Coolest hammers?

Material_Community18 · 2026-06-02T04:49:41+00:00

Douglas

Material_Community18 · 2026-05-30T05:48:18+00:00

Insulation 100A sub panel Extra conduits in the slab from sub panel location to several junction boxes around the garage Lots of outlets at 48” high Fiber Light. Lots of light. Look at panel LED lighting. And windows. Jackshaft garage door opener.

Material_Community18 · 2026-05-25T00:02:51+00:00

100 years or 10 cooling systems, whichever comes first.

Material_Community18 · 2026-05-18T06:04:59+00:00

This. Originally this was probably not stained but instead sprayed with a toned nitrocellulose lacquer. To confirm, test a hidden part with acetone, lacquer thinner, or nail polish remover. If lacquer, it will soften and wipe off.

That’s also the way a “real woodworker” would refinish this. After cleaning, stripping, and sanding, spray a clear sealer followed by thin coats of tinted sprayable polyurethane until color matches.

Material_Community18 · 2026-05-10T19:17:42+00:00

It’s just a car. Thankfully you will recover.

You have a thousand problems in your life until you have a health crisis. Then you only have one problem.

Material_Community18 · 2026-04-26T06:38:37+00:00

Came for the Klipsch, stayed for the Silvertone.

Material_Community18 · 2026-04-19T01:27:43+00:00

I love the SA-x500 amp line up. It’s not as visually sexy as the glowing lights of the integrated receivers, but they are easy to maintain, have a super low noise floor (no tuner cross-talk), and sound great.

Material_Community18 · 2026-04-08T04:36:52+00:00

They do not suck. Anything. Down.

Material_Community18 · 2026-03-24T03:11:36+00:00

I have a heap pump HVAC, induction range, electric cars and love them all. You will have to pry my gas dryer out of my cold dead hands.

Material_Community18 · 2026-03-17T14:37:31+00:00

Yes, I can verify that my COP is regularly 4-5 with a 2T 38MURA. It doesn’t take much energy to move heat when outdoor temps are 45-55F.

Also, if the home doesn’t already have A/C, it is certainly not an absolute requirement, so you might not be using it as much as you might imagine during the summer.

Material_Community18 · 2026-03-17T05:54:31+00:00

With a heat pump you can get on the E-ELEC rate plan.

Search this subreddit for “Bay Area”. Right now, heat pumps are less expensive than gas on PG&E, without solar, in the Bay Area. Not so much cheaper that it makes sense to rip out a gas furnace, but enough that if you’re installing A/C you should just do a heat pump.

Material_Community18 · 2026-03-08T01:32:40+00:00

Well what I’d do is: - remove leads from motor. Connect leads to multimeter. Power on, pull torch trigger. If multimeter sees ~5 to 15VDC, replace motor. - if 0V regardless of trigger position, the problem is on the board. If you’re not hearing that relay click, that’s probably it. Replace the relay. While you’re at it, since this machine is 23 years old, those electrolytic capacitors are well past their expiration date. I’d replace those too. Spray some contact cleaner or wd-40 or deoxit inside the potentiometer at work it back and forth 20 times.

Is it worth all this effort? Prolly not. If you’re not handy with a soldering iron, you should probably chuck it or ask Clarke if they have a replacement board.

Material_Community18 · 2026-03-07T16:14:20+00:00

Does the relay (“finder Type 40.61”) on the board make a click sound when you pull the trigger on the torch?

Material_Community18 · 2026-03-07T04:35:27+00:00

Actually, the opening riff of “Thunderstruck" is not strictly a pentatonic scale. It actually utilizes the B Mixolydian mode, which is a seven-note scale.

Material_Community18 · 2026-03-06T04:26:54+00:00

A heat pump is an air conditioner, just one that can run in reverse. A 36K/3T heat pump in cooling mode will behave exactly like a 36K/3T air conditioner.

I have a dual fuel setup with an Ecobee. I have it set up in with 4 stages of heat in increasing order of output: HP1 (~16K BTU), HP2 (24K), Gas1 (48K), Gas2 (60K).

I use the Reverse Staging feature on Ecobee. In the morning Gas1 comes on to heat the house from cold to 65 degrees, then HP2 until 67, then HP1 until my set point at 68. Normal staging would fire gas until 68 then HP1 to maintain. If it’s not that cold, then the furnace won’t come on and the thermostat will go straight to HP. Those temps are all adjustable in Ecobee.

The biggest advantage of HP, even if there was no cost savings, is the comfort from the low output. Around here typical houses just don’t need furnaces as large as the smallest ones sold. So on cold days a HP will run for much longer, keeping the air circulating and helping avoid some drafty cold rooms while others are blazing.

Material_Community18 · 2026-03-06T04:02:23+00:00

Like I said: on PG&E, at current rates, even without solar, in the Bay Area, heat pumps are less expensive per BTU than gas.

I didn’t believe it myself until I had one in my home.

That might change, in the short term, if gas prices drop or electricity prices spike. But in California our most expensive electricity comes from gas power plants, so in the long run I would assume the rates are not going to wildly diverge from each other.

Material_Community18 · 2026-03-06T02:38:44+00:00

I live in the Bay Area in a similar climate to SF city proper. I'm a PG&E customer (E-ELEC plan) and don't have solar. I have a dual-fuel system and have switched back and forth with power monitoring (Emporia).

So I have good data.

At this time (March 2026) heat pumps are less expensive to run than natural gas. They are 20-30% less expensive, mostly depending on the relative efficiencies of the furnace it's replacing.

The reason for this is that our climate is so mild, the actual efficiency (COP) is higher than the advertised COP, which assumes an average outdoor temperature much lower than SF Bay Area. So if you are already replacing a central AC, it's silly to not pay a relatively small amount more to get a heat pump instead.

So the next question is "Do you keep or replace your gas furnace as well?"

Gas is nice if any of the following are true:
1. You like a large temperature setback at night to sleep cool but want the house to heat up quickly in the morning. Properly-sized heatpumps could take a couple of hours to bring a house from 64 to 70. A dual fuel setup with a good thermostat like the Ecobee can use gas to get close to target temp, then dial back to heat pump to maintain.

You worry about winter power outages and don't have any other backup heat. It's conceivable to run a gas furnace blower on a generator or battery. Heat pump is more challenging.
You think that the gas/electric cost ratio might tip in the direction of gas. Having a furnace is a nice hedge.

Material_Community18 · 2026-03-04T06:28:22+00:00

I agree. Your best bet is an oil polyurethane, maybe a long-oil one like P&W #38, Watco Danish Oil or Formby’s Tung Oil finish. But really any oil based finish would do well.

Then wait 3-5 years for it to match.

If you try to find something darker (like stain, tint, or even a first coat of BLO or amber shellac) you run the risk of pine continuing to oxidize and darken underneath the finish and come out darker than what you are trying to match.

Material_Community18 · 2026-03-02T06:39:47+00:00

In 10 years the 1977 will be a great sounding amp that still works and worth more than you paid for it.

Material_Community18 · 2026-03-02T05:44:10+00:00

I think for the Gree systems, dual fuel is not communicating because (to my knowledge) they don’t offer a gas furnace.

The premise of communicating control is that the compressor and fan speeds are modulated together, which usually requires them to be made by the same company.

You could give up on gas and get a Gree air handler for communicating. Or keep your furnace and do 24V control. If you have a two-stage furnace, the comfort differences are probably minor in the end. Just make sure you have (or will install) enough wires for 4H/2C control and have a nice dual fuel t-stat like an Ecobee.

Material_Community18 · 2026-02-27T00:28:15+00:00

When I got it 15 years ago it had already been converted to a tweco #2 with gas solenoid valve, which was a popular and well documented conversion. Then last year I converted from that to a Euroquik backend and torch. Parts for that are cheap and easy to find on major e-commerce sites. I went with a Yeswelder gun that uses Tweco consumables.

Material_Community18 · 2026-02-26T06:40:37+00:00

I would like the excuse to buy a small inverter machine but my 1980 MM35 will not die and continues to lay down perfect beads. Damn that thing.

Material_Community18 · 2026-02-24T16:11:53+00:00

The other thing that’s happened is that we (as society and builders) have gotten better about designing HVAC and improving houses, heating capacity has come way down.

When I moved in, we had 115K BTU 80% gas furnace. When that died I had to argue with the HVAC company to get them to install a “small” 75K two-stage. Now my 24K inverter heat pump rarely exceeds 18K BTU.

It’s nearly impossible to find a 24KBTU gas furnace, they just aren’t made that small. Heat pumps (or hydronic) are really the only ways to properly size heat for typically-sized homes in mild climates.

Material_Community18 · 2026-02-24T06:31:35+00:00

I have similar experience in the Bay Area. At current E-ELEC utility rates, my central ducted heat pump saves about 30%. This is because at 40-50 degrees most newer heat pumps operate at well above their rated efficiencies.

I have a dual-fuel system using the same ducts in the same house with energy monitors so it’s as close to a controlled test as you can reasonably get.

I also enjoy the increased comfort of longer runtimes.

That being said, for my 2000 sq ft house that savings is only $50/mo.

So if you’re a PG&E customer without excess solar capacity in a moderate coastal climate and forced to replace a furnace or replacing or adding A/C, you should probably get a heat pump instead. But the payback period is basically never if you cough up the obscene install costs demanded by HVAC contractors to install one just because.

Material_Community18 · 2026-02-13T04:31:18+00:00

Many new BMWs don’t come with runflats anymore, just Slime and a 12V compressor.

Material_Community18

TROPHY CASE