Monitor your vehicle with Android Torque OBD2 reader and bluetooth

Today all cars bring a connection to the OBD diagnostic system ( most comprehensive in English) to connect to the control of the same, a small computer that controls many engine parameters and car electronics to improve consumption and seek mechanical (or user through the control panel) of the potential problems and maintenance required.

The vehicles are increasingly complex, and the fact that the unit warn you of these problems often prevents the operator hours of maintenance shop.

In Europe, according to Directive 98 / 69EG, gasoline cars from 2000 onwards, diesel cars from 2003 onwards and trucks from 2005 onwards must be equipped with an OBD.(Wikipedia)

Those who like "tinkering" with the car like me, to know it like the back of your hand, we can use this to read the status of the vehicle with a cheap bluetooth connector like the following image:

vgate, a cheap, simple and reliable reader ODB2

(This document was translated using Google Translator from the original spanish article)

Torque: A complete Android program to monitor our car

Modifying Dacia key to accommodate longer lasting battery

Hello dear readers. Today I will discuss a small modification I made to my remote control car, a Dacia Sandero diesel, a simple, robust and economical european car, both in price and consumption. 

Adding a mp3 headset to a 3M hearing protection

If you are lucky enough to work in a factory with the times, surely ye be required to wear helmets as a image.

The workshop music rarely it gets, and even went down, between the noise and helmets could barely hear, but ... what if we add a mp3 to helmets?

Use this idea with responsibility; if you put loud music, maybe you do not hear a fellow warning danger.

A friend had the bright idea to do it, and here is the result.

Get professional photos on your Android phone with HDR Camera

When we get a picture with a camera either, and there is a great contrast of light from one area to another, or out overexposed photo if we get all the details of the dark side (in the photo below, the reflections in the cups): 

Image Gallaxy S SCL focusing the dark side of the glasses

Or the details of the shaded areas are lost, when we focus on the brighter side, as shown in the following image:

Galaxy S SCL image focusing the white part of the vessels

(This document was translated using Google Translator from the original spanish article)

Installing the USB driver for Arduino Leonardo in Windows 7 32-bit

The open source electronic board Arduino Leonardo

Yesterday I could try an electronic board that will accompany me for a long time in all my projects; the open source electronic board Arduino (Leonardo model with more inputs / outputs). 
This plate, if you like the "Do It Yourself" is impressive: 

• Cheap (from 20 €)
• Modern, comprehensive and flexible, with 20-pin I / O for highly complex projects
• Open Hardware and Software (no secrets, you can make yourself the pieces)
• Easy to program (using high-level language based on Processing )
• With many examples and an ever larger community
• Very economical and complete, Have I said it yet? XD

If you want to know more about how was this wonder of electronics, nothing better than "Arduino The Documentary" . A demonstration of the power of open source and collaborative altruism: 



Let's go to the topic ... It cost me a lot to find how to install the USB driver for Windows 7 32-bit; I could'nt get it to work, did not find it, despite following the official guide . 

How to Install Windows 7 on a Compaq NC8430

Today we are going to install the best current Windows; 7, in this somewhat dated computer but with a Centrino Duo that can cope with the Win7. I've found that does not have the drivers for the hard drive, so I had to go to the manufacturer's website, HP, and download the AHCI Sata hard disk controller. 
To copy it to a USB need to burn it to a floppy, and as I don't have this anymore, I have had to do with a virtual floppy using an USB pendrive. 

What to do if you drop your mobile into water

First, stay calm and act quickly, take it out of the water and remove the battery, the chances of recovering a long time is decreased if the battery; internal short circuit could be damaging and irrecoverable watching it later.

Then it is best to disarm as much as possible (there are numerous online manuals how to disarm the different terminals) and give heat with a hair, but not too hot as to melt XD.

If you act fast, you will probably only get wet surface. Remove the battery, and if you see it completely dry inside, you can dry it with a hairdryer. You were lucky this time! XD

(This document was translated using Google Translator from the original spanish article)

Once disarmed (without battery or SIM and memory card and lost everything you can) you can opt for the easy solution, which gives a result most of the time, which is putting it in a closed rice for several days container, at least one week if you have not disarmed lot, or at least 3 days if you separate all the pieces, until it is dry. Rice is the desiccant (moisture absorbing) cheaper there. 

Stainless steel biomass heater produced in-house - by Jose

Update: If you wanna make this project on your own, I advise you to not put the horizontal steel sheets to avoid problems with smoke; those sheets cool down the fumes a lot and it is bad for verting, the tar and slag will stick to the tube. To avoid this situation the temperatures of the smokes must be over 300ºC.
If the tube is long, we have to put an insulated tube to maintain the ignition temperature inside of it.

This entry I will devote to the project of Jose, who kindly sent me photos and details of his proposed home in stainless steel boiler., As I am concerned by the crisis and the environment. Hope you enjoy it as much as me.
Project Details

Photo of the stove in operation in the absence of cover with drywall

(This document was translated using Google Translator from the original spanish article) 

Jose, another hands of Toledo has developed a wood boiler full of stainless steel., And assures us that is like a shot, in 10 minutes take the set temperature 60 degrees and starts pumping, the house is large (210m) and 2h hot. Is supercontento, of which I am very happy because it saves money and uses renewable energy such as wood (= 0 Co2) and get some exercise step carrying firewood (with saving him from the gym ;-).
Started commenting on this post , in which he commented that before light was paying € 500 every two months using a heat pump, while the neighbors, heat radiators "blue" spent € 600! per month, an entire salary.

Advantages of biomass
There will be people who think "gas is the most comfortable, give it to the thermostat and forget." And it is true, only that the discomfort comes from the ax € 150 per month, money that goes out of Spain, in addition to increasing climate change.
Wood waste helps the local economy, providing jobs in the collection, cleaning and transporting forest biomass.
Besides these stoves, wood metiéndoles good, they just need loads every 3 or 4 hours, about 15 kg. can heat up a house of 100 square meters, and is a good exercise to eliminate the daily stress, thereby relaxing the contemplation of the fire!

Heat the house with the stove: Place a coil in a Hergóm stove

The stainless steel coil and placed

(This document was translated using Google Translator from the original spanish article) 

Last weekend a friend and I were staying with a friend in Lazagurría . It is a small and intimate, you saw the south of a hill cottages, most over 50, who has managed to survive the decline of population on little towns on Spain (20 km to he city Logroño).
Noa, an impressive skillful woman, intending to heat the house with the fire of the plate in the kitchen, she wanted to better distribute the heat for the house of your old wood stove and saw on my blog, and in the end we put a coil efficiently adapted to your kitchen, with which it heats the radiators. Cost of the modification: 100 € and 200 € coil installed accessories for it.

We have made very good impression, we have been so pleased with their hospitality to revisit more often ;-). (Will accept requests from the entire peninsula, see the email in the top-right of the blog: D).

The kitchen is typical Hergóm still present in many old houses of Spain, which gives considerable heat and uses very good wood for their manufacture refractory brick and reinforced molten metal.

In Hergóm still making this type of cuisine, with more modern lines:

Adapt an electric water heater for use as heat storage by adding a coil

Copper coil to heat household water tank

(This document was translated using Google Translator from the original spanish article)

Install a system for using solar energy or biomass to produce hot water in winter is profitable within a few years (particularly in areas where solar power is not enough), but can be very expensive for many, especially in developing countries.
With this tutorial you intend to use an old water heater 200 liters. of 'Cointra' brand and add a coil to heat the water inside. Quite a challenge considering we have to keep the seal and put it in without enlarging the tank ;-)-.
Before deciding on this, I had several options for heating water for hot water in a simple and economical, each with its pros and cons:

• Buy me a plate heat exchanger high performance to bring the heat to the tank. This solution has many drawbacks, it affects the lime, is expensive (between 60 and 300 euros), you need a second engine to circulate the water tank (thereby generating mousse) and if you want to give priority to the ACS have to put a three-way motorized valve to divert excess heat after reaching a certain water temperature.

A copper heat exchanger standard.