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Enjoying far more than a wee dram of my favorite single malt. Was locked in an epic struggle with replacement batteries for a powered shade, a 15 minute job that dragged out to well over an hour with the volt meter and duct tape needed for resolution.

One of the 4 shades in our sunroom was getting very slow to go up and as it inched up this morning I made a note to change them out while it was up since it's real PITA to do if they die with the shade down. I swear I replace the batteries in this one shade, the same size as 2 others in the room, and all of them 1/3 the side of the big one which has 2 battery wands, each with 8 Li AAs.

Anyway since I've practiced this often, I had the old batteries out and new ones in place in 5 minutes. Plugged everything and NOTHING.

  • OK Dumbazz, did you put the batteries in wrong? Checked that out, nope all good.
  • Is the connection good? Checked that out, yup all good
  • Take the batteries out again and reload, making sure that you really tighten everything!! Roger that, still not working.
  • Is one of those batteries dead? Out comes the volt meter, nope all good.
  • Is the wand a problem? Reloaded the validated good batteries, plugged them into a working "sister ship" blind and BUPKIS!!
  • OK, WTF is wrong the wand? Test the out going connection, no voltage, should be > 12V.
  • Is it the bottom, ground connection, what you open to put the batteries in? Took top connection off, which has the wire, put the batteries in and NO VOLTAGE, so the bottom connection was FUBAR
  • OK, why is it FUBAR? Messed around with it for a while, took it apart and reassembled, thought I got it to make better connection, but when reattaching to the tube, no voltage.
  • Now I'm pissed, and broke out the duct tape. Instead of screwing down the cathode plate, I pulled the guts out of the screw cap, and duct taped them in place, using the top (anode) screwcap to load batteries. Put the volt meter on it and BINGO
  • With heavy swearing, I attached it to the shade and SUCCESS, so now it's Whisky time...
While ordering a new wand I noticed now they offer a rechargeable battery pack that can be charged in situ. Since it such a PITA to get to the battery pack, I ordered one of those, and a replacement wand to see what will work out best. Also the fact that Amazon had replacement battery wands available spoke volumes about this not being an unusual, isolated incident. I felt a bit better about that.

Slàinte
 
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Sitting here having a cocktail Wishing I had powered shades
Not sure they're worth it since they suck up those expensive Lithium AAs like water. I only use them in places that can't easily be reached. Have some that I need to use a ladder to get to and when they die, it takes Zigawatts of activation energy to get me to replace them.
 
Not sure they're worth it since they suck up those expensive Lithium AAs like water. I only use them in places that can't easily be reached. Have some that I need to use a ladder to get to and when they die, it takes Zigawatts of activation energy to get me to replace them.
Sitting here wishing I had windows I needed a ladder to reach them lol I got issues
 
Sitting here wishing I had windows I needed a ladder to reach them lol I got issues
I've got some spare windows in the basement, they're yours. During construction we came to the realization that we might have overdid windows in this house and realized, after they were ordered that not installing a few might be a good idea.
 
didnt hit my head,,,,,just bruised up,,,,,,,,,,from carpet burns,,, i was naked :p

;),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ><)))):>
><)))):>
damn!! I hate when that happens
double-thumbs-up-emoticon.jpg
 
Suffering extreme separation anxiety today. "Rolie", the Rolex my parents bought me for my PhD graduation has been on my wrist non-stop, except when showering, for every day and night for going on 30 years now, the last time she was serviced.

I finally broke down yesterday to give her the much needed cleaning, oiling and "buffing" she deserves, but damn it, I'm constantly, reflexively checking my left arm because the cranial Damage Control Systems are reporting errors down there. Have to figure out how to turn off the alarm or I'm going to be driven to drink over the next few weeks. Now that I think about that, it doesn't seem so bad...
 
Just spent from 9:00 this morning until 2:00 cleaning the tanks( power washing) on the inside, draining and vacuuming dry so I could winterize the entire system. Then power washed the outside of tanks and bed of truck, then blew off all the debris on the lawnmower’s and power washed them and dried with the leaf blower. Then blew the entire backyard to get rid of any leaves..
Kinda happy starting tomorrow to be stuck down in the basement office until the end of the month doing my report.
It’s been a long time. But now it’s nap time ?
 
Suffering extreme separation anxiety today. "Rolie", the Rolex my parents bought me for my PhD graduation has been on my wrist non-stop, except when showering,
so you only took it off once a month eh??lol

I got a rolie too for retirement...i don't wear it all the time so its a pain having to set it every time cause it works on motion
 
Cable came off the drum on my garage door...was gonna do it myself...but I got money now and called a guy. Glad I did...and he checked everything else out...re-attched my lower brackets and lubed it all
 
i don't wear it all the time so its a pain having to set it every time cause it works on motion
The dead giveaway that it's past time for service is if you wear them 24/7 and suddenly they're not making it through the night. The other hint for mine, which is waterproof to 100 m and is an "Oyster" model, is that it gets difficult to screw down the crown.

Guy working on it now says they should be serviced every 5 years. I'll translate that to 7, but not 30. When it's time, try to find a good shop that actually services them in-house. When you bring/send them off to the Rolex Mothership for service, you'll have a heart attack.
 
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