Entropy

[JR.]

Today I was listening for noises and there is a 1x per front ring revolution noise. It makes the same noise in the same place for 2nd or 3rd ring so perhaps crank shaft bearing? I think I remember a front derailleur adjustment that stopped a Ix per revolution rub but nothing looked close today.

At some point I will run out of things to replace,,, The teeth on the 3rd ring look worn (pointy) so may be due. I'm buying a new bike one part at a time.

JR

[mediatechnology]

I recall that being a crank bearing. (Or two.)
When they got really bad you could feel it pop

I loved to climb hills and we have them.
By the time I had stretched the chain the crank bearings were worn too.
I also would break spokes at the heads.

I don't ride the bike now - I have trees and brush to drag uphill for exercise.

[Gold]

The span between cheapest and most expensive at walmart was still single digit dollars, so I bought a nice looking one with a lifetime warranty. "And" I saved the counter card because I still expected it to fail. I didn't realize how prescient I was when only several months later, it stopped working...

Go to Target and get an OXO. They work and don't break.

[JR.]

The span between cheapest and most expensive at walmart was still single digit dollars, so I bought a nice looking one with a lifetime warranty. "And" I saved the counter card because I still expected it to fail. I didn't realize how prescient I was when only several months later, it stopped working...

Go to Target and get an OXO. They work and don't break.

Is there a target in MS..? (rhetorical) I expect there is one or two in jackson about an hour drive each way on the interstate.

Of course I could always find that brand on the WWW.

JR

[JR.]

The span between cheapest and most expensive at walmart was still single digit dollars, so I bought a nice looking one with a lifetime warranty. "And" I saved the counter card because I still expected it to fail. I didn't realize how prescient I was when only several months later, it stopped working...

Go to Target and get an OXO. They work and don't break.

Is there a target in MS..? (rhetorical) I expect there is one or two in jackson about an hour drive each way on the interstate.

Of course I could always find that brand on the WWW.

JR

I just looked and found 38 pages of OXO products on Walmart website... I vaguely recall buying a cute similar looking fat handle can opener that cut the lid off sideways, not down... It was clever, and cute, and broke in less than a year, may have been an OXO knock off... not an OXO. In my experience they are all crap... that's why i keep the warranty paperwork these days.

PS: sorry if I sound like a dick... I am just disappointed with the modern economics of disposable hand tools... My chain breaker looks solid but it was $35.

[JR.]

This week I received my second new chain so i could cobble together a frankenchain the correct lenght.

The bike shifting is night and day better... I was going crazy trying to adjust something that couldn't be adjusted out. I replaced the derailleur that apparently wasn't the problem.

The bike started shifting better but developed a new problem, skipping in top gear. I determined that I pressed in the (two) link pin too hard with the chain tool, causing one link to stick...

After fixing that the bike is shifting like new... and no skipping teeth.

Now I am hearing other things to fix, but HUGE improvement.

Thanks Wayne, your suggestion to check for chain stretch led me to find the real problem.

JR

[JR.]

Todays morning drama was my computer monitor failing to come on.

Not surprising in hindsight, since it was my old living room display, repurposed as computer monitor after a decade plus in previous service. Lots of hours on this puppy.

Time to upgrade and the new display is very crisp.. (thanks to a quick trip to wally world).

I did not even consider fixing the old monitor, get the to the junk pile.

JR

[JR.]

This entropy story was a little more dramatic.

I was standing in my tub about to take a shower waiting for the hot water to reach the shower… As I stuck my finger into the water stream I yanked it out when I thought I felt the unmistakable tingle of electricity. I have been tricked before by old tired nerve firings that felt like a shock and I was about to re-engage the stream of water when I looked down at my wet feet standing in the tub and thought maybe a few measurements were in order… As grabbed my NCVT (non contact voltage tester) and it lit up like a christmas tree anywhere near the shower water. No shower for me that night.

Apparently my hot water heater had rusted out to the point that one end of the heater element was in contact with the water. Time for a new water heater. After some fun fitting the new water heater inside my modest sized car (old mustang) to carry it home. I was thwarted to finish the install myself because the copper plumbing was sweated into the old heater. I paid a local plumber to finish the swap, and he rewired it up with the old two wire (240V) feed with no neutral/ground bond to the heater chassis.

In fact since a few years ago when I replaced my old rusted out water main with PVC, the house copper plumbing is no longer touching earth. I went in after the plumber finished and added a ground wire between the heater chassis and my fuse panel, then for extra safety, grounded my copper plumbing that was now isolated from the heater by short sections of PEX.

So now I can take showers again that are warm but not electrically hot.

JR

[JR.]

Argh... just tried to fix something and it probably wasn't even broken.

A couple weeks ago in the middle of the night (of course) my smoke alarm started chirping saying that the battery was weak.

I removed the battery and went back to sleep, the next day I measured the battery at just over 9V, so definitely not dead.

I took the unit apart looking for a bad connection, and found one maybe (some glyptal that had run down inside a mechanical press on connection.) I soldered the connection to make sure it was good and after two days with no chirping I remounted the smoke detector in my hallway.

Sure enough a day later in the middle of the night again it started chirping.

I don't heat most of my house at night so my theory was still a bad solder connection that was temperature sensitive. In my unheated main room temperatures at night can drop to the 50's.

Long story short, it turns out the battery was temperature sensitive. First I was able to make the smoke detector chirp by putting it inside the refrigerator, then later I was able to make it chirp just from putting just the battery in my freezer.

The battery voltage even when cold was in the high 8's so not remotely near end of life.

Perhaps there is a relatively high threshold used on purpose so a battery that is partially depleted, still has enough energy to make a loud alarm for tens of minutes,

So short answer just replace the 9V battery and might as well use a cheap one so it cost less to replace every year or two.

I swapped out the battery from my VOM for now... no mo chirping.

JR

PS: I did fix a different bad solder connection. A simple USB A/B switch box was intermittent in one position. I couldn't identify the obvious bad connection, but reflowed all the switch connections and magically it works now.

PPS: I also fixed my old lawnmower that refused to start by replacing the spark plug. I also replaced a missing bolt holding the muffler on... that had vibrated loose and disappeared into my yard.

[mediatechnology]

Are you aware that most modern smoke detectors have a seven year timer?
Yours may not be that old and it be the battery.
It's based on first application of power and is designed in to signal EOL of the detector.
I had one that wouldn't stop chirping, happened to have the old manual, and it was buried in the instructions.