What You Should And Shouldn’t Do When Cleaning Fiber Optics

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Cleaning fiber optics is one of the best ways of maintaining them in good working condition for long. While this is the case, you need to ensure that you do the right things for you to clean the units thoroughly. Here are some of the things that you should and shouldn’t do when cleaning the units.

Inspection

Before you start cleaning the units you should inspect them and see if there is any dirt. When inspecting, you should not look directly at the laser-energized fiber optic termini with your eyes. You should also avoid exposing your skin to direct or scattered radiation.

The reason why you should not do this is because the LED light sources used in fiber optics usually operate near-infrared and infrared wavelengths and although they are invisible to the eye, they are harmful especially to the cornea and retina. They also bring about skin burning.

To be on the safe side you should only view the termini using special equipment that is designed to allow you to easily and safely inspect the optic fiber endface.

When inspecting, it’s paramount that you learn how contaminants look like. This way you will be able to tell when the unit is contaminated and when it’s not.

It’s recommended that you thoroughly examine the optic fiber so that you can know the type of contaminant that you are working with. For example, you should be able to know whether the contaminant is dust, oil, or salt.

Knowing the contaminant plays a major role in saving you time as you know what you are dealing with and as a result you reduce the number of cleaning rounds.

Cleaning

Before you start cleaning the units you should ensure that you thoroughly wash your hands. The aim of cleaning your hands is to ensure that you don’t transfer dirt or oils to the fiber optics.

Once you hands are clean, you should not apply a moisturizer or lotion as this will attract more contaminants and cause the oils to transfer onto the cleaning wipe or swab. This will in return bring about transfer of contaminants onto the endface that you are trying to clean.

When working with wipes and swabs, you should not wear gloves. This is because the gloves will add more particulates to the endface.

To ensure that no contaminant ends up back on the endface, you should throw away all the wipes and swabs that you use.

Decorating a Bathroom Is Not Always Black and White

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But it certainly can be. And it can make a dramatic statement. Bathrooms have become less and less the simple utilitarian room of your parents and more an expression of taste. Why should all of the design dollars go to the kitchen, living room or bedroom? A person should be relaxed, comfortable and proud of their bath as well. One way to accomplish this is to make a statement with color. Using a minimal color palette such as black and white can be quite visually expressive.

Using only two colors in a room of small to moderate size like the typical bathroom usually means employing a primary color and then an accent color to add visual interest. Attempting to balance the colors equally can lead to a very busy looking room. The first choice, therefore, is deciding which color is your base color and which is your accent. In the case of black and white, while a bathroom could be done with a base of black, this present several design challenges that are hard to overcome in a smaller space. So the easier choice to make is a white base with black accents.

Having made this decision the obvious pitfall is making a bathroom that feels too institutional. This can easily be overcome. Deciding on a base of white does not mean choosing simply one shade. Again, though, choosing too many shades will result in a room that is confusing to the senses. Selecting three well thought out shades will provide visual appeal and set the tone for your room. For example selecting antique whites will typically provide a warmer feel when contrasted with the black accents. Using the shades in large defined areas is also recommended. A good rule of thumb is the brightest shade should be used as the back drop for your accent color, to provide for the greatest contrast and thus visual appeal.

One of the things that are often overlooked when working with a minimalistic color scheme such as black and white is texture. Textured tile is a great example of this. Whether stamped with a repeating monochromatic pattern, silhouettes or scenes, individual tiles located in strategic locations can provide visual appeal without creating a busy looking bathroom.

The black accents can appear either in statement pieces within the bathroom such as the sink, tub or toilet, or in smaller touches around the room. These touches could include a tile border, limited trim, black and white artwork, shower curtain, or other bathroom decoration. The rule here is that the black should comprise no more than 20-25 percent of the surface area of the room and it should always appear on a white background. You would not want, for example, white tiles to have a repeating black pattern.

You can perhaps consider a light colored bathroom vanity and sink to start off your redesign and work your way around the room. Don’t forget to pay attention to any unique light fixtures in the room. You could even consider a black iron chandelier to set off the room.

The combination of two colors such as white and black can make an appealing visual statement. If not done correctly, however, the result can be overwhelming and confusing to the eye, especially in the confines of a smaller area. So be careful but have fun and let your creativity show.

Organic Garden Pest Control – The 5 Best Tips to Keep Your Garden Bug Free Without Strong Chemicals

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Organic gardens are not without some of the drawbacks that every garden has. One of these drawbacks are various kinds of pests.

In a conventional garden you fight these pests in a different way than in your organic garden. In an ordinary or non organic garden strong chemicals are regularly used to fight the pests. These chemicals harm every living thing, including plants, good bugs (yes there are plenty!), your soil and you and your family, as well as accumulating and trickling down into the ground water.

Organic Garden Pest Control 1: Manual removal
This is by far the easiest and cheapest way, but not applicable to all kinds of pests. Go out into your garden in the early morning and in the evening, and pick by hand all the bugs you can see eating away on your precious plants, like for example aphids and lily beetles. Squash them or put them in a container with soapy water.

Step 2: Organic Garden Pest Control with solutions to spray
A simple way to fight bugs is to suffocate them with soapy water. Just mix 1 dl of natural soap with 1 liter of water, then pour into a spray bottle and spray away at your plants. Make sure you cover the whole plant with the mixture, and repeat now and then to get rid of the bugs that subsequently hatch.

Usually kills of both aphids and spider mites, but sometimes the latter ones are a bit difficult.

A mixture of 2-3 garlic cloves, 3-4 large chili peppers and 2 tablespoons of some vegetable oil, blended well in your blender, then strained and added to 1 liter of water plus 1 tablespoon of natural soap (or dishwashing soap) makes a stronger homemade solution for fighting bugs. When spraying this on your plants, avoid spraying during mid day or in really hot weather, because that may harm the leaves on your plants by burning them.

This scares away most animal pests in your garden, even mice and moles if you spray near their holes. There is one major back draw with both of these remedies though: They will get rid of the good insects as well, which leads us to

Organic Garden Pest Control 3: Biological pest control Let the good bugs do the job!
The ladybug is very efficient, it eats plenty of aphids (and is pretty to watch!). Lacewings and praying mantis are also good at this, and can be lured into your garden by plants that attract them. You can also buy these good bugs or other parasites (that is, parasitic on your pests) to establish an ecological balance among your garden bugs. These bugs or parasites can be bought in egg sacks or live, and are very efficient and a really environmentally friendly way to pest control.

Step 4: Organic Garden Pest Control by Growing Scary Plants
That is, the only ones to get scared are the of course the bugs! Onions planted together with your carrots will deter the carrot root fly from eating away at your carrots. Plant lavender along your garden path and smell the fragrance when you pass by… Marigold are lovely when planted amongst your veggies in your vegetable garden, and can of course be a part of any flower bed, there are so many varieties to choose from.

Also, it is very important to keep your plants strong and vigorous by making sure they get enough nutrients and grow in a healthy soil. Then they will be able to better withstand attacks from various pests.

Step 5: Organic Garden Pest Control by Spreading Mineral Dust
Not any old dust will do however, it has to be Diatomaceous earth, which will penetrate the hard exoskeleton of insects like ants, fleas or small beetles. This will cause them to dry out. Spread a thin layer of the mineral on the ground, and repeat after heavy rain or watering.

Extra tip for hollyhocks! Hollyhocks often suffer from fungus attacks causing the leaves to become all reddish brown and then fall off. The plant itself usually survives, but it looks terrible with the naked stem and the flowers at the top. But here is a remedy for this nuisance:

Boil a kettle full of horsetail and water to cover for 10 minutes at the least. Strain, and then dilute the solution 5 to 10 times with water. Use this diluted fluid to spray your hollyhocks, and don’t forget to spray under the leaves.

The best of luck with keeping pests off and your plants healthy and beautiful!

Building an Electric Vehicle (EV) With a Kit

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If you are looking for a way to save money on your motoring expenses, then one option you may be considering is buying an electric car. The cost of pure electric cars is quite high however, but did you know almost any vehicle can be converted from conventional fuel to electric. It is possible for you to undertake this project at home if you have basic mechanical knowledge, and some tools. There are two options, you can either buy a kit or get some plans. Read on to find out which option is the right choice for you.

Kit contains everything you need:

If you decide to buy a kit one advantage is that it will provide everything you need. Most kit suppliers will provide help on the telephone, or on-line, if you get lost. You may even be able to have someone complete the conversion for you.

Getting better all the time:

As more people take up the challenge more knowledge is amassed, because of this the kits are getting better all the time. You may even be able to get one tailor-made for the donor vehicle you are converting.

Can be expensive:

This help and ease of construction comes at a price however, as a result these kits are not cheap. They will still work out cheaper than buying a factory produced electric vehicle, but if you factor in your time and effort they may start to seem less desirable.

Get some plans:

For the budget conscious home converter there are many great plans available. These may not come with the same support, and you will have to source all the materials, but the cost of the plans will be minimal. Many will still have online help, especially if you find them online in the first place, plus you may find forums dedicated to electric car converters, where many like-minded enthusiasts will be only too pleased to offer advice.

Scavenge batteries:

The great thing about building your own from plans is that you will be able to pick up cheap or free batteries for your project. Many of the plans available will give you tips on where to find these, and how to recondition them when you get them home. As batteries are one of the big expenses during your conversion this will save you a lot.

Find cheap motors:

The motor you will use is a series wound DC motor, as these kinds of motor have many commercial uses other than vehicles, it is possible to pick up scrap ones for very little, or reconditioned ones for a bit more. Again good plans will tell you where to look. these motors are very strong and last for ages so used versions are not a risky option.

The choice you make will depend on your level of technical ability, and your budget. Building an electric vehicle with a kit may be the easiest option, but using plans can give you a finished product for a minimal cost. Whatever route you choose you will end up with a car you can be proud of, that is cheap to run, and will save the planet too.