Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it
-
@Rhywden said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
@acrow said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
@PleegWat said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
Nowadays most new houses use a shared heating source. Personally I think this is a good idea if it uses industrial waste heat or similar, but too often it's just a shared gas-powered heating system which supposedly allows for efficiency of scale.
In Finland that's called Remote Heating. It used to be just waste heat from power plants. But now there are about a hundred dedicated heat plants, too, since electricity production is moving to windmills etc.. Apparently it's the most comon way to heat apartments now. Less common in stand-alone houses, for obvious reasons.
Some datacenters now also shunt their rather big heat production towards productive means as well. Finland was one of the first results for that (e.g. Yandex in Mäntsälä)
Yes. The efficiency is not great though, since the temperature at the source is so low. So the datacenter needs to be massive for there to be any real gains in it. The Mäntsälä datacenter's heat production apparently has 65% of the carbon footprint of an equivalent gas heat plant. AIUI that 65% all comes from heat-pumping to get the temperature up.
-
@HardwareGeek said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
The house I grew up in had a fireplace like that; the few times we tried to use it, we had to turn on the A/C blower to push the smoke out, because it just poured into the room instead of going up the chimney.
Sounds like the chimney wasn't hot enough, or had a blockage or bad cowling or something like that.
-
Not hot enough: until the chimney is actually hot, it won't draw particularly well. You've got to start your fire pretty hot to punch that mass of cold air out of the way.
-
Blockage: that's why chimney sweeps are a profession. Or if it's a baffle you control, open the silly thing while lighting the fire!
-
Bad cowling: a good chimney has a cowling on the top that catches the wind to pull air (and exhaust gases) out of the chimney. It doesn't help when the weather is calm, but it makes starting a fire when there's some wind much easier; you don't need lots of wind to get this assist. Once the chimney's heated up, the fire will usually keep going (assuming a supply of fuel and oxygen). Note that the wind suddenly dropping away to nothing is a case where it becomes much more difficult to keep a fire alight.
In any case, if the cowling isn't right then you're basically fighting against the building to light a fire and keep it going. It's a significant flaw when it's the case.
If you're able to see the flames, what you want to avoid is dark red flames, as that's a sign of carbon monoxide production, which is both thoroughly inefficient and highly dangerous. It's probably a good idea to have a CO sensor somewhere in the room, though not too close…
-
-
@dkf Probably 1 and/or 3. The top of the chimney was basically just
I think it did have two separate (?) flues. The massive brick fireplace basically functioned as a room divider between the living and family rooms. One side had the fireplace; the other had an indoor barbecue that we never used. (Neither did the previous owners; the brick was absolutely pristine, without a trace of soot.) There was definitely no blockage on that side; you could see daylight through it (although the path wasn't straight; there was no direct view of the sky). There was no damper on that side; it was always open to the exterior. The fireplace side did have a damper; the lever was in the middle of the fireplace, directly above the flames, where it was super-easy to reach if you forgot to open it before starting the fire.
-
@dkf said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
Not hot enough: until the chimney is actually hot, it won't draw particularly well. You've got to start your fire pretty hot to punch that mass of cold air out of the way.
Something I learned from my father and lots of people have seen me do and had an "Ah-ha!" moment:
Take some newspaper and roll it up semi-tight. You want it to burn fairly freely, but not go up like a roman candle. Then prep your fire so that it will light. When you light the fire, light the rolled up newspaper first and place it well up into the flue area and then 30-60 seconds later light your main fire. The newspaper will get your draft started before you light your main fire, which normally will take a while to get going and develop your draft.
Easy peasy, you just started a fire without getting that initial burst of smoke into your house.
-
@Polygeekery I bow to your expertise at starting fires.
-
@HardwareGeek said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
@Polygeekery I bow to your expertise at starting fires.
My dad used the same trick, and he was a priest.
-
@Gribnit said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
My dad used the same trick, and he was a priest.
Church of Satan?
-
@Polygeekery said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
@Gribnit said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
My dad used the same trick, and he was a priest.
Church of Satan?
Greek Orthodox. The old Satanist church is Roman and the CoS is Unitarianism inside-out.
-
This "Tuya advert" / sponsored video reminded me of this thread, although I should mention that he's using Tuya's
cloudclown platform.Trigger warnings: contains a short bit of accordion music and cruelty against tea.
This monster is part of the Internet of Shit though thanks to the Tuya app and cloud, so it needs a mobile hotspot to work...
-
Tonight I was at my electronics bench working on something and then got to organizing things and I realized just how often I live by the adage of "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing".
- 8 bench power supplies, two of which are three rail, another is 20V 10A, another that is 36V 30A
- 10+ bench multimeters, including my pride of the bench, a Keithley 196 which is 6.5 digits. I don't even have the capability or equipment to use it to it's potential
- 2 oscilloscopes, one analog, one DSO
- 2 function generators
- Universal counter
- Multiple electronic loads from smaller ones I built myself to a 360w BK Precision
- ESR meter
- LCR meter
- God knows how many handheld meters
- 3 soldering stations, Two Hakkos and a pro-model Weller I picked up super cheap
- Hot air rework station
- Desoldering station (I wish I had bought that long before I did, super handy)
- Lots more stuff, but those are the biggies
I went on a big Keithley, Fluke and HP/Agilent collecting spree for a while.
As far as nerding out goes my hobby area is probably setup better than some people that do this sort of stuff for a job.
No, I don't need hardly any of that. But it does come in handy sometimes.
-
@Polygeekery said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
As far as nerding out goes my hobby area is probably setup better than some people that do this sort of stuff for a job.
Where did you get all that stuff?
-
@Zerosquare said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
Where did you get all that stuff?
Mostly eBay. Pro tip: Search for items you want but don't search in a category. Look for misclassified stuff, misspellings, etc. Don't be afraid to purchase items that say they don't power on. I have bought several items like that and it was just a blown fuse. I got a Keithley 197A for ~$25 that was like that. I think I only paid ~$40-50 for my Keithley 199 because it was listed as "Powers on, untested". Lots of people get stuff like that and don't want to list it as working because they have no idea how to test it, so tons of stuff gets sold at parts-only prices. Some of the older kit gets sold as non-working because they don't know that they are not autoranging. At least one of the older Keithleys I purchased like that the only issue it had was that none of the range selectors were depressed, etc. I remember another of the old Keithleys was listed as not working because the person could not get a voltage reading off of a battery they had the leads hooked up to in the auction photo. A quick glance showed that they had it set to measure resistance. I haven't bought a single piece of equipment that was listed as non-working that wasn't either user error by the seller not knowing how to use it or a very simple repair. Usually fuses.
Other than that, set some saved searches and be patient.
My Keithley collection is:
- 175
- 177
- 178
- 179
- 191
- 192
- 196
- 197A
- 199
- 2000 (which is in a box somewhere and I will be damned if I can find it)
I also have a couple of Fluke 45's and an 8842 with the AC module.
The old vintage Keithleys are amazing value for a bench DMM. That's why I have so many. They are always plugged in and waiting and on the rare occasions I might need to keep a constant measure on several power supply rails or the like I can set several of them up and see the readings at a glance without having to probe like one would usually do with a handheld. I am also colorblind so it helps to always have a meter ready to check resistors that I cannot read the little color bands on.
-
The main area of my electronics area:
Another of my favorite meters, the HP 3476B:
3.5 digits, accuracy isn't great but sufficient for any task that I do. But I like it because it is small, doesn't take up much room, never needs batteries and it has the awesome vintage LED display.
I liked them so much that I got two:
Oh, but the second one has a label on it, what does that say?
Nope:
What was wrong with it?
Broken fuse holder. I briefly considered trying to find a replacement and then put a dab of solder on it. If/when that gives out I might try to find a replacement.
Cool little meters with three position stands. They can sit flat, tilted up like showed before, or straight vertical if you want to place them on the floor next to you and look down on them:
There are a couple on eBay right now for $125-$200 but I didn't pay anywhere near that. Both of mine were listed as non-working. One worked fine out of the box, the other worked after I
fixed the fuse holder.Other tidbits of note is that the power strip the soldering equipment is plugged into is on one circuit that is shut off when the bedtime routine runs, another circuit runs the rest of the stuff so I can leave important stuff running overnight, like charging the kids Power Wheels batteries.
-
Lots of digits, which I think is cool, even though if I were realistic 2.5 or 3.5 digits is more than sufficient for basically everything that I do.
-
-
@Polygeekery said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
Broken fuse holder. I briefly considered trying to find a replacement and then put a dab of solder on it. If/when that gives out I might try to find a replacement.
No you won't. You'll put another dab of solder on it.
-
@PleegWat said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
No you won't. You'll put another dab of solder on it.
Probably.
I doubt it will break though. Fuses are not soldered in (in most cases, some are) in order to facilitate easy replacement and also to prevent breakage from vibration and flexing over time. Since one leg is still free to move the chances of that happening are pretty slim.
I should also note that when doing that I realized that the fuse link is soldered to the inside of the fuse. Once I got it hot enough to take solder the resistor and fuse link fell inside of the glass tube and I thought that I had ruined the fuse and would need to replace the fuse. Luckily it was all still connected inside and still metered out at 85ish ohms so it worked. I might not get so lucky a second time.
-
@Polygeekery said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
But I like it because it is small, doesn't take up much room, never needs batteries and it has the awesome vintage LED display.
I forgot to mention that in that series of bench multimeters the "B" stands for battery operated. They have internal NiCad battery packs and when you shut off the power switch it actually is the battery charge position. I've never needed it, and I think that I disconnected all of mine, but NiCad battery packs are trivial to make for such simple electronics. It is also possible that it could cause a fault condition and prevent it from powering on, so another easy (and free!) fix for someone that might look to pick one up.
Scratch that, I just looked and neither of mine have the batteries installed. So either I pitched them or they didn't come with them. Anyway, look at all of the through hole goodness:
-
If anyone is in the market here is a HP 3478 for under $100, including shipping:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-3478A-Multimeter-/174964831039
5.5 digits at ~4 readings per second or 90 readings per second at 3.5 digits. More than capable of anything most home lab people need to do.
If I didn't already have way more equipment than I need or could even have setup in one spot I would probably pick it up.
Edit: Same exact meter but refurbished (not sure what that means for this seller, maybe recapped and recalibrated?) For $795 plus shipping
Agilent / HP 3478A 5.5 Digit Digital Multimeter, HP-IB interface, Used | Test Equipment Depot
Buy the Keysight / Agilent / HP 3478A 5.5 Digit Digital Multimeter with HP-IB interface, Refurbished for only $795 USD at the Test Equipment Depot}. FREE Shipping on orders over $75! Shop our Multimeters catalog today!
-
@Polygeekery said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
If anyone is in the market here is a HP 3478 for under $100, including shipping:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-3478A-Multimeter-/174964831039
5.5 digits at ~4 readings per second or 90 readings per second at 3.5 digits. More than capable of anything most home lab people need to do.
If I didn't already have way more equipment than I need or could even have setup in one spot I would probably pick it up.
Edit: Same exact meter but refurbished (not sure what that means for this seller, maybe recapped and recalibrated?) For $795 plus shipping
Agilent / HP 3478A 5.5 Digit Digital Multimeter, HP-IB interface, Used | Test Equipment Depot
Buy the Keysight / Agilent / HP 3478A 5.5 Digit Digital Multimeter with HP-IB interface, Refurbished for only $795 USD at the Test Equipment Depot}. FREE Shipping on orders over $75! Shop our Multimeters catalog today!
Man, those are almost into "digital radio service monitor" price ranges..
Those things are atrociously expensive...
-
@Polygeekery said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
Not really IoT or NIoT related, but a video came up in my YouTube feed today and it may be useful for someone at some point:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpmVXWBJjrc
Well, the video is entertaining, but the relevant and possibly useful part is that car alternators are able to be repurposed as three-phase motors or generators. Remove the diode pack and do a little simple rewiring and maybe add an electronic speed controller (if you're using it as a motor) and you have a cheap source for three-phase parts.
I watched a video a while back where a guy used one with a water wheel in a creek in his backyard as an experiment in power generation. He did so by damming off a creek in their front yard, digging lots of their yard up in the process and generally acting like an insane person. I remember looking at his later videos and him mentioning his wife had moved out of the house. I have to assume that the weird dam project and underlying mental illness that led him to build it probably contributed.
There's no real reason for me to go into that much detail for this discussion, I just found it morbidly interesting.
Installment 2:
Let me start out by saying that has a likable personality, his videos are entertaining and I really enjoy watching his channels but holy shit is this project an example of someone getting in over their head and then trying to throw money at it to compensate for lack of knowledge. It is like watching a hobby electronics trainwreck.
For anyone who likes that sort of entertainment, give him a binge watch. Basically none of his stuff goes right the first go around. It is very relatable. I always say that I learn more from my mistakes than anything that goes correctly and I know the feeling of the projects where I learned entirely too much due to that phenomenon.
-
@sloosecannon said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
Man, those are almost into "digital radio service monitor" price ranges..
Those things are atrociously expensive...My dream meter is a HP/Agilent/Keysight 3458A, which I have even less use for than all of the rest of my meters combined. Their price tag will make you blush. You're looking at $8,000-$10,000 for older models that are still in calibration.
Occasionally you will see them listed as "parts-only" in the $2,000 range and those are literally missing parts. The 3457A (prior model) can be picked up slightly cheaper but they have a serious drawback in that there is only really one module that goes bad in them and there are almost no replacements for it. If you call up Keysight wanting to buy the part they will offer you a slight discount on a new 3458A (which sells for $12,000 new) because there are no parts.
A few people on the xDevs forums are trying to engineer a user built replacement but apparently it is very much non-trivial for lots of reasons that I have read about and comprehended basically none of it. They really are marvels of engineering. 8.5 digits with a high sample rate. Amazing stuff. I have absolutely no legitimate need for one and could never even come close to using it to it's potential.
I still want one.
-
@Polygeekery said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
It is like watching a hobby electronics trainwreck.
For anyone who likes that sort of entertainment, give him a binge watch. Basically none of his stuff goes right the first go around.Thanks, but no thanks. We already have @Tsaukpaetra for that.
-
@Zerosquare I have been cummoned, and so I appear.
-
@Tsaukpaetra said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
I have been cummoned
TMI
-
@loopback0 said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
@Tsaukpaetra said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
I have been cummoned
TMI
Not sure how that happened. That's not a word in the dictionary or one I would have overridden.... 🤔
-
This seems to be my general dumping ground for electronics sort of stuff so let me explain how the other night I used my knowledge of electronics and a very expensive lab bench power supply to clear a clogged drain.
The drain from our kitchen sink clogged the other night. I started out with the easy stuff, disassembling the plumbing under the sink, all was good there. I tried using a ShopVac to clear the clog, no luck. I could tell that the clog was somewhere between the trap on the sink drain and somewhere else. On trying to diagnose it further I even disassembled part of the plumbing in the mechanicals area, which is below the sink. No luck.
Eventually I had isolated the clog to somewhere in the ancient piece of vestigial iron pipe that runs down through the wall. No biggie, I break out my drain snake. Fucking hell, it won't bust through. It just sits there and grinds and won't feed through whatever the blockage is.
Well, that tells me exactly what the issue is. Old iron drain pipes are susceptible to "rust bridging". Basically electrolysis or other reactions cause rust to grow inward to the center of the pipe like those weird disc mushrooms you see on decaying trees. Now, normally a drain snake will bust right through them. Or drain cleaner will dissolve them (of which I forgot to mention earlier that was one of the first things that I tried).
Now, I have been meaning to cut out the last of the old iron pipes and replace them....
Side note: You will notice a lot of my stories involve things I have been meaning to do and never got around to. Yes, it is a theme.
But the remaining iron pipes remain because they are going to be real bastards to actually replace. In this case I actually went out to the garage and looked through my stock of plumbing parts and was just going to bite the bullet and get it done. But then I had an epiphany.
"Man, it's a shame I couldn't.....like.....pull that pipe out and use electrolysis to remove the rust blockage."That thought sat in my mind for a moment.
"Hey, I don't need to immerse it in an electrolyte bath......I don't care about the rust on the outside of the pipe. Could I just........use electrolysis in situ?"I ran that thought through my head for a bit and could not see any reason that it wouldn't work or any reason why it should be dangerous to do so......
"Fucking hell, let's do electrolysis in situ."So I go grab my BK Precision 1901 power supply from the basement. I grab the heavy leads I use to charge lead acid batteries with lab power supplies. I go to the garage and find a piece of rebar and use my vice to bend it into a sort of spiral shape to fit into the sink. I take all my stuff to the kitchen. My wife sees all of this and gives me the raised eyebrow.
"What are you gearing up to do?"
"Uhmmmmmm, I am going to try to remove the rust the is blocking the pipe via electrolysis."
"Electrolysis?"
"Yeah, see...." (Insert brief explanation of how electrolysis works)
"Is this safe to do in our kitchen?"
"I do it down in my lab sometimes."
"Is this safe to do in our kitchen?"
"Should be?"
"Should be? This doesn't sound convincing. Will it even work?"
"It should. I guess there's only one way to find out."
"Where's the fire extinguisher?"
"Right outside the door in the garage."So I wrap a stainless steel scrubbing pad around the iron pipe and secure it in place with the negative clamp from the power supply leads. Thankfully the pipe long ago lost its epoxy coating or is old enough that it did not ever have any so that should give me a good connection. I place the spiral of rebar in the sink and hook up the positive lead to that. I then fill the sink and clogged area with enough water to cover my rebar spiral. I need an electrolyte and thought about using salt or washing soda or something and then remembered the drain cleaner. I pour in a cup or so of the sodium hydroxide drain cleaner, wince just a little and turn on my power supply.
Now, I'm not going to lie to you, I was a bit nervous when I did that. Previously I had set the power supply to zero volts and zero amps. I really started to wince when I started turning up the wick on the power supply. The only bad thing I could think of that might happen would be the production of hydrogen and oxygen and even though that should not accumulate to a point where it would be an explosive risk I went ahead and opened the window.
Eventually I decided that 2 amps should in theory do the job and the voltage kept jumping around. I checked my connections and everything looked fine. There was some bubbling as expected and all seemed to be working. The water was also starting to become appropriately scummy and rust colored.
About a half hour later the water suddenly drained out of the sink. My wife was impressed at my ingenuity. I was probably more impressed than she was that it worked at all. I was kind of afraid that it would not work as I had always read that you need "line of sight" from rust cathode to sacrificial anodes.
Today I went and picked up the last of the PVC parts I will need to replace the iron pipe under the sink. Anyone want to wager on whether I get around to that before it clogs up again? Or before it starts leaking because my electrolysis ate most of the ancient iron pipe away?
-
@Polygeekery said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
Side note: You will notice a lot of my stories involve things I have been meaning to do and never got around to. Yes, it is a theme.
"Where's the fire extinguisher?"
-
To be honest, I'd have expected @Polygeekery's wife to know the answer from experience.
-
@Zerosquare I think that it was a hypothetical question in order to show her lack of confidence in my plan. She knows where the fire extinguisher is. We've (knock on wood) not had to ever use it, but I make sure that everyone knows where it is.
-
@Polygeekery said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
We've (knock on wood) not had to ever use it
-
@HardwareGeek said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
@Polygeekery said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
We've (knock on wood) not had to ever use it
When you set the fire properly, there’s no need for an extinguisher because it’s already too late
-
@Polygeekery said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
"rust bridging"
Once again moved by your escapades I search for some practically useful knowledge, but the results I'm getting are all some computer mumbo-jumbo...
-
Over the past few months I have been helping a new friend build himself a CNC router. I met him through a client, he is their new building maintenance person and perhaps surprisingly or unsurprisingly we tend to work with those people quite a lot. They get power added to locations we need it, pull cable for us, setup desks and work surfaces where we will add workstations or printers, drill holes through countertops, etc. He and I became fast friends because he is ex-military, he is a gun nut, he is debt averse, and he does a lot of woodworking. He also used to work for a local place that I used to give a fair amount of money to until they.......well that's a topic for the
.So after meeting we got to talking about various things, including 3D printing. That segued into CNC routers, how he wanted one, used to have access to one at his former place of employment, but couldn't afford to buy one.
"Why don't you build your own?"
"I don't know, it just seems so complicated."
"Nonsense. It's like Legos for men. It's a bunch of components that you wire up. Insert Tab A into Slot A, etc. Plus, you said you couldn't afford one. If you build it yourself you buy the components as you have the free cash and it's like making payments but without the debt."
"Hmmmmmm, that's a good point."Well he dove in head first. He started taking on side jobs just to dump the cash into a CNC router. Before long he was sending me pictures of the base that he built. Then the linear rails mounted. Then the gantry built. Before long he is to the point of wiring everything up (and destroying a power supply in the process when he hooked it up to 220V and it was meant for 110V
)So now we are down to configuring Mach 4. Now, I've never worked with Mach 4 much. But he's never worked with it at all. He is also "not a computer guy" so all of this is all the more impressive. I agreed to come help with that part of it in exchange for having access to a CNC router whenever I want. Today was the second time of me going down and we are almost entirely done with it. But he also asked if his friend who was trying to build a CNC plasma cutter could come over and pick my brain.
"Sure, but I don't know a fucking thing about CNC plasma cutters."
"Yeah, but you probably know more than him."
"I wouldn't bet on that. I know a little bit of CNC but I know nearly fuckall about plasma cutters and even less about CNC plasma cutters."Spoiler alert: I still posit that I don't know much about any of the above but I certainly knew way more than he did about all of the above combined.
At the most basic there is fuckall in difference between a CNC router, a 3D printer, a CNC mill or a CNC plasma cutter. At least in the DIY space. For the most part it is essentially the same g-code running all of them (with domain differences, of course), and the hardware is all extremely similar with the exception of scale. For home machine shops almost all of it is run by Mach 3/4 or Linux CNC and from a high level those are all the same. Not the same-same, but the same.
So we are working on calibrating all of the axes on the CNC router and his buddy stops by. Turns out he makes high dollar custom knives. He even has a few local pro athletes that buy from him. His stuff is more art than functional and pretty cool stuff. He had bought a CNC router and converted it to a CNC plasma cutter to cut his blanks. Take out the spoil board and replace it with a water table and you're 95% of the way (mechanically speaking) in your conversion. Like I said, it's all basically the same stuff.
Everything moves, but he can't get it to strike the plasma arc. He is stuck on what has to literally be the last step. He had bought a CNC plasma kit to convert the CNC router. It should, in theory at least, have everything he needs. So I start with asking questions about the basics.
"You're sure you have a good ground connection?"
"Absolutely. I have checked it and double checked it and triple checked it."Now, if you are not familiar with a plasma cutter, it is a lot like a welder in that it requires a "positive" connection at the work piece and a "ground" connection and it conducts the current through a plasma arc to cut through metal. That is about as much as I know about them. But I make the assumption that it works like a TIG welder and has a high frequency start to get the arc, and therefore plasma, started. I honestly have no idea if that is true, but I felt it was a good assumption to work from so I probe deeper on that. But the problem is that since it is not a handheld plasma cutter and I would have to go over there and look over everything and work through it all I have NFC. Diagnosing an unknown system from a distance is near impossible. I suggest to him to try to reverse engineer the signals that Mach 4 is sending and duplicate those in sequence and see what happens, if possible. If he can, try to figure out what it does to get it to fire the arc and start cutting. Hopefully it is just grounding a wire or feeding it voltage, do that, see what happens. He seems stupified.
Okay, back to the basics.
"You might want to look at the grid in your water table, the problem could in theory be there."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you said you had a good ground connection, but if the peaks on the grid were plasma cut then they might not make a good ground connection and prevent the arc from striking. You could start by grinding off the tops of them to bare metal to get a good ground."
"Why would that affect the ground? It isn't connected there."
".....wait.....what? Where is your ground connected?"
"To the ground on the plug."
"No, I mean the ground on the....work leads? I don't know how it is labeled. I've only ever used a handheld plasma cutter."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I think we found the problem."There was no way to complete the circuit. He hooked the work lead ground to the 220V connection earthing lead. On first thought I wondered how he didn't blow a breaker, but then I realized that it couldn't unless it complete the circuit and even then it might not, but it wouldn't, because open circuit.
I explained a bit of elementary electrical concepts to him, like current needs somewhere to flow, and he will probably be cutting knife blanks by the end of the week. I also tried to point out that his water table apparently isn't earthed and he should see if it needs to be. I would imagine it does. As I said, I don't know shit about CNC plasma cutters. But there is the possibility that he could electrocute himself within a month. I'm rather surprised that he hasn't done so yet. You can lead a horse to water but it's goddamn hard to drown one.
-
While looking for information about something else I stumbled upon this in the HomeAssistant forums:
IKEA Trådfri: Internet of Things done right
Last month IKEA released a new home automation lineup called Trådfri. It consists of white bulbs, dimming remotes, color temperature remotes and motion sensors. After almost two weeks of research, we have come to the conclusion that this is going to be the perfect companion hardware to work with...
I'm impressed. Sure, they put horse meat in their meatballs and served it to people but it seems that they put some thought into their IoT lighting. Good on them.
That write-up was from 3 years ago. It could be a dumpster fire by now.
-
@Polygeekery A wild
spotted.I'd seen these last time I was in Ikea, but here the smart stuff is all locked away in cabinets and I couldn't be bothered to hunt down an employee so parked it for the future. Might need to revisit.
-
@Polygeekery said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
While looking for information about something else I stumbled upon this in the HomeAssistant forums:
IKEA Trådfri: Internet of Things done right
Last month IKEA released a new home automation lineup called Trådfri. It consists of white bulbs, dimming remotes, color temperature remotes and motion sensors. After almost two weeks of research, we have come to the conclusion that this is going to be the perfect companion hardware to work with...
I'm impressed. Sure, they put horse meat in their meatballs and served it to people but it seems that they put some thought into their IoT lighting. Good on them.
That write-up was from 3 years ago. It could be a dumpster fire by now.
It's decent enough according to a friend of mine. Easily as good as stuff that is several times more expensive.
Also, horse meat is tasty, though I prefer to make my meatballs out of minced moose.
-
@Carnage said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
minced møøse
The one that bit your sister?
-
@Carnage said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
Also, horse meat is tasty, though I prefer to make my meatballs out of minced moose.
My mother thinks meatballs should be made out of mixed pork and beef, or veal if you can get it. Moose is great in smoked sausages.
-
@dkf Most recipes I have seen here calls for mixed mince for meatballs. Supposed to make them juicier than pure beef iirc.
-
@Atazhaia said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
@dkf Most recipes I have seen here calls for mixed mince for meatballs. Supposed to make them juicier than pure beef iirc.
I just make them larger so they don't go dry. I have a peculiar way to make burger patties out of moose meat though. B instead of fattening it with pork, I use cream and cheese. Makes for a seriously juicy burger that still doesn't get grease all over.
-
@Carnage said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
@Atazhaia said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
@dkf Most recipes I have seen here calls for mixed mince for meatballs. Supposed to make them juicier than pure beef iirc.
I just make them larger so they don't go dry. I have a peculiar way to make burger patties out of moose meat though. B instead of fattening it with pork, I use cream and cheese. Makes for a seriously juicy burger that still doesn't get grease all over.
That sounds interesting.
-
@Karla said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
That sounds interesting.
It is the same concept as making a meatloaf. A common "cheater" recipe for burgers is basically making it the same as you would a meatloaf with bread crumbs saturated with milk/cream, egg to hold it together, and then mixing in an envelope of onion soup mix per pound of ground beef. Mix in some shredded cheese if you wish.
It makes really good burgers, but food snobs will look down on doing it that way. They do this because they are morons.
Number one rule of everything: If it is dumb, but it works, then it isn't dumb.
This isn't even dumb. It is smart. You're hacking the process. I have lots of good burger recipes but if I am making burgers for a crowd/get together then I make "meatloaf burgers". They are extremely tolerant of overcooking.
-
@Polygeekery said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
@Karla said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
That sounds interesting.
It is the same concept as making a meatloaf. A common "cheater" recipe for burgers is basically making it the same as you would a meatloaf with bread crumbs saturated with milk/cream, egg to hold it together, and then mixing in an envelope of onion soup mix per pound of ground beef. Mix in some shredded cheese if you wish.
It makes really good burgers, but food snobs will look down on doing it that way. They do this because they are morons.
Number one rule of everything: If it is dumb, but it works, then it isn't dumb.
This isn't even dumb. It is smart. You're hacking the process. I have lots of good burger recipes but if I am making burgers for a crowd/get together then I make "meatloaf burgers". They are extremely tolerant of overcooking.
Meatloaf, is just one of those dishes like tuna casserole. I'll eat it but I'm not excited about it.
I supposed that is probably because I've never had good meatloaf. When I camped with family on the weekends sometimes we would make meatloaf over the fire and wrapped with bacon. I'm sure the bacon helped it not be dry.
I didn't know that is was common to soak the breadcrumbs. As far as I remember helping someone cook, I don't think we did that.
Does this mean I can blame my pickiness on my parents?
Though the one thing I would like to reproduce is oatmeal that I had as a kid and have not been able to. I get that I'm not going to get that with instant, but even the longer cooking with whole milk wasn't the same.
Breakfast was always one of my favorite meals. I was probably my daughter's age when I was standing on a chair to make french toast. I also I remember one of my grandfathers teaching me when to flip a pancake. I take some pride in being able to make a decent pancake if I can flip it.
I think I mentioned before, one year on Mardis Gras our local bar had a pancake eating contest. I didn't think about winning at all, I just wanted free pancakes.
On go, the other two using their hands soaking up the syrup. I used a knife and fork (I didn't know the protocol for eating contests) and my friends teased me about it.
And I'm not a snob about silverware, I use my fingers eating on things not typically done so. I just didn't want sticky syrup on my fingers. Also, I wasn't in it to win it.
I won. There were only three of us and they did separate us in male/female divisions. I did try a bit harder when it was close to the end and we were neck and neck.
-
@Karla said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
Meatloaf, is just one of those dishes like tuna casserole. I'll eat it but I'm not excited about it.
I supposed that is probably because I've never had good meatloaf. When I camped with family on the weekends sometimes we would make meatloaf over the fire and wrapped with bacon. I'm sure the bacon helped it not be dry.
I didn't know that is was common to soak the breadcrumbs. As far as I remember helping someone cook, I don't think we did that.Give this a try sometime:
Chef John's Meatball-Inspired Meatloaf
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/3563526chef-johns-meatball-inspired-meatloaf-Chef-John-1x1-1-4444adef5cef4d0ea395f9f445bf1682.jpg)
Chef John's budget-friendly recipe for meatloaf is packed with onions, breadcrumbs, and cheese, and is moist and delicious.
-
@Karla said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
Though the one thing I would like to reproduce is oatmeal that I had as a kid and have not been able to. I get that I'm not going to get that with instant, but even the longer cooking with whole milk wasn't the same.
Give this a try:
Pick your own dried fruits, or leave them out and finish with some maple syrup and brown sugar.
-
@Karla said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
Meatloaf, is just one of those dishes like tuna casserole. I'll eat it but I'm not excited about it.
I haven't had meatloaf in ... I'm not sure how long, but quite a while. But, by sheer coincidence, I have a meatloaf in the oven at this moment, with about 10–15°F left to go.
-
@HardwareGeek said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
I haven't had meatloaf in ... I'm not sure how long, but quite a while.
Meatloaf has a weird nostalgia for me. I mean, I've always liked meatloaf. It is awesome depression-era food. I have always loved "peasant foods" (such as Spaghetti Puttanesca, which translates to "whore's spaghetti"). Meatloaf is right in that wheelhouse.
But several years ago we were on vacation with my father and were in a "rural" area where grocery stores were not what I would consider to be "well-stocked". I remembered the prison meatloaf recipe and was able to get the ingredients for it and it is a really good recipe. My father loved it, and so did we. Peasant food at nearly its peak.
Pay no attention to the name, it is a really good meatloaf. Of course, if you have an issue with gluten YMMV. But if you don't it is pretty amazing. Make that, prepare some powdered Idahoan mashed potatoes (which are a marvel of modern food science and much better than they ever should be) and you have a meal for a family in relatively no time. You can even prepare it ahead of time and toss it in the oven when you get home.
Good stuff.
-
@Polygeekery said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
I have lots of good burger recipes
Go to a "good" butcher shop, where they slice bacon to order. Those places also usually grind beef to order. Order an equal amount of slab bacon and coarse ground beef and have them grind the bacon at the same time to mix them together.
Bacon burgers. Amazing stuff. You have to cook them at a lower temperature than you would normal burgers, you have to render out the fat. But your patience will be rewarded. Although, to be fair, your doctor will hate you. If you can make those burgers turn out dry then just give up and order carryout for the rest of your life.
-
@Polygeekery said in Mostly not internet, and mostly just as shit as you make it:
Pay no attention to the name, it is a really good meatloaf. Of course, if you have an issue with gluten YMMV.
I have gluten-free bread crumbs, but I usually use oatmeal as the grain filler. This one, I used oatmeal and corn meal. Completely improvised; no recipe at all. Not the best meatloaf ever — probably a bit too much oatmeal/cornmeal, and definitely skimpy on herbs/spices — but not bad.
Filed under: "Meatloaf, beetloaf, I don't hate meatloaf."
Overnight Oatmeal
