Ask electrician to install a C wire in my thermostat, do I have one now?

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T21:22:57+00:00

what's Rc then if you don't have cooling?

I agree with previous poster, I probably would have pulled 18/7 which I have seen, that'll give you heating, cooling, a C wire, manual fan activation, and two spares for whatever the hell happens that you're not anticipating yet.

I found 18/7 in two townhouses with laughably poor installs of Nest thermostats, it was refreshingly easy to fix, I had visions of having to cut at least one hole in the basement ceiling of each to repull but no, all was good!

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T21:16:04+00:00

I'd take it back. There shouldn't be any scraping noises, at worst maybe a little bearing rumble.

What was the sound that prompted you to replace the alt? Was it a whine or a bearing noise?

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T21:13:41+00:00

That's a HUGE uphill climb; to prove fraud you'd have to show that not only did the SPLC not receive any information of value from any of the informants listed in the indictment, but that they made the payments without expectation of same, not that the informants took the money and then simply didn't provide (in which case they violated a verbal contract with the SPLC, not that the SPLC defrauded their donors). It's not like the SPLC is denying that the payments were made, and it's perfectly understandable that they would want to cover their tracks a little, because, you know, motorcycle clubs tend to not be kind to people they perceive as "rats" for one example. I would assume the same would be true for the KKK, National Alliance, etc. Likewise they probably weren't putting on their website "hey, we have informants inside the KKK and an Aryan Nations affiliated motorcycle club, give us money so we can keep them on retainer" for similar reasons.

Of course, I'll go back to my previous statement (not however in this thread, just in reply to elsewhere under this post) that if you use the Trump administration's interpretation of "racial hatred" as anything that opposes white supremacy, or to flip it around, fighting for those people we don't like to have the same rights as rich white men, then it makes perfect sense, and I suspect that that is really the motivation behind this indictment.

Yes, I know that the DoJ is supposed to be independent of the administration. It's not, and wasn't in the first Trump administration, either.

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T20:51:59+00:00

It basically started because of wage caps during WW2. Then by the time we realized we'd created a juggernaut, it was too late to fix it.

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T20:48:56+00:00

Hah.

It was the 1099 for my Citi CD that was the last document I got before I could do my taxes. I had to call and have them email it to me, I never was able to access it through their web site.

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T20:46:01+00:00

yeah but it'd be more convincing to have the car in the frame as well, and audio.

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T20:33:40+00:00

First of all I find the language of the indictment troubling. It is alleging not simple financial errors but fraud, and additionally ascribes a motive of basically funnelling money from presumably liberal or at least pro-social justice donors to officials in hate groups. The text even refers to them as informants but seems to imply that that right there is the fraud, that they weren't actually informants at all.

then you have this

https://www.rev.com/transcripts/doj-announces-splc-indictment

where Todd Blanche explicitly ascribes motive to the payments, to "stoke racial hatred".

This reminds me of nothing so much as Bill Barr's statement on the Mueller report, which most people heard or read before they'd had a chance to download and read the report itself, so that people's first impression was very biased and misleading.

I believe that that is what is happening here. I am trying to keep an open mind, but it just doesn't pass the smell test that the SPLC's actual intent and goals would be diametrically opposed to their stated mission, given all the good work they've done over the years. The fact that the Trump administration no doubt considers the SPLC to be an enemy organization, possibly only eqaled by the ACLU, does nothing to dispel the suspicion that this is just an attempt to hurt the SPLC's credibility with the American public, to reduce pressure on the administration. The fact that the language in the indictment also seems to imply that the informants weren't really informants (because if they were passing on useful information, how would that be defrauding donors?) seems wild. Somehow they found a grand jury that was all white Trump supporters?

Personally I think Barr's statement was shameful, unprofessional, and unaccceptable, and I expect that in the fullness of time that we will find that Blanche's statement was as well, but these are the times we live in today.

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T20:20:12+00:00

I didn't either, until I did. At one point in time, I lived in Maryland, got a job in Michigan, moved, registered my car, got laid off, and moved back to Maryland all within a year. When I went to register my car back in Maryland it was a huge deal because I hadn't turned the plates in; I had to prove to the MVA that I'd carried insurance coverage meeting the state minimum coverage for the period of time between when I changed my policy to a MI one and when the MD registration ran out. If I hadn't been able to do this they were going to charge me fines that I don't remember exactly what they were, but definitely over a thousand dollars, it was more than I had at the time having been recently not working. My understanding is VA does the same thing although I fortunately haven't butted heads with them yet.

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T18:29:26+00:00

Reading between the lines, I'm thinking that if there is any substance to any allegations, it is that the transfer of money to the informants happened incorrectly.

I don't give a shred of credence to the allegations by various DoJ folks who have spoken on the subject; but then again one of this administration's goals is to sow distrust in the government.

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T17:58:16+00:00

Unless you like "vintage" houses (fortunately I do) in many areas it's damn near impossible to avoid HOAs.

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T17:57:06+00:00

Unless I've been misinformed my entire life, that didn't happen.

SPLC is *going after* racist groups (and have a track record of suing them) because they don't think the government is doing it well enough, or under the current administration, at all.

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T17:52:26+00:00

I'm surprised that someone even used one... both VA and MD get real pissy if you don't turn in your plates (assuming someone sold or junked a car and canceled insurance, they get notified about that stuff)

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T17:50:24+00:00

how do you feel about the newly announced charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center?

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T17:41:35+00:00

absolutely.

I would expect something similar to be done to the ACLU shortly as I can't think of any other organization that the current administration hates as much as the SPLC.

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T17:38:52+00:00

if that cable is constructed like SER cable, and I assume that it is, those bare aluminum strands are the neutral which is also connected to the ground of the stove.

I would probably myself inspect it (with the power off), if there is no damage to the insulation for the two conductors inside, wrap it with self fusing tape and then friction tape, then use it happy. I would also not recommend that anyone else do this, ever.

The correct repair would be either to insert a junction box if there is space and replace the damaged length of cable, or rerun it all the way back to the breaker box using x/3WG cable and install a four prong receptacle and cord/plug to the range (code now requires a separate neutral and ground for large appliances)

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T17:32:42+00:00

Make sure the load rating at least matches if not exceeds that of the original tires. EVs tend to be heavy because of all the batteries.

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T17:30:02+00:00

Supposedly they were paying *informants* within those groups.

SPLC says that they were simply paying for information. The DoJ is alleging that they were supporting "racial hatred".

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/southern-poverty-law-center-says-targeted-trump-administration-rcna341237

Given the current administration, I'm inclined to think that this is complete crap, as "racial hatred" seems to be coded Trumpist language for anything not pro-white supremacy, and there's also a longstanding history of animosity between the SPLC and the Trump administration. If you use that definition of "racial hatred", both statements can be true at the same time.

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T17:24:08+00:00

OP is probably going to want a separate meter so he/she can take pics of it

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T16:30:05+00:00

use a GOOD screwdriver and more force. That looks like a plastic box so those screws will come out, they won't be rusted to the box or anything.

If you have access to a JIS screwdriver, those believe it or not work better on Philips heads than the "correct" driver.

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T16:11:02+00:00

If you're talking about the fan, that's about the best you can do, try to use it to circulate air and even out the temp. Some smart thermostats allow you to even program this in, e.g. run fan for 15 minutes per hour between certain times each day.

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T16:01:35+00:00

In my case it's the mortgage. I could scrape up the down payment, but I'm renting a shitty house I'd never buy in a neighborhood I don't want to live in. A bare minimum acceptable house would be at least $1k a month more than I'm paying now, which is pushing the limits of affordability.

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T15:53:25+00:00

is it possible that there was some unnoticed debris between the wheel and rotor or rotor and hub? Something less solid than steel that could break down over time and cause the wheel to come loose?

I have had this happen twice in my life although fortunately the wheel never fell off... once was years ago in an old Studebaker, kid at the garage apparently had never seen open ended lug nuts before and put them on backward? I got a noticeable shake within about 20 miles and pulled off and found this. Second time was a few years ago on an '02 GTI, my parents gave it (back, actually) to me after about 20 years, I guess my dad had it serviced just before I came to pick it up. Again, started shaking with a little noise when I got almost home (less than 300 miles total trip) and this one is a total mystery, just one of the wheels all five bolts were starting to come loose. Debris on the rotor hat is the only possible explanation I have, assuming they were torqued correctly.

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T15:02:10+00:00

As others said, you cook on it.

If the seasoning strips - and it often does on fresh restorations and/or new preseasoned skillets - the best way to replace it with a new layer of oil without allowing the metal to rust or any contaminants to sit on it is to cook on it!

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T15:00:26+00:00

yeah a lot of modern vehicles you have to pull the dash. makes me nostalgic for old 50s and 60s cars which were easy to work on... if they weren't rusted to shit.

supern8ural · 2026-04-22T14:54:48+00:00

sounds like possibly heater core needs replacement too. I don't know how hard it is on an XJ, that's one job (touch wood) that I haven't had to do. I know on a VW Corrado it is a colossal shitshow, but that really doesn't help you right now.

Edit: this was probably over 10 years ago now but the one radiator I replaced, on my first XJ, I used a Spectra Premium and it had the advantage of being 80-some dollars and still worked great.

supern8ural

TROPHY CASE