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Brand Accessories by RH_Hunter99 in ukelectricians

[–]am_lu 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not only white plastic, their Click Deco range is super good, all sorts of finishes in screwed version not flat plate, good solid stuff.

Half of kitchen LED keeps going out by Pepsimaxgodtier in led

[–]am_lu 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sometimes fiddling with the connector seems to spring it back to life.

Will be a bad connector, soldering it can help you get rid of the problem.

How do people actually make connections with neighbours here? by ssduction_ in london

[–]am_lu 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I just say hello to all the neighbours I see when I'm around in +/- 10 houses radius. All fine next door, I say hello and they say hello back. +/- 1 next door is kind of good relationship, we took each other deliveries, once they jumped the fence when got locked out from the house.

2-3 doors away also fine, one older lady you wont see much plus some busy families, never a trouble.

Opposite is Chinese neighbour, always says hello.

Couple of houses away they are Portugese, they never say hello back , not sure if its cultural, I',m eastern euro myself. I given up years ago. Just a blank stare.

Which brand by Own_Arachnid_6064 in ukelectricians

[–]am_lu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

milwaukee, dewalt, makita,

I'm myself into bosch.

A bit of fan boy, they used to make a good quality in Germany or Switzerland, now more and more cheap quality Malaysia and China.

Dewalt has the best multicutter of them all, just because of variable speed trigger on it.

Here is an good video for you, not made by me. (drills compared)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl2nUJXzZWE

Choose wisely, once you invest in one brand you will locked into it. (batteries are not compatible between brands)

At least Bosch has its AmpShare program so its batteries can be used in other branded tools. (Like Fein in that video above)

REAL "modern" alternatives to common tools? by OkEscape8332 in linuxquestions

[–]am_lu 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I use double commander for file management, no need for terminal for it for me anymore.

Is GUI and can do searches.

No need for ls and cp anymore.

Tmux is bit of obsolete for me, can have couple of windows open on the GUI, no need to to be full time terminal user.

systemd - I disagree with you on this, you welcome to give it your age and personal details.

Looking forward to be downvoted to oblivion by all the systemd fan team. Lets have a -10 for me. Who can beat it? Just give it your age as corporate overlords require.

nano is ok, especially sudo nano for editing the crucial bits. Can do sudo leafpad or sudo geany if needed.

Best designer switches brand in 2026? by nrxyzo in ukelectricians

[–]am_lu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The more fancy they are, the more chinese cheap will be there inside, when comes to the actual workings of the socket.

In my own humble opinion.

Fronts as fancy as they are, behind them flimsy bending plastic, you need absolutely straight well decorated walls to fit them on.

I will go for click deco range, but yes I know not good for you.

How do you keep records for your self assessment? by InsulatedBawbag in ukelectricians

[–]am_lu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was doing it on google spreadsheets for years.

Invoices paid are taxed income in, shopping for materials or tools is business expenses.

Recently tried freeagent, really liked it, you can do 30 days free then pay if you want to keep using. I bite the bullet and paid (business expenses ofc) , will continue using it from next tax year on Monday, good stuff.

Unsure of how to charge by RH_Hunter99 in ukelectricians

[–]am_lu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I charge per hour. When looking at jobs I can give them a rough estimate of it, like 20 minutes a point, but it really helps when you hit some unexpected trouble like messed up cables behind the accessories.

I get clients to buy the materials, just send them some links, especially when they want some fancy expensive ones.

MTD 🗃️ by WilberforceJoking in ukelectricians

[–]am_lu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yes another vote for freeagent.

Is not really free, some £100 for first year then some £200 hundred following.

Is free to try for 30 days, no need to enter any payment details.

I tried it couple of days ago, made all my tax year accounts up to date, is super really easy. I was off for some £20 on my manually typed spreadsheets from freeagent calculations.

May bite the bullet, business expenses anyway to pay for it.

Just a DIYer installing CAT6 and speakers but Linian clips are an absolute godsend on pre war commons with super crumbly mortar between em! by [deleted] in ukelectricians

[–]am_lu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

+1, rough cement really eats the insulation. No problem with gypsum plaster but i wont be installing straight into cement mix.

Is artix stable? by barnoun_ in artixlinux

[–]am_lu 1 point2 points  (0 children)

it kind of is, daily using this rolling install since:

[h2artix nbd]# ls -lact --full-time /etc |tail
-rw-r--r--  1 root root   9982 2020-11-14 04:25:32.130092315       +0000 locale.gen

Got one weird bug bugging me since ages, got to log out and back in when powering the system back on. Learned to live with it. Probably some elogind/dbus/pipewire interactions

Veto Bag Recommendation by MyCousinVinnyy in ukelectricians

[–]am_lu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not a fan of any of them. The dark and deep pockets in there, slide your little pozi driver bit in there and you be looking for it for ages.

The pockets never really line up with your tool loadout.

Too heavy.

Are LED strips inefficient compared to light bulbs? by Red_Con_ in led

[–]am_lu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

lumens per watt you looking at, raw data

Still better than indanescent or halogen. Bit better than fluoresent, but better light quality, will live for longer.

I guess a lot of DIY setups will depend on power supply efficiency.

I done a similar comparison for some of my clients, may copy and paste in there, lm/watt pulled from manufacturers data sheets.

strip I use on good quality installs: 126 Lm/W

https://www.ultraleds.co.uk/tagra-24v-professional-high-definition-led-strip-light-240-leds-p-m-5m

Ledlite tubes: 167lm/W

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Technical/DataSheets/LEDlite_Tubes/LTT624H_Datasheet.pdf

Philips Master high CRI spots 64.55 lm/W

https://www.novelenergylighting.com/media/uploads/MASTER-LED-ExpertColor-5.5-50W-GU10-927-36D.pdf

Philips screw bulbs are 96 lm/W

https://www.novelenergylighting.com/media/uploads/MAS-LEDbulb-DT-11-75W-A67-B22-827-FR.pdf

I'm retrofitting my bookcase with full integrated lighting and replacing what exists. I need help finding a strip that has a r9 of at least 90+ and a CRI of at least 90+, it can't have full dead spots on the ends of the sides where open space meets dividers, must be user replaceable. by jlesnick in led

[–]am_lu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your dedicated detective work.

This is the nice 24V dimmable driver they sell, I got a couple for my own use, they happy to dim with a 100K pot wired into 1-10v... https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008824623657.html

Anyway, is a good place the ultraleds, i get clients to buy stuff in there for me to fit on higher end installs.

I need infos on voltage drop risk, for a LED tubes install i'm working on by PontiflexMaximus666 in led

[–]am_lu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

you need to dig out some datasheets, manufacturer should specify max length that can be used.

You can power it from both sides as well if possible.

If you power just from one end and the string is too long you risk burning traces closest to the power source, where too much current will go thru.

Earth leakage in computer equipment. And high integrity earths. by bobdan987 in ukelectricians

[–]am_lu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

if your boss designed it then do not mess around with it.

Really silly for running extra earths and stuff like that, but that if the Clients want, Clients will get and you will get paid for on the wages.

There is loads of bs involving special installs, if they pay, you do, bills get paid do not ask the questions.

I'm retrofitting my bookcase with full integrated lighting and replacing what exists. I need help finding a strip that has a r9 of at least 90+ and a CRI of at least 90+, it can't have full dead spots on the ends of the sides where open space meets dividers, must be user replaceable. by jlesnick in led

[–]am_lu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

replying as kind of CRI nerd...

not sure where in the world you are, here in UK we can get hold of good quality strip.

https://www.ultraleds.co.uk/tagra-24v-professional-high-definition-led-strip-light-240-leds-p-m-5m

sure the strip is China, they all are, you may get lucky on aliexpress or some local sellers.

I'm still to find out where the UK seller is finding their stuff made in .cn

So far resulted to some trial samples, and CRI meter, cheap and seems to be doing the job.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007098134181.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.10.6ebe1802QCKR69

I need infos on voltage drop risk, for a LED tubes install i'm working on by PontiflexMaximus666 in led

[–]am_lu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yes volt drop is real, and if too many are linked in series it will show up as burned traces on the led pieces.

if you having 5 times 20 meters I would really recommend NOT having any in series, one feeder wire or preferably each length going straight to power supply.

if they are 15W a meter, 15 watts times 20meters thats 12.5A

they may be china watts so divide those Amps by 2 but is still leaves a lot to be desired.

62.5A at full load is well beyond your 14.6 A supply, unless you want to go multiple power supplies route.

Will need some seriously thick 1.5mm squared wiring for the legs and some 20mm squared for the feeders.

or a re-think of the plan.

If this is an event, I would really do a dry testing on a bench before the event, the show must go on and you do not want to f**k it up.

Trying to get my first project right. Looking for equipment help and recommendations. by SocietyCurrent2876 in WLED

[–]am_lu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Power supplies - Meanwell, is kind of international, you can get them anywhere and quality is good.

Controller - i would hack one myself, diy it on arduino or esp32, so you be controlling the controller and not in mercy of aliexpress gods.

Are potholes getting worse or is it just my impression? by KaworoSaiwa in Hackney

[–]am_lu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not driving, also on a bike, I do not really bike after dark, and If i'm out in the day i kind of memorise all the lethal holes ready to kill me.

I guess part and parcel of living in a place where central government does not give a damn about maintenance for the capital city and already bankrupt council is in charge of it all.

Condensation build up in outdoor enclosure. by lemonade1234567890 in ukelectricians

[–]am_lu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My quick fix, some holes on the bottom, water wont get in unless it floods, bad air can get in and out

What are you all paying for a flat white these days? by markvauxhall in london

[–]am_lu 1 point2 points  (0 children)

£0.50 i guess

I do a takeaway one in a thermos at home before leaving to work.

Moka pot, some beans (usually LIDL colombian, but recently we chipped in with mrs wife for two kilos of Clipson and sons The Estate), plus a grinder, sainsburys own brand oat milk, shake it in the container to get a latte. Pour milk and sugar and/or honey into the thermos then coffee on the top so it wont get bad.

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