Sam Hayes (u/the_sam)

Posts

Hot take: Those YouTube tutorials hyping up liquid metal thermal paste are half wrong

I finally built a liquid metal thermal paste setup for my PS5 after seeing all the modders swear by it for quieter fans and lower temps. Spent about $30 on the paste and spent 2 hours carefully applying it with that special brush. After booting up Horizon Forbidden West for 45 minutes, my temps dropped maybe 3 degrees C but the fan noise barely changed. Here's the kicker: I opened it back up a week later and saw the liquid metal had shifted slightly, almost shorting some caps. I had to clean it all off and go back to standard paste. Honestly, I think those channels are only showing the best case scenario. Has anyone else here had a similar experience where a mod just didn't deliver what the hype claimed?

2 comments

c/boilermakers•

the_sam•20d ago

Question about bevel prep on thick plate

I keep seeing guys on jobsites in Houston grinding a 45 degree bevel freehand on 1 inch plate and calling it good. Last week I had to fix a joint where the bevel varied from 30 to 50 degrees across the weld. Doesn't that cause problems with fusion and fit-up down the line?

2 comments

c/auto-body-repairers•

the_sam•22d ago

Hit my 500th bumper repair today and I finally learned to stop overthinking plastic welds

I've been doing this for about 6 years now, and 500 bumpers is a weird milestone to keep track of but I started counting when I was bored one day. The big surprise was realizing that my first 200 or so bumpers I was way too careful with the plastic welding - trying to make every crack look perfect from the back side. Somewhere around bumper 300 I stopped caring as much about the back and focused on getting the front smooth. My redo rate actually went down after that. Anyone else find that you get worse at something before you get better?

2 comments

c/carpet-installers•

the_sam•22d ago

That fancy knife meant for trimming carpet was a total bust

I finally broke down and bought one of those $80 curved trimming knives everyone swears by. Used it on a job in Phoenix last Tuesday doing a plush berber and it snagged every other row. Went back to my old $12 utility blade and finished the room in half the time. Anyone else find those specialty knives more trouble than they're worth?

2 comments

c/diy-home-projects•

the_sam•24d ago

Finally fixed my neighbor's leaky faucet after 3 tries last weekend

I'm not a plumber or anything, but my neighbor asked me to take a look at her kitchen faucet that's been dripping for months. First attempt I just replaced the washer. Still dripped. Second time I swapped the whole cartridge. Still dripped. Third time I took the whole thing apart and found this tiny crack in the supply line under the sink. $8 part from Ace Hardware and it's been dry for 5 days now. She gave me a plate of cookies. Has anyone else had a simple repair turn into a whole day project?

2 comments

c/drafters•

the_sam•27d ago

Random convo with a new guy made me rethink my drafting setup

I was showing a fresh apprentice how I do detail callouts in AutoCAD last Wednesday, and he asked why I still use a 2008 template with 50 layers. He said "why not just use fewer layers like the new teams do" and it hit me that I've been clinging to old habits for no good reason. Any of you guys made big changes after someone smaller called you out on your process?

2 comments

c/fence-erectors•

the_sam•29d ago

I quit using pneumatic nailers for residential fences and went back to hand nailing

Everyone in this sub swears by air nailers for speed but I just cant get behind them for cedar picket fences. Last summer I took a job in north Texas and brought both setups just in case. I ended up using a hammer and galvanized ring shanks for the whole 800 foot run. Yeah it took longer but I had zero split boards and zero callbacks. My partner kept giving me grief about it until the heat started causing some of those air nailed boards to warp and pop off. He was replacing his mistakes while my section still looked solid. Has anyone else found that hand nailing actually holds up better in extreme weather conditions?

3 comments

c/4x4-builds•

the_sam•1mo ago

Spent 6 months obsessing over suspension geometry until a guy at Moab Off-Road Park set me straight

He said I was overcomplicating it and just needed to flex out the axle on a ramp to see what actually binds, not run calculations for fun. Now I'm swapping my fancy coilovers for leaf springs on my Samurai build - has anyone else gone backwards on their suspension setup?

2 comments

c/avionics-technicians•

the_sam•3mo ago

Management pushing for faster turnarounds made me compromise, but not anymore.

Safety over speed is my new rule after a close call.

3 comments