A Tale of Two Phones

I am eligible for a cell phone upgrade. I currently use an HTC Evo 3D. I have been semi-happy with this phone. The 3D camera and screen is rather fun. It does a good job overall. 

These are my complaints: 

• It was from a time before NFC, and I want to play with NFC tags. 
• The camera does a poor job in low-light. 
• HTC is not great about rolling out new versions of Android. 
• No wireless charging option. (Wireless charging is cool!)

Of those complaints, one that bothered me the most was the lack of updates. I thought there was an easy answer to this. The Google Nexus 4. 

Pros:

• It is made by Google. It runs stock Android. Updates will be immediately available. +++
• It has NFC. +
• It has built-in wireless charging capability. +
• It was given a 7 out of 10 repairability score on ifixit.com. This matters to me since I had to replace the digitizer (front glass) on my Evo 3D on three separate occasions. ++
• Decent technical specs and a very reasonable price. ++

Cons:

• It is not available on Sprint, and doesn't look like it will be. There is really no reason to continue. 

Time to look at phones that will actually be available on the carrier I would like to continue using. That may be a better place to start...

The HTC One seems pretty nice. Let's see what it has to offer.

Pros:

• It is made by HTC. There is a good chance it can be rooted to allow for more customization. +
• The camera is especially designed for good performance in low-light. +++
• It has NFC. +
• Decent technical specs and a reasonable price. ++
• Beautiful and durable aluminum construction. +

Cons:

• It is made by HTC. Android updates will be slow. And they will stop altogether after about a year. -
• It was given a 0 out of 10 repairability score on ifixit.com. Non-removable battery. -----
• No built-in wireless charging capability. -

How about the Samsung Galaxy S4? 

Pros:

• It has NFC. +
• It was given an 8 out of 10 repairability score on ifixit.com. ++
• Potential for a replacement back to enable wireless charging. 
• Decent technical specs but slightly more expensive price. +
• Wide variety of interesting sensors including gyro, accelerometer, proximity, ambient light, gesture, barometer, temperature, and humidity. +

Cons:

• Normal camera compared to the HTC One's low light version. --
• Plastic construction. 
• Samsung has a slightly worse update history than HTC. - 

I think I am leaning toward the Samsung Galaxy S4, but it is not perfect. It may be good enough, though. I will have to think on this further, and see what it is like in person as soon as it shows up at the Sprint store. 

Brake Pads

I ran across this article from the car talk guys. It had good information about different types of brake pads. Just thought I would pass this along in an off-week post.

http://www.cartalk.com/content/today-all-about-brake-pads

An Egg Timer

I just had a perfectly cooked boiled egg. That's not terribly unusual. The unusual part is that for once I have confidence that I can do it again whenever I want. All thanks to a brilliantly designed egg timer.




Sabrina found this when we were wandering through Crate and Barrel. I'm going to provide some info on exactly how it works, since the packaging leaves a little to be desired.

The timer is simply a clear plastic egg with a layer of temperature sensitive material in the middle. It is placed in the boiling water with the eggs, and the red portion slowly changes to black as the eggs cook.

This is what it looks like as time progresses:



























Note the difference in how the scale looks between the first picture and these two. When the egg is under water, the scale is easier to read, partially due to the curvature of the top surface.

I store it in the fridge with my eggs. I figure it is important that they start off at the same temperature. Then I drop it into the boiling water at the same time as the eggs.

The brilliance of this design is that it doesn't matter what temperature the water is. (Like if you add a bunch of eggs to a small amount of water, if you cook at a different altitude, if you sometimes salt the water, or even if you turn off the heat at some point.) The time fluctuates, but the timer compensates and reads correctly based on heat transfer. Not bad for $5.

The one downside is that there is no audible alert that your eggs have reached the desired level of hardness. You have to check on it periodically. For me, this is not a big deal. I have started cooking eggs while doing other things in the kitchen. (Like washing dishes, cleaning, cooking, etc.) This keeps me in the same room, so it is easy to glance into the pot every few minutes  (Or to fish out the timer with a spoon if it is too difficult to see through the bubbling water and steam.)

Mash Starch Test

I homebrew beer. I haven't talked about it much since February 2012 where I described the chest freezer I use to control fermentation and lagering temperatures.

Today I'm going to describe an experiment Sabrina and I did testing the effectiveness of my mashing procedure.

Mashing is the first step in making beer from malted barley and other grains. During the mash, you heat a mixture of crushed grain and water up to certain temperatures. You hold the temperature constant at one or many different points to allow the naturally occurring enzymes in the malt to convert starches into simpler sugars. Mashing usually involves holding temperatures for up to 90 minutes.

One method of testing the progress of this conversion is to perform an iodine starch test. A good description of what is going on can be found here. In brief, when an iodine solution is exposed to starch, the iodine changes color from dark brown to intense purple/black. Once all the long-chain starches are broken down, the iodine test will be negative. There will be no color change when the iodine solution is mixed with the wort. (Wort is the liquid sugar solution produced in the mash, or unfermented beer.)

The first experiment we did was to perform the iodine test every 10 to 15 minutes during a 90 minute mash rest. We also measured pH using test strips. We recorded time and temperature on the end of each test strip.  Here you can see the results:

The test was done by placing several drops of wort on a piece of chalk. A medicine dropper makes this much easier, just be sure to rinse it well between samples. Next, a couple drops of iodine solution were placed on the same piece of chalk. If you are careful to ensure that the iodine drops cover both part of the chalk soaked in wort and part of the dry chalk, it is very easy to detect if a subtle color change occurs.  You can see this effect rather clearly in the 80 minute and 90 minute samples above.

One thing I was not expecting was that once the iodine and wort evaporated from the chalk, the color disappeared. You can see how the color from the earlier samples is fading away. The color of the pH test strips also faded away as they dried.


I still had questions after this first experiment. All samples had been taken from the drain at the bottom of the mash container immediately after the mash had been stirred up.

The next time I made beer, we continued the experiment and collected more detailed data. This time we took samples from various locations in the mash, both with and without stirring. The pH was written down at each step so this time I have an accurate record of pH changes. Samples were taken every 15 minutes during a 60 minute mash.

The sample at the start of the mash was taken immediately after stirring together the water and grain. There was a clear purple color. 15 minutes later, three samples were tested. One from the drain without mixing or stirring (N), one at the top of the mash where the grain and water are mixed together (T), and one from the drain after mixing (M).

Without mixing, there was no reaction. This leads me to believe that the enzymes rather quickly convert the starches that are dissolved in solution. The top and mixed samples showed varying degrees of reaction. My conclusion is that at the top, starches continue to dissolve into the wort from the grain, and after stirring, these starches are distributed throughout the mixture.

The results from the rest of the mash were relatively unexciting. The reaction showed negative at 30, 45, and 60 minutes. This indicates that starch conversion finished rather early. A negative starch test doesn't necessarily mean that the mash was finished this early since the enzymes will continue to break down sugars. However, it is a good indication that the mash is progressing well.


A quick word on the iodine solution used for this. I bought 10% providone-iodine solution from the first aid section of my local pharmacy. I then diluted it 10 to 1 with rubbing alcohol. This lightens the color of the iodine so that the more subtle purple reaction can be seen. Otherwise the iodine is very dark and can mask a partially positive reaction.

I have heard that this test also works well using iodophor, a no-rinse sanitizer that is often used in homebrewing. Simply dilute the iodophor 10 to 1 with rubbing alcohol and it should work the same.

The Container Store sells some amber glass bottles with built-in medicine droppers that worked very well for storing and dispensing the iodine solution. It made it easier to avoid spills, which is important since iodine stains.


A couple months after I did my experiments, I ran across an episode of the Basic Brewing Radio podcast that goes into great detail on the subject. If you are interested, look for the March 3, 2011 episode.

Adventures in Plumbing

My parents' house has a well that supplies their water. About a year ago, they had a less-than-competent contractor install a storage cistern and a booster pump. 

The contractor didn't anchor down the pump base, depending entirely on the weak PVC pipe and gravity to hold it in place against constant vibration. The electrical work he did had to be completely redone by someone else. The concrete cistern has leaked since day one, even after several repair attempts by the original contractor 

The pump started leaking much more recently, and much worse. What looks like a blurry water drop at the rightmost corner is a constant stream. This is what the leak looked like with the booster pump turned off and the piping downstream depressured. 

The first step I took was to disconnect the piping from the downstream union and I began to unscrew it from the pump. The pipe was loose! It wasn't even screwed in tightly. The piping configuration makes it impossible for the pipe to unscrew itself from the pump without disconnecting it downstream. Here is an overview of the pump and piping configuration. The piece that I removed comes out of the top of the pump and connects to the half of the union seen above and to the right of the opening.

Once I had the piping removed, I took a closer look at the opening on the pump. This is what I saw. 

There was metal sticking out into the bottom portion of the threaded opening. It looked like it might be flash left over from when the pump housing was cast. It deserved a closer look. 

That's strange... It looks like the threads abruptly stop.

Yup. The threads definitely stop. My only thought is that this might have been done to prevent threading the pipe in too far. If the pipe went past the inside surface of the pump case, it could hit the impeller (the part that spins.) 

Let's take a close look at the pipe I removed. 

The first thread at the end of the pipe is rather screwed up. It's as if it were tightened past that point where the threads in the pump stopped. It's almost exactly like that. 

At this point it is important to understand how tapered pipe threads are supposed to seal. The seal occurs at the threads as they fit tightly together. This site provides excellent diagrams of what should be happening. I have modified them below to illustrate what was happening in this specific case. When the pipe bottomed out, the threads were still loosely engaged. This allowed the water to leak out past the threads. I used a saw to shorten the pipe, removing the two smallest threads at the end. It was then able to seal tightly. A small amount of Teflon tape or joint compound seals any small gaps left in the imperfect threads. 

Below you can see the before and after pictures of the pipe. 

Based on what I showed above, this is what I think happened. The contractor screwed the pipe in place, tightened it to the point it became difficult, and then discovered that it leaked. When it leaked, he tightened the crap out of it until it stopped leaking, damaging the plastic pipe thread as it bottomed out in the hole. However, the threads were still not properly tight. The only reason it stopped leaking was due to the rather excessive amount of joint compound that was used. 

This is pipe joint compound. More is not better... 

The contractor saw the opening of the pump when he assembled the system. He failed to notice the rather obvious metal bits extending into where the pipe should be threaded. This is one more example of the shoddy job that was done all-around. 

Here is the final result after my repairs. If you compare this to the original picture of the leak, you can see that the pipe threaded in further. This created a good tight seal that should last. 

The leak started shortly after we had replaced the filter downstream of the pump. What we did must have been just enough to disturb the loose joint and start the leak. Both the inlet and outlet connections on the pump had the same problem, and were fixed the same way.

I dislike incompetence. Consistency doesn't make it better.

Tool Box Repair

This is a tale of overcoming poor customer service.

I have to be fair. It was not terrible customer service. I don't even think I would call it bad customer service. It just wasn't good customer service.

Let's start at the beginning.

For the past couple years, I have been making do with my tools stored in various cardboard boxes and tool bags. This is less than optimal, especially when I am digging through a box unable to find what I was looking for.

On Black Friday, with the encouragement and support of my girlfriend, I purchased a tool box.

A large tool box.

A beautiful tool box with shallow drawers that can hold a single layer of well-organized tools.


I purchased it at a Lowes that was three hours away from where I live. I was spending Thanksgiving with family in the area.

Once I got it home, I unpacked it, and discovered a sad surprise. The front of one of the drawers was damaged.




It looks like it was hit with something. The aluminum handle was scraped and bent. The stainless drawer front was also bent. It was bad enough to have broken the rivet that attached that end of the handle to the drawer.

This made me sad.

I had noticed a hole in the cardboard box when we were loading it into my car, but I hadn't thought anything of it at the time. If I had caught it then, I could have exchanged it on the spot. That would have been much easier. I think the lesson to be learned is to unpack things before leaving the parking lot. Especially if there is any damage to the packaging. Oh well.

Luckily, there was a customer service number printed on the front cover of the instruction manual. It said to call them before returning it to the store. It stated their hours to be 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

It was early in the evening, so I gave them a call. I was quickly informed that the department I needed for my product closed at 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. and was given a different number to try the next business day. It annoyed me that both the number and hours printed on the manual for my product were wrong.


When I got ahold of them, I was given an email address and told to send them my information, a copy of the receipt, and a clear description of the problem.

I couldn't find my receipt, which made me annoyed with myself. Luckily Lowes has an easy way to request a duplicate receipt. It took 10 business days, which I was perfectly fine with. I was the one that had lost the receipt, after all. Once I had a copy of the receipt, I sent the email. The email included the sentence:

The face of the drawer measures approximately 23" wide by 2" tall.

I got a response the same day. They did not have the drawer front available, but they did have the handle. I was disappointed, and I considered taking it back. But, it is rather heavy and difficult to move. I asked them to send me the handle since that is what had the worst damage. I was pretty sure I could straighten the drawer front.

I had access to a 20 ton shop press. I used it and some gentle guidance with a rubber mallet to flatten out the bent drawer front.

Here is the before picture:

 And this is what it looked like after.

It is not perfect, but few things are. 

Six days later, I had a package waiting for me. It was a drawer handle. It even included replacement rivets.

The only problem with it was that it was the wrong handle. The one they sent me was 36.5" long. I considered cutting it to size, but none of the rivet holes lined up. I was hesitant to drill the holes since they had to line up perfectly with the ones on the drawer for the rivets to hold, and it was an awkward angle to drill in place.

I emailed back and explained the misunderstanding. They respond the next day that they will gladly supply the correct one after I ship back the one they sent.

I asked how they would like to arrange to pay for return shipping, and I didn't hear from them for eight days. They finally emailed me a shipping label.

The replacement replacement part was mailed after they received the one I sent back, and this is what arrived:








The top handle is the damaged one. The bottom is the replacement. This time it was the correct length, but the rivet holes still did not match.

I decided that this was probably the best I was going to get from them. They had the model number and exact location and size of the drawer from the very beginning. They couldn't supply the correct part after two tries.

I carefully drilled holes in the correct locations:








I then pop-riveted the handle back in place. The rivets that they had supplied were just a bit too long to hold it tightly. Another minor incompetence.

With some shorter rivets, this was the final result:

This is more than good enough to make me happy. In the end, it was easier than lugging the thing back to the store, but not nearly as easy as it should have been. If they had supplied the complete drawer, replacements for both damaged parts, or even the correct drawer handle, it would have been a much quicker repair.

I am very happy with my repaired tool box. It seems well-made and has been a joy to use. I would recommend it, so long as you never need to depend on their customer service.

Son of FrånkenLämp

When I finished with FrånkenLämp, there were a few useful parts left over.

Namely, there were two bulbs left from the TIVED. I decided to put these to good use. My workbench could use a little more light.

I started by taping the two light stalks together at the base. I just used electrical tape at first. You can see the wiring coming out of the ends.

Note the black resistor attached to one of the wires. It is important to keep this in the circuit, depending on how you set it up.

The original lamp had a 12.5 volt power supply. This fed three bulbs in series. So each bulb requires about four volts. If you have a 12 volt power supply, you will need to keep the resistor in series with the two remaining bulbs to avoid running them at too high a voltage.

If you have an 8 volt power supply, you don't need to use the resistor. You could just wire the two bulbs in series.

If you have a 4 volt power supply, you don't need the resistor either. You could wire the two bulbs in parallel.

Since I only had a 12 volt power supply handy, I stuck with the resistor.


After soldering the wiring, the next thing I did was to cover the electrical tape and loose wires with heat shrink. This will prevent the electrical tape from unraveling over time and becoming a sticky mess. Heat shrink is much nicer than electrical tape, in my opinion. In the picture below, you can see the section of heat shrink that I slid onto the stalks before taping them together.











And here you can see the result after shrinking. Note that I cut the piece of heat shrink in half so it could cover both taped areas. The wiring and resistor are nicely contained by the heat shrink at the end.













I used a spare molex connector (stolen from a broken compter case fan). This made it very easy to use the 12 volt output of my handy bench power supply. It is probably a temporary solution until I can find a 12 volt wall wort to replace it with.


I attached the lamp to the underside of a wire shelf that sits next to my workbench. I used tie wraps to hold it in place. Then I ran temporary power to it, as you can see below.




Here is the final result.

The bulbs put out a decent amount of light, and the angle is just perfect to illuminate what I am working on without getting in the way. It clears up the useful work space that was taken up by my previous lamp.

 Not bad for leftover parts and pieces.