Entropy

Relax in southern comfort on the east bank of the Mississippi. You're just around the corner from Beale Street and Sun Records. Watch the ducks, throw back a few and tell us what's on your mind.
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JR.
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Re: Entropy

Post by JR. »

I have mentioned too cheap to fix before... (like my solar powered driveway lamps), but I have a new variant... "Too cheap to work". Actually not new but recent.

My jury rigged computer network with a couple apples and 3 PCs needed some simple old school hard switched USB ports for mouse/keyboard, and printer between a couple boxes.. The cheapest solution was the typical made in China <$10 wonders. I had two and both were randomly intermittent. I took both apart and could not find a build problem or faulty component.

But a more expensive (still relatively cheap) switch, also made in china, works perfectly.... every time. :D

JR
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mediatechnology
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Re: Entropy

Post by mediatechnology »

I think I mentioned something about faucet aerators a few months back....viewtopic.php?f=11&t=877&p=10272
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JR.
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Re: Entropy

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mediatechnology wrote: Mon Dec 11, 2017 4:17 am I think I mentioned something about faucet aerators a few months back....viewtopic.php?f=11&t=877&p=10272
For the win.... :oops:

The smell last time was coming from the hot water tank and completely cured by elevating the thermostat. My theory now is that the bugs living in the hot water took up residence in the decades of gunk accumulated in my bathroom sink aerator and survived there to bother me later. Persistent buggers. The hot water doesn't stay hot enough by the time it reaches the bathroom to kill em.

I haven't replaced it yet, the clorox wash removed the infestation for now, but I will order a replacement when convenient.

Speaking of hot water, I decided to be the only man in MS that checked/replaced his hot water heater anode. Putting a breaker bar on the anode just turns the whole water tank, so I invested in an impact wrench.... Still no love. :o This tank has only been in place for 6 months (when you are supposed to check the anode) and seriously stuck.

I may try cooling down the heater to see if that helps loosen the nut... I suspect few people actually bother with anode maintenance, I sure didn't last time, and got shocked because of my negligence.

JR
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Re: Entropy

Post by JR. »

Just did another of my favorite kind (free) repairs..... :lol:

My satellite TV remote was getting balky... I took it apart and cleaned off the touch switch contacts with rubbing alcohol. It didn't look dirty, but cleaning it sure made it work better. 8-)

It uses conductive rubber pucks shunting across screen carbon ink patterns on a PCB... I didn't see any dirt come off, but there must have been a film of something. Often oil from our fingers migrates down into the switches but I didn't see any evidence of oil or dirt.

JR
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Re: Entropy

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Noticed a new failure today... may rain gauge was not indicating any rainfall when I knew there was some... Closer inspection reveals a crack in the rain gauge that allows water to leak out... My guess is that the snowstorm and freezing weather the other day allowed water to collect and freeze.

I would think the open top would prevent pressure from building up and cracking it. Maybe it just felt like cracking, but it does look stress related. I don't think I can fix it.

JR

[edit the water in the bathroom sink is smelling bad again... I have a new aerator on order so am leaving the stinky one off for now. [/edit]
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Re: Entropy

Post by JR. »

OK... New aerator showed up and works perfectly...
=======
2 new remotes showed up so now I am in redneck heaven... TV remotes at every place I sit and work. :lol:

-----------
another of my favorite types of repairs (free). Not really sure if these count as formal repairs but here goes.

#1-- been so cold I saw a brass monkey looking for his _____s.

While out in my attached laundry room while I was roasting coffee yesterday I noticed that the temperature (indoors) was <20' . The roaster took longer to get up to temperature but eventually got it done, but I became nervous about copper plumbing in the room. I didn't expect the hot water heater to freeze, but the outdoor cold water hose faucet was frozen solid... :o :o I fired up the dryer and ran it for about 20 minutes and it heated up the faucet pipes enough to flow water... I then wrapped the outside faucet with some bubble wrap, secured with cable ties.

#2 Coincidentally I noticed a new puddle of water on my kitchen floor... never a good thing. At first I figured (hoped) that it was just water leaked from my dishwasher door if not closed tightly, but the facts did not line up with the puddle. After partially uninstalling the dishwasher, I discovered a loose water hose connection underneath it that the "idiot" installer apparently did not tighten securely :x (BTW I installed it myself over a year ago :oops: ).

So all good for now.... but I can live without the cold weather... I moved south a few decades ago to get away from this kind of weather.

JR
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mediatechnology
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Re: Entropy

Post by mediatechnology »

No freeze damage but I had a ballast die: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=408&p=10895#p10895
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Re: Entropy

Post by Gold »

The cheap two stroke generator I'm using for the well went south over Thanksgiving. We had guests and the hardware store was hard to get to when open. I think it's the spark plug. The gas wasn't that old and i cleaned the air filter and checked the oil. I didn't have a suitable socket to remove the spark plug.

We had the water line buried this fall so I was looking forward to getting the bath shed together. No dice. There is a lot of snow and I gave up putting the generator on stilts after it broke so no water until springtime. We have someone we can slip a few bucks to take a shower and buy drinking water.
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Re: Entropy

Post by JR. »

I've had worse luck with 2 stroke motors than 4 stroke motors.

I did have a 2 stroke motorcycles back in the 70s that was fine, but small 2 stroke motors like my old chainsaw are a disaster. I ended up replacing pretty much every replaceable part before giving up on fixing it, even my local repair guy gave up and couldn't fix it... I suspect there was an air leak in my lower unit casing, without good vacuum the 2 stroke can't pull fuel/air properly (but this is just my speculation, because I replaced everything else with new parts).

Your problem may be fuel system related. Ethanol likes to dissolve plastic fuel lines and trash 2 stroke carburetors, so try to use only real gas, or use gas additives (there is some blue stuff that is supposed to work)..

Good luck, water is nice

JR
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Re: Entropy

Post by Gold »

Ideally I'd like to go solar for most of the electrical needs and just use this generator for the well pump. I'm coming to the conclusion this isn't really possible. There is very little sun there in the winter. The days are short and they can be cloudy and dark too. I don't want to put up a huge array. My main problem with running a generator is the noise. The only thing you can hear there is the wind and I'd like to keep it that way.

I think a low RPM diesel generator is where I will end up. Most people use propane generators but I think diesel is better. Diesel engines are better at cold starts. There are full additives to make storage and cold starts easier. Diesel fuel is much less volatile than anything else. No exploding tanks like propane and a spark won't set off an explosion like gas. The only downside is the expense. Good diesel generators are expensive.

I've been using 93 octane gas. I put an additive in for storage. The 93 octane gas runs noticeably quieter with less knocking then 89 or 91 octane.
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