u/WiseSquirrelLore

A few months ago I lost the front right speaker. I've been living with it. Then I lost everything but the right rear. Now they are back again, but as I bounce down the road, the front left comes and goes.

I know nothing about truck audio, but if I had to guess, I'd say there was a connection on the back of the radio that has come loose. What do the more experienced minds think?

Back of radio? Somewhere else in the harness?

Loose connection? Deteriorated plastic? Something else?

1998 F150 Extended Cab

I need to use an old woodworking jointer that belonged to my grandfather. It is currently unplugged. Where it sits, I have the option to plug it into either 120v or 240v. The motor tag is either long gone or I'm looking in the wrong place. The cord is still pliable enough that it isn't offering any clues. Since there is 240 there, I'm guessing it is 240, but what happens if I guess wrong? (In this case the only difference between the two receptacles is the 240v has a red plate and tag.) What is the safest way to approach this? I'm comfortable with residential electrical but haven't fooled with electric motors. Is there any way to identify the motor's wiring.

EDIT: I'm amused by the various down votes. It's an old building, it has issues. I have no idea who did the original electrical work, it wasn't my grandfather. The 240v outlets are clearly marked, even if technically incorrect. It's a work in progress. I've gotten as far as setting new main and sub panels, including a new sub panel for the shop. Unfortunately I can't get much further than that without moving a bunch of equipment and dismantling cabinetry. I've no space to do that at the moment because of other more pressing projects, like rebuilding damaged windows. I need the machines for those other projects. I'm the only person using the shop. This isn't a production space, it's a hobby shop. More importantly, were I to replace the receptacles, I would still be left with the question of how to identify the motor's current wiring, which is the root of the original question.

In another post a contributor stated that 'air chambers are proven to be flawed technology' in reference to a 12 inch long air-filled pipe section at the top of a run. I've installed a number of those over the years, I've also installed the new absorbers. What caught my attention was the word 'flawed'. What does this mean in this context? Are they ineffective? Are they damaging? Or are there simply better options? What is the industry thinking?

I have an early 1980's Le Tour with original tires and tubes. The bike has been locked in my mom's garage for years and I would like to put it back on the road. I'm assuming it will need new tires and tubes. I recall this bike had unusually high pressure tires, maybe 100 psi, and the bike rode on a 1/4 inch wide strip of rubber. I'm guessing I can't just walk into my local Schwinn dealer and get a matching replacement tire. I'm interested in peoples thoughts.

Are tires available? Who, which, where?

What is the chance the tubes are okay?

This bike hasn't been out since the early 1990's, is there anything critical I need to address?

I have a friend in the Los Angeles area looking for a contractor familiar with Dex-O-Tex. They are in need of repairs to an existing structure. They have reached out to the manufacturer, who has been helpful, but can't seem to get 'boots on the ground' to look at the work. We are headed for a potentially wet winter.

Is this a DIY friendly product, especially for repairs?

Does anyone know of any resources in the LA area?

Saw a post from a young lady who was starting a new job at a retail nursery and was looking for advice and it brought back some great memories of my own time working in a nursery during college. It also reminded me of a story I haven't really had anyone to tell.

There's a long version and a short version, I suppose I'll stick to the short version.

On my first day working at the nursery, the owner had already decided I knew nothing about plants (not true) or small engines (very true), and instead stuck me in the gift department working for a woman named Rose. I wasn't especially happy about this as I was there because I liked plants, not making bows, wrapping packages, and working backup at the cash register. They had stuck me with the girls. But hey, after two years trying, I was working at a nursery. I'd take it. Anyhow, over the coming months, I got to know Rose and found out she too loved plants and was a wealth of information. We became friends, tried setting the lunch room on fire together, and genuinely had a good time. When I finally left, she sent me off with the gift of a hand painted floral clock that I still have to this day.

Now being a stupid kid, I moved away and didn't stay in touch. I never spoke to Rose again. In time, the nursery sold. New faces. Fast forward a decade or two and I found myself back in my home town. While going through some old boxes, I came across Rose's address. It was the first year of COVID. People were of course largely stuck at home. I decided to send Rose a Christmas card to say hi and let her know I remembered her and how much fun I had had with her. There was no answer, I wasn't surprised. You don't just walk away for 20 years. Maybe she didn't remember me.

Two years on, I was working with a friend on some landscape projects and had begun picking up landscape and horticultural books in local second hand stores for inspiration. On the day in question, I had returned early from a job and there was a charity shop on the way, only I was tired and this particular store hadn't had much of interest recently. I drove past that exit continuing on to my own. Still something was nagging at me, and ultimately i circled back. Reaching the book section of the store I discovered that the garden shelves were packed, more than I had ever seen. I tossed maybe twenty books into the cart, instantly glad I had changed my mind. As I began thumbing through the pages, it became clear this collection had belonged to a single individual, many of the books being stamped with a tiny purple unicorn. Significantly in a few there was also a name, Rose. Now there are a lot of Roses in this world, but this store was not far from that address I had mailed the card to. Could it be? As I kept scanning through the books, I found some addressed to Rose by their authors, but never a last name. Eventually, however, in the back of a ruffled old paperback, one that I almost hadn't picked up, I found it, her full name, penciled in the handwriting of a young woman, and dated 1974. I'm guessing she must have been in her 20's and newly married. I had never thought to wonder how old she was. So these were in fact my former supervisor's books. As I continued to scan the shelves, I found cookbooks and travel books and of course more garden books.

That afternoon I came home with an armload of books, mostly garden related, some that I will probably never use, and nearly all sporting tiny purple unicorns that I can only imagine were placed there by a daughter or granddaughter. A few months later, I drove by Rose's house, the garden was a mess, signs of a recent change of management, if not ownership. Seems likely Rose had passed away. And somehow her books had fallen into my hands. And now when I look at my little library, I can't help but smile and remember a woman who made a shy, young kid feel like he had something to contribute.

https://preview.redd.it/trot1hjgz38h1.jpg?width=532&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eec0d6d2e2482c3bd25406a6b8abf12fb15017cd

Recently a buddy of mine 'discovered' what appeared to be an underground Edison feed while digging a waterline through a lawn in a ~1980 condo complex. The lot is basically flat, as is the neighborhood. The pipe was about 9" deep, in a thin wall grey plastic conduit 2.5 or 3" in diameter. No idea where the conduit originates but all evidence (location, conductor size, etc) is this would be a utility side conduit feeding one of the buildings. From what I know of the property, there are small vaults around the grounds that divide a single drop from the pole to feed the main panel of each of the units.

If I recall correctly, those Edison side conduits are supposed to be 36" deep in 4" schedule 40. This is Southern California.

Any thoughts on what is going on here? Is this evidence of corners cut and a poor inspection or are we both missing something? Naturally, he informed the HOA.

https://preview.redd.it/v64pvtqn257h1.jpg?width=599&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=21e8a39d45a5d482cf2a57227074ecd2a3d9259f

Recently while working in the field, somebody snatched our two external hard drives. I know prices are through the roof but come on now. Fortunately most of the data was backed up elsewhere. Anyhow, I got this bright idea to lock the replacements inside a larger secure box with two USB panel mount sockets on the side. Super easy to set up. Problem is the drives don't work. They power on but it appears they fail to negotiate a connection with the laptop. (They spin up, flash a bit, then make an audible click, and shut down before starting the process over.) Plugged directly into the laptop they are fine, plugged in through the USB panel mount socket, no go.

We are using 2.5" drives that are powered via USB.

So here is the setup:

External drive (USB C) ===>>> Panel Socket [internal] (USB A)

Panel Socket [external] (USB A) ===>>> Laptop (USB A)

The external drive is USB C. I connect that via the manufacturer provided cable (USB C to USB A) to the backside [internal] of the panel socket. Then from the outside [external] of the panel socket, it is USB A to the laptop. I am using a 6' USB A to USB A cable to make that connection. It is all USB 3.

Now the panel socket is just supposed to pass the signal. I tested that by plugging a flash drive into the internal socket in place of the hard drive. It connects to the laptop just fine. Theoretically that should also eliminate poor shielding as a concern, as well as eliminating a general cable failure.

On the chance it was a Seagate issue, I tried a Toshiba. Still no go.

What am I missing? This seemed like a simple enough project.

Is it possible that cable length is an issue? I don't have an easy way of testing it. Seems like all the manufacturer cables are super short but that could just as easily be about cutting costs. Could voltage drop be my problem? Anybody got any ideas? Any thoughts for a work around?

Do I need to find drives with their own power supply? I don't really want to use M.2 drives for this specific project.

I haven't found anything online but perhaps I'm describing the problem poorly.

The laptop is a Dell Latitude 5520 i7-1185G7 vPro w/ 16GB RAM and 512 GB SSD running Fedora Linux 43 KDE Plasma. I have the same problem with the desktop, a Dell Optiplex 7070 also running Fedora Linux 43 KDE Plasma. I'm pretty new to Linux but I'm not thinking this is an OS issue.

Recently while working in the field, somebody snatched our two external hard drives. I know prices are through the roof but still, they weren't anything special. Fortunately most of the data was backed up elsewhere. Anyhow, I got this bright idea to lock the replacements inside a larger secure box with two USB panel mount sockets on the side. Super easy to set up. Problem is the drives don't work. They power on but it appears they fail to negotiate a connection with the laptop. Plugged directly into the laptop they are fine, plugged in through the USB panel mount socket, no go.

We are using 2.5" drives that are powered via USB.

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So here is the setup:

External drive (USB C) ===>>> Panel Socket internal (USB A)

Panel Socket external (USB A) ===>>> Laptop (USB A)

The external drive is USB C. I connect that via the manufacturer provided cable (USB C to USB A) to the backside of the panel socket. Then from the front side of the panel socket, it is USB A to the laptop. I am using a 6' USB A to USB A cable to make that connection. It is all USB 3.

Now the panel socket is just supposed to pass the signal. I tested that by plugging a flash drive into the internal socket in place of the hard drive. It connects to the laptop just fine. Theoretically that should also eliminate poor shielding as a concern, as well as eliminating a general cable failure.

On the chance it was a Seagate issue, I tried a Toshiba. Still no go.

What am I missing? This seemed like a simple enough project.

Is it possible that cable length is an issue? I don't have any way of testing it. Seems like all the manufacturer cables are super short but that could just as easily be about cutting costs. Could voltage drop be an issue? Anybody got any ideas? Any thoughts for a work around?

I haven't found anything online but perhaps i'm describing the problem poorly.