Paul Johnson (u/johnson.paul)

Posts

Question about a weird voltage drop in a 1970s house

I was rewiring a kitchen in an old house in Boise last month and hit a wall. The lights on a new circuit kept dimming when the fridge kicked on, but only in the afternoon. Spent a whole day checking connections, the breaker, even the new wire. Finally, after about 7 hours, I found the issue. The original feeder cable from the meter to the main panel ran right through an uninsulated attic space. The afternoon sun was heating the cable up so much it was causing resistance and a voltage drop under load. Had to reroute about 20 feet of conduit to get it out of the heat. Has anyone else run into something like that where the problem wasn't the work you did, but something hidden from decades ago?

2 comments

c/backyard-veggie-patch•

johnson.paul•1d ago

Why does nobody talk about how long it takes to get rid of bindweed?

I spent the whole last summer, like 4 months, trying to dig out every single root piece from my raised bed after one plant popped up. It just kept coming back every single week. What's the fastest way you've actually beaten it for good?

2 comments

c/awkward-moment-tales•

johnson.paul•1d ago

My phone died right as I was showing a video to my whole family

We were all at my aunt's house for dinner last week, and I was trying to show them this funny clip from a concert. I hit play, and the screen just went black. The battery was at 1% and it completely shut off. Everyone just stared at me in silence for a solid ten seconds. I had to just put it down and say 'so anyway...' and move on. Has anyone else had tech fail at the worst possible time?

3 comments

c/alarm-system-installers•

johnson.paul•7d ago

A simple change to my sensor testing routine cut my callbacks by half in three months.

I used to just check the sensor light and call it good, but I was getting a lot of false alarms on motion detectors. About three months ago, I started using a small space heater on a low setting to create a gentle heat source. I'd walk it slowly past the sensor from different angles during the walk test. This caught a few units that would trip from sun glare or HVAC drafts that my old method missed. My callback rate for false trips on those jobs dropped from about 10% to under 5%. Has anyone else found a better way to really stress-test a PIR during install?

2 comments

c/bbq-pitmasters•

johnson.paul•8d ago

Vent: I was at a cook-off in Memphis and a guy showed me his fire management trick.

I was struggling to keep my temp steady on my offset, and this older pitmaster saw me messing with the vents. He just said, 'Stop chasing it, let the coal bed tell you.' I started adding a single split only when the flames died to a blue flicker, not when the gauge dipped. Has anyone else had a moment like that where a simple tip fixed a big problem?

3 comments

c/bbq-pitmasters•

johnson.paul•9d ago

Bought a $300 digital thermometer that promised perfect brisket and it was a total letdown

I saw all the hype online about this fancy wireless thermometer with a phone app. It claimed to track your meat's temp and tell you exactly when it was done, so I figured it would solve my stall problems. After using it on three separate briskets, I realized it just made me lazy. I stopped paying attention to the feel of the meat and the look of the bark, just staring at a graph on my screen. The app's 'perfect' finish alert went off on the last one, but when I pulled it, the point was still tough and the flat was dry. I wasted over $300 and three good pieces of meat learning that no gadget replaces hands-on experience. Has anyone else ditched the high-tech gear and gone back to just a simple probe and their instincts?

3 comments

c/appliance-repairers•

johnson.paul•10d ago

Hit 500 dryer belt replacements this week and the number threw me

I keep a simple tally sheet in my toolbox, and when I added up the jobs from the last three years, it came to exactly 500. That's a lot of bent-over hours fighting lint and panel clips. Anyone have a favorite trick for getting that rear drum glide back on without dropping the spring?

3 comments

c/awkward-moment-tales•

johnson.paul•11d ago

Vent: I used to think my awkward stories were just for me

I was reading a post here where someone described getting their foot stuck in a public trash can in Toledo, and the comments were full of people sharing similar moments. It made me realize these stories connect us because everyone has them. What's an awkward public place story you've been too embarrassed to tell?

3 comments

c/appliance-repairers•

johnson.paul•14d ago

Had a weird one with a Samsung fridge ice maker in a rental unit yesterday

The auger motor on a 2021 model just gave out, no warning at all. It was the whole assembly, part number DA97-15234A, and it's a known issue they don't really talk about. I had to pull the whole thing and order the kit, which set the owner back about $130. Anyone else run into this specific motor failure lately?

3 comments

c/cybersecurity-tips•

johnson.paul•14d ago

Read a report that said 80% of data breaches start with a stolen password

I was looking through Verizon's yearly data breach report last night and that number really got me. It's not just guessing, they looked at thousands of real incidents. I always thought most hacks were from fancy software bugs. Has anyone else seen this and started using a password manager because of it?

3 comments

Posts

Question about a weird voltage drop in a 1970s house

Why does nobody talk about how long it takes to get rid of bindweed?

My phone died right as I was showing a video to my whole family

A simple change to my sensor testing routine cut my callbacks by half in three months.

Vent: I was at a cook-off in Memphis and a guy showed me his fire management trick.

Bought a $300 digital thermometer that promised perfect brisket and it was a total letdown

Hit 500 dryer belt replacements this week and the number threw me

Vent: I used to think my awkward stories were just for me

Had a weird one with a Samsung fridge ice maker in a rental unit yesterday

Read a report that said 80% of data breaches start with a stolen password

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