Category Archives: Uncategorized

Fix a Leaking Tile Roof on the Cheap

On rainy days buckets would need to be put out to catch water dripping from the ceiling. In the past, I would call a roofer and get out a pile of cash. During one of those wallet thinning meetings with … Continue reading

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Ion Block Rocker iPA56 Bluetooth Aux Port Repair

Our 2 two year old, cute and destructive, directed her wrath at my Block Rocker breaking off a mini plug in the aux port. I tried without success to get the tip of the plug out of the aux jack … Continue reading

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Simple Script to Make Rotating Backups of a Directory

There are times where I want to make a simple, rotating backup of a directory so I can go back and look at how thing were in the past, or push a backup to another location. Below is the basic … Continue reading

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Versatile Voltage Divider / Isolator Interface for Arduino / Raspberry Pi

In working on various projects, I often need to interface signals to the input of an Arduino, Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone, or custom digital input. I wanted to be able to handle signals from 5V DC, 24V AC (sprinkler controller valves), up … Continue reading

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Solar Car Cooling Fan

I live in Southern California and getting in to your car after it has been sitting in the sun is only enjoyable for those that consider hanging out in a sauna while dressed in your finest Brooks suit a good … Continue reading

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Zero Vampire Drain SLA Battery Charge Controller

12 volt sealed lead acid batteries are very useful for many applications, but many charge controllers put a small drain on the battery. Once this drain has emptied the battery, it will be ruined if not immediately recharged. But with … Continue reading

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SUN-2500P Power Inverter Remote Control

In searching for inverters that could run a 3000 – 4000 watt load in an off-grid solar system, I found some low cost inverters on eBay (SUN-2500P is the model I see on these). An issue soon came up after … Continue reading

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Repair Yihua PS-3010D Power Supply Stuck at 50 Volts

I have a Yihua PS-3010D 30V 10A power supply and one day it would only output 50V. After doing some measuring with my volt meter it looked like the top supply rail was shorted to the output. I could see … Continue reading

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Build a Cheap 24V 20A Battery Charger

I have a 24 volt battery bank I use to run an off grid well pump. On cloudy days, sometimes I want to run the well to test out sprinklers, etc. So I wanted a battery charger that could put … Continue reading

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Cheap Trick to Remove a Frozen Ferrule

Replacing a leaking cutoff valve for a toilet or faucet is pretty simple, expect for when the old ferrule/compression ring get stuck on the water pipe. This happened to me the other day, and I did not have a puller … Continue reading

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