ThatRaymond.com

New 12v Fan Controller

admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:08:03 +0000

This is my latest fan controller, based off a LM317 regulator. It can be adjusted from fan turn on at 64F and max speed at 131F up to turn on at 104F and max speed at 167F.

12v LM317 Fan Controller

Fan Controller

admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:16:49 +0000

Fan Controller

This is a fan controller I worked on, based on the Temperature Controlled Fan I found online.

In this version, R1 is a 10K NTC thermistor (shown in schematic at 20C, which is 12.5k). Adjust R2 for the turn on temperature and R4 for the full speed temperature. Fan is a 12v PC fan that draws 0.11 amps.

Note that if you change R4 (full speed temp) you will need to re-adjust R2 (turn on temp). Due to this behavior, I suggest using trim pots for R2 (5k trim) and R4 (500R trim) and adjusting R4 (full speed temp) first and then R2 (turn on temp).

*Note: I have not actually built this circuit, only played with it in LTSpice.

Wood stove upgrade

admin — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:47:42 +0000

Things are never “good enough” in my head, or at least that’s what people tell me. After only a single season of wood burning I’m already thinking about upgrading our wood stove and have come up with what I think are the two best options, both of which are plate steel, Made in USA stoves. The criteria: needs to be relatively inexpensive, epa approved, fit in a tight space and allow the hearth to extend to full clearance to combustible rating. Our current stove meets all those qualifications but is only 1.1 cubic ft and won’t burn more than 3-4 hours at most with the wood we have available to us and even with oak wouldn’t surpass 5 hours or so. Due to this, our stove goes out in the middle of the night during the coldest part of the day. Consequently, our oil boiler kicks in to keep the house warm. Also it leads to a cold start of the stove every morning, which takes time and is kind of a pain in the butt. I have estimated that we are currently using about 100 gallons of oil per year for heat still.

Contender 1: Regency F1100 18″ / 6hr / 55,000 btu

Regency F1100 w/Airmate

* Fits current hearth (42″ x 38″)
* Requires airmate and double wall pipe
* $1,599

The Regency is a fine stove and with a 1.4 cubic ft box it would get us a 6hr burn if packed with oak (it is rated 8hr, but reviews and physics indicate 6hrs is more likely). The big plus here is it would fit our current hearth as it stands with no modifications what so ever. Even with 6 hour burns and a cold start in the morning, this stove would save us about 50 gallons of oil per year compared to our current stove.

Contender 2: Heatilator WS18 18″ / 8hr / 42,000 btu

Heatilator WS18

* Fits 6″ extended hearth (48″ x 44″)
* Requires double wall pipe, hearth extension R 0.13 or greater
* $1,199

The Heatilator with it’s larger 2 cubic ft box would easily give us 8 hours with oak (possibly as much as 10) and even with our soft woods that we currently burn we would be getting 5-6 hours. This would keep our house warm all night and if we loaded with oak, maple or birch would allow us a coal bed for relighting on in the morning. The downside to the Heatilator is that we would need to extend our hearth 6″ on both sides (it’s in a corner). Luckily the extension would only need to have an R value of 0.13 so we could even use cement board and tile to keep it really low profile, or we could continue our pavers out 6″. Another nice feature of the WS18 is that you can load it front to back (N/S) or left to right (E/W). This is great because N/S loading is easier to stack, logs can’t roll out making it safer, and burns readily. E/W loading is nice periodically because it can lead to a lower heat but longer burn time. This stove should keep the baseboard heat from running entirely, saving us 100 gallons/year of oil.

Conclusion:
I personally am a fan of the Heatilator WS18. It would heat our entire home, burn overnight and is $400 cheaper to boot. Plus I love the air control lever, much better than the silly pull rods that most companies use which are impossible to tell from across the room where they are set.

New outside hose hookup

admin — Mon, 07 May 2012 19:25:16 +0000

My old hose hook was leaking, as gate valves typically do once they get old and worn, so I decided to go ahead and solder in a new one. Except I’m one of those guys that likes to do things so that they are built much better than the requirement. So I put in a ball valve. But not only did I put in a ball valve, I found one that is made for hose hookups and can install as a screw in or solder on. I used the screw on section to thread it into a base plate (which I painted), then I soldered it onto the pipe. Now I have 4 x 2.5″ torx head screws holding it on from the outside and the 1/2″ soldered pipe on the inside. I get the impression it won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

1/4 turn on, 1/4 turn off, booya!

Old Gate Valve Hose Hookup

New Ball Valve Hose Hookup

* Extra points to anyone who noticed the PCI slot cover keeping the old gate valve in place.

Shift Point v1.0 released

admin — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:42:45 +0000

There are days when you just want to go home. There are also days when time seems to go by very quickly and it’s hard to tell if you have enough time to do whatever task(s) you have left. Enter, Shift Point. This little applet is great for mapping out your shift. Simply put in your start and end time (in military format) as well as how often you want the applet to refresh and then hit Submit and you’ll see a graph of how long you’ve been at work and the percentage of your shift complete along with how many hours you’ve completed and are left to complete.

Check it out!

Crewbed – add a bed to your Jeep Wrangler!

admin — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:24:42 +0000

A few weeks ago I came across one of the coolest inventions I’ve seen for a car or truck in quite some time. It’s called, the Crewbed. It is a $600, Made in USA, all steel bed that attaches to your Jeep Wrangler. With the seat folded up it gives you a 3′ x 6′ bed to carry items in. While not perfect for everyone, like those needing to haul 4′ x 8′ sheets of plywood or drywall, it is ideal for someone who already owns a Wrangler and wants to be able to move firewood, a dirtbike or other items that might fit in a small truck. Honestly, my Ranger only has a 3.5′ x 6′ bed, so this is pretty much the same size. Cool!

The Crewbed from crewbed.com

Moving from WordPress.com to WordPress.org installation

admin — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:57:45 +0000

Just in case anyone is interested in moving their blog from WordPress.com to your own WordPress.org installation, this might help.

Use the “Export” tool in your WordPress.com account and let WordPress export all your data. Save that XML file. If you want all your images to work there are two things you will need to do. First, open the XML file and do a find and replace and replace “your-blog-name.files.wordpress.com” with “your-new-blog-url/wp-content/uploads”. Next, go to your new WordPress install and use the Import tool. Make sure to select “Download and import file attachments”. Now, it will run for a while on most servers but after a minute or two it will stop (no more spinning icon in Firefox etc), go back to the Import tool and run it the same way again. Rinse and repeat until it says it is finished. That’s it!

Do I stay or do I go?

admin — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:16:35 +0000

While the odds are likely that we won’t move anytime soon from our humble abode, we have talked about it. We’d love to have a big farm house on 5+ acres and be able to cut most of our firewood on our own property as well as have room for our gardening and husbandry practices. Right now we live pretty close to the in-town area and as such are subject to deal with teenage kids loitering on the railroad tracks, traffic, noise and lack of space. We do have 2 acres of land, but half of it is swamp and overgrown. The house isn’t tiny, but at 1,250 sq ft it will get cramped if we decide to have more kids.

That said, it is a beautiful piece of property, we love our cozy home and we (generally) like the town we live in. We could clean out the swampy areas and plant blueberries and other similar wet-loving plants. We could add on to the house to give us more space, and we could always even purchase some surrounding land to allow us for more cultivation area.

We certainly have options. Right now our best bet is probably to stick with what we’ve got, especially since it really isn’t that bad. But you can’t blame a guy for dreaming, right?

Boogie Board

admin — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:52:59 +0000

Improv Electronics has come out with a neat use for e-ink, the Boogie Board. It is a 8.5″ tablet that uses a stylus or your fingers to draw or write notes on. With the push of a button it erases itself. The built in battery is good for 50,000 erase cycles. This tablet could save people a lot of paper and ink and it is recyclable like other electronics as well.

For those listening, I want one for Christmas

6 Months of Music – Jim Gallant

admin — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 20:13:25 +0000

Jim Gallant Promo 2010

Saturday May 12 at 7pm in the New Sharon Congregational Church, Jim Gallant will be performing as part of the church’s 6 Months of Music concert series. Jim specializes in finger picking and has his own musical style that is full and rich.

Admission is $10 per person, tickets will be available at Douin’s Market in New Sharon and Everyday Music in Farmington. Tickets will also be for sale at the door if seating is available.