Monday, July 20, 2009
I'm gonna be a Dad!
Yes, my wife is very pregnant. 10weeks pregnant. Last Friday I took her to get an ultrasound and the baby is about the size of a large peanut, but has a heartbeat and is healthy. I am pretty excited, I don't care what the sex of the baby is. Here is the ultrasound results:
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Past the point of no return
I have done it. I have gone all in. Bet it all on black. Past the point of no return. No looking back now.
I have completely gutted my espresso machine of wiring with the exception of 3. 1 Supplies power to both boilers, and then the other 2 are each boilers heating elements output to complete circuit. The thick white "wire" isn't really a wire at all but a thermocouple input to a PID controller (read on).
I have a picture so you can see what I am talking about.
Originally, it was a complete rats nest of wiring from the factory. It was seriously horrific. I like to think I am pretty competent about electronics, especially appliances and cars which are fairly simple creatures. But this wire job was unimaginably complicated and confusing. I would stare at it for hours and only be more confused after wards.
So I decided to go for it and completely rewire it the way I wanted to. Which brings me to a new challenge: Make the dang thing work! I may have bitten off more than I could chew by doing this. I took precautions before doing this like taking photos of the wiring before gutting it. However, the wiring was so bad, I doubt I really could ever get it back together. Rachel warned me not to do it (standard wife protocol), but she is secretly hoping I don't get it to work so we can get a new super-wamadine machine.
There was a couple things that led me down this route. 1. Stock components are starting to wear out. Like the brew boiler thermostat starting to heat too long, therefore turning itself into a second steam boiler. By the way, in case you were wondering, steam makes horrible coffee. 2. I wanted to have a digital PID temperature controller instead of a thermostat, but the PID does not play well with the contactor (not pictured, already removed). The machine's boilers would trip a standard 15A circuit breaker if they were both energized simultaneously, so a contactor/relay was wired in to essentially be a electro-mechanical power saver by switching power between boilers so they both can get hot but prevent overloading the circuit. The PID causes the contactor to cycle excessively and only the brew boiler gets hot because the contactor gets confused by the pulsing of the PID.
I believe, since the PID is a smarter way to go as far as energy usage goes that I could power both boilers without a switching device such as a contactor (since a PID is a switching device in a sense). This will simplify the overall wiring without the contactor. Then use the pre-existing switches to energize the pump and solenoid valves (orange thing and black box things respectively in the picture) as the factory originally intended. Read more about PID's here: link.
If I fail, then I am an idiot for ever attempting this hair brained scheme. But if I am sucessful, then I am a FRICKIN GENIUS!
At work I have a nickname that has to do with all my insane behavior, "Dr. Scientist". Mostly because of what I do at work, but it is a personality I have developed over the years. Sort of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde split personality complex. Mild-mannered "me" transforms into obsessive-compulsive "Dr. Scientist" when it comes to my hobbies.
I have completely gutted my espresso machine of wiring with the exception of 3. 1 Supplies power to both boilers, and then the other 2 are each boilers heating elements output to complete circuit. The thick white "wire" isn't really a wire at all but a thermocouple input to a PID controller (read on).
I have a picture so you can see what I am talking about.
Originally, it was a complete rats nest of wiring from the factory. It was seriously horrific. I like to think I am pretty competent about electronics, especially appliances and cars which are fairly simple creatures. But this wire job was unimaginably complicated and confusing. I would stare at it for hours and only be more confused after wards.
So I decided to go for it and completely rewire it the way I wanted to. Which brings me to a new challenge: Make the dang thing work! I may have bitten off more than I could chew by doing this. I took precautions before doing this like taking photos of the wiring before gutting it. However, the wiring was so bad, I doubt I really could ever get it back together. Rachel warned me not to do it (standard wife protocol), but she is secretly hoping I don't get it to work so we can get a new super-wamadine machine.
There was a couple things that led me down this route. 1. Stock components are starting to wear out. Like the brew boiler thermostat starting to heat too long, therefore turning itself into a second steam boiler. By the way, in case you were wondering, steam makes horrible coffee. 2. I wanted to have a digital PID temperature controller instead of a thermostat, but the PID does not play well with the contactor (not pictured, already removed). The machine's boilers would trip a standard 15A circuit breaker if they were both energized simultaneously, so a contactor/relay was wired in to essentially be a electro-mechanical power saver by switching power between boilers so they both can get hot but prevent overloading the circuit. The PID causes the contactor to cycle excessively and only the brew boiler gets hot because the contactor gets confused by the pulsing of the PID.
I believe, since the PID is a smarter way to go as far as energy usage goes that I could power both boilers without a switching device such as a contactor (since a PID is a switching device in a sense). This will simplify the overall wiring without the contactor. Then use the pre-existing switches to energize the pump and solenoid valves (orange thing and black box things respectively in the picture) as the factory originally intended. Read more about PID's here: link.
If I fail, then I am an idiot for ever attempting this hair brained scheme. But if I am sucessful, then I am a FRICKIN GENIUS!
At work I have a nickname that has to do with all my insane behavior, "Dr. Scientist". Mostly because of what I do at work, but it is a personality I have developed over the years. Sort of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde split personality complex. Mild-mannered "me" transforms into obsessive-compulsive "Dr. Scientist" when it comes to my hobbies.
Monday, July 13, 2009
BBQ Bro!
Ok, so I have just gotten back from an underway on Friday. Also my wife, Rachel, and I have a tradition whenever I go on an underway we BBQ. So to take a break from my espresso machine endeavors and troubleshooting, here are some shots of the last two times we BBQ'ed. The weekend prior to going underway I grilled some steaks and sausages. The steaks were alittle fatty and over cooked in my opinion. They were still good and juicy, I just prefer my steak alittle rarer, but I am pretty clueless about grilling. The sausages were amazing. We did not have both steaks AND sausages in one meal other wise you'd be reading about my trip to the hospital after a recent heart attack. The steaks were on a Friday, and sausages on Saturday. Since I got back we decided to grill burgers and they turned out great. I grill only one type of burger, and that is a bacon-cheeseburger. When the ground beef is grilling and I go and flip them (only once!) I immediately throw the cheese and bacon on the now exposed side so the flavors can mix and get all happy. I toast the buns on the grill too, it is the only way. Oh, and the shish kebabs were also out of this world.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)