Finally tackling some shop projects this summer. First on the list was A/C! The building is well insulated but it still gets uncomfortably warm and humid to work inside during the 2 weeks of summer we get up here...lol! I picked up at 2 ton Senville mini-split because A) I have radiant heat and not a central furnace and B) it was cheap and easy to install, I even did the electrical myself. It comes pre-charged with refrigerant so you just have to pull a vacuum to remove the air, open the valves and it's good to go. So far I'm impressed, it's very quiet and can bring the shop down to a comfortable level in about an hour. (3000sq ft and 17' ceilings). It's Wi-fi enabled so I can pre-cool the building before I arrive, if needed. I'll be installing a canopy shortly to keep the sun/rain/snow off of it.
The indoor unit.
Next up was some security cameras! My shop is a few blocks from my house so I needed a way to keep an eye on it. I bought a Reolink camera system with 4K dome cameras and a DVR. The image quality is amazing and the software is very good as well. It's smart enough to recognize people, cars and animals and I get a notification on my phone if someone walks/drives on the property. Areas like the street, sidewalk, alley etc can be excluded so I don't get false alarms. There are 4 cameras covering the property and the 2TB DVR can store footage for about 8 days. Everything including the router is on a UPS so it can stay running during a power outage.
Put up a shop TV. Usually just play the security cameras on it cause I prefer to listen to music while working.
I have no phone line to the building so I bought a 4G LTE wireless router. It shares data with my cell plan so it basically costs nothing. Since the building is steel and blocks most wireless signals I had to use an external antenna on the roof to pull in a signal. The antenna cable isn't very long so the router had to be mounted half way up the wall..lol.
Anyone who has ever owned a cheap parts washer knows the pond pump they put in them doesn't last very long. I decided to repair/upgrade mine with some parts and ideas borrowed from computer water cooling. I have a few Liang D5 pumps laying around so I tossed one into the solvent for a couple days to see if it would survive. The plastic housing came out unscathed but the O-ring swelled up so I bought a chemical resistant replacement on Amazon. The power supply is a standard computer unit and I just use the built-in switch to turn the pump on and off.
The filter mount takes the same filters as my Cobra and has a valve on the inlet to make filter changes less messy. The tubing is 3/8" fuel hose. I added a drain with a ball valve to make draining the tank much easier. I still need to track down a few pails of low odor varsol to fill it.
The inside remains basically unchanged.
The pickup is inside the original pump housing which has a built in strainer. All of the brass fittings I purchased on Amazon.
The indoor unit.
Next up was some security cameras! My shop is a few blocks from my house so I needed a way to keep an eye on it. I bought a Reolink camera system with 4K dome cameras and a DVR. The image quality is amazing and the software is very good as well. It's smart enough to recognize people, cars and animals and I get a notification on my phone if someone walks/drives on the property. Areas like the street, sidewalk, alley etc can be excluded so I don't get false alarms. There are 4 cameras covering the property and the 2TB DVR can store footage for about 8 days. Everything including the router is on a UPS so it can stay running during a power outage.
Put up a shop TV. Usually just play the security cameras on it cause I prefer to listen to music while working.
I have no phone line to the building so I bought a 4G LTE wireless router. It shares data with my cell plan so it basically costs nothing. Since the building is steel and blocks most wireless signals I had to use an external antenna on the roof to pull in a signal. The antenna cable isn't very long so the router had to be mounted half way up the wall..lol.
Anyone who has ever owned a cheap parts washer knows the pond pump they put in them doesn't last very long. I decided to repair/upgrade mine with some parts and ideas borrowed from computer water cooling. I have a few Liang D5 pumps laying around so I tossed one into the solvent for a couple days to see if it would survive. The plastic housing came out unscathed but the O-ring swelled up so I bought a chemical resistant replacement on Amazon. The power supply is a standard computer unit and I just use the built-in switch to turn the pump on and off.
The filter mount takes the same filters as my Cobra and has a valve on the inlet to make filter changes less messy. The tubing is 3/8" fuel hose. I added a drain with a ball valve to make draining the tank much easier. I still need to track down a few pails of low odor varsol to fill it.
The inside remains basically unchanged.
The pickup is inside the original pump housing which has a built in strainer. All of the brass fittings I purchased on Amazon.
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