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Post by songstarliner on Mar 31, 2017 19:38:28 GMT -5
I found this cool magnifier at the flea market:  It has a light on the inside:  And the batteries go in the handle:  But under the cap is just a knot of cording:  That's not right, is it? I mean, it can't be. How can I rig this thing to light up like it's supposed to? Trurl ? Floyd D Barber ? Anyone else? |
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Post by Floyd D Barber on Mar 31, 2017 19:50:03 GMT -5
Take the spring out of the tube, and stick it in the bottom cap, then put the batteries in the tube, and screw the bottom cap back on so the top of the spring makes contact with the bottom of the bottom battery.. It should go: bottom cap, spring. batteries in tube, and top cap on tube. If I'm seeing the pictures correctly, I think that will do it.
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Trurl
Shoutbox Elitist 
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Post by Trurl on Mar 31, 2017 19:51:17 GMT -5
It's an incandescent bulb so it doesn't matter which way the current goes (though they go flat-side onto that spring in the handle). Most likely, like other flashlights, the shell of the flashlight is the other side of the circuit - if you put something that connected the pointy end of the battery to the flashlight shell (like maybe a wad of tinfoil over the knot) it should complete the circuit.
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Trurl
Shoutbox Elitist
Posts: 7,471
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Post by Trurl on Mar 31, 2017 20:34:21 GMT -5
Take the spring out of the tube, and stick it in the bottom cap, then put the batteries in the tube, and screw the bottom cap back on so the top of the spring makes contact with the bottom of the bottom battery.. It should go: bottom cap, spring. batteries in tube, and top cap on tube. If I'm seeing the pictures correctly, I think that will do it. Ah, Floyd's got it - the spring is loose in the tube, should be in the cap. Note the spring is probably conical - the flat end should be against the cap, under the knot, the pointy end will be where the flat end of the battery presses against it. |
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Post by songstarliner on Mar 31, 2017 20:36:59 GMT -5
Yay! It works! I did the battery-spring-cap thing and at first it wouldn't light, then I turned the batteries around et voila. Thanks, fellas.  |
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Post by Lord Lucan on Mar 31, 2017 20:55:55 GMT -5
That's a pretty nifty magnifying glass!
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Trurl
Shoutbox Elitist
Posts: 7,471
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Post by Trurl on Mar 31, 2017 20:58:31 GMT -5
Yay! It works! I did the battery-spring-cap thing and at first it wouldn't light, then I turned the batteries around et voila. Thanks, fellas. Bravo, that is the most TIF illustration of a magnifying glass (or maybe loupe is the correct term) possible. |
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Post by songstarliner on Mar 31, 2017 21:25:08 GMT -5
Trurl Thank you. *takes bow*
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Post by songstarliner on May 18, 2017 22:45:54 GMT -5
Dammit, you guys. I hauled my window ac unit out onto the deck, took the cover off, brushed off the dust, sprayed the front and back coils with diluted-to-specification greased lightning cleaner, waited, rinsed, let it dry - and the fucker still doesn't make cold air. It seems to run fine, except for the not-cooling part. There are a few dings on the fins at the back, but nothing major - I tried brushing them out straight with a (never used) toothbrush, but I don't know if it made any difference. I think maybe 5% of the fins are bent, if that. What the shit - is it a lost cause? It can't be more than two or three years old ... what else can I do besides scrap it and save for another? Floyd D Barber Trurl |
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Post by Floyd D Barber on May 19, 2017 0:45:59 GMT -5
Dammit, you guys. I hauled my window ac unit out onto the deck, took the cover off, brushed off the dust, sprayed the front and back coils with diluted-to-specification greased lightning cleaner, waited, rinsed, let it dry - and the fucker still doesn't make cold air. It seems to run fine, except for the not-cooling part. There are a few dings on the fins at the back, but nothing major - I tried brushing them out straight with a (never used) toothbrush, but I don't know if it made any difference. I think maybe 5% of the fins are bent, if that. What the shit - is it a lost cause? It can't be more than two or three years old ... what else can I do besides scrap it and save for another? Floyd D Barber Trurl It might have lost it's coolant charge. I have had this happen with a vehicle AC, and was able to add Freon with a hose and gauge kit I got at an auto parts store. I haven't tried it with a window unit, but I think the theory is the same. A person who does AC work should be able to check it, and fill it if needed, and it is possible someone who does car AC might be able to do it. I found an article that has some basic information about this. I would think that if that is what it needs it would probably cost less than replacing the unit. You might check with where you bought it to see if any warranty might still be in effect, and if they have a service person they recommend. Hope this helps. |
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Trurl
Shoutbox Elitist
Posts: 7,471
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Post by Trurl on May 19, 2017 7:28:55 GMT -5
Dammit, you guys. I hauled my window ac unit out onto the deck, took the cover off, brushed off the dust, sprayed the front and back coils with diluted-to-specification greased lightning cleaner, waited, rinsed, let it dry - and the fucker still doesn't make cold air. It seems to run fine, except for the not-cooling part. There are a few dings on the fins at the back, but nothing major - I tried brushing them out straight with a (never used) toothbrush, but I don't know if it made any difference. I think maybe 5% of the fins are bent, if that. What the shit - is it a lost cause? It can't be more than two or three years old ... what else can I do besides scrap it and save for another? Floyd D Barber Trurl It might have lost it's coolant charge. I have had this happen with a vehicle AC, and was able to add Freon with a hose and gauge kit I got at an auto parts store. I haven't tried it with a window unit, but I think the theory is the same. A person who does AC work should be able to check it, and fill it if needed, and it is possible someone who does car AC might be able to do it. I found an article that has some basic information about this. I would think that if that is what it needs it would probably cost less than replacing the unit. You might check with where you bought it to see if any warranty might still be in effect, and if they have a service person they recommend. Hope this helps. What Floyd says. If the compressor is working there will be the fan noise and a separate, louder noise that starts and stops based on the cooling settings of the unit. If the louder noise isn't happening then the compressor itself might be dead (or the thermostat is busted so the compressor isn't cycling), but if it is working then it's likely the refrigerant. |
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Post by songstarliner on May 19, 2017 10:17:57 GMT -5
Thanks, guys.
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Post by songstarliner on Apr 4, 2018 21:57:33 GMT -5
What does it mean if both toilets in your new apartment fill all the way to the top of the bowl before flushing? Is it a clog deep in the system? Is there anything I can do about it without having to rely on the landlord?
It's very upsetting. I can't handle this much plumbing stress.
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Post by Floyd D Barber on Apr 5, 2018 23:49:15 GMT -5
What does it mean if both toilets in your new apartment fill all the way to the top of the bowl before flushing? Is it a clog deep in the system? Is there anything I can do about it without having to rely on the landlord? It's very upsetting. I can't handle this much plumbing stress. If two different toilets are doing that, it does sound like it might be a partial clog, especially if they both started doing it at the same time. Any problem with sinks or tub/shower backing up? It might be a clog somewhere in the building, or it might be rotor rooter time. It could be a nasty job either way. I would strongly suggest getting the landlord to deal with it. |
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repulsionist
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actively disinterested
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Post by repulsionist on Sept 30, 2018 21:58:14 GMT -5
This message goes out to those outside of North America: What VPN service do you use for purpose of finding North American content?
In NZ Netflix reigns supreme. Being manacled to the North American culture outlets, I use(d) Amazon Prime and more recently HULU. Amazon has crafted a means of disrupting VPN connectivity to use Prime Video. Of course, its means of traversal and search still suck and cannot be made for practicality but for something more sinister. Digression over, I was able to successfully and easily use Prime via VPN in NZ until, say, April 2018. We migrated to HULU, but that has now begun to get really flaky. I use NordVPN, and the number of servers allowing connections has trebled in the past year we've used the service. "Thank Cloud" (said some Christian Mystic), I suppose. However, it does appear that many of the content providers have barricaded their doors for the sake of asset protection when trying to get stuff you've paid for when you're not where you say you are. It's a pain.
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dwarfoscar
TI Forumite
it's complicated
Posts: 503
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Post by dwarfoscar on Oct 1, 2018 4:33:34 GMT -5
This message goes out to those outside of North America: What VPN service do you use for purpose of finding North American content? In NZ Netflix reigns supreme. Being manacled to the North American culture outlets, I use(d) Amazon Prime and more recently HULU. Amazon has crafted a means of disrupting VPN connectivity to use Prime Video. Of course, its means of traversal and search still suck and cannot be made for practicality but for something more sinister. Digression over, I was able to successfully and easily use Prime via VPN in NZ until, say, April 2018. We migrated to HULU, but that has now begun to get really flaky. I use NordVPN, and the number of servers allowing connections has trebled in the past year we've used the service. "Thank Cloud" (said some Christian Mystic), I suppose. However, it does appear that many of the content providers have barricaded their doors for the sake of asset protection when trying to get stuff you've paid for when you're not where you say you are. It's a pain. Once upon a time, I used to switch between VPNs to access Netflix's international catalogue, but I've since given up. It's a complete gridlock. Buying from a new VPN became like playing roulette... I don't know if the situation is the same for Hulu or Amazon but I wouldn't be surprised... |
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Dellarigg
AV Clubber
This is a public service announcement - with guitars
Posts: 7,500
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Post by Dellarigg on Nov 23, 2018 9:13:45 GMT -5
Guitar people, please come to my aid. fab Crash Test Dumbass Yesterday I bought a Marshall amp (MG30FX) and a couple of pedals off an acquaintance. The amp and the Boss distortion pedal work like a dream. However, there's a wah wah pedal (Vox V845), and whenever it's plugged in, it's as if it's always on, even when my delicate little foot is nowhere near it - overriding my sweet, sweet tone settings with a hissy, thin, scratchy sound. I've tried messing around with cables, putting the distortion pedal first or second, trying it on all the different settings of the amp, but nothing seems to ease the problem. The acquaintance said it wasn't that way for him, that it didn't affect anything until he stepped on it, but the internet seems divided on the topic. Is this just what wahs do? Thank you kindly. |
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Crash Test Dumbass
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Post by Crash Test Dumbass on Nov 23, 2018 11:34:44 GMT -5
Guitar people, please come to my aid. fab Crash Test Dumbass Yesterday I bought a Marshall amp (MG30FX) and a couple of pedals off an acquaintance. The amp and the Boss distortion pedal work like a dream. However, there's a wah wah pedal (Vox V845), and whenever it's plugged in, it's as if it's always on, even when my delicate little foot is nowhere near it - overriding my sweet, sweet tone settings with a hissy, thin, scratchy sound. I've tried messing around with cables, putting the distortion pedal first or second, trying it on all the different settings of the amp, but nothing seems to ease the problem. The acquaintance said it wasn't that way for him, that it didn't affect anything until he stepped on it, but the internet seems divided on the topic. Is this just what wahs do? Thank you kindly. I haven't used wahwah pedals in forever, but I think there's usually a pressure toggle in the forward position? Press forward until you hear a click and then the pedal should be off. If not, it's probably something in the electricity, and I'm not that great with electricity. |
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Dellarigg
AV Clubber
This is a public service announcement - with guitars
Posts: 7,500
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Post by Dellarigg on Nov 23, 2018 11:45:49 GMT -5
Guitar people, please come to my aid. fab Crash Test Dumbass Yesterday I bought a Marshall amp (MG30FX) and a couple of pedals off an acquaintance. The amp and the Boss distortion pedal work like a dream. However, there's a wah wah pedal (Vox V845), and whenever it's plugged in, it's as if it's always on, even when my delicate little foot is nowhere near it - overriding my sweet, sweet tone settings with a hissy, thin, scratchy sound. I've tried messing around with cables, putting the distortion pedal first or second, trying it on all the different settings of the amp, but nothing seems to ease the problem. The acquaintance said it wasn't that way for him, that it didn't affect anything until he stepped on it, but the internet seems divided on the topic. Is this just what wahs do? Thank you kindly. I haven't used wahwah pedals in forever, but I think there's usually a pressure toggle in the forward position? Press forward until you hear a click and then the pedal should be off. If not, it's probably something in the electricity, and I'm not that great with electricity. Believe it or not, I just came back to say, disregard this, I figured it (entirely by accident). You're absolutely right about the forward pressure thing. Thanks! |
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fab
TI Forumite
strange days
Posts: 1,617
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Post by fab on Nov 24, 2018 16:50:39 GMT -5
I haven't used wahwah pedals in forever, but I think there's usually a pressure toggle in the forward position? Press forward until you hear a click and then the pedal should be off. If not, it's probably something in the electricity, and I'm not that great with electricity. Believe it or not, I just came back to say, disregard this, I figured it (entirely by accident). You're absolutely right about the forward pressure thing. Thanks! I was gonna say something about possible grounding / shielding issues. glad you got it sorted! I don't even really have a proper pedalboard, I mostly just fuck around with stuff on occasion. got myself an old 80's Marshall practice amp recently, and it sounds pretty great. enjoy your new gear! :3 edit: all I really know about wah pedals is that the filter frequency / "sweep" range is set by the values of the circuitry inside. so if you find it a bit too "dark" or too ear piercingly bright, you can probably look up a diagram online for how the pedal is built, and odds are some enterprising person has figured out how to give you something akin to a whole new pedal for not much more than the time it takes to fiddle with some solder and a couple bucks worth of parts. (usually less, like 80 cents for a capacitor or resistor or whatever -- the shipping and having the soldering equipment etc. lying around is what adds up at first.) this is why fancier ones have a "Q" filter or whatever that can be tuned on the side, via a potentiometer, adjusting the limit or peak resonance of the wah. oh, and if you find it gummed up, the guts of them can be cleaned. mechanical ones use a gear, optical ones have little holes in the wheel that I think are "counted" -- or possibly stepped up in size, allowing more light through like an aperture...? (I believe it's the former.) |
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Post by Pastafarian on Feb 22, 2019 11:14:50 GMT -5
Hello my more technically astute friends. A question for you.
In my early 20s to 30s I began collecting DVDs (netflix at the time was in its infancy) particularly special edition ones with film historians doing commentary or whatever. That slowed way down and stopped once I could watch movies without turning my DVD player on. Anyway. We are looking at do some decluttering (not because of Kondo, but a potential move) and I have about 30 or 40 movies that I don't feel like lugging around, but also don't want to just toss / sell never to be watched again. Is there a way I can download them into a digital file of some type that will keep them for later viewings? I have a lot of hours of when you add up not only the movies but the extra features so not sure how easy plausible this is. Also would i have to buy a separate hard drive or something to put them on to? I honestly have no idea how much storage capacity this would take up so just putting it on my laptop may or may not be an option.
Can you tell I was born in the 70s and didn't really take to the digital revolution?
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Crash Test Dumbass
AV Clubber
ffc what now
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Post by Crash Test Dumbass on Feb 23, 2019 9:34:35 GMT -5
Hello my more technically astute friends. A question for you. In in early 20s to 30s I began collecting DVDs (netflix at the time was in its infancy) particularly special edition ones with film historians doing commentary or whatever. That slowed way down and stopped once I could watch movies without turning my DVD player on. Anyway. We are looking at do some decluttering (not because of Kondo, but a potential move) and I have about 30 or 40 movies that I don't feel like lugging around, but also don't want to just toss / sell never to be watched again. Is there a way I can download them into a digital file of some type that will keep them for later viewings? I have a lot of hours of when you add up not only the movies but the extra features so not sure how easy plausible this is. Also would i have to buy a separate hard drive or something to put them on to? I honestly have no idea how much storage capacity this would take up so just putting it on my laptop may or may not be an option. Can you tell I was born in the 70s and didn't really take to the digital revolution? 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Technically in the USA, it is still illegal (the worst kind of illegal), but there are several DVD rippers available all over the place; PCMag, for example, has a list from just last year. A DVD by itself is specced to hold 4.7 GB; you can of course compress it smaller but then you get all the joys of compression. 1 TB will therefore hold about 200 uncompressed movies, provided what version of math* you're using for your prefixes. Blu-rays usually hold 25 GB, so adjust accordingly.
* A gigabyte should be 1,073,741,824 bytes, but is usually 1,000,000,000 because math is hard or something?
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Post by Pastafarian on Feb 23, 2019 10:39:37 GMT -5
Hello my more technically astute friends. A question for you. In in early 20s to 30s I began collecting DVDs (netflix at the time was in its infancy) particularly special edition ones with film historians doing commentary or whatever. That slowed way down and stopped once I could watch movies without turning my DVD player on. Anyway. We are looking at do some decluttering (not because of Kondo, but a potential move) and I have about 30 or 40 movies that I don't feel like lugging around, but also don't want to just toss / sell never to be watched again. Is there a way I can download them into a digital file of some type that will keep them for later viewings? I have a lot of hours of when you add up not only the movies but the extra features so not sure how easy plausible this is. Also would i have to buy a separate hard drive or something to put them on to? I honestly have no idea how much storage capacity this would take up so just putting it on my laptop may or may not be an option. Can you tell I was born in the 70s and didn't really take to the digital revolution? 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Technically in the USA, it is still illegal (the worst kind of illegal), but there are several DVD rippers available all over the place; PCMag, for example, has a list from just last year. A DVD by itself is specced to hold 4.7 GB; you can of course compress it smaller but then you get all the joys of compression. 1 TB will therefore hold about 200 uncompressed movies, provided what version of math* you're using for your prefixes. Blu-rays usually hold 25 GB, so adjust accordingly.
* A gigabyte should be 1,073,741,824 bytes, but is usually 1,000,000,000 because math is hard or something?
Thanks a bunch. Two quick questions, what was that series of numbers and letters you typed before your post. Are we in the Matrix? Ok I lied, four questions. Getting something to hold a TB (which sounds like a damn lot) what am I using for storage? Would that be an external hard drive, or some kind of crazy big flash drive? |
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Crash Test Dumbass
AV Clubber
ffc what now
Posts: 7,058
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Post by Crash Test Dumbass on Feb 23, 2019 10:59:11 GMT -5
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Technically in the USA, it is still illegal (the worst kind of illegal), but there are several DVD rippers available all over the place; PCMag, for example, has a list from just last year. A DVD by itself is specced to hold 4.7 GB; you can of course compress it smaller but then you get all the joys of compression. 1 TB will therefore hold about 200 uncompressed movies, provided what version of math* you're using for your prefixes. Blu-rays usually hold 25 GB, so adjust accordingly.
* A gigabyte should be 1,073,741,824 bytes, but is usually 1,000,000,000 because math is hard or something?
Thanks a bunch. Two quick questions, what was that series of numbers and letters you typed before your post. Are we in the Matrix? Ok I lied, four questions. Getting something to hold a TB (which sounds like a damn lot) what am I using for storage? Would that be an external hard drive, or some kind of crazy big flash drive? What numbers? There were never any numbers... TBs are a lot easier to get now. You can get a 4TB external drive for under $100 on Amazon, for example. A cursory search says they do make terabyte-sized flash drives, but they're still kinda rare. Either way, it's easier to carry than 80 discs.
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Post by Gamblin' Telly on Jul 6, 2020 2:46:07 GMT -5
Maybe more of a rant than asking for advice, I think I've got a unique stupid problem again but I'll be happy if anybody has an idea:
So my tablet won't charge half of the time. It's not the cables or the socket, all fine. It just started to display (translated): "Moisture detected. Remove cable and wait until it dries off"
There's no moisture, yet I still "dried" it as good as possible respectively found out there is no moisture.
When I reboot it, sometimes once, sometimes several times needed, it will finally charge again. Rinse (ha) and repeat when it's time to charge again.
Any Ideas?
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Jul 6, 2020 9:18:52 GMT -5
Maybe more of a rant than asking for advice, I think I've got a unique stupid problem again but I'll be happy if anybody has an idea: So my tablet won't charge half of the time. It's not the cables or the socket, all fine. It just started to display (translated): "Moisture detected. Remove cable and wait until it dries off" There's no moisture, yet I still "dried" it as good as possible respectively found out there is no moisture. When I reboot it, sometimes once, sometimes several times needed, it will finally charge again. Rinse (ha) and repeat when it's time to charge again. Any Ideas? Is it a Samsung? this seems to be a common complaint. The charging port could be dirty or need replacement. You could try swabbing it with alcohol, or use a piece of tissue paper while inserting the cable to clean out any stray bits of debris. |
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Post by Gamblin' Telly on Jul 6, 2020 9:25:28 GMT -5
Maybe more of a rant than asking for advice, I think I've got a unique stupid problem again but I'll be happy if anybody has an idea: So my tablet won't charge half of the time. It's not the cables or the socket, all fine. It just started to display (translated): "Moisture detected. Remove cable and wait until it dries off" There's no moisture, yet I still "dried" it as good as possible respectively found out there is no moisture. When I reboot it, sometimes once, sometimes several times needed, it will finally charge again. Rinse (ha) and repeat when it's time to charge again. Any Ideas? Is it a Samsung? this seems to be a common complaint. The charging port could be dirty or need replacement. You could try swabbing it with alcohol, or use a piece of tissue paper while inserting the cable to clean out any stray bits of debris. It is. I've read a bit online too and it seems the usb 'remembers' that there once was moisture. So I did what was recommended when you can't find no dirt, moisture etc: Clear the USB-cache. I was surprised this existed but you live you learn. So far, this seems to do the trick, I've put the charging cable in three times now, and no error message. Wohoo! |
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