Showing posts with label Upgrades. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Upgrades. Show all posts

Workbench Task Lighting using Armacost LED Strip Lighting

It's been a busy summer - I haven't had much time for posting - so I figured I would get back into the game with a pretty simple one. I wrote earlier about my garage organization project using Ikea kitchen cabinets - full height wall cabinets, combined with upper wall cabinets above my table saw, mini fridge and mini freezer. You can check out that post here. 

Completed Installation - LED Strip Lights underneath wall cabinets, lighting work surface / freezer
The table saw and freezer make a pretty handy worktable when I'm not using the table saw. I thought I would add some task lighting over the table saw, and decided to try out Lee Valley Tools new LED strip lighting kits. They have all kinds of options - white or mulicoloured LEDs with various LED spacing for different intensities, and transformers of various capacities to match the current requirements of the installed LEDs. They also have some dimmers, switches to round out the installation. I made my lighting plan, decided to go with white LEDs with a one LED every 1/2 inch spacing (high intensity) and the appropriate transformer.

Power Supply Mounted in the Wall Cabinet - with all my tool chargers
The LED light strips are high quality - you can select between two different white colors - warm or natural white - and the light strips come with a 3M adhesive backing to apply directly to the application surface. I decided to go with the natural white in the garage, and the light is bright and clear - perfect for task lighting. Prior to application of the light strips, I used a bit of brake cleaner on a rag to clean off the melamine lower surface of the Ikea cabinets - just to ensure I would get good adhesion. This worked fine - 18 months following installation the LED strips haven't moved or delaminated.

The Lee Valley Kit comes with connectors to allow you to cut the strips to custom length
I decided to control the light strip 30W transformer with an Insteon switch for automation control, and installed the switch and a two plug outlet in a 4" junction box using a twin outlet cover plate. This way, I got 2 electrical outlets above the table saw. I mounted the transformer inside the Ikea cabinet on the plywood board I installed for all my cordless tool chargers.

Surface Mount Junction Box with Switch Adapter Cover Plate, Insteon Control Switch, and Power Outlet

Conclusion

The Lee Valley LED light kits are top quality, very versatile with many options. I have above average confidence that if I need to repair or modify this installation, I'll be able to get parts or components from Lee Valley in the future. The finished installation is neat and professional looking, the light quality is very good and suited for the application. All in all - very satisfied with this product.

Light thrown from completed installation.

Sources and Links

I hope you found this post useful. Feel free to ask questions in the comments section below. I answer all questions. The Armacost lighting components were sources from Lee Valley Tools.

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Installing the Rain Machine Internet Connected Smart Irrigation Controller

I finally got around to replacing my 25 year old analog Toro irrigation controller. I have to say - this Toro controller was built like a tank - still functioning perfectly after 25 years - but limited by the functionality developed at the time.

Rain Machine - Completed Installation
Here's a photo of the Toro that I replaced:

Toro Analog Irrigation Controller
The rationale for replacing the Toro controller was to have multiple watering programs for different phases of lawn care during the year - for example - a soaking program following fertilizer or nemotode treatments, programs to water under the large shade trees which don't receive a lot of rain water when the leaves are on the tree, spring and summer watering programs, etc. The advantage of the Rain Machine is that you can create these programs, and enable, disable or schedule them as required, all from your smart phone or tablet. You can also have multiple programs enabled concurrently - which is useful for watering flowerbeds on a different schedule than watering your lawn.

The Rain Machine was quite simple to install. I began by labelling all the wires attached to the Toro controller prior to removing the Toro. There was a few peculiar wiring characteristics worth mentioning. The rain sensor in my system was simply an interrupt switch on the common circuit - so I had to identify the two wires going to the rain sensor which wouldn't be used with the Rain Machine - the Rain Machine uses weather forecasting and rainfall data to modify watering based on internet weather data. The rain sensor is not required (and in my case, was not functioning anyway). 

Once I began installation of the Rain Machine - I immediately ran into a problem. The wiring connections on the Rain Machine are TINY - the manual specifies it will take wire from 14 to 22 gauge - but it was impossible to install the wiring from my system directly to the Rain Machine connections - my wiring was stranded 12 or 14 guage wire - and it wasn't possible to get them installed security. So - I ended up crimping on short pigtails of 18 gauge stranded wire to be able to make the connections securely. 

Installation of 18 gauge pigtails to my irrigation cabling, to permit secure connections to the connection blocks

18 gauge pigtails to facilitate connections to the tight terminal blocks on the Rain Machine
Once the wiring was completed - there was a second problem - it looked horrible, and there was no way to install cable relief to prevent the wires from being pulled out of the connection blocks. If you compare this to the Toro irrigation controller, which had a large cavity for making the connections, complete with a cable grommet to secure the field wiring and prevent it from being pulled out of the connection blocks. 

Not a pretty installation - no place to hide the cables inside the Rain Machine. 
In order to neaten the installation - I used a short length of plastic cable channel used in automation panel cabling - to tuck the wires and help prevent them from physical damage / snagging / pulling from the connection blocks.

Plastic cable channel for hiding field wiring
Once this was done - I also tucked the power cable from the power brick into the cable channel, and covered the channel to completely hide the wiring. 

Cover on the cable channel
What would be my constructive criticism to Rain Machine to facilitate installation? Larger cable termination block, wider spaced terminals to accept larger gauge field wiring, and some form of cable management for neater field installations. You can see that they've put an emphasis on the industrial design of this unit, and made it as small as possible. This seems to sacrifice the practicality of installation, however.

Conclusion

How does the Rain Machine work in practice? Quite well - the smartphone / tablet app works very well, intuitive - quick to run individual zones, easy to set programs, run multiple programs at a time, disable programs without deleting them so that you can keep them from season to season, and nice to see the watering history and weather history, and the adaptation of watering times based on the weather and rainfall history. I haven't had a chance to check on Alexa integration yet, will update the post when I get the chance.

Sources and Links

I hope you found this post useful. Feel free to ask questions in the comments section below. I answer all questions.

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Ecotech EZ Variable Speed Pool Pump Motor Upgrade - Jacuzzi Magnum Pump

I've been working towards the goal of reducing my electricity bill by 33% - and I'm actually getting there. One of the largest loads besides heating and ventilation at my house is the pool pump. I have a typical single speed 1.5 HP Jacuzzi Magnum pool pump for an 18' x 36" rectangular in-ground pool. I like to open the pool early and close it late, and the kids love to swim. My estimates for running the Jacuzzi Magnum pump was around $500 / pool season full time. I've been running the pump on a time, for about 12 hours / day - so I guess I've actually been consuming around $300 per year in electricity. Thankfully, my marginal electricity cost is only about $0.095/kW-hr.

Ecotech EZ Motor installed on the Jacuzzi Magnum 1500 Pool Pump. The control panel is directly on top of the motor.
Last year I did a fair amount of research on the subject. and the key to saving electricity with a pool is to take advantage of pumping affinity law - which simply means that increasing the flow by 10% costs you 33% more in power. Similarly, reducing the flow by 25% will result in energy savings of approximately 50% - due to the reduction in friction losses by reducing the speed of the water in the piping (and importantly, across your filter element).

You can do this with multi-speed pumps - which can be standard wound-rotor pumps with a two or three speed tap - which will result in some savings, or even more significantly, with a electronically commutated permanent magnet variable speed motor, which are the most efficient commercially available motors. To take advantage of this simple principle, the state of California has mandated that new pool installations have as a minimum multi-speed pumps which default to low speed operation for filtration (California Energy Commission (CEC) Title 20 Appliance Efficiency Regulations).

My pool is probably a fairly typical installation for a 20 year old pool in the Province of Quebec - all the piping is 1 1/2 inches in diameter, and I have a 1.5 HP single speed motor, with a sand filter with a 1 1/2 inch multiport valve. My thermopump was added following the original pool installation - and it would have been difficult to imagine a less efficient plumbing addition to a system - to add the Thermopump - the pipe from the sand filter to the pool was extended by about 30 feet long in total - 1 1/2" piping - in a long serpentine.

So why upgrade just the motor, and not purchase a complete new pump? Because if you already have a decent pump - the motor will end up costing about 50% of the cost of a complete pump. If you're a bit handy, this isn't a particularly difficult upgrade. The hardest part may be the electrical part - and if you're switching the complete pump out - you'll need to deal with that anyway. My aim going into this upgrade is that the cost for the upgrade would be paid back within 2 years, and purchasing a complete new pump would not allow me to achieve that.

Starting point - Jacuzzi Magnum Pump with Single Speed, Permanent Split Capacitor Motor
So - to take best advantage of the variable speed motor upgrade, I also planned to upgrade as much of my piping as possible to 2" diameter, and relocate my thermopump to optimize the piping arrangement. I also planned to remove and replace all my 1 1/2" ball valves with 2 inch Jandy multiport valves - to simplify the plumbing and minimize the number of bends in the piping.

The first step in the project was to split the original single speed motor from the pump, and install the Ecotech EZ motor. This isn't terribly difficult to do, and it is also an excellent opportunity to replace your pump seal. The basic steps are as follows:
  • remove the pump from your system and disconnect the power;
  • split the pump from the motor by unscrewing the clamp ring between the motor and the pump;
  • unscrew the 2 screws retaining the diffuser, and lift the diffuser off;
  • unscrew the impeller by holding the motor end of the drive shaft, and unscrewing the impellor counter clockwise; 
  • lift off the seal housing (now is the time you would replace the motor shaft seals); 
  • unbolt the motor housing bracket (four bolts)
Preparing the Motor Housing Bracket for installation on the new Ecotech Motor
Note the clamp ring installed over the motor, with the seal plate installed over the motor housing bracket and motor shaft
Installing the impeller
Installation of the new motor is the reverse of the steps above, I won't go into details, there's quite a few good videos available explaining seal replacement on all types of pool pumps. Just ensure you take very clear note of the orientation of all parts during disassembly - photos will help. And - make sure you install the clamp ring right from the start - otherwise you'll be doing all the steps twice....

The Ecotech EZ motor installed on the Jacuzzi Magnum 1500 Pump - Ready to Install on the Pool
I'll write a separate post on the piping upgrade around the pump, sand filter and thermopump, Following that, I'll post about wiring up the new pump, the electrical considerations, power draw of the new motor, and the performance of the system. It's getting a bit too late to finish everything tonight.






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Cordless Tool Charging Station in Ikea Wall Cabinet

Part of the garage organization project included setting up a charging station for cordless tool batteries. I wanted a central place where I could install my chargers, and always have a few batteries charged and ready to go. I wanted the charging station to be hidden from view, and easy to keep organized but out of sight.

I set up  an extension cord from the closest outlet behind my Ikea cabinets to a convenient wall cabinet, and then installed a 3/8" plywood backboard to simplify the installation of the chargers. A coat of white paint helps keep the installation neat.

Plywood backboard installed with four small angle brackets. Note that the shelves are actually straight - the distortion is from the camera lens.
Next step was to install the chargers. I've standardized on two systems - 18V dewalt for most common handyman tools, and Ryobi 18V for my yard tools - cordless lawn trimmer, cordless hedge trimmer and cordless blower (I'm a pretty big fan of these three tools).

Dewalt charger on the left, Ryobi charger on the right. Mounting on the back wall of the cabinet maximizes space in the cabinet for batteries and tools, and helps keep things organized.
Dewalt and Ryobi chargers installed on the backboard. 
And finally, in front of the chargers - lots of space for the Dewalt 18V cordless shop vac, impact and drill.

Cordless tools - out of the way, always ready to go. 
Pretty simple project, took about an hour in total. Painting the plywood took the most time.



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Installing a 12V Battery Trickle Charger in the BMW E60 / E61 5 Series - Trunk Mount at Battery

Last weekend I did a winter maintenance hat trick on my 2010 BMW 535xi Touring. I installed an oil pan heating pad, a battery warming blanket, and an 1.1 Amp trickle charger.

I made a quick trip to Canadian Tire and decided on the NOCO Genius G1100. Noco also makes another model with better environmental protection designed to be installed semi-permanently in the vehicle. However I decided I'd try this one - reasonably priced about $60.

Noco Genius G1100 1.1 Amp Trickle Charger

IP 65 rating should mean that this charger is splash proof and dust proof. 
Installation of the harness directly to the car was simple. There is a grounding post direcly on the rear fender, where I installed the negative (black) ring terminal under the OEM hold down bolt.

Black negative cable installs to ground lug on right rear fender - with other car electrical grounds. 
The positive connection was also simple, underneath a bolt in the rear fuse box where the positive battery cable connects to an aluminum bus plate. 

Positive connection on the bus plate in the rear fuse panel, where the batttery cable attaches. There is a black plastic cover for this bolt - which I reinstalled after testing the connection. 
The trickle charger will normally bring the battery back to 100% charger overnight. It's a nice charger - auto voltage sensing, senses the battery is an AGM glass mat battery, and switches off when it reaches full charge. 

I made all the electrical connections and installed the charger in the plastic tray above the battery - and grounded the 110V electrical extension cable ground wire to the body of the car (green wire). This way - if line or neutral ever shorts to sheet metal, it will trip the breaker in the house before presenting a shock hazard to someone touching the car. 

Note green ground wire - grounding the 110V extension cord to the car body ground for safety.

Noco Genius G1100 chager installed in the tray above the battery. The other connections are for the battery blanket warmer, and the oil pan heater. 

I ran the electrical feed through a small hole in the battery box, underneath the car out underneath the rear fairing. This way - it is quick and easy to connect power without having to open the hood or the trunk - quick and easy. When not in use, the cord tucks in above the fairing and is protected from road salt and splashing. 
Works great - quick starts in the morning on very cold days, and no battery issues.




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Cold Weather Heat / Ventilation Problems in a 2010 BMW 5 Series - Battery Charging, Engine and Battery Heating

For the past two winters, on extremely cold days -20C / -5F or below, on my morning commute I'll have problems getting heat out of the ventilation system. In some cases, the ventilation fan will slow down to minimum speed, and for 20 minutes I'll freeze on the drive into work. Eventually the heat will start working in about 20 minutes, and by then my feet will have frozen to the pedals. Some research into the issue on the forums, and a few phone calls to my service adviser at the dealership, lead me to a possible cause for this issue. The BMW battery charging system has a load shedding function to help protect the battery charge level. So, after you've cranked your car after an overnight cold soak at -25C, with the depleted capacity of the battery at that temperature, and you're now driving the car with the heated seats, heated steering wheel, and the ventilation fan on high - the charging system may decide to protect itself by shedding (shutting off or slowing down) non-essential loads. One of these loads is the ventilation fan, when the ventilation system is not in the defrost mode. In defrost mode, the ventilation fan is considered an essential load and will be driven to high speed.

To make a long story somewhat shorter, I decided to take action and make a three pronged solution to this issue, to see if I could reduce the discomfort on cold days. Follow the links below to review the detailed posts on various installations. 

1. Install an oil pan engine pad heater (to shorten cranking times in cold weather, and help reduce engine wear on cold days - I plan to keep this car for a while - at least until BMW North America starts importing the 5 series wagon to Canada again;

2. Install a battery warming blanket to help keep the battery warm on cold nights, and to facilitate overnight trickle charging and short cranking times in the morning; and 

3. Install a trickle charger to bring the battery charge to 100% overnight. 

I also wanted to connect all three electrical loads on the car to a single extension cord plug, tucked up underneath one of the bottom fairings at the back corner of the car next to the trailer hitch, so I only have one plug to manage in the morning for connection / disconnection, and without having to open or close the hood or the trunk.


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