Yearly Archives: 2013

This setting lets your Ecobee run the humidifier during heat, cool, or with the fan only. 12
In my original review of my very first Ecobee Smart Thermostat, I described how I had wired my Ecobee’s equipment interface to my whole-house evaporative humidifier at the Utah house. Because my furnace’s control board had a 24V HUM connector, I used that connector to help activate the humidifier. The […]

How to Wire a Humidifier to an Ecobee Smart Thermostat

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Reference Technology and tagged DIY ecobee how to how to wire humidifier to ecobee humidifier plumbing wiring on by (updated 3992 days ago)
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I really wanted to like this product. I really did. I bought it on impulse from Home Depot after reading this description on the box: Spotter keeps you updated on what’s going on at home—from anywhere. Monitor motion, sound, light, temperature, and humidity all from your mobile device. Use Spotter […]

Review: Quirky Spotter

This entry was posted in Product Reviews and tagged GE light sensor motion sensor product review Quirky quirky spotter review Spotter temperature sensor on by (updated 3826 days ago)
Buy replacement furnace filters in bulk to save money 3
As I’ve taught myself a number of DIY home maintenance tasks over the years, I’ve noticed a trend: things tend to break at the worst possible time. When did my water heater’s TPR valve fail and start to spray water in the basement? At 10PM… when it was too late for […]

Home Maintenance Parts You Should Have In Your House Right ...

This entry was posted in DIY Reference and tagged anode DIY filter fuse parts pieces replacement parts thermocouple valve water heater on by (updated 4007 days ago)
No pressure from hot water expansion tank 147
I’ve been on a plumbing DIY kick lately, and after recently replacing a hot water recirculating pump that had been installed incorrectly (upside-down!) by a professional plumber, I’ve been reminded that it’s never a bad idea to periodically test things inside your own house — even if they were installed […]

Testing and Replacing a Hot Water Expansion Tank

This entry was posted in DIY and tagged Amtrol DIY hot water expansion tank plumbing Therm X Trol thermal expansion water hammer water heater Watts on by (updated 4028 days ago)
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It all started about a week ago. I got an alert email from a server, complaining about a RAID array. That’s nothing terribly out of the ordinary, as I have all of my systems set to alert me if something seems out of place. However, the problem in this case […]

Rant: Google Apps’ Gmail Can’t Protect Me from Misconfigured Mailers

This entry was posted in Linux Rants and Raves Technology and tagged blocked senders Google Apps SPF split domain routing spoof on by (updated 3833 days ago)
This post is primarily a how-to for my own benefit, since I own a total of five APC S20 BLK battery backup units running a variety of things at the house from AV gear to a rack of servers. That means there’s a chance I’ll need to replace the battery […]

How To: Swap RB63 UPS Batteries in an APC S20 ...

This entry was posted in DIY Home Theater & Automation Reference Technology and tagged APC batteries RB63 replace UPS batteries S20 BLK UPS on by (updated 3992 days ago)
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It’s 10PM. I get a text from our son (whose bedroom is in the basement) saying that he just got out of the shower and the water was barely warm, and now he’s hearing a “hissing” sound coming from the utility room across the hall from his bedroom… where the […]

How To: Repair a Leaking Hot Water Tank Temperature Pressure ...

This entry was posted in DIY and tagged fix leaking TPR valve hot water heater hot water tank hot water tank leak plumbing pressure relief valve Repair repair hot water tank temperature pressure relief valve tpr valve Watts on by (updated 3826 days ago)
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The difference between saying you have a “home theater setup” vs. simply having a TV hanging on your wall is, of course, having the audio played back on something other than your TV’s built-in speakers. And for the budget and space conscious, Vizio has recently launched a family of “sound […]

Product Review: Vizio 42″ 5.1 Home Theater Sound Bar with ...

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews and tagged Bluetooth Bluetooth audio review S4251W-B4 sound bar soundbar speakers Vizio on by
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Water was pooling under our “backup” fridge in my garage, and so I figured something must broken with its refrigeration. However, when I pulled the fridge away from the wall to check things out, I discovered that the source of the water wasn’t the fridge… it was the shower faucet […]

Rave: Turns out Moen’s Customer Service is Just as Good ...

This entry was posted in DIY Rants and Raves and tagged 1225 customer service Kohler leak Moen plumbing replacement on by (updated 3826 days ago)
I hate throwing away old computer equipment. Whenever I buy a new system, the older ones tend to find other roles in my digital life. Maybe not on my desktop any more, but maybe in the playroom, or in a closet, or on my floor, or some other location where […]

Upgrade your Dell Dimension 4600 AGP Graphics Adapter and RAM

This entry was posted in DIY Technology Windows and tagged 3d graphics AGP Dell Dimension 4600 graphics card RAM Upgrade on by (updated 4065 days ago)
Linux Uptime 1
After upgrading from Nagios 4.0 to 4.0.1, I attempted to manually reschedule a check of all services on a particular host, I received the following error: Error: Could not open command file ‘/usr/local/nagios/var/rw/nagios.cmd’ for update! The source of the problem turned out to be a permissions issue with the nagios.cmd […]

How to Fix Error: Could not open command file ‘/usr/local/nagios/var/rw/nagios.cmd’ ...

This entry was posted in Linux Reference Technology and tagged error Linux nagios nagios.cmd permissions on by (updated 4066 days ago)
Maggie's Bear Grylls Parang goes "CLANG!" 3
I hesitate to write this post. First, because I grew up in Portland, Oregon (home of Gerber), and have been a big fan of their knives since I owned my first one as a Boy Scout. Second, because a couple good friends of mine are actually friends of Bear Grylls […]

Rant: Navigating Gerber’s Bear Grylls Parang recall process is harder ...

This entry was posted in Rants and Raves and tagged Bear Grylls Gerber parang pee recall sheath on by (updated 4111 days ago)
Lots of corrosion in a VTS Housing 24
If you have a Sea Doo with VTS (Variable Trim System), then you’re sitting on a ticking time bomb. Even a casual web search will fill your screen with horror stories of VTS gone bad. To make matters worse, there’s more than one reason that causes malfunction with the system. […]

Sea Doo VTS Not Working? Fix or Replace the VTS ...

This entry was posted in DIY Sea Doo and tagged Sea Doo variable trim system VTS VTS boot VTS broken VTS motor VTS repair VTS replace VTS won't work water on by (updated 3722 days ago)
The Harmony Ultimate handheld remote communicates via RF to the Harmony Hub, which blasts IR to all your devices 2
Universal remotes have come a long way… and I’ve been along for the ride for pretty much the entire journey. I owned an old-skool “All In One” remote that controlled my cable box, VCR, and TV. I owned a variety of Phillips Pronto and Marantz RC5000 controllers, which required me […]

Product Review: Logitech Harmony Ultimate Remote

This entry was posted in Home Theater & Automation Product Reviews and tagged Harmony Harmony Hub Harmony Touch Harmony Ultimate Logitech MyHarmony product review review Ultimate on by (updated 4123 days ago)
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This post is as much for me as it is for anyone who might stumble across it in a web search. I’m using this list as an annual “shopping list” for part that I’ll need to winterize both of my 2006 Sea Doo RXPs. Reference Documents The starting point for […]

HowTo: Parts for Sea Doo 4-TEC Winterizing, Oil Change, and ...

This entry was posted in DIY Sea Doo and tagged 4-tec annual service compression flush fogging oil change parts RXP RXT Sea Doo spark plug winterization winterize on by (updated 3705 days ago)
Cisco/Linksys E4200 overclocked to 532 MHz 31
It’s a question asked in the DD-WRT forums all the time. It’s a question often asked in the comments of my DD-WRT posts. And it’s a question to which no “official” answer from the primary maintainers of DD-WRT exists… and therefore it will probably keep getting asked. However, based on […]

Difference between DD-WRT BrainSlayer, Eko, Fractal, and Kong Builds

This entry was posted in Linux Technology and tagged BrainSlayer build builds DD-WRT difference Eko Fractal Kong router database SP1 SP2 version on by (updated 3691 days ago)
Completed base pieces 3
Sick of trying to prop up cardboard targets against rocks when shooting outside? Don’t want to spend crazy $$$ for those fancy metal target stands? Want your target holders to be lightweight and transportable in the trunk of your car? Do you like the smell of PVC cement? Got $16? […]

DIY: Home Made PVC Target Holders

This entry was posted in DIY Guns and tagged cardboard target diy target holder gun range gun target home made target holder paper target PVC target holder on by (updated 4144 days ago)
DIY catch can installed in RXP with zip ties 7
If you install an aftermarket air intake in your Seadoo, it’s best to also install a catch can at the same time. What exactly does a catch can… catch? It’s designed to catch oil, gas, and other sludgy fluid that might otherwise end up inside your supercharger and your engine. […]

HowTo: Seadoo Catch Can / Oil Breather System

This entry was posted in DIY Reference Sea Doo and tagged air intake catch can DIY diy catch can fizzle catch can home made catch can riva catch can Sea Doo on by (updated 4132 days ago)
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In an effort to extend my WiFi coverage outside our vacation home on a lake, I purchased a Ubiquiti NanoStation LOCO M5. My goal was to provide a strong WiFi signal a few hundred feet into the back yard, onto the beach, and all the way out to the dock. […]

Connecting iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod) to Ubiquiti NanoStation M5 ...

This entry was posted in iPhone Linux Reference Technology and tagged 20MHz 5Ghz Apple channel channel width compatible configuration DFS frequency iOS iPad iPhone iPod LOCO NanoStation NanoStation M5 NSM5 settings troubleshoot Uqibuiti WiFi on by (updated 3467 days ago)