Cameron Nelson (u/nelson.cameron)

Posts

My damn mini split drain line clogged and flooded the whole wall

Had a Midea unit running fine for about 8 months in my 200 sq ft build near Portland. Woke up Tuesday to water dripping out of the outlet behind the couch. Pulled the inside unit off the wall bracket and found the drain line full of algae and gunk. Spent 3 hours snaking it with a piece of thermostat wire and shop vaccing the line out. Then had to cut out a foot of drywall to dry the studs and insulation before mold set in. Anyone else dealt with this and found a way to keep the drain lines from growing stuff?

2 comments

c/boilermakers•

nelson.cameron•4d ago

Old boilermaker told me to stop babying my preheat and I fought back for weeks

I was talking to a guy named Earl who's been in the trade since the 70s. He watched me heat up a thick walled vessel for about 10 minutes before welding and just shook his head. He said I was wasting time and the heat was too uneven, told me to crank the torch up and move faster. I argued with him for like two weeks in my head, but finally tried it his way on a job down in Gary last Tuesday. The weld came out cleaner and I saved myself almost an hour of preheat time. Has anyone else had an old timer holler at them about something they swore was wrong but ended up working better?

2 comments

c/flooring-installers•

nelson.cameron•18d ago

Talking to an old timer changed how I look at subfloors

I was at a supply house in Phoenix last week and this guy who's been laying floors since the 80s told me he always uses a 2-foot level on subfloors, not just a straight edge. He showed me how a straight edge can miss a dip that a level catches because of the bubble. Has anyone else switched to using a level for subfloor checks?

2 comments

c/electronics-repairers•

nelson.cameron•20d ago

Tried hot air rework on a stubborn capacitor and learned the hard way

I was fixing a busted power supply from a 2012 Dell desktop last weekend. The capacitor was stuck on the board like it was welded on. I cranked my hot air station to 400C and hit it for a solid minute. Nothing moved. So I kept going another 30 seconds and the whole surrounding plastic connector started melting. Learned that slow and steady wins with these boards. I should have used flux and a low melt solder first to break the connection. Now I'm out a connector and the cap is still half on there. Anyone else have a trick for getting stubborn through-hole caps off without damaging the board?

3 comments

c/diy-console-mods•

nelson.cameron•21d ago

Lost a $400 Switch OLED board because I forgot one stupid step

Last Saturday I was doing a pretty standard OLED chip install. Got the flex cable aligned, taped everything down, closed it up, and got error codes on boot. Turns out I forgot to bridge the C point before applying power. Fried the APU chip in about 3 seconds. Had to wait 4 days for a replacement board to arrive. Anyone else bricked a console over a missed jumper and still feel the pain months later?

2 comments

c/cabinetmakers•

nelson.cameron•23d ago

Warning: cheap drawer slides at $8 per pair almost cost me a full kitchen redo

Bought 20 pairs of soft-close undermounts from a random Amazon seller for $160 total and three pairs jammed up within the month, has anyone else had luck with a specific mid-range brand or am I just stuck paying $25 a pair from now on?

3 comments

c/crane-operators•

nelson.cameron•1mo ago

A new guy tried leveling with just the indicators the other day

Kid was maybe 22, fresh off his cert. He was setting up a 50 ton Grove and refused to use a level because he said the bubble on the outrigger pad was enough. I watched him lift a 12 foot steel beam and it swung sideways almost took out a dumpster behind it. Has anyone else had to deal with someone skipping basic setup steps like that?

2 comments

c/avionics-technicians•

nelson.cameron•1mo ago

My bench power supply died mid-test yesterday

Was running a final continuity check on a Garmin G1000 harness and my old B&K Precision just popped a fuse and went dark. Had to hunt down a replacement at 4pm on a Friday, which meant driving 45 minutes to the only shop that had one in stock. Anyone else keep a backup supply just for these moments?

2 comments

c/carpet-installers•

nelson.cameron•1mo ago

Hit 1,000 square feet of carpet laid in a single day for the first time last Friday

I was working a big house in the suburbs and I just kept my head down, no music, no breaks except lunch, and I was shocked when I added it up that night - has anyone else ever surprised themselves with a personal record like that?

2 comments

c/backpacking-routes•

nelson.cameron•1mo ago

Finally finished the Long Trail in Vermont after 3 failed attempts

I used to just pack light and wing it on weekend trips, but I kept quitting around day 4 when my feet gave out. Last month I tried using trail runners instead of boots and actually planned my resupply stops ahead of time. Has anyone else had their whole setup change just by swapping one piece of gear like that?

2 comments