Permeable paving techniques

The winter rain breached the bag of lime.  I let the bag sat for months and I was ready to throw it away.  But it was the best ~$10 bag of stuff I have ever brought.  Yes the paper bag was wet.  Water got to the lime.  But the lime absorbs all the water, and didn't dry out. 

So the lime was even better to use.  There's no fine dust, which probably is the reason for the cancer causing warning label.  Add water to the clay like paste and you have lime like before.

Squeezing pure lime paste into the gaps still isn't fast enough.  The tip of the application cone still blocks from time to time.  So even if it works, adding sand on top of the pure lime make sense.

Then I came up with the best method.  Use masking tape for painting.  You will use a lot of tape (unless you use it a few times each).  But it only cost a few dollars.  The one inch width type is more convenient.  Taping it on the stones is pretty fast.  It's the fastest and cleanest way to apply lime and sand mix.  But your stone need to be straight and smooth.

When I used up an old tape I thought of making a stencil out of a plastic sheet.  It worked pretty good.  Not as nice as masking tapes but probably more convenient.

One tip is to fill the voids with sand or soil first.  If you wet everything afterward, then the lime mixture will dry slowly and won't crack that easily.  If the lime mix did not touch the sand or soil below, it will dry quick and crack.

The other tip is to cover the stone with sand afterward.  Wet the whole thing.  The covering sand will protect the work if the surface is not even.  It's a easier way to keep the mixture wet after application, compared with a wet cloth.  The sand will go into the mixture and give it color and texture, instead of brilliant white.

Fridge repair: the case of heard what you want to hear

So I hope my fridge compressor isn't dead, thought it's retirement time overdue.

So I searched and found the usual cases that isn't the fault of the compressor.  The overload device is good and I hear the clicking sound, meaning it was protecting the compressor motor against large current.  The reason of overload is because the start relay (PTC) is faulty, turning on the start coil all the time, instead of changing over to the run coil only.

The PTC is an easy target for faults.  But I would think burning out, always disconnect is more common.  I can't imagine how it is always short.  The test make sense.  Put a light bulb in series and the bulb should flash momentarily.  That's how the start coil works and then shut off.  My bulb is always on so I hope I only need to replace the start relay.

Fortunately I find one online for some $10.  But I have to wait a few days for it to arrive, wasting time. I plugged it in and the same thing happened.

What I think you need a conventional bulb with high wattage to shut that thing off.  I happened to use a CF bulb.

Since I wasted a few days, I might just as well test thoroughly the compressor before I gave up the fridge.  All the resistance between terminals are of low ohm.  I only have an analogue meter since my student days so I hope they are several ohms and they add up in series.  The terminals are not shorted to the case.

To make sure I tried to start the compressor manually.  It's pretty easy if you can clamp onto the three terminals.  Unfortunately the terminals do not face the back, but face the sidewall with little space to get into.  Also the remaining space is partially blocked by copper tubes.  I have to buy a bank of insulated terminal blocks that cost me another $8.  Those that you can cut off into individual connectors and have screws to tighten wires.  I screw the connectors onto the terminals.  It's hard work because of the lack of access but it worked.  I also brought out the ground and power wires.  I also connect wires to bypass the overload device.

It wouldn't start.  With or without the start coil on, the overload device is always triggered into open circuit.  When I bypass the overload, large current caused sparks.

It's simple.  I should have believed my meter.  The terminals are shorted to each other - zero ohm.  Nobody mentioned that because when the compressor is dead, there's nothing to talk about.  So when ever power is delivered into the compressor for whatever reason, the current is large and the overload protection will be triggered.

The compressor itself cost about the same as a simpler fridge.  If you add in the labor cost, it will be the same as a new fridge with some tiny scratches on it.

Fridge repair

I never thought I came to this point, repairing my fridge.  I wanted to retire the fridge long ago, and now it's over 10+ years.  We called the repairman a long time ago for some simple problems that I don't remember or I never knew. 

Then last summer the fridge wasn't cool enough.  There is still a big opening gap when the door is closed.  It wasn't a problem with the gaskets or the mounting of the door.  I think it's the door that is warped.  I cleaned the dust and put in some weather seals at the door and the fridge seems to work.  I got two thermometer to monitor the temperature.  The fridge is within spec.  The freezer isn't but it's less than -10 so you can make ice and preserve frozen food and ice cream for a while. No big deal.

Then the fridge went completely dead.  I wanted a simple replacement but my wife wanted an expensive upgrade.  So I tried to repair it instead.

The most important component is the compressor, sealed with a motor in it.  If you don't stress it too much, it could last forever.  A new one cost less than $300 but you need a professional to reseal the system.

If the compressor doesn't run at all, while everything else works, it is more likely that the solid state start relay, that most new fridges uses instead of the good old wire wound versions.

If the compressor doesn't run but feels warm or hot, that's mean it may be alive.  If you hear clicks every minute or so, that means the overload protection is turned on, while the compressor tried to start repeatedly.

It turns out it's pretty easy to test which one is bad.  Unfortunately in my fridge, the components are plugged into the compressor at the side near to the fridge wall.  You cannot move the compressor to get to them because the copper tubes are rigid. 

This is what I do.  Imagine that the relay and overload protector is plugged into the compressor like an electric socket into a plug.  Indeed there are three terminals like an electrical plug from the compressor.  You can't see it but keep that in mind and you won't damage anything.

First prey off the cover.  You won't break anything, except maybe if the cover is plastic.  Old fridges have a large capacitor that could give you electrical shock.  New ones don't but I would use a metal tool or wire to short everything to ground first before touching anything.

Then you take off the three wires connected to the terminals.  Take a picture first if you will forget which one is connected to which terminal.  You need a piler or two to separate the terminals.

You unplug the overload device first, which has one terminal, like preying off a very tight electrical socket from the plug from the side.  You need force, but be careful to pull it straight out without damaging the legs by sidewards forces.  Then you pull out the relay, two terminals, in the same way.  Now you can see the three bare legs from the compressor.

The overload protector is OK if it's 0 ohm across it.  If not, it's probably toasted and smell of such.

The compressor is probably OK if any two of it's three terminals has about 0 ohm across them.  And any terminal is not shorted to the ground.  (Test the resistance between each terminal and the ground terminal somewhere on the compressor, or the copper tubes.)  If you have a digital meter, the terminals are like two resistor back to back.  The total resistance, in the order of a few ohms, should add up.
 
Contrary to many advice which looked identical, it's surprisingly easy to test the relay.  One guy suggested to put a light bulb in series with the relay.  When you apply power the bulb should flash on for a moment.  My bulb stays on so it must be bad.  Of course you have to understand what is in series and have the confidence to tackle live electricity, which in some countries will kill you.

To make sure that the compressor actually works, you can apply power to the compressor directly, and apply the start voltage using a switch.  I won't try that because the terminals are hard to get to.

Also on ebay the relay cost $11 and express shipping cost a few dollars more.  It cost a few more times in the shops if you can find it in stock.

The other things are easy, like the auto defrost timer.  You can access the timer in front of the fridge near the floor.  Just turn the dial and the timer will move on to defrost mode and then off, so you know if the timer is bad.

Permeable paving update

My permeable pavement proved itself during the flood.  In my concrete paved area, tubes are laid underground to prevent flooding.  But drains can be blocked.  My permeable paved area dries quickly when the rain stops.

The drying paving technique doesn't work, using lime and sand dry mixture to fill the gaps.  They will never turn rock solid and starts to wear off slowly, better than soil though.

My next idea will be filling the gaps with pure wet lime first, and then sweep dry sand on top and squeeze into the gaps.  Filling the gaps with wet lime is quick, because without sand in it the tool will not be blocked easily.  Add dry sand on top is clean and easy.  Hopefully it works.

Unfortunately, my lime bag got penetrated during the flood.  They may or may not be working anymore.

Super flush and sparkle a great success

The little hardware used almost immediately earn it's worth.  The chlorine tablets for swimming pools are much cheaper, last for weeks each, and you can even find it in Albertsons's supermarkets.  The pungent chlorine odour for the first flush in the morning is gone.  The toilet bowl remains crystal clear.  When it's not so clear you know it's time to add tablets.

The dual flush conversion doesn't work.  Its because the toilet bowl (not the tank) do not fill up full every time.  Using siphon to continuously fill the toilet bowl isn't practical.  Too risky.

The dripper did get blocked after some weeks.  But it's very cheap.  Now I'm using those that can be opened up to unblock or to see what happened.

Critter home a success

The modified critter home is a great success, passing the winter flood, storm and cold with flying colors.

The insulation is great.  It's water proof.  And even water leaked from the tiny cracks in the roof, they are still held in place by tapes even when wet.  They don't get wet and still functions, and water didn't drip from the ceiling.

The flaps and magnetic closure were designed to keep warm from cold draft.  It also prevents rain storms that went horizontal.

Well before the severe weather, we put the home on a pile of paving slaps to raise the height.  We can use a big bucket under the litter opening to collect waste in one go.  The horizontal rotating/sliding door works well for it's simplicity.

The raised acrylic platform inside the home is good.  Dirt mostly fall down onto the floor level.  The acrylic platform is kept clean by newspaper on top, fresh every day.

The gap below the platform and above the floor is filled with compacted plastic bags from the supermarkets.  They are pretty warm.

Washing the home frequently is a bad idea.  Too much work and it takes time to dry.  Now the platform is mostly clean, if not you can  pile more newspaper on top for a day or two.  You can empty the dirt on the floor once a week.  The wet litter has to be emptied through the hole daily or every other day if the weather is bad.  Once a month or so I use the steam cleaner to clean the house thoroughly, without moving the whole thing.

The heater using broken soldering iron is good.  It's simple mounting near the top so the critter cannot play with it.  It's shielded with wood plates.  Now that I don't wash and move around the house the mounting and wiring is simple.  It will never overheat.  It may be too mild but a warm wall instead of a freezing wall makes a lot of difference.  You can always use a higher power soldering iron when not in use, taking the tip away.

Improvements: kids can do the upside down bottle, but will wet the place a bit.  Keep the wet area away from the dry area so it will not make a wet mess.  The gaps on the side of the platform could be sealed to control where the dirt collects.

Self haircut with salon style and precision

The basic cut - equal length

Hair stylists do all the time is to hold your hair between the index and middle fingers, and then shorten the hair in a straight flat cut.

We can do that in a precise manner with a "clip" cut out from plastic gift boxes. The height of the clips determine the lengths of hair. Stand the a clip about vertically on your head. Put a thin strand of hair between the clips and pull straight. Hold the clip with thumb and middle fingers. Use your index finger as the location finder and try to cut it. Pull out your index finger at the last minute when you cut. It is easier not to look at the mirror when you cut.

The principle is, if you repeat cutting all over your head, no matter how the clips are oriented, all your hair will be of the same length, perfectly, more precise than in the salons. Actually you don't need to cut precisely. Hair are forgiving.

This is the same principle as the Flowbee and the Robocut. But you got it for free. Hand cut is a bit slower than machines but I do it in a warm bath. Make sure you have a filter to collect the hair. For any reason, if you do not finish in one bath, finish it another day.

For long hairs like 6 inches to 1 foot, I cut a PVC pipe to the desirable length with a pipe cutter. Then I cut the pipe in half along the length. I use the half pipe to measure the hair length during cutting.

You can just tape two plastic rulers together like using the clips above.

Moist cut, wet cut or dry cut does not make much difference. But wet hair tends to stay together so you won't miss a hair or two. Also scissors cut straight into wet hair with no slipping.

Dry cut is safer in the sense that what you see is what you get for newbies. You may also want the final final cut when dry, after washing your hair clean and dry completely.

Layers

I think multi-layers mean that you partition your hair into different groups, and cut each group with the same style and length.

The length of cut determines the hair length, as measured from the hairlines. Just as important, it determines the thickness or volume of hair.

Women are perfectly fine with a one-layer cut, with all hair the same length - 6", 1' or longer. In this case you split the front into the sides. The back will gradually be longer than the sides. There's the natural uneven look with a tapered end at the back.

Men are fine with a one-layer cut, 1" to 4", but the hairlines need to be trimmed, unless they want to look like girls.

If you need different layers, one method is to partition your hair carefully with clips. But the equal length cutting method do not require carefully partitioning. The different layers will blend into each other naturally.

Women

Bling at the front can use the same basic cut to get the natural look. To control the bling thickness, choose a length longer than the desired bling length. After the basic cut, trim back the bling to the desired level with a flat straight cut.

The sides may need to be shorter if you want to have very long hair at the back. You may want to cut the lower back hair shorter than the rest. And you may want to give the end of your hair a straight flat cut instead of a tapered look.


Men

The top of your head need to be longer, so the "swirl center" at top of your head can be covered. 2" to 3" will be typical. About the same length on top of your head to give some margin to play around with blow drying or other styling if desirable.

The front hairline needs to be about 1.5" or shorter if you want it to stay up sideways without falling down like blings.

Too short your hair will becomes spiky, dependent on hair type.

A good choice for the back of your head and the sides is 1". Short is easy to manage. But any shorter will be difficult using our primitive tool. And because of the tolerance of your cut, very short hair may start to look uneven.

Now the apparently difficult part - the neckline. Actually, even if you have absolutely straight hair, you can do a business clean cut all by yourself. Now after the basic cut, all your hair at the neck hairline will be about, say, 1" dangling down.

I create a straight line guide by using a rubber band on my neck. I use a trimmer to cut away the hair below the rubber band. You need to look at your neck with two mirrors while cutting.

I picked this narrow head trimmer because it's cheap. Not really. You can trim off individual odd hair easily. If you make a mistake, it will be a minute mistake and nobody will notice.

You can use scissors and clippers. But for this trimmer you can touch your skin first, make sure the orientation is right and then move gradually to the cut point. Then move a few mm to cut the neighboring hair. In the mirror you always make mistakes unless you are experienced. One wrong scissor cut or clipper cut will ruin your hair style for weeks, until new hair grow back.

Now the most difficult part is apparently the ears. If you have curly hair you probably want to fully or partially cover your ears. If you have straight hair and want to cover your ears, you need to cut your hair with sufficient thickness on the sides.

Now if you want to show off your sexy ears, do a clean business cut, and you have absolutely straight hair, you have to read carefully. Not really.

You need help to hold down your ears so you can see where you are cutting in the mirror. A rubber band will do nicely.

Now comb your hair around your ears in all possible directions towards the ears, and trim off excess using the ear lines as a guide.

Then comb normally and trim the hair around the ears that is out of place. Since hair do not grow on the bones just around the ears, you can use that as a guide instead of the ear lines.

Finally, the hairline at the two sides near your ears need to be further trimmed. You trim it until it's neat and no odd hair stand out. This is the only places that you need to worry if the left and right are symmetrical. But seldom anyone look at you straight from the back within two feet.

For the sideburns, I use a clipper and pick a guide that gives me a few mm of hair, and blend in with the hair above. Then use the clipper directly to cut a straight edge. You can also use your fingers as short clips and cut. You can use razor for a straight edge.

Clippers are supposed to give you fixed length hair, the same as the basic cut using clips. However, in the basic cut you pull you hair straight and therefore more precise. Clippers also cannot do long hairs such as 1".

That's all there is to it. Start long. If you don't like it you can try again tomorrow. If you cut too short you have to wait a few weeks.

Hair car for men and kids

In case you do not know, you always need conditioner. Two in one is not good, not good enough to detangle kid's hair. After shampoo and rinse, apply conditioner quickly like shampoo. You hair should be slippery all over. Then rinse thoroughly. It takes about an additional minute. But even the cheapest conditioner will make a lot of difference to your hair.

You may need some non-fragrant hair gel to style or to cover your mistakes.  It can help your front hair to stay up and your spiky hair to stay down.  It can add style to cover up that your hair is not that evenly cut.