Conversation started Apr 4, 2013 at 18:58.
Apr 4, 2013 18:58
Welcome to Project Update Thursday
Installed a new programmable thermostat, and discovered that other people don't paint behind them.
Also modified the wiring a bit. They had the wires:
Red - R
Yellow - Y
Green - W
Black - G
I changed it to:
Red - R
Yellow - Y
Green - G
Black - W
And yes, I made the changes in the furnace as well.
@BMitch I think you're right, I might be a bit OCD.
JNK
JNK
@Tester101 I think I have the same model
...and the same paint issue
I built a gate for my deck and discovered that the 4x4s that are on either side of my steps aren't square
JNK
JNK
Yep that's what I got
I sprung for the 5-1-1 instead of the 5-2
I want to get one for my downstairs now too
I have hot water baseboard heat in 2 zones and downstairs is half underground
I'm interested to see how the new thermostat does when I turn on the AC in a few months
no other projects this Thursday? :)
Apr 4, 2013 19:18
I also installed an Occupancy sensor in my 1/2 bath.
Works as expected, but damn is it loud!
JNK
JNK
the sensor itself?
It also feels a bit cheap. It's all plastic; even the yoke, and it just doesn't feel like a quality device.
@JNK Presumably the switch. It turns on CLICK!, and off CLACK!
JNK
JNK
oh wow that would be unexpected
you don't want your bathroom clicking at you
I'm also digging a garden for my wife but that's probably not a DIY topic ;)
I was a bit disappointed, I expected a bit more out of a ~$20 device. I mean, it's not like occupancy sensors are new technology.
JNK
JNK
Lutron is a decent brand too, right?
Apr 4, 2013 19:25
Usually.
Still haven't tackled the kitchen trap yet.
Maybe this weekend.
I've heard of HVAC guys using smoke or fog to find leaks, anybody ever heard of homeowners doing this themselves?
JNK
JNK
@Tester101 don't most of those guys have a special machine for that?
Not sure.
Dry Ice and Water would allow you to track some air flows.
JNK
JNK
the ones I have seen look kind of like an old-style flashlight (the big box that has a big 12v battery in it) but with a fan on front
are you looking to check your ductwork or something else?
Ducts, and exhaust fans. I want to make sure I've sealed all the holes the previous owners punched in the ducts. I also want to make sure the exhaust fans are exhausting outside.
JNK
JNK
Apr 4, 2013 19:39
I imagine you probably need to find out what they use. I think the smoke is something fairly dense to be able to persist through the ducts all the way
yeah
JNK
JNK
well they recommend on the first page 2x the volume to be tested
you have 20,000 cubic feet of ducting right?
Go big or go home, right?
JNK
JNK
if I have water draining a little from one toilet when another is flushed it could be a clogged vent stack right?
Yeah. It's a siphon effect
JNK
JNK
Apr 4, 2013 19:45
ok
it's slight but I need to deal with it
Get up on the roof and check for birds nests etc.
JNK
JNK
I really ought to put an elbow on it
the one I have is like 4 feet above the roof and straight
That was cool. Joshmax just fell off the bottom and floated in from the top.
JNK
JNK
I think my vent is pretty big too, it's like 4" across or bigger
Apr 4, 2013 19:52
I could find you a professional Pot smoker. My neighbour has teenagers.
That might work, as long as they exhale into the ducts.
Or, we could simple hold a papal conclave at your place.
I installed a wireless IP camera in the nursery and it also has a big click when the lights turn on and off when it drops and raises the IR filter for the night LEDs
I could come over and grind a little bit on your floor without my DustBuddy.
3
HUH!? You're going to do what to my floor?
Apr 4, 2013 19:58
That'll fill your house with airborne particulate matter in short order.
@KarlKatzke Somehow that sentence turns me on...
@ChrisCudmore You know you've been in DIY chat too long when...
The definition of Grind I'm imagining.
If you really want to "grind" my floor, you're welcome to. Just clean up when you're done.
hahaha. Sure, with my diamond cup... :D
On an actual home improvement topic I learned today about a alternative method for one of these:
Apr 4, 2013 20:04
Just use a regular hex drill bit in a 1/4" socket attached to a ratchet
@Aaron That's for drawing circles, right?
What the hell was up with the 60's?
No, it's an offset screwdriver
@Aaron Yeah. It draws circles on the drywall, as you unscrew a screw.
Apr 4, 2013 20:05
I C what u did there
Better design:
@Aaron That's what I've been doing all along....
@Aaron Seeing as that comes without robertson, it's useless.
Now, what I'd like, is an offset arm for my impact driver. Power driver on one end, Bit on the other.
@ChrisCudmore Like a Right Angle Drill Attachment‌​?
Yeah. But smaller.
Always smaller with you.
Apr 4, 2013 20:10
Well, If I could fit that in, I'd be able to fit my driver head in there.
@Aaron You can also use a driver bit, and an adjustable spanner.
Though you don't get as much downward force.
YOu forgot one.
I'd rather use the socket, easier to fit it in
and @Tester101 I thought you were an american, what's with 'spanner' ?
That's just my thing now. Crescent®-Wrench never felt right.
Are robertson and square drive the same or are they slightly different?
Apr 4, 2013 20:19
Robertson's are tapered.
Also, Robertson's are proprietary. Square drive is generic.
Ok, you've got to admit that that's a cool background
JNK
JNK
Apr 4, 2013 20:39
I like Robertson's a lot
I read somewhere that Henry Ford wanted to use them but Robertson wouldn't give him a cheap enough deal so Ford went with Phillips
And American screws have been stripped ever since
I think it was that Ford wanted to buy it outright.
From the Robertson Website:
This savings captured the attention of the Detroit bosses and soon after P.L was in Detroit talking about expanding socket head screw production to supply all U.S. made Ford cars. Henry Ford refused to commit to a new product line without having a say in how and where the screws would be made. P.L was not happy with this idea and headed home. This meant P.L was letting go of vast potential in the U.S. market, this also included Ford Windsor which accounted for one third of his output of screws.
PL is Peter L Robertson.
JNK
JNK
Hmmm Wikipedia tells a different story
> Robertson had licensed the screw design to a maker in England, but the party that he was dealing with intentionally drove the company into bankruptcy and purchased the rights from the trustee, thus circumventing Robertson. He spent a small fortune buying back the rights.
> Subsequently, he refused to allow anyone to make the screws under license. When Henry Ford tried out the Robertson screws he found they saved considerable time in Model T production, but when Robertson refused to license the screws to Ford, Ford realized that the supply of screws would not be guaranteed and chose to limit their use in production to Ford's Canadian division.
it sounds like he got skittish after a bad deal with an Englishman
Sounds like different versions of the same story.
JNK
JNK
yep
either way it's too bad since the screws are a lot better than phillips IMO
phillips are designed to torque out for petes sake
Ford wanted to be in control of everything. He even had sheep and cattle farms to ensure wool and leather supply.
@JNK There's a place for that. Drywall for sure.
JNK
JNK
Apr 4, 2013 20:51
@ChrisCudmore yeah but with modern tools it's not really needed
I'll still take a phillips over a slot. Slots are downright dangerous.
JNK
JNK
yeah I hate em
every time I have to deal with an electrical outlet I get pissed off
Me too, but most of that is due to the previous homeowner.
JNK
JNK
that's about the only place I have them I think
outlets/light switches and the like
You know the type. One Slot, One Phillips, One brass pan head to hang anything.
JNK
JNK
Apr 4, 2013 20:55
yep
the guy who had my house before I really have worse and worse thoughts about as I discover things
I think he was allergic to painter's tape
Man, another SE mod in this room
@ChrisCudmore and I are feeling left out
See this for the type of crap I have to deal with:
4
Q: How do I wire a switch/receptacle combination?

Chris CudmoreHere's my current situation. I've got 14/2 to the ceiling. The hot wire has a runner, which runs down to the switch, and the other wire is a switched hot, back to the light. The other side of the light is connected back to the 14/2 back to the breaker. Some genius in the past, replaced the li...

The mods come here for a break from the lawless wild west of the other SE sites.
We should feel privileged
@Tester101 I hate hate the middle-of-the-wire stripped loop to get around a terminal
JNK
JNK
This mod comes here because I bought my first house a little over a year ago and I have a lot of busted crap to fix still
@JNK where's a good site to explain to a mostly novice mysql user all the different joins and how to use them correctly? I always get it wrong 20 times before I find the one I want to do, and sometimes I just give up and write two queries and glue them together in PHP
JNK
JNK
Apr 4, 2013 21:00
@Aaron hmmm well the JOINs are universal so it shouldn't need to be MySQL specific
@Aaron Programmers do everything in code. DBA's do everything in the DB.
When the only tool you have is a hammer....
JNK
JNK
sql authority is good for this stuff if you can get past the sometimes spotty english
@JNK true, I just mean we use mysql here, so I guess I was being overly specific
JNK
JNK
ok fellas im out
@ChrisCudmore and what about the network engineers that are neither?
Apr 4, 2013 21:02
@Aaron Everything is a service.
I've had some pivot/unpivot queries that I couldn't do in MS Sql. They'd time out after five minutes.
2 seconds in code.
But that's due to bad table design.
Yeah, I'm out too. Anyone going to shut down?
@Aaron I only ever use inners and lefts...probably unimaginative, but it gets the job done for me.
@ChrisCudmore I'll be around if BMitch doesn't show back up to do it
I've never used a full outer. Left and Right are identical to my way of thinking. It's just how you order your FROM clause.
I think I had like a table of
1 A
2 A
3 A
2 B
3 B
6 B
4 C
1 C
2 C
@ChrisCudmore yeah, I'll always order my FROM to use a left.
Apr 4, 2013 21:08
and then I wanted to get one of each of A,B,C,D,E,F,G etc, but only the highest number row for each
SELECT *
FROM (SELECT Row_Number() OVER (PARTITION BY QNum
ORDER BY NEWID()) AS Sort, *
FROM IBABC_CAIB_EXAM_QUESTIONS
WHERE (CAIB = '1')) AS Temp
WHERE Sort = '1'
That's one I wrote that does something simlar.
@ChrisCudmore Yeah, that's how I do things too. But then I mess with it to see what I get. I can write the query three ways and run it faster than I can remember the difference between the different types of joins.
I don't even know what OVER and PARTITION do
Ok. You would want to partition by the letter column.
Row number is a simple 1, 2, 3, function.
Select Row_Number() over (Partition by [Letter Column])
Order By [Number Column] DESC
would give:
1 1 a
2 2 a
3 3 a
1 2 b
2 3 b
3 6 b
etc. Except my example is Ascending.
The NewID isn't necessary. That's for randomization.
And you'd need to explicitly include the other two columns in the select clause
Eep, I'm slipping...
Thanks for joining this week's PUT
 
Conversation ended Apr 4, 2013 at 21:16.