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Throw a hungry predator up there. More serious, make the area less friendly somehow. I have heard human hair scares mice, but I don't think it works well. Mice can access an attic pretty easy, easier to make them leave then keep them out. Mercury Ballistic fucked around with this message at 02:24 on Feb 19, 2016 |
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Feb 19, 2016 02:14
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Got a question about our office building's thermostat dials. I'm 99% sure that the ones we have are fake, placebo fixtures (not uncommon in many offices since the real controls are at a singular HVAC panel). Because there's one fixture every ~20 feet, and how the heck can you control a furnace's temperature if there are 8 dials on the same floor, each with with a different setting. Just the other day some contractors ripped down a few walls exposing their wiring: Yes, that is a CAT3 ethernet cable. Is my hunch correct? melon cat fucked around with this message at 06:13 on Mar 16, 2019 |
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Feb 19, 2016 04:20
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Probably not. Every single individual office in my building has its own, real thermostat; I keep my office 6 degrees warmer than the hallway. Fine grained control in a commercial building is easy; you circulate hot and chilled water lines through the building, and then tie each thermostat to a hydronic coil that runs hot or cold water through it as needed.
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Feb 19, 2016 04:38
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melon cat posted:Got a question about our office building's thermostat dials. I'm 99% sure that the ones we have are fake, placebo fixtures (not uncommon in many offices since the real controls are at a singular HVAC panel). Because there's one fixture every ~20 feet, and how the heck can you control a furnace's temperature if there are 8 dials on the same floor, each with with a different setting. No, your hunch isn't correct. They're networked thermostats that connect back to a BAS (building automation system). There's probably a network closet somewhere that has some HVAC gear in it too. If they were placebos nobody would have bothered running the cable or springing for johnson-branded wall boxes. Multiple thermostats on a floor are not uncommon, as even open areas can be zoned so that people by a window aren't burning up while people more internal to the building are cold. If you're not feeling any temperature change, that could be for a few reasons: - One of the thermostats (if there are multiple in an open area) can be set as the "master" stat, and only its setpoint adjustment will be considered. The control system can average all of the stats in the room to determine current temperature. - Your facilities guy could have the setpoint adjustment really constrained, for example that entire slider could move the setpoint from 70 to 71 degrees. That's programmable. - Even better/worse, your facilities guy could just have the thermostats overridden with a schedule or manual override from the central control and the signals from that thermostat are being disregarded. - Your hvac system could be fubared in some other way. So the good news is that it's not fake. The bad news is that the central controller may not care what it's saying to the network, or the equipment it's controlling may be inoperable for some reason..
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Feb 19, 2016 05:07
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melon cat fucked around with this message at 06:13 on Mar 16, 2019 |
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Feb 19, 2016 05:21
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In that type of setup the individual thermostats typically control dampers on the vents near it. So it's not actually turning the heating/cooling on or off, it's just adjusting the flow from the nearby vents.
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Feb 19, 2016 18:34
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Just hang a cold or hot rag over it and see if the temp changes. Easy way to test it. Give it some temp to react to and just wait a few minutes.
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Feb 19, 2016 20:09
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The Gardenator posted:The original killz primer is oil based and has a voc of 443. That means it stinks as it dries. If you can, buy the more expensive killz primers that have a lower voc. Zinsser has some water-based primers with fungicides as well that I've had good results with. I don't know the VOC off the top of my head, but it wasn't too offensive to the nose. Being water-based makes cleanup a ton easier too.
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Feb 20, 2016 02:55
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tl;dr trying something see last line of post.Motronic posted:Got a weed whacker? String trimmer line is a great way to snake these kinds of lines out (and the sunroof drains on your car). Freezer ice buildup part this thing is going on craigslist if this happens again: Just de-iced the freezer again. Tied a knot in some weed whacker string, pushed it in at the top, and pulled it through, came out completely clean 3 times. I only cut myself on the radiator fins twice. kid sinister posted:Again for the record, look closer down that drip tube. Is there anything inside? I'm talking minuscule burrs. What about the angle? Is it too horizontal that water doesn't get the chance to get out before it freezes? Looking at the back of the fridge I do not see any way to completely inspect the drip tube. The plain metal back of the fridge is behind the bent over lip of the finished/painted fridge "body" by an inch, the bits which bolt it on at the bottom look closer to rivets than anything you could get a driver bit onto, and even if they cam out there is still the lip on the left/right/top holding it in place. I guess the tray in the base of the freezer could be not perfectly aligned/seated/etc which lets a tiny bit of ice to form? I'm not sure how to then test/fix that. I think I'm to the point of a appliance repair person or replacement unless there is something else obvious I have not tried. Edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHD556AQ894 @ 3:52, 4:40 there is a little wire running from their defroster down into the hole. Mine does not have that. Edit edit: http://www.applianceaid.com/defrost-drain-freezes.php , http://www.applianceblog.com/mainforums/threads/4187-Roper-Refrigerator-Leaking I wonder if just wrapping a piece of copper wire around the heater and putting it an inch or two into the hole would help or hinder? Edit edit edit: http://www.davesrepair.com/DIYhelp/DIYrefrigdrainfix.htm I'm going to try it the internet wouldn't burn my house down would it? H110Hawk fucked around with this message at 02:32 on Feb 21, 2016 |
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Feb 21, 2016 02:22
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The mixer valve for my hot water heater is leaking. How tricky of a repair is this for someone with very little plumbing experience, none of it in soldering? From what I gather, I have to turn the water heater off (well, to pilot) shut off the supply to the hot water tank and whatever cold supply goes to the mixer valve, and then turn on hot tap to drain the lines. Then I have to let the tank cool enough that the existing hot water in it isn't at a high enough pressure to spray out when I remove the old valve? Here's the valve in question:  Will I even have to solder, or will I be able to remove the whole valve assembly and get a new one just using the press fittings/nuts? Problem is, that nut is where it's leaking, so... And before anyone asks, yes, I tightened it up as much as it can go without me thinking I'll break it if I try to tighten it up anymore.
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Feb 21, 2016 16:44
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If it's functional and just dripping from the joint, you should be able to undo that one fitting and replace the gasket. I'm pretty sure they have them at Home Depot, you might be able to scrape the old one off somewhat intact, but I'd recommend measuring it and showing them that picture just to be sure you get the right thing. If that doesn't fix it, you'll have to desolder at least the leaking one for an identical replacement and it would be kind of dumb not to do all 3 if one is beyond repair.
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Feb 21, 2016 17:36
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Your water heater has a drain at the bottom you can use to relieve pressure.
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Feb 21, 2016 19:03
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Assuming that's 1" MIP threading on the valve and 1/2" copper pipe, PM me if you can't find the gasket or if you think the valve is good and the fitting or nut need to be replaced. I have a spare set and can can mail them to you if it'll save you the $100+ the whole valve assembly costs.
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Feb 21, 2016 20:03
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I took down an old battery operated smoke detector to put up a new one today and found this junction box behind it. Is this for a wired smoke alarm? A light fixture? How do I go about covering it up if I'm not going to use it? Edit- there wasn't a corresponding one downstairs under the old smoke detector that I replaced down there, so 
30 Goddamned Dicks fucked around with this message at 20:10 on Feb 21, 2016 |
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Feb 21, 2016 20:04
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30 Goddamned Dicks posted:I took down an old battery operated smoke detector to put up a new one today and found this junction box behind it. Is this for a wired smoke alarm? A light fixture? How do I go about covering it up if I'm not going to use it? Do you have a circuit for hardwired smoke detectors in your breaker panel? Take down that cross bar and post another picture. How many wires come into that box and which are twisted together? Fake edit: there wouldn't happen a light switch in that room that you don't know what it controls, would there?
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Feb 21, 2016 20:36
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Chances are high someone covered up a box that used to have a boob light with a smoke detector. You should do the same if it's a good place for the detector. If not, get a round blank and put it up there and move the detector where you want it.
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Feb 21, 2016 22:51
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Thanks for the help. There's no circuit breaker downstairs that's unaccounted for so I guess it just used to be the light fixture... which makes no sense because it's 8" away from the current hall light. Oh well, I'll stick a blank up there.
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Feb 22, 2016 00:53
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30 Goddamned Dicks posted:Thanks for the help. There's no circuit breaker downstairs that's unaccounted for so I guess it just used to be the light fixture... which makes no sense because it's 8" away from the current hall light. Oh well, I'll stick a blank up there. Pretty sure smoke detectors usually share a breaker with lighting. This is so you don't get someone turning off the smoke detector breaker, then DIAF. Might even be code.
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Feb 22, 2016 02:19
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devicenull posted:Pretty sure smoke detectors usually share a breaker with lighting. This is so you don't get someone turning off the smoke detector breaker, then DIAF. Might even be code. In my jurisdiction they are typically on their own circuit. "Not knowing it's been turned off" is prevented by the detectors chirping (they have battery backups).
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Feb 22, 2016 19:05
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I've got a quick question for house wiring goons. I was up in my attic today pulling a length of Cat5 to network a PC in my garage. I noticed this weird crater of insulation up there and climbed over to take a closer look. I tried drawing it from a side view here. My attic has the loose gray makes you cough your guts out insulation dumped onto a layer of the pink foam type. This crater went all the way down to a cylindrical electrical box, and I worked out that it's the box for a recessed light fixture in the foyer. My question is, why the hell would the insulation be like that? It literally looked like something beneath blew the insulation up and away from the fixture box. Is there some weird way a recessed light fixture would do this? And is it going to burn my poo poo down?
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Feb 23, 2016 05:09
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The insulation installers intentionally didn't cover your recessed light with insulation because it isn't rated for insulation contact. Covering it with insulation could theoretically start a fire (although it's fairly unlikely). You can get covers for the can lights, or you can build a box around it with rigid foam insulation, or replace it with new, insulation contact rated (and air tight) can lights, if you want to lose less of your heat out the holes in your ceiling.
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Feb 23, 2016 05:48
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Enos Shenk posted:My attic has the loose gray makes you cough your guts out insulation dumped onto a layer of the pink foam type. The loose gray stuff is cellulose insulation. Basically, it's shredded newspapers with some fire retardants. The pink stuff is fiberglass. It looks like somebody bumped up your attic insulation when the fiberglass wasn't enough to save on energy bills.
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Feb 23, 2016 16:56
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Zhentar posted:The insulation installers intentionally didn't cover your recessed light with insulation because it isn't rated for insulation contact. Covering it with insulation could theoretically start a fire (although it's fairly unlikely). You can get covers for the can lights, or you can build a box around it with rigid foam insulation, or replace it with new, insulation contact rated (and air tight) can lights, if you want to lose less of your heat out the holes in your ceiling. That's weird. We've got a lot of these recessed lights, and this is the only one with the insulation scooped off of. I've been up there before to fix stuff, and I never noticed the crater in the insulation before, hence why I asked if it could just happen by some weird process. Oh well, so long as it won't murder me.
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Feb 23, 2016 17:54
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It also may just be it was accessed from above for whatever reason and the guy accessing it had to scoop insulation out of the way to get to it. Was it installed later than the other fixtures? Think insulation archeological dig.
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Feb 23, 2016 22:14
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DrBouvenstein posted:The mixer valve for my hot water heater is leaking. How tricky of a repair is this for someone with very little plumbing experience, none of it in soldering? What's a mixer valve doing on a water heater? Never seen such a thing.
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Feb 24, 2016 04:58
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socketwrencher posted:What's a mixer valve doing on a water heater? Never seen such a thing. It's an anti-scald device. Basically, then don't allow the water to go above a certain temperature by mixing cold water with the hot water coming from the water heater.
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Feb 24, 2016 06:16
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kid sinister posted:It's an anti-scald device. Basically, then don't allow the water to go above a certain temperature by mixing cold water with the hot water coming from the water heater. Interesting- thanks man. I've heard of them but never seen one in action.
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Feb 25, 2016 00:11
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I have a light fixture in my ceiling that holds two bulbs under a glass dome. Over the past week, one of the bulbs (an LED) has started dimming, and then yesterday it started flickering. I looked at it tonight, and that's when I realized that the other bulb is a standard. It also seemed to be very hot for an LED. Could the older bulb be causing the LED to overheat/freak out? The LED was installed probably over a year ago, and this is the first time it has done anything like this.
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Feb 25, 2016 05:49
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Some led bulbs are not designed for installation in a sealed enclosure.
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Feb 25, 2016 05:56
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Even the ones that are enclosure rated aren't likely to handle the heat from an incandescent bulb sharing the enclosure. That is definitely not good for it.
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Feb 25, 2016 06:52
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Zhentar posted:Even the ones that are enclosure rated aren't likely to handle the heat from an incandescent bulb sharing the enclosure. That is definitely not good for it. Bingo--LED's last virtually forever, except when exposed to heat. That's what kills them. That's also why you see a bajillion different led bulb designs, everyone is trying to figure out the best way to maximize heat transfer away from the led diodes.
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Feb 25, 2016 18:36
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I've got an interesting DIY thing I'm working on, and I'm hoping someone might be able to help me come up with a solution for my problem. I've got a can of camping fuel, and a burner very similar to this. I want to make a little something that will ignite the fuel with the push of a button, but that won't use a spark gap to do so. The sparks are noticeably loud, and I'd like the ignition to be silent. I've looked at those little RC glow plugs you can get at hobby stores, but the wire in them doesn't seem to heat up enough to ignite the gas. When I passed the gas directly over the wire, it actually cooled the wire down. I know there's automotive glow plugs out there, but I'm worried about current draw requirements for them. I don't want to lug a car battery around to ignite a little camping burner, for example. Can anyone think of anything else that might work?
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Feb 25, 2016 21:20
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Can you do a pilot light?
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Feb 25, 2016 21:23
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Gounads posted:Can you do a pilot light? Like, small flame to ignite the main fuel? It could be feasible, but then how would I light the pilot light?
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Feb 25, 2016 21:30
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Smaller pilot light. e. Would fire steel be too loud?
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Feb 25, 2016 21:35
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Safety Dance posted:Smaller pilot light. Pilot-ception? Google is telling me fire steel is flint and steel. While that would light the flame, I'm lazy and want to literally press a button and watch flame happen. I just want it to be silent for dramatic tension.
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Feb 25, 2016 21:42
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For something on-stage or in a prop? You can make a very small, hidden pilot light. Light it beforehand, then dramatically light the main burner to your heart's content. A buddy of mine does a lot of Circus Combustus work at Burning Man, and that's the method he uses, I think. If not, you really need to be more clear about what you're actually building and what your specific needs are. vvvvvvv e. That's a really good idea too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duoxvqxASak
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Feb 25, 2016 21:45
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neogeo0823 posted:I've got an interesting DIY thing I'm working on, and I'm hoping someone might be able to help me come up with a solution for my problem. I've got a can of camping fuel, and a burner very similar to this. I want to make a little something that will ignite the fuel with the push of a button, but that won't use a spark gap to do so. The sparks are noticeably loud, and I'd like the ignition to be silent. I've looked at those little RC glow plugs you can get at hobby stores, but the wire in them doesn't seem to heat up enough to ignite the gas. When I passed the gas directly over the wire, it actually cooled the wire down. I know there's automotive glow plugs out there, but I'm worried about current draw requirements for them. I don't want to lug a car battery around to ignite a little camping burner, for example. Can anyone think of anything else that might work? Try an electric match? Those are used to light off fireworks.
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Feb 25, 2016 21:45
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If your current glow plug doesn't get hot enough, you need one that draws more power - or you need to feed the one you have more power. How are you driving it?
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Feb 25, 2016 21:57
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Safety Dance posted:For something on-stage or in a prop? You can make a very small, hidden pilot light. Light it beforehand, then dramatically light the main burner to your heart's content. A buddy of mine does a lot of Circus Combustus work at Burning Man, and that's the method he uses, I think. I'll try this when I get home and see if I can get it to work. As for specifics, what you see is about what I got. I have a can of butane-propane mixture(IIRC the label specifically called the fuel "Isobutane") that runs down a short fuel line to a burner. I want to add something to the burner with a small-ish power source that, when a button is pressed, will generate heat and ignite the fuel that's coming out of the burner. Zhentar posted:If your current glow plug doesn't get hot enough, you need one that draws more power - or you need to feed the one you have more power. How are you driving it? Per the guy at the hobby shop, I hooked it up to a single AA battery, whereby it slowly began to glow red hot, but didn't get hot enough to ignite the fuel. I then tried hooking it to a D cell battery, hoping the extra current would help, and while it did get red hot faster, it also failed to ignite the fuel. Then, I though "why not increase the voltage, as well?" and hooked it to a 9V battery, and it instantly burned itself out. I'm pretty sure I can go higher current, and maybe slightly higher voltage than the D cell to get it hotter, but I have no clue what the upper limit is on the thing, as there's no mention of any ratings on the packaging. I definitely don't want to have it burn out every single time, as that'll end up being very wasteful.
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Feb 25, 2016 22:07
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