DIY


ecobee3 Lite calibration mode 1
Are you wanting to get on the smart thermostat bandwagon, but aren’t sure if it’s worth the $249 price tag of the full-featured models like the ecobee3 and Nest? Then has ecobee got a deal for you. They recently added the ecobee3 Lite to their line-up with a very tempting MSRP of […]

Review: ecobee3 Lite


Hazard switch pin and channel system
Imagine you’re driving a 1989 Ferrari 328 GTS through Utah’s Wasatch Mountain canyons near Park City with a group of other European exotics. As the group pulls off to the side of the highway to let the stragglers catch up, you hit your hazard lights button. When it’s time to depart once […]

How to Fix a Broken Ferrari 328 Hazard Switch


AC Infinity S3 fan
If you’re like most homeowners, you probably keep your receiver, amplifier, router, network switch, or any other electronic equipment inside a cabinet… which means you have a heat problem. Heat is the enemy of electronics, and circulating air through and around anything electronic is vital to its performance and longevity. This is the cabinet […]

Review: AC Infinity Airplate Cabinet Fan



Even if you don’t understand the function of a GFCI outlet, or know what “GFCI” stands for, there’s a really good chance you’ve seen at least one (and probably a few) in your home. This is what a GFCI outlet looks like: GFCI stands for Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter, and that’s precisely […]

You Should Test and Replace your GFCI Outlets More Often ...


Batteries wired in parallel are now fully charged 1
It’s a story that repeats itself in garages across America every summer. Your kid wants to drive his Power Wheels Jeep, or her Power Wheels Escalade (is it really selling for $800-$900 on Amazon?)… and the battery is dead. You plug in the proprietary charging connector (if you haven’t lost it, that is), but […]

Dead Power Wheels Battery? Maybe You Can Trick it Back ...


GE LEG Bright Stiks, 760 lumens, 5000K color temp 1
As I was tearing my 1997 Sub-Zero 601F freezer apart recently to troubleshoot a defrost issue (expect a separate blog post on that soon), I noted that it used four traditional 40W incandescent appliance bulbs as its light source. The 601R refrigerator installed next to it used the same. As […]

Quick & Easy LED Light Upgrade for your Refrigerator and ...



This is another of those posts that might only be for my own benefit, so that the next time I need to change the oil on my wife’s 2008 Cadillac Escalade, I can simply locate this post to remember what parts I used… and whether I liked them. 🙂 I […]

Oil Change and Filter Parts for 2008 Cadillac Escalade



Whirlpool inverter box 19
The most popular DIY post on my blog is, by far, How to Fix a Whirlpool & KitchenAid W10219463 / 2307028 Control Board for $6. As of this post, it’s received over 430 comments; the vast majority from frustrated homeowners who went online in a last ditch effort to find a way to […]

A Cheap(er) Fix for Whirlpool / KitchenAid / Kenmore Refrigerator ...



Ubiquiti UAP-PRO access point 27
Getting decent WiFi coverage at my house has always been a challenge. The house is three stories (the bottom floor is a daylight basement) and has a footprint of 50′ x 100′. A four car garage extends the footprint even farther to the south, and because I use WiFi-controller irrigation […]

How to Install a Ubiquiti UniFi Access Point Pro (UAP-PRO)


Reverse lights (top row) illuminated. 5
A burned out bulb on your car isn’t just an annoyance, it’s a safety issue… and one that could get you pulled over. So many of my favorite COPS episodes on TV start with a plain old “your tail light is burned out” traffic stop. Bad boys, bad boys… what’cha […]

How To: Replace Ferrari 512 TR Bulbs with LEDs


Replacement dual capacitor ready to install. 32
Summer 2015 in Seattle has been officially declared the hottest summer here on record (check my weather station’s 2015 max temps on my Weather Underground weather history graph for geeky details). For those in the Pacific Northwest living without central A/C, it’s been miserable. And for those fortunate enough to have central air conditioning, […]

Air Conditioning Not Blowing Cold? Replace your Capacitor or Contactor



My baby - a 1992 512 TR. 3
The Ferrari Testarossa, along with its later 512 TR and F512M variants, are iconic cars of the 80s and 90s. Every kid my age wanted to be Sonny Crocket cruising around Miami in a white Testarossa. What we never saw, however, was Crocket having trouble starting his Testarossa. Every time he had […]

DIY: Fix a Ferrari Testarossa / 512 TR Hot Start ...


Relay assembly close-up. 12
Last week, I was working in my back yard when I noticed that the big red light on top of my septic system control box was lit up. That light is triggered when one of two alarm floats (in either the main effluent pump chamber or the clearwell pump chamber) detects that the fluid level in […]

How to Make Your Septic Alarm Smarter


Paul glues new dust covers on the repaired speakers. 1
Not long ago, we started to notice a distorted “buzzing” sound from our left and right front speakers in our family room, particularly when the TV was playing something with a lot of bass (like explosions, engine noise, or gunfire). I love our family room speakers. They’re made by an English […]

Rave: The LoudSpeaker Store (Kent, WA)



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“Smart” home devices don’t only make your life easier, but in many cases can also save you money. Readers of my blog already know I’m a big fan of ecobee’s smart thermostat products. They’re WiFi enabled controllers that use weather data available via the Internet to predicatively (and reactively) minimize HVAC system […]

WiFi Sprinker Controller Review: Rachio Iro vs. RainMachine vs. IrrigationCaddy


Fill Valve with Ball Float 8
I’ll admit it — I titled this post to attract homeowners who are searching for how to fix a leaky toilet. But wouldn’t it be even better if you could prevent your toilet from leaking in the first place? This article will help you do both! During this year’s Spring Break, our […]

Leaking Toilet? Try the $25 Toilet Tune-Up


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If you’ve got a KitchenAid (or Whirlpool, or Kenmore) fridge with an ice maker that’s not making ice, don’t call the repairman. This is a very easy (and relatively inexpensive) fix that you can totally do yourself. These same instructions will work for any similar Whirlpool, Maytag, Kenmore, Amana, or JennAir […]

How to Cheaply Fix a KitchenAid / Whirlpool Ice Maker ...



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My initial review of the KOHLER Touchless Toilet Flush Kit was positive… except for the part where the unit started to magically flush the toilet all by itself in the middle of the night. I called it the “phantom flush.” If you recall from my review, KOHLER promised to send me […]

Product Update: KOHLER Touchless Toilet Flush Kit Parts Upgrade


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For a few years now, I’ve been using a Linksys E4200 v1 router (running DD-WRT) as the main router at my house. However, because the WiFi signal from the router isn’t strong enough to reliably reach all the rooms in the house, I picked up a few inexpensive Belkin F7D3302 / F7D7302 […]

Adding Heat Sinks and Overclocking a Belkin F7D3302 / F7D7302 ...




Hydrogen sulfide gas smells like rotten eggs 30
If your hot water smells like rotten eggs, don’t panic. It’s almost certainly something you can fix on your own, and there are a few different ways you can try to fix it. First, to make sure your hot water heater is the source (and that this is the blog post you’re […]

How to Fix Rotten Egg Smell in your Water


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Remember when you were a little kid, and your mother would take you to the supermarket, and as you approached the glass doors you’d wave your hand at them… causing them to open… with… The Force? It was almost like magic! Sure, deep down you probably knew there was some kind […]

Product Review: KOHLER Touchless Toilet Flush Kit


TPMS warning on dash 50
Last month, I noticed the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) warning light turn on in my 2007 GMC Yukon Denali. When I pressed the button on the dash to see my tire pressures, the left-front tire showed nothing… meaning the computer wasn’t getting any data from that wheel. After a few miles, it started […]

TPMS Warning Light? Replace your TPMS Sensors for Cheap