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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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If you’re a cheapskate (er… frugal) like me, and you like to do as much of your own service on your Sea Doo PWCs yourself, then hopefully this OEM parts reference will be helpful. It started out as a list just for my personal use when I starting doing my […]

Sea Doo BRP OEM Parts Cross Reference

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

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When the HDMI port stopped working (about a year out of warranty, of course) on the Vizio P50HD 50″ plasma TV in the living room at our Utah house, I thought “huh — that’s weird,” then promptly unplugged the HDMI cable from “HDMI In 1” on the TV, plugged it into “HDMI […]

DIY: Replacing the Main Board on a Vizio P50HD TV ...

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 ...

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

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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 ...

The purpose of this post is to track maintenance, modifications, and speed testing for my 2006 Sea Doo RXP PWCs. Most of what I’ve learned (and am still learning) about Sea Doo modding is from my participation in the GreenHulk Performance PWC forums. I strongly encourage anyone who is interested […]

SeaDoo RXP Maintenance & Mods

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

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

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

Cracked Sea Doo RXP front hood hoses 1
The majority of my Sea Doo posts are mechanical, but this one is purely cosmetic. I’ve got a couple of 2006 Sea Doo RXP boats, which I bought new, and I’ve loved them since they day they came home from the dealer. They’re fast, fun, and their looks have held […]

How To: Replace Cracked Plastic Front Hood Vent Hoses on ...

Old style Sea Doo solenoid next to the upgraded version 32
It’s 90-something degrees outside. You walk out to the dock, straddle your 2006 Sea Doo RXP, attach the key, and press the start button. But instead of “vroooom” you get “tick tick tick tick.” Chances are high that you’ve got a starter solenoid problem. You may be able to press […]

HowTo: Sea Doo Ticking Noise when you Press the Start ...

Sea Doo RXP Spark Plugs Removed 28
I had one of my 2006 Sea Doo RXPs out on the lake last weekend, when I noticed it was running kind of rough. The engine didn’t sound right, and it felt low on power. Every now and then, I’d get a burst of full power, but then lose it […]

HowTo: Sea Doo Running Rough? Change the Spark Plugs First

Timeline for Shutdown and Turn Off for the PCNS server OS and the UPS 14
I decided to write this blog post after attempting to configure APC’s PowerChute Network Shutdown (PCNS) software to gracefully shut down a number of Windows and Linux computers on my network, all of which are attached to various APC SmartUPS Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) units with AP9617 and AP9630 Network Management Cards […]

HowTo: Configure Low Battery Duration and PCNS to Shut Down ...

APC RBC24 10
In my 2012 post “Dead UPS Batteries? There’s a Cheaper Way!” I addressed the fact that most people overpay for replacement batteries for their UPS, especially if you purchase APC-branded RBC (Replacement Battery Cartridge) kits. The purpose of this post is to serve as a cross reference as to which generic batteries […]

APC Generic Replacement Battery Cross Reference Lookup

Kirkland Signature Multi Vitamin 11
We’ve all been told “you are what you eat.” And while I don’t quite agree with exactly how that’s worded (I’ll explain later), I do agree that what we put into our bodies has a massive impact on how all the systems in our body perform and interact. The purpose […]

Fitness Supplements I’m Currently Using

Postfix 2.9 Upgrade 5
I run a number of “real” Postfix servers that live “away from home,” in a cozy server cabinet at our colo facility, but I also like to keep a Postfix server handy in the basement, running on an ancient (but rock solid) Dell PowerEdge 2450 running CentOS 5. I don’t […]

HowTo: Get Around Comcast Port 25 Block with a Postfix ...