Home improvement
Random tidbits through doing home projects.
Connecting Siemens SPDs to a load center
Siemens SPDs (FS060/FS60, FS100, FS140) come with an NPT thread on the end, which prevents it from being directly connected into a load center knockout as none of those connectors have NPT thread patterns on them. Siemens support was utterly useless, basically saying "well you should go find what you need". The solution I ended up arriving at was to use a Cantex 3/4 in. Flexible Elbow, which comes with NPT fittings on both ends, and replace the fitting on one end with an Arlington 3/4 in. 90° SNAP2IT Non-Metallic Push-On Connector (also available on Amazon, Arlington spec page). If you don't need the 90-degree bend, Arlington makes a straight variant too, which you can get on Amazon or HD (HD for some reason shows 1/2" in the pictures for the 3/4" product).
The Arlington connectors referenced above are made in the US.
HVAC registers that aren't made in China or Vietnam
Pretty much every HVAC register at your big box store will come from Vietnam or China. If you're looking for something more local, you have a few options:
- Imperial Group's metal registers are made in Canada. They are trivial to get at Lowe's in Canada, but are a bit more challenging to obtain here in the US. Buying them online is an option, but I had a really hard time ordering these from Amazon and having them arrive without damage. One literally was broken in pieces by the time it was at my doorstep. TrueValue carries some of the fancier floor register models (like the wood and satin metal) in some of their stores in New Jersey, but for some reason not the plain vanilla sidewall ones. Note that some of their products are made in China.
- Decor Grates is another Canadian manufacturer, who appears to make all of their products in Canada, unlike Imperial. However, their wood floor register did not look as polished to my eyes and had a very flimsy damper mechanism. Their site is also a giant mess, with "No products were found matching your selection" regularly showing up while navigating it.
- AmeriFlow, aka Hart & Cooley, makes registers in Mexico and can be found in TrueValue stores as well as e.g. SupplyHouse. They seem to be the only ones that make registers that are uni-directional, which is unfortunate as it makes no sense to install a two-way (or straight) register at a vent that's in the corner of a room. Ultimately, I did not buy theirs because the lever has a plastic piece, and the registers we had in our house had those plastic pieces break.
- Shoemaker Manufacturing makes registers in the US. They are impossible to find in brick and mortar stores (except in Washington?). Online you can find them on some websites with absolutely astronomical prices and unrealistic return policies. I did end up ordering one register on Amazon (and took the hit for return shipping) just to see what it looked like, but the styling didn't really work in a residential setting. The spacing of the fins was also too wide.
- Continental makes registers in the US, though finding them in stores is a challenge as well. They also make one-way registers. HEP Sales quoted a price of $50.35 for 21RW1006 if buying together with something that they stock. The 2-ways are easier to find online.
Pulling dryer terminal block screws out of Samsung dryers
I had the pleasure of dropping not one but two terminal screws in our electric Samsung dryer "into" the dryer. Unlike other manufacturers, Samsung makes the housing of the dryer completely enclosed, so you can't simply "roll" the screw to the front like with other dryers and then just pull it out. There is, however, a way to get them out without fully disassembling the thing. Ironically, it relies on another questionable design decision — leveling legs that come all the way out.
The dryer's leveling legs have two curious features — they are made entirely out of plastic (so excessive force will crack or break them) and they can be completely removed from the dryer if you raise them high enough. This latter property allows us to use the holes to fish out the screws.
Tilt the dryer to the side and back to make sure that your fallen screw is in the rear left corner if looking at the front of the dryer. Then, slightly tilt up the dryer at the rear left corner and use a very strong magnet to reach through the hole and grab the screw. Depending on how strong your magnet is, you might need to reach in with your finger first to bring the screw a little closer to the hole.
A final note: if the dryer is mounted on top of the matching pedestal, you will need to screw the legs onto the pedestal when tilting to get the screw into the corner and then unscrew them when tilting to get the screw out.