#garfield Logs

Sep 15 2024

10:19 AM aandrew: you have a calculator that has a VFD? it's either old or rare
10:32 AM aandrew: I used to take apart VCRs for the motors and displays, they were VFD too
10:54 AM aandrew: man I spent the week doing the wiring for the basement back home
10:54 AM aandrew: my hands are soooooo sore
10:54 AM aandrew: the guy who cut the concrete floor is a plumber and he has a brother who's an electrician who came over to kind of "pre inspect" my wiring before rough-in inspection
10:55 AM aandrew: there are a lot of little rule changes that would have cooke dme
10:55 AM aandrew: e.g. you can no longer run multiple wires down the middle of a stud "beside" each other. They must either be stacked so there's one column down the middle or you have to use 2x4 bracing across the stud (like you do for plumbing) and run them on that
10:56 AM aandrew: there's also not-rules-but-strong-recommendations that you leave about 6" of "service loop" outside the junction box before securing the wire to the wall but that's actually a good thing, oftentimes will save your ass if the inspector finds nicked insulation
10:57 AM aandrew: a washing machine must be on its own circuit (stupid rule), a microwave too but that makes sense
10:58 AM aandrew: the biggest pain in the ass is that at least in ontario, any circuit with an outlet *must* be AFCI protected. There are only two or three exceptions to this
10:59 AM aandrew: no more than 12 outlets per branch, but for "defined loads" (lighting mostly) there is no rule for AFCI and no limit to the number of devices as long as the calculated load is under 12A for a 15A circuit
11:00 AM aandrew: so I have like 50 pot lights spread across two circuits (could be one, but I didn't want the entire basement dark if the breaker tripped
11:00 AM aandrew: I flew to ontario on saturday and flying back to CA today. did NOTHING but wiring or chasing information, and I'm not done which is going to be a problem
11:03 AM aandrew: oh let me show you the pic of my irrigation controller -- I had a hose clamp break and flood the thing.. the controller itself is fine but the terminal strip box is... well see for yourself: https://ibb.co/sChDhDV
11:03 AM aandrew: I think the technical term for this is "fucked" :-)
11:04 AM aandrew: that's after two months, still water in it
11:05 AM aandrew: I unscrewed all the connections so I could take the box back with me and redo it all. Actually I think the correct term is more like "scrape the screwheads off so the terminal lets go" -- it was like poking a stick in mud for the most part
11:09 AM Tom_L: what's wrong with that?
11:34 AM rue_mohr: aandrew, yep, fridges, washing machines need to be on dedicated circuit, never caught the microwave one. you CAN share a wall clock from a fridge circuit.
11:34 AM rue_mohr: afci is a freaking disaster
11:35 AM rue_mohr: its the industry creating regulations to get around their own mistakes
11:35 AM rue_mohr: you know the fast push-in wire splicers? yea, thats why we now need afci
11:36 AM rue_mohr: the code doesn't regonize led lights yet, which is stupid for the 12 rule
11:37 AM rue_mohr: how did water get in? oh, the pit flooded?
11:40 AM Tom_L: shouldn't have though it's all sealed
11:41 AM Tom_L: probably seeped in between the wires thru the seal
11:42 AM Tom_L: oil fill it then seal
11:42 AM Tom_L: :)
11:42 AM rue_mohr: well if the pit flooded it didn't have a chance
11:43 AM Tom_L: i think i used those pinch silicon filled connectors
11:44 AM rue_mohr: heh, fill the box with gel
11:44 AM Tom_L: https://www.amazon.com/Connector-Uvital-Waterproof-Telephone-Connectors/dp/B0B1J5DN3C
11:44 AM Tom_L: similar
11:45 AM rue_mohr: yup
11:45 AM rue_mohr: deox will help against wet environments too
11:46 AM rue_mohr: in outside stuff I fill marretts with deox and I'v had stuff that should have died be perfectly fine ages later
11:46 AM rue_mohr: messy tho
11:46 AM Tom_L: so is the oil idea
11:47 AM rue_mohr: ah, what votlage is a PC817 worth?
11:47 AM polprog: rue_mohr: idk, i will probably use it for some new project
11:47 AM Tom_L: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bYNrcGpSNU
11:47 AM polprog: but i dont have anything on my mind
11:48 AM rue_mohr: Tom_L, was that the right answer from the machine?
11:49 AM Tom_L: of course
11:49 AM rue_mohr: hmm PC817 is good for 35V
11:50 AM rue_mohr: oh, I only need 28V
11:50 AM Tom_L: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803286468673.html
11:51 AM rue_mohr: heh, for a second I thought it was $10
11:51 AM rue_mohr: $72
11:52 AM Tom_L: one pc came up in english and the other spanish
11:52 AM rue_mohr: yea
11:52 AM rue_mohr: its a frustrating thing with them
11:52 AM rue_mohr: sharing links often resets your language
11:54 AM rue_mohr: hmm, PC817 is probably too slow for the vfd driving
11:55 AM Tom_L: do you order from them alot?
11:56 AM rue_mohr: quite a lot, where else am I going to get obscure electronic parts for cheap
11:56 AM Tom_L: what % delivery rate?
11:56 AM rue_mohr: as cheap as a person will ever see
11:56 AM Tom_L: when do they show the shipping charge?
11:57 AM Tom_L: it says free delivery
11:57 AM Tom_L: err no, fast delivery
11:57 AM rue_mohr: sometimes they build part of the device cost into the delivery, so same listing is device $1, shipping $30, and device $31, free shipping
11:57 AM Tom_L: can you see it before pulling the trigger?
11:58 AM rue_mohr: the one you brought up is free delivery over $10, and its $72, so shipping should be free
11:58 AM rue_mohr: you see there are multiple options there
11:58 AM rue_mohr: just the little plasic bit, two full units, and just the stylus
11:58 AM Tom_L: i didn't really look it over
11:58 AM rue_mohr: yea, by default your just buying the little plastic Y
11:58 AM Tom_L: wasn't planning on getting one
11:59 AM Tom_L: so the case is plastic?
11:59 AM rue_mohr: $72 for the N.O. one, and $94 for the N.C. one
11:59 AM Tom_L: NC is more popular
11:59 AM rue_mohr: waaaaaaay over my budget
11:59 AM Tom_L: those are cheap ones too
11:59 AM rue_mohr: yea
11:59 AM Tom_L: you saw what i used to test
12:00 PM rue_mohr: yea, you didn't want to use your touch-off?
12:00 PM Tom_L: i made one and can't find it now
12:00 PM rue_mohr: haha
12:00 PM Tom_L: probably tossed it
12:00 PM rue_mohr: WHAT!?
12:10 PM polprog: rue_mohr: maybe ill try to build that glitcher I wanted to build for a while
12:19 PM rue_mohr: not start easy then eh?
12:46 PM polprog: they are almost like stm32
12:46 PM polprog: it's just a different compiler
12:46 PM polprog: :)
12:46 PM polprog: besides, my start with AVR was not easy either
12:50 PM Tom_L: avr are about as easy as it gets
01:11 PM polprog: they were my first ever microcontroller
01:11 PM polprog: i had a parport programmer made with dead bug resistors
01:11 PM polprog: had to dig out the old PC from the basment
01:21 PM Tom_L: i think i started with a stamp
01:21 PM Tom_L: iirc that's what it was called
01:21 PM Tom_L: then pic for a bit
01:21 PM Tom_L: then avr
01:21 PM Tom_L: inbetween those 68hc11 & 68332
01:22 PM Tom_L: i used to make avr programmers
01:22 PM Tom_L: maybe you've seen em
01:23 PM rue_mohr: I dreamed of having a basic stamp
01:24 PM rue_mohr: but $$ , so just dreams
01:24 PM Tom_L: pretty limited
01:25 PM rue_mohr: people did a lot with them
01:25 PM Tom_L: what uc was it anyway?
01:26 PM rue_mohr: it was a pic
01:26 PM rue_mohr: 16F~
01:26 PM Tom_L: yeah
01:44 PM polprog: Tom_L: i recall the stamp. propeller?
01:44 PM polprog: basic stamp?
01:44 PM polprog: sure ive seen your programmers
01:47 PM Tom_L: basic
08:23 PM aandrew: rue_mohr> you know the fast push-in wire splicers? yea, thats why we now need afci
08:23 PM aandrew: the pot lights I am installing use those wago push on connectors
08:23 PM aandrew: they grab like crazy but what amazed me more was they are removable with a twist and pull motion
08:24 PM aandrew: but funnily enough, permanently wired lighting does *NOT* require AFCI
08:53 PM rue_mohr: no
08:53 PM rue_mohr: I'm not talking about the ones with the latch
08:53 PM rue_mohr: the ones were you *just* push in the wire
08:53 PM rue_mohr: oh maybe thats what you meant
08:53 PM rue_mohr: dont use them, they arc out after heat/ humidity and start fires