Repaired the Battery for my Dad's Pool Blaster with a BiRF 9 "Gears" Battery Spot Welder
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Fixed my Dad's 2nd failed Pool Blaster by swapping the 18650 cells out. Also gave me an excuse to get a new tool - a BiRFC portable battery spot welder.
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Fixing a leak in an A & A Manufacturing top feed valve
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Update - the fix leaked after several months, so we just swapped the cover. The patch was only a temporary repair.
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Making a better cargo liner for the C-max
Having a dog that gets dirty now an then, and sheds, I need something more robust than my cheap cargo blanket cargo liner - not to mention that one literally fell apart after leaving it in the sun by accident. The solution was some heavy cordura nylon material with a water resistant finish on one side. I will update this later with some pics of the installed liner and some other images to show how it attaches.
Pimp your (dog's) ride pt 2, Rear View Camera with Android OTGPimp your (dog's) ride pt 3., Trailer Hitch Upgrade
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Upgraded the hitch on the cheap bike trailer to a better designed hitch from Burley.
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Pimp your (dog's) ride pt 2., Rear View Camera with Android OTG
The mutt has been making some noises when I take her for rides in her chariot, and mostly it is just her way of saying "hey stop, I wanted to sniff/poop/pee on that thing over there". However I found myself looking back quite a bit to check on her. The problem with that is, on a bike, where the head is pointing is often where the rest of the rider and bike end up going, and that is not great if I need to keep in a lane. Rear view mirrors are great, but they will not work well for keeping tabs on the mutt in her cart. So I found another solution, a rear view camera.
Pimp your (dog's) ride
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Added some ground effects lighting to my dog's chariot.
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Fix'n a MagnaCart that is stuck / won't open (normally)
Quick fix for a MagnaCart that won't open without needing to flip the wheels down.
Fix'n my broken Sansa Clip (volume button)
After several years of use, my little Sansa Clip volume button stopped working, and as suspected it had broken off. It was a simple fix, click here to see the pics.
Sit Down / Stand Up Desk
Added some pics of an up/down desk I am putting together (and finishing the top for). Click here for more.
Replacing the CAF and Engine Air Filters on a C-Max
I replaced the air filters today in my C-max. It had been though several severe dust storms and they were full of dust and crap. The cabin filter was a breeze, but replacing the engine filter was another matter. Ford took what is normally a simple 3 minute task and turned it into a 30 minute job. It is done though, so I guess I am good for another dust storm or two. Click here for more.
Building a Titus Racer-X 29er
I recently bought a Titus Racer-X 29er frame that I could not pass up. I've always wanted a Racer-X, even though I am the exact opposite of a Racer (but I have the X part down). The bike just seems like it has some old school charm due to being designed and built by a scrappy US company that had some brilliant designers and a great product. Unfortunately they had bad timing, I believe that the original Titus went bankrupt during the housing bust and was later resurrected and still builds bikes today. When they were new, there was no way I could afford to spend the kind of money they sold for. I cannot justify or afford a bike that costs as much as a used motorcycle. I'm also not a very hard core mountain biker. To be honest, I'm really building this in hopes of getting back into mountain biking regularly. So now that I have the bike of my dreams, I just gotta move the stuff from the donor bike over to the new one. Click here for more.
Making a TSA safe Leatherman PS in Pink
You can't buy a TSA safe Leatherman Style "PS" in pink, but making one is not too hard (though you need a Syle PS and Style CS). This would of course be simple if I could just buy a Style PS in pink, but the only pink Leatherman Style I could find was the CS which has a scissors and knife (made for the pink ribbon campaign against breast cancer). In my case, the Letherman is a gift, but for somebody who knows me well enough not to expect the warranty to be valid. If I had lost a screw though I would have been well, screwed, since I have no idea where to get a replacement. Click here for more.
Replacing a dial on a Seiko 6309 watch
Replaced the aftermarket dial on a Seiko 6309 watch, with another (slightly nicer) aftermarket dial.
Replacing the Fabric on an A & E Awning
We replaced the fabric on an newer A & E awning (with the cheap end caps) without the special tool.
Fixing? a Craftsman NEXTEC 12v Drill - Updated 9/30/2013
This is the second NextTec 12V drill that started the clicks of death. I was not going to let this one go quietly into the light, so I decided to do some exploratory surgery. I did not find the problem, but amazingly it now works. There is now a suggested fix for the slipping selector switch wire, which is the likely cause of the problem, thanks to a a comment by Jeremy - Read more about it here.
Dirt Battery Science Fair Project
My niece has a science fair soon and we decided to make a battery out of dirt. I had seen these on youtube a while back and while we were brainstorming ideas, this one floated to the top. We tested the dirt battery with different electrolytes and found the best one to light up a LED (dimly). Click here for more.
First watch project - swapping a movement, hands and face to a new case.
I bought a defective watch on Ebay cheap, since I liked the case and wanted to make a frankenwatch, but my plans changed a bit.
Bumper Protector for the C-max
I added a really simple to install bumper protector to the C-max. The stock C-max has a painted bumper which is bound to get scratched up either by my dog's claws or moving my crap from car to garage and back again. The bumper protector is really good quality with 3M double stick tape ready to go, and at $50 on Ebay it is a good value.
Dipp'in some Rims
I helped my buddy "dip" his rims, he was not happy with the stock color and wanted to paint them black. Plasti dip is a spray on vinyl like stuff that can be removed by peeling it off if it is no longer wanted. Click the pics to see how we did it.
Cheap Cargo Cover for a C-Max
I need a good cargo cover for a C-max since my dog seems to shed hair like it was going out of style. Until I get a system in place to protect the interior she is banned from the C-max, and since that is not cool I am working hard to puppy proof it. I picked up a couple of moving blankets from Harbor Freight and am using those along with some very rusty sewing skills to fit a cover in the back. Click the pic to see the rest of the saga..
Fixing SunRace Grip Shifters
I bought a Diamondback Tess second hand and had to replace the shifter cable for the rear derailleur. That mean getting the cheap SunRace shifter apart. The link below shows how to do it.
Mission Style Dog Bed
You can call me stoopid, but a while back I built a bed for my best friend. I was tired of replacing her bed with a cheap foam bed and decided that she probably could use a better nights sleep. I picked up a high quality pet mattress and built a bed frame for it so it would match my other furniture. Now we can both get a good nights sleep in style.
