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Topics - RSI

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46
Electronics / How electricity works
« on: March 12, 2014, 09:13:57 PM »
ELECTRICAL THEORY BY JOSEPH LUCAS



Positive ground depends on proper circuit functioning, which is the transmission of negative ions by retention of the visible spectral manifestation known as “smoke”. Smoke is the thing that makes electrical circuits work. We know this to be true because every time one lets the smoke out of an electrical circuit, it stops working. This can be verified repeatedly through empirical testing.

For example, if one places a copper bar across the terminals of a battery, prodigious quantities of smoke are liberated and the battery shortly ceases to function. In addition, if one observes smoke escaping from an electrical component such as a Lucas voltage regulator, it will also be observed that the component no longer functions. The logic is elementary and inescapable!

The function of the wiring harness is to conduct the smoke from one device to another. When the wiring springs a leak and lets all the smoke out of the system, nothing works afterward.
Starter motors were considered unsuitable for British motorcycles for some time largely because they consumed large quantities of smoke, requiring very unsightly large wires.

It has been reported that Lucas electrical components are possibly more prone to electrical leakage than their Bosch, Japanese or American counterparts. Experts point out that this is because Lucas is British, and all things British leak. British engines leak oil, British shock absorbers, hydraulic forks and disk brake systems leak fluid, British tires leak air and British Intelligence leaks national defense secrets. Therefore, it follows that British electrical systems must leak smoke. Once again, the logic is clear and inescapable.

In conclusion, the basic concept of transmission of electrical energy in the form of smoke provides a logical explanation of the mysteries of electrical components especially British units manufactured by Joseph Lucas, Ltd.

And remember: “A gentleman does not motor about after dark.”


Joseph Lucas “The Prince of Darkness”
1842-1903

47
For Sale / 20 plate heat exchangers
« on: September 06, 2013, 04:09:09 PM »
I have a few 20 plates that I ordered and then decided not to use. They have 3/4" female pipe thread for the DHW and 1" female pipe thread for the boiler side. They are a little smaller than normal, 11-3/8" long x 4-5/8" wide.

They are setup this way to allow using cheaper and easier to get fittings.

Looking to get $140 each including shipping or can give a deal on more than one. Credit card, paypal or any other way you want to pay is fine.

[attachment deleted by admin for space issues]

48
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Site hacked
« on: April 15, 2013, 09:56:44 PM »
I don't think there are any link here in recent posts to my website but I just found out it was hacked. I think it just happened today but if anyone has been there, you should run your virus scanner.

I completely deleted the site and am uploading an old copy right now. I will re-upload the current version tomorrow when I am at the office. I changed the password so it should be safe again now.  If anyone happens to go there and notices anything strange at all, please let me know.

Thanks to martyinmi I was able to kill it before it did any more harm.

If you don't have a good antivirus scanner, I suggest getting Microsoft Security Essentials. It is free and seems to work good. If anyone needs a download link, I can post it but probably can find it with google real easy.

49
For Sale / 80' and 175' of 1-1/4" 5 wrap insulated pex in Montana
« on: October 16, 2012, 02:29:49 PM »
I have some 5 wrap insulated pex that is currently in Montana. The wrong lengths were shipped and I am trying to sell to someone over there instead of dealing with return shipping.
One roll is 175' long and is still coiled up on pallet. The other is about 80' and was cut off a longer roll. It is all 1-1/4" oxygen barrier pex.


If you have any interest, let me know and I will see what we can work out for pricing. Getting it shipped in a possibility but probably would only make sense doing that to western states.

50
Plumbing / Plate heat exchanger plumbing
« on: August 11, 2012, 05:18:14 PM »
Has anyone ever used braided hoses to connect a plate? Menards sells some that are for connecting water softeners. They have 1" female pipe thread at one end and a 3/4" push fitting (similar to sharkbite) at the other. It would make connecting the domestic water side of the plate take a couple minutes at the most. Just screw the two hoses onto the plate (they have gaskets so you don't even need to use thread sealer) and cut the cold water line and push the two hoses on.

The hoses at Menards are Watts brand and appear to be rated at 180 degrees. That is the biggest problem I see with using them.

I found some make by Sharkbite that are rated at 200 degrees but they have 3/4" pipe threads so would require an extra adapter.

Also, Menards sells a stainless steel flexible pipe but it is 1" female pipe threads at both ends so would not be as simple to connect to water heater.

51
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Display ideas needed
« on: July 21, 2012, 05:44:14 PM »
I need to come up with a way do display brochures at the county fair. I will not be there the whole time and need to be protected from wind and rain. Last year I built a plexiglass cover with sloped bottom under them and open front (3-1/2" high opening) but it didn't work out at all. The wind and rain destroyed most of the brochures.

The only thing I can find to buy are the upright plastic boxes and I don't really like them. I would prefer to buld something but just can't come up with a good idea. I need to have it ready by this wednesday so needs to be somewhat simple.

If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

52
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Temperature monitoring
« on: December 05, 2011, 05:01:44 PM »
I have been working on a new project whenever I have time and think I have it figured out mostly so it doesn't need a computer running or any user setup and can probably get a wifi version working.
I am looking for feedback on setting it up.
I do not have it currently uploading but this will give you an idea what it looks like.
http://www.fuji.rsixray.com/last.htm (The probes were on a gas boiler and it cycles a lot)

I can change the size and position of the temperatures box and can remove any of the fields if I want to. (keep in mind it the height of it will change depending on how many sensors are connected and could get quite large with a lot of them)

Also, looking for suggestions on the graph sizes, positions and if both should be left on. I can also add a monthly chart or do monthly instead of weekly.

I am trying to find the best setting between size and what looks best. Keeping it small really cuts down on the size for uploading.

Also looking for feedback on what the minimum upload interval should be. 15 seconds in the minimum but that takes quite a bit of bandwidth even with small graphs. I could do it different for dialup and satellite users but would like to keep them all the same if possible.

I can get it back online in a couple days and start making changes if I get any suggestions.

53
Electronics / Anyone here have a Kill A Watt (or similar) Meter?
« on: October 26, 2011, 12:01:05 AM »
I am interested in getting a list of actual pump watt usage. I will be trying several different pumps when I get around to it. If you have a watt meter please post what your pump is using.

Right now my meter is on a B&G PL36. The label says 2.1 amps. It is running at 181 watts. I have about 120' of Kitek (pex-al-pex) from the boiler to the pump and then is splits off to 3 heat exchangers in parallel. If I close off the valves the watt usage drops and bottoms out at about 130 watts with the pump dead headed.

54
Plumbing / Pex
« on: October 19, 2011, 12:38:07 AM »
I can't get to sleep so I thought I would make a post about something I get asked about a lot.

There seems to be a lot of confusion about pex sizes. Places selling it and claiming true 1" ID or something similar and claiming normal pex is the listed as the OD only make it worse. The biggest problem I have with listing it that way is that it makes finding the correct fittings a nightmare and a lot of people end up with improper fittings or just use hose barbs and clamps.

This post is to try to explain it.

All normal pex is copper tubing size (CTS). This means the outside diameter is the same as copper pipe. 1" copper pipe is 1-1/8" OD and so is pex. Normal pex uses the SDR9 standard which means that the wall thickness is 1/9 that of the diameter. Fittings for this pipe are available almost everywhere.

The pex that most people call true 1" ID is actually metric. I have seen it listed 2 ways and I am not sure if there are 2 standards. One way is by both ID and OD. What a lot of people claim as 1" ID is 26mm / 32mm. I have also seen pex listed as nominal size which is a measurement from the center of one wall to the center of the other.

Pex al pex usually is metric also but rarely advertised that way. That doesn't bug me as much though because it uses different fittings and doesn't cause confusion.

If anyone has anything to add or corrections to anything I said, please post them.

55
Natures Comfort / Just started up the GT220 today
« on: October 15, 2011, 01:43:59 PM »
Finally cold enough here to fire it up. Was able to close the bypass and start gasifying (if that is a word I don't know how to spell it.. lol) at 104 degrees. I tried at 99 and it wouldn't start there.
http://rsiboilers.com/temp.htm

56
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Pump on the way out?
« on: April 28, 2011, 12:03:26 AM »
I have I a Grundfos 26-96BF (I think) pump that I think doesn't have much life left in it. I unplugged it a few days ago and it wouldn't start again. It was late saturday night and ended up giving it a couple pretty good whacks with a hammer to get it to start. I am guessing it will not start next fall after sitting for the summer. I think this is the 7th winter that it has been running.

Am I best off just replacing it or wait and see if it will go then? I suppose now would be a good time to try out an Armstrong E9. They supposedly use a lot less power than a water lubricated pump. Has anyone tried one? If so, how does it compare to a water lubricated pump?

57
Equipment / Any welders here? Welding steel to cast iron?
« on: April 27, 2011, 09:44:14 AM »
Is there any problem welding cast iron to steel? I need to replace the jacks on the back of my boiler trailer and was thinking about welding a couple of high lift type on instead. http://www.tractorsupply.com/trailer-jacks/farm-jack-48-in--0115902

Will welding them make them unsafe?

58
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Clothes Dryer?
« on: April 16, 2011, 08:54:02 PM »
I have been thinking about putting together a kit for clothes dryers. The problem is that to order the small size heat exchangers it costs 3-4 times as much for one as it does per unit if I order larger quantities.
If anyone here is interested in doing it let me know and if we can get enough people together for a batch it would be a lot cheaper for everyone.
I have not decided exactly what size heat exchanger would be best but I am thinking around 6x6" or 8x8" should be sufficient.

I know it works with 180 degree water but not sure how good it will for people that run at the lower temperatures. (ie: 140 degrees)
I have had one setup for a couple years but I just used a single row 12x12 heat exchanger with 1/2" pex feeding it. Using the custom size heat exchanger should work out a lot better because dryers suck air in and I don't think it is going through the entire 12x12 area and the extra thickness of the 3 row coil should heat the air a lot better.

Also, I used a second dryer instead of putting it on the main dryer. Mostly for safety since I didn't want to interfere with the heater on the dryer. Also, this allows to dry two loads of laundry if you get behind.  ;D The dryer I put it on I removed the heat source.
You could probably use your main dryer but it would be up to you to make sure it is safe. (I would highly recommend removing the kit and going over the dryer to make sure it is ok after switching it back for the summer if you do this)
I used to have an indoor wood furnace so there was a spot about the right size for the second dryer where it had been.

It looks like heat exchangers would be around $100 each if we can get to the price break quantity. If we can get more together it would drop it more. Also, if doing it the way I will be recommending, you will need a pump also. I can supply that or you could get it on your own. Other parts would probably depend on the specific dryer but a universal kit may be possible.

If there is interest, I would like to see some pictures of the bottom inside and back of different dryers that you have so we could get the best size heat exchanger. If it could be mounted inside it would be a much cleaner looking install.

59
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Insulated Pex
« on: March 19, 2011, 08:04:05 PM »
I get calls about insulated pipe all the time and get asked how the insulation compares to X brand. As far as I know there are not really any tests done to be able to compare the different brands / types.
I usually tell them what my supplier has told me but also tell them where the info came from so they know the info may be skewed in their favor.
I have been thinking of setting up some sort of test but it would have to be done on a small scale because it would cost a small fortune to get a long length of every brand.

I was thinking of getting a big old chest freezer so I could have a constant outside temperature. If possible 5' long and punch a hole in each end for the pipe to go through. They set it up with a pump and electric heater. Measuring the watt hours should give an exact BTU loss on the pipe.

If I did this, I would probably test outside temp (freezer) at a few different temps from 50 to -10 degrees and hot water temp from 140-180 degrees.

If anyone else wanted to do the testing instead, I would be happy to help. I would actually prefer the results to come from someone else as they would be more believable to customers if it wasn't my testing. I wouldn't really care how the results turn out at this point though because I can just switch over to the better pipe to sell if something would happen to be that much better. Also, I have no problem telling a customer that x brand pipe has x less heat loss when it costs 2-3 times as much. Most buying cheap pipe already know it isn't as good but are looking for some idea just how much worse it is.

Does this sound like it would be the best way to do it cheaply and get accurate results? What changes would make it better / more accurate?

60
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Who would be interested?
« on: March 02, 2011, 01:40:36 PM »
I am thinking about selling a product that would allow you to see your boiler temperature on a smart phone, computer, etc and send text messages (to any cell phone)/ emails if the boiler temp goes over a temp you set. Can send text if too high (you forgot to close the door and is going to boil over) or temp too low (forgot to put in wood or if you put sensor after pump will tell pump failed)
It will also give you a graph of the boiler temperature. (would show how many time and how long it cycles, etc)

I am trying to figure out if there is enough interest to spend the time getting the bugs worked out to start selling them.
It would come with one sensor with the option to add up to 15 more. Sensors can have up to 300' of wire added so you can place at boiler and in house.

Right now my test unit requires a computer running full time and an active internet connection to get temp on smart phone or computer at another location. Also it only reads celcius right now. The text/email option isn't working yet either. If you want to see what is available right now, you will need to use live messenger. Just PM me your Microsoft live ID so I can add.
If you don't use live or MSN messenger, you can do it from an online microsoft live account.

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