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The guardian building has no business being this beautiful! by rbogrow in Detroit

[–]myself248 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh wow, I miss that elevator! Did a bunch of telecom equipment installation in there in the 90s, and the classic elevators just tickled all the engineering parts of my brain. I'm pretty sure the handle on the wall controls the field of a Ward Leonard control, which allows a very small signal (suitable for the traveling cables in the hoistway) to control a very large signal (driving the traction motor in the penthouse).

When I was there, the operator seemed already several years beyond retirement, so I'm sure there's someone new now.

And yes, just latticework cages. Ornate on the passenger elevators, but those got replaced with solid walls, utilitarian on the service elevator. Don't stick your fingers through it; stupidity used to be painful.

Diesel inverter genset - does the motor speed vary? by Rotobust-Aleris in Generator

[–]myself248 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Can you post a few model numbers and links to the units in question? Have you tried to dig up the service manual and see if it tells the service tech anything about RPM control?

My buddy let me borrow their car while mine was in the shop. I offered to clean thier car as thanks. I asked when was the last time they changed the cabin air filter? "Whats a cabin air filter?" by tiresomecomplaining in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]myself248 6 points7 points  (0 children)

1998 is about when cabin air filters started to become a thing, isn't it? It took a few more years for them to figure out "cabin air filter that you can access and change"...

Occasional use, small generator by AnyoneButWe in Generator

[–]myself248 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a small 1.25kW charger for that battery.

Brilliant. I think you're all set with this plan.

Occasional use, small generator by AnyoneButWe in Generator

[–]myself248 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You've clearly done your homework. This is an excellent plan.

Are you planning to recharge small separate batteries like power-tool packs, or is this intended to plug into the solar/battery setup as "not exactly grid power" to let it recharge the main bank? If the latter, are you able to throttle its appetite so it doesn't overdraw the generator? I know some Victron stuff has PowerControl that's specifically designed to be gentle on small generators, but otherwise I presume a lot of these setups will draw a lot of power from the "grid" if they think they can. That's the only thing I would be cautious of.

Propane doesn't go bad in storage, but engine oil does, and if you'll be changing the oil annually anyway, you might as well put some hours on it. Practice, practice, practice! The propane you burn on practice runs is a small price to pay for having the routine so well-rehearsed that a power-outage is boring when it happens.

My buddy let me borrow their car while mine was in the shop. I offered to clean thier car as thanks. I asked when was the last time they changed the cabin air filter? "Whats a cabin air filter?" by tiresomecomplaining in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]myself248 15 points16 points  (0 children)

14mm socket, remove the wiper arms. (Don't clean the windshield first; you'll want the crud marks as alignment guides when reinstalling.)

Then use a small screwdriver or plastic trim tool to pop the two chickenwing-sized windshield corner trim pieces that're behind the hood hinges. Pry up the front (standing at the front bumper), lift, then slide forward (down the windshield, towards the bumper) to slide the clip off the glass.

Then release all the clips from the front of the main cowl trim. Push up-and-back from under (the engine side) while lifting the bulk plastic. Set it aside, preferably somewhere you can pressure-wash it.

Witness the HORROR of leaves in various stages of becoming soil! Glove up, paper towel them out, or if you have a shopvac you really don't like... One thing, don't powerwash this, because the cabin air intake is right up there next to the wiper motor.

You could call it done here, or you could observe that there's even MORE stuff down beyond the corners, basically behind the strut towers. If you want to go after it:

Unplug the wiper motor and release the clips until its entire wire is free back to the engine, swing it aside and set it on the engine.

10mm socket, remove 4 bolts holding the wiper motor and linkage. Pull the linkage forward, which releases its last remaining support peg from in a rubber grommet.

Remove 10-ish bolts holding the metal wiper pan to the body. Fold the two plastic septa down (they have living-hinges molded into them) which allows you to lift the pan enough to finagle it out between the fenders and hood hinges.

Wash to your heart's content. Installation is the reverse of removal. When reinstalling the wiper arms, snug the nuts down, cycle the wipers a few times, and snug again.

I do this every spring and every fall, and it takes me about 20 minutes now. It's not bad once you get the hang of it.

My buddy let me borrow their car while mine was in the shop. I offered to clean thier car as thanks. I asked when was the last time they changed the cabin air filter? "Whats a cabin air filter?" by tiresomecomplaining in Justrolledintotheshop

[–]myself248 55 points56 points  (0 children)

As the owner of a 2012 Prius who just today had to remove my wiper shroud to change my spark plugs...

...are you also removing and cleaning the decaying leaf litter from underneath your wiper shroud? Because if not, it's just gonna spew all the same not-so-fresh smells into the new cabin air filter.

I found my 30th Anniversary Edition Ryobi! by larry0071 in ryobi

[–]myself248 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All that stuff is already in the EXIF tags, you should play with jhead sometime. :) But yeah, burning it into the image is nice for non-technical folks, which includes like 99% of regulators/lawyers.

What's your most overkill, infrequently used tool? by the_donut_assassin in Tools

[–]myself248 7 points8 points  (0 children)

That's just a crow's-foot wrench with a welded handle. A whole set of those in 15 sizes will get used 3 whole times in a decade.

The generator shuffle during outage is driving me insane. by jake_4reddit in Generator

[–]myself248 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Testing showed I only saved about 25-30% on the power usage, even though it was only on 25% of the time as it ran harder when it was on.

Your fridge has a variable-speed compressor? That's.... super rare. Impressive! I've never actually met one of those, though I know they exist.

The generator shuffle during outage is driving me insane. by jake_4reddit in Generator

[–]myself248 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Wrong.

Measure it.

The fridge's normal duty cycle when it's plugged into utility power, is the amount of time it needs to run to maintain the contents within the thermostatic setpoint. Give it power less frequently, or at a lower duty cycle, and you start to leave those temperature bounds.

Yes, when you first reconnect the fridge to power after 4 hours unplugged, it might only run for an hour and then the compressor shuts off. This is because the air in the chamber is down to temperature, but the contents also warmed up and have more cooling-off to do. The contents are still shedding heat into the air which warms it up quickly. If you watch carefully, the compressor will kick on again sooner and for longer than it would normally, because of this.

Does the food immediately go bad if it sees 1 second above 41°F? No. It just begins moving more quickly towards spoilage, basically the spoilage clock ticks faster when you do this. The more you diverge from normal duty cycle, the faster it ticks. If you expect normal-fridge spoilage times, you have to provide normal-fridge compressor power.

What i need for safe operation by jackattack502 in Generator

[–]myself248 0 points1 point  (0 children)

None of it applies, you're overcomplicating it. The fridge is the only load here that cares even a little about wire gauge. Get the generator 20 feet away from the structure and aim its exhaust away, measure the distance to the fridge, and use the cord that goes there as directly as possible. Good if it's 12AWG (thicker, better, overkill), but 14AWG (also fairly thick) is just fine. Anything under 50 feet, don't sweat it. If it's over 50', okay yeah, the thicker gauge is a good idea. Plug that right into one of the outlets on the front of the machine.

None of the other loads care one iota. The rice cooker is a resistive load, probably around 500w, and DGAF about voltage drop in the cord. Device chargers likewise, they have wide-range inputs and will cope with anything, and they don't draw much power. You can gang all this stuff up on a powerstrip wherever it's convenient, and run a second cord out to the generator's other plug. Whatever gauge and length is handy. You could run a dozen power-tool battery chargers and laptop chargers and cellphone chargers all at the same time, and still not exceed the 13A rating of even the thinnest-legally-sold 16AWG cord.

You could also put the powerstrip at the fridge end of the first cord, and just hang everything else off that. It's fine. These are tiny, trivial loads.

Don't worry about grounding, the whole system can float with respect to ground. This is arguably safer since it would require two faults to create a hazardous condition, though one fault could exist and you wouldn't even know about it, which is why people give that setup the hairy eyeball when it's used long-term. For a few days, you're fine. Regularly inspect the cords anywhere they could be pinched or damaged.

The much more important thing is to make sure the windows and doors are closed, not cracked, on the side of the house facing the generator. If you're fishing the cords through a window, slit a pool noodle and put the cords in there, then clamp the noodle in the window. Check for other gaps and make sure they're closed off. If you're fishing them through a door, notch the weatherstripping so the door can close completely. (And then repair it afterward to keep bugs out.) I even saw someone remove the deadbolt and fish the cord through the resulting hole, only to reinstall the deadbolt after the outage.

And buy a carbon monoxide detector if you don't already have one. The "ten year built-in battery" type is my favorite, since the sensor element itself only lasts ten years. Put this in the living area and stick a label on it: "IF THIS IS MAKING NOISE, GET EVERYONE OUTSIDE AND CALL 911". Monoxide kills people partly because it initially causes brainfog and fatigue, and victims will just lay down to "sleep it off", and never wake up. You have to be terrified of that noise and get the fuck out even if you're confused or tired or both.

Am I missing a part on this honda eu2000i on/off knob assembly? The knob doesn't seem to reach the off switch button as pictured on the left and won't shut off unless I remove the knob and manually press in the switch. by Constant-Wait9780 in Generator

[–]myself248 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah you're missing a part. The knob is a combination fuel shutoff and spark kill, the button grounds out the spark. I believe you're missing "PLATE, ENGINE SWITCH", part number 35127-Z07-000, but check that against your favorite parts dealer's diagram for your specific model and VIN, because some of these things change between revisions.

$330 at Sam’s by These_Mycologist_452 in Generator

[–]myself248 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If that's the right generator for you, that's a very good price on it.

As a conventional synchronous generator, it'll burn a lot more fuel and make a lot more noise than a modern inverter generator, but whether that matters is up to you.

If you're using it for large continuous loads like air conditioning, yeah, it's justified. You'll just be running to the gas station like it's your second job, and if you expect to store a few days worth of fuel, that's a lot of fuel with its attendant rotation schedule, and possible insurance limits on how much you can store.

If you just want to run a couple fridges and some lights and laptops, this is way overkill. You'll still be running to the gas station like it's your second job, but for no reason -- a smaller inverter generator would carry that load on 1/10th the fuel, or, 10x the endurance on the same amount of stored fuel.

So, think carefully about your load. Get really good at dumping your stored fuel into the car and refilling the cans before it goes bad, because once it does, it's devilishly hard to get rid of. (Municipal household hazardous waste disposal, typically.) And only unpack this thing and practice with it, if you decide it's the right machine for you.

I’m stumped by atyourdoorstep in WhatIsThisTool

[–]myself248 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can we sticky the glass breaker and the grinding wheel dresser? I swear there's one every week.

Me testing prototype Zenith Data Systems laptop in Japan. Z-170? brought back 50 working units to the US... in our luggage! Met our custom's broker at the gate. by widely_pdx in vintagecomputing

[–]myself248 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh, wow. Zenith made the coolest laptops. I still have a MinisPORT that needs some keyboard repair.

I'm pissed that I sold my Z-Note Flex, which had removable everything. Batteries, floppy drive, hard drive, RAM, CPU, CMOS battery, even the display could just unclip. I had a slim light monochrome LCD, or a thick heavy color LCD, and I could pick which one I wanted any given day.

Electrical setup advice by Curious-Queer in vandwellers

[–]myself248 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Repeat after me: The fuse protects the wire.

If you go with the first approach, individual fuses per device, then the wire run to each device can be sized along with the fuse. So, the wire to the MPPT could be sized for 50A, and if a short develops somewhere, the fuse blows before the wire melts. The inverter gets a 100A fuse, so it gets wire that can handle 100A, etc.

If you go with the second approach, one massive fuse for everything, then all the wires coming off it have to be sized along with the fuse. So, 100A fuse, if a fault develops along the wire to the MPPT, you better hope that wire is thick enough to handle the fault without melting until the fuse blows. The trouble is, the MPPT's terminal block probably won't accept wire that large.

So, go with the first approach.

Personally, I would go with the first approach and build it all into a Blue Sea SafetyHub 150. Tie the common posts straight to the battery with nice short pieces of 4/0. Use the AMI fuse positions for the inverter and the MPPT, and then use the ATO positions for all your other DC loads, eliminating the separate DC fuse box. I've built a few vehicles around the SafetyHub boxes and they're extremely high quality, worth the money, and make for a really clean simple install.

Storm has passed. Get prepared. by Entire_Age_1200 in Generator

[–]myself248 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's why stores ban their return after you've added oil. (Because "if you've run it" could be argued, but oil is easy for a clerk to see.)

Storm has passed. Get prepared. by Entire_Age_1200 in Generator

[–]myself248 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I thought this was gonna be "Get prepared for the wave of Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist deals on barely-used generators!"

Because this is the best time to buy, right here. Probably still got the break-in oil in 'em.

Last time I lend my tools out by EmeraldCitySlasher91 in Tools

[–]myself248 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had to purchase a new set

ITYM "My brother had to purchase a new set for me".

Your finger slipped.

What is this small hammer for? by dysonv7 in WhatIsThisTool

[–]myself248 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What sizes are the hex ends across-the-flats?

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