My New Toy - The Raspberry Pi

This is just a quick check in post.  We  recently bought a Raspberry Pi kit. It showed up quickly thanks to Amazon Prime.   We plan on using it as a LAMP server for a little while to practice some web development.  At the same time, we will also be using it as a small workstation for learning Python.  Eventually we will use it as an XBMC device.  I  plan to post all of our adventures about it here on The Geek's Garage.

If you are not familiar with the Raspberry Pi,  it is basically a credit card sized computer that has an ARM processor.  So really it is like the brains of a tablet that has an HDMI port that you can hookup to your TV.   If you are new to it and want to get one, I suggest getting a kit like the one below:

This is the kit that I purchased. It will come with almost everything you need to get started. If you do not go the kit route, you will have to track down a compatible power supply and SD card. And possibly some kind of case. Even if you do go with the kit,  you will still need some kind of TV or Monitor to hook it up to.  It only has an HDMI and a RCA composite video connection, so keep that in mind.  It also does not have built in wireless though it does have a standard wired ethernet port.  You will need a usb keyboard and mouse. Also, this does run Linux, so if you have never used Linux be prepared for that.

If you want more information about the Raspberry Pi, check back with us in a bit, we will be updating with more posts about it.  In the meantime, check out some of the links below.

http://www.raspberrypi.org/faqs

http://magnatecha.com/things-i-do-with-my-raspberry-pi/

http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/desktops/25-fun-things-to-do-with-a-raspberry-pi-50009851/



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--Rick
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My GE Oven Repair

 I purchased a 120 year old house some time ago.  I spent so much money on our kitchen I had to make a few compromises.  I wanted a double wall oven, but I did not want to spend $3000 on a new one.  So what did I do?  What any reasonable man would do and purchased on off of Craigslist!

This oven actually worked very well for about two years. I mean this double wall oven was great! It was a GE Profile model with a convection option.  It was everything we needed with our large family.  Especially at the bargain of $200! Everything was rolling smoothly....

Then all of the sudden the upper oven bake element fried with a lot of sparks and and fizzes.  Luckily after being mezmorized by the sparks for a few, I managed to turn it off.  No big deal, I went to the interweb and found a new bake element.  Ordered!  "Problem will be solved in a few days deary."  So I said to my lovely wife.

Yikes!  Burned right through!

Well the element shows up lightning fast in two short days.  So being the super hero to my family that I am, I slapped it in, in record time.  I turn the oven on to test the new toasty bake element and........it does not get warm.  I can lay my hand on it and it is still room temperature.  My family walked away heads down in disappointment.


I was disgraced.  After all, we have two birthday cakes to bake in a couple of days.  I was in trouble.  Back to the interweb!!!!!!  I did a ton of research on this oven. I found that most people in this situation would replace their control board.  So I went and looked up a new control board for my oven.  It was no longer available.  The sweat was really pouring off of me now.  I was going to have to use my brain!  Gasp!

By the way, before you do any work to your oven, turn off the breaker or unplug it.  I found out there is a constant "L2" wire that is hot to the elements.  Make sure you kill the power before touching it so it doesn't kill you.

Every other element worked in the oven.  The upper broiler element---check, the lower broiler element--check, the lower bake element--check, the convection element-- check.  From my interweb research I found out that a relay turns on the element.  So I decided to pull out my control board and take a look.  

Wow, there are about 7 relays on this board.  Luckily they were labeled quite well on the board.

BK1-Upper bake element
BR1-Upper broiler element
BK2-Lower bake element
BR2-Lower broiler element

The relays for the elements are those four larger black things.

Now I am on to something!  I know it has to be the BK1 relay because that is what turns on the upper oven bake element.  (remember, the power is off)  I popped the black plastic cover off of that relay and checked to make sure it still moved and was not stuck.  It moved.  now I am perplexed.   So I flipped the control board over and found this...

Little orange burn mark!!  Blew the solder connection out!

 Looky there!  What we have here is an open connection.  The solder completely blew off the relay when the element fried.  Now, a quick soldering with my trusty soldering iron.  I then put the board back in and plugged all of the wires back in.  I turn the oven on.....

It is heating up!!!!!

WOW!  It is working!  I turn around to high five my family.....and no one is there.   Oh well, I may have lost my super hero status, but at least the oven works.  Now to start baking those birthday cakes!



If you like this post and think it would be valuable to someone you know, please share it on the social network of your choice for me, okay? All you have to do is click one of the buttons below. Then add me to your Google+ circles.

Thanks --Rick
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