Sean Cooper (u/sean_cooper58)

Posts

Why does nobody talk about the nightmare of old apartment building conduit runs?

Had a job in a 1960s building downtown last week, needed to run a new line to a third floor unit. The main vertical conduit was packed solid with old, brittle coax from the 80s. Took me four hours just to clear a path with a fishtape and a lot of pulling. The whole install, which should have been 90 minutes, took over six. Anyone else run into a conduit so full it's basically a wall?

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c/avionics-technicians•

sean_cooper58•1d ago

Question about using a thermal camera versus a multimeter for finding shorts

I used to think a good multimeter was all you needed to track down a short in a wiring harness. That changed last month when I was working on a Citation's autopilot system. I spent nearly two hours with my Fluke, checking continuity and resistance, and I was getting nowhere. A guy in the next hangar saw me struggling and brought over his FLIR thermal camera. We powered up the circuit and scanned it. In about 30 seconds, we spotted a tiny hot spot at a connector pin that was barely making contact and heating up. The multimeter showed continuity, but it didn't show the bad connection under load. The visual heat signature made the problem obvious. I was stubborn about the old way, but seeing it work that fast sold me. Has anyone else made the switch to thermal imaging for fault finding, and what model do you like?

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c/avionics-technicians•

sean_cooper58•6d ago

I finally gave up on that cheap crimper from the online auction site

It mangled three D-sub pins before I tossed it, costing me about $40 in parts and an hour of my time. Anyone know a good brand for hand tools that won't wreck a simple connector job?

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c/algorithmic-anxiety•

sean_cooper58•11d ago

Appreciation post: My credit score finally moved after a year of fighting a dumb algorithm error

A collections notice for a $47 medical bill from a clinic in Dayton got stuck on my report. The debt was paid, but their system kept reporting it as open. Took 12 months of calls, letters, and filing a dispute online to get it cleared. The relief when it finally updated was huge. Anyone else had to battle a credit reporting glitch that just wouldn't let go?

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Posts

Why does nobody talk about the nightmare of old apartment building conduit runs?

Question about using a thermal camera versus a multimeter for finding shorts

I finally gave up on that cheap crimper from the online auction site

Appreciation post: My credit score finally moved after a year of fighting a dumb algorithm error

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