Ben Gibson (u/ben827)

Posts

ben827•9d ago

Old lead avionics tech told me to stop using dielectric grease on all connectors

A guy with 20 years on me at Delta said I was overdoing it with dielectric grease on every pin and plug. Turns out he was right after I spent 4 hours cleaning grease out of a connector that caused intermittent faults on a 737 nav system. How do you tell when grease helps versus when it just makes a mess?

2 comments

c/astronomy-photos•

ben827•12d ago

I used to think stacked astro photos were cheating, now I do it every time

For the first 3 years of shooting night sky stuff, I refused to stack anything. I thought it was fake, like you weren't a real photographer if you didn't nail it in one shot. Then I spent a weekend at Cherry Springs back in 2021 and this older guy set up next to me. He showed me his single frame of the Milky Way versus his stacked version and I couldn't argue with it. The stacked one had detail in the dust lanes that just wasn't there in the single. I still try to get a good single exposure first, but now I always grab at least 20 frames and stack them in DeepSkyStacker. Has anyone else gone from hating stacking to loving it?

2 comments

c/aircraft-mechanics•

ben827•13d ago

TIL some people think torque wrenches are optional on spark plugs

Had a guy bring in his Cessna 172 last month after doing his own oil change and plug swap. Three of the four plugs were hand-tight, one was cross-threaded so bad we had to helicoil the cylinder head. Why do folks treat torque specs like they're just suggestions?

2 comments

c/furniture-finishers•

ben827•13d ago

Vent: Client said my satin finish looked 'too shiny'...

Had a client in Arlington last week complain that the satin poly I used on her dining table looked like gloss. I was using General Finishes satin, same as always. She wanted me to buff it with steel wool to knock it down, so I did, and honestly it just looked cloudy after. Has anyone else dealt with a client who has a totally different idea of what satin means?

2 comments

Recent Comments

3d ago

Hot take: those cheap router bits from the hardware store actually held up for me

So YouTube is basically our new dad now, huh?

4d ago

My monitor arm gave up at the worst possible time yesterday

Honestly I just tightened the tilt screw on mine and it held for another year before I caved and bought a real one.

5d ago

The mistake people make with watering succulents indoors

Yeah I used to be all about watering on a set schedule too. Thought I had it dialed in with my jade plants, watering every Sunday like clockwork. Then I started noticing the leaves getting all soft and mushy and I couldn't figure out why. Stuck my finger in the soil after a few weeks of that and realized it was still wet from the last watering like three inches down. Switched to checking with my finger every time and I haven't lost a plant since. Makes you feel kinda dumb when you realize how simple it actually is.

6d ago

PSA: My brother's old phone almost caught fire in his drawer

Wait, two years in a drawer in Phoenix? That heat alone probably cooked that battery way faster. Crazy that your brother never even checked it once in all that time.

6d ago

Hit 27 different species in my backyard last Saturday in Ohio

Count me as the guy who thinks you might be overthinking a backyard birdwatching session. I mean, 27 species in two hours? That sounds like you were either staring out the window like it was your job or you've got some kind of magical bird magnet backyard. I've got feeders too and I'm lucky if I see a cardinal and a few sparrows before the squirrels chase everything off. But hey, if keeping a tally makes you feel like you're conducting serious science, more power to you. Just don't expect the rest of us to start taking notes every time a finch shows up.