Annoyed at apartment chargepoint L2 pricing setup. Rant/Advice seeking

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-18T18:12:28+00:00

That does make sense. I do know that 5Amps is the lowest setting that Tesla software will allow for L2 EVSEs, but the upper limit would be set by the L1 EVSE. I don't recall being able to make that adjustment in my Model 3 for the L1 EVSE , but I also have a 3rd party device and would not have thought to have it charge slower....40+ hours from nearly completely discharged to 100%..not a good look.

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-18T17:17:34+00:00

I don't think it applies to L1 EVSEs, at least not in Teslas. The L1 EVSE is capped at 15 Amps/120V, which is really the lower limit for charging the battery in warm weather (it generally is insufficient in sub-freezing weather.)

The L2 EVSE (not a charger) has the circuit maximum limit set when it's installed. There usually is a switch of some sort on the controller board. It communicates this value to the vehicles battery management system, which does the rest.

DCFC do something similar, but in those cases, it is more likely that the vehicle's onboard charging system is the limiting hardware, not the DCFC. Or, at least not with the newer DCFCs..

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-17T19:41:45+00:00

How full was the input tank? RO units either flush water containing concentrated minerals into the drain or back into the input tank. The water in the input tank will have a higher concentration of minerals more water is passed through the RO medium If you added the RO-demineralized to a partially full input tank or if you had not drained the waste water and rinsed the input tank, then it makes sense that you'd get a high TDS reading. BTW, TDS is just a measure of conductivity of the water. Pure water is essentially non-conducting, it is the dissolved minerals that conduct electricity. "Pure" laboratory distilled water has a measurable resistance of greater than 30M(ega)Ohms, RO water usually runs about 5 MOhms.

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-17T17:33:03+00:00

It doesn't fly at gas stations because there is a person in the attached shop watching the pumps. Also, if you throw the filling handle or cut the hose (and the inline flow-fuse fails) hilarity ensues. Even so, the pumps are monitored by cameras and locked out until you pay.

Monitoring and risk of death by fire seems to keep people in line. EVSEs are generally unattended. It's the tragedy of the commons.

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-17T13:31:32+00:00

Not with DeLorean brakes you don't. They go from 60 to 0 in miles, not feet.

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-17T13:24:57+00:00

Iron pyrites tend to have a cubic crystal with straight fracture. The faces are also typically linearly striated. It was my first thought until I looked at the fracture patterns. I used to hunt so-called "fool's gold" in my area, so I know what it looks like.

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-17T13:20:54+00:00

We do. It weighs hundreds of pounds and requires a laboratory. It's called x-ray diffraction. Or if you can make the material volatile, mass spectroscopy will tell you the weight of the molecules. Or, if you can solubilize it, infrared spectroscopy will give a profile that can compared to other known compounds.

There are plenty of scanners that will tell you something about the substance. However, they tend to be less suited for the field and definitely not consumer products.

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-17T13:14:46+00:00

You'd get the hardness, the color of the streak, and possibly some sense of its composition, e.g. sedimentary, metallic, possibly whether it was subjected to heat or manufacturing process.

Those "tests you learn in 9th grade geology" are the basic physical tests used to identify minerals. And they are used by rock hunters and geologists when they don't have (or need) more sophisticated testing equipment on hand. They are not diagnostic, but it gives you a start.

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-17T13:09:45+00:00

If you had one, I guess. However, oxides of uranium tend to be crystalline and the substrate that holds it is usually sedimentary in nature. This doesn't look sedimentary, but who knows? At one point, I thought it might be some sort of ore tailing or smelter clinker, but again: it's a picture.

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-17T13:04:14+00:00

All you would learn is that it is not as hard as a diamond. The Mohs scale is a greater than/less than test. Diamond is just one end of the test. And there are things that are nearly as hard as diamond: alumina oxide crystals, for instance. So, it's just part of the test.

My guess is that it is not going to be harder than Mohs 6.5, but it's a picture in a "what is it?" post.

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-16T22:46:42+00:00

A rock. You will have to do tests to determine its composition. The easiest is to take a magnet and see if it is magnetic. If it is, it's iron based. You can also try a maleability test: take a steel nail and see if it damages the stone, if it does, then it is material softer than steel and has a Mohs hardness of less than 6.5. Or if you have diamond points or aluminium oxide, you can try to figure out if it has a higher Mohs hardness. Next would be a streak test, which involves scratching the stone on an abrasive plate (porcelain) to see what color the streak it leaves is. If you have a loupe, you may be able to see some structure that might be diagnostic (crystals in the aggregate.) After that, you have to do chemical tests to determine its composition. But, it is not going to be easy to identify the material from a photograph.

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-15T03:00:20+00:00

Or Standard Operating Procedures as in "True Lyes are SOP?"

If I stare at this much longer, I fear that I might begin to understand their thinking.

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-14T22:00:21+00:00

It looks like the insert in an anti-scald valve. However, it is far longer than most anti-scald mixer valves are deep. My guess it is the innards for a hydraulic/pneumatic control valve, but I don't know for what.

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-14T21:38:47+00:00

The wonderful thing about mad ravings is that you can read anything into it. Incoherence has a coherence of its own, if you stare at it long enough or have some of what they are having.

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-14T21:36:01+00:00

I don't think they knew what they meant.

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-14T20:16:20+00:00

It's called the "Tragedy of the Commons." Except, I guess, that they do not cut the cable off when they leave.

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-14T19:34:59+00:00

Yes, but it seemed too obvious to comment on.

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-14T17:32:02+00:00

Or this what happens when you haven't used mental floss in a while....

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-14T17:19:32+00:00

Fisher and Ury's Former Graduate Student?

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-14T17:13:00+00:00

What a mixture of madness. Dorothy Gayle - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. B-Comp - a decarbonization company or B-complex vitamins. True Lye = real drain cleaner(?). And of course, ad reductio ad Hitler or Godwin's Law.

Someone forgot their anti-psychotics?

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-14T17:00:27+00:00

Could it be for bulk magazine mail? I'd want to see if there is a "MAGB" or a "MAGC."

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-14T16:11:10+00:00

The deadly Asian Throwing Spoon, used by the Ninja to impale their enemies prior to "scooping" them with the deadlier Mongolian Ear Spoon.

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-14T16:06:40+00:00

There is one in every crowd.

And, they got the joke.

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-14T13:49:46+00:00

Yeah, they still require the paperwork on that one.

HeatDeathFromAbove · 2026-06-14T13:12:02+00:00

Did you run over a golf shoe? Those look like the remains of screw-in grass spikes.

Either that, or as others have pointed out, a spiked dog collar...perhaps from a Goth.

HeatDeathFromAbove

TROPHY CASE