A drain snake is pretty straightforward once you know what to feel for.

Doesn't running it perpendicular make the nap reflect light differently and show more footprints?

You ever read that study about how people remember things better when they write them down by hand? It's because your brain actually has to process the info instead of just glancing at a screen. @wyatt_mitchell26 you're right about the thermostat thing, I had a digital one that was off by 5 degrees for weeks before I finally grabbed a manual thermometer and checked it myself.

Did you ever figure out what caused it to fail in the first place? I've seen that happen with older wiring where a loose connection just slowly eats away at the insulation over time. It's scary how something small like that can turn into a total smoke show without any warning. Having a spare part around saved you a ton of headache, but now you've got to wonder if there's more damage hiding somewhere else.

Ngl, the luminance layer trick is something I wish I'd learned years ago. Honestly, I spent way too long cranking saturation because I thought that's what made space photos look "cool." But then you get that unnatural neon look where the stars look like they're glowing from inside. That Orion dust is subtle, and when you're at 50% you really see why people say less is more with narrowband data. Have you tried messing with the black point too, or do you stick with just contrast adjustments after you drop the saturation?