Really Boring Stuff Only III: Resurrection

[Adam]

So does that mean the Sammy is back in the box?

Nope. I'm wall mounting the Panny in my office.

 

[ImcLoud]

Trying to wall mount my 50" isn't the dumbest thing that I've ever done - but it probably holds that title in recent history. Eeee. Still not there, but at least the TV is off the floor and within about two feet of the mount. I just hope my wanting to my self sufficient hasn't damaged the TV. Could have had this all done in about five minutes if I just walked over and asked my neighbor, but no...I'd rather spend over two hours in discomfort.

Where is Niki? Dogs can be helpful... I always liked this picture, my dogs would do that too, notice there is all vegis, try and throw a pound of genoa salami in there for him to carry, lol..

 

[Adam]

It's up, b****es!!! Wow, and only about five hours later. I think that I can effectively call this my workout for today, though. Yikes.

Oh, and I seem to have put the wall bracket higher than I would like. Eff. Oh, well. It sure as heck isn't going to change now.

 

[fuzz092888]

I'm on my computer, on the internet, in the car on the highway. Technology is great

 

[Rickster71]

Trying to wall mount my 50" isn't the dumbest thing that I've ever done - Could have had this all done in about five minutes if I just walked over and asked my neighbor, but no...I'd rather spend over two hours in discomfort.

Untie craig7 ??
Just throwing that out there as an option.

 

[Adam]

Untie craig7 ??
Just throwing that out there as an option.

He's sleeping.

 

[fuzz092888]

So I don't think I mentioned this, but the APC I ordered on eBay came with a couple dings in it that were not present in the eBay pics. I filed a claim with UPS and got reimbursed for the total cost of the item and shipping plus return shipping for "exchanging" the item for a replacement. All in all I have $25 more than when I ordered the item and I still have the fully functional not too noticibly dinged APC.

 

[Adam]

I'm trying out a "gaming" mouse that someone sent me. I'm amazed at the quality you can get these days for about $10 (the price went up a bit since they sent it, but it appears to be identical to this one except for the logo). I kind of expected it to be a piece of junk, but it's actually really well done. The cord alone surprised me - a nice nylon braid. The clicking noise is louder than on my Razer mouse, so I don't think it'll win me over, but that DeathAdder cost me almost $50 four years ago.

Seriously, though, if you're looking for an inexpensive mouse, this one ain't bad. Multi-colored lighting that actually looks good to me, changeable DPI with the click of a button, and good construction except for the side buttons that are kind of cheap feeling. I don't know if it'll suit the needs of hard-core gamers, but I haven't noticed any tracking problems for my normal usage.

 

[Adam]

The tankless water heater arrived today. The fear of installation is starting to sink in. Oh, well. It's all my doing.

I just contacted the company to ask if I need the full 160A capability if my heating needs are less (I don't know if the unit has an initial max current draw at startup that will pop my breakers if I have less capability). The calculations for required amperage are pretty straightforward, and I think that I only need about 40A at 240V. I say "160A capability" because while the product description says it needs 150A (and their calculations indicate an 150A system), the install requires four 40A breakers dedicated to the heater.

Not going to worry about it now, though. Happy holidays, everyone! Time to finish up a few things and then break out the ham and turkey that I got for Niki today. Oh, yeah...and that beer that I got myself.

 

[ImcLoud]

The tankless water heater arrived today. The fear of installation is starting to sink in. Oh, well. It's all my doing.

I just contacted the company to ask if I need the full 160A capability if my heating needs are less (I don't know if the unit has an initial max current draw at startup that will pop my breakers if I have less capability). The calculations for required amperage are pretty straightforward, and I think that I only need about 40A at 240V. I say "160A capability" because while the product description says it needs 150A (and their calculations indicate an 150A system), the install requires four 40A breakers dedicated to the heater.

Not going to worry about it now, though. Happy holidays, everyone! Time to finish up a few things and then break out the ham and turkey that I got for Niki today. Oh, yeah...and that beer that I got myself.

What you have in that unit is essentially 4 heating elements, most likely wont pull much more than 35 amps each when at 100%, the problem with say only wiring 2 of the 40a circuits is the unit is programmed to modulate power for all 4 burners, with just 2 burners powered it will not work correctly if at all, and since they are capable of pulling say 35amps each, then installing a smaller breaker and or wire is very dangerous... You need 4 40a lines for that service, not much going to get you out of that.

The reason it pulls so much power is- it is an on demand unit so when in standby the unit is not consuming any energy but when the flow sensor tells the board that it is flowing water it ramps them four heating elements to the sky drawing a ton of power and heating the small amount of water passing by them almost instantly....

Bite the bullet, wire the 4 circuits in and be happy you go the unit for free...

 

[Adam]

Thanks, man. I took the cover off earlier today and saw the four heaters hooked up to the four different lines. I am contemplating hooking up just one of them, or hooking up all four in parallel. This is just to try it out, mind you, and not for long-term use in my house. I would restrict the requested temperature rise and flow rate to keep the current down.

If the controller is set up to do it, then it shouldn't draw more power than necessary. I fully understand the calculations for heating water as a function of flow rate and desired temperature rise. It shouldn't ramp the heaters to max when it isn't required because it would heat the water up to much. I just don't know if the controller will work with just one heater connected. I imagine that it would based on some of the troubleshooting information, but I'm not positive. If it will, then I already have some 240V lines with higher amperage breakers.

 

[ImcLoud]

I am not familiar with that particular unit but what happens in an "on demand" heater is as soon as the flow sensor closes, it ramps the burners as high as 100% no matter the load, so when watching an electrical boiler, the start up pulls almost full tilt for say 15 seconds, then it regulates the power to match the demand...

As far as wiring them all to a single circuit I think you are better off just wiring 1 or 2 than doing that...
If you can keep this unit for ever why not hook it up correctly and utilize it, maybe save a few bucks over time. There is another way to pipe it using your existing water tank as a prestage that will make it quite efficient... Bite the bullet, buy the wire, do it right, and write a nice review, show pictures of the install and video of your electrical burns, it will be fun...

 

[Adam]

I am not familiar with that particular unit but what happens in an "on demand" heater is as soon as the flow sensor closes, it ramps the burners as high as 100% no matter the load, so when watching an electrical boiler, the start up pulls almost full tilt for say 15 seconds, then it regulates the power to match the demand...

I hear ya, and that's why I contacted the company to ask about their control logic. With a boiler, it makes sense to dump max power until the water begins to boil because the water is going to reach a constant temperature at boiling, so it's all about time to temperature in that case. This unit isn't trying to boil water, though. It's just raising the temperature. Dumping max power doesn't get the water to temperature faster - it gets them to too high of a temperature. They could achieve the desired temperature rise by putting in a constant power load based on the flow rate, or they could pulse the heaters - but pulsing would reduce the life of the elements, I think.

This is all great advice, man, and I absolutely appreciate you taking the time to help me. Running the wire is the biggest obstacle to me, just because I've never done it. It would have to go from the electrical box on one side of my house, over (I'm assuming over into the attic) my kitchen, and then down into my garage where the water lines for the heater are located. I'm on the hook to review this in 30 days, so I'm thinking through how I can operate it and check out the functionality fairly quickly. If I can hook it up to an existing 240V line that is rated for around 40A (I have a 240V power cord with bare wire ends) and flow water through it, measuring temperatures and such, then at least I've used it. I already know some of what I want to put into the review - which is all the stuff that I hadn't thought through when I selected it. Such as, the cost of installation (I think electrical parts alone are near $250-$300 for my house, including breakers, wire, and other - not counting time/money to install), the power consumption, and the limitations on how much can be heated. They have a chart for how many showers and sinks can be on at the same time, but those are for 1.5GPM showers and 0.5GPM sinks. I'm fairly conservation oriented, but even I have a 2GPM shower head.

Anyway, time to get Niki out for her Christmas morning walk (well, ride to the park, then walk). Later!

 

[fuzz092888]

Is it weird that I got a new calculator and am super excited about it?

Also got a Makita Circular saw. Pretty good Christmas.

I also got directions on how to fix the dustcap on my sub for when I get home. Good times.

 

[Adam]

Is it weird that I got a new calculator and am super excited about it?

Is it weird that Rick just threw a ten-pack of calculators in his car and is heading over?

 

[fuzz092888]

Is it weird that Rick just threw a ten-pack of calculators in his car and is heading over?

I'm pretty sure we established a long time ago that it would be weirder if he hadn't

 

[Adam]

I'm pretty sure we established a long time ago that it would be weirder if he hadn't

I just meant that he was only bringing ten of them. He must already have plans for the weekend.

 

[haraldo]

Syd Fischers new Ragamuffin-100

This is what I call a sailboat

http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2014/10/01/video-syd-fischers-new-ragamuffin-100/

 

[Adam]

Harald, you should start a boat thread.

 

[Adam]

I woke up early this morning and had a fright that I'd forgotten to pay my property taxes. Well, I had , but they aren't due until December 31. Now I just need to go get stamps so that I can send them in...