Friday, April 17, 2020
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Engine preservation during storage
1. Prior to storage, I ran the engines until they ran out of gas.
2. I removed the spark plug, sprayed a generous amount of WD-40 into the cylinder, cycled the starting cord several times, and then sprayed another round of WD-40. I reinstalled the spark plug.
3. Drained the oil.
Upon receiving the items from long term storage:
1. Removed the spark plug, cleaned it (really just wiped with paper towel and scraped electrodes with my finger nail).
2. Sprayed in WD-40. Cycled starting cord several times.
3. Reinstalled spark plug.
4. Filled oil to proper level.
5. Cleaned (and oiled) air filter.
6. Sprayed ether into the air filter.
7. Started the engine.
Both started right up. And they have each completed the first lawn mowing of the season.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Building a cell phone holder for my motorcycle
First step to keeping cost low: Use something old. This is a piece of sheet metal I found in the trash at a construction site. I measured and marked it for the length of my cell phone. You can see I was lucky in that there was no bending on the part that I needed to use.
After cutting it off using a Kawasaki Dremel Tool with a Dremel wheel attachment (more on this below), I had this:
Next step was to trim the height of the end piece - it just stops the phone from sliding any more once the sides are in place. It is marked here:
Next, I trimmed the opposite side off - didn't need that material.
Always use eye and ear protection. You can also see my old holder there as well.
Computer Security
First things first - if you are in an area where you are concerned about your safety because of information you feel you need to keep encrypted - don't use the internet. I don't have any information that requires this level of security. If you do, you have bigger problems than security, but here are a few ideas:
Don't connect the computer to the internet. Have a dedicated machine with a tamper seal (I'd recommend a laptop) with a strong password for log in. Note that if someone is trying to get access to your information, they can put a hard drive in your machine that looks exactly like a windows log in and have it send your password information over the internet - and if their hard drive is in the machine, your log on password is now compromised. If they image your hard drive and put it back in the machine, but with an altered system file that just sends keystrokes to a remote IP address, you won't even know your data is compromised. So the tamper seal becomes important - but probably can be overcome if they are dedicated.
The best way to overcome this attack is to encrypt the root volume of your computer, which TrueCrypt will allow you to do. Again, I don't have any information that falls into this level of security. I'd use an encryption program such as TrueCrypt to cover the information on the drive on the drive as well, with a long sentence based password that is something you'd remember, like "ThetimeIbangedthatchickIpickedupatthebarwasAWESOME!", or use a key file with a picture that you recognize, but keep it in a picture album with many other files. Or use both. This allows for a form of backup, if you are willing to risk it, since the encrypted volume file can be copied. If it is less than 4GB, burn it to a DVD. Without the keyfile or password, it is probably protected against anybody but the NSA. Or them torturing you to get the access. Again, if you have this level of security problems, I wish you the best. Caveat Emptor - I've never used the encrypted root volume of TrueCrypt, so I am unsure how effective it is or even how to set it up.
For run of the mill, ordinary people, like my self, I recommend the following. I break my information down into three categories:
- Information that I have a ton of, that is not particularly sensitive, that I would like to keep backed up, ideally both locally and remotely. There are plenty of pay to play services here that work fine. I like iDrive as you can have a key file that makes the information garbage to them. If it is smaller, SkyDrive from Microsoft gives you 25GB for free. We routinely make DVD backups on a monthly / yearly basis to backup our photos. There are several online services that allow you large backup volumes. I'll admit I don't use one.
- Information that I want to keep secure, but is not huge. In this category I place my Quicken data files, my downloaded pay statements, scans of hard copy financial data, backup of my contact data, etc. While I wish it were open source to really provide the level of cryptographic integrity that comes with open source software, I currently use CloudFogger in conjunction with a SkyDrive account to keep all my important data both secure, and remotely backed up. This data exists in an encrypted state on my hard drive, so if my laptop is stolen, I am relatively confident that they will not get access to the data, and with the remote backup capability, I'll be able to recover the information.
- I only recently started using #2 above, and before that I used (and still use) a 10 GB partition on my computer encrypted with a long password or key file. Right now the only thing of note on that partition is my Outlook file. I don't think it is any more or less secure than CloudFogger, but I believe the performance is a bit faster. But that is totally anecdotal. No testing to back that up.
- For all my passwords, I use KeePass. I use a file that is uploaded to DropBox, and then can access that on my phone if required. I try not to use this option much, and always close the application on my phone when complete. But there have been several times I've been happy to have it on my phone.
More stupid car tricks
Some follow up here. Turns out the low coolant level was not the cause - the overheating caused a loss of coolant. In the end, it was a bad thermostat that caused the overheating. Since I've replaced the thermostat, I've had no more issues.
I had an issue where the car would not start after sitting idle for four days. Charged battery, started fine. I took the car to AutoPort, asked them to check battery and alternator. They said both were fine. I had another issue a few weeks later, measured battery voltage at 10.25 volts. Replaced battery and have not had an issue since.
Don't use a ScotchBrite dish scrubbing pad on a motorcycle windscreen. The scratches aren't bad, but you are not going to be happy with them.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Stupid car lessons
1. Had valve knocking noise that ended up being low oil level.
2. Had thermostat issues that ended up being low coolant level.
Lesson Learned: Engineers sometime "assume" away the easiest answer.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
*Garage Storage Solution*
2 February 2010
I saw this idea on the web and thought I'd copy it as a great "someday" project.
If you are like my family, we are constantly short on space in our house. Rather than buy a huge McMansion, we bought what we could afford and ended up with a ranch house with about 2000 square feet. While this is big compared to previous generations, it seems ours has more “stuff”. We have been working at cleaning out junk and freeing up space but we are still coming up short and everything seems cluttered. This seems even more so with our acquisition of more and more preparedness materials. In order to help alleviate the constant storage issue, I decided it was time to build overhead garage storage. I wanted a place where I could store items while I work on securing “tickets” for my family. I also want those items all together and easily accessible. My preference is to have some boxes which would easily load and stack on my 5’x8’ utility trailer and be strong enough to hang from the ceiling.
After searching around at various stores, including WalMart and Target, I found exactly what I was looking for at Lowes.
These totes are just under 30 inches long with allows me to place two rows in the trailer and hang them in rows of two on the ceiling. They are made to hold 400 pounds, not that I will ever put that much in them, but I know they are solid. This helps though when stacking them. I can comfortable stack two to three without worrying about the bottom tote having its sides bow out. They also have a solid lip around the top for hanging them like I wanted to do. Finally the tops have small holes on the edges where they can be secured with zip ties to ensure they stay shut.
- For what I did here are the materials needed.
- 12 of the above totes $11.67 each (Lowes)
- 4 – 1x4x10 boards $2.91 each (Lowes)
- 4 – 2x4x10 $3.69 each (84 Lumber)
- 16 – 3/8x8 lag screws $1.89 each (84 Lumber)
- 16 – 3/8 washers $1.04 per bag needed 4 bags (Lowes)
- 40 – 4” deck screws $8.99 for one box (Lowes)
- Total cost $209.95
Lowes did not have 1x4x10 but they had 1x4x8. I thought about purchasing the 8 foot lengths but thought I would end up with waste and end up spending more in the end. I went to 84 Lumber and they had the 10 foot lengths. I also purchased the lag screws at Lowes at $3.00 each, but when I went to 84 Lumber they were $1.89 there so I purchased them again and returned the ones I bought at Lowes.
The first step is to cut the 1x4s and 2x4s in half. This provided enough room to support two totes with an inch to spare. Once all the boards are cut, I stood the 2x4x5s on the 2” side and put gorilla glue on the up side. Then I laid a 1x4x5 on top of the board and secured the ends with clamps. I then started putting the deck screws into the boards from the 1x4x5 into the 2x4x5. I spaced the screws 1’ apart. Repeat this for all of them. I ended up with 8 of the combined boards.
*In my first attempt I left the boards uncut in their 10’ lengths. I found this unwieldy and difficult to cut with my miter saw.
The next step is to prepare the ceiling of the garage. The joists in my garage were 24” apart. Rather than measure out everything before hand and end up missing or messing up something, I started with one side and moved from there once I had the first boards secured.
To make find the center of the joist I measured to where I thought it should be and marked it. I then took a small hammer and penny nails to find the exact center. I did this where I wanted to start and then I repeated this step well past where I thought where the boards would hang. I then had my wife help me put a chalk line on the ceiling to help me keep the boards straight.
To put the boards up, I measured where the boards would cross the joists. Each board crossed the joist 3 times. I placed them so they would cross near the ends and again in the middle. I drilled a pilot hole into the joist with a 1/4” bit. I measured several times and made sure the holes I drilled into the boards lined up exactly. I marked the boards with a marker and drilled a hole into the boards with a 3/8” bit. I then put washers on the lag screws and pushed them through the holes in the board and put them up to the ceiling to ensure they lined up. Measuring multiple times helps to prevent mistakes here.
I put a few of these up by myself, but it is much easier to have some help here. I secured one end into the joist enough where it could hold itself for a minute and then climbed my second ladder to secure the second side. Getting the lag screws into the ceiling took some work at first. The head of the lag screw was 9/16. My 9/16 socket had a small ratchet and I could not get leverage. I took a 3’ piece of pipe and added it to the handle and things when much easier from there.
After putting the first one up I needed to make sure I had room to slide the tote between the boards. I measured along the chalk line 21” from the boards I just secured to the ceiling. This helped keep the spacing right and kept me from drifting. I then measured 21” from the second lag screw and marked. This mark was usually off a little and I had to measure to find the joist. Again, lots of measuring helps keep everything straight.
Once the measuring is done I repeated drilling and securing the boards to the ceiling. After every time I added new boards I put an empty tote up there to make sure I had the proper spacing.
These boards are pretty secure into the joists. I have some of the boxes up in the ceiling now holding about 45 pounds each. To test them, I hung off of them with all of my 220 pounds and they did not budge.
I am not that “handy” but I like to try to do stuff around the house and think through the problems. In the end I am very happy with how the project turned out. The total time I spent was about 5 hours. If I had consistent help, I think I could have cut it down to 2-3 hours. A lot of my time was lost climbing up and down my two ladders making sure I measured right.
Over the next few weeks as I fill everything I will put labels on the bottom and side of the totes to tell me what is in the boxes.