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E-RazorHead"I can say ... that the United States of America is the greatest, the noblest and, in its original founding principle, the only moral country in the world." - Ayn Rand
August 31 This & That...This & That...
August 03 Time Warner Cable Carolinas Offers 'SignatureHome' In Answer to AT&T's Push Of U-VerseTime Warner Cable Carolinas will be offering something called 'SignatureHome' as an answer to AT&T's big push of U-Verse. The highlights:
See their SingatureHome FAQs page at http://www.timewarnercable.com/East/learn/sighome_faqs.html July 19 How To Enable / Disable The "Switch User" Option In Windows 7 [Seven] Using The Windows Registry Editor I noticed my new HP laptop systems came with the SWITCH USER option disabled, and I could not find any Control Panel settings to toggle it back on. After much research, this is the only way I found available to turn it back on. How to enable / disable the "Switch User" option in Windows 7 using the Windows Registry Editor: This is the steps necessary to enable or disable the "Switch User" option in Windows 7: 1. Type regedit into the RUN or Start Menu Searchbox and press Enter. This will launch the Registry Editor window/program. 2. Navigate to the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System 3. In the right-side pane of the Registry Editor, find the key/value pair "HideFastUserSwitching" and set its value to 1 [to disable] OR 0 [to Enable]. If the key/value pair "HideFastUserSwitching" is not listed under the SYSTEM key, then create it as a new DWORD. 4. With your next system reboot, the "Switch User" option will be enabled/disabled from the Welcome screen and from the Shutdown menu. May 31 Time Warner Cable Carolinas Beta Testing New Mutli-Room DVR Hardware Time Warner Cable Carolinas has begun a trial of their new multi-room DVR. The new MR DVR allows for 'satellite' (non-DVR) cable boxes in the same home to access the primary 'server' DVR's recordings to be played on their respective TVs. I was recently selected to participate in their beta program of this MR DVR, and was provided a new Cisco (formerly Scientific Atlanta) 8642HDC DVR 'server' with 500gb hard drive storage (replaced my old Scientific Atlanta 8300HDC with 160gb storage). Additionally, they swapped out my other two cable boxes for new Cisco 4642HDC 'satellite' boxes. Immediately I noticed the new MR DVR box has the eSata storage expansion port disabled. I also noticed the fast-forward and rewind features work MUCH better on the new DVR than it had on the older one. The hardware is also much more aesthetically pleasing in my opinion, both server and satellites being solid black. They go much better with the hardware and furniture in my home. Currently, the only new features being offered are (a) more (and faster ) storage (+340gb) - hopefully they enable the eSata port again after beta testing, and (b) ability to play recordings on a home DVR unit from satellite units - no set-up/delete/schedule from satellite boxes (yet), and (c) now the audio output settings on the DVR will allow simultaneous audio output to both the HDMI output AND the Digital Optical audio out, when set to DOLBY DIGITAL. All in all, I am very impressed with the new hardware and feature. It is my hope that the other functionality comes in very soon - scheduling from remote DVR and re-enabling of the eSata port, etc.   April 28 Time Warner Cable HD DVR Box Storage Expansion (1 Terabyte TB!) - Scientific Atlanta 8300HD (8300HDC) With Navigator Software/Firmware I have now successfully expanded my Time Warner Cable HD DVR Box's storage from the original 160GB to 1.1TB (Terabyte). My DVR cable box is a Scientific Atlanta model 8300HDC and is running the 'Navigator' Software/Firmware. I went from 28% used to 2% used! To do this was VERY easy:
 March 16 Vonage Phone Service & Quality Comparison /Review Time Warner Digital - $130 TO CANCEL VONAGE SERVICE EVEN AT A YEAR!! Vonage is advertising the HELL out of a service that, in my experience (& that of my mother), is unacceptable at best. Don't just take my word for it - their ranking on Reseller Ratings at the time of this writing is a dismal 2.3 out of 10! http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Vonage_Holdings_Corp I signed my mother up with Vonage two years ago after my dad died (to help her stretch her limited retirement budget). She was given a Motorola Telephony modem and the setup was easy on her Time Warner high-speed internet. The service for HER was pretty good right up until two weeks ago (Feb/Mar 2010). She was suddenly unable to get through from NC to NY - kept getting 'No lines are available' message over and over and over again. I myself had signed up with Vonage about a year ago. I received the black/orange custom Vonage Telephony modem/box. My service was also easy to hook up, but I am also a HEAVY internet user. Even with my Road Runner Turbo 10mbps service, my Vonage device would get easily effected by other internet activity. I set up my Vonage Device as priority 1 traffic on my router, and it pretty much solved THAT particular problem. HOWEVER - incoming callers were complaining that they could hear themselves back in an echo on my line. I called in from another office and, sure enough, there it was. Sometimes it was faint, other times it was very loud. Sometimes it faded out, other times it stuck around for the whole call. I perused the Vonage support web site and found several articles claiming this is likely coming from MY home wiring. I didn't undertstand how this could be given that I NEVER had this trouble with AT&T service on this very same home lines. Nonetheless, I went and pulled the plug from the home wiring and went directly from the Vonage box to my cordless phone base and removed any potential interfering lines, and relocated any potentially interfering electronics from the modem/base proximity. NO CHANGE! Worse, when calling to NY my call quality often degrades and even gets dropped. I then asked Vonage customer support for help. Of course, I get a support rep with a very heavy non-English accent. After many attempts at configuring my modem, we realize nothing is helping and they send me a new (refurbished) modem. Same problem still. I decide to just grin and bear it. About two weeks ago, I realize a new problem has crept in. When calling NY from NC on MY phone, I am also getting the frequent 'No lines are available' message. Yet, calling on my cell phone I get right through. Same when calling from a different phone service at another office. Vonage is having this problem exclusively! Same issue happening with my mother's Vonage service! I replace both mine and my mother's Vonage service with Time Warner's Digital Phone service and now we can get through to NY without ANY trouble. AND the horrible echo I experienced using the Vonage service and device is completely gone! Better still, Time Warner Digital Phone costs only $20/month and the install & phone number transfer was free! But, as one last act of malice towards their already under-serviced customer, VONAGE CHARGED ME $130 TO TERMINATE BECAUSE I WAS ONE WEEK AWAY FROM 1 YEAR SERVICE! $80 for their device which was defunct, and another $40 cancellation fee! Vonage has SERIOUS issues - PLEASE STAY AWAY! February 27 Must Post SOMETHING For February - Windows Mobile 7 WIll Do!Windows Mobile 7 is out. Not surprising given I just got my new phone with WM 6.5.  Anyway - it looks REALLY nice, and coupled with a bight AMOLED Touch Screen like a Samsung Omnia II it is sure to kick azz. Read about it at Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/15/windows-phone-7-series-is-official-and-microsoft-is-playing-to/  January 23 Sony PSP Version 100x 'Fat' or 'PHAT' Custom Firmware Modded 3.40 OE-A To 5.00 M33-6 I had modded my PSP in the past to allow for backing up my games as well as enabling a plethora of new configuration niceties. Recently, I became aware that I had drifted FAR behind Sony's OEM firmware revisions as they released their most recent version - v6.20. It therefore seemed logical for me to update my Custom Firmware (CFW) to a relatively current version as well. I decided on the March 33 group's release 5.00 M33-6. The problem is, there seemed to be no workable path to update from 3.40 OE-A to 5.00 M33-6. I scoured the internet and a few forums (pspslimhacks.com & psphacks.com) and was advised that there was a bootloader that would do the trick - Hellcat's Recovery Flasher v1.60. After getting all the necessary programs & binaries etc I performed the update and VOILA - PSP is now at 5.00 CFW rev 6! Life is good!  Samsung Omnia II 2 (SCH-i920) Phone And Route 66 GPS Navigation SetupI recently put Route66 (Route 66) GPS Navigation software on my Samsung Omnia II (SCH-i920) to try it out. I had to configure the GPS setup on the phone to enable applications to access position information and set the virtual COM port that the applications would use to communicate with it. The menu sequence on the Samsung Omnia II for setting GPS is SETTINGS>GENERAL>GPS>CONNECTION: COM 7 & LOCATION: ON, then reboot your device and make sure Route 66 is also set to Com 7 @ 4800 BAUD Rate. The Route66 GPS Navigation software is Ok - pretty basic and probably not entirely worth the $150+ cost when you consider you can get a high-end Garmin device for the same money.   December 30 Help Time Warner Get Tough On Greedy Television Networks Who Force Us To Watch 33% Advertisements!As of today, 1 of every 3 minutes (33%) of TV Broadcast time is dedicated to advertisements, shrinking the amount of time left for the actual TV shows from 25 minutes of every-half hour to 20 minutes of every half-hour. These advertisements are HUGE income to the networks, and a general nuisance to the viewer - ESPECIALLY when we are paying 33% of our Cable Bill for those stupid commercials! Now these same greedy networks want YOU via Cable Operator fees to PAY EVEN MORE by threatening Time Warner with withdrawal of what little is still decent of their programming! Help Time Warner PUSH BACK against these greedy networks! Tell Time Warner to Say NO to higher viewer costs when Networks push more ad content on us - lets GET TOUGH on these greedy Networks! Click here to ask Time Warner to GET TOUGH with these greedy networks! http://rolloverorgettough.com/get-tough December 28 Warner Brothers Releasing All Harry Potter Films In "Extended Version" Form On DVD/Bluray Currently, the first two films are already made available at retailers
everywhere. I wanted to know just what was added back in, and what MAY
get added in to the subsequent films. After much research I have found the following details: Current Harry Potter Extended versions: .......................... ............................... Film Name: Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone 7 minutes added Restored Scenes: * Dudley in his Smeltings uniform * Letters in Eggs * Hagrid and Harry on the Underground (excellent setup to the dragon subplot) * Extended Potions Class (Harry giving cheek to Snape) * Harry, Ron and Hermione make up after the Troll incident * Christmas in the Great Hall (Harry dwelling on the Mirror) * Cramming in the Great Hall / Neville Leg-locked ......................................................... Film name: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 13 minutes added Restored Scenes: * Extended scene of Dobby and the cake. * Extended flying car scene when they are taking off from King's Cross * Extended scene in Borgin and Burke's where Lucius and Draco Malfoy come in and Harry has to hide. Lucius has come in to sell some of his dark arts materials due to all the raids. (This is a more chilling introduction to Lucius.) Immediately followed by ... * Another Borgin and Burke's scene where Borgin catches Harry on his way out * Harry finds Filch's Kwikspell letter when he is leaving Snape's office upon arrival at Hogwarts. * Extended introduction of Colin Creevy where he says he's muggle-born. * Lockhart's pop quiz ... all about himself. * Extended Quidditch scene where the rogue bludger goes through the crowd. * Extended Dueling Club scene where Justin introduces himself as a muggleborn. * Additional scene after Harry finds out he's parsel-tongue. Harry reflects upon who he is as he sits on a hill overlooking the lake. * Extended study hall scene where Harry overhears Ernie, Hannah, & other Hufflepuffs talking about him. * Additional scene where Fred and George tease Harry about being the heir of Slytherin and even Harry begins to doubt himself. * Hermione says she got the Slytherin robes from the laundry when she is brewing the polyjuice potion. * Crabbe and Goyle meet Ron and Harry dressed like them after waking up from the sleeping draught. * Harry and Ron visit Hermione in the hospital wing (after the cat incident.) They have found Tom Riddle's diary and Ron says he recognizes the name off a trophy. Leads into ... * Extended scene of Harry writing in the diary. * Harry wakes up Ron to tell him Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets. * Additional scene where Harry bumps into Hagrid in the corridor and Hagrid says he's been up to Dumbledore's office about the rooster killings. * Harry gets his invisibility cloak out of his trunk and covers Ron and himself with it before going to Hagrid's hut. * Scene in the forest where Ron and Harry find the Ford Anglia. THE FOLLOWING DETAILS ARE SPECULATIVE (BASED UPON DELETED SCENE EXTRAS ON EXISTING DVD/BLURAY RELEASES) AS THE FINAL EXTENDED FILMS ARE NOT AVAILABLE YET! ......................................................... Film name: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban potentially 3? minutes added Restored Scenes: * Extended bird sequence (Great John Williams-scored flute solo in its entirety) * Return from Hogsmeade village in the Great Hall - Exploding candy * Upon returning to the Gryffindor commons, McGonagall tells the students to be wary; Harry broods on Sirius (This will likely be edited down from the full scene, which was an abandoned subplot of Sirius invading Harry's room while they slept, having found Neville's list of passwords.) * Sir Cadogan takes the position of the Fat Lady ......................................................... Film name: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire potentially 8? minutes added Restored Scenes: * Students of Hogwarts sing the school song for the students of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons * Durmstrang student asks a Hogwarts student to the Yule Ball * Harry attempts to talk to Cho in the hallways before finally running into her at the owlrey. * Flitwick introduces the "Band that needs no introduction," followed by a full-length rendition of "Do the Hippogriff" by Jarvis Cocker. * Harry overhears Karkaroff and Snape arguing while blasting students out of carriages for snogging. * Moody tells Harry "We can win this thing" after his run-in with Crouch * Ron explains just how big a deal Crouch's death is to Harry and Hermione * Harry tells Hermione and Ron about the missing polyjuice ingredients while his scar becomes more painful ......................................................... Film name: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix potentially 4? minutes added Restored scenes: * Trelawney Eating (bits interwoven throughout Umbridge's speech as reaction shots) * Neville Speaks Up For Harry * Steady Cam Around the Gryffindor Common Room * Umbridge Questions Trelawney (full version, repeated bits removed from the montage) * Malfoy, Crabbe And Goyle Bully A Student (giving Umbridge the idea for the Inquisitorial Squad) * Filch Blows On Umbridge's Smoking Hair * Harry Hermione and Umbridge in the Dark Forest - Extended Version * Ron Checks in on Harry * Harry Enters Dumbledore's Office ......................................................... Film name: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince potentially 7? minutes added Restored scenes: * Harry and Hermione walk through Hogwarts hall * Harry and Hermione discuss the Marauder's Map * Harry, Ron and Hermione discuss the Vanishing Cabinet * Harry and Dumbledore arrive at the cave entrance * Harry and Dumbledore leave the cave * Clouds gather over Hogwarts as Flitwick conducts the Choir * Harry joins Ron, Hermione and Ginny in the Common Room * Harry and Hermione discuss Ron at the Astronomy Tower December 20 Dale Hungerford - Self Professed IQ 144 Genius Goes On Gay Hate Rant On FaceBook
""@ xxxx ~ you can see cause and effect beCAUSE we did not quarantine them sooner, now the people you mention suffer. As I said earlier, homos love to spread the misery, google the gay dentist in Florida who used to inject his patients with his own blood, killing people because he wanted the government to find a cure for his own problem, The homos also but AIDs tainted needles on gasoline pump handles, hoping a motorist would stick himself. I know all about gays and their ideas. " MAKE IT A NON-GAY disease, so we can steal research money from legitimate disease research" They have no problem killing other to get their way. They will break every one of the Ten Commandments so they can practice their WEIRD immoral unnatural, and deadly sexual perversions. Homos are a pain in the ass, or worse. Do not be included in their defense. Why do you think humans made flamethrowers ? There is no use for homosexuals, I certainly do not need them, except maybe to hold targets at an archery range"" http://www.facebook.com/keyvan.attaie?v=feed&story_fbid=213723499586 http://www.facebook.com/n/?%2Fprofile.php&v=feed&story_fbid=213723499586&id=715579764&mid=198baecG1fcb7177G3b79098G13 And I have the Facebook email notification to prove it... December 02 Some Of My Favorite Online Shopping WebsitesSuper-Sites (a little of everything): http://Buy.com http://Amazon.Com http://EBay.Com http://CraigsList.Com Computer/Electronics Related: http://NewEgg.Com http://BuyDig.Com http://MWave.Com DVD Media/Flash Memory/Other: http://MeritLine.Com http://SuperMediaStore.Com Books/DVD: http://DeepDiscount.Com http://DVDEmpire.Com Mod-Chips: http://RealHotStuff.Com Printer Ink: http://1800EMart.Com http://DataBazaar.Com November 01 Looking For A Versatile DVD Player That is HDMI, PAL/NTSC Compatible, Plays DivX/XviD And Upscales to 1080P High Definition HD? Toshiba SD-7200 $49 As a frequent consumer of overseas DVDs, I require a DVD player that will support both North American (NTSC) and European (PAL) DVD video formats. For example, I previewed Region 5 versions of the recent movies BRUNO and LAND OF THE LOST in PAL format. Not all DVD players will do this automatically. In fact, it seems like fewer are doing so no than had done so in the past. I have had my best luck with a few particular brands - Toshiba and Apex. My latest jewel of a find is the Toshiba SD-7200. This DVD player has excellent quality and features. To list a few of my personal favorites:
I have tested this unit pretty thoroughly and I can readily say it is a VERY good unit. It has configurability beyond my previous favorite Toshiba unit - a Toshiba SD-6980. For instance, the Toshiba SD-7200 allows for configuration of the DivX/Xvid playback aspect ratio so as to avoid the annoying side-effect of DivX/XviD playback cropping. The older SD-6980 model by default will crop the widescreen DivX video's left & right sides in order to fill my widescreen TV from top-to-bottom (unacceptable). Another great feature which was NOT present in the previous Toshiba unit (but may have been due to my using optical digital audio output) is the ability of this player to automatically pipe PCM and digital/bitsteam audio through the Coaxial Digital Audio output. I bought my Toshiba SD-7200 at BuyDig.Com for $48.95 shipped - unbeatable at the time!  October 31 Final Day Of October (Happy Halloween!) - Must Post Something For The Month As I have had to do this a few times, I will share this with the masses who might also need to know. For the Motorola Moto Q9m - you may occasionally run into a situation where it is difficult, or even impossible, to get the device to boot into Windows Mobile. If this happens, you lose the ability to do a Master Reset via the Windows Mobile menus. In this case, you must do it manually at boot-time (power-up). Make sure your battery is fully charged, or at least plugged into the charger and battery left in. Then follow the instructions below. Manual Boot-Time Hard Reset: 1. Turn the Moto Q off 2. Hold down the power button (hang up button) and the center key button (the button between the arrows) at the same time. 3. When the Verizon/vendor logo appears on the device, hold the buttons for about ten more seconds and then let go of both buttons. 4. A screen will come up saying to do a Master Reset. You will hit the left soft key to say yes to confirm. After approximately two minutes (do not remove the power or battery!) your Moto Q will have been hard reset ( Master Reset ) without having to go through the device/Windows Mobile menu. September 24 Ever Wonder What The Difference Is Between 3G And 4G Cellular Broadband Data Rates/Plans?Well, wonder no more. This is a pretty good approximation of the difference:
Providers offering 4G RIGHT NOW in the United States - Sprint Telecom (currently in six metropolitan areas) and Comcast (Comcast High-Speed 2go™). Verizon says it will start rolling out 4G in 2010. September 23 Steps For Removing Personal Anti-Virus (PAV - the gold shield icon in your System Tray or lower-right corner of desktop)These are some simplified steps for removing the recently prevalent malware infection of Personal Anti-Virus (PAV - the gold shield icon in your System Tray or lower-right corner of desktop):
Repeat these steps from all logon profiles. Note that steps
2 & 5, however, will only need to be done once.
Apparently this bug is being spread by servers that are part of the paid advertising accounts of such popular search engines as Bing, Google and Yahoo. It has been so far spread that there is even a lawsuit being launched: http://mcpmag.com/articles/2009/09/22/microsoft-takes-on-malvertising.aspx September 08 Real Text-Messages From Kids To Their Parents During Obama's School Speech TodayReal text messages from kids to parents during Obama speech today: 
August 24 A Wi-Fi 3G/4G Router In Your Car?! Can You Replace Your Traditional And Cellular Phones With Skype VoIP?! Gonna Try... For years, computer enthusiasts have been enamored with the ability to text-chat as well as actually SPEAK with other computer users over their internet connection. With the advent of high-speed broadband connections, the voice (Voice over IP - VoIP) options have blossomed, even creating the VoIP giant (my current VoIP phone provider) VONAGE along with other such popular services as Skype and Magic Jack. Additionally, major Cable TV providers are also jumping on the bandwagon with their own (VoIP?!) "digital phone" services, such as Time Warner Cable. This, of course, brings to many the question "what is the best phone option for me?!", and the question is a difficult one to answer. The variables that come into play here are tremendous, the least of which are:
Cellular Phone & Data Plans
VONAGE
All of this requires a level of technical savvy, but the Vonage and Magic Jack phone systems are pretty much plug-n-go. Anybody still paying over $50/month for phone service needs to seriously re-evaluate the market. August 06 Sysinternals Microsoft (http://sysinternals.com) Process Explorer - Show Process Tree Menu Item Disabled (Greyed Out)This item is for those of you who have been using Sysinternals' utilities - particularly the awesome tool Process Explorer. I've noticed that when I update to the latest version, the process list gets messed up as well as the data columns. And most annoyingly, the 'Show Process Tree' menu item becomes permanently disabled (grayed out). There is a fix for this, albeit imperfect. Apparently what happens is the Windows Registry entries for the application customization becomes corrupt, or out of synch with the newest version of the tool. To fix it, you can do the following:
July 15 A Few Movie Reviews - Bruno & Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince I had the occasion to view a few movies in the theater this past week. I was at North Carolina State University earlier this week and had some time to kill, so I went to dinner at Ba-da Wings (pound of Buffalo Wings with fries for mopping up the leftover sauce, and lots of Diet Coke refills), then walked across the parking lot and bought a ticket to see Bruno at the Mission Valley Cinema. What is funny is that I was thinking on my way to the theater that I wish I had a beer or two beforehand because the movie would probably be even funnier. As I walk into the theater, to my utter AMAZEMENT and pleasure, I see they also sell BEER! I have NEVER seen this before in a theater! I guess it has something to do with the proximity to a university - who knows. Anyway, the movie was all I had hoped it would be. The entire film is done in the same spirit as Borat, with Bruno (Cohen) taking in MANY unsuspecting victims who believe him to be an Austrian pop-culture critic. He takes in several institutions, such as the fashion modeling show circuit, a military boot-camp, a "straight" camp for assisting gays into conversion to heterosexuality and Christianity, a swingers party, and even manages to hoodwink then presidential candidate Ron Paul into a mock interview for the purposes of attempting to make a pass and sex tape! I was completely entertained and it was easily worth the price of a ticket. Secondly, I returned home from NCSU on Tuesday and worked half the day before taking in dinner and a nap in preparation for hitting the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I had no real concerns that this film adaptation would be any less successful than its predecessors, and I was not disappointed. This film was easily one of my favorites because of its awesome use of comic relief throughout an otherwise very serious and dark film. The biggest surprise, and mild complaint, was a few "inserted" scenes which did not occur in the book - the Weasley's home is attacked by Death Eaters (?!) and Harry is picked up by Dumbledore in a coffee shop in the London underground rather than at the Dursley's. Otherwise, the film stays rather true to the book. I will probably see it a few more times while it makes the theater rounds. Some of the generally "acceptable" sub-plot omissions:
July 08 AUTO CAR RENTAL CUSTOMERS - Use Your Camera Or Cell Phone To Video Document Your Car Inside/Out AND UNDERNEATH! I have already warned consumers of the insidious oil-change/auto-maintenance scams that have plagued the industry where a customer pays for an oil/filter change but the technician merely parks your car in the bay and MAYBE tops off the existing oil, but generally gives you NOTHING for your money. Well now it seems we have another scam promulgating through the rental car industry. Many friends of mine who travel frequently know the car rental drill - you ALWAYS inspect your potential rental car with an attendant who will write down the pre-posession flaws of your rental car. A good consumer will make sure every sizable flaw inside and out is documented, regardless of their purchase of added insurance. Examples: small/large dents, torn upholstery, interior/exterior scratches, missing parts, etc. Recently many have complained about the rental car companies (often Enterprise) taking their car back, then later accusing them of having damaged the UNDERSIDE/UNDERNEATH of the car. Coincidentally, this is one of the few places any customer would actually perform an inspection, and understandably few would even know what damage to look for. This leaves the consumer at a major disadvantage of (a) proving if it was even truly damaged, and (b) proving if that damage was there prior to the customer taking possession of the car. For this reason, I STRONGLY recommend that all rental car consumers not only video-tape the interior and exterior condition of the car, I would also demand the rental company provide access to inspect (and video-tape) the underside of the car as well. Look for major scrapes on any of the underside framing/bracket components, engine components (leaking), as well as bent/broken exhaust pipes, spoilers, etc. You can never be too careful where your (or your employer's) money is concerned. June 16 Home Air Conditioner Problems - No Cold Air And Outdoor Coil Unit/Condenser/Lines Frozen! There comes a day when the air conditioner stops cooling and you call
your local Air Conditioning service (HVAC - Heating/Ventilation/Air Conditioning) contractor for service and repair. The HVAC
service technician arrives and checks the filter and some other things.
You see him go to his truck and get some tools and a set of gauges while
you hope for the best. Ten minutes later he comes back to report that your air conditioning unit is low on refrigerant. Now comes the
time when you need to understand why the air conditioner needs
refrigerant and what to do next. First of all, the air conditioner system does NOT "consume" Freon or refrigerant. The system is designed as a SEALED air-tight system and the air conditioner does burn or use up refrigerant to make your house cool. The refrigerant or Freon (Freon is a registered trademark name of Dupont Corporation and is widely used to described the refrigerant in you air conditioner or vehicle air conditioner) in your air conditioner or heat pump is supposed to be locked in a hermetic system and sealed tight. From time to time a leak occurs in the air conditioning system and the unit needs to be charged so that it can continue doing its job of cooling the home or business. If the refrigerant starts to leak OUT of the system, the system will still manage to cool for a period of time. It actually cools too much. The indoor evaporator coil begins to freeze up because the temperature of the coil drops below the dew point. This is humidity or moisture in your home or business which passes through the air conditioning (or heat pump) indoor coil for conditioning. The air conditioning system experiences a reduced amount of air flow because of the coil icing up. You may notice ice on the lines which run to the outside condenser. If you see this, it is important to shut the system off immediately and call a HVAC service company. If the system is left running the indoor evaporator coil could turn into a block of ice and no air flow will come out of the vents. The HVAC service technician will need to determine the cause of your leak, and there is generally a charge involved to do so (I paid $234). There is two methods employed in determining the leak - (1) electronic R-22 "sniffer" leak detection, and (2) 2-week Dye testing (the lines filled with dye and ). Do-it-yourself homeowners have also had limited success in utilizing a soapy-water solution that is sprayed on the surface of the coils and/or pressure lines and watching for bubbles percolating up on any surface where a leak is occurring. Here are the reasons why your air conditioner might have a Freon or refrigerant leak:
Example costs I was quoted recently:
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What I am listening to right now...
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