Tag Archives: House

The fix to a broken heater

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In one room of our house, which was an addition to the main house, we have an electric, in-wall heater. We never really cared about using it as we haven’t had guests in the winter. Well this morning I turned it on to see what would happen as my in-laws are coming for Thanksgiving. The heater turned on for about 30 seconds and then shut off. I fiddled with the knob and it worked for another 30 seconds. So, being the good engineer I am, I shut off the circuit breaker, and disassembled it so that I can get the parts tomorrow. I had the main piece (the thermostat) on the counter (it’s a 30 year old heater, so it is pretty simple) and explained to my wife how it works. See tells me to try moving the thermocouple away from the heater (it was sitting in front of the heating element). I didn’t really think it would make a difference, but said OK, put it back together, moved the thermocouple, turned on the circuit breaker and gave it a whirl. Well, it worked and the room started heating up (slowly, but surely). I’m not sure why I didn’t think of that “fix” as I’m an engineer and knew exactly how the system worked. So simple and my wife proved that it doesn’t take an engineer to solve a problem.

Sound isolation

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As part of our rearrangement of our TV room, my server has become part of our entertainment center. Unfortunately the server melt down caused me to switch to a server that is significantly louder. So, I went on a mission of deadening the sound. First task was to get acoustic foam. Guitar Center had some (what a weird store to visit). I cut the foam and placed it in my cabinet. It didn’t do much because there is a big hole in the back of the cabinet for ventilation. So, I had to devise a ventilation system. I bought some 3″ PVC pipes from Home Depot and attached them to the server such that they act as intake and exhaust from the server. This would allow me to completely encase the server in the foam and stick the pipes out the back of the cabinet. So far so good; I put everything together this morning and it was still noisy. I picked up a quieter fan from Fry’s (I hate that place, but where do I find a case fan). While the server isn’t 100% quiet (I looked at water cooling systems, but water in my computer scares me), it’s acceptable especially with music or the TV on.

All wires pulled!

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Well, my installer decided to come back today and finish the job. (Granted I had to get in the attic when it was 80 degrees out to pull the wire.) I just have to drop down 3 wires, finish the termination and patch the walls. Victory is almost here!

Audio System Installed

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The system is finally done. (OK, I still have to patch some holes.) I pulled the last wires and terminated the connections. It feels good to finally be done. My wife and I are really going to enjoy the system. Lots of work, but it will be worth it. I’ve posted pictures of the system all wrapped up in it’s temporary home in the gallery. We just have to move our entertainment center into the other room and then I can put all the components in the cabinet.