tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7601701952827734252024-03-05T12:40:16.125-05:00A Tinkerer's MusingsJasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07179041382030836315noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-760170195282773425.post-81982230399142924782010-06-10T20:14:00.007-04:002011-03-02T21:35:12.151-05:00Electric Utility Energy Audit ProgramWhen we bought our house last spring we talked to the oil company that served the previous owner and found that they had used 1100 gallons of heating oil every year! Given oil prices in recent years that was not something that we looked forward to.Our state's utilities collect a fee every month to fund conservation programs. One of these programs provides reduced price energy audits for home Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07179041382030836315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-760170195282773425.post-62812344510674779272009-08-24T08:01:00.001-04:002009-08-24T20:18:41.532-04:00REVIEW: Asus Eee 1000HAIn 2007 we bought a Compaq Presario 714NR for our first laptop. In May, the power converter on the motherboard was fried when the power cord shorted out. Although the laptop was useful, it left a few things to be desired. For starters, Vista Premium on a low end processor is not for those who are in a hurry. Even after shutting down all the fancy graphics and extraneous programs to speed it up, Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07179041382030836315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-760170195282773425.post-23217290590601946792009-04-27T19:00:00.007-04:002009-04-27T21:13:20.547-04:00REVIEW: Convert AA Batteries to C or D These days it seems every kids toy available (and plenty of big kid toys) takes batteries of one sort or another. Rechargeable AA's make a great alternative to disposable alkaline batteries, but what do you do about C and D size batteries?There are NiMH batteries built to the C and D sizes (as well as 9 volt), however they tend to be expensive and require a specialized charger. You need to be Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07179041382030836315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-760170195282773425.post-32114461756408415832009-04-22T05:00:00.006-04:002009-04-22T05:00:02.654-04:00TIP: Save Some Cash, Save the EarthDo you have stuff lying around you don't need anymore? Have you kept it around because it wasn't "worth" anything, yet it is too good to throw out? Then you are a perfect candidate to join Freecycle!Freecycle is. . . a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving(& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse andkeeping good stuff out of landfills. Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07179041382030836315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-760170195282773425.post-10078186705427761222009-04-10T20:30:00.001-04:002009-04-10T20:48:52.170-04:00INFO: Harbor Freight On-Line Coupon TrackingHarbor Freight has continual sale and coupon deals going on. Unfortunately, it is hard to know what a 'good' price is on an item. This database tracks the weekly online coupons. Using the search function, a desired product ID code can be checked verses the database to see what the best price is. Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07179041382030836315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-760170195282773425.post-60486304631842031502009-04-01T06:00:00.001-04:002009-04-01T06:00:06.194-04:00REPAIR: Kids Electric ToothbrushThey just don't make things like they used to, do they? My daughter received an electric toothbrush for her birthday. In a matter of days, the screw holding the battery cover on had ripped through the thin plastic, leaving the battery unable to maintain contact with the terminals.I considered pouring an epoxy replacement and re-drilling the hole. But the time involved and low likelihood of Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07179041382030836315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-760170195282773425.post-33998277892304075742009-03-22T11:00:00.001-04:002009-03-22T11:00:06.902-04:00TIP: Re-Use Tie Wraps From Kids ToysManufacturer's seem to love creating waste when packaging kids toys. I suppose it is all done in the name of marketing, but have you seen the amount of effort put into making the toys visible in the packaging?Among the methods used to make removing toys from their boxes completely impossible are plastic coated tie wraps. Some of these can be fairly long and are of a pretty decent quality (at Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07179041382030836315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-760170195282773425.post-52505096477471256592009-03-14T21:15:00.005-04:002009-03-14T21:22:19.254-04:00REPAIR: Canon Digital Camera CCD Flaw/Free ServiceIn October, our digital camera (Canon A80) stopped working. The pictures all had red strips through them and were completely unusable.I didn't figure there was much hope for fixing it myself, so we went ahead and bought a new Canon A590IS. Before getting rid of the broken camera, I figured it was worth a shot trying to find a repair. After a few minutes of Googling, I came across this site: DoJasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07179041382030836315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-760170195282773425.post-80150322974323907432009-03-08T09:00:00.001-04:002009-03-08T09:05:37.887-04:00TIP: Use "Dead" AA Batteries in Wall ClocksWhen your AA powered gadget runs out of power, do you toss the batteries without thinking?Many times those batteries still have plenty of power, just not for the device they were removed from. Wall clocks that use a single AA battery can run off a "dead" battery for 6 months or more.The time will depend on how much voltage the battery can still provide. Which in turn is dependent upon how Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07179041382030836315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-760170195282773425.post-7054349363252683132009-03-04T21:15:00.001-05:002009-03-04T21:18:06.582-05:00TIP: No excuse not to use rechargeable batteriesAlkaline batteries, specifically the AA size, enable all sorts of electronic gadgets. Many modern gadgets, however, go through AA's so quickly that it quickly becomes costly to keep the devices powered up.The original rechargeable batteries were NiCAD or nickel-cadmium chemistry. They worked, and still have their uses in battery packs for cordless telephones and portable power tools, but as AA's,Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07179041382030836315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-760170195282773425.post-53184591005633657272009-02-21T21:00:00.001-05:002009-02-21T21:03:36.161-05:00FAIL: Cordless Drill Battery ModificationNot every DIY project succeeds. Sometimes, there are failures. Sometimes the failures are pretty spectacular. It is ok to fail, however, so long as you learn something. This is why I am sharing these not so successful projects. A few years ago the battery pack in my Ryobi 9.6 volt cordless drill died, I decided a replacement battery was just too expensive for the value of the drill. I had nothingJasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07179041382030836315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-760170195282773425.post-54185350142103631162009-02-19T20:27:00.009-05:002009-02-19T21:26:56.085-05:00TIP: Disposable Epoxy Mixing TraysEpoxy, that universal fix for everything that duct tape can't handle (wait, duct tape can't fix everything?). Unfortunately, anything you mix it on needs to be disposable. But paper can soak through, and cardboard soaks up the epoxy and gets droopy or can contaminate the epoxy with fibers. So what is one to do?Save the flat areas of the clear plastic packaging that is used on everything from kidsJasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07179041382030836315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-760170195282773425.post-27751853403803535752009-02-18T20:50:00.006-05:002009-03-14T21:21:38.980-04:00REPAIR: Cordless Phone Battery Modification My wife picked up a pair of cordless phones on Freecycle to replace our old phone that was dying a slow and staticy death. Unfortunately, one of the handsets didn't work when we plugged it in.I suspected it was just a battery issue, and after swapping batteries between the two handsets was able to confirm my suspicion.Since I had recently replaced the battery in the old phone, I figured no Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07179041382030836315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-760170195282773425.post-23575899267775304302009-02-15T17:39:00.004-05:002009-02-16T20:38:44.893-05:00Welcome to my little corner of the world!Here are the chronicles of my tinkering. What is a tinkerer? According to Merriam-Webster:..to work in the manner of a tinker ; especially : to repair, adjust, or work with something in an unskilled or experimental mannerWhile in my professional career I'm paid to do the opposite of tinker, at home it's all I do. College may have prepared me for life as a design engineer, but no one teaches you Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07179041382030836315noreply@blogger.com0