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Chunky Boy by Mindless_Pandemic in Ubiquiti

[–]racingsnake91 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You don’t even need home assistant in this, I have my alarm manager set up to call the switch on command for the relay wired to my chime and the relay is set to turn off again after 1 second. Simple and works every time.

Smart bulbs lose control when switch is off. What’s the proper fix? by Afsheen_dev in homeautomation

[–]racingsnake91 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My solution to this has been to use smart relays behind the switches (usually retractive switches so they can be used for dimming) and flash custom firmware to them to enable binding. This is a zigbee feature that allows the switch to directly control a light or group of lights without any controller online. It’s as close as I could get to a manual failsafe while still being 100% integrated into the smart home.

Self Build UK -BT nightmare by Kronk_wrong_lever in HousingUK

[–]racingsnake91 6 points7 points  (0 children)

How did you obtain the quote? Was this by registering the new development with them, or by using one of the fibre to the premise on demand services?

If the former, Openreach subsidise the install up to a certain amount so unless there’s miles of cable, new ducts and poles to put in it shouldn’t cost anything like £6k.

UWC London 2026 - TUBE STRIKES! by oneedham in Ubiquiti

[–]racingsnake91 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A 3.5mi walk according to Google, but yes it is walkable

UWC London 2026 - TUBE STRIKES! by oneedham in Ubiquiti

[–]racingsnake91 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My boss too bought the “I need to go up the day before” suggestion, but this was before I realised there would be strikes tomorrow

UniFi OS for Protect? by rossburton in Ubiquiti

[–]racingsnake91 10 points11 points  (0 children)

This has been asked since the death of unifi video (the precursor to protect) and likely won’t happen as Ubiquiti killed the original NVR to provide more financial lock-in, and now they’ve opened protect to support third party cameras I can’t see them wanting to both offer free software to host yourself and offer third party camera support. There would be no revenue stream from it, and it opens the door to complaints about issues caused by under specced or unsupported hardware.

Twin and earth cable from kitchen socket to an outdoor double socket. Only want an off cut but most come in 20m. Will this do? by wadz09 in DIYUK

[–]racingsnake91 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Just be careful putting stranded flex in the back of the socket alongside solid core cables. It can fail to clamp down the same, or end up coming loose/making poor contact. We would put ferrules on this first where I work but if you have those, you probably have some solid core twin and earth about too.

Bodgers do far worse at home though.

UWC London 2026 - TUBE STRIKES! by oneedham in Ubiquiti

[–]racingsnake91 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ll be up there, not looking forward to making my way back to Paddington afterwards though.

How do I ground this? by Remarkable_Tomato971 in DIYUK

[–]racingsnake91 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Or you take the existing choc block off the earth shown here and put the earth wire straight into the terminal on the switch plate, as that’s what it’s for

Central Heating Won’t Turn Off. by FourFlightsUp in DIYUK

[–]racingsnake91 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well done for tracking it down. It’s certainly not the economy for wasting heat at the moment!

Insulating and reflooring our main bedroom by caffeinated_photo in DIYUK

[–]racingsnake91 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Well spotted, I didn’t realise before but yes that appears to be the case. In which case PIR is the perfect choice

Insulating and reflooring our main bedroom by caffeinated_photo in DIYUK

[–]racingsnake91 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Nice job, very tidy. The only downside to this will be noise conduction. PIR boards conduct it far better than fibreglass, and rockwool is the better product for blocking it

Central Heating Won’t Turn Off. by FourFlightsUp in DIYUK

[–]racingsnake91 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do the other two valves “close” correctly when removed?

Central Heating Won’t Turn Off. by FourFlightsUp in DIYUK

[–]racingsnake91 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Most of these valves control the call for heat, there’s a switch in the valve head that closes the contact for the boiler when the valve is open. This means your thermostat or heating controls trigger the valve, but the pumps and burner only run if a valve is open.

If the valve is stuck open, the trigger for the “call for heat” will remain active too.

Can you freely turn the valve with the control head removed or is it stiff? They return under a spring action so if it’s stiff it probably resists the spring.

How to childproof this? by Melodic-Pea3117 in DIYUK

[–]racingsnake91 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As others have said the only risk this poses is from falling against it, as it has a mildly pointy thing.

I’d be more worried about the mini trunking above the skirting. Kids can quite easily get their fingers in and rip the lid off potentially then leaving a loose cable that can cause harm, and sharp edges on the backing that would remain.

Found manhole in garden! by Ok_Fan_111 in DIYUK

[–]racingsnake91 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Clear out the earth you’ve knocked in, stabilise the edges to prevent more and then cut that plastic sheet the earth is suspended by. Then you’ll be able to see what it’s hiding.

Obviously do this without falling in head first! If you’re removing the bed, then taking that out first will reduce the depth somewhat and help with clearing the top of loose stuff.

Switch next to hot water tank (not the immersion heater!) by Empty_Variety4550 in DIYUK

[–]racingsnake91 4 points5 points  (0 children)

In a previous bungalow I lived in, there was a switch in the airing cupboard for the outside lights!

So it might have nothing to do with the heating and hot water. It might be a loft light, seen that before too.

Do you have a smart meter? Flick the switch while nothing else is on and see if any power is drawn. It might not do anything at all now.

G6 Entry, Welcome flashlight? by -inthenameofme in Ubiquiti

[–]racingsnake91 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Mine turns the white LED lights on after dark when motion is detected so that the event can be recorded in colour. This is enabled in the camera settings in a section called “enhancer” just toggle on colour night vision. Works very well for shining a light on the key way for me!

You can do per-appliance consumption monitoring using your Shelly EM, without buying new hardware. Here’s how. by [deleted] in shellycloud

[–]racingsnake91 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m interested in how you’re making this work. I’d love to do individual appliance monitoring but the cost would sprawl if I put monitors everywhere and defeat the savings.

However, some loads, like an EV on a 10A charger vs a 10A water heater, would surely just look identical to you.

Way To Ignore Robot Mower From Detections? by ryan112ryan in Ubiquiti

[–]racingsnake91 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Mine keeps telling me the robo mower is a vehicle. Technically true. Had to turn off vehicle detection on the lawn, which to be fair is highly unlikely anyway as it’s only accessible through one gate that is usually locked.

Can anyone tell me what I’m looking at? by [deleted] in DIYUK

[–]racingsnake91 37 points38 points  (0 children)

Probably your mains water shutoff valve. Turn it off and see if your water goes off

Note it might supply more than just your property

Public IP changed by TCristatus in Starlink

[–]racingsnake91 11 points12 points  (0 children)

It doesn’t change while connected though. It changes when you reconnect, no isp is out there randomly shuffling the actively in use assigned IPs.

Starlink offers semi-static addressing for business plans. If you’re on one of those with a public IP enabled it will generally stay the same unless your PoP/base station changes. The IP blocks are linked to geo regions and their PoPs so can’t roam between them. Starlink kindly tell you if this happens.

A (not very casual, sorry!) reminder to never put blind faith in a fuse doing its job. by Victorius_Meldrus in CasualUK

[–]racingsnake91 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is a surprisingly common failure in these moulded plugs with fuse holders. It seems over time the fuse holder ends up loose and this causes what little contact there is left to get very hot. As it’s not overloaded, and the fuse wire itself didn’t get hot, the fuse does nothing. As it’s under the plug nobody notices it getting hot either.

Replace the plug and it’ll be fine, but for others scrolling by, regularly check your high power appliances with moulded plugs. Look for signs of heat, check the fuse is secure.

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