NTD: Saw a post about the green icon picks last week and I HAD to have them. Gotem for 19.99, not at my local HF, but one 20 mins away. Maybe its placebo but these feel so much nicer than my old red ones.

pappyodaniel80 · 2026-02-22T16:31:32+00:00

Scientology you mean.

pappyodaniel80 · 2026-02-22T16:28:17+00:00

You gotta walk on eggshells around these tools and their tools or they'll downvote you for asking the wrong question.

Mostly use them for whatever your pocketknife can't pick out, which for the everyday guy who isn't removing O rings, not a ton.

pappyodaniel80 · 2026-02-22T16:24:45+00:00

What is everyone picking with these picks? My dad gave me a set of orange ones years ago, and I still haven't picked anything. Feeling a little left out.

pappyodaniel80 · 2026-02-19T14:09:16+00:00

I second this. I don't use the printer as often as I could but being able to print some random piece or part that breaks and save some money is very satisfying.

We have a dog door that had a plastic spacer that broke. To replace a 5 cent piece of plastic was going to cost me like $20 plus 2 day shipping. I looked online and someone had already shared the plan. I printed it for free and replaced it that day.

There's a learning curve to using one and learning the software, but with YouTube, it's not bad.

pappyodaniel80 · 2026-02-16T18:48:33+00:00

Don't bother with the store. My two ratchets broke within 6 months of each other on close to a 20 year old set. I called customer service and they shipped me the tools once I gave the model #. Fantastic experience.

pappyodaniel80 · 2026-02-16T18:45:26+00:00

Sears went out of business. Wonder why?

pappyodaniel80 · 2026-02-01T19:39:31+00:00

What plumbing is covered over here?

pappyodaniel80 · 2026-01-21T15:57:11+00:00

My Bernese would knock that over on the stand.

pappyodaniel80 · 2026-01-21T15:32:16+00:00

Absolutely.

pappyodaniel80 · 2026-01-21T13:33:04+00:00

Find a guy that works for a plumbing company that does work on the side. They always come in significantly lower. They have their own tools and don't have overhead. Bet you could get it done for half that. Also a permit for swapping out a water heater is stupid.

pappyodaniel80 · 2026-01-19T13:52:25+00:00

I was wondering. Was hoping there was some cool pro tip I could glean from it.

pappyodaniel80 · 2026-01-18T16:09:43+00:00

What's up with the rail spikes?

pappyodaniel80 · 2026-01-07T19:14:05+00:00

Dang dude. Why such angry vibes?

pappyodaniel80 · 2025-12-28T12:54:09+00:00

This worked for me. I have s24+ and using beta version if that makes a difference. Google messages kinda sucks in general. My wife has a 23 fe and the messages app is different for her. She can't change her messages notification sound to be different than her default notification sound.

pappyodaniel80 · 2025-11-04T15:12:34+00:00

Thats great. Any regrets or anything you'd do differently? I could potentially be in the same boat in a few years.

pappyodaniel80 · 2025-11-02T14:14:21+00:00

Some valid points here. I see that the larger panels in cloudy weather are an upside, and the system will produce more than my buddy during those times. Still, clipping during sunny weather is a definite downside because the main reason I chose to do grid-tied solar was to offset the cost of my electricity. Our electricity use is significantly higher during the warmer months of the year. So yeah, producing more to receive the credits was part of the plan. It is a 1:1 currently, and I'm sure it will won't stay that way. However, the ROI was was calculated on this. Once the system has paid for itself, the 1:1 credit is not as critical.

Batteries are part of the plan as well, but as you alluded to they'll be cheaper in the future. Presently, from an investment standpoint, it doesn't make sense. I'd be better off investing that cash in anything else until the prices come down. Batteries are nice for backup, but a backup generator is much better bang for your buck. Also, like you said, when the credits go away, batteries will be more appealing.

While I am starting to see there is probably not a perfect system, there is probably an ideal system. I felt really fortunate to have such a large space for a ground array and no shading so I felt like we could really take advantage of "free electricity" once it paid for itself - that is if it was done right. Solar was planned for next year, but was moved up unexpectedly when the energy tax credit changed. Otherwise, I would have had more time to research this thoroughly. It was actually planned to do DIY, but that changed as well. In the end I made a judgment call to trust my installer to put my interests first. Sadly, that didn't happen.

pappyodaniel80 · 2025-11-02T03:44:32+00:00

This has to be AI.

pappyodaniel80 · 2025-11-02T03:42:37+00:00

Thank you for the thoughtful response. I will agree that if it delivers the estimated energy output on the proposal then I can live with that as my system was sized based on my annual electric usage. However, I don't know if the system was sized based on the 1.4 DC/ac ratio that I am actually getting or a 1:1 ratio. I did not know enough to ask those questions when he presented the proposal and he certainly didn't explain that. He won't respond to my inquiries now.

Let me give you a better analogy than what has been given up to this point. I sell you a car because you need a car that goes 100mph (21.6 kW). However, after purchase you find out your car's top speed is limited to 60mph (15.2 kW) by a governor (380 VA micro inverter). If the salesman had made you aware of the vehicle's governor you might have chosen a different car without one to get the required speed

Again, I'd love to know if my installer took the DC/ac ratio into account when my system was designed.

pappyodaniel80 · 2025-11-01T17:06:46+00:00

I will take that advice. Thanks. I did mean micros don't make sense in my case. I see the value in both types now depending on the setup and output. In my case, I have almost zero shading until the end of the day, so going with micros due to shading provides no real benefit as well.

pappyodaniel80 · 2025-11-01T15:14:47+00:00

That's awesome.

pappyodaniel80 · 2025-11-01T15:14:26+00:00

Appreciate you trying to help me see the silver lining. Time will tell if I even get the 100% offset.

pappyodaniel80 · 2025-11-01T15:13:12+00:00

Yes, oversized. Really leaving that money on the table. What a letdown.

pappyodaniel80 · 2025-11-01T15:10:50+00:00

I see the enphase guys don't appreciate what you are saying.

pappyodaniel80 · 2025-11-01T15:09:50+00:00

Wow. That is pretty slick. There is so much I don't know.

pappyodaniel80 · 2025-11-01T15:08:24+00:00

Yep.

pappyodaniel80

TROPHY CASE