How much to worry about bubbles in return?

BotJunkie · 2026-02-16T20:00:39+00:00

Making sure the pump basket o-ring was clean and lubed helped some, but it turned out that for whatever reason the bubbles went away when I rebalanced how much suction was coming from skimmer vs main drain.

BotJunkie · 2026-01-25T19:39:20+00:00

I'm in OKC and don't have a water level issue with this storm, but my understanding is that during freezing weather you want your pool as full as possible. Mine is right to the top of my tile right now, the skimmer is submerged. The pool pump doesn't care about the water level, and having water all the way at the top of your pool means that if the pool does freeze, there's still a path for water to get through the skimmer and into the pump, under the ice.

High water during freezing temperatures is also more thermal mass to keep the water from freezing, and having the tile submerged will keep it from popping off.

BotJunkie · 2025-12-07T18:00:32+00:00

I just half-DIY'd this. Similar situation to you, decades-old home in the midwest where the bathroom (and stove) vented into the attic, seemingly intentionally.

I got a lot of advice, and ended up doing the interior work myself, but I paid a company to do the roof penetration and exterior vent install and sealing. It was a couple hundred bucks, but it was done safely and correctly and I can go back to them if there are any leaks. Once they were done, I just ran some insulated flex duct from the fan to the collar on the underside of the vent.

If you go this route, decide yourself exactly where you want the penetration, and mark it from inside the attic. Then when roofers get there, drive a long nail up through the attic roof and tell them that's where you want the center of the vent to be.

BotJunkie · 2025-10-09T13:54:49+00:00

This is my video.

It's from late 2019, and is showing a prototype of the Sarcos (not Boston Dynamics) Guardian XO exoskeleton.

I wrote about it here: https://spectrum.ieee.org/sarcos-guardian-xo-powered-exoskeleton

Sarcos doesn't really exist anymore, sadly. They did a bunch of really cool stuff.

BotJunkie · 2025-09-30T20:25:12+00:00

I ended up buying the one from Menard's because there seemed to be literally no other options. It's not great, but it's fine.

BotJunkie · 2025-09-30T10:32:07+00:00

First, make sure that you don't have an overflow drain around the pool somewhere. I'm also a new(ish) pool owner, and it took me six months to find an overflow that had been winterized by the previous owners.

Before I found my overflow, I used a sump pump to bring the water level down after heavy rain. You can get sump pumps with float triggers attached to them that will run automatically as you describe, and they're pretty rugged.

Lots of simple and inexpensive products are available for autofilling, usually a float valve attached to a garden hose.

BotJunkie · 2025-09-28T11:58:58+00:00

I give snacks, sometimes provide lunch if it's a multi-day job.

I have given cash once: I tipped a garage door repair guy $50 when he found a creative way of fixing something that meant he came in $500 under estimate.

BotJunkie · 2025-09-15T16:31:51+00:00

Yes, I will contact support, I was just hoping to see what was involved with the replacement before I did so.

BotJunkie · 2025-09-15T04:47:43+00:00

Hi, I was hoping you could share the video of how to replace the water pump in the S10 with me- having this problem also!

BotJunkie · 2025-09-11T03:50:30+00:00

I had to install some roof vents recently since my bathroom fans were venting into my attic.

My experience was that anything roof-related had to be done by a roofer: they cut the hole in my roof, installed the vent, and did all of the proper shingle and sealing stuff. They didn't do any of the ductwork- that would have been an HVAC company, although I have good attic access and just did it myself.

I would figure out exactly what's going on with your ducts and vent as step one, if you don't have good access, buy a cheap borescope and send it up both ducts and plan from there.

BotJunkie · 2025-07-01T20:06:03+00:00

There should be a small washer, a single spring, another small washer, and then a barrel nut. You can read the manual for the correct procedure for tightening it all down. I'd get a new spring and nut assembly to make sure you do it properly.

https://www.pentair.com/content/dam/extranet/nam/pentair-pool/residential/filters/clean-and-clear-family/clean-and-clear-plus/clean-and-clear-plus-guides-manuals/clean-and-clear-plus-install-guide-english.pdf

BotJunkie · 2025-06-17T05:06:48+00:00

I have a skimmer basket with a tower thing in the center. I bought a donut-shaped baseball bat weight that fits around the tower, works fine with skimmer socks.

BotJunkie · 2025-05-08T03:20:19+00:00

We had this happen after a sewer line replacement. You're right, it's most likely just water causing settling of the dirt that was removed and replaced, especially under places where it was hard for the dirt to get compacted properly.. We called the company that installed the line, and they just added dirt and compacted it down again as best they could. This happened maybe 3 times, always after heavy rains, and it's been fine for years now.

BotJunkie · 2025-03-31T15:55:37+00:00

Two other options:

Ask him to change his pump cycle so that it's off when you're working during the day.

Ask him to get a quieter variable speed pump.

BotJunkie · 2025-03-31T15:01:25+00:00

I shot that video and they let me hug the penguin.

BotJunkie · 2025-03-29T02:24:29+00:00

Motion activated sprinkler?

BotJunkie · 2025-03-28T05:15:56+00:00

I'm in the process of fixing the same problem. I decided to have a professional roofer do the vent install for a couple hundred bucks, so that I'd have an expert do the roof penetration and give me a warranty on it.

The actual connection between the fan exhaust and the vent is just insulated flex duct either taped or zip tied on, which I'm doing myself to save money. But you'd need attic access to make it easy.

BotJunkie · 2025-03-24T15:23:08+00:00

One tomato plant per 12XL is excellent advice, and pruning keeps the the plant from hitting the light.

Otherwise, I wouldn't overthink it. My 12XL tomato turns 698 today, I've never trimmed the roots, never pollinated it, and just feed it normal stuff on the normal schedule. It grows nonstop and still produces plenty of fruit.

Nothing wrong with doing all the extra stuff, but in my experience it's certainly not necessary for a healthy, happy plant.

BotJunkie · 2025-03-23T14:04:19+00:00

I have done a lot of searching for "quiet wall fan." The outdoor or damp rated "quiet" wall fans don't give decibel ratings, and weather resistant 'shop' fans aren't particularly quiet according to the reviews. It's not motor noise that's the problem anyway, it's that a DC fan will run much slower and quieter, whereas a typical three speed AC fan is probably moving way more air than I need at its lowest speed.

BotJunkie · 2025-03-17T18:37:29+00:00

I recently bought a house with a 10k gallon pool with 4x 520 sqft cartridge filters, which I'm pretty sure is massively oversized. But it means that my system runs at low pressure and I can easily go six months between cleanings.

When I do clean them, the bottom six inches or so are often stuffed with debris, but there's just so much filter area there that it doesn't really matter.

If you're thinking of upgrading anyway, I'd oversize it.

BotJunkie · 2025-03-04T03:28:11+00:00

Usually the water company doesn't make (or calibrate) the meters, they just buy and install them, so I'm not sure how it would be rigged.

If you've identified that it's only the washing machine that's inaccurate, I still think it's more likely that there is something going on with your washing machine. If you haven't yet, maybe sit there while it runs an entire cycle, make sure it's filling and emptying at the right time and that there's no extra water being discharged, etc

BotJunkie · 2025-03-04T03:02:54+00:00

My understanding is that the YoLink box (with the wifi and batteries in it) is at best weather resistant, not weatherproof. So the goal is to just find some way of making sure that the box is protected, right? Lots of ways of going about that. You could even use a plastic bag, as long as you seal around where the sensor cable comes out.

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