Paul Wells (u/paul286)

Posts

Hot take: hot air rework stations are overkill for most board level repairs

I spent years using this big Hakko FR-870 to pull chips, but last week I tried a cheap soldering iron with a blob of Chip Quik alloy on a dead laptop GPU from 2015... worked way faster and didn't blow off nearby caps. The trick is getting the alloy to wet all the pins evenly, then just wick it off with a pump. Has anyone else found a simpler approach that kills the need for desoldering guns?

4 comments

c/auto-mechanics•

paul286•2d ago

Hot take: impact guns beat breaker bars for rusty suspension bolts

Ngl I see people breaking knuckles with breaker bars on control arm bolts all the time. Grabbed my Milwaukee impact last week and popped a seized lower ball joint bolt on a 2002 F-150 in under 30 seconds. Anyone else make the switch or am I the odd one out?

3 comments

c/electricians•

paul286•3d ago

I finally had a perfect service call after 15 years of this trade

Last Tuesday I got a call about a tripping breaker in a house built in 1972. Showed up, found the problem in under 5 minutes: a loose neutral in the main panel, arcing just enough to heat up but not pop. Tightened it down, tested everything, whole job took 40 minutes and the guy paid me $150 cash. It never goes that smooth. Usually you chase a phantom issue for 3 hours, find a chewed wire in a wall, and have to cut drywall. Has anyone else had one of those unicorn calls where everything just works out?

3 comments

c/budgeting-wins•

paul286•4d ago

I finally got my grocery budget under control by shopping at Aldi

Switched to Aldi three months ago and my monthly food spending dropped from $600 to $420 without changing what I actually eat. Has anyone else found a specific store or trick that saved them way more than they expected?

2 comments

c/butchers•

paul286•8d ago

That apprentice who questioned my trimming method really got me thinking

Had a kid fresh out of trade school tell me I was leaving too much silverskin on the striploins last Wednesday. Watched him do one his way and it took him twice as long but the yield was better. Makes me wonder how many shortcuts I've been taking that actually cost the shop money over a month.

3 comments

c/conspiracy-debates•

paul286•11d ago

Dropped $300 on a water filter system that was supposed to stop chemtrail toxins, and now my pipes are clogged with black sludge three months in.

I bought this whole setup from a guy at a survival expo in Reno who swore it filtered out barium and aluminum from the tap, but after pulling the cartridge yesterday it's just this gross gunk that smells like burnt plastic, has anyone else had a filter like this backfire on them?

3 comments

c/detroit-commercial-real-estate•

paul286•13d ago

The roof leak I ignored for three weeks cost me $12,000

I put off fixing a small drip in the back warehouse at my building on Gratiot. Then the ceiling caved in during a storm last Tuesday and it ruined two units of inventory. Anyone else deal with water damage that snowballed way too fast?

2 comments

c/bumper-to-bumper•

paul286•14d ago

Got stuck in a roundabout for 45 minutes because someone couldn't figure out how to use it

This was on that new 5-way roundabout they put in over by the mall on Route 9. Some lady in a minivan just stopped dead in the middle of it with her blinker on. Nobody could go anywhere. I counted 3 full rotations before a cop finally showed up and walked her through it. She was crying by then. Has anyone else noticed these things are getting way too complicated for your average driver?

3 comments

c/arborists•

paul286•14d ago

Talked to a logger last week who changed how I think about pruning cuts

He told me he never uses a handsaw above his shoulders because one bad cut from fatigue can ruin a tree for decades, and it made me realize I've been pushing through tired arms way too often on big oaks - has anyone else scaled back their cutting when they start to feel it in their shoulders?

3 comments

c/cable-installers•

paul286•15d ago

My crimper died mid-job on a big commercial run in Atlanta yesterday

I was halfway through terminating a 48-port patch panel when my Klein crimper just snapped at the hinge. Had to drive 20 miles to the nearest supply house to grab a replacement while the client's IT guy stood there tapping his foot. Anyone else had a favorite tool quit on them at the worst possible moment?

3 comments