Hello, I am an environmental engineer sharing my design for a ~300 gallon IBC tote rainwater collection system. What makes this different and beneficial for self-sufficiency is the low cost per gallon. This tote also provides a large enough storage tank to use a dedicated irrigation pump for reuse. You could make this as simple or as complex as you wanted to.

IBC totes are frequently used for storing and transporting food grade materials, so there is an aftermarket for cheap used totes, you just have to verify what they were used for. I got this 275 gallon tote off of marketplace for $100 USD. It was previously used to transport food dye. They are highly durable because they're built out of HDPE and galvanized steel.

Other Materials:

Leaf filter, from $10 to $70 - my preference is the Leaf Eater Advanced ($66)

Downspout diverter, my preference is Earth minded Flexifit diverter ($20)

PVC pipe and valves, figure $50

Total entry cost including tank: $180 - $240

Optional:

Lid adapter for two inlet ports $10

1 HP irrigation pump $140

Discharge splitter $10

Wi-Fi controller $30

Piggy-back Level float, alternative controller $50

Ozone injector to keep the water fresh and odor free: $400 (luxury) JED Engineering model 203

Looks a bit ugly because I used different colors of cardboard this time

Any suggestions for sensible knots that would allow me to a) tighten the loop around the screw at the bottom post-hoc and b) adjust the length of the cord post-hoc (but it holds the weight of the boards + books)?

So I want to hang this transparent table cloth up as a curtain. The plastic is pretty thin (less than 0,5 mm), but it feels like it should be fine. So my question is, how would you make the holes to put the rings through? The curtain is 140 x 180 cm, and the material is probably (less than 0,5 mm) thin, hence pretty light (~300 - 400g). I figure if I just cut horizontal slits, it'll be likely to tear. Circular holes would need to be big enough to fit the scissors through - I don't exactly have any special tools at my disposal rn. I'm mostly wondering if I'd need to reinforce the holes somehow or it'll hold its weight as is without tearing. Any advice would be much appreciated. P.S. I'm open to any alternative suggestions, also considering some sort of clamps instead of rings, but the ones you get for curtains are meant to hold textile curtains, no idea how well they would hold this smooth material.

(Side note: Why is the curtain transparent? Answer: it's not meant to keep the light out or prying eyes, but a cold draught! I've been using my regular curtains for this, but turns out I need the daylight to still come in. My bed is right by the window, and in winter that spot is super drafty and cold, but if I keep the sunlight out, I can't wake up in the morning. Also the bed won't fit anywhere else in this small bedroom)

Did my best to try and make sure it actually lasts instead of just looking good on the surface for the first few years.

• The bottom of the plywood has an angled drip edge and all edges have been pre-painted twice before hanging.
• Backside of the walls are vented.
• The bottom edge is off the ground.
• Only stainless hardware used.
• Extra durable paint meant for wetrooms
• Seams, corners and all pass-throughs have been caulked

Howdy DIYers,

I happened across a lovely dell inspirion 8500. They just don't design laptops like this anymore.

Now, it's very old. It has RAM in the megabytes, so not really usable these days. I'm wondering if anybody has put a new motherboard or somehow upgraded this or a similar laptop to be decent but still keep the shell.

Made from a big water bottle wrapped in several layers of cardboard. The whole thing is covered with brown paper, which makes the surface harder and look nicer.

The lid is made from 4 layers of cardboard and trimmed to tightly fit the container. When used, it's covered in a plastic bag for waterproofing

Shaping cardboard to tight tolerances is pretty easy: when dry it is suprisingly stiff; you can cleanly saw it through with a serrated knife, even at tiny shallow angles. You can also add more layers of paper to make it thicker.

The first photo might look slightly more dramatic than it is, here area two more:

So I tried to remove the gas compression spring of my new office chair from the sockets to send it back. It's firmly stuck in both ends, and I read the recommendation to knock it with a rubber hammer. I couldn't find one, so I covered the gas spring with some soft cloths and tried a regular hammer - and was a bit too enthusiastic. Is this spring still safe to use? I'm guessing/hoping that that's not really the outer wall of the gas cartridge? It is still working, extends and compresses smoothly.

EDIT: so I saw a couple videos about this topic where people removed the holding clip on the bottom end of the gas lift, allowing them to remove the cylinder that I dented from the actual gas spring. I did that on my gas spring and low and behold, I was able to remove it and verify that the dented part isn't actually under pressure - it's rather a duct/guiding rail and pretty cover for the lifting bar that sticks out of the actual spring. So the spring is safe to use once I put everything back, but that outer cylinder might never go anywhere ever again. However, since the spring is still usable, I'm keeping the darned chair and have no more need to get it out for returning.

DIY foot mechanism with USB - when my body couldn't do mouse clicks and certain key combinations anymore I built this contraption to be able to work with fewer keyboard and mouse interactions.

Has moved with me several times, been heavily used and I still use it occasionally. I've always wanted to take it beyond prototype because it has been good and useful for me, but the DIY version out of plywood, duct tape, MDF, a slaughtered low budget mouse, some wire and a few 3d printed pieces has its charm.

The buttons were adjusted for super-light toe taps - I didn't want to just offset the damage from my hands to my feet! I had bought a commercial footboard before with stupidly heavy pedals and wanted something better.

Hello everybody, im new here! Does someone have a guide/tutorial/diy for a solar food dehydrator? through navigating the web, i only collect this one, made by Victor Paiam, but i want more infographies or resources so i can made my own thank you for all!!

What I have

I have an old Acer Aspire A515-51G and I also have a desire to have a home server. In combination this creates a need for the laptop to carry more HDDs than it can from factory. Usually it can take one M.2 SSD and one 2.5" SATA drive.

What I want

I want to make the laptop able to run at least 4 HDDs in RAID 5 for storage and have one SSD as boot drive.

What I did

The buying phase

• 4 HDDs
• M.2 to SATA adapter
• 12V/5V SATA power converter
• 12V 10A power supply

The designing phase

I needed space to hold the HDDs, so I designed a 3D printed a cage to attach to the bottom of my laptop. Two 80mm fans can be attach to it. You can see it on printables. Also I remixed a tray (here is the original) so the HDDs can slide in and out of the cage.

.

The assembly phase

A cutout at the bottom of the laptop was needed to give access to the SATA ports of the adapter.

I put a 2.5" SSD into the already present place for it in the laptop.

Then the cage was attached to the laptop, the HDDs were put in their trays, the trays inside the cage and the cables attached to the adapter and HDDs.

Hi. I have a Kia Niro. I do the maintenance on it. Here are some part numbers and other info that's useful for that maintenance. I'm posting here so I can find my notes for next time. 😅

• oil:
  • oil filter: 26300-35505
  • oil viscosity: 0W-16 (hybrid cars)
  • oil capacity: 3.8 liters
  • oil filter torque: 11.8Nm to 15.7Nm
  • drain plug gasket: 21513-23001
  • drain plug socket: 17mm
  • drain plug torque: 34.3Nm to 44.1Nm
• tires:
  • size: 205/60R16 (92 S, T, or H) (in that order, first available)
  • lug nut torque: 115Nm
  • lug nut socket: 21mm
• other:
  • windshield washer fluid: 3.7 liters
  • engine (and inverter?) coolant: UM020 CH263
  • engine air filter: 28113-AT100

Made from cardboard paper, wheat glue and filled with coffee ground

The coffee ground shrinks a lot when drying. I'd use cardboard layers instead if I had to do it again

I used a 10mm masonry bit to drill for a 10mm plastic anchor like that pictured. The anchor spins freely in the hole, which I think is expected. I thought I read somewhere that the screw size should be 2mm less than the anchor. Thus 8mm for a 10mm ø anchor. But an 8mm screw is fat enough to rub sides of the anchor as it is inserted because I suppose the anchor is only 1mm thick at the opening. The guy at the shop confirmed that 8mm is too big. He said a 6mm screw matches and sold me those. After installing and loading, the anchor started to pull out.

Do I need a 7mm ø screw? Odd sizes get decreasingly common above 5mm. Yet 10mm sleeves are very common.. so it’s not adding up.

I would like to have a reliable PDF chart of bore,anchor, and screw sizes -- in metric. It seems there are plenty of such charts for Imperial/English units, like these:

• http://nfaspace.com/services/Forms_files/Anchor%20Classification%20Guide.pdf
• https://anchors.dewalt.com/anchors/_documents/uploads/DWANF_ICDWANCHSG_r01.pdf?1659150839

I’m not sure what a “#10” screw or anchor is (sometimes also written as “№10”). Does that refer to the metric size despite being in an imperial system?

(update)
The brick is rendered over with ~10mm plaster. The anchor is flush with the wall so about 10mm of the anchor is wasted. I think the anchor needs to be pushed in to be flush with the brick. But that’s a struggle. I think the proper approach is to screw in the screw just a couple rotations and then to hammer on the screw. But the anchor is either too big for the hole or something. The screw drives in but the anchor does not go with it. I think I will try softening the anchor with a heat gun and then try to push it in deeper. Or maybe I need a fatter screw just to drive the anchor in more.

The problem is worsened by the fact that as I screw, the anchor is coming out by about 5mm. So it’s even shallower than when I start screwing.

(update 2)
Now I see why I cannot get the anchor to be flush with the brick: I only drilled the hole deep enough for the anchor to be flush with the plaster layer.

So one theory is that I need to drill 10mm deeper so the anchor can be flush with the brick not the (useless) plaster. OTOH, the collar of the ancher seems a bit useless anyway for about 10mm.

Part of trying the get my dishwasher to drain https://piefed.ca/c/diy@slrpnk.net/p/894317/help-fixing-my-dishwasher-it-won-t-drain-and-is-stop-on-sanitize-mode

I have removed to drain pump, solenoid, water heater.

The drain pump white part spins with no obstruction at all.

With a multimeter:

My solenoid is about to get 984 OHMs resistance.

I'm not sure how to check my drain pump. I don't see any connector end. Closest thing are these 6 metal spike thing pointed out on the motherboard.

I don't see any visible blockage.

I'm not sure if I need to check the voltage as well. And I'm not sure if i need the dishwasher running with water to test. Problem is still stuff is located at the bottom of the dishwasher. If I wanted to check the voltage with running water.

Hi everyone,

I have several height-adjustable bar stools like the ones shown in the attached photos, and they have developed the same problem.

The stools use a lever underneath the seat to adjust the height. When I pull the lever without sitting on the stool, the seat rises normally and can be adjusted to its maximum height. However, once I sit on it, the mechanism does not seem able to hold the pressure/height anymore.

Under my weight, the seat gradually sinks until it reaches the lowest possible position. If I stand up and operate the lever again, it rises normally, but the same thing happens as soon as I sit down.

The stools are otherwise in good condition, so I would prefer to repair them rather than replace them.

From what I understand, these stools probably use a gas-lift/pneumatic cylinder similar to an office chair, but I have never disassembled this type of mechanism.

I would appreciate some advice on:

• Is this symptom usually caused by a worn or failed gas-lift cylinder?
• Could the adjustment lever or valve mechanism be keeping the cylinder slightly open instead?
• Is there any practical way to repair/recondition the existing cylinder, or is replacement normally the only solution?
• Are these cylinders generally standardized, or would I need to measure the existing one before ordering a replacement?
• What measurements/specifications should I check to find a compatible replacement?
• How difficult is it to remove the old cylinder from the base and seat mechanism without damaging the stool?

I have several identical stools, so if the cylinders are the problem, I would ideally like to repair all of them rather than replace the entire set.

Photos attached showing the stools, adjustment lever, base and central column.

Any advice on diagnosing the problem before I start taking them apart would be very helpful.

Hi DIY!

My headphones of many years recently broke. My first response was to attempt to glue them back together with super glue (ethyl 2-cyanoacrylate) however that didn't seem to hold. Not even a little bit.

I then did a bit of searching and found that Sony often use ABS plastic in headphone manufacture, so presumably these are ABS. I then read super glue should work okay on ABS, however there seemed to be no bonding happening at all.

Do any of you have any tips for the best kind of glue or epoxy to bond these plastic parts back together and get the music flowing again?

I plan on wrapping the joints in thread afterwards, for additional durability. But first I need to get them bonded.

I'm tried checking the plastic tubes, filter, and drain hole within the dishwasher but no clogs.

The black pipes that go into to ground are not drained since this same is used frequently everyday by my sink with no issues.

I tried scooping the water out. Turning off the breaker to the power for 30 minutes. Holding the start by to reset it.

But it will not drain the water nor do a proper cleaning. And to sanitized light flashing. It seems maybe looking for a product to start sanitize cycle maybe? We tried adding liquid to it, closing it, doing a sanitize cycle, but the same problem.

Made entirely out of things I already had in my stash!

Even with perfect measurements it's impossible to get to that line straight unless the frame is perfectly square. This not only completely solves that issue but also saves a ton of time not having to measure and cut them one by one.

Also the lumber I picked turned out to be 10 cm longer than the deck and I even picked the exact right amount. By the time I was done I only had a basket of <10 cm off-cuts.

I want to turn all my power tools and batteries a universal connector like USB-C. I have a 3d printerand skills so getting the manual interface is easy enough, but I don't a lot about ports and tech. I'm learning fast, but I'm not quite there yet.

From what I understand, I'd need to put a female port on the battery which isn't difficult and has been done plenty for charging.

I'd need to put a male plug on the tools to interface with it, and my initial research says I can't just solder the power pins to the cables in the tool, I'll need a circuit board that requests the 20v from the usb source? Is that doable? It looks like I can pick them up on AliExpress. But I need a qualified adult to verify that's what I need to do.

From there, would I be able to cord them with this method or would I need to build a better usb charger port?

Is there a better port to use? Usb-C is nice and small so I can fit it in wherever I like, but can it handle tool use? Would it be better to do usb or something else?

With the recent wildfires and the gestures broadly at the world I just wanted to share this link to the Corsi-Rosenthal Box. A simple homemade air filter that can be made with a box fan or several computer fans using off the shelf merv 13 or higher filters from your local store.

Yes, these have existed since before COVID. I had someone elsewhere get made at me because "it shouldn't be named that! Those two didn't invent it!" but like, I didn't choose the name lol. Anyways, I've made two for my house (former hoarder house we inherited and we haven't had the ducts cleaned yet but everything else is clean) and I can say, we both sleep better at night and they worked great through the wild fires.

Anyways, just wanted to share this as a quick little easy project. Or you know, not so quick if you wanna be like the people on Reddit's r/CRBoxes who 3D print fancy housings and do elaborate computer fan builds. Whichever you prefer.

Edit to add: Someone posted a Build Guide (non Reddit link) on Reddit for making boxes with PC fans.

I know we don't love Reddit links but

• Here's a Reddit post for a DIY/buy guide
• An Information post
• A tall computer fan box
• Triangle box fan
• MERV explained by the EPA (not a Reddit link) than you OatScoop

Sorry for the Reddit links, they just have a lot of conversations going on there currently.