Tank sensor cleansing

Am in Yuma, AZ, for couple more weeks.  I stopped by a store today that had a mixture of things, and also a fairly large RV section.  Had specifically went in there to get a piece for my new Reverse Osmosis water purifier.  I had avoided this store as it didn't look overly appealing for me, but was pleasantly surprised.

In the store they have a whole bunch of chemicals to clean, deoderize, and all sorts of other things tank related.  Thought about getting one to clean my sensors, the ones that measure how full the tank is, but put it back on the shelf and continued browsing.

Afterwards, one of the people who worked there, a slightly older gent, came up and asked if needed anything.  I pointed to my brass compression garden hose fitting and said was looking for a plastic version, which they didn't have.  He then informed me I would also need a little plastic insert to slide into the 1/4" plastic pipe, so got that little part.  This plastic insert allowed the metal crimp piece to put pressure on the plastic hose without crushing the plastic hose.

On a whim, asked him what is recommended to clean the tank sensors, and to my surprise, he said that chemicals on the shelves were pretty much useless.  Sure, they might do the job, but might not.  He then preceded to regale me with wisdom of an old seer, of an aged RV repair guy who used the following two things:

Liquid Dishwasher detergent / soap

Use about 1 cup per full tank.  It MUST be liquid, no if's, and's, or butts...  Brand doesn't matter so I went to get some eco-"friendly" version at Walmart.  It was explained to me that the dishwasher detergent has a powerful degreaser, along with good detergents, that will clean the sensors by dissolving / removing any gunk on them.  Normal hand dishwashing soap WILL NOT work.

Calgon Fabric Softener

Use about 1 cup per full tank.  This MUST be Calgon, it was conferred to me that it can't be anything else as they don't seem to work.  What was passed on to me, and now you, is that this coats the sensor, after it's cleaned, preventing gunk from building up again.

Application

As eluded to above, it should be done in this order:

1. Add 1 cup liquid dishwasher soap after emptying tank(s) and closing valve(s).  I would add some extra water to tank (some people say 20%) to help keep a clean tank
2. Test sensor as tank fills up
3. Fill tank full, or above the "full" sensor
4. I would let tank sit above full as long as feel comfortable
5. Empty / drain tank(s) in normal manner
6. Test sensor(s)
7. Repeat 1-6 until sensor(s) function normally.  For me, when tank is empty, none of the lights light up.  When it's full all lights light up.  Yours may vary
8. Repeat step 1-6 one more time (as safety measure)
9. After second time of fully working sensor(s), start using calgon after empty tank(s)
10. Add 1 cup of calgon fabric softener after tank is emptied (and valve is closed), and add some water to help it out
11. I was given no further instruction / wisdom.  If sensor problem reappears, add more liquid detergent as necessary, then use calgon after problem cleared

My experience

Learned about this today so don't know anything other than adding my liquid dishwasher detergent to my black tank.  Am due to empty black tank in couple days, maybe a week, so then will add to grey tank too.  Just emptied grey tank recently.

New Kitten

At least for a temporary time...  Complete album of all pictures I have for her.  Not many.

The morning after bringing her in

Couple nights ago at the RV park, a friend and I were walking back from card games at night.  We suddenly heard what sounded like a cat with a big set of lungs.  Turns out it was a kitten screaming for attention.  If it was any other animal I still would've been there.

Another lady in the park helped the kitten out too, but couldn't take her in because of their dogs, so left kitten outside with food, water, and a nice place to stay.  Most anyone who knows cats / kittens knows they don't stay willingly in one place, even if it's decked out in the freshest towels.  Once they have an agenda everything else goes by the wayside.

I've heard Dr. Naidu, the "father" of Lactoferrin, speak several times before, and he tells the story of a young lost dog that was hit by several cars on an LA freeway.  The dog was severely hurt, yet he took the dog in and got him healthy, bones healed, and all that jazz.

A major take away I got from the several times I've heard him speak about the dog, is that if something happens, and we're aware of it, we must step up and take responsibility.  Like in his case, he didn't hit the dog, nor knew the dog at all, yet he saw it and had to make things right.

A brief video featuring some of Dr. Naidu's accomplishments.  He doesn't speak about the dog, just an overview of what I know about him.  He's had several more large accomplishments, such as working with Indian Special Forces very early on in his career.

So, it is with this background and knowledge, that I stepped up to the plate to take this kitten in.  The kitten appears healthy, though I would've still helped if she wasn't.  Scatter, one of my current cats, is keeping his distance, and generally quiet.  I don't think he's very pleased about this but he's not acting up.  Paisley, on the other hand, continually voices her displeasure.

This Friday the kitten will be going to local humane society.  She'll very likely get adopted quick.  If she's not adopted before I leave will adopt her back myself.  Another reason want to bring her in is to get her fixed and to make sure she has nothing bad, plus maybe she's a lost kitten who ran away from home?!  Not quite sure.

I do get the distinct feeling she was a house kitten to begin with, then someone brought her out here to the boonies and dumped her, left her alone to fend for herself.  I also get the feeling, not sure how accurate, that she was also part of a litter of kittens, and was one left and isn't too "kitten like" anymore.

Look at them thar eyes

Either way, she's in my care and I will do my best to make sure she ends up in the best home possible.  When I bring her to the humane society will also leave a gift so that she'll be adopted faster.

Best wishes to everyone for the best Thanksgiving ever!

Bypass roof fan control

In the bathroom there's an exhaust fan so can vent unpleasant odors, and also any steam from taking a shower.  The fan I have slows down after some time running, doesn't matter if it's pushng air out, or pulling air in, still exhibits same behaviors.

As part of troubleshooting, plus I was convinced it was the problem, decided to bypass the control board.  The control board is simple in that there's just a knob which changes voltage sent to the motor.  My theory is that the control board could've been faulty to a degree in that it slowed the motor down over time.

Before modification

This is actually a fairly simple thing, but be warned for a couple reasons.

• This will likely invalidate any warranty remaining on fan.
• Messing around with 12V DC electricity, so be vewy vewy careful
• Other bad things could happen working with electricity

Am fairly comfortable around electricity so this was a breeze.  Upon examination, there's a red and black wire (fairly thick) coming into the control board.  Leaving the control board there are two wires going to a switch.  Leaving the switch is two wires going to the fan.  It seems that the switch controls which direction the electricity is sent to the motor, which in turn controls which was the air blows.

Quick test

First step was to snip the wires leaving the control board, followed by snipping wires coming into control board.  Did it this way to lessen the amount of time the live wires were not connected to anything.  As part of this I also stripped the wires with my lineman pliers.

All safe and snug

As a quick test in which way to connect the wires, and to validate it would work, twisted them together like so and hit the wall switch that controls the fan (different from switch on the fan housing that controls the direction).  Lo and behold it works great.

Once did this quick verification I then quickly tied them together like so.  Just some wire nuts leftover from a ceiling fan installation from someplace, probably my house.  I say ceiling fan as those type of wire nuts generally come from packaged goods.

As the fan is still working this modification didn't harm it in any way that I can tell.  However, it didn't solve the problem so there must be something else wrong.  The fan still slows down after a certain amount of time.

I think the next step is to validate voltage going into the switch, and it leaving the switch.  The other thing I think it could be is the motor itself if all the voltages check out.  There's also a possibility that the voltage being supplied dwindles over time.  I would find that hard to believe but anythings possible at this point.  The wall switch could also be causing the problem.

Will create another entry when get around to this again.  First have to install water heater and fix the shower pan.  Big hole in shower pan.....  Am Pepe Le Pew now.

KickStarter - failed projects are taking their toll

I just sent this letter to KickStarter CEO, and their Director of Communications.  Someone posted the e-mail addresses in comments section of the website.  I've learned my lesson about not taking opportunities as they're presented, which I still have to blog about, so here's my first one as it's presented..

This is the second official project failure I've had recently.  It seems to be becoming more and more of a thing to have a failed and/or fraudulent project.  In this letter I outline one way to mitigate the risk.  Am sure there are quite a few other options, if they choose to change anything.

The project in question:
Zano

Other failed projects where I didn't receive awards:
Hubble Laser Cutter
TrayVax, Wallet for Life
Authentic Dijon Mustard

Potential project failure:
Lumma - Smart Pill dispenser (hoping wrong about this).

On to the drama:

Hello,

I have backed over 240 projects, some failed, some very successful, some were a little dismal, and then some didn't deliver anything, with no hopes of delivering anything.

With KickStarter's hands-off approach as a funding platform for generally unique projects, I feel that there are some relatively simple things that can be done to decrease number of seemingly fraudulent projects, which seem to be on the rise (at least for me).  Among them is this chief idea I have

1 - Give project creator's certain percentage up front, say 1/3, to begin work, as defined by project creator
2 - At certain milestones, defined by project creator, and reviewed by backers, release another portion of funds
3 - At a point near end of project, another vote and final release of funds
* Milestones created prior to project's creation with ability to modify during project, and locked X days before project's end

The vote could be simple poll, and be a percentage of respondents within a certain time frame.  As example, if 50% of respondents say yes, release the funds, if only 25% say yes, hold onto funds until new poll.  The voting results will be displayed to project backers, successful or not.  There would be ability for project creator to petition KickStarter to release funds outside of polling process, with full transparency.

If project does not complete successfully, refund remaining funds to backers, prorating it based on their total pledge level, minus KickStarter and card processing fees.  This isn't foolproof though I think it's better than what currently happens.

Pertaining specifically to Zano, I have filed a report with the UK Police Agency concerning fraud.  The NFRC is NFRC************.

Have had couple other projects fail, notably Hubble Laser Cutter, and another one doesn't look so hot, Lumma.

Best wishes for continued success to the KickStarter funding platform.  I really enjoy it but the rash of failed and/or fraudulent projects is becoming rather unsightly.

Would prefer no response over one of those irritating cookie cutter ones where it's clear no one cares.

Thanks

Richard K

Replace lighting fixture

This is the fixture that is over the sink, and it's somewhat important for the times when I need to do dishes, not want, but need.  Just replaced it and here's the gory details.

Symptoms:  No light when switch is switched.

Cause:  Bad switch.  I validated this by using multi-meter and checking wire connections.  One strange thing is that there's one hot wire and two ground wires.  Couldn't tell you why but that's how it is.  Validated this when bypassed switch by using pliers to connect the two terminals and light lit up.  YIPPEE.

One problem:  These switches are soldered in place, i.e. the wires.  Due to this, even if I could find a new switch, it would not be time effecient to replace just the switch.  Which is unfortunate.

Solution:  Replace light, hence what's listed here.  New light is a Thin-lite Model 311-1.  Couldn't find a good page that listed detailed product info (not surprising for RV stuff), otherwise would've linked it.

This light is located above the sink, and underneath the cabinets.  It is fairly easy to get to and replace.  First step is to unscrew the six screws holding it in place.  I had only expected four, one on each corner, but there was also two in the middle.  Can't explain why, nor do I want to ponder why.

3 wires?

Next thing on the list is to determine which wire is which as there were three wires.  As eluded above, two is a ground and one is a hot wire.  Any idea which is which??  Spoiler:  The black is live and contains ~12 volts, it read about 14 volts on the multimeter.  Am still baffled by how many wires. 

Amount to strip

After determining which wire is which, it's time to snip them.  I used a pair of lineman's pliers as they snip the wire, and provide a great guide, in my experience, for removing insulation.  I snipped the black first, then both of the whites, making sure the whites didn't get anywhere near the black.  I generally don't approve of segregation, in this case it was important  Slim chance of anything happening as only end is exposed, still pays to be safe..

Just before stripping

Stripping wire using lineman's pliers is an acquired skill, yet one which most people can pick up with a minimum amount of practice. Stripped about 1/2 inch of wire shown and briefly twisted afterwards.  Only stripped wire on ONE of the white wires.  The other white wire taped the end and taped it to the other white wire to keep them together.

All tied together

One nifty thing I did, and am proud of myself, is when mounting the light, existing holes didn't line up.  Instead of drilling holes, and it being underside of cabinet, knew there would be a thin wood surface to it.  Took a scratch awl and poked holes in the veneer where the screw goes.  Prior to doing this, did a test run of inserting the awl into the light fixture and seeing how much poked through.  Turns out it was just about the right thickness to not give too much play when putting the screw in.

Scratch awl in action

All mounted, before cover is on

A semi-important thing, for me, was to get it pretty much centered over the sinks.  Wasn't overly concerned about getting it centered in the middle of the cupboard doors, nor precisely centered over the sink, but feel it turned out well.  If notice, in one of these last pictures, there seems to be a small gap between the light and the cupboard bottom.  Wanted to get it closer, but felt this was close enough otherwise ran a risk of stripping the hole.  This would've made other things more challenging.  I still think it's as tight as it should be as put wire nuts in the gap.

The only thing that concerns me, long term, is it feels like has same type of switch which failed on this light, and one before this.  Not quite sure why these switches failed, be it age, design, frequency of use, voltage/amperage passing through, any or none of these?  Am hoping for the best on this one.  It did look a little easier to add a secondary switch if needed.

Proof it works

Light installed

Complete album 

Organic Star Food wars

Today, while searching around for some unpasteurized milk in Vegas for when am there during Christmas, came across this video.  It's a parody but very neat.  When I eat, and cook, in the RV, I do my best to get Organic, or better, food.  Eating out much as I do it's somewhat difficult, well, very difficult.

A Vimeo Link to same movie.

 It genuinely made me chuckle.  What a great way to end the weekend!  That, and a little rain here in Casa Grande, AZ.  It's great other than the sad reality of most of the food we consume..  That aside, it's a great video.

Have a super time!  Will be jotting down some thoughts / memories from Marfa this week.

Doulton Water Filter

Quite awhile back, think well before moved to Seattle when I was living in my house (which I still pay the mortgage on and "own"), purchased a Doulton water filter from this website.  Got the filter housing and several (a lot) replacement filters.  I used this daily as didn't really enjoy tap water and just felt good knowing most, if not all, of the potential bad stuff (including chlorine) in the city water is gone!

However, sometime after hitting the road in the RV, I broke the spigot....  This was a let down.  Had to condense the filter and put it away for awhile as most spigots I found were overly expensive for what it was.

While I was in Florida last year, I won quite a few goodies!  I did feel guilty and put some things back in the drawing, or gave some away, can't remember, but one of the things I won was a glass ice tea container, with a spigot on the bottom.  Used this quite some time until my refrigerator conked out on me.

It turns out that with my new refrigerator, and default shelf spacing, can't fit the ice tea jar so had it in the hallway, on the floor, in my path..  Am sure you can figure where this is going....

The glass ice tea jar broke and was left with glass bits and the plastic spigot.

Just tonight had the idea to install this in my Doulton water filter.  Inserted the rubber gasket in place, twisted spigot in place, and it looks amazing!!  Now, am unsure what type of plastic is used so hopefully not leaching too much icky stuff in, but for now it's awesome!

Doulton on right with "new" spigot

Have it filled now with filtered water.  I use this water to put into my Nikken Waterfall.  This adds minerals, restructures the water, and does some other good and nifty stuff!  End result is great tasting water triple filtered.  Also have a Doulton filter for when fill up my RV water tank too!!