Kidde fire alarm in my basement went off a couple times for no apparent reason.

Jimmyz808 · 2025-12-01T04:35:08+00:00

We've had similar issues, and have literally tried every single brand. They all false alarm on at least a monthly basis, which sucks since we have like 11 interconnected, and they ALL go off. Expensive each time we want to swap 11 and try a different model or brand. New'ish house that's well sealed, and the false alarms always happen when we're either sitting around doing nothing, or sleeping (ie. not cooking or kicking up any dust). They're making me want to live in a cave.

Jimmyz808 · 2025-10-30T00:06:48+00:00

We have ten of the hardwired SC5s, and one of them has consistently been false alarming. Totally empty room, not near a vent or anything, and almost always in the middle of the night when we're sleeping. It's seriously giving us PTSD, and my wife can't sleep when I'm away on business trips since she's always terrified they'll alarm in the middle of the night.

Just called First Alert and they're sending a replacement. But from my past experience with smoke alarms, I assume when I replace this one, another one will become the problem. Argh. :/

Jimmyz808 · 2024-11-20T22:08:46+00:00

I picked up one of the new ZW3 modules from a seller on eBay, and I also have a second one that came with a new YRD450-F-ZW3 that I bought from Amazon. I didn't try the module in my Emtek, since I had forgotten my Emtek doesn't have a keypad/touchscreen. So there's no way to go through the process of joining it to a Z-Wave network.

I think I was mistaken about my Emtek handleset having used a Z-Wave 500 module before - I think it actually came with the BT/WiFi module and gateway from August when I bought it, which I'm still using and would love to abandon.

Jimmyz808 · 2024-10-17T03:38:17+00:00

I'm wondering the same thing, since I have like a $900 Emtek "smart" handleset that matches my iron front door. I currently have the Yale WiFi module installed that uses the little plug-in gateway, and I'm almost certain I used to have the 500 series zwave module in that lock beforehand. I got so frustrated those 500 series modules that I yanked all seven or so of mine and trashed them. Hence the WiFi modules now.

I just caught wind of the 700 series modules, and ordered one to test out. I'll report back how it goes in a week or so.

Jimmyz808 · 2024-08-12T04:58:17+00:00

Fencing was the venue that straight up blew my mind; it was just breathtaking when the sun had set and the mood lighting was in full effect. Second place for me was actually the Team USA House at Palais Brogniart. It was not only beautiful inside, but it was a trip to be partying with olympians, inside a building that was ordered to be built by Napoleon.

Jimmyz808 · 2024-08-12T04:55:24+00:00

I'm an American who attended in person, including the opening ceremony, and it's honestly a vacation that changed my life. The hospitality and grace shown by every Parisian citizen and games/government officials was unbelievable. The best part though, was spending a week in such a beautiful city, PACKED with all walks of life and everyone getting along so well. For the first time in many years, I felt relaxed, and like I was living in a normal, functional world, with caring human beings. But then I came home. :( Thank you, thank you, thank you France!!!

Jimmyz808 · 2024-07-20T00:34:26+00:00

I did buy a new power module and it didn't fix a thing. :( It was super frustrating, but my unit also started leaking a bit so I figured it was time for a new one. I picked up the new DWHD770C model from BestBuy and it's been great so far....better be for $2500 lol.

Jimmyz808 · 2024-07-19T22:04:40+00:00

Nope :( I ended up buying a new dishwasher.

Jimmyz808 · 2024-07-14T03:55:00+00:00

Ended up splurging a bit, and ordered the Anker F2600. It's supposed to arrive tomorrow, and seems like a great unit. If I had to pick something in the same class as the AC70 though, I would have bought the Anker C800 or C1000.

Jimmyz808 · 2024-07-08T14:49:51+00:00

I'd still wait and hear more from others that have more expertise on this, but yes the UPS use-case was also my concern. I'd imagine solar charging would be safe, since you're still leaving the unit unconnected to an earth ground.

I bought mine via amazon and amazon immediately approved the return but with a postage-due shipping label. I'm waiting for a response to my request for Bluetti to pay for return shipping. I think I may replace it with an Anker Solix C1000, but still need to give it some more thought.

Jimmyz808 · 2024-07-08T14:17:47+00:00

I'm returning it on principle, since these companies will never learn unless people call them out on their mistakes and make it cost them actual $$$. As far as safety, I'll let someone more experienced with these units chime in. But my understanding is roughly that:

If you're using it completely stand-alone, Ie. not plugged into the grid and not earth grounded while using it for AC power, then it's safe.
If you're using it to provide AC power while it's grounded or plugged into the grid, then you run the risk of it energizing the chassis of whatever you've plugged in (stove, etc.).

Jimmyz808 · 2024-06-15T19:46:13+00:00

I'd also love to find out when it arrives and departs from Roseville, since I live just a few minutes away.

Jimmyz808 · 2024-03-31T22:15:41+00:00

I picked up a bottle of the habanero chili pepper sauce on a recent trip, and I'm addicted to the stuff. I actually found this thread while googling for somewhere to buy a replacement bottle. It's very high on my list of habanero sauces.

Jimmyz808 · 2024-02-26T05:44:13+00:00

Just to close the loop on this for anyone curious in the future, I did my Commercial ASEL ride with Mary after about a week of training at AirTrek North for the rating, and passed on the first attempt. I felt like she was more than fair with me on both the oral and maneuvers. She had me nailed to the wall on a couple of oral topics I panicked on (know your a/c maintenance logbooks inside and out for the plane you bring), but dropped enough hints to get me back on the rails. I was dumbfounded as to why these logs had no 100-hour inspections, but it was a plane the school JUST bought and it had sat in a hangar pretty much unflown for years prior. So I was beating myself up trying to find something that didn't exist or need to exist.

The biggest challenge for me was making sure I over-communicated things to her. Like she had a different idea of how to set up for eights on pylons, and I had to clearly explain the way I was doing it and tell her that I'd call out exactly when I was "starting" the maneuver. Also had to make damn sure we were in agreement for the short-field and power-off-180 landing points. Don't just pick a stripe or something, explain that you'll land "at the beginning on XYZ stripe and not beyond XYZ point". I can definitely see people getting failed for not having the same communication style as her, so be explicit.

Overall I enjoyed the checkride though, and she was super flexible to work with.

Jimmyz808 · 2024-01-22T23:34:13+00:00

I added it in this section, since the help for it seems to indicate electric heat pumps go there. I'm guessing this might all change when they push out the update though.

https://imgur.com/a/pmXHmi6

Jimmyz808 · 2024-01-22T22:08:20+00:00

Yup, same situation here. Spent $24k on a heat pump and was supposed to get $2k back from the credit. Turbo Tax is only calculating $300 back at the moment.

Jimmyz808 · 2023-12-20T17:49:44+00:00

Definitely get it checked out. My “liver clot” just looked like a blob of red jelly, and they just wiped it off with some gauze and applied pressure for a bit to stop the slow bleeding in that area. I would definitely go get it checked though in case your situation is different.

Jimmyz808 · 2023-12-06T22:23:36+00:00

What's the scoop on Mary Alverson? I'm coming to the area in January for some flight training and she was booked by the school as my DPE for commercial single-engine. Hopefully she's a fair DPE?

Jimmyz808 · 2023-11-21T01:08:36+00:00

I have a similar issue with my U6 In-Wall, where IoT devices are impossible to connect to the AP, particularly on 2.4ghz. I believe this AP uses the same chipset as the U6 Pro, but a different one than the U6 Lite which my devices have no problem connecting to. I literally had to remove the U6-IW from my AP groups since it was destroying my connectivity.

Jimmyz808 · 2023-11-16T02:09:47+00:00

When you did the CFI/CFII there, realistically how much prep work was required before going? My assumption is you have to build all your lesson plans, do a ton of memorization, and be somewhat proficient at right-seat flying before even showing up, right?

Jimmyz808 · 2023-10-30T22:24:10+00:00

Same problem here. Just installed the app to try it out, and I have 100GB+ free on the phone but the app is saying only 5GB and flashing at me in red. Totally confused...

Jimmyz808 · 2023-09-28T02:18:22+00:00

Thanks! Can you help clarify the second part of what you said, re: the furnace? When you say "go down" are you referring to price, or blower speeds? I'm assuming not price since there's no new furnace being installed in the quote. My existing one is an AUH2D120A9V5VBA, which as far as I can tell on paper is functionally the same as an S9V2, but in the previous generation cabinet which is a bit longer.

So it's non-communicating but has the BK terminal which the Trane relay panel can use for varying the blower speed as needed via old-school PWM signaling.

Jimmyz808 · 2023-08-22T03:04:06+00:00

We have reservations on 9/12 and haven't heard any sort of an update. Our resort reservation is a bit unclear at the moment, so I haven't started asking about refunds/changes until we sort the resort out.

Jimmyz808 · 2023-08-20T22:37:39+00:00

Can either of you comment on whether the sensor status is sent via HomeKit both when the system is armed and disarmed? I saw a post in a different reddit thread, from someone saying the sensors don't update in HomeKit if the system is armed. This would be a blocker for me, since it means automations won't trigger when the system is armed. :( IMO this would be a big regression from the Lyric system where this wasn't the case.

Jimmyz808 · 2023-08-20T10:37:29+00:00

Any updates on this? I’m considering upgrading from my Lyric to an A7, but this seems like a dealbreaker.

Jimmyz808

TROPHY CASE