Changing Interconnected Smoke Alarms

Apparently you are supposed to change smoke alarms every 10 years.  Ours lasted 18.  We did have to change the batteries about once every 2 years.  We also had to blow dust out of them after calling the fire department because they wouldn't shut off after we had them for about 10 years.

The final call was the alarms going off even after we replaced the batteries.  When it came time to replace the alarms, I realized how little I knew about them.  I knew they were interconnected and that they ran off house power when it was available.

When it came to ordering them, I knew we had FireX but they were bought out by Kiddie.  I was concerned about the connector.  I could see that you could buy an adapter from FireX to Kiddie but it was about $3 compared to the whole price of an alarm which was $12 making it relatively expensive (times 7 alarms in our house).  I researched and decided to go with First Alert since it was a little cheaper and seemed to match the FireX adapter.

• Unfortunately when I got the alarms, the adapter was narrower and did not match.
• Fortunately, the alarms came with an adapter with bare wires.  
• Unfortunately, I had to turn off the power to the circuit so I didn't shock myself and I didn't know what circuit provided power for the smoke alarms (turned out to be the master bedroom).  
• Fortunately, there is a green LED that tells you if there is AC power and my daughter watched until I flipped the right breaker and the green LED went out.  
• Also fortunately, the old adapters were wired in with existing wire nuts so I only had to strip the interconnect line on the new adapters.

I had to replace the mount on the ceiling by loosening the screws that held the old mount.  Also remember that the ground for the AC power is also the ground (white) for the interconnect so make sure you have that wired properly or the interconnect won't work (like the last alarm didn't work for me).

Mount Veracrypt encrypted system drive

I encrypted my laptop (a Lenovo Yoga 700) with Veracrypt because I was to cheap to by the Windows 10 business version.  Later, the laptop died (display problems). I should have read the "print these instructions" better.  I bought a SATA M.2 (which is the "hard drive" which looks like an old memory stick) to USB adapter and plugged it into another computer with Veracrypt installed. 

I tried to mount it with long waits and screens that say things about "incorrect password" and "not sure this is a volume".  After playing with VMs to try to boot off the rescue USB and worrying that I would never see my data again, I tried to recreate the problem by encrypting a Windows 7 VM.  In the process, I read the "print these instructions" window. 

It says quite clearly to open Veracrypt, select the device, select a drive and select 'System' > 'Mount Without Pre-Boot Authentication'.  Then enter your password.

The real page that talks about this is here.

Packing wheel bearings

If you buy a used (especially older) trailer, you should worry about how much grease is in the bearings, but not to much.  I bought at least a 20 year old trailer, and one of the bearing buddy's (in place of the dust cover at the end of the axle) was missing so I was concerned about the bearings.

I called my older brother and he said you should check the seal (the piece between the axle and the hub on the back of the wheel).  If it is old, cracked or brittle, the grease might leak out and then your axle/hub will overheat and you might see it going by in front of you as you are going down the road.  The problem is that if you pull the tire off, you will probably ruin the seal anyway.  There are some numbers on the seal that might help you find the right size.  There is a spring at the inside center of the seal that needs to be in the proper place.

You may not need to pull the hub if there is a grease nipple into the hub like my quality Harbor Freight trailer had.

I am open to comments on how to tell without pulling off the seal but you should at least visibly check.

• You take the wheel off
• You pull the dust cap off the center of the hub
• You pull the cotter pin (don't lose it)
• You unscrew the slotted nut
• Pull out the hub and a washer and a bearing will come out.
• You can put the slotted nut back on and use it to pull the seal and bearing out the back but it will damage the seal.  I used a bicycle handle because it wasn't as rigid and didn't hurt the seal as much as the PVC pipe I used.  Something rubber will probably suffice (maybe a screwdriver handle?)
• Get a lot of paper towels because the grease is nasty.
• Use gas to wash off the parts (or some degreasing agent if you don't like the thought of handling gas).
• Decide if you need a new seal.
• I used blue marine grease because it was for a boat trailer.
• Put the grease in the palm of your hand and smash the back of the bearing in it.  You can return the excess to the palm of your hand.
• Repeat above until there are no gaps in the bottom of the bearing.
• Push the front of the bearings into the blob of grease in your palms making sure you cover the gap in the front of the bearing.
• Put some extra grease inside the seal and inside the hub (the hub does not need to be completely full)
• Put the inside bearing in (my bearings were both the same size but the larger bearing usually goes on the inside) with the narrow end in first and then tap the seal in using a rubber mallet or board on top of the seal so the seal is not damaged.
• Put the hub back on and put some more grease where the outside bearing will go.
• Put the outside bearing in with the narrow end in first (it will be like this  > < ).
• Put the washer on with the scored/scarred side in first.
• Maybe put in a little more grease outside the bearing
• Put the slotted nut on and and finger tighten
• IMPORTANT: put the cotter pin back in.
• Put the dust cap (or bearing buddy) back on and then put the wheel on.

Here is a Youtube video that I found helpful (I liked to hear him call it the carter pin too):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akh0WhkudrM