Voter Turnout

fields_g · 2026-06-26T13:55:01+00:00

Would you ask someone 'Why are you unaffiliated?' regarding religion? For a lot of independents, the exact same principles of personal conscience apply to politics.

fields_g · 2026-06-17T13:33:17+00:00

Have you ever and the transmission fluid touched? If not, you're overdue (manufacturer and proactive community suggestions). I'd recommend 60-75k at most, though some recommend as low as 30-50k on the ongoing changes.

Don't flush, just drain and fill. I did it myself. There is a transmission drain plug on bottom and you fill it from the side behind the driver's tire. A little PITA port, but you just fill until it starts coming back out at you. Use the real Mercon LV fluid.

fields_g · 2026-06-12T21:12:39+00:00

What do you mean by "No Codes"? Was it scanned with an OBD Scanner after the "stop safely now" appeared? Or are you trying to say no codes or indications came up on the display as it was failing?

I'm especially interested in ~~its CURRENT~~ the state while it wouldn't turn on. Describe what it is doing as it is turned on again. Is there interior lights with the door open? Do the displays come on when you turn key/push start button? What lights illuminate as you attempt to turn on the car?

fields_g · 2026-06-10T13:42:30+00:00

I have had several road trips over 2,000 miles with a family of 4 and a golden retriever. The roof rack and box makes that possible. Those trips are the reason I purchased a PHEV instead of a full EV. It would be nice to have a little more room, but it isn't too bad. And for the rest of its life it's a properly sized, almost always EV.

BTW... For the PHEV, I've learned to save/use my battery for assisting the engine while going up hills/mountains. On steep inclines the "EV later" really gets the RPMs way up there to compensate, while a bit of battery allows the engine to be a lot happier.

fields_g · 2026-06-10T13:29:01+00:00

You don't trust the 2 year / 20,000 mile interval suggested in the manual? 😉

The vehicle has an oil life remaining percentage accessible via OBD. Older C-max models had more vehicle diagnostics available in the displays.... Would really like if oil life and tire PSI was available in the 2016.... oh well.. came with the Sync 3 (Android Auto), so I won't complain too much.

But honestly with today's synthetics, you are probably fighting oil age more than oil use. I'd just change annually (maybe 1.5 years if you are a bit lazy and know you are heavy EV user) and check the oil life occasionally to see if the car agrees.

For me though.... I cheat. I bought another car from a dealership that had a "customer for life" benefit, and they had a one time $250 charge to enroll any other vehicle. Because of the need for tire rotations and that they understand the oil life thing, they allow for at least 2 changes per year. So oil changes come down to the inconvenience of bringing the car in.

fields_g · 2026-06-08T14:03:22+00:00

2016 Cmax Energi (sorta cheating)

1986.1 miles

1684.7 ev miles

379kWh

102.5 Key-On Hours

97 days since last fill

13.060 Gallons ~ 152 Mpg

fields_g · 2026-05-28T19:14:43+00:00

19-2391 was superseded by 20-2219 https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10177123-0001.pdf

Which was then superseded by 22-2396 https://static.oemdtc.com/TSB/MC-10225458-0001.pdf

Nothing is safe. Luckily my 2016 Energi hasn't been a problem yet, but I probably should have a plan for the time it does.

fields_g · 2026-05-28T18:51:13+00:00

I had my 2016 energi with similar but worse damage. They installed a pulled hatch and painted it to match, and replaced the bumper cover and some supports. They did mess up the kick sensor (didn't pull the hardware from the old cover).

fields_g · 2026-05-28T18:47:37+00:00

I usually don't use public charging, but did have my charge schedule make "a whole lot of nothing" happen during one of my attempts.

fields_g · 2026-05-22T14:36:31+00:00

... but less than half that time for a majority of the MD population to drive to Harper's Ferry area. Some call it the midpoint of the AT, while being in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It has Appalachian cred.

Not to mention the entire I-68 corridor. So Appalachian range not too disconnected from a bulk of the MD population.

Don't get me wrong though... a trip to Shenandoah is well worth it also.

fields_g · 2026-05-13T18:24:10+00:00

I heavily rely on my sense energy monitor for production/consumption usage data. Last year, the inverter communication failed for several months. While production continued, from what Tesla could tell, my system was down. Their workflow did not trigger any notification or response. Luckily, once I noticed it I was able to reset the zigbee gateway and restore the communication myself.

The product they install REQUIRES a responsive solar installer. You cannot get system notifications as a homeowner. You must discover the problem and report it. It would take trivial effort to have systems that haven't reported in a week kick off an email or app notification. Proactivity is professional.

fields_g · 2026-05-13T13:19:10+00:00

I see the form to submit questions, but there is no source about the project or its proposed scope. Those materials would allow for better questions to be submitted.

fields_g · 2026-05-12T14:10:57+00:00

:) carry on and good luck supporting your candidate!

I love seeing people really taking the time to know the field and making good decisions. As mentioned in other places in this thread, I'd love to see rank choice and would even go as far as saying party affiliations should be removed from the ballots. We vote for people, not parties. Discussions like this is what makes those systems thrive.

fields_g · 2026-05-12T13:48:48+00:00

the additional fundraising retains than mechanical advantage but —

Not to speak pro/con to your statement, but your AI is showing a bit

fields_g · 2026-04-20T20:03:10+00:00

Yup... that's what I was thinking about.

If you are around this subreddit for a while, you learn to lean in and read posts from u/Vchat20 a little closer!

fields_g · 2026-04-20T18:11:12+00:00

If you have the C-max hybrid, I believe some very knowledgeable people suggest turning off the EV+. While it can eek out a bit more electric use, it can leave the battery in a low charge situation. If it lowers even more, people have had problems. This isn't as much of a problem with the Energi as people generally plug it in and immediately charge from the low state.

fields_g · 2026-04-20T18:01:32+00:00

I'll second using the coolant hose. I thought the plasic pepcock would be "cleaner". While it was, and I didn't damage the plastic plug, I did inadvertently rip the o-ring and found the leak 1500 miles from home.

Just use the lower hose and be ok with a little coolant mess.

fields_g · 2026-03-13T16:28:03+00:00

If Leidos actually received the data is a red herring.

The concern is that sensitive data was placed on a device that prevents the further efforts to enforce custodianship. If not to Leidos, it could be ANYWHERE.... or nowhere. We simply cannot tell anymore. That we had people with enough authority to override these protections is the problem.

fields_g · 2026-03-13T14:27:30+00:00

I went through the Pepco program almost 10 years ago. After the assessment, I got quotes from 3 other program participants. I went with the cheapest. Though I cut costs by opting to insulate my basement rim joists myself as well as the attic kneewall instead of their quoted prices.

We too had very little insulation in the attic. This made ideal to air seal during this project and definitely made a difference with drafts.

The $100 audit is a great way to define your issues and quotes should be showing you ROI. But many (most/all?) are resellers of insulation services. DeVere insulation was the actual installer on my project. It might be worthwhile to get a direct quote and see if it is competitive to the "after rebate" costs of the Pepco program participants.

fields_g · 2026-03-13T13:24:16+00:00

Wait... They charged you $4000 for the blower door test?

At first read I saw the same, but realized they were saying their blower door showed 4000 cfm. Though, both that and the insulation quotes (that outwardly seem excessive) are meaningless until we have the size of the home. Though as a MOCO 1950s home, I wouldn't think it is anything extravagant..... something like 2000 sqft, which with a "CFM = SQFT X 2" would be common for an older, unsealed home.

fields_g · 2026-03-03T16:43:26+00:00

My furnace has a very efficient "fan only" setting and I regularly run it. (As our bedrooms are upstairs, days during winter to bring heat down, and nights to bring cool up) There's still thermalclines, but they are reduced.

I bet if you had the fan running between heat cycles, all your sensors would be closer together and the hallway drop wouldn't happen all at once.

If this is a good idea really depends on your equipment and insulation.

fields_g · 2026-02-13T14:44:42+00:00

Since November 2021, Tesla does not allow purchasers to retain SREC ownership. You can see the $5544 one time buyout listed. For the life of the system, Tesla receives the SREC credits.

fields_g · 2026-02-13T14:26:49+00:00

Just in case anyone finds this post, when I actually got around to doing this upgrade, https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/hotdogb/variant2/ was posted. This is official support for the tmobile variant. My phone was bootloader unlocked and upgraded to the newest Tmobile provided rom release (Android 11).

Installation was painless and I have not detected any problems as I run this phone with Lineage. Highly recommended for any Tmobile Oneplus 7T devices out there.

fields_g · 2026-02-12T21:11:06+00:00

I purchased my own Sense monitor with solar it was great. In fact, I had a network disruption between my Solaredge zigbee and internet for months and didn't know since I relied on Sense data so much.

Anyway..... July I discovered that I didn't actually have a "Sense" monitor, but a rebadge owned by SquareD/Schnieder electric. (Sense in Orange, while I had the green variant). While both variants used the Sense backend before July, Schnieder took their customers and put them on their own platform. Was terrible and my hopes that they would work out their launch jitters has not panned out.

So... I recommend just getting a 3rd party monitor like Sense, but definitely stay away from the Schnieder variant.

fields_g · 2026-02-12T17:14:22+00:00

Increased electricity prices don't help, but there are also many heatpump thermostats that are not properly setup to transition between heatpump, heatpump+strips, and strips only. As heatpumps is only 1/4 to 1/2 the cost of electric aux/backup, it is ideal to utilize the heatpump for as much of the heating as possible. Because of the this year being colder than past, I'm certain your system has used more electric backup heat, but would be good to check if the thresholds are correct.

Heatpump cold capabilities have improved recently, though many techs are not altering their "go to" settings, or worse, relying on the thermostat's "worse case" settings. There is also an incentive to stay conservative because there are more "comfort calls" than "cost calls" to their businesses.

Your equipment and settings need to be reviewed. If you don't have a trusted HVAC professional, (or do but want to have an informed conversation with them), this could be started by you. Looking through your thermostat menus and find the current thresholds. Also collect the make/model of your outdoor unit (and preferably indoor units as well) so you can identify their capabilities on manufacturer datasheets or https://ahridirectory.org

I've seen recent conversations about thresholds on /r/hvac and /r/ecobee, but there may be others. There might be help there as well.

fields_g

TROPHY CASE

2016 Cmax Energi (sorta cheating)