Advice The Home Improvement/Automation Thread

Shit gets built, people drive cars, there's gonna be scrapyards. You might have to drive 30-60 minutes out of town to get to one, but they're around.

You might even find the same size spooling valve on something like an old garbage truck, truck crane or something.
Agreed, but equipment with hydraulics tend to be used until they are literally nothing but rust, then used a little more, and then have parts salvaged from them to build a new(ish) vehicle.

There has also been a push in the US to remove junk yards, or make them cleaner and safer so the yards have tighter margins. Makes it more rare to find a backhoe or something
 
Agreed, but equipment with hydraulics tend to be used until they are literally nothing but rust, then used a little more, and then have parts salvaged from them to build a new(ish) vehicle.

There has also been a push in the US to remove junk yards, or make them cleaner and safer so the yards have tighter margins. Makes it more rare to find a backhoe or something
I was talking to a Cat maintainer the other day and he was telling me that hydraulics have now come down in quality and price to the level where it's cheaper to swap shit out than maintain it anymore.
 
I was talking to a Cat maintainer the other day and he was telling me that hydraulics have now come down in quality and price to the level where it's cheaper to swap shit out than maintain it anymore.
I could see that for certain things, and situations, sure. At Eglin they only rebuilt cylinders when they had enough Airbabies that needed to know how when deployed, otherwise they got sent to the CAT folks for a determination on rebuild or replace
 
  • Gravy
Reactions: Jehannum
I could see that for certain things, and situations, sure. At Eglin they only rebuilt cylinders when they had enough Airbabies that needed to know how when deployed, otherwise they got sent to the CAT folks for a determination on rebuild or replace
Yeah, I was talking to the CAT guy on the other end of that pipeline.
 
@Domon So I'm starting to go a bit crazy with my WebCore automations. I'm up to 14 now. I'm starting to replace all my SmartApps with WebCore pistons, just because its easier to keep track of when things are all in one place.
 
@Domon So I'm starting to go a bit crazy with my WebCore automations. I'm up to 14 now. I'm starting to replace all my SmartApps with WebCore pistons, just because its easier to keep track of when things are all in one place.
No reason not to for your custom stuff

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk
 
@fly, which per-room temperature/humidity sensors are you using?

I'm gonna do the needful and build an adapter box to run the swamp cooler from the upstairs thermostat (as well as the heater) and slowly transition to a full self-balancing system that'll fail back to the standard thermostat in the event of a computer failure.
 
@fly, which per-room temperature/humidity sensors are you using?

I'm gonna do the needful and build an adapter box to run the swamp cooler from the upstairs thermostat (as well as the heater) and slowly transition to a full self-balancing system that'll fail back to the standard thermostat in the event of a computer failure.
Since you live in methville, do you need any motion sensors or window for sensors?

Might as well get some more utility

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk
 
Since you live in methville, do you need any motion sensors or window for sensors?

Might as well get some more utility

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk
No, I'm fine not knowing when my house is being broken into.

It's not like the police would do anything about it anyhow.
 
@fly, which per-room temperature/humidity sensors are you using?

I'm gonna do the needful and build an adapter box to run the swamp cooler from the upstairs thermostat (as well as the heater) and slowly transition to a full self-balancing system that'll fail back to the standard thermostat in the event of a computer failure.
I got these in about 2 weeks

http://www.ebay.com/itm/142122487401?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

edit: looks like these are cents cheaper and you get 5% off if you order 3.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Portable-Te...873142?hash=item568d017fb6:g:HxQAAOSwLF1X4dqH
 
  • Gravy
Reactions: Jehannum