The Home Improvement Thread

[Regular_John]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Agreed - my rule of thumb, double it and add a bottle of rum

Dion, I know for a fact we discussed gin on my recent kitchen project. I consider rum to be a major change of scope.

[PaperBagger'14]

I know a way of trapping and killing mice that's 100% effective, however it isn't the nicest way of doing it. If you wish send me a PM and I'll tell you how I've done it. I would post it here but it may hurt some people's sensibilities.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Muffins

If the issue is it's always too loose, or the teeth don't really go through the wires much, then it's either a bad crimper or you're not squeezing hard enough.

I've done hundreds of them and never had an issue with a decent crimper.

If the Fry's "Geek Squad" equivalent can't mange doing it, then they're just as useless as the actual Geek Squad.

I assume bad crimper. I squeezed the heck out of it before. The terminals were never loose either. Oh wells, I'm all done networking...

Until my next home

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Another story from my experience....

For whatever reason, I've only been successful at attaching an RJ45 (the male terminal) once. I just can't get it to work ever. I'm no sparky, but I've watched a million videos and such how to do it, but could never get it right (except once). I consider myself pretty handy. Maybe my crimpers were crap? I don't think I bought the cheap one.

Anyhow, my work around was to terminate the ethernet cable with the female ends (those were easy) and then I bought just little 1, 2 or 3 foot patch cables (have the RJ45 male end on both ends) to connect from the cable in the walls to the router on one end and the computer on the other end.

Hopefully you have better luck, but for whatever reason, attaching the male ends did not work for me. As a side note, I even went to a Fry's Electronics (huge, huge electronics place in the US) and went to their geek squad equivalent desk and offered the guys cash if they would put a male RJ45 end on a length of bulk cable for me. Those nerds actually refused saying that they could never figure it out either!

So beware of that issue that might pop up for you.

My solution was to also order a patch panel. I thought it would make it look more "professional" in the end. I will need a punch down tool, but it should be easy to use abs should be less hassle than crimping ends on.

Nevertheless, getting excited. Haven't done any really fun house projects in a few years. This should be satisfying once done.

[ranchlandsselling]

Looking for a cheap option for flooring on a cement basement floor. Want to put padded mats down for the kids to play. Maybe put a playing apparatus (like a mini playground) down there so a semi-soft flooring in case (or when) there's a tumble. Plus it's also more comfortable to play on. Something like those black garage mats you can get but obviously covering more ground but not expensive.

[surferguy]

Your answer starts and finishes with a giant ball pit.

[ranchlandsselling]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Your answer starts and finishes with a giant ball pit.

It would, but when I toss said child into giant ball pit there's always that one (many) time(s) they slip thru the balls and land on the floor. Although I could always hide from my wife in the ball pit. That would be awesome. Can you drink beer and watch TV in a ball pit?

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Your answer starts and finishes with a giant ball pit.

That's funny, I was about to post a picture of a ball pit.

[V]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Yeah, electrical stuff is definitely not something you want to cheap out on or take short-cuts with. Especially when you're an amateur (like me!).

Bah, it's 120V, what's the worst thing that could happen?

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by V

Bah, it's 120V, what's the worst thing that could happen?

Yip. Circuit breaker is bound to trip eventually if it was something really bad.

[BloodFetish]

Originally Posted by Muffins

If the issue is it's always too loose, or the teeth don't really go through the wires much, then it's either a bad crimper or you're not squeezing hard enough.

I've done hundreds of them and never had an issue with a decent crimper.

If the Fry's "Geek Squad" equivalent can't mange doing it, then they're just as useless as the actual Geek Squad.

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I assume bad crimper. I squeezed the heck out of it before. The terminals were never loose either. Oh wells, I'm all done networking...

Until my next home

I struggled with this early on, until I learned the difference between solid-core and stranded Cat5/6, and that they make RJ45 ends for each. Use a RJ45 end meant for stranded wire on a solid-core cable and it may or may not work initially, but guaranteed down the road it will give you problems.

Home Depot sells RJ45 ends that work on both solid and stranded cable, and I've never yet had a problem with them.

[CroFlames]

Hmm, I am definitely more educated nowadays when it comes to cat5/e, Cat 6 and such than when I first tried doing all my networking. Perhaps I was making some oddball mistake and using the wrong connectors.

That was in my parents house so the next time I'm back there I'll check out my handywork and see if I can't identify some errors.

But I did find it odd that as recently as last month the guy's at Fry's said they couldn't and wouldn't do it. Oh wells, I have bigger fish to fry, like reigning in wife's spending on decorating our new house lol.

[REDVAN]

There is an induction cooktop in kijiji that my wife wants to get- haven't had one before, do they need any extra electrical harness or do I just wire them in?

I'll be installing as a DIY, so I don't want to buy something from the back of a truck if I don't know it'll work without spending another couple hundred on some attachments.

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by REDVAN

There is an induction cooktop in kijiji that my wife wants to get- haven't had one before, do they need any extra electrical harness or do I just wire them in?

I'll be installing as a DIY, so I don't want to buy something from the back of a truck if I don't know it'll work without spending another couple hundred on some attachments.

If you have an electrical spec sheet I can look at I can tell you what you need. Also what type of stove do you have now? Gas or regular resistive element?

[surferguy]

Do the inductions need special post/pans?

[Fuzz]

Can't you just get the model number and search for the manual?

[REDVAN]

Yeah I could but it's a kijiji buy so it's unknown until I go see it.

And it's going into a new kitchen that I haven't wired yet- my illegal basement suite so I am mostly wondering how the wiring hooks up to the units in others experience? Is it just directly wired from the wall or do I plug it in or what?

[Fuzz]

If it's a full size unit(not just a single element), you will need a 240v plug with a 40 or 50 amp breaker.

[redforever]

I have had an induction cooktop for 8 years, love it. I think most induction units require a 50 amp service. All the ones I looked at required that.

Depending on the age of the unit, you might be required to leave air circulation space of 6" to 8" below the unit. In other words, a built in oven unit might have to be installed lower than normal if placed there.

Any pots and pans will work as long as they are magnetic. If a magnet sticks to the bottom of your present pots and pans, they are fine, otherwise, you will need new cookware. Flat bottoms work the best.

Cast iron works fine, steel woks work fine, even those navy speckled roasting pans work fine.

Aluminium and stainless steel will not work unless the cookware has an encapsulated base that is magnetic.

Corning ware and other specialty stoneware will not work.

You can make aluminium and corning ware work if you buy a magnetic disc that you put on the cooktop and then you put that type of cookware on top of the magnetic disc.

Also, be careful of the type of induction cooktop that you buy. Not all of them have elements that are independent of one another. In other words, some share a total source of power so if one is on high or boost, it will reduce the remaining power available to the other element it is sharing power with.

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Do the inductions need special post/pans?

Yes they do. Ceramic won't work as induction doesn't produce heat, it uses magnetism to heat the pot.