, that's an even more expensive remediation.

The professionals will pump it, crack the top open, scrape the sludge out, and then excavate and replace the hole with clean fill. I think the typical DIY approach is to empty it and then fill it with sand. Cut away any pipes whose presence would suggest that it was ever there.

(Not that I would suggest violating any environmental laws, no no no...)

When I bought my first house in 1995, the inspection company wrote "abandoned pipes may indicate the presence of an abandoned oil tank". I never found one, but I sure as hell cut off and concreted over those pipes before I sold the house in 2014.

I still have that underground tank full of the stuff. .you are welcome to it :)

I was going to try to finish what i started a year or so ago and empty it, but this summer has been too hot to even think about outside work.

Mon Aug 11 2025 13:33:56 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

Since diesel and #2 home heating oil are basically the same product, they are sort of exchangeable.

We are not to that level around these parts, and i'm not alone in being ready for the latest weather related outage, but its always been a concern if there was a total collapse of society.. " what if they hear the generator, they know we have power".  or later on when all fuel supplies are gone: "if they see our lights on at night from the batteries"  The solar panels, are hidden from street view , on purpose. and i guess if we go that far down, id get them off the shed and put them on the ground. ( wood fencing, so no one would see them )

And yes, i know. Overly paranoid. 

Mon Aug 11 2025 11:12:48 UTC from darknetuser

Regular people is piss poor so they have no recourse but to soldier on.

A shot of carb cleaner, and it only takes one pull.  

I went with a regular gas one.   Then got a kit to run it off natural gas or propane. ( if things go down hard.. gasoline will be hard to get.. so to the gas line.. then eventually the natural gas lines run dry..   then last resort.  find propane somewhere and drag it back )

And ya i agree on the exhaust, its why i rigged up a copper pipe to get it out of the box.  

Tue Aug 05 2025 19:57:25 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

That's what I've got mine in too, it was originally for garbage cans. I haven't dared to run the generator inside the enclosure, as it would definitely melt from the side-firing exhaust. It's a diesel, so it's a very heavy generator for its size. And I don't like having to drag it out to use it. So for me it'll be at the very least a concrete pad and a vertical riser for the exhaust.

Mine is a 5kw unit. it lives in a Rubbermaid 'house' out back.  ( one of those smallish yard shed things. about 2x3x2, both with front doors and a top that opens so it wont over heat, pretty much fills it up ). The generator is not huge, but not something you stick in the corner of the garage and drag it out every time you need it either. Its got wheels, you need them, or 2 people to drag it around..

I added air intake out the side opposite the exhaust, and a copper pipe for exhaust i can run up in the air. 

It is manual start, didn't want to spring for electric start. 

Batteries are great for when power is out and its still bad weather tho.   Would not want to run that thing with the 'box' closed. it would melt.  I suppose i could rig up some sort of water cooling and hang the radiator out side the box. but that's a lot of work for how rare its needed.. ( now, when i move out of this concrete hell hole soon, that might be a different situation ). Garage doesn't have a window, so no good way to vent the exhaust.  ( other than the attic, but its way to hot for that.. catch the place on fire )

Thu Jul 31 2025 13:59:47 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

Got it all hooked up, extension cord run to the fridge, started
to plug it in.. BLINK.. power is back on.

Heh. That's kind of how it is here with our generator, but for the opposite reason. The lines on my street feed a large number of customers downstream from here so we end up pretty high up on the priority list to restore. (At our old house it could take days.) When the power goes out we have to decide whether it's worth it to bring out the generator and hook it up.

At some point I want to build a "real" generator enclosure with an exhaust stack so I can just run it where it is.

lol. power went out.  ( not due to storms. just poof. gone. no noise either. )  "eta 4 hours" from the power company

Waited an hour. Drug in one set of batteries ( for fridge, freezer and fans ). Got out the 2 'extra' solar panels ( i can move them around the yard as needed.. not attached to anything ) and hooked them up to charge that battery set while being used, since its super sunny today. ( other set, in the closet used to swap with the first, fed by panels on a roof, or generator if needed )

Got it all hooked up, extension cord run to the fridge, started to plug it in.. BLINK.. power is back on.

Oh well, better prepared and not need it, than need it and not be prepared.

of course if its an extended period, i just use a 220v suicide cable and hook up the generator to the house during the day. Batteries at night..   But that is last resort.  ( and, yes, id turn off the breakers to the outside feed first....)

Tho you know this, you would be welcome close to us. 

Thu Jul 03 2025 23:48:39 UTC from Nurb432

 

Out in the Appalachia, 

 

Ok, auto-destruct dropped a word for me "I'm" not prepared ( to bail yet.. ) not the property wasn't prepared.  ( tho the house needs some minor work )

Dont have my ducks in a row .. but it would have been perfect for me.

Thu Jul 03 2025 23:48:39 UTC from Nurb432

  but not prepared

 

Damnit. found what might be the perfect house for me.

Out in the Appalachia, 60 some acres..   140k..  but not prepared

Sat Jun 14 2025 14:38:00 UTC from Nurb432

 

When i move out of here back into the woods, im taking it with me.  It will also run on propane. ( also thinking ahead.. no power or gas..  at least we can have warm water )

I don't remember how many years now, 5 perhaps, i *think* it was early summer 2020.

I mentioned i replaced my tank water heater with a wall mount thankless, for a variety of reasons. Had nothing but trouble with them, replaced it 2x..  This thing was amazingly dirt cheap, and tiny, which makes sense since its just a pipe and a flame..  it also uses far less gas since its not keeping a huge tank of water warm 24/7.

But back to the story: When i got it, found out that it did NOT plug into the wall for power. It used batteries. 2 C-cells.  Was going to wire it to the wall, use rechargeable batteries bla bla so not to deal with it dying on me all the time yet have a backup when the power goes out ( which happens far to often around here, as i have mentioned ).

But, it was working and being lazy ass i never got around to it.   Now, fast forward 5 years later. ... and its still on the original batteries...  wtf.   

Thought about it today as i thought they had died..  but nope. 

The only complaint i have is that its pretty sensitive to incoming water temps. So has to be adjusted come winter, and then summer. Not a huge deal its just a knob, but its 'outside in the closet' so adjustment requires me to run outside to the back door. Not huge and not its fault as most people can access their utility closet from the inside, just annoying.  It also uses a pressure sensor on when to turn off and on, and since i didn't do a good job of plumbing, its easy to cause it to shut off if you start using too much cold water to balance the heat.  Not its fault here either, and easily worked around ( or fixed with some pressure regulators ), but a slight annoyance when you are in the shower, turn up the cold a bit too much so i dont melt. then it shuts off. 

( and ya, opening that room up to the house and doubling the area of the laundry room.. been on the agenda since day one ..  just never got around to it as its a huge job tearing down walls. I am still not 100% sure why the houses in this area are like this. i think its due to having oil heat back then, but the tank was outside, buried even, and the furnace isn't in there but in the hallway, so i really donno. )

When i move out of here back into the woods, im taking it with me.  It will also run on propane. ( also thinking ahead.. no power or gas..  at least we can have warm water )

Well. That is uncool.

Grrrrrr, along the same lines as above.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House broke ground Monday on construction projects ordered by President Donald Trump to pave over the grass in the Rose Garden and install flagpoles on the north and south lawns.

So i have been bitching about the paving over of everything here..  And now its reached where i grew up ( and where i take my dogs to walk along the river ).  Several thousand acres of woods and farms, rezoned for 'subdivision housing' and at least one apartment building ~1000 units.   Everyone i know is getting ready to get the hell out. ( if they can )

F- these people.  

Well I'm in a bit of a bad position right now with regard to cash flow so nothing's happening soon anyway.

What I seem to be settling on though, whenever it happens, is a marine battery charger (because they're designed for continuous use, and they don't mind sharing the battery with other charging sources, like a generator or a solar array) and a bank of SLA batteries.

He was thinking to keep them cool.  If fire, then shut off.      

Sat May 31 2025 20:36:38 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

I think fans + temp sensors + alerts would be plenty.  

Blowing fresh air onto a battery fire?

I think fans + temp sensors + alerts would be plenty.  

But you could always rig up a fire retardant sort of thing.   Other than restricted air flow ports, keep it in a 'box' ( steel or something ) add sensors, and if any sensor freaks, cut the power supply and drown it in some sort of anti-fire fluid...    And if the temp just gets a bit too much but not scary levels, it shuts it all down and the fans go into high gear.

Tue May 06 2025 22:58:42 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

The fire risk is one of the things keeping me from doing a big DIY battery bank.

sigh. i meant the batteries were about 3" x 6" x 4". Small ones, but several. I could see that being interpreted as feet and the size of the rack.  

sorry. 

We have a wire rack in the garage of little LiFePO4 deep cycle batteries, around 3x6x4. Each shelf has a solar charger thing to keep things under control. all wired in parallel to keep the current down. Ten we have a 120v to 12v from the power grid to keep them charged.  One adapter per shelf here too.. keep the current down on most of the wires.  Used to have old car batteries, but slowly swapped them out for the better ones, and added more.

Then, out of the controllers, again in parallel, we have something like a 5kw inverter that runs the house, bolted to the wall beside the rack. ( we don't use that much juice, it is overkill, but was on sale )

We do have regular grid power, but its not real stable during bad weather so having the batteries means we don't go without when it blips out. And we figured by using incoming to help charge ( or run the inverter when the batteries are charged ) we don't have to run out and flip the switch when its storming and get hit by lighting or something. ( garage is a separate building. and its where the power comes in at )

We also have a few panels on the roof of the garage that attach to the wire coming in from the windmills.  We added those when we were without for a couple of weeks, not too long ago.. and not really enough wind. We also bought a generator after that as a plan C.  Our fault for not really thinking/planning ahead...

Fire? Well, it's one reason we put them in the garage. Don't want to lose that either, but better than the house if we had to choose.  Also have a smoke detector and a couple of fire extinguishers out there, just in case. Oh, and a temp monitor stuck to the rack.

I'm starting to see more of those, but the blades are sort of helical, like a ribbon lawnmower turned sideways.  And many of them look like they have the same configuration, the helical blades and a small solar panel on top of it, to produce both kinds of output.  I guess someone is mass producing them.

As some here know, I've been contemplating the construction of a DC system here at home for some time now, mostly as a backup but also to catch some "free" input power if I add it later on.

How do you keep the batteries from overcharging?  What kind of batteries do you use and are you concerned about fire?

And since my description sucked, bad.  This is the idea. But its PVC pipe so thicker, the top and bottom are made of PVC cutting boards, and there are bolts to hold it all together.

Have several of them out there in a row.  All wired in parallel that run back into the garage.    Im sure there are far more efficient things, but its cheap, not flapping in the wind to hurt the birds, bla bla. 

2099519266@Uncensored

Well, i know what i'm doing tomorrow afternoon. one of our windmills broke apart. We have several 'vertical' ones we made from scratch out in the back yard. They drive old car alternators. For a bank of batteries out in the garage. Not traditional air plane bladed thing but not real sure what 'style' they are. Picture a large diameter PVC pipe cut in 1/2 lengthwise to make 2 blades, and they sort of sit inside each other in an S shape, to catch wind.

Reading that as of around noon, we had upwards of 7" of rain last few days.   No wonder we are swimming.

lol  and now that a lot of towns are partially flooded around here..  "weather alert - freeze warning"   for the next couple of evenings. 

Yay flooding. Everywhere. roads closed, rivers over bank.. parks flooded.  Spent the last 3 hours pumping water off my back porch before it got into the garage.   Could have been worse i guess, several houses down the road form here are effectively under water.   And more rain coming....

A big part of it is due to this ** construction.. tearing up the trees and farmland that used to absorb the water, and grow our food from it, AND give us air. Plus natural water pathways to retain overflows are being filled in and paved over. Too bad all that nonsense wont just wash down stream, along with the people who built them, and live in them. Grrr

light in freezer went out. no big deal, just go grab one from Ace ......   wtf... its freaking proprietary .. 35 bucks.. for a lightbulb

New valve and actuator for my air compressor.  

Its typical that as they age, the gasket/flapper goes out. and you cant buy them separately. So instead of a 15 cent piece have to buy a whole bunch of stuff.  Not a lot, just annoying. But new one, the valve body has an extra port. nothing to go in it. so.. get to adapt old + new .. 

Fun times.

Of course when this gasket wears out in few years, you wont be able to buy replacement parts, and instead have to get a 500 dollar compressor.. Since we all know where these spare parts come from, and cant have that. And of course prices of what is allowed to be sold will double, because they can.

So the town south of me. less than 10 miles away, just rezoned 1000 acres of farmland.... for a 3000 house development. yes, 3 fucking *thousand*.   I need out of this fucking county. 

And yes, i'm using bad words, which is not like me.  i cant express how pissed off i am at this point.   

yay  bathtub drain frozen over.   ( -3 this morning ) Last time this happened it was -11.  ( bathroom is up against an outside wall )

Not end of world panic stuff, all the incoming and outgoing lines are fine.  and supposed to get to around 20 this afternoon.

Arrrgh ants..everywhere. 

Well, ****.   Seems late in 2023 the lab basically burn to the ground, shortly after it was bought by the 'fan club' to restore it and turn it into a museum.

The more paranoid might suggest that one of the builders who lost out on the bid might want to see it burn, so that the club had nothing to restore, so they sell of the, useless to them, land.  But that would never happen. 

There is a pretty good documentary on his plans and the eventual fall, if you can find it:  "Tower to the People: Tesla's Dream at Wardenclyffe"

Nice bit at the end, a modern fan club of sorts save the lab from becoming yet another housing development, at the last minute. that alone was an amazing story, and luck. Until i saw that i honestly thought it had been lost decades ago to nature, then assumed it had been bulldozed over for a shopping mall. I was rather pleased to see it saved. One of the few "man made things" id like to go see on this rock we call Earth.  Its to bad they wont reconstruct the tower, and resume the work. But, that ship has sailed. ( ya, pun sort of intentional )

Tue Dec 31 2024 17:16:47 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

"i need more money", and Marconi stealing his patents and

Oh sure, blame the Italian :)

it was a bit more complex than that and included using the earth as a resonator. Eventually he would replace the gas engines with his boundary layer turbines using diesel generated steam, driving his generators on-site to create the power ( at least until nuclear became an option ), but yes, perceived inability to bill was one of the primary reasons Morgan cut his funding 2/3 of the way thru the Wardenclyffe project. There were a few others tho, such as Tesla expanding the project goals agreed on for funding ( massive scope/cost creep ) but not telling anyone "i need more money", and Marconi stealing his patents and getting all the press during the Titanic disaster messing up royalties.  And of course due to the Westinghouse generator debacle, he didn't have a lot of money of his own at that point but he did pretty much bankrupt himself in the process anyway. But ya primary was the inability for Morgan to see the bigger picture.

And back to billing, and forgetting modern billing practices which of course was beyond their imagination at the time even then someone had to produce the hardware to receive power, so it wasn't like it was going to be 'free'...  And worst case could have used mechanical "counters" with a feedback loop of some sort, something Tesla could whip up in his sleep. if he slept. Not sure why he didn't think of both at the time to appease Morgan. "see, we change for the stuff and look we can bill for use too"

Oh, and ya, im a Telsa fan.   lol    Always was, even back to grade school. 

Tue Dec 31 2024 04:51:49 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

He wanted to electrify the ionosphere, which seems like a good idea until you realize there's no way to bill for it.

And related to my car story..   Spring going to have a contractor redo my bathroom, instead of myself.   I dont know if this is age or what..   letting others do things id never think twice about doing. 

if we had just listened to Tesla ( the real one, not that shameless bastardization of his name that Musk created ) we would all have wireless power today.. 

When we remodeled the kitchen a couple of years ago, I noticed that the soffit above the cabinets was just an empty bumpout, so I ran lots of low voltage wire inside.  Under-cabinet lights went in later the same year, but I also left extra wire in there knowing that I'd eventually want to add some in-wall speakers.  It's been a couple of years now, and I finally installed speakers as a Christmas break project.  The wall-mounted bluetooth receiver/amplifier is something I've wanted for a long time, and my lovely wife bought it for me as a Christmas present.

Everything runs back to a 12 volt terminal block, fed from a transformer in the basemetnt, that is accessible in the cabinet under the bathroom sink, since the bathroom and kitchen are back to back with each other.  I have a similar sound system in the bathroom, but the amplifier is hidden in the cabinet and there's just a switch on the wall.  We use it to listen to podcasts or music while in the shower or tub.

Yes, I'm that kind of nerd.  I love built-ins.

its amazing how tools multiply on their own.  Especially wrenches, sockets and stuff. 

I got an air compressor this past summer (ok, it was my dad's air compressor, he's too senile to use it anymore) and have been enjoying using air tools in my shop.  I even set up a little parking cubicle for it in the corner of the garage, but it really was annoying to have to pull it out, get down on the floor, and operate the drain plug after each use.  It's bad to leave moisture in the tank, of course.  So I just got this:

2099494379@Uncensored

So. hopping up and running around the roof at 60 is not the same as at 50..  Not 'bad' but i can tell a difference going up the ladder.

With most things there is a 'right way' a 'duct tape way' and the 'wrong way'

Somewhere between "right" and "duct tape" is where i normally fall. Most things in life are NOT worth effort to do it by the book.  But i don't want a bunch of tape holding things together either..

Wed Oct 16 2024 22:22:00 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar Subject: Re: Suicide sockets

That's the correct way to do it. 

Ill keep the rant to a minimum on this one.  As i have bitched about before, they have declared war on trees, farms, wildlife, dirt...  and are putting up houses in my county as fast as they can.

Had to run to the vet yesterday, and on the way I pass one of the new developments. Not been past in a couple of weeks ( its also on the way to the hardware store ). And in those 2 weeks. must be 100 houses magically appeared out of the dust..

How in the hell do they build this crap that fast? My dad and grandfather were in the building industry so I know it does not take a long time to grow a cookie cutter house in a development, but this is frightening how many ...  In a year, there will be no dirt left here.

Intent is to put the plug ( tho female in my case ) in a locked waterproof box on the wall. Just one more extra bit to prevent 'oops i wasn't paying attention'.   Plus being a regular female plug, if i wanted to run something that needed 220 out back, its 'there' already, just have to switch it on.  ( well, will be, once i get off my lazy ass and do it )

A bit of redundancy never hurts..

Mon Oct 07 2024 18:08:25 EDT from darknetuser Subject: Suicide sockets

I have something similar as a fallback plan here. I have a male plug protuding from a wall that is connected to the house's distribution/protection box. It goes through a switch in order to ensure you cannot connect the generator to the house wiring as the same time as any other power source, and also to ensure the plug does never get voltage on its own.

When we did it, it was completely worth it. We later upgraded to a full self-sufficient power supply system that made it redundant, anyway.

Yes i did consider hard wire for a moment, but really dont want to futz with it. Due to the attic issues i have mentioned before the 'correct' placement puts it on the wrong side of the "no mans land" so would be a major pain, and a battery, well, is trivial.

Id have been more ok with it if the thing actually lasted 10 years and chirped, not scream like bloody murder, when it was dying.  I'd still rather have a replaceable battery so that *I* am in control, especially since it didnt last much longer than a good lithium 9v battery.

So no power Friday night/Saturday until lunch time.  So had to fight with that all night and into the morning.. so im beat.    Oh and had to fix one side of my fence. neighbors blew away, and tore part of mine up from one of the concrete balls holding it down.  Wasn't hard to fix for now, just now i have to have a new fence put in on that side of the house so the dogs dont jump it and head out one evening. means monitoring them in the yard for a while and unplanned $$.

</rant ON>

But back to being tired.. went to bed early..   around 1130 the smoke detector started going off..  arrgh..  but it wasn't the normal screaming 'bleeeee bleeeeee bleeeeee run the hell away' it was 3 LOUD beeps.. silence. then 3 LOUD beeps..  rinse/repeat   "wtf does that mean"

Climb up tear it off the wall and look at it. Still blaring. Push the button. it stops.  Check the house. nothing. Not even smoke coming in the windows.  Furnace is off, so no CO gas either.   Sitting on my desk as im looking for fire..  starts back up.  grrrr!

OK fine, how do i get the battery out and could not figure it out..  Reading the bottom of the unit "You dont its permanently sealed". "10 year life, when it dies it starts yelling"   WTF. its barely 6 years old.   But at least i figured its just dying and not that we are going to die.     But no way to stop it short of killing the device "remove key from mount on wall, insert into unit, turn and disable device permanently..it can not be turned back on ever "  really? geeesh. 

Fine. its off. in the garbage. now for a new one.  You have any idea how hard it is now to find one around here that is NOT setup like that? I just want a damned battery to put in when it dies..  where it calmly chirps when its low..      Local hardware store, nothing. so down to the next town yet again..  they had ONE model left like that.. and only 2 in stock. 

Yet another 'technology advancement' im not fond of.  at all. 

</rant OFF>

i should have stopped at JJs when i was there about that tuna fish sandwich the other day, but was i in bad mood and didn't want to take it out on them by accident.

I already have the supplies.   I got the cord when i first bought the generator, so i could just run it thru the back door and into where the dryer was if we needed it. ( we have a gas dryer but it has an outlet on the wall )  Later after i put the generator in a permanent box out back  i decided to just go ahead and move the existing plug to the outside wall, just not quite got there yet. its rare we need it, so, lazy..  

Interlocks are for for sissies :)     Seriously tho, if you leave it unplugged until you need it, turning off the main breaker is not a huge ordeal and impossible to forget. Now, if i had some automatic remote start thing, then sure, id want an auto interlock too. But this, i have to go outside, open the box. Attach the exhaust extension i made, push the air inlet hose that i added to the filter housing, out the other side, get the cord out of a waterproof tote, fish it thru the back door, open the air filter and hose it down with carb cleaner ( i use it like starting fluid, but its safer.. had a fire ball come at me once in a car that backfired.. never again ) turn it on, pull the cord a few thousand times... bla bla.   So flipping an extra switch is really trivial.   So not a cost thing, just a 'why bother'.

Sat Sep 28 2024 13:50:47 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

Why build a suicide cord when inlets and interlocks are readily available and not overly expensive?

High winds = no power for around 20 hours.

Earlier this morning opened up the generator to run the fridge/freezer and charge the battery i was using at night for the fridge.   I had forgot i bough a 95 watt transformer for those stupid solar batteries. ( they come with like 25 watt.. ) Would have made testing earlier easy if i had remembered that.  And ya, it topped out at 60 watts, as expected.  

At least it was not 99 like last time.. Was in the low 60s.  

Also learned at 2 am NOTHING is open around here anymore.  Power didn't come back, so went to get ice.  Nope closed.    Next town south.  Middle finger.. Next town.. same thing..  Self serve gas with a CC, but none are manned.

I really need to get that 220v suicide socket setup. No more running extension cables from the back yard.  but it means drilling holes in my wall.. so been stalling.

Out in the yard a bit ago "hmm i should toss another round of dirt and fresh seed in this low spot since its fall.."    " Dog and i were just there getting some wood and brackets.. didn't think of it, idiot "

Check prices at local store, $2.80    "i wonder how much it might be at amazon, save me a 2nd trip this week"   $ 44.99    um...  wtf.. no.   lol.   ( same brand even.. )

For reasons not worth getting into, my AC unit is 'in' the house in a cubbyhole in the hallway, not out in a util room or basement or something. ( this is common in this area, some move them when they tear out the back of the house for additions. I have thought about it but means relocating lines for both AC and gas ( power too, but that is easy ).. adding air ducts in the ceiling. bla bla, just to regain what is basically space for a tiny closet.. )

Now that its freaking hot it runs a lot.  Its amazing how quiet the house is when its off.  Its on so much, its easy to forget. Last house i owned it was out in the util room. Never heard it other than the wind in the vents.

and my solar saga continues, but with some answers today.

As mentioned above... been struggling getting more than 60 watts to charge these batteries i bought a couple of years ago. Seems that no matter what i do, it hits 59 or 60 or so and that it. ( or lower, in shade, which is expected )

Switch things around, new wires, bla bla and just didn't work out.  

And as i ran into as well.. i had the 2 other panels out that were barely 1/2, but when i covered one up, it didnt drop.. cover the other...also no change  'wtf'.  Really confused now, so i put 2 of the 'good' ones back. Same process same results, but 60 instead of 30.  At least its a pattern. Its not the cable, its now 10 gage, its not the splitter or id have lost power when i was covering them up.   Only common thread now are the batteries.

So i took the one i built, looked at it. "if i put a 120 watt load on here, kill the batteries then plug it in, its running off only solar .. add a watt meter for extra measure ( no pun intended ) and we will see what the hell is going on here.

Ok. soooo what do i use for a load? Portable heater.. no, too much. that inverter is 150 watt and its like 1kw..  Dig around the garage more.... Oooo an old xeon shop lite, 300 watt.. Figured it wont be bright at 150 but still a load.  Plug it in, poof inverter shuts off. Grrr its got a safety valve.. so back to the drawing board.  If our freaking government had not banned light bulbs.. grab a 120 from the store and be done.  Dug out my drop cords. yay 2 still have real bulbs, wonder if they work.. check first.. 200watt...arrrg... 2nd 70.. well, not quite what i wanted but it still will push it past 60.. Plug it in.. yay light.. and pulls 70 watt...

So go out, plug in the 'commercial batteries'... 60 watt, as expected.  Plug mine in. Poof 70 watts + its charging the battery..  And after about 20 mins the plug is warm.. so closer to 200 watts, at a guess, short of breaking the connectors open and digging out my multi meter..   Going to try the 30 watt ones this weekend i bet they are actually putting out more, or at least can.

Grrr these things are rated for 100 watt charging. it almost seems like its trying to throttle for some strange reason, or they just lied....    While i know what is up, im still not pleased.

Ya, the way most people do if you have more than 4 batteries...

Fri Sep 13 2024 14:22:07 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

 bus bars

Well, that is disappointing. ( continuing the solar thread )

Couple of years go i bought 2 more panels to store away for emergencies, instead of mounting them. What i got last time was out of stock, so got a different style. Same brand, but different shape, which should mean nothing if the same number of cells.  ( more of a rectangle than a square )

Set them outside where i had the one i have been dragging around the yard testing. While i don't expect any of them to be 100% rated value, as nothing is 'perfect' they should at least pull what the other did in the same spot. But it was less than 1/2 the wattage. Even with both running, was just slightly less than the other on its own. getting 75 out of the single, 59 out of the pair.  Grrrr.   Tomorrow afternoon will test each one separate, see if its just one that is bad and causing an issue to the other. But i suspect its just crap.

I really think i should have bought that ZPM out on aliexpress when i had the chance a few years ago.

Lol. Trying to find the name of an old local tool store like Harbor Freight for a friend of mine, as far as where i got my mill and lathe ( but was better, and had larger stuff ).   

No luck, but ran across a random 'review' of a battery brand " they suck because there are so many counterfeits that are unsafe".   How the hell is it their fault?

some systems are 24 v, but same principle, wire them in parallel so you always get some current. I am running 4 in parallel since my stuff is 12v

in theory the higher voltage would experience less of a current drop than a lower voltage system

So that battery box i made last year from scratch that i complained about where i really didn't save anything of any amount by doing it myself.   It did have the advantage i can remove batteries and such.

Amazon had lithium batteries on sale, picked up 4. Swapped out the 3 lead acid that were in there. its about 1/3 the weight + an extra battery.. its amazing how much lighter.  Going to wire up the lead acid ones and stick them on a wire rack out in my 'server closet'. Add a plug to this box so it can charge/use the lead too, but still be portable, and be expandable if i wanted to add more batteries to the shelving. Could even add car batteries if i had to in a pinch if things really fell apart.

Still not saved any money, but its a bit more useful now as a 'portable controller' than being a huge concrete block with a handle. 

I think it will vary widely on location, and terrain.

I also guess that sticking them on the sides of tall buildings is a 'thing' too.

Tue Aug 20 2024 13:09:36 EDT from darknetuser

That sounds very inefficient, and very prone to problems. Where I live, I would get a lot of shade from far obstacles on the terrain during very early or late hours when the sun is very low on the East or on the West.

And still on the solar kick.

It seems vertical ground mounting is a thing. Facing E/W ( panels on each side ) not a ~30 degree facing south. I had actually thought about trying that, after watching the sun really closely for a few days now.

May take 2x the panels, but it doesn't take up hardly any ground space.  While wont effect me, means you could still grow ground crops or animals.

I think i should go back to bed.. been one of them days.

Decided to put a remote AC switch on one of the solar batteries. Stuck in one my X/10 appliance modules and walked away.   Later.  "Why is the device hooked to it not turning on"..  Doh. idiot... I know better.

And moving the panels a bit a bit last few days, trying to find the best spot ( original plan, i don't think is a good spot overall.. ). Went out to check on power meter after one move. Zero. wtf..  started checking wires and stuff. Finally found one plug that was pulled out just slightly inside it. Not enough to stop my multi meter seeing voltage/closed circuits when testing so confusing the hell out of me, but enough to not connect to the other side of the plug.     At least it wasn't on the roof. ( i suspect they will end up there before this is all over.. but i really don't want them there )

Well, new washer is a LOT quieter than the old.   I wonder if its had been having issues for a while, slowly built up so we never really noticed.  

And the freaking thing DOES have Bluetooth   it did not mention that when i bought it.    It also locks the lid when washing. I wonder if at some point they will reach into it "Monthly subscription fee or we lock you out"

Speed Queen seems to have a good rep for long-term reliability.

Ordered an LG. Be here Monday. Was ~ 200 bucks off, and no internet, so it won.

GE is what just died. ( not blaming them specifically, i know its the industry that is corrupt )

Yay clothes washer died.

Figured "its just a belt, i can do that no big deal this weekend"   no, now its got some sort of encapsulated transmission system.  costs 2/3 of a new one.. Freaking planned obsolescence and destruction. Soooooo off to the hardware store tomorrow to shop for a new washer.

First 3 i saw online " comes with its own app" no. f-no..  i don't need or want an internet enabled washing machine.  Set dial. Push button. Clean my clothes.  That's it.  So sick of computerizing what does not need to be.

House across the street is a rental.  People moved out about a month ago ( i think i complained about the trash out front, and the city blowing it off ) Seemed like ok people. Had been there 3 or 4 years. Ones before that owned the place, moved and sold. Rental people bought it ( common here.. they get to it before anyone else does. )

For the last 2 weeks there has been repair crews at the place nearly every day.  I dont know if they trashed it on the way out or if they left due to it needing so much work and just gave up.   ( some people a few blocks away just did that, the place needed work and the landlord was a jerk.. "we are done, bye everyone" )

That you know of *insert evil laugh here*

Tue Aug 06 2024 21:41:54 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

There is no Count.

Grrrrr 

"those special adapters, i need to be sure to put them in a safe place so I dont lose them"... "6 months later.....now. where the hell did i put those damned things"

Great. upwards of 4" of rain over the next 2 days.. 

So clover is taking over my yard. been fighting it for a couple of years.  i'm losing the battle.

Only consolation is you dont mow clover as much as grass... it grows 'out' not 'up' and i guess is a lot better than weeds.. seems to be eating those in the process.

this is just personal use stuff, we don't sell it, so nothing fancy like greenhouses. 

oooo seems we will have peaches this year.  They have doubled in size in the last week.. Thought it was going to be a dud year. That tree just wont quit. after all that has happened to it, should not even be alive. Mother nature at her best.

Only got 2 apples tho.. and perhaps 5 blackberries..  Handful of tomatoes, they never got big ( like i thought the peaches were going to do )

TONS of catnip tho   :)  ( just took some plants to my sister in-law last night, and perhaps 1000 seeds )

If you mean our side, just come across southern, that is apiece of cake. Wave at DHS nicely when you land, and they give you housing, food, cash and a phone. and all you have to do is fake your name on a 'promise to return someday' letter.

Sun Jul 28 2024 06:42:29 EDT from darknetuser

If I make it past the border, that's it.

Mine needs mowed and i dont feel like it as im tired and heat index is 92.. When will you be over?

:) 

Thu Jul 25 2024 12:55:28 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

I have neighbors who have several of that type of rideable mowers. Unfortunately the only horsies cutting my grass are the 14hp in the Briggs & Stratton.

Ya.  i wonder how many people that cant add that they catch with that 'deal'. 

Sun Jul 21 2024 13:42:31 EDT from zelgomer

Ummmm.  How does that math work out?

Like this: buy the $5.8 individuals.

Going to pick up some rubber pavers from Lowes later today.   Checking online to see if they have them in stock before i drive down, considering pre-order and just grab them at the door..  They are $5.8 each these days. Oh, they have a pack of 9 and i need 12 anyway.. i wonder how much cheaper it is buying in bulk for most of it: $74.98.

Ummmm.  How does that math work out?

Well i did say 'for a while' :) 

Mon Jul 15 2024 08:18:22 EDT from darknetuser

Las mower post? I will have to fix that!

So my mechanical mower died yesterday and pissed me off. Usually I let the neighting mowers do their thing for a couple of days until only the grass they don't like is left, then I pass the mower on everything to level the height of the lawn. I had to use a scythe instead. Bummer.

Last mower post for a while, promise..  unless it catches on fire or it decides to eat me.

So i paid about 450 for it.   looked online as i was shopping, before i hit buy, and "replacement batteries" were about 100.   Was actually thinking of grabbing one when im there this weekend getting some concrete pads.  But, turns out it was lower amperage ( it only showed one replacement battery when i shopping..  how odd..  bait and switch in effect? ) and the one i got with the mower is 250 bucks.    so over 1/2 the cost of the mower was the freaking battery.

Not that 250 is going to put me in the poor house or something, but man that is expensive. especially when i was not expecting it. and i think ill wait. see how it holds out this summer.

Well, my new mower is garbage. i set it out back, told it to go mow. it just sat there.   its supposed to be self propelled  

:) 

Every day i look outside my window, i kick myself for not buying land back in the 90s like i was going to.

Sun Jun 30 2024 11:24:53 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

Size matters.

Well then apparently mine is substantially bigger than yours :)

Size matters.

My yard appears to be small enough to pull it off, guessing 75% battery. ( will know for sure next time ).  Now, if i had my 20+ acres in the country, no, it wouldn't work. 

Wed Jun 26 2024 15:13:00 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

 

My neighbors have an electric mower, and they can't ever finish the lawn on one charge.  

The batteries are getting better, they're just not "great" yet.  I have a set of DeWalt 20V tools and I like using them, but changing the batteries is for the birds.  The leaf blower in particular only gets a few minutes of use on a charge, so it isn't really useful for much more than blowing debris off the driveway.  I haven't retired any packs yet, but the first time I do, I might try turning it into an AC-DC adapter.  Yes i know the DC cord will have to be thicc but I don't care.  

My neighbors have an electric mower, and they can't ever finish the lawn on one charge.  No thank you.  I'll keep riding around on my 17hp John Deere, which I hope to keep for a very long time (like my truck).

Well, this new mower thing, ran it ~25 minutes.  Push only.  Used 1/4 battery.  So i guess its honest about 'up to 45 minutes' claim.  Did entire front yard. Ran a couple of passes thru the denser stuff in back yard ( its shaded ). Didn't bog down.  ( too damned hot to do it all.. and storms are coming anyway )

So i guess it will work. Still way too expensive and an unexpected expense, but at least not a dud.

Oh, and it folds up pretty well in the garage to keep it out of the way. The gas one, not as well. 

Family is all down here, i need to stay close-ish.    My goal would be to go closer to Kentucky. Its still rural in that 1/2 the state. 

Oh, i have plenty of reasons to get the hell out of here.  

But one stopping me.   $.  I'm too old and too close to retirement to start over with a mortgage somewhere else.   And with the way land cost is sky rocketing i don't see a 1:1 move being an option.

Whiles its not a bad idea and i think i mentioned the idea about a business ' rent a goat ', they changed the laws here in town a few years ago, no 'farm animals' within city limits.  That even includes chickens. We used to be a rural town, it pissed a lot of people off.  Many moved away. I was stuck. Of course now its pavement city. Grumble. 

Mon Jun 24 2024 17:25:41 EDT from darknetuser

My condolences.

Take some goats. I think they are worth around 100 USD the pair and they make a relaxing bah sound while at work.

Well now the 'proud' owner of a battery mower.  Not because its green, ( actually its blue.. lol )  but admittedly its quieter, a tad lighter, and in theory less maintenance over its life ( mainly clean it and change blades ).   Battery is warranted for 3 years, they cost about 100 bucks.   Had a corded mower a decade or so ago, and while it had the same above "perks" and sounded like a good idea at the time, dragging a cord around the yard when you have things like trees, is a absolute pain in the ass. So it went away after one season and replaced with what just died.  I guess if you have no trees or bushes, as long as you work from one corner to the other, cord can just drag behind you.

Supposed to run 45 mins on a charge. I normally split my yard work in 1/2 as i get too hot being outside, so i guess i'm not out anything without having to get a 2nd battery.  Assuming it can finish 1/2 the yard in that 45 mins that is.  We will see, if it ever cools down again. The gas mower, i can get it done in 2 sets of 30, but if i push this too fast, it will of course fail to cut.

I guess this one that died, speaking of maintenance, aside from oil and stuff, i did lose a carb about 5 years ago. Cleaning didn't revive it.  And muffler was toast, really needed replacement.

Im sure people in the area will think i sold out to the greenies. I really didn't. 

So today, its "only" 78 this morning..  thought id run out and mow the front yard during lunch while i had a chance as i wont die.    BANG.. broke what i assume was the connecting rod in the engine ( didn't open the thing up but 'feels' like that and not a valve ). Either way, the thing is a decade old, not really worth fixing ( more likely replacing ) the engine.   But a lowish-end replacement self propelled mower - ~450 bucks. wtf. . really WTF...

And come to find out battery ones, cost about the same the same as gas..    Damned Biden. 

Side career...  "ya i can build you one, here is the fee"

Ya, there is risks but its damned effective.

Used to be blades you could swap in on the string trimmers.  Donno if they got banned or not " might hurt yourself whaaaaa " 

Tue Jun 04 2024 14:28:49 EDT from darknetuser

Trimmers with actual rotating blades, now, those are up to something. They also chew through your feet real good :P

I have seen people do it locally, when they let a field get too overgrown.  Not often, but it happens. 

So a few years ago i replaced my tank water heater with a tank-less.  Left the old flue in place as its attached to the roof. i really didnt feel like tearing it out, then putting in new decking etc..  Besides, its an extra outlet for air draft out of the room its in so no 'need' to seal it off. 

Fast forward a couple of years when we had the tornado that blew thru town late last spring. It dislodged the flue and or cap slightly and started to leak when it rains and blows heavy. ( but not in a mild rain ) Since it was minor and in the pipe its self, not the roof, and the weather was so bad, i just attached a bottle to the thing to collect water. Empty if it collects any, which wasn't often. With plans to climb up there and fix/tape/caulk/whatever in the fall before it got cool ( want it warm so whatever i put on it has a chance to seal ).    Got busy, was minor so put it off. 

Had a good storm today ( another coming tonight ), lots of wind, so it had a bit more water than normal  about 4" in the bottle. ( 2 liter bottle ).  No big deal, and as always just get a bucket, open the cap, then toss the water outside. 

But today i decided to drop the freaking bucket on the floor..   Yay mess. water alarms going off, bla bla ...  Not end of world mess but pisses me off mess. 

Ya, once we get past the rainy season, it gets sealed :) 

New business idea "rent a goat".

"we will eat your grass for you"

Wednesday Addams is pretty cool.  The current incarnation is eight years old and goes to my church.  Her dad is a friend of mine now (but he doesn't look like Gomez).  They are pretty cool people to hang out with.

Hey, having an all black Gothic mansion with an older Wednesday Addams at my side, would be perfect.

Sun May 12 2024 12:34:36 EDT from Nurb432

 

Painted flat black

Was out near where i grew up this weekend, took the dog over to the river ( its not flooded now ).

Heading out, decided to go out the back way so i could see some actual country land again.  Saw a house for sale.   Painted flat black, dark brown trim.. perfect for someone like me.  3 bedroom 3 acre,1 story, 2 car detached garage thing ( a bit higher than most, which is good if you want a lift ).  Up against a still active farm.  ( lot of farm out there still, which is nice.  trees. crops.  no freaking warehouses or developments )

Looked up the price.  800k ..wtf...   house prices have gone to stupid levels ... 

Another down the street from it in 'town' ( if you want call it a town.. a stop sign. an old country store that closed up in the 90s  and a church, now 'town center' ). House is the same size as mine, perhaps a few years older ( early 50s is my guess ).. its 100k more than mine.. again..*wtf*

Bleh. 85 today..  Back yard still wet and muddy.. but more storms coming tomorow so had to mow too tall wet grass in freaking hot temps.

And more flood warnings Wednesday.. wtf... 

One of the parks i take the dogs, has the main state river going thru it and a trail that goes along side the river.  ( told that story before about how it washed away the town back around 2008  ).

I knew it would be a bit wet due to the rain we got, but took one of the dogs there today anyway. it must be at least 5' above flood stage. trail is flooded at our normal rest area ( 'picnic' area ), parking lot down by the 'public access dock', where we normally park is mostly gone. i suspect day or two ago it was totally underwater. The signs for the dock, underwater..  Wooded area, gone.  Main parking area, still there but its a little bit higher ground.   Sort of like the old days when the town was still there.  With the houses having a flood stain mark at the window line and town being flooded every spring. 

Picture for those who care below.  Normally the bank is 5+ feet down to the water there near the first bench. To the left is a gravel pit. That water was rushing across the trail towards it like a fire hydrant.  I bet the trail collapses at some point.  Further down a mile or so, it goes over a small stream that feeds the river. Bet its gone by now .  ( its a 4 mile trail ).  Trail normally isn't that wide, that spot has a large turn around area, not sure why, cant drive out there. walking only.

2099437587@Uncensored

And last night 3" of rain..  yay more flooding.

Lol. Tomorrow its snows.

gotta love the Midwest. 

Normally it just gets 'wet' with a few puddles. dogs love it. ( and love tracking in mud for a week...grrr ). Been here 23 years, first time its ever got high enough to be able to get into the garage. That was a shock. When i went out to check on the gutters. "ack".  We have lots of trees around these parts, so even if they were clean, they seem to magically clog quickly. I think leaves teleport.. So i check before storms, and when it slows down enough i dont get drenched ( or hit with lightning, my ladders are aluminium  ).

Yay 3" + of rain almost instantly. Yard and back porch are flooded.   Park flooded, part of the main road in town, washed away.  I heard a lot of flooding up north too. Thankfully i had an old submersible pool pump from back when we had our pool. Glad i was in my typical "better keep it, might need it some day"... (  some day is today :) ) Slow going but its going down.. which is all that matters.   And a couple of floor fans in the garage. 

Ya, i know, could be a lot worse.  Near where i grew up the entire town was washed away one spring around 15 years ago.   But its still not fun.

ok pounding in fence posts is a lot harder than i remember ... 

Grrrr dogs destroyed a chunk of yard.  going to take several bags of dirt. and start over with grass. Took me all season last year to get it decent in that spot. 

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

That is sort of funny.

Searching on Lowes website for something  :  "1-1/2 in. x 6 in. white plastic slip-joint sink drain extension tube"  and it searched, showed what i searched for marked out and what it actually searched for..  same exact search.

lol. 

Tho i guess technically it could be in food too.. but it is 'plumbing hardware'.. going to use 2 of them as a stand to have 2 layers of pans rising in the microwave.. Since im too cheap ( and dont want to waste the counter space ) to buy a 'rising box' i use the microwave with a boiling glass of water. Normally works fine for a single item, but im wanting to do 8 'buns' and i cant fit 2 pans side by side ( 6 each.. doh.. ). Still experimenting. Used 2 inverted stainless steel drinking cups this time.

LOL.. and just after i posted this, YT suggested a video about home explosives, and one thing on their table was a bottle of liquid fire.. 

And people think google does not read what you type... Sure they dont.

So that liquid fire stuff works pretty good for unfreezing tub drains when its -10 out. 

Speaking of trees and chippers:

Some tree cutters on way home from office today ( for our mandatory in-office meeting.  a whole different disaster story.. ).   The 2 holding the stop/slow signs for traffic..  both missing their right hand.

Somewhere, perhaps YouTube, i saw a guy that converted an older lawn mower into a tiny portable chipper. 

Great for butt-head neighbors too.

Sun Sep 24 2023 14:28:33 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

Trimming trees is instant gratification! And you get to use a chainsaw! So yes, it's satisfying. Not so satisfying is having to clean up and haul away the debris. I wish I owned a wood chipper, because aside from its primary use, it's also useful for breaking down wood.

Sure ill trim those bushes back down. They are way too high, i think gutter height is good. Wont take long...... ya right. 

How quickly i forgot how much i hate trimming trees...   grrrrr! 

No details, just in passing but something about them going after window AC units now they have caused prices of regular AC to skyrocket.  Unsure if they are to change regulations to make them prohibitively expensive, or require professorial installer, or just ban then..

Like when my AC went out couple of years ago. All it needed was a compressor, but no, 'that is Freon, we cant touch that, it has to be replaced'.  And realistically had to get entire system replaced since heat/AC was one integrated unit. So what should have cost couple hundred bucks at most to have them do it ( i wasn't able to find one so i called people in.. now i know why, its illegal to sell them ) cost me 5k.. 

While i have switched to LED for the most part anyway, other than my edge-use cases, i still disagree with being forced. 

Its not hard at all, so everyone should make a bulb on their own and ship it to DC.  "see.. f-u"

Stocking up. I receive no compensation of any kind, just have this in my bookmarks.

https://www.destinationlighting.com/products/incandescent-bulbs

I heard, may false, that NYC wont grandfather gas heat in office buildings.

Mon Jul 31 2023 03:12:15 PM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

Also in New York City they have basically outlawed brick oven pizza.

It wasn't secret, but it wasn't really broadcast to the masses so not a lot of protest.  ( "in a dark basement, in locked cabinet behind a unused door that says beware of leopard" sort of thing ) They are trying to do the same with gas furnaces, gas stoves, and wood stoves. but i think more people heard about those first and are making noise.

Sun Jul 30 2023 08:36:42 PM EDT from zelgomer

WTF! I hadn't heard about this!

Incandescent and halogen bulb ban goes into effect Tuesday. Better stock up tomorow, if you can.

F-ers.

My hermit crab needs heat lamps, and not just for heat but the wavelengths too. Other animals need it even more and wont survive with LED.. I have heard conflicting reports if they are gone, or exceptions are made for 'special purpose'. Wont really know until i try to buy more this fall.

So does my car in the winter ( traditionally around here we have always shoved a 150 watt drop light in the engine when its *really* cold. 

95 heat index. No wonder i was hot mowing grass.  Was not supposed to get this hot today..

i used one of those push reel mowers once at my grandmothers when i was a kid.   I struggled then...

Guy a few houses down uses one.

Mon Jul 17 2023 01:04:09 PM EDT from darknetuser

2023-07-15 17:02 from Nurb432
Mowing damp grass before the rain begins ( for days )  in ~90 heat
index.

Sucks. Makes you reconsider not having sheep.

I am glad you finally found the light.

Once you have your mower banned by the Feds you will either get some grass-eating pets or will used to a middle-age tool. Let me tell you middle-age gardening tools are thought for people who is big and strong.

Mowing damp grass before the rain begins ( for days )  in ~90 heat index.

Sucks. Makes you reconsider not having sheep.

I have that problem here at times since i live in the suburbs. I also *can* do anything as i used to help my father and grandfather build houses. But i'm not certified in anything related, so if i ever sell, it wont pass inspections and if insurance finds out i could lose coverage. "it was like that when i moved in, didnt the inspector catch that" only goes so far.

Some of it i still do myself and figure i will worry about inspections later down the road if i ever get to move. And in case of unexpected insurance claim, with luck all evidence of unrelated things is gone due to the damage.

Its one reason i hired someone to replace my AC/Furnace back in 2020 instead of doing it myself. Gas = possible inspections.  And why we have to take my wives car to the dealer for things i could do for nearly nothing: "not verified by the car maker, so you voided your entire warranty"

its a racket. 

Thu Jun 08 2023 12:01:32 AM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

I have the skills, I have the tools, but this is a big and visible enough deal that I think I need a licensed electrician to do it, especially since the power company has to be there to disconnect the second service. That gives me teh sads.

No, the downspout is clogged. no wonder it was fine last weekend when i checked.

Hard to fix that during t-storm and not die.

Wed May 31 2023 05:14:15 PM EDT from Nurb432

Grrr storming out of the blue.. and of course my gutters are clogged up.   They were fine last weekend. 

 

Grrrrr!

Grrr storming out of the blue.. and of course my gutters are clogged up.   They were fine last weekend. 

Grrrrr!

yes. but im old and lazy now. 

Mon Jan 09 2023 04:27:19 PM EST from darknetuser

Aren't you an EE? Get a microcontroler and build a BSM system with a CAN bus and everything \o/

Seems that little inverter i got does NOT shut down after a while of no power drain.

sooooooo had to add a power switch after all.

With good enough insulation all you need is a bunch of pets. 

lol 

With the layout of my house its not as simple as it sounds. 

i actually have recently looked into a stove, but we would lose so much of our front room in the process, i skipped it.  ( there is no 'back wall' to our living/dining area, as the wall there is the garage, not outside.  I would have to put it in the far corner in the front, tear out the windows, build wall there, put in smaller windows.. bla bla. lose quite a bit of floor space.  Find a place for the fish ( 70 gallon tank ).

There also may be some insurance ramifications. I know out at the old place with my parents, we moved into a place that had one in the basement. ( walk out ). They said it had to be removed to get insurance..  I dont think there was anything wrong with it or installation. It was solid, was on a concrete foundation, brick back wall in the corner.. i donno.

Honesty my better option would be to move back out to the boonies. But i'm sort of stuck for the time being.  Going to work on that in the next year or so, depending on what the housing market does around here. its looking like it may collapse.

Oh, and i have seen Peltier 'generators' built to go with stoves :)

Mon Jan 02 2023 06:19:31 PM EST from darknetuser

One thing i sort of regret here is not having a fireplace. Power goes

That is easier to solve than you might think.

Get a cast iron stove. Pierce a hole through the wall and attatch an external chimney to the outer side to the wall. It is mush safer than piercing through your roof.

I keep trying my family to let me add a stove to my house that way since the fireplace we have takes a bit too long to heat the whole house, but they won't bulge.

(Bonus points because such stove can also be used for cooking, but a fireplace is still better because that way you don't get vapor everywhere every time you boil something in a pot)

My old house had a fireplace, but it was so old and inefficient that it was useless for heating.  I think it drafted more warm air out of the house than it produced.

Later on when the next owners put it back on the market, I noticed that they added a cast iron fireplace insert to basically turn it into a wood stove.  That was very clever.

2099321559@UncensoredOne thing i sort of regret here is not having a fireplace. Power goes That is easier to solve than you might think. Get a cast iron stove. Pierce a hole through the wall and attatch an external chimney to the outer side to the wall. It is mush safer than piercing through your roof. I keep trying my family to let me add a stove to my house that way since the fireplace we have takes a bit too long to heat the whole house, but they won't bulge. (Bonus points because such stove can also be used for cooking, but a fireplace is still better because that way you don't get vapor everywhere every time you boil something in a pot) ]]>https://uncensored.citadel.org/readfwd?go=Home%20Handyman?start_reading_at=2099321537Mon, 02 Jan 2023 19:40:15 -00002099321537@Uncensored

Right. Turbine is the better and more efficient route, but there is a larger investment in time/space. I considered wrapping the stove with a copper coil, creating steam to run a Tesla turbine. But, we are only talking emergency here due to storms and such, not ongoing daily life after the apocalypse so its really not worth going that far.  Now if i live out in the Appalachian Mountains or something, id be saying different things, would not be 'plans' but done decades ago..

i was toying with the idea of running a water line ( steam ) from a rocket into a small car 'heater core' inside the house for warmth.  Then use power generated from the thermo units to drive a small fan.

But those are just random thoughts of stuff that i might try just to see.. The practical ones here are multi fuel generator+battery+solar+gas heat/cook. ( which are all covered ).   If i were to move back into the country, water would be added for power  ( and we are back to a Tesla turbine ), wood for heat/food, and most likely beef up the solar. 

One thing i sort of regret here is not having a fireplace. Power goes out for a week, it would come in handy. At some point, if the area is without power long enough i assume natural gas stops too, and i know water will stop at some point since we have those large tanks in the sky and its not unicorn dust that runs the pumps....

Does not seem like it, between the batteries and the 'delayed steering' thing.  Almost hit a barge of some sort going across a canal in front of me once, before i got used to the 'turn early' thing.  Guy with me " turn...now..hurry " "but its way down there. "

And ya i dont plan on running my house with this stuff, its just for emergencies so we dont die.   I still have a generator, but if the area gets hit hard, gas would be gone, between people panicking and it needing power to pump.... ( and ice for freezers, last time we had a power line go down within minutes every store in the near area was empty of ice. ) 

Who knows about natural gas, it might stop too if its really bad. ( that is my heating/cooking and can run the generator off that or propane, but if we natural gas too, i wont be using propane i dont think.  rather keep it for heat and food.. ).

And of course as the area is being destroyed by housing developments  it only increases our risk.

So a few of these battery things, + some solar, could prevent us from having to bug out and leave my house unprotected. Or attract attention with the noise of a generator.

Also looking into generating power direct from the heat of burning wood in a rocket stove. ( Peltier electric modules.. no, not efficient by any means, but they are simple .. )

Mon Jan 02 2023 11:02:55 AM EST from IGnatius T Foobar

I guess we haven't been around the same kind of boats.

Mid-build, during testing and with lid closed, if it helps give you a better image.  Dowel rods are not in, nor did i hook up the charge ports yet in the open view. Vent hole will go in the back, there on the right so it lines up with the inverter fan ( the red box )

2099321476@Uncensored

I'm limiting the power output lower than what the batteries can do via a lower output inverter.  Partially just to hard-limit it so it lasts longer but also i went with a smaller inverter to fit in a smaller box. Could use a large toolbox or something and used a larger one, but then weight may bite you if you want it to be portable.

Short version of how, just get a box.. toss some 12v batteries in. Wire them in parallel to a solar charge controller, then the controller to an inverter.  I bolt them to the lid so i dont take up any room from the batteries. Wire a couple of jacks to the charge controller for input.  I used 2 in order to reduce amperage on each plug since they are small barrel jacks ( standard stuff you would see on an external hard drive power supply or something ), and so i could run 2 100 watt panels in parallel without any Y-adapters.

Most inverters have a fan, so i cut a hole near in the box near the fan for air flow.  This time I got an inverter that powers its self up/down on load instead of a manual switch that i had to deal with.

Dowel rods in the box separate the batteries to give it a bit of air flow around them, and so they dont bounce around. These are the size of the ones you see in boats, to give you an idea. Perhaps 1/4 the size of an average car battery. But you can really use any size you want, or have around its all the same concept.

How many batteries depends on how long you want it to last on a charge, and how big the box is.  Lead acid and lithium are about the same power for the same size, but lithium is 1/2 the weight, but more costly, so its a trade-off.   This one was lead acid. it wont be lugged around much. I have a couple that could be lugged around if needed as an option, so they are lithium. 

Sun Jan 01 2023 08:01:02 PM EST from darknetuser

That sounds interesting. How are you building them?

Do you mean the battery is 500 Watts-hour with a max rated output of 100 watts?

and just finished yet another portable emergency battery backup. 500 watt. capped at 100 watt use. Double wide ammo case. if you build them with barrel jack inputs, you can charge them with the house, solar, car, generator.. whatever. 

Wont run a house or anything, but will run a light and small fan, and if you add a buddy heater you dont freeze to death or sit in the dark. ( or have to bug out and leave your house unprotected )

Yes, chemicals are bad for septic tanks, dont want to kill the bacteria in there. But we have city sewer here as I'm not in the country anymore :(    Used to be semi-rural, but not any longer. But it was still a 'city' when built so it had city water, sidewalks, sewer, etc  ( ya,  have bitched about that before, wont start up again :) )

Mon Dec 26 2022 10:43:18 PM EST from IGnatius T Foobar

High pressure jetting is definitely preferable if there is a septic system at the end of the line. Also there are nozzles available that are absolutely savage -- they can literally cut through roots with only water.

(And yes, I am indeed a Drain Addict fan. Ollie is THE MAN.)

Ya we rarely have a clog too, tho i used to pour a bit of draino stuff down once a quarter. Also toss a can of tree root foam down the toilet once a quarter, to avoid another clean-out event.. Not real sure why i got the big bottle, but the "we might need it someday and stock up" mentality kicked in.

In this case, the advertising was true.. it was pretty freaking amazing. 

Be interesting to see how it does with a  'real' clog and not ice. I bet it melts grease and hair..

You get to go to the hospital for 3rd degree burns and get to wear the scars proudly as a testament to your stupidity.. ( it said to wear gloves )  It also has a warning 'if ingested, will cause death'. Not 'seek immediate treatment' but 'you die'. "do not use with other drain formulas in drain, explosion hazard".  Also said to put a bowl underneath the drain, 'in case of damage and leak" ( why i wont use it with plastic.. i bet it melts it, sort of defeating the entire purpose )

Industrial strength stuff does carry a certain amount of risk.  Be it machines, or chemicals. Its not for pansies  :) 

Sat Dec 24 2022 09:45:45 PM EST from zelgomer

2022-12-24 19:51 from Nurb432 <nurb432@uncensored.citadel.org>
Went and got a hand ( or drill ) powered snake from harbor freight.

On way back stopped at ACE hardware and got something called 'liquid
fire' clog remover.  just for the hell of it i thought id try clog
remover first, ( but i was out.. ) but the local grocery was um,
**Packed** and ACE was  next door, with a single car in the lot..

Had all sorts of warnings, even some about possible explosion
hazard..   Poured some in, it actually steamed and started boiling
the water as it reacted to the water.. Never seen such a a thing with
your commodity "cleaners" before.   And in about 40 seconds, clog
was gone. I bet it melted it from the heat being generated. 
 Powerful stuff... wont use it on plastic pipes i dont think.

That sounds terrifying! What if you got it on you?

Went and got a hand ( or drill ) powered snake from harbor freight.

On way back stopped at ACE hardware and got something called 'liquid fire' clog remover.  just for the hell of it i thought id try clog remover first, ( but i was out.. ) but the local grocery was um, **Packed** and ACE was  next door, with a single car in the lot..

Had all sorts of warnings, even some about possible explosion hazard..   Poured some in, it actually steamed and started boiling the water as it reacted to the water.. Never seen such a a thing with your commodity "cleaners" before.   And in about 40 seconds, clog was gone. I bet it melted it from the heat being generated.   Powerful stuff... wont use it on plastic pipes i dont think.

This is new. I think the drain to my tub has frozen. 

Yes, but only for consumption by the elites. Not the serfs. 

Fri Dec 23 2022 01:02:20 PM EST from zelgomer

I'll bet they'll have no problem importing it, though. NIMBY

I heard something about Canada planning on banning plastic manufacturing. I didnt look closer so unsure details or scope, but it was more than just straws and bags.

Fri Dec 23 2022 10:19:36 AM EST from zelgomer

I recycled a plastic straw for your dogs. Did it help?





oh wait, that's for the sea turtles. Oops, I mixed up Saint Greta's Commandments again. Which one is the one that's supposed to help global cooling?

Tks, my dogs will appreciate it. 

Thu Dec 22 2022 10:28:07 PM EST from zelgomer

From a guy who likes cold, this is a bit much.

Sorry. I'll see what I can do about it.

hmm now they say -13 and -53 wind by 8am.  And even now its dropping like a rock.

From a guy who likes cold, this is a bit much.

5" snow.  60 mph winds. sub-zero real temps with -35 below windchill.   going to be chilly.   not normal for around here.

i really wish i could get that damned feral cat in the garage.  I have a small house full of straw outside for it, but id rather he be inside. Not sure hes going to make it :(

Well, a last spring during the mouse-outbreak i must have re-homed at least 50..  Didn't get a ticket so must be at least 50 :)

Sat Nov 05 2022 09:37:46 AM EDT from zelgomer

2022-11-05 13:07 from Nurb432 <nurb432@uncensored.citadel.org>
Caught the first mouse of the season. i hope its the last one.

I never was a hunter. What's the limit for mouse season?

Caught the first mouse of the season. i hope its the last one.

I wasn't opposed to spending some cash, i even called 2 locals to come do it for me. Just wasn't interested in the hassle renting a chipper for the day when i can do it myself.   ( or spending the time to get a trailer hitch installed on the jeep )

And ya large chippers are scary dangerous, but doubt i would get a large one anyway. 

repainting. not repairing.    typos suck.  keyboard sucks.  time to get a new one i guess.  damnit. it was a great keyboard until i took the keys off.

Well, i won..  but got hit in the head by a limb and sent to the ground hard ( it didnt go the direction it should have and fell over my fence in to neighbor's back yard.. and as i was trying to flip it around to get it out of her gate it came down on me instead.  took me out + 2 trash cans. )

And cutting what was left back some more, one of those limbs ( about 8" dia ) decided to break early and came crashing down on a spare car part i had stored back in that corner of the yard to use when i get around to repairing the little car.  ~300 bucks to replace that part if i can find one. Not looked yet, they used to be hard to find . ( not as bad as rear tail lights which are basically unicorns at this point, but still scarce )

And my foot still hurts a little from the injury from the other peach tree earlier this summer when a storm took out its largest branch.  

I am not fond of peach trees now.

I dont, tho i thought about renting one.  

Sat Oct 08 2022 19:06:03 EDT from Nurb432

if we had a fireplace.......

 

But no, we dont.  so it goes into bags and out next big trash day. Been keeping it at 7 bags a month.. so cutting these these trees slowly.  Called a couple of local tree people for this one due to its size but neither showed up so i gave up and just did it myself this afternoon..

 

If you had a woodchipper (or a beaver on crack), you could make mulch.  I highly recommend the woodchipper method, as a beaver on crack gets messy fast.

if we had a fireplace.......

But no, we dont.  so it goes into bags and out next big trash day. Been keeping it at 7 bags a month.. so cutting these these trees slowly.  Called a couple of local tree people for this one due to its size but neither showed up so i gave up and just did it myself this afternoon..

Sat Oct 08 2022 16:06:12 EDT from Nurb432

Man cutting back a 30' peach tree down to the trunk on your own SUCKS...

Yard is now full of tree to cut into 3' sections and bag... going to be sore tomorow. 

Holy crap that's a lot of firewoods.

Man cutting back a 30' peach tree down to the trunk on your own SUCKS...

Yard is now full of tree to cut into 3' sections and bag... going to be sore tomorow. 

Today's word is "scrench"

Never heard of it before. seen them, but never knew it had a special name..  

So doing this myself isn't going to work.  *one* branch of this damned peach tree = a pile 4x8 feet that i have to bag up.  The amount of limbs and stuff is rather deceiving..  As the first branch came down .. oh, this is going to be a problem.

Not that i cant physically do this, but trash people will only take so many at a time, and its once a month...

this is electric, so just the chain.  Id never try that with an engine.....

Switching from a regular hand saw, to a small reciprocating saw to cut limbs was great.  But now using this 6" chain pruner its like night and day.  My hands would not hold up using an axe, previous injuries. 

I was not really worried about being eco-friendly,  i just had canola on hand, and its cheaper, and i guess does not stink up the area..  eco-friendly was just a neat thing to add on to it for free, but i was being 100% selfish. 

And its not like i cant afford to buy another if i break it, but if i can avoid it by simple proper maintenance, it only makes sense not to destroy it unnecessarily. 

And that is why Westinghouse shut it down.

Thu Aug 04 2022 09:21:24 AM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

The problem there was that there was no way to meter it. 

wtf...    damned migraines.. ( and possible infection ... i feel like crap after some tooth work last week )

Sun Jul 31 2022 10:51:22 AM EDT from Nurb432

 How was did it go long term? 

So electric chain pruner.. Anyone ever used canola oil for lubricant?  How was did it go long term? I read that it works ok, and is eco friendly as its safe for the environment and does not require any fossil oils.. Not that i care any about that of course, but its at my grocery so its one less stop, and it appears cheaper.    

Being i'm reading it from 'greenies' unsure how effective it really is.  it seems to work right this moment, but i dont want to cause long term damage.

If we had listened to Nikola, we wouldn't have all this wiring mess.  Of course his wireless transfer stuff was terribly inefficient..  

Fun fact: electrical safety codes (since 2020) have been getting updated to require GFCI on all residential circuits.  This means new constructions only have GFCI-enabled breakers in the breaker box.  Local GFCI outlets on the first outlet of a circuit in a "wet" room (litterbox, kitchen, not-inside) are still required, for additional purrotection.  You can still purrchase breakers without GFCI purrotection, but those are now relegated to commercial and industrial applications.

Yup.  My town isn't on the 2020 code yet but that's definitely the new rule.  AFCI are required in some locations too.  My house is 31 years old so we only have GFCI in the kitchen, bathrooms, and garage, so when I do work in other areas, "it was like that when we moved in."

For a major renovation I'd replace the panel with one that has plug-on neutrals.  I hate pigtail neutrals because they clutter up the box.

2099304717@Uncensored

So the feeder out front was empty.

4 birds come to the window, sit and beat on the glass. "hey, human, lets go.. we are hungry"

I understand why my parrot would do that, he was domesticated and had lived with me for some 30 years, but its funny how wild birds learn where the food comes from.

Right, my house was built in the late 50s; So im not in the market :)

Fun fact: electrical safety codes (since 2020) have been getting updated to require GFCI on all residential circuits.  This means new constructions only have GFCI-enabled breakers in the breaker box.  Local GFCI outlets on the first outlet of a circuit in a "wet" room (litterbox, kitchen, not-inside) are still required, for additional purrotection.  You can still purrchase breakers without GFCI purrotection, but those are now relegated to commercial and industrial applications.

Never seen one of them before, but then again, im not in the market. 

Follow up to the previous message ... I came up with the idea of putting a GFCI *before* the circuit splits into lighting and receptacle legs.  And it turns out I can buy a GFCI that doesn't have an outlet in it, which is kind of cool.  They look like this:

2099304631@Uncensoredhttps://uncensored.citadel.org/readfwd?go=Home%20Handyman?start_reading_at=2099304630Sat, 25 Jun 2022 13:51:27 -00002099304630@Uncensored

They list the actual tax amount too, not just what they paid.  So ya, it doubled.  

I know its due to all the 'progress' going on. We get to foot the bill.  And i guess house prices are going up across the board in the area, so that is a factor too. i noticed that in my yearly property assessment letter from the town.

Grrrrr statement from bank.  seems my home taxes doubled since last year.     Grrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i know its due to all the destruction around here they call 'development' grrrr

It had a AC to DC converter inside, or it would have gone back to the store.  Still, shouldn't have to cut up the cables and drill holes if its sold as 'direct wire'..

So light died in the kitchen, under the cabinet. Bought a new one " direct wire under cabinet " or some such nonsense, implying that its not using a wall plug, but actually wired..   Open it up so i can drill a hole ( its got side knock outs, i want it where it mounts on the wall ), there is no place to attach the incoming power. its all some funky connectors inside it.    They expect you to buy a controller that feeds it power instead .. wtf.  

Oddly it even had 2 twist connectors in the pack. but nothing that goes from the magic socket to splice.. 

Sure i can cut and splice as i'm not an imbecile, but that isn't the point. 

( or should this have been under rant :)  )

Well, that was fun. Went out to get my GSD from the back yard, and shes out there playing with a husky.. wth.  It jumped a 6' privacy fence. Went to find the owner, that lives behind me. They came to find me. We went different directions and didnt see each other, sort of comical.

Friendly dog, and my GSD likes to play so it worked out ok. i'm just thankful my other dog was not out there instead as she would have killed it.  She attacks other dogs, even ours, if she gets near them.

I called my dog inside so i could figure out what was going on, and the silly thing tried to follow her in.

"Friends falling from the sky to play, this is a great day"

Bleh T-storm heading my way.  70mph winds, nickle sized hail

Gonna be some damage.  

ya, i thought about straw too, but the local farm store was out.  This week i need to roll the yard too, if it stops raining long enough.  Several years of rabbits has taken its toll and its like a minefield.   Going to try to do it by hand, as i dont have a tractor ( yard here is too small for that, we just use a self propelled push mower. tho a few people do, and all they do is spend their time turning... ). With luck i dont pull my elbow apart.

And good ( well not good, you know what i mean :) ) that its not my imagination or was losing my memory on prices.  

Mon Apr 11 2022 09:05:16 AM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

And is it just me, or did grass seed explode in price this spring? 

Absolutely. I bought a big sack of it and it cost more than a tank of gas.

Landscapers often put straw on top of new seed to keep the birds from eating it. Homeowners usually don't but at these prices maybe it's going to start making sense.

Most of my front lawn is still missing after the work I did last summer pulling out rocks and stumps so I could get the lawnmower around without destroying it. I threw out some seed a few weeks ago but there have been no results.
It might not be the greatest time to do so. Now I've got even more of a mess because I had my entire driveway replaced. It's about 250 feet (76 meters) long so it cost a small fortune, even more because a culvert underneath it had rotted out and needed to be replaced as well.

But I guess it's better than all of the giant potholes, including the one that was basically ready to swallow a car into the creek. Oy.

Oh, and the Walmart lockers/tower machine pre-dated the flu-virus by several years.

Sun Mar 20 2022 07:39:19 PM EDT from zelgomer

Any new contactless thing. I thought that Russia ended the pandemic.

Damned birds.   Put out a lot of 'lawn patch' today.   Birds decided its meal time.   I even put out bread to attract them away from the patches. 

And is it just me, or did grass seed explode in price this spring? 

Nah, elections are coming. Time to bring it back.  Facui is already talking about new lock downs.  Its harder to cheat if everyone goes in to vote.. ( not impossible just harder )

Sun Mar 20 2022 07:39:19 PM EDT from zelgomer

Any new contactless thing. I thought that Russia ended the pandemic.

which is, lockers at Lowes or the huge tower thing at Walmart?

Local hardware store now has 'contactless pickup lockers'. Ordered some grass seed, got a text ' its in a locker' wth does that mean?!?!. so i had to look it up.  What is this world coming to?

Sure, for us that dont like people i guess its nice.. but still.

Local Walmart has one too.  A HUGE tower thing in the front of the store.

Whooho snow!

8+ inch i think was the last count.  Fun times.  Dogs love it.   We were the only people out walking to the park during the storm.  Pussies!

Well, more on the mouse saga around here..

As mentioned i have a bucket trap in the garage now, with a motion sensing camera ( so i dont have to go check it each day ).   Late this morning it went off.  Checked to see if it was a mouse, or just one of our dogs, and no, it was a neighbors cat checking out my garage.

Got another cat that has started handing out on the roof of my shed..  

Do i have a huge sign "animal house" or something?

Yes, he is where i found the bucket trap i'm using now. 

"Ah. We see. We've been outsmarted by the humans yet again..." 

Mon Dec 20 2021 09:10:33 EST from Nurb432

There is this sign out front i noticed. tiny. In some strange language.

 

I take them far enough they wont find their way back :)

There is this sign out front i noticed. tiny. In some strange language.

I take them far enough they wont find their way back :)

I think they go back, get friends, and tell them, "Nah... you go to this place, all the free food you can eat, then you go out and jump in a bucket, and the guy gives you a ride home. We've done it 5 times now. Every time, he brings us back and drops us off here." 

Sun Dec 19 2021 13:26:36 EST from zelgomer

 

Oh, okay. You made some owls very happy. :)

Perhaps, but at least they got a 2nd chance.

Sun Dec 19 2021 01:26:36 PM EST from zelgomer

Oh, okay. You made some owls very happy. :)

No.  I take them to the local park and release them. We are a no-kill family, unless its unavoidable. 

Sat Dec 18 2021 10:08:06 PM EST from zelgomer

Grilled or sauteed or what?

And out of the blue, after weeks of nothing. 4 mice had to be re-homed this evening.

Figures the one day i didnt check the trap in the garage, dog ran back to it.. "what, what do you see" "oh... there are mice in there say bye bye to them they are going for a short ride" 

Went to local Rural king tonight. ( its a retail "farm supply" store, if you dont have them in your area )  Aside from some pet stuff i wanted to get a smallish stack-able toolbox ( perhaps 3 cubic feet, not big not small .. going to use it to make a portable solar panel battery/charger/inverter box ).  28 bucks.

Girl scanned it, *beep* um, its asking for ID and you to sign..  wtf.. for a freaking toolbox????

Probably came from China. 

Sat Nov 06 2021 15:56:31 EDT from Nurb432 Subject: Freaking seeds.. followup

Found the offending plant in the back yard. its gone.  In process of doing that, i was covered, with what must have been several hundred seeds. Wife got some in her hair even.  It was hidden in a patch of blueberries.

The park, out by the creek is a mess with them. Just cant let dogs run up there to the edge anymore. :(  

 

Never seen them before, but i bet we now have trouble every year chasing these things down and killing them.

Found the offending plant in the back yard. its gone.  In process of doing that, i was covered, with what must have been several hundred seeds. Wife got some in her hair even.  It was hidden in a patch of blueberries.

The park, out by the creek is a mess with them. Just cant let dogs run up there to the edge anymore. :(  

Never seen them before, but i bet we now have trouble every year chasing these things down and killing them.

I dont see a pressure washer taking out roots..  Gunk, sure..

Ok.  150..  man i got lucky. Was all 'root shoots' and nothing huge, so no real damage to the pipes to worry about.  BUT ill be treating it every quarter or so now. I'd like to avoid ripping my yard open to replace the line. 

One of those things you just dont really think about until it bites you in the ass.

Great.  Draining problems last 2 days. Today its almost not draining.  Plumber, ( that i used when i had the lines break in the wall last year so he seems trustworthy ), this morning:  " i bet its roots, instead of me coming out, you will want to call a clean out service and have them do the main drain line to the street. I normally have 'so and so' do it".

Waiting on them to arrive.  

There goes 500-1k, assuming they dont want to rip the pipe out of the front yard..  then several k$

Any of you know what plant this seed is from? My dogs are covered in them every time they go outside.  Literally 100s of them as they are so small... all up in the fur.. takes forever to dig them all out and i know i miss some.   Never had this problem before and i want to burn this plant to the ground. 

2099281110@Uncensoredhttps://uncensored.citadel.org/readfwd?go=Home%20Handyman?start_reading_at=2099279698Wed, 13 Oct 2021 17:52:39 -00002099279698@Uncensoredhttps://uncensored.citadel.org/readfwd?go=Home%20Handyman?start_reading_at=2099279642Tue, 12 Oct 2021 21:49:29 -00002099279642@Uncensoredhttps://uncensored.citadel.org/readfwd?go=Home%20Handyman?start_reading_at=2099279148Tue, 05 Oct 2021 16:48:45 -00002099279148@UncensoredThat sounds like it would be ... misfortunate.  It's happened a few times at public indoor pools and the only people who win are the lawyers. ]]>https://uncensored.citadel.org/readfwd?go=Home%20Handyman?start_reading_at=2099279137Tue, 05 Oct 2021 15:27:44 -00002099279137@Uncensored

Well damn. 

Had a evergreen bush out front.  Another one grew right beside it and basically took over. Been lazy a few years to deal with it, but this morning cut down the big one ( 7' or so ).  Went looking in the mess left to see how i can safely cut out the rest of the trunk and not hurt the bush.

Um its the same plant..  it seems to have grown a 2nd trunk off the side, turned into a tree, with different kinds of branches, even a different color of green..

For us, a pool became too costly and troublesome for the limited amount of use.   So down it went 2 summers ago. 

Things are safer if you don't have an automated chemical feed system.

Nice thing about the automated feed systems is guess what happens if they don't have a properly-designed electricial safety interlock with the circulation pump: pump stops, chlorine and acid feeders keep running...                                   

That sounds like it would be ... misfortunate. 

Aside from shocking at the beginning and end of the season, my pool doesn't need ongoing chemical feed because I run a salt water system.  Once the water is balanced, it generally stays balanced the whole season (which is now five months long because I now have a permanent AGP and don't have to disassemble and store it anymore).

Salt water chlorine generators *really* don't like to run without flow.  Mine will stop and throw a code if it doesn't see the water moving fast enough.

we would too. back when we had a pool.  Its gone now

Somewhere there is a tweaker who is good with technology just itching to hack this. 

Pretty much, you just have to steal the activation technology. 

Sun Aug 08 2021 20:17:39 EDT from Nurb432 Subject: BT enabled power-tools.

No. Hell no. F- no.

https://toolguyd.com/home-depot-power-tool-activation-technology-2021/

No. Hell no. F- no.

https://toolguyd.com/home-depot-power-tool-activation-technology-2021/

I did that as a kid, but got tired of them falling thru the holes.

Yes cardboard boxes inside them, but those get oily and dissolve. And messy when you toss it in the trunk of the car. ( never leave home without a toolkit )

Sun Aug 08 2021 11:15:35 AM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

Most of my tools are in milk crates.  Real ones.  :)

Most of my tools are in milk crates.  Real ones.  :)

They are a really nice tool box btw.   but way too expensive to have a bunch of them. 

Read a story somewhere about a guy double bagging his stuff at WalMart, and the girl told him he was wasting their bags. He said, "The bag will rip." She said, "That is because you're overpacking your bags. You need to take things out and bag them separately. 

I'm sure you see the problem here. 

Sat Jul 24 2021 17:10:57 EDT from Nurb432

So i buy a toolbox thing from the store ( Milwaukee packout ). It has a store lock on it so you cant open it. Girl at check out removes the lock and STILL looks inside..

Next time i decide to install a new stove, remind me to get help dragging it in and the old one out.  I'm getting too old to do everything on my own. 

So i buy a toolbox thing from the store ( Milwaukee packout ). It has a store lock on it so you cant open it. Girl at check out removes the lock and STILL looks inside..

Ooooh, that's NICE.  I don't even have a regular vise on my bench (because I am lazy and cheap or something).  That is next-level.

It reminds me of those cheap plastic jigs they sell in web ads to help morons cut around uneven objects.  I always add a snarky comment "just learn how to scribe, you'll be better off".

 ( I know, its a YouTube but its no political so it should stay up )

This is really cool. I want one.  Found one to print. Not quite the same but i may do it anyway. May have to be a project once i get my mill converted to CNC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBeOgGt_oWU

Oh, there are a lot more powerful cleaners. I just dont know the effect it would have on the heater or what it can handle.   If i dissolve the pipe, sort of defeats the purpose of cleaning it :)

Mon Jul 12 2021 01:35:25 PM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

Vinegar is a coward's acid. :)

Scale can be cleaned with muriatic acid. It works much better, and has the bonus of giving you acid burns if you mishandle it. Just make sure you flush with lots of clean water when you're done.

Pex is fun. Legos from plumbing. I've worked with it a bit on RV repairs. 

PEX is fun! ( redoing the lines to the tankless water heater so i can do a pumped clean out this spring easily.  . supposed to back flush it at least once a year with either a cleaner or vinegar. Ill opt for vinegar, its safer )

Too bad i was thinking backwards and the colors are wrong..  oh well.  not going to cut them off and redo it just for that.

2099271115@Uncensored

Out mowing yesterday.. .next door neighbor comes over " you have a bolt cutter ". "Um, not really i have some side cuts" " its for my padlock on the shed " .. "oh nothing that large"  ( explains why hes not mowed for 2 weeks.. he cant get to his mower )

Went and bought him one late last night, hung it on his door handle. Wonder if he will figure it out

Its weather related. but lost power 5 times so far this morning.     Annoying.  Hard to get work done.

Well a different company came out to look this time. Dude was a bit older, had been doing this a few years.  After hearing me explaining what it was doing, and what the other dude did, and offering a suggestion " ya, sounds like that might be it. I need to tear things apart and do some tests first". Turns out the thermister on the coils is flaky. ( not the one in with the food, but the one that controls the defrost )

"man those people who just swap parts really piss me off" .  A lot better than the younger dude sticking his paw in it, "ya, its froze up, ill get you a new control board ( for the food side... )"

Birdies!  They're cute.  And they don't sting.  Exterminate those stinging pests.  

Damnit. my fault again on image. sorry about that.

Thu Jun 17 2021 04:23:20 PM EDT from Nurb432

Damnit. Storm blew thru, took out 1/2 of the peach tree in the front yard. 

Ran across this the other day in the yard too.. They have gotten big, fast. ( image is today )

The mom was pissed today, with the tree guys in the back yard all afternoon. 

The thing with having a hive nearby - is that they're all commuting to work. As long as you leave the house alone - they're off bugging someone else most of the time. 

Wed Jun 16 2021 14:31:19 EDT from Nurb432

Soooo i guess that bee swarm did stay. 

Tree guys FINALLY came to trim limbs out of the power lines ( after several summers of trying ),  'you have a bee hive. we need to call someone else first, but will be back soon".

Not seen any bees since that swarm however. ( well no more than normal )

Soooo i guess that bee swarm did stay. 

Tree guys FINALLY came to trim limbs out of the power lines ( after several summers of trying ),  'you have a bee hive. we need to call someone else first, but will be back soon".

Not seen any bees since that swarm however. ( well no more than normal )

I thought they also scanned bar codes and such.   "i wanna make x for dinner, can i?" 

Id just like to have a fridge that works.  

Mon Jun 14 2021 02:52:21 PM EDT from zooer

Several years ago they came up with  refrigerators that had tablets on the front, to see the weather and create shopping lists.  These refrigerators had cameras in them so you could see if you needed anything while you were at the store.  In theory, sounds cool.... but why?

 

Several years ago they came up with  refrigerators that had tablets on the front, to see the weather and create shopping lists.  These refrigerators had cameras in them so you could see if you needed anything while you were at the store.  In theory, sounds cool.... but why?

My electric toothbrush has Bluetooth and an app.  The app monitors and lets you know your brushing habits.  It has a timer to make sure you are brushing long enough.  I don't have the app installed, it was installed on a phone I didn't use as a phone anymore.  I wanted to see what the app did.  The toothbrush has different brushing modes which you can add/remove from the app.

The app serves no real purpose, other than to send data back to OralB.  I do like the clock/timer and travel case that came with the toothbrush.  I do use those.

Needless to say, i opted out and got her one without connectivity. 

Sun Jun 13 2021 09:18:54 AM EDT from zooer

Everything has to be connected to the internet so other people can control the devices when the time comes.

Everything has to be connected to the internet so other people can control the devices when the time comes.

Sending a small window AC to a friend a few states away ( hers broke, cant afford a new one )

Looking at inexpensive units, "with WiFi" why on earth do i want a cheap window AC to have internet???  Why does everything have to be 'internet enabled'.  I'm not a Luddite, but its really out of hand.

Well, new fenders are here.  get to take a grinder to the jeep this weekend and cut the old ones off ( well, the outer part anyway ).  With luck i dont f- it up.  not that im afraid of doing some metal work, but there are wires and stuff underneath i really dont want to accidentally cut.

In 2020, I suppose it applied to a LOT of things other than bees. ;) 

Tue May 11 2021 19:56:42 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

 

"Only deadly in a swarm," is a saying for a reason. A swarm is a scary event. 

Are we still talking about bees?  ;)

 

"Only deadly in a swarm," is a saying for a reason. A swarm is a scary event. 

Are we still talking about bees?  ;)

We were in NE Ohio just south of Akron and a bit West of Canton. 

Still fairly rural and close enough to areas so rural you would hear shotguns all day once hunting season opened. 

I'm sure the police considered me the well behaved Californian who didn't ride his riding mower while drunk down to the liquor store to buy his second case of Bud for the day! :D 

Tue May 04 2021 07:17:42 EDT from Nurb432

I think it depends on the area, its actually declared illegal on private property in some areas.  I think id move if so, as clearly they are Nazis, telling you what you can do on your own land like that.

I think it depends on the area, its actually declared illegal on private property in some areas.  I think id move if so, as clearly they are Nazis, telling you what you can do on your own land like that.

I was always interested in seeing what would happen. I think as long as I was in my own yard and not creating a disturbance, it was probably legal. :) 

Private property for the win! 

Mon May 03 2021 22:05:02 EDT from zooer

They should have arrested you for driving a motor vehicle under the influence.  :)

They should have arrested you for driving a motor vehicle under the influence.  :)

I miss my riding lawn mower. I used to mow my yard with a six pack, getting drunk, doing brodies in my front yard and waving at the Jackson police when they drove by. :D 

Dude across the street mowing his lawn

Big "Crunch" as he hit something, hear the engine bog down then *boom* and smoke..   sounds like someone is buying a new mower tomorrow. 

"Only deadly in a swarm," is a saying for a reason. A swarm is a scary event. 

Thu Apr 29 2021 07:38:28 EDT from Nurb432

It was definitely a swarm. 

 

A scary event for someone like me. 

It was definitely a swarm. 

A scary event for someone like me. 

Yeah - if you see them SWARMING - they're usually still looking and are just moving through. If you see them all CLUMPED on a tree branch or the eaves of a house or something like that - they've found the place. 

Wed Apr 28 2021 14:09:54 EDT from Nurb432

I did that today too, nothing.  So i think i got lucky. 

Wed Apr 28 2021 10:40:47 AM EDT from ParanoidDelusions

With all that said, have someone non-allergic go out and scout your property for hives or a landed swarm hive-building. If that is happening, you'll be able to find bee-relocating services that will come, smoke them, and transport them somewhere else. 

 

I did that today too, nothing.  So i think i got lucky. 

Wed Apr 28 2021 10:40:47 AM EDT from ParanoidDelusions

With all that said, have someone non-allergic go out and scout your property for hives or a landed swarm hive-building. If that is happening, you'll be able to find bee-relocating services that will come, smoke them, and transport them somewhere else. 

 

So... all wild honeybees in Arizona are assumed to be Africanized. It is right up there with scorpions, rattlesnakes and suburban coyotes as "wild dangers" in the suburbs of Phoenix. 

We've encountered wild swarms and hives numerous times here. I don't think I encountered one wild hive or swarm the entire time I lived in Ohio on 3.25 wooded acres. But to be fair, I did live in Ohio at the height of CCD. 

Anyhow... the last swarm we saw was out in Gilbert coming home from a Farmer's Market just a few weeks ago. What you describe - a cloud of angry looking bees buzzing around in a mass - sounds like a swarm. Windy conditions or a dead queen are likely culprits. Basically when you see bees in a concentrated mass - they're looking for a new home. The good news is - Bees are picky... 

They're dangerous in a swarm, especially the Africanized ones. They're more docile once they've built a hive - and unless you get close *and* disturb the nest, even the Africanized ones will ge

Wed Apr 28 2021 06:28:23 EDT from Nurb432

I hope not.  I really hope they were just passing thru.  Super windy, so my first thought was their nest fell out of the tree and were pissed. But when they vanished just as suddenly, i am guessing they are just in search for a new home, and the queen had to rest.

I'm allergic. its about the only fear i have.  I got stung by a wasp once, should have gone to the hospital but it wasn't practical. Thought i was going to die, fever, couldn't breathe.  I d realize honey bees are a different thing, and are not aggressive by nature, but accidents happen.

Wed Apr 28 2021 01:57:39 AM EDT from ParanoidDelusions

They were swarming, from the description. If they didn't set up a hive back there, they won't be back, not in those numbers. 

 

Tue Apr 27 2021 16:06:38 EDT from Nurb432

About 30 mins ago let the dogs in.  Looked out the window and saw a lot of fuzz flying around.   No, its not fuzz, its BEEEEES  A swarm of them at the back corner of my yard like a cloud. and the buzzing ...    ACK.!

10 mins later the are gone. . just a few stragglers. Going to get some citronella and park it in the yard back there. 

Any other ideas to keep them from coming back?

 

 

I hope not.  I really hope they were just passing thru.  Super windy, so my first thought was their nest fell out of the tree and were pissed. But when they vanished just as suddenly, i am guessing they are just in search for a new home, and the queen had to rest.

I'm allergic. its about the only fear i have.  I got stung by a wasp once, should have gone to the hospital but it wasn't practical. Thought i was going to die, fever, couldn't breathe.  I d realize honey bees are a different thing, and are not aggressive by nature, but accidents happen.

Wed Apr 28 2021 01:57:39 AM EDT from ParanoidDelusions

They were swarming, from the description. If they didn't set up a hive back there, they won't be back, not in those numbers. 

 

Tue Apr 27 2021 16:06:38 EDT from Nurb432

About 30 mins ago let the dogs in.  Looked out the window and saw a lot of fuzz flying around.   No, its not fuzz, its BEEEEES  A swarm of them at the back corner of my yard like a cloud. and the buzzing ...    ACK.!

10 mins later the are gone. . just a few stragglers. Going to get some citronella and park it in the yard back there. 

Any other ideas to keep them from coming back?

 

They were swarming, from the description. If they didn't set up a hive back there, they won't be back, not in those numbers. 

Tue Apr 27 2021 16:06:38 EDT from Nurb432

About 30 mins ago let the dogs in.  Looked out the window and saw a lot of fuzz flying around.   No, its not fuzz, its BEEEEES  A swarm of them at the back corner of my yard like a cloud. and the buzzing ...    ACK.!

10 mins later the are gone. . just a few stragglers. Going to get some citronella and park it in the yard back there. 

Any other ideas to keep them from coming back?

About 30 mins ago let the dogs in.  Looked out the window and saw a lot of fuzz flying around.   No, its not fuzz, its BEEEEES  A swarm of them at the back corner of my yard like a cloud. and the buzzing ...    ACK.!

10 mins later the are gone. . just a few stragglers. Going to get some citronella and park it in the yard back there. 

Any other ideas to keep them from coming back?

I assume they would be just as good as a gas one since they are basically the same thing, but would suck a lot more electricity while on than a tank heater.  Might blow a breaker if not planned for. The BTU on this small one is easily 3x what my 40gal tank was.  I have enough gas flow to not worry about it, but i know it uses a lot more gas while burning..  

Mon Apr 26 2021 11:59:17 AM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

That setup sounds ideal. I don't have a supply of natural gas, though, and my propane tank isn't big enough to fire a water heater. Are the electric ones any good?

LOL  make that 5 foot, not inch :) 

Shoot, forgot to give an update.

It actually went rather well.  A bit of futzing with the controls to get it right and a bit of confusion at first.  That and one of the old pipes was still full of water, unexpectedly. so i got soaked when i cut it off and had to get the shop vac and floor fan out real fast.

Lessons learned:

• Don't use flexible PEX from a spool for straight runs.  Only use it when you really need it to bend. If you try to get it straight, it will still go back to its natural curve and put stress on the connectors. Going to go back over it with straight and clean it up when i install valves and ports for flush ( next lesson ). I have always used copper before, PEX is new to me. But, PEX is a lot easier to deal with.  Cut ( which is easy as pie with the right tool.  I bought a cheap PEX toolkit instead of trying it the hard way ), shove in a connector, crimp. Done. And of course its far more forgiving than copper if you dont get things aligned perfectly, or if it needs to move a little later. Cool stuff really. 
• Apparently you have to back flush these things at least once a year, if not 2x, so plan ahead and add cut offs and ports up front.  Not as forgiving as a tank is with hard water. Originally i was going to add a 3 way valve and just back flush from the water line, but im reading you really need to use something like vinegar. So its just 2 cut offs and 2 T's with a port. 
• The display will NOT turn on until it actually fires up to heat the water.  I really thought it was dead as i expected at least an "im alive light" or something. After a bit, "lets turn on the water in the house and see what it does".. Nothing..  messed with the pressure sensor some, poof it came on.
• So after the above, it seems the water pressure control is NOT for what pressure you want, its for what pressure it turns on at, tho i could hear changes in water flow.  I had it cranked all the way up, thinking i want "full power" but it never flowed enough to kick on. Backed it down to a little under 1/2.   1/2 worked for the shower, but kitchen sink wasn't quite enough for it to turn on at 1/2.  YMMV on the setting needed.  I dont think turning it all the way down is a good idea, any leak or not getting a faucet all the way closed would turn it on, heating up water that isn't really moving.  Cant be good and i bet it would overheat and thermal shutdown, if not mess it up too.
• Winter mode is not to account for freeze prevention, it just doubles the BTU.  Use it. 
• Watch the distance from your gas line to the unit, i think the longest legal flexible gas line is 5" so you may have to extend your incoming line with more black pipe first, if its too far up in the air. I was close, i estimated distance when i mounted it, almost missed it. Really should use a tape  measure :)    

Now i can run the sink for 20 minutes doing dishes, and take 2 showers in a row..  its like magic.      May even save  a little on gas, since its not heating a tank 24/7 "just in case you need it".  but its a much high BTU in order tor get it hot as it passes by the fire, so it may average out.

No more fear of tank leaks either. I have had 2 floods due to that over about 20 years ( one the tank collapse and broke open at the bottom, the other time the overflow/pressure decided to open up when i was at work, and not close again ).  Will be much easier to swap out when it does go bad in a few years due to our hard water ( ~ 10 years is average around here ). A lot less room being taken up. So far, seems like an overall win. Only issue might be is cost, the large capacity units are EXPENSIVE. It kept me from doing it for years, as i didnt need large. As with everything now the costs have come down and more options, and now they make small ones about the same cost as a smallish tank. 

Sun Apr 04 2021 13:59:44 EDT from Nurb432

Well i *was* going to finish today.. damned hardware store is closed for the holiday. 

Well i *was* going to finish today.. damned hardware store is closed for the holiday. 

The tank is being removed. I'm over tanks.

Its gas. Both before and after. "after "got delayed, too busy to mess with it until Sunday. no real hurry, the tank works, im just over it.

Sun Mar 28 2021 15:52:20 EDT from zooer

Are you putting a filter before the tank?

Is that a gas or electric heating system?

 

Are you putting a filter before the tank?

Is that a gas or electric heating system?

I do most things myself, i dont trust others.

They are actually quite easy to install as you just hang it on the wall. The hard part is dealing with your old pipes.   Mine are pretty hacked up ( before i moved in ). Whenever i get around to redoing the bathroom i'm ripping all the copper out of the walls and it all becomes pex.

And it only got 1/2 done lowes didnt have one of the pieces i needed for the plumbing.  So it gets finished tomorrow ( today is upgrade day at work of the app i support.. busy with that )

Putin some supports, screw it to the supports. add hose. done. This is smaller unit, fine for here. Those are 2x4 for size reference.  All that piping you see, goes away as its for the tank heater + long gone water softener. 

Sat Mar 27 2021 19:04:34 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

This should be fun.  Swapping out my hot water tank for a tank-less tomorrow. 

TIL that you can use a leaf blower to remove winter road gravel from your lawn.

In this case it was just an upgrade.  Wanted one 6amp battery.

I have a couple of fenders to swap on the jeep here soon and didnt want to run out of juice 1/2 thru. 

Fri Mar 12 2021 09:25:07 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

Yeah ... cost-to-size ratio ... it's the same reason department stores have jewelry in cases instead of on the racks.

I've had my set (Dewalt 20V) for less than a year so I haven't had to replace any of the batteries yet, but damn they sure do get their pound of flesh for that don't they. I'm sure I will be one of those nerds buying 18650's and rebuilding the packs.

(I always have to double check that number. As a true nerd, I always think "16550" first.)

Thu Mar 11 2021 05:43:34 PM EST from Nurb432

It was only 115$. And yet they have 50 dollar drill bits and saw blades next to the batteries, just laying around...

 

It all comes down to what are people more likely to steal, what are the high theft items. 

Went to the local big box hardware store to get a power tool battery.

It was locked to the display rack like something special.   Asked the guy in the tool area " hang on". He had to go get a manager. Who then had to go get a key that was locked up behind the customer service desk back up front. That key, then unlocked a box at the tool area, that contained the display unlock device.. Rube Goldberg would be proud. 

The battery had an anti-theft tag embedded, and i still had to be escorted to the front...   and the package was about impossible to split open once i got home anyway..

It was only 115$. And yet they have 50 dollar drill bits and saw blades next to the batteries, just laying around...

And if that is not bad enough, at the local Rural King. they actually have alarms go off when you enter or exit the tool area..  

Smart people clean their gutters before it rains.

Dumb asses do it IN the rain.  And sometimes they miss the bottom step on the ladder coming down and hurt their knee.. 

I'll tell you a tip... high end homes are losers. You want whatever the "middle market" home is. The high end, the people buying those homes have enough money, and there is little enough demand and competition, that they'll wait you out on price. 

They ALREADY live in a nice home, maybe a couple of them. They know if YOUR home gets away from them, there is another one just as nice somewhere nearby, anyhow... they don't think your home is the ONLY perfect home for them. Hell, they can just buy a lot and have a custom home built that is EXACTLY what they want. 

High end homes are almost ALWAYS going to be a buyer's market. Mid and low end starter homes are where you can make money and where the demand will create urgency among buyers who realize that YOUR home is the only one that checks off that many of their criteria. Good schools, close to freeway, not too close to freeway, low crime, local amenities, nearby shopping and recreation - yada-yada-yada. They have MORE needs to meet an

Sun Feb 21 2021 18:55:39 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

But if you dont build a house with intent for it to be forever, then
its 'lesser' of a house.  If the plan is temporary, might as well
just get a used house then. 

Some people enjoy the house flipping life. There are those who buy houses to flip who don't live in them, but then there are people who are happy to buy a house every 5 to 10 years, live in it, improve it, and sell it for a profit. I suspect the people who bought my old house fall into that category.

I supposed it has a alot to do with what you want to spend your money on.
When I have some money I like to spend it improving my house, because I like my house. I bought it to live in. I bought it to host dinner parties with my favorite friends and family. I bought it as a home-away-from-home for my future grandchildren. 089sdfug98sdfy98dswf9oudsfdsjnfdsnf dosafnjsdaf ndsoafu sa[19~d7fysaduf08s9fuy08ads0wda9fu dsa90f asI need to drijnkj less when I bbs.

It was my grandmother's house that was built and bought new by them in 1955. It had been in my life my entire life. Almost my father's entire life.  

I got married, she wanted a bigger house, the economy was booming, my IT career was thriving. We finished construction in 2001. 

We learned valuable lessons. 

*sigh*

Sat Feb 13 2021 17:53:54 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

I'd hate to build a house that was perfect, thinking it was my Forever House, and then have to move out later on. That would be really disappointing.

The house I now live in was built in 1991. It astounds me that the house was not pre-wired with telephone and cable tv jacks in every room. That was common practice even in the mid 1980s. But this house had nothing, no phone, no cable, certainly no ethernet. And since it was a rental for the first 23 years of its life, every cable and phone company that came through absolutely raped it with their shoddy slap-on wiring jobs. I've talked about that here before. It took me a long time to gradually rip it all out, patch the damaged surfaces, and do proper wiring inside the walls.

If I were building new ... I would't put in any specific type of wiring.
I would put a box in each room, junction/pull boxes in the attic, and tie them together with smurf tube. That would make it easy to come in later and upgrade to

But if you dont build a house with intent for it to be forever, then its 'lesser' of a house.  If the plan is temporary, might as well just get a used house then. 

I built a house in California that had drops to almost every room conceivable. I wanted them in the laundry room and the bathrooms too, but the contractor talked my wife out of that. 

If I were doing it today, I'd do it again. 

Sun Feb 07 2021 19:10:10 EST from Nurb432

i have built 2 houses for myself over the years, on both of them i went in after the framing was up and ran wire * everywhere * both cat 5 and coax.  All terminating over the garage area.

Today id skip the coax. 

i have built 2 houses for myself over the years, on both of them i went in after the framing was up and ran wire * everywhere * both cat 5 and coax.  All terminating over the garage area.

Today id skip the coax. 

I have a couple of the RS232 plugs in a box with the other stuff i dont use. And a USB dongle thing. Not sure there is any software that will run with it now tho.I remember when i bought that it was 'good luck, here is some old software'.  I would assume they have newer IP based ones by now.

Last place i lived, every light switch was hooked up and an IR sensor when i walked in the door.   now its just a couple of bedrooms due to the switch and jack being on wrong side of the room. Ya i could rewire it, but i have the boxes, so why bother.

They also made one of the first affordable 'learning' remotes. Its in the box now too.  

Oh, and something i never knew until perhaps 10 years ago, but even when off they do have a minuscule current draw.  Not enough to matter with older incandescent or halogen bulbs, but LED? instant nightlight... I had some screw in bulb switches and installed them when i first swapped to LED, i thought they were all broke..  lol.

was a huge fan if you cant tell.. Still am really, even tho they are a bit dated.

Sun Jan 24 2021 18:51:47 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

I had X-10 for years. It was tied in to the computer along with everything else. I even had it set up so that you could pick up any phone in the house and switch on/off any light in the house by dialing the right code. I retired most of it when we moved, but some of it comes back out every year when we put up the Christmas lights.

A lot of things, I need to watch - and do... 

Learning has become easier as I've gotten older - and I think it has to do more with being able to watch DIFFERENT people DO the thing. In the past, we had limited access to people who could show. Usually ONE person. Sometimes we thought it was US that couldn't learn a thing, when it was that the people teaching us weren't teaching in a way WE could understand. 

Now if I am learning a subject and struggling - I go find someone else teaching the same subject. If I still struggle, I try a couple other people. Usually, at the end, I've learned something I thought I was too dumb to understand. 

Sat Jan 23 2021 18:42:45 EST from Nurb432

My dad, and grandfather, built houses for a living.  Nothing wrong with watching others to learn how something is done when it comes to 'construction and repair' type of stuff.. its how i learn, and many others.   Dont always need to learn things the hardway...

Sat Jan 23 2021 10:49:09 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

I watch a lot of videos. :) People make fun of that, but if you're the kind of person who learns by observation -- which I am -- it's a great method.
My dad taught me how to use tools and some basic stuff, but I can do things now he never would have even attempted. He calls me for plumbing work now.
:)

 

My dad, and grandfather, built houses for a living.  Nothing wrong with watching others to learn how something is done when it comes to 'construction and repair' type of stuff.. its how i learn, and many others.   Dont always need to learn things the hardway...

Sat Jan 23 2021 10:49:09 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

I watch a lot of videos. :) People make fun of that, but if you're the kind of person who learns by observation -- which I am -- it's a great method.
My dad taught me how to use tools and some basic stuff, but I can do things now he never would have even attempted. He calls me for plumbing work now.
:)

You will be fine.

Just plan ahead, look twice before you do anything and measure 3 times. 

You seem like exactly the kind of guy to pull this off. I've got a friend in Sacramento who reminds me a lot of you, and he did the same thing a year or two back, and it turned out brilliant. 

Good luck. I know I'm getting old, because I understand how exciting a project like this is. :) 

Fri Jan 22 2021 09:16:14 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

I'm ordering a new kitchen today. Dilapidated 30 year old cabinets and a crappy laminate countertop are being replaced with solid maple plywood cabinets and synthetic stone counters. I will be doing all of the installation myself.
Wish me luck!

Re-converging.. *cough*x10*cough*   ( and ya i still use that.. go figure. that qualify as retro? :) )

Sat Jan 16 2021 16:28:20 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

Home automation would be the interesting part. The protocols and standards seem to be converging so that seems like it could work pretty easily.

As mentioned, now I have a postage sized lot and Mexicans with lawn mowers come and cut it. It dies in the summer when it gets too hot, and in the winter when it gets too cold, and you have to reseed with seasonal grass once a year. It is always something. If I'm not battling 3 acres of grass and vegetation in Ohio... I'm trying to grow grass in the desert in Arizona.

Sacramento was perfect, as far as climate - it is too bad it is in California, and full of Californians.

Thu Jan 14 2021 17:49:07 EST from ParanoidDelusions

That could quite possibly have been the problem.

 

 

That could quite possibly have been the problem. We did have the mower that was left with the house tuned up in later years, and I assume blade sharpening was part of the annual package. But after the first year, we never left leaves down in winter - so I have no control to compare it against, really.

Thu Jan 14 2021 14:35:34 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

When we had 3 acres in Ohio, we tried this the first year. It just killed the grass in patches under the snow. 

I had patches of dead lawn under small clumps of cut grass too.   It is the result of your mower blades not being sharp.  Once I got more proactive about keeping the blades sharp, the problem went away immediately.

When we had 3 acres in Ohio, we tried this the first year. It just killed the grass in patches under the snow. 

I had patches of dead lawn under small clumps of cut grass too.   It is the result of your mower blades not being sharp.  Once I got more proactive about keeping the blades sharp, the problem went away immediately.

When we had 3 acres in Ohio, we tried this the first year. It just killed the grass in patches under the snow. 

So, the next 5 years we lived there, into late October it was a raise to get as many of the leaves up off the ground and into the mulch pile before the first snow every weekend, all weekend long. The winds would come, blow more leaves from our acre of woods onto the lawns, we would mow the laws (one trip up the side yard and the bag was full. Go take it, dump it, do another strip, repeat the same process in the backyard)... 

We almost got one of those trailer accessories - when we thought we might be doing this forever. Instead I got the bright idea, "Let's not live in Ohio anymore!" 

I've told you guys I'm pretty smart, right? This might be the best evidence yet. 

Sat Jan 09 2021 20:00:45 EST from Nurb432

We just drive over it with the mower one last time of the season = mulch.

 

 

 

We just drive over it with the mower one last time of the season = mulch.

Tue Oct 20 2020 13:50:26 EDT from zooer

Last year we had a wind storm that knocked all the leaves from the trees and blew the leaves out of the yard.  I was hoping this would happen each year.

Last year we had a wind storm that knocked all the leaves from the trees and blew the leaves out of the yard.  I was hoping this would happen each year.

We had a central vac at the home in Ohio. 

We ended up using a Dyson. Well, we hired a housekeeper, and I have no idea what she used. 

Cut the strap!

LoanShark is a fantastic person, handsome and intelligent. 

*[This message last edited by LoanShark on Fri Jul 26 2019 06:45:28 AM EDT]

Thu Jul 25 2019 10:18:41 AM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored

Fine, he said, it's old and they wanted a new fridge anyway,

A word of warning if you have not purchased the new refrigerator as of yet.   The government imposed energy efficient regulations on refrigerators.  While this is fine it means refrigerators have to be better insulated, better insulation means less usable space for the same size unit.  If your old unit was 19 cubic foot a new 19 cubic foot unit's size will be much larger.  You might have to purchase a 15 cubic foot unit to fit in that same space.

If you have a space for a refrigerator in the kitchen you will find you need to buy a smaller cubic foot unit to fit in that same space.  

Thu Jul 25 2019 01:58:14 PM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored

Ironically, while we were out at the hardware store buying valves and connectors, Con Ed showed up and slapped a smart meter on the house. They left a door-hanger note.

 Welcome, eventually everything will be controlled by someone else. 

If your property has had a survey done on it, there should be some metal rods at the corners of your property.  You should be able to find them using a metal detector.  Using some stakes you should be able to verify where everything is at ground level.  

Next chapter of the story of my lovely neighbor.  I found a waterproof version of "Great Stuff" expanding foam, and ordered two cans online (I'm sooooo jazzed that a Lowe's opened in our town this year, but they don't stock it) and shot an entire can into each of the "abandoned pipes" that were still discharging into my yard.  That seems to have taken care of most of it, but there's still a wet trench running roughly east-west along what I thought was the property boundary.

I pulled up the 2018 county GIS map and discovered that the trench is actually a few feet inside my yard, and that the pipe outfalls are even farther inside than I thought they were.  In the photo below, the tips of the red arrows are the locations of the ends of the three pipes (the rightmost one is the one I removed completely; the other two are now capped and sealed).   There's a garden supply place right up the street that sells bulk topsoil, and I'm planning on bringing some home in my new truck to fill up the ditches.  I was worried that the neighbor might get upset about me doing that to a trench running along the property line, but now I know it's so far away from the property line, that he really has no say in the matter.  If you look at the yellow line, though, you can also see that he's been landscaping a bunch of my yard as if it were his.

4457152@Uncensored

Damn metric system.

Wed Jun 05 2019 11:48:56 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored

Interesting. I thought Halogen didn't make the cut for "energy efficient" bulbs. I know that GU10 halogens are all over the place, as that's the standard fitting for halogen track lights, but I've never seen a GU24 halogen.

I'm thinking the government will probably eventually kill gasoline-powered cars the same way they killed incandescent light bulbs -- simply by making the energy efficiency requirements so strict that they simply cannot be met with the conventional technology.

Don't get me wrong -- I *like* the GU24 fitting. It works well, has a satisfying snap-in and snap-out, and the bulbs can be manufactured using a lot less extra material. But we live in an E26 world and no one wants to replace all of their fixtures or keep two kinds of bulbs on hand. I suppose adapters would work (the "legal" kind, that fit GU24 bulbs into E26 fixtures) but with LED bulbs available with E26 base, no one is motivated to change, so now we're stuck. 

You're right...my bad...I saw a pic of GU24 and thought it was what I had...then you mentioned GU10 and I looked up a comparison and realized that what I had was GU10.

Thu May 23 2019 18:48:03 EDTfrom IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored

GU24 came into existence about a decade ago, when the People's Republic of California decided that they wanted to make a new light bulb socket that was incompatible with incandescent light bulbs. GU24 was the result: a bi-pin fitting that is actually quite nice. In addition to the form factor, the specification also dictates specific wattage limits and heat dissipation requirements, designed to make it impossible to build a GU24 incandescent bulb. 

So glad I don't live in California anymore. 

Do you have septic tanks or a sewer system?

I would want to take the legal high road first.  If things escalate you want to make sure you do everything by the correct way.  Talk to him first, then talk to the city.  Or better yet talk to the city and make sure what the correct resolution order is.   Have a witness with you when you speak with him, another neighbor would be best.  

This could get nasty, if you did everything correctly then you have the advantage.  

The guy might be a schmuck but did he dig up the property and place the pipes there?  I believe in "innocent until proven guilty". 

Do you know how long he has lived there?  Is there any possibility that he doesn't know the pipes are draining on your lawn?  

Oy!  I found a THIRD pipe.  Look at this picture.

Here's another photo:

4439926@Uncensored

Oy...that's 250Mbps.

250Gig would be sweet, though.

Wed Apr 10 2019 15:36:08 EDTfrom IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored

Sounds like you just need more bandwidth. Doesn't everyone have a 1 Gbps fiber connection coming into their house? <big stupid grin> 

Tell me more, though. I have a septic system with a lift station pump, and ethernet in my garage. 

By the way, I found another buried 

PVC pipe, and there's a lot of water coming out of it. Before I lose my shit over this one, though, I'm going to have to trace it back and see where it goes. This one might just be a drainage line for the uphill side of my own property. But if it goes up to the neighbor's house I may have to launch something unpleasant into it. 

Oy, vey.

Why anonymous? A neighboring property can not drain into your property, if the neighbor has water draining on to IG's property the neighbor will have to pay to correct the problem.  

Last night, I finally got around to installing the Wifi enabled tank/sump alarm for my septic system's lift station pump.

Mild pain because default method to configure the wifi connection is WPS. Otherwise, you have to connect an ethernet cable, get connected and then configure the wifi along with the remote alert settings. This, obviously, can be a pain for most people because who has ethernet in their garage?

This guy! LOL

I have a Ubiquity Unifi setup, with an 8 port switch in my garage that is uplinked to the switch in my basement. I also have 5 or 6 different SSIDs set up in order to segregate traffic and utilize rate limiting to keep my kids' games from sucking up ALL. OF. MY. BANDWIDTH. 

I'm much happier with the idea of foregoing the convenience in utilizing the relatively insecure option of WPS configuration, thanks.

Here's our fun of the day.  I finally figured out the mystery of the soggy spot in my yard.  While pulling out stumps and rocks today I uncovered this long piece of 4" PVC pipe. Apparently the neighbor ran an underground drain line from his shed's downspouts that emptied out into my yard.

4433508@Uncensored

Tue Mar 12 2019 09:57:05 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored

The smart meter was not responsible for the fire. Without even looking at the facts I can guarantee it.

"Smart meter fires" are caused by the installation method, not by the meter itself. Power companies hired armies of careless boneheads to go to each home, pull the old meter, and slap the smart meter in hot, without shutting the power off inside the home, and without thoroughly inspecting the condition of the meter pan. There is arcing from the hot changeout, parts that were in bad condition can break, and an unsafe condition is created.

That same unsafe condition would have been created if the conventional meter was replaced with another conventional meter.

I'll explain this in more detail in my video, right after I explain that your cell phone bombards you with way more RF than your smart meter ever will.
But I need to find someone who has a spectrum analyzer I can borrow. 

This particular meter (and I don't remember the make/model) was actually known for and highly reported as having issues with establishing and maintaining its connections once installed. Numerous thermal events, all over the country, were reported as pertains to the particular meter in question.

I don't know why but I think IGnat would like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QANQ_SR6w3s

I'm actually starting to look at generators for the house.

I'm considering a Generac natural gas powered generator with an ATS, to power my entire property in the event of a major commercial power outage.

Hello Gnatius;

Thank you for responding and clearing that up for me.

Sincerely;

MB

When a power source is labeled as having a "floating neutral" it means that the ground and neutral are not bonded together; in other words, neutral is not derived from ground.  On a generator that would mean that the neutral wire is not bonded to the generator frame.

So when your transfer switch says it is intended to be used with a "nonseparately derived" power source, it really just means the neutral is not switched, and if you want to be absolutely ultra-code-compliant, you should use it with a generator that has a floating neutral.

In practice, nobody cares about this.  Plug your generator in and enjoy.

Hello Gnatius;
My name is Michael.
Saw your portable generator hookup video, nicely done!

We interlocked the service entrance panel (outside), consulted/hired a licensed electrician to acquire correct parts and perform the install.


Found a sticker that reads:
WARNING: for connection of a nonseparately derived (floating neutral) system only.

Haven't seen this warning discussed in any of the install videos.

Could you explain how/if this would apply to interlock/portable generator installs?

Sincerely;
MB

Now you're in trouble.  Aahz's ninja cats will show up and sabotage your snowblower the night before any big storm.

My wife won tickets to a giant yard sale (I'd guess there were a hundred sellers) held annually near Concord's state fair grounds and convinced me to go. I didn't really mind in the least. The scenery is beautiful this time of the year, so it's an excellent time to go for a drive. I do prefer individual garage and yard sales over the really big group affairs with hundreds or thousands of customers. It's easier to dicker and the merchandise usually isn't as picked over. But today's giant sale was what it was.

She suggested we bring extra cash - just in case we stumble across a quality snow blower. That's the key thing we've been looking for of late. "Fat chance of that," I said. "Besides, where would be we put it? They're big and all we're taking is the minivan."

As it turned out, we stopped at two yard sales before reaching the fair grounds, and the second one had a snow blower that looked to be in okay condition.

"How much?" I asked.

"One hundred," the seller replied.

"What kind of condition is it in?" I asked.

"A-One," he said. He started it up and showed me that everything is operating as it should. "We just moved here two months ago, and I bought a new one since the driveway here is larger."

Honestly, his driveway wasn't that big. 40 feet, I'd guess. A typical suburban driveway. But he was a bit older than me and his explanation that he needed a bigger one was believable.

I thought about it and declined to buy it. I told him that I'd just moved here as well. "We're shopping for a snow blower, but my driveway is bigger than yours and uphill. Like you, I probably need a bigger snowblower."

"I'll let you have it for eighty dollars," he said.

And like that, I bought it.

As you can see, it's rusty. It's older and doesn't have an electric starter. Its 24" scoop is the minimum size I consider acceptable. 24" snow blowers start at $600 at Home Depot and run up to $900. The seller says he paid $700 for it when it was new.

This is a 5HP, 6-speed, 24" NOMA snowblower with 12" diameter tires. I think it was carried by Sears. At Lowes, today's 24" snow blowers range from $600 to $1,000. My guess is that the one I purchased is a lower-end 24" model.

Who cares? It works and was 80 bucks. I'll still be shopping for a bigger and better used snow blower. But having two snow blowers isn't a bad thing up here, and today's purchase totally lifts the pressure off of me to buy a big snow blower soon. (Also, I have a snow plow blade for the tractor. It's going to do the heavy work ... assuming I can figure out how to attach it.)

Photos follow.

It's called "Sure Pack" and it contains a whole lot of particulate.  It's driveway gravel.  Had I known, I'd have probably ordered something else.  I want conventional gravel - what we usually think of - since it's mostly to be used beneath a shed I'm building.

The shed is going to be a lot smaller than I'd planned.  I checked with the town and learned that anything bigger than 10'x12' requires a permit AND affects my annual property taxes.  No thank you.  I'll make it 10' x 12'.  I'll build two if I need to.

Even with "the rest of it" unloaded, it still doesn't look like ten tons of anything.  That must be some dense stuff.

Gravel has been delivered.  Watch the video.  Does that look like ten tons to you?

In fact, it wasn't ten tons.  When I asked the driver to bounce the bed a few times to shake loose what was stuck, a LOT more came out.  Surprised us both.  I'm glad I asked.

I'm going to have them on cinder blocks, not on the ground.  If I have a decent roof on the shed, they should stay dry.

If I'm wrong... well, it's only a woodshed.  Maybe I can swap 'em out and put in new pallets.

Cool project.  How are you going to keep the pallets from rotting?

I had to drive 40 miles to get to the place and then I had to sort through the available stock and load IN THE FRICKIN' RAIN, but they were giving away a few hundred pallets... mostly in decent shape... so it was worth it. I brought back 24 standard sized ones... 3' x 4'... and four others that were double sized. Also some 4' x 8' and smaller floorboards (you can see a very small one vertically separating some of the pallets), and some foam padding. I'm not sure what they are doing at that place, but they sure had a lot of interesting junk piled up in their parking lot.

The plan is use these and cinder blocks as the floor of some sort of a woodshed.  I really have no idea how it will go...

Feed it back through a hair dryer plug.

You didn't see Clive's video for re-purposing a mobile battery?

You might be a Trump "America first" guy but your man crush on Big Clive is stronger.

The term's usage appears to be spreading in the US, particularly among the folks I see in online videos taking apart panels and fixtures etc etc etc.  There's plenty of euro-crap I'd prefer not to see here, but the term "mains voltage" is harmless enough.  *shrug*

Half baths are even worse, because they cannot hold water.

We have real estate brokers in the family the terms "full bath", "half bath" are commonly used. 

The bulb in question was replaced and thrown in the garbage over a month ago. Today I noticed that a bulb in a different fixture flashes when it is first turned on. I will wait until this bulb fails, if it remains lit I will attempt to remove to see if it remains lit after it is removed from the fixture. The fixtures might be on the same circuit, I don't know if it is related to humidity both fixtures are located in a full bath. 

No, it is a standard switch, I thought the bulb must have a capacitor in it.

Thu Jun 02 2016 03:57:19 PM EDT from zooer @ Uncensored

I put an LED light in my bathroom, the fixture has three sockets and there might be another LED brand bulb in it.  For some time after installing the bulb when I turned on the light I would get a bright flash like an incandescent bulb going out.  I am not sure which bulb it came from I just guessed it was the new bulb, I am unsure if it still does this.

In December the bulb in question failed oddly. After shutting off the light fixture one bulb would stay lit for a few minutes at about 30% of its normal output. Turning the lights back on the bulb operated normally.  I replaced the bulb before it completely failed.  

Sun Oct 01 2017 11:52:36 AM EDT from zooer @ Uncensored

 

Sat Sep 30 2017 11:23:22 PM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored

My plumber has been trying to talk me into getting a tankless heater for a very long time. I wonder if now is the time to pull the trigger on that. 

Those instant hot water/tankless systems are better in warming climates. In the north during the winter months the water comes into the house at a low temperature. If the water comes into the house at 45° it has to *quickly* heat the water to the recommended 110°-120°F  (43°-49°C) this requires a lot of energy. 

I live in Indiana and it gets pretty freaking cold in the winter time...my tankless has to push hot water all the way across the house (down from the 2nd floor, through the walls, into the cement slab and up into our shower) and it's been awesome.

The electric heaters are probably less adept and energy efficient when it comes to that quickly heating the water. Mine's gas.

Sat Sep 30 2017 11:23:22 PM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored

My plumber has been trying to talk me into getting a tankless heater for a very long time. I wonder if now is the time to pull the trigger on that. 

Those instant hot water/tankless systems are better in warming climates. In the north during the winter months the water comes into the house at a low temperature. If the water comes into the house at 45° it has to *quickly* heat the water to the recommended 110°-120°F  (43°-49°C) this requires a lot of energy. 

<laughs>  Oh, so they are basically HR.  <g>

So Fleeby, if the Association fees do not cover repairs, what exactly DO they cover?

At least he gets to complain about coming back.

Damn, Fleeb......

At least you got to keep your $600 without careening down a ski slope on a bicycle demanding your dollars!

Natural gas.

You're right of course, and I considered that.  However, propane must be regularly filled....which I may not be able to do if I'm not home when said electric failure occurs.  Also, (ptu-ptu), our natural gas lines have been exceptionally stable here; the electricity that fires my sump pumps, not so much.

Getting an auto-start generator installed.

In spite of this being a contractor that specializes in such generators - and having previously conducted 2 design walk-throughs, they still brought the wrong size gas pipe, the wrong electrical shed, the wrong pad.  We finished visit #3 today and apparently still need visit #4 (to get the right sized gas pipe).  <face::palm>

Pressure washing, especially cleaning stone or concrete is very satisfying.

I guess it was the lobby.

Fleeb,

I can't remember the room where you talked about how long you have been out of your condo, I spoke with my sister's friend.  After he was flooded out it was 84 days from the time the place flooded until he moved back in.  So it took about three months.

Yep, it has these crocodile clamps. I used it for lan cables, telephone cables, tv antenna (satellite and terrestric) and ordinary 240V cables. As long as it is conductive, it works.

Helped me to detect that some retard had screwed our curtain rail into the antenna cable... still took me ours to find.

The metal tip you use as a sensor can detect through the insulation of cables, stone and wood, but gives the best result if you can touch a wire directly. Of course you need to be sure that the cable is off the grid when you check higher voltages. IIRC, it can work on small, low ampere voltages, but I would always rather make sure they are turned off.

I had trouble singling out a cable the closer I got to the fuse box, probably because of interference from live wires. Or the sheer amount of copper.

But for checking dead cables or finding the right ends for light switches, etc, it is a bliss and fully worth the 20 bucks.

Can it trace electric wires?  I'm pretty good on my low voltage plant right now, but I've got a lot of abandoned electric wires, and some of them are in places where I'd like to light them back up, if I could only figure out where they go...

I have bought a wire tracker in order to do electrical archeology in this house. You can get them el cheap or insanely overprized, I bought this one here and is totally ok:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmNC02vXo0A

It can check RJ 45 cables, too, I often use it in the office of clients to check wether a LAN wall socket is usable or not.

Nicely done, we need more light in the kitchen too, but have not attic above. And I do not dare to uncover the hidden treasures this ceiling holds underneath the wood. We had a two spot LED thing, but all three we had in the house died. Will replace with a four spot LED thing. Ugly, but damn bright.

Mon Jan 23 2017 09:49:17 EST from IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored

Wiring was problematic.  The existing light was on a three-way switch pair, which had somehow been made up using 2-conductor cable.   (No, they didn't use the ground wire as a neutral; I checked that.)  I marked each conductor to keep track of which ones were hots, neutrals, and switch legs.  And there was another light downstream from this one.  I still can't figure out how they did it.  There has to be a borrowed neutral and/or a hidden traveler somewhere, which I suppose was code compliant in 1991.  I know that the 2011 NEC 404.2(C) requires a neutral in every box, whether you need it or not.

Sounds like this one:

Or the Carter system (Hamburger Schaltung in german): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiway_switching#Carter_system

Good job and congrats on the new lighting.

(I think we have the same cabinets)

All finished!  I did go with the old work cans, and boy am I glad I did.  I was able to do the majority of the work without even going into the attic.

(That's actually a photo from last year's ethernet project but it's a visual of how difficult this space is to work in.)

Wiring was problematic.  The existing light was on a three-way switch pair, which had somehow been made up using 2-conductor cable.   (No, they didn't use the ground wire as a neutral; I checked that.)  I marked each conductor to keep track of which ones were hots, neutrals, and switch legs.  And there was another light downstream from this one.  I still can't figure out how they did it.  There has to be a borrowed neutral and/or a hidden traveler somewhere, which I suppose was code compliant in 1991.  I know that the 2011 NEC 404.2(C) requires a neutral in every box, whether you need it or not.

4167494@Uncensoredhttps://uncensored.citadel.org/readfwd?go=Home%20Handyman?start_reading_at=4166591Tue, 10 Jan 2017 22:16:48 -00004166591@Uncensoredhttps://uncensored.citadel.org/readfwd?go=Home%20Handyman?start_reading_at=4166041Tue, 10 Jan 2017 14:51:36 -00004166041@Uncensoredhttps://uncensored.citadel.org/readfwd?go=Home%20Handyman?start_reading_at=4145231Tue, 06 Dec 2016 17:02:15 -00004145231@Uncensored

but a dry and grumpy one...

umm ... let me be the first of many to simply say ... it looks like Mr. Hankey.

Explain this to me.... this picture does not show just how ugly this thing is.

 4138720@Uncensored

Guten Appetit!

Cooking with gas is so much fun and so effective, nothing beats it. Induction comes close, but is for sissies. I miss the gas stove from my last student flat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc1URQgQWNo

Passed inspection!  Yesterday the building inspector came and inspected/approved the inside plumbing.  A few hours later the new stove was delivered, and the old one was hauled away.  The propane company is coming on Monday to drop the tank and attach the outside plumbing, so that just leaves the weekend in between.  I think I'm going to go to the store tonight and pick up a few couplers to connect the plumbing to my BBQ tank.

4136846@Uncensored

Agreed, we need some compliance but where I live it's overkill.  If I lived 50 miles north of where I am now, I could obtain permits to work on my own house -- electrical, plumbing, gas, whatever.  There would still be an inspection to close out the permit.

I agree completely that unpermitted and uninspected work can be dangerous.  Some red tape is necessary ... there's just too much of it here.

Just imagine how crappy every installed appliance would look like without red tape. There are people like you, who care about doing it properly. There are lots of people who like it fast and cheap. Those are the ones that get STDs from crack whores, too. Red tape is often ok, most of the time overdone, but it is the cheap and fast people, that need to die in a car fire. ;)

It is amazing what the codes department and home inspectors miss.

There are a lot of springs in the area, there is drainage around the house.  The drain in the backyard always has water coming out of it from the drainage around the house, but the drain in the house is dry. There is a place for a sump-pump but there isn't one.  The basement is humid but not wet.  The floor should have had sealer on it but the regular paint is not flaking off, it is just very dirty.

Last winter we had a bad condensation problem and a series of events. The family always turns the water off if we leave for extended periods of time.  The main shut off valve started to leak and had to be replaced.  When they replaced the valve they never put a washer between the valve and the meter.  There was a larger leak and they came back to fix that. Previously in this thread I mentioned there wasn't any heat in my parent's basement.  You can't run a dehumidifier in colder temps with all the extra water the moisture level was very high.  There was about a week the area had very cold temps and condensation was all over the walls and floor.  It was a very wet mess.  Because of the springs I am sure there is water under basement floor, however the regular paint has not lifted.

All of the neighbors have sump pumps or water problems my parents do not.  The neighbor across the street has a house that is on a hill and much higher than my parent's house.  Their basement floods, my parent's basement does not.

Wed Sep 07 2016 03:24:52 PM EDT from Ragnar Danneskjold @ Uncensored

I just did the basement in my father-in-law's old place a few months ago.
Used SealKrete Epoxy-Seal.

Looked great when it was finished. It's very thin, and needs a couple of coats.

The devil is in the prep work. There were a few areas that I didn't prep as well, and it lifted right away.

If it's been previously painted, I'd just use whatever crappy paint you used before though. The epoxy paint says it can be used other paint if prepped right. Don't believe it.

Thank you for the advice.  The person at Lowes recommended SealKrete as well.  She didn't go over the prep work.  I reviewed the prep work, and that is a lot of work.  Sand, wash, rinse, primer, then the SealKrete.  More of a pain in the ass than it is worth.  I will go with a coat of regular paint.

Currently I am painting the walls. Twenty-five to thirty years ago there was two coats of UGL DryLock put on the cellar walls, so I am "freshening up" by adding another coat of the stuff.  

Basements are a pain in the ass.  I miss Florida, no basements.

This is for a concrete basement floor.  

Does anybody have a suggestion for concrete floor paint?  I would like it to seal if possible.  The floor already has a coat of paint on it from years ago.

According to the inflation calculator that would be $1,557.13 in today's dollars.

I found an old newspaper ad from the mid 70s.  19.0 Cu. Ft. Coldspot Regrigerator, $319.  I believe that was Sears ad.

In the future, you will need a different mobile phone for every device, since each app will only work properly on a certain flavor of android. For others, you need an old ipad.

You will save on AA/AAA batteries but you will invest that amount into chargers and cables and replacement phones.

Wed Aug 31 2016 15:29:50 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored

That kinda-sorta made sense with televisions (but I didn't like it there either).
On an air conditioner it just seems silly. I guess it's now cheaper to put a wifi chip on the appliance than it is to include a remote control. And now we'll have to deal with "your air conditioner is spying on you!"

on the other hand, if everything starts using apps instead of remote controls, you'll be able to save so much time/effort/money on those annoying triple-A batteries

I think my mother made up her mind, she is going with a smaller cubic foot refrigerator.  

There are some refrigerators will all sorts of options.  Saw one with a tablet mounted in the door.  You can pull up your google calendar, and leave note, write shopping lists.  I am sure it has a picture gallery.  One of the sales people at Lowes said there is a refrigerator with a camera in it so you can look to see if you need something.  They have refrigerators with doors inside doors.  You open a partial door for quick items like butter or milk, or you can open the full door.

Traditional freezer on top units are hard to find.  Those damn Frenchy doors are popular.  Not side by sides, freezer on the bottom (which sucks) with two doors for the refrigerator.  

If anyone else is going to get a new refrigerator, watch out for the French doors and the meat/cheese tray that goes across the whole unit.  You have to open both doors just to get something out of the drawer.  Poor design.  

If you have to remodel your entire kitchen for a refrigerator that isn't very efficient. 

My mother needs a new refrigerator. The house is 30 years old, she has replaced a refrigerator before.  There is a space between the kitchen wall and a cabinet for the refrigerator.  For some reason, all the new models will not fit in this space unless you purchase a much smaller cubic foot capacity.  I am sure why these design changes took place.  I can remove the small cabinet on top of the refrigerator, but the depth and width also is a problem.  Apparently the french doors are a big deal now, I have never liked them, other members of the family have complaints about them.  She doesn't want a freezer on the bottom, and side by side limits space.  

I guess people want larger refrigerators.  How the phuque has a simple refridge changed so much?

Agreed IG.  Sounds like if the LED is getting brighter, it is due to increased current flow, which can come from a highly inductive load and a badly designed LED power source circuit.  The spike in current would come from devices like a dryer or washer motor start up or compressor, really anything with a big coil of wire in it.

Quick duckduckgo search says that this is a copper and pex valve

http://www.americanvalve.com/pdf/viperlokinstructions.pdf

Not sure why that was put in given that it was copper on both fittings, but I think my future is wet items and replacing copper to pex fittings in my 1968 house :-)

A few weeks ago I turned on the water supply to my outdoor spigots (they're shut off from the inside during the winter so they don't freeze, of course) ... and one of the valves started leaking.  I was having guests over that weekend so I elected to just shut it back off instead of starting a plumbing project.  Check this out:

Proper valves and fittings, soldered together like a pro would do it.  Not too shabby for a non-plumber.  :)

My problem with the cheap LED's is they have a tendency to "flash" when the voltage dips quickly, such as a major load change, where the AC goes on. Oddly, they seem to get brighter, rather than dimmer like a normal incandecent does. 

A quick guess on that -- they are probably using a bucking power converter, along with the absolutely smallest (and cheapest) capacitor they can get away with.  That could theoretically produce the effect you are describing (but only momentarily, of course).

I put an LED light in my bathroom, the fixture has three sockets and there might be another LED brand bulb in it.  For some time after installing the bulb when I turned on the light I would get a bright flash like an incandescent bulb going out.  I am not sure which bulb it came from I just guessed it was the new bulb, I am unsure if it still does this.

I wire in fans on the LED bulbs, but I think that negates any power savings :-)

Some fixtures just don't seem to be able to handle them.  The kitchen light at my old house dissipated heat so poorly that it burned out any electronic bulb I tried to put into it.  At one point I was thinking about drilling ventilation holes in the fixture, but I ended up just replacing the whole fixture with a non-enclosed one and I never replaced the bulbs again.

My LED and CFL bulbs have been such a mess that I think we spend more on bulbs than we would on electricity for regular incandescents.

In a lot of bulbs, it's the driver circuit that burns out before the emitters do.  Running it at a high temperature (such as inside an enclosed fixture) will aggravate that.

And since IG uses electricity as main heat source, he can only save anything on days were he is not using the heat, I guess. On a cold day, the "wasted" heat of a normal bulb should reduce the amount of heat that his heating system needs to generate. Or are there levels of efficency when it comes to producing heat with electricity?

We had that conversation here not too long ago.  It does seem that since electric resistance heat is 100% efficient, every watthour of electricity that goes into a light or appliance that produces "waste heat" in the same building is a watthour of electricity that didn't have to be expended on the heating coils.

(Note that "100% efficient" doesn't necessarily mean that electric resistance heat is the least expensive way to heat your home.  It simply means that 100% of the electricity put into the system is converted to heat.  Compare with 85% for a *really* well-tuned oil or gas fired system, 65-70% for a crappy one, or up to 300% for a heat pump operating under ideal conditions.)

I have pointed out in the past how often LED lights fail.  If you look at traffic lights they have missing segments.  I would see trucks with missing segments on their lights.  I didn't think they lasted but I figured they improved since I noticed it many years ago.  

I once read that your light sources only contribute about 8% to your electricity bill, so there is a rather reduced potential for further improvement.

And since IG uses electricity as main heat source, he can only save anything on days were he is not using the heat, I guess. On a cold day, the "wasted" heat of a normal bulb should reduce the amount of heat that his heating system needs to generate. Or are there levels of efficency when it comes to producing heat with electricity?

Another observation is, that LED lamps might die far sooner than announced. Cheap ones and expensive once. We lost two 75€ ceiling lamps this year, both survived just a little longer than the 2 year warranty period.

They complained about paper bags and made us switch to plastic only to complain about plastic.

They complained about incandescent bulb so Bush outlawed them and we switched to CFL, which they complained about so we switched to LEDs and....

http://www.businessinsider.com/astonauts-photos-from-space-leds-light-pollution-2016-1

4048966@Uncensoredhttps://uncensored.citadel.org/readfwd?go=Home%20Handyman?start_reading_at=4048938Thu, 07 Apr 2016 15:27:22 -00004048938@Uncensoredhttps://uncensored.citadel.org/readfwd?go=Home%20Handyman?start_reading_at=4048922Thu, 07 Apr 2016 14:13:37 -00004048922@Uncensored

Sounds interesting.  If you're up for it, I'd like to ask you to post frequent updates (including geek porn photos).

I noticed that you are calling it "off grid" but also mentioned selling power back to the utility.   Are you planning to use an isolated inverter or a grid tie inverter?  That is usually the big decision to make, because an isolated inverter will work in an outage, but you cannot mix solar and grid power together, nor can you sell excess capacity back to the utility.  The grid tie inverter allows you to do both of those things, but it requires the utility to be online in order to operate.

I guess we will replace the panel.  No one mentioned the dangers.  I did some searching and see a lot of negative information about them.  Seems the contractor used a lot of end of life cycle items when the house was built in the mid 80s.  When we had our windows replaced they said it had lead paint, which was odd because lead paint was discontinued in the 70s.

Okay, we will get the panel replaced, especially because we are adding a 220 circuit and that will fill it.

Thanks.

Wed Apr 06 2016 03:01:49 PM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored

What brand is the existing panel? I don't suppose it's Zinsco/FederalPacific (aka "if you have this panel you're lucky it hasn't burned up already")?

 yup.  Both of the electricians we had for a quote said the original contractor did a very nice job.  This is before we talked about getting a new panel.

 

Leave the upper right two positions empty if you ever want to install an interlocked generator breaker. 

 

I don't think I want to worry about that, it is in my mother's house.  When my father was alive he had an oxygen machine we talked about getting a gas powered generator but it isn't an issue anymore.  

We need to replace the panel in our house.  The company that made it has long since gone out of business and finding breakers is difficult.  It also wasn't large enough for the house and we need to add some circuits.  

Are any brands better than others?  What is the minimum number of breaker punch outs we should get?  The house is all electric, it has electric baseboard heating so those take several spaces.

the Israeli one is shown upside-down (unless it's just always installed upside-down)

NEMA is good enough.  It thins out the herd.

I was almost thinned out by a bank of capacitors once due to bad grounding.  Also, a NEMA socket was at fault a few times (think electric lawn mower), as well as a string of X-Mass lights more often than not.  Ok, strike what I said.  NEMA sucks.  Cheap, but deadly.

but with a raw socket so you can grab the plug keys if its not all pluged in?

Imho the german followed by the belgian plugs are the best: ensuring protective ground contacts first, and there physically is no way to grab the pins once they get contact.

However, the side clamps in the german plugs may wear in some rare usecases, and maybe having a pin in the socket isn't as smart as one may think...

My favorite by far is the UK plug.  Grounded, fused, tamper-proof, and damn solid.

The three-pronged plug used in the Brazilian example is actually pretty new, and not that common (at least in the places I was in Sao Paulo); more common is the two-pronged plug which is just like the three, but with the middle prong removed. I saw a lot of adapters in use for computers and projectors that used the newer plug, including the adapter I had in order to use my own stuff. 

There isn't a wifi app for monitoring different thermostats?  

So that's basically just a graphing thermometer  :)

In the old house I occasionally considered computerizing the heat, but I was afraid of a computer problem causing a runaway condition if I wasn't home.  I thought for a while that I'd need two hardwired thermostats as low and high cutoffs to override the automation if needed.  But it would have taken up so much space on the wall that I just abandoned the idea and settled for cool looking indicators in the basement:

4009404@Uncensored

How to build a raspberry pi home heating monitor

http://www.techradar.com/how-to/computing/how-to-build-a-raspberry-pi-home-heating-monitor-1314454

I finally got around to hauling coax and ethernet to the end of my house opposite the end where I have my service entrance, FiOS gear, and what passes for an MDF in the garage.  This involved going up two levels and across a very low, very densely trussed attic which I had to wiggle and squirm through to get to the other end.  Not fun.  For those on webcit you can kind of see my cables on the left side of the photo.

So now the drywall patch is spackled and sanded, and it's time to paint.

Oops.

4004439@Uncensoredhttps://uncensored.citadel.org/readfwd?go=Home%20Handyman?start_reading_at=4004430Thu, 28 Jan 2016 16:31:47 -00004004430@Uncensoredhttps://uncensored.citadel.org/readfwd?go=Home%20Handyman?start_reading_at=4004206Thu, 28 Jan 2016 15:08:34 -00004004206@Uncensored

That is all part of the vast right wing conspiracy, Hillary did not have a sending relationship with that server.

Part 15 declaration for a light bulb.  Hrrmph.  I would understand if it's one of those bulbs that has a remote control to set the color.  For a regular bulb I guess it's just so they don't get in trouble with the FCC for the integrated electronics that spy on you and transmit data to the Chinese.

I purchased a bulb with a small base and noticed this notice on the documentation for the bulb. I didn't notice this before but having to purchase a "special" bulb for the ceiling fan I saw it.

3999076@Uncensoredhttps://uncensored.citadel.org/readfwd?go=Home%20Handyman?start_reading_at=3998413Sat, 16 Jan 2016 14:06:20 -00003998413@Uncensored

I found this interesting, Ignat might as well.  It is a little bit of information on England's home electrical wiring, and how their outlets and appliance plugs work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEfP1OKKz_Q

A little less wire.

a little less what?

The wifi only seems to fail when the phone is plugged into the circuit and the lamp is on.

While the phone was plugged in I tested it again last night, lamp on problems with wifi, lamp off wifi works.  I will test it without having the phone plugged in.

LEDs work with phase cutting techniques - it cuts the AC into slices - you start with a sine wave, which then gets cut off, maybe later in the wave back on, and all that with very steep curves.

If you know fourier analysis - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourier_analysis that explains that you stack many sines in different frequencies to get these angular waves. Some of these are then in the 2.4GHz range and disturb reception

If you add some capacitators and some tiny coil you can grind these rough edges and shield emitted frequencies using ferrites.

The engine control of the thread mill does similar. The coils in the engine has even more power, if its a motor with phase rotating brushes it may produce even more radio noise.

Well, first thing would be to test with and without the charger plugged in to the phone.  It is entirely possible that something is causing noise in your AC lines that is following the cable to the phone, even if it isn't directly damaging the 2.4GHz band.

I have LED lighting all over my house.  Almost every single bulb is LED, my Christmas tree is LED.  I have never had a problem with Wifi.

The problem I have had is that my treadmill knocks my DSL modem offline (or causes severe packet loss).  Nothing wireless about either of those devices, but some judicious use of AC line filters has helped that issue.

It is possible that severe noise in AC could disrupt 2.4GHz, but I would be highly skeptical of this, particularly given the lengths of wire we're talking about for Christmas lights, and the amount of power they draw.  Your kitchen microwave or a table saw or something is much more likely to cause issues.

I read a story last night about how Christmas LED lights can interfere with your wifi.  I tried doing a little more research and from the results I saw it seemed like a sensational story news departments tend to do this time of the year.  I wanted to research this more.  I did notice that I have one "dead spot" in a room, and could never figure out why.  No mater how I moved the phone in that area it had problems connecting, staying connected, and I seemed to think that the problems were more at night.  There is a LED table lamp in that room plugged into the same circuit (not socket) as the charger.  I tested this, lamp off wifi good, lamp on wifi problems. This was a cheaper LED unknown name brand bulb I purchased at Walmart a few years ago when LED bulbs were still way up there in price.  Maybe it had poor shielding.

I have a very busy week/weekend ahead of me.  I was wondering if the uncensored crew knew anything about this LED/wifi problem.

Yes but a trailer is for stupid rednecks, a shipping container is for hipsters and the cool.  HUGE difference.

hm, didn't someone post a link to John Deere R&D + agile methods?

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/spark/297-the-future-of-food-farming-and-more-1.3275728/why-can-t-i-fix-my-tractor-1.3284537

the perception "on the field" of that ;-)

http://frominsidethebox.com/ fancy - living in a boxed truck - to save the money for the rent ;-)

Of course there's *some* heat generated, but the point is, this guy saw a couple of loops in my cable that hadn't been straightened out and boldly declared that it was a safety hazard.  It's not as if I had a thousand foot roll of cable energized.  The whole cable assembly was 25 feet, and I had most of it uncoiled.

That having been said, building my own induction cooker sounds like a fun little project...  <<grin>>

Geez.

My generator video has gotten a lot of compliments but more than a few stupid comments.  This one might take the cake.

"Hi [IG], I was very surprised to se you connect a coiled cable to the house without explaining the very real danger of doing this. Anyone with any experience in this realm knows that heat will build up"

Yup.  There it is.  A few feet of my generator hookup cable is going to burn down the house.  You heard it here first.

Hey, that is cheating :-)

And now you have that super handy conduit bender to store :-)

Thu Jan 15 2015 10:00:29 AM EST from IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored

What I really wanted was a dual-gang box that mounts on top of a single-gang box.

And unfortunately when I googled "electric box extender expander" it ignored "electric box" and showed me a lovely selection of penis pumps.

How unfortunate.  You get in spam, but you sometimes get the unexpected wtf result from a search engine as well.

Tue Jan 20 2015 09:30:48 AM EST from IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored

And do your really use enclosures for wiring made out of unpainted
metal?! Or what is the material of that boxen in your image?

Yes, that's a metal box. In the US we always use metal boxes when working with armored cable or metal conduit. When using nonmetallic cable ("romex") plastic boxes are permitted.

There are some jurisdictions in which nonmetallic cable is prohibited, and some which even require conduit everywhere, but for the most part you do have a choice.

True.  My house has most recently become a mix and match house during some remodeling.  We have Romex (Thermoplastic-sheathed cable) and conduit mixed.  Thankfully we have the ability to tie the two together with the screw in clamps that you can get for the metal boxes to make the transitions.  We did have to put some junction boxes in the ceiling, but they are nicely covered by smoke detectors to make it less obvious.

Sun Jan 18 2015 13:08:10 ESTfrom IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored

So it looks like what I need is a RACO 187:

 

 

 

Three of them in each room? Or in a whole house?

Mandatory in each room makes sense, but "spread them as you like and pray" seems religious. Cover the other rooms with paintings of St. Florian.

And do your really use enclosures for wiring made out of unpainted metal?! Or what is the material of that boxen in your image?

I hope you remain safe in that home. Do you have smoke detectors? After such a thing maybe worth the money.

Speaking of electrical disasters...

As I may have mentioned earlier, I'm in the process of replacing the horribly inaccurate thermostats in my house with digital ones.  As it turns out, mechanical line voltage thermostats are notorious for being completely unreliable at getting an accurate temperature, which is why a lot of homes built with electric heat use relays and low voltage thermostats.  But I can't do that because I've got 11 zones of electric heat, each room wired with its own thermostat, each room being either freezing or broiling because of the way they interact with each other.

So I was changing the one in the living room yesterday, which my wife requested as a priority because she suspected we weren't getting a lot of heat in there.  Turns out she was right.  While searching for the correct breaker I eventually matched it up to a 20 amp double pole that I hadn't been able to close without it popping right back off.  I had assumed that breaker went to some old construction that had been capped badly when the house was converted from a two family back to a one family, but I was wrong.  When I disconnected the old thermostat, I was able to close the breaker and measure 240 volts on the wires.

Upon opening the wiring box of the baseboard heater, I found:

• Burnt/carbonized marks all over the metal
• Several exposed wires hanging loose
• A partially melted wire nut
• The remaining splice held together with tape instead of a wire nut

Thank goodness for circuit breakers and metallic enclosures, or this house would have burned a long time ago.  I had assumed all the wiring was done correctly, because this is a manufactured home.  I can't imagine who would have ever had a need to go in there later and change out that wiring.  Now I'm wondering if I have to go through the rest of the house and open every box and every heater.

I'm surprised the home inspector didn't catch this.

So it looks like what I need is a RACO 187:

(They don't sell 'em at Home Despot)

This box will make the transition from a single-gang inset box to a 4" surface-mount box.  This will allow me to draw power from the existing outlet in my garage, and come out into the rest of the garage using conduit along the exterior cinder block wall a few feet away.  This will allow me to have an outlet near my server rack, so I can plug in my router, and another at my workbench, where I can plug in my router.

(see what I did there?)

When the sparky's can't find fault with it in reading the code, you know you have something special!

Probably, but just don't take it too far:

http://www.joe-ks.com/archives_apr2012/ElectricalBoxExtension.jpg

the problem about electric radiation is, that electricity usually is generated from heat using steam turbines.

They usually are not 100% effective (remotely...)

plus you have lots of waste on the transport due to resistance in the wires.

however, nowadays people figure that you can build storage ovens which use electricity when renewables are available, which seems to be a pro argument.

However, I don't like the fact that they burn dust inside, and then launch this burnt dust at you using their fans - not very nice for the nose and lungs.

Just dawn a rubber suit from head to toe and a rubber and poly mask that covers your head, and climb up in to the 90+ degree F attic and ... Well, that does not sound like a happy outcome.

I have taken a phone on my last trip and put it in airplane mode.  I did it to use only the GPS and downloaded maps for navigation (using the OsmAnd~ program - from the F-Droid store).

My experience was that as long as I did not run the screen, and calculated the route before I departed the start point, the battery drain was minimal.  The most battery drain I had was when I was checking for location on the map with the display actively tracing the route, rather than just giving the verbal turn directions (i.e. sleep mode mostly).

The reason I ran without any cell service was due to the fact I had no coverage in the countries I was visiting, so turning off the cell phone portion of the phone was efficient.

having forgot my garmin in the cellar with no satelite reception trippled its battery life ;-)

so, its also expensive in those.

however, there are more places where they're made to save energy; most probably the passive display is one big point too.

Mon Aug 25 2014 11:22:44 EDT from Freakdog @ Dog Pound BBS II

 

Fri Aug 22 2014 08:05:18 AM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored

That basically looks like a turn signal aimed at the rider instead of at external traffic.

Problem: it's a cute little readout but it's still running the GPS in your phone.  That's going to kill your battery.  I'd rather have a handlebar mount for the phone itself, hooked up to a little generator to keep the device charged.

I run GPS based apps for tracking my rides, already. Battery drain is significantly lessened by not running the screen.

The generator's a nice little idea, if you aren't going for speed (i.e. I'm not a commuter...I go out for distance rides, attempting to get stronger/faster as I go along).

I put my phone in a battery/charging case with capacity that is double my phone's capacity...I've been out on my bike for 8 hours and not dipped into my phone's actual battery capacity.

well, not much to invent - just a bit heavy on the credit card.

https://www.bike-components.de/products/info/p33126_Lumotec-Luxos-IQ2-U-LED-Frontlicht-mit-StVZO-Zulassung.html

(fancily they first built [and still sell] https://www.bike-components.de/products/info/p23049_E-Werk-mobiles-Ladegeraet.html?xtcr=1&xtmcl=e-werk+e+werk+mobiles+ladeger%E4t )

https://www.bike-components.de/products/info/p24191_Son-Delux-Disc-Center-Lock-Nabendynamo.html?xtcr=5&xtmcl=son+son+delux+disc+center+lock

there you are.

don't wory about your performance to much, the guys riding 600km on the roadbike without stopping for longer than half an hour use that.

regarding the galileos - yes a pity. I guess they're bringing them ladders on the next start so they can climb the remaining altitude...

regarding the receivers - garmin has stuff which actually can navigate you without draining battery in large amount.

Fri Aug 22 2014 08:05:18 AM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored

That basically looks like a turn signal aimed at the rider instead of at external traffic.

Problem: it's a cute little readout but it's still running the GPS in your phone.  That's going to kill your battery.  I'd rather have a handlebar mount for the phone itself, hooked up to a little generator to keep the device charged.

I run GPS based apps for tracking my rides, already. Battery drain is significantly lessened by not running the screen.

The generator's a nice little idea, if you aren't going for speed (i.e. I'm not a commuter...I go out for distance rides, attempting to get stronger/faster as I go along).

I put my phone in a battery/charging case with capacity that is double my phone's capacity...I've been out on my bike for 8 hours and not dipped into my phone's actual battery capacity.

Are we going to start seeing receivers that can combine data from GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo?  Presumably the more birds in the sky the better the accuracy will be...

(Although those crazy euros can't seem to get their launches correct ... [http://tinyurl.com/p47q7u7] ... they launched the latest two satellites into the wrong orbit.)

That is great.  I guess if I needed to keep the gps running, I could hook up a bottle charger to the wheel or solar, or a bit of wind as I ride to top it off, or hell, just wire up a larger battery to the frame.  I would most likely tire out before the larger battery store gives out :-)

Wish I was younger.  Much out there to do.

What if this was just an LED in the corner of some sunglasses for the rider that dimly blinked the turn and flashed faster as you approached (of course dimly enough to not blind the rider).

Probably to litigious a society to accept, but I would love to make something like that for my own use.

That basically looks like a turn signal aimed at the rider instead of at external traffic.

Problem: it's a cute little readout but it's still running the GPS in your phone.  That's going to kill your battery.  I'd rather have a handlebar mount for the phone itself, hooked up to a little generator to keep the device charged.

Wed Aug 20 2014 08:46:40 PM EDT from ax25 @ Uncensored

You put a sharks head on your head, or does it go on the bike?

On the bike.

http://hammerhead.io/

You put a sharks head on your head, or does it go on the bike?

Interesting...I think I'll just wait for my HammerheadNav, though.

Now that i'd call usefull wearable: reins for cyclists.

https://twitter.com/PearlChen/status/501558655524044800/photo/1

I agree with vince-q.  That is ample clearing for at lest a long wire antenna for some fine SWLing.  Shame to let it go to waste as just another grassy area.

Sounds beautiful, IGGY - congrats again.

Oh, and clearly, this year the party should be at your house.  :-)

There's not much perspective on that shot now that I'm looking at it again.  The area pictured is about half an acre.  Out front there's about another quarter acre of lawn and then some woods between that and the street, with a little babbling brook running through it.  It's not big by rural standards, but big enough that I'm not going to kill myself trying to maintain it with a push mower.

The dead mower went out on the curb last night.  I've now been through our first "bulk pickup day" since moving into this town.  My neighbor was right -- not much gets picked up by the garbage men after the scrappers and scavengers are done.  The night before bulk pickup day, people from out of town (at least I suspect they're from out of town) troll the neighborhoods looking for large metallic objects to pick up and sell as scrap metal.  I put out a bunch of metal poles from an old trampoline around 7:00.  Within 20 minutes there was a scrapper going through the pile.  Good for him, I thought, not only recycling but actually earning some money in the process.  I'd have gone up there and bitched at him if I'd known that he was separating the metal from the non-metal (all the padding around the poles) and leaving the non-metal strewn about at the curb for me to clean up a second time.

By the time I came back outside after dinner (yeah, we eat late at my house) the scrappers had taken the old lawnmower and a couple of old rackmount computer cases I'd left out.

Sat Aug 09 2014 11:33:02 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored

Yes, at this point I need either a lawn tractor or a whole lot of spare time and energy.  I bought a house on a 1 acre lot.  This is the view from my deck:

And that's just the backyard.  There's more out front.

Nice yard! Idea time....

If you don't already have one, get a ham license. You have room in that yard for a modest but very usable antenna "farm." I'm "imagining" a 70 ft tower in the center of the yard (self supporting to eliminate the need for guy wires) with a multi-band HF beam and above that a 6 meter yagi, a 2 meter yagi, and a 2 meter vertical at the very top for "ham CB"... mmmm... two meter FM.

Rip out the grass to form a 30-ft radius circle with the tower in the center, and replace with 1 to 2 inch white stone, or even "largish" gravel.

You could probably "finance" most of that by returning that John Deere "tractor" thingee. <evil grin>

Of course, knowing New York "neighborhoods" you are probably drowning in Deed Covenants and Restrictions. But not to worry, those are about to be overturned in favor of amateur radio antennas by Federal court actions and/or the Amateur Radio Parity Act which will be passed within the next 2 years regardless of which "party" thinks they "control" the federal legislative process. Hams have a track record of getting things done at the federal level. It's truly amazing what politicians will do when they hear "if this doesn't happen, we'll just 'not be there' the next time you have a disaster that takes out your comm-systems'..." <another evil grin>

Have fun with your new Antenna Farm !!!!!

--K2NE

Post videos!!!

Thanks for the brilliant ideas, but I've already ordered a John Deere, mainly for street cred with the rednecks on my wife's side of the family.  I know the low end Deeres aren't anything like the ones used in commercial applications, but they're still decent machines.

or this: http://www.robomow.com/en-USA/

replace it with astroturf?

Yes, at this point I need either a lawn tractor or a whole lot of spare time and energy.  I bought a house on a 1 acre lot.  This is the view from my deck:

And that's just the backyard.  There's more out front.

A tractor?  How big is your new yard??

Re the CEO - See, should'a moved to Mass and worked in *his* office.  That'da gotten you a new policy pretty quickly!

I know I need a new mower for the larger yard, but it won't arrive for another couple of weeks so I wanted to try to get one more cut out of the old mower.

It had a different idea.  A few minutes into the job, it literally blew itself apart:

[ If you can't see the image, go to http://tinyurl.com/deadmowz0r ]

The whole assembly carrying the carbeurator and choke blasted itself right off the side of the engine.  There was no putting it back on, either -- we're talking broken parts here, not just spontaneous disassembly.

The fact that it then caught on fire kind of sealed the deal.  I figured the fire would go out when the rest of the fuel was consumed, but the plastic fuel tank and all of the other plastic parts of the mower were burning too.  I eventually had to douse it when it started spewing thick black smoke towards the neighbors.

I have an appointment with Mr. John Deere.

Tue Jul 29 2014 04:30:08 PM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored

I am a unix hacker. We use forward slashes in our waste lines, not backslashes.

Hey, I thought we were supposed to "|" it to something in a piecework order.

You know, there are circumstances under which you can have backslash through the waste line - so the higher you go, the lesser the chance your floor gets filled with fancy smelling whater ;-)

Usually you want a waste trap / syphon so you don't get fancy odors in your flat.

Hey congrats to the clan!  Enjoy!

Wow!  Boy, when you guys finally move in, unpack, and sit out in the backyard for a beer, that's gonna be one great-tasting beer!

Let us know when the housewarming is  :-)

So ... the move out of the Mouse House.  Fun fun fun.

It's well documented in the Rants room how much trouble I had with the World's Worst Moving Company, many hours and over $1K over budget for that.  But at this point our belongings are moved into the garage of the new house.  They were kind enough to grant us access to the garage for storage until we are able to close on the purchase of the house.

Just waiting on a few minor documentation items to clear before we can close.  Looks good at this point.  It's kind of weird being homeless.  It's also kind of weird thinking about the old place and knowing it's not ours anymore.  It's a great house; we just outgrew it.  The people moving in are as happy to downsize as we are to upsize.

Way too confusing to be a reality show.  Now that the house is sold and I can come up for air, let me see if I can remember all of the sordid details.

Buyer's title company ordered the municipal search from the town.  The town came back and said that they couldn't clear the municipals because of a "violation."  The assessor's office and the building department's office didn't agree about what kind of house I had.  Turns out the previous owners built the second floor addition illegally, and somehow it didn't come up when I bought the house.

Everyone in unison now says: "your title policy should protect you from that."  Go ahead -- everyone says it; everyone is wrong.  Title policy only guarantees that the title is clear; it doesn't guarantee the municipal search.  So now I have to have my "illegal addition" approved by the town.

Electric inspector came within the next couple of days, looked around, $85 later I have an "as built" electric permit, no problem.

Building inspector showed up the same day, looked around, and failed us because he couldn't find any windows big enough for "egress."  So I had to call a bunch of window places and eventually found one that had a big enough window in stock, which replaced a pair of windows.  Got a great deal on the window, and then they raped me on the installation.

Naturally I had to pay a fine for my "illegal" addition, in addition to the cost of the permit, before they would issue the Certificate of Occupancy.  All told, I'm out an additional $3,500 just to get the municipals cleared.  If anyone ever runs into the previous owner, one Mr. James A. Demos (now living in Connecticut), please stab him in the face with a Buick for me.   Thank you.

IG, What are you doing over there, setting up the base for the next NBC reality show??

Great news, IG!

That's great news, IG!

A premature mazel tov, all willing!

while electric radiation seems to gain a renesaince for renewable enegries (night storage heating - technicaly know as off-peak heating... this contain why: 'store' electricity when the wind blows)...

I personaly would rather heat with open fire:

the tempearture of the stove is rather high, dust comes inside, gets burnt.

once you're around, and demand the heat, its going to blow out the burnt dust, and you can have fun with it inside your nose, etc.

Sounds great!

Thinking about heating with electricity, we will fuel cars in the future with electricity. If the source is all green and cheap, why not keep the electric heating in your home? Part of the house of the parents of my gf have storage heaters. Atm, this is quiet costly, because in germany, we are producing so much solar and wind energy that our electricity prices went skywards. Don't ask me about the logic, ask Angela Merkel. But I guess when Putin decides to quit gas pipelines over this stupid Ukrain shit, we might be ending up with the cheapest source of power in 5+ years.

But they really do an awful sort of heat, I prefer a wood stove over it at any time.

In germany, you have the oil tanks in your basement, in a special room which has a door with an entry above waist height. Think of it as a window that mimics a door. Completely made out of 10cm of steel. The floor is concrete and sealed, the walls too, iirc. So that no oil can reach groundwater. You paint the walls with special paint. Twice, in different colors, so it can clearly be seen as having been painted twice. It is kind of a bunker.

Automatic pellet supply is nice for a constant heating. You have your generator to bridge power outtakes.

We use briquettes in a standard wood burning stove. If you buy the right ones and not the cheapest, they are pretty efficient. The cheap ones use crappy material and are not pressed enough. Bonus: No need for electricity. Malus: Need for a human to throw in another briquette. They are pretty neat to store, price is about 200-300€ for 960kg, depends on quality and the season in which you order.

Oil tanks above ground, behind the garage? What happens if it leaks, does it simply flow all over your property?

we had over a month of overlap between getting the keys and moving out of our old place. 
Gave us a chance to redo the kitchen (which was totally falling apart), put in screens, repaint, redo 1/3 of the flooring, and get the place professionally cleaned. HIGHLY worthwhile!

When I sold my house last time that was the case (contingent on sale).  I think the market looks good in your area.  Hope it works in the area you want to purchase IG.  I don't disagree that it might be sometimes a whirlwind of decisions going on.  You will need to question things (as you already do), and inspect the flow of the money (and fees) to who ultimately will benefit.

toytoytoy!

Break a (chicken) leg!

As the german saying goes: Aller guten Dinge sind drei.

Wishing you the best!

Wed Feb 19 2014 11:58:43 PM EST from IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored Subject: Re: arrgh

Actually she's had more than enough already. Tonight she called me in a panic and said that the basement was filling up with water. When I got home I found that I had forgotten to shut off the patio spigot from the inside this year, and the water-filled spigot reliably did its job and exploded, sending lots of water back into the house.

This is just what I needed the night before I have to get up early for a long drive. And I can't even run my pump yet because the hose it attaches to needs to thaw out.

But at least the mouse is dead.

Ugh, that sucks.  Maybe you can drown any surviving squeakers during the pump action.

Wed Feb 19 2014 11:58:43 PM EST from IGnatius T Foobar @ Uncensored Subject: Re: arrgh

Actually she's had more than enough already. Tonight she called me in a panic and said that the basement was filling up with water. When I got home I found that I had forgotten to shut off the patio spigot from the inside this year, and the water-filled spigot reliably did its job and exploded, sending lots of water back into the house.

This is just what I needed the night before I have to get up early for a long drive. And I can't even run my pump yet because the hose it attaches to needs to thaw out.

But at least the mouse is dead.

Thanks for the reminder.  Need to do that at lunch as I don't remember shutting it off this fall either.  Good luck with your pump out IG.

Block foundation, but I suspect there are some issues under the deck that butts up to the back wall of the house.  Might need to do some investigation after the snow melts and trap them for now.