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Is Your Fire Extinguisher a Lifesaver or Just a Heavy Paperweight?
A Hard Lesson Learned: The Day My Extinguisher Failed There’s an old saying: “Experience is the best teacher.” But honestly? Some things are better left unexperienced. A fire is definitely one of them. When I was in my early 30s, a fire broke out in my neighbor’s warehouse. I spotted it early, grabbed my trusty…
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How to Straighten Bent Servo Motor Encoder Pins: A Technician’s Ferrule Trick
The Most Annoying Repair is the “Simple” One In my line of work, I handle a lot of automation parts. Sometimes, surplus items pop up. I recently sold a tested, working Yaskawa Sigma-5 servo motor…
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Aligning a Servo Motor to a Harmonic Drive: A Technician’s Custom Jig Solution
The Goal: Perfect Precision. The Problem: My Own Mistake. For my CNC project, I chose a Harmonic Drive (a type of strain wave reducer). Why? Because its unique mechanism—using a Circular Spline, a Flexspline, and…
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DIY Boiler Temperature Sensor (NTC 50K Thermistor) Replacement: A Technician’s ‘Right to Repair’ Saga
Pre-Winter Checks? Sometimes It’s Already Too Late. Winter is just around the corner, that magical time of year when we all start nervously checking our boilers. We tell ourselves to check them before the first…
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An Old Logbook Entry: Defusing a $5 Christmas Light Bomb
⚠️ EXTREME WARNING: DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS. SERIOUS RISK OF SHOCK, FIRE, AND DEATH. Before you read any further, understand this: This post is a cautionary tale, NOT a tutorial. It describes a foolish risk…
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Declaring War on Tangled Cables: DIY Coiled Extension Cord
A Universal Annoyance Unless you live completely off-grid, you know this sight: the chaotic mess of tangled power cords. The humble extension cord (or “power strip”) is an indispensable tool in modern life, bridging the…
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Stop Using Faucet Covers. Removing It Is the Only Way to Guarantee No Frozen Pipes.
The Annual Winter Is Coming Ritual As the weather gets colder, the annual ritual of “winterizing” begins. For me, the first task is always dealing with the outdoor faucet (or “spigot”) that my wife uses…
