So... What are YOU doing? - Part 8

[tango]

Got the last major strip of soundproofing material screwed to the ceiling joists. This part was awkward because it needed access to a corner of the room where I lifted the floor, so there's not much to stand my ladder on. And even a small piece of this stuff is heavy and unwieldy, so positioning it to within less than an inch takes a bit of fussing around.

But it's done, the precarious ways I had to balance myself on two ladders to get access to the space didn't result in a catastrophically rapid movement from upstairs to downstairs, and now I can put the final insulation panel in that space.

 

[Lamb]

My daughter wanted me to start playing Monopoly Go with her...but my emulator is having trouble friending her. boo

 

[tango]

The outside walls are lined with polyiso insulation panels and now I've made a start on building stud walls inside the continuous insulation. Then I can cut thicker panels to go between the studs, run new wiring etc. Hopefully this room will be quite quick to finish from here.

 

[Lamb]

Slept in late this morning...brr it's cold.

 

[tango]

This is the time of year I test my insulation. When it's supposed to go below 40 outside I turn the heating off completely overnight to see how cold it gets inside. This morning it was hovering just very slightly below 60 degrees. The insulation I've put in has obviously made a very significant difference to when I started the project.

The room I'm working on was holding steady at 59 degrees. It still has a few minor gaps in the insulation that I can address when the ceiling is finished - it's just about adjusting the fiberglass to fill all the gaps rather than almost all of the gaps, but working on the ceiling can disturb it so I'll finish that off when everything else is done.

 

[Lamb]

Playing Monopoly Go. My daughter got me hooked on that game.

 

[Stravinsk]

@tango

The alt-tech battery discussed earlier, if you are still interested. Videos containing "Quantum Battery" and "Nigel Cheese". Edit: Best to start with the video at the bottom posted a year ago.

Exploring Alt Tech

I did some tests myself and it's certainly different. The battery has a very high internal resistance, so while Voltage can be high, output amps very low. However, from what I understand (and will be testing in the coming weeks/months), they can be used to fill capacitors to power higher current loads.

 

[Lamb]

I have errands to run, voting to do and then come home and clean bathrooms before I go to help out at a university dinner tonight.

 

[tango]

@tango

The alt-tech battery discussed earlier, if you are still interested. Videos containing "Quantum Battery" and "Nigel Cheese". Edit: Best to start with the video at the bottom posted a year ago.

Exploring Alt Tech

I did some tests myself and it's certainly different. The battery has a very high internal resistance, so while Voltage can be high, output amps very low. However, from what I understand (and will be testing in the coming weeks/months), they can be used to fill capacitors to power higher current loads.

Curious. I'm intrigued, although just lately I've been kinda caught up with building walls and didn't get to exploring it for myself. A while back you posted something about a zinc washer and a penny, or something like that. Once I've figured out where the next piece of wall needs to stop and finished building it maybe I'll get to fiddling with some of that stuff myself.

 

[tango]

A few days away for a rest and reset. I've got most of the wall studded, and the studs cut to finish off the job. Then I need to get some more 2x4s to build the interior wall, and press onwards, ever onwards.

 

[Stravinsk]

Curious. I'm intrigued, although just lately I've been kinda caught up with building walls and didn't get to exploring it for myself. A while back you posted something about a zinc washer and a penny, or something like that. Once I've figured out where the next piece of wall needs to stop and finished building it maybe I'll get to fiddling with some of that stuff myself.

Keep in mind that this is different from what I posted before. It's not a regular battery, and it doesn't work like a regular battery. For instance, if I hook a couple of 1.2V rechargables in series (2.4V) it'll light up a 2V LED with 20mA +. These different batteries have current in the uA (microamp) range and still light up the same LED with 2V.

Getting proper materials soon as there were things I couldn't find locally to do it properly.

 

[Stravinsk]

Changed the car battery today. I was going to get someone to do it....but whoa...they wanted like $300+ to do it. But that's just habit. I change my own oil and spark plugs...why hire someone to change a battery. Partly because I wasn't sure it was the problem. Well, it was. I'm back on the road with a little more fix-it experience under my belt.

 

[Lamb]

Helping my husband find an online link...it was in the email but wasn't standing out LOL

 

[tango]

Changed the car battery today. I was going to get someone to do it....but whoa...they wanted like $300+ to do it. But that's just habit. I change my own oil and spark plugs...why hire someone to change a battery. Partly because I wasn't sure it was the problem. Well, it was. I'm back on the road with a little more fix-it experience under my belt.

Last time I needed to change a car battery I pretty much had to do it myself. My wife's car refused to start because the battery was dead. I could have jump-started it and driven it to get a battery but it seemed easier to just take my car and collect a battery on our way home.

I didn't expect to need three different sized sockets to remove a battery. Good job I had both metric and imperial on hand.

 

[Stravinsk]

Last time I needed to change a car battery I pretty much had to do it myself. My wife's car refused to start because the battery was dead. I could have jump-started it and driven it to get a battery but it seemed easier to just take my car and collect a battery on our way home.

I didn't expect to need three different sized sockets to remove a battery. Good job I had both metric and imperial on hand.

Turns out this would have been a super simple job except my spanner set was missing the one spanner that fit all the screws to the battery terminals and battery holder. Using an adjustable spanner I borrowed, I managed to unscrew everything, put the new battery in and screw everything back, but just a little rust made it a rather painstaking project that took a few hours instead 15 minutes.

Anywhoo, today I installed a battery isolater on the negative terminal. Since car batteries drain a little all the time when they're connected, if the car is not driven for multiple days there is a slow drain on the battery to where it can't turn the starter motor. Now I don't have to worry about that. A few turns of the radial switch disconnects/connects the negative terminal and I could not drive for weeks and still have an active battery. Works as an anti-theft device as well...since re-connecting battery power locks all the doors and one cannot hot wire the car because a key is needed to unlock the door which then frees up the ignition system. Awesome. Not that anyone would want to steal my old car...but...good to know.

 

[Lamb]

Going to the grocery store in a bit.

 

[tango]

Turns out this would have been a super simple job except my spanner set was missing the one spanner that fit all the screws to the battery terminals and battery holder. Using an adjustable spanner I borrowed, I managed to unscrew everything, put the new battery in and screw everything back, but just a little rust made it a rather painstaking project that took a few hours instead 15 minutes.

I have an adjustable spanner but naturally the nuts I needed to remove were positioned such that only a socket was really useful to get at them. A very small adjustable spanner could just about get at one of them but then couldn't give me the torque I needed to remove it. If I recall I needed a 3/8", 9mm and 10mm socket. They are all similar enough in size that without looking you might be forgiven for thinking they are the same, but they aren't close enough to work. So to remove four nuts required three different size sockets.

Anywhoo, today I installed a battery isolater on the negative terminal. Since car batteries drain a little all the time when they're connected, if the car is not driven for multiple days there is a slow drain on the battery to where it can't turn the starter motor. Now I don't have to worry about that. A few turns of the radial switch disconnects/connects the negative terminal and I could not drive for weeks and still have an active battery. Works as an anti-theft device as well...since re-connecting battery power locks all the doors and one cannot hot wire the car because a key is needed to unlock the door which then frees up the ignition system. Awesome. Not that anyone would want to steal my old car...but...good to know.

Worth saving battery power if you frequently go an extended period without driving. Both of our cars frequently sit for a few days at a time without being used, but have only ever given us battery issues when the battery was already overdue for replacement anyway.

 

[Messy3]

I made stripes with my finger on my phone, just randomly making a stripe over letters and then it makes random words.

 

[Messy3]

-

 

[Lamb]

Watching some crime tv stuff with the family.