Clearing Water Clogged in Unreachable Pipe

28 March 2017


We renovated our kitchen and found ourselves  in a difficult situation where we could not  reach the outflow pipe to clear the water clog caused by sludge.   Here is how we resolve it.

What happened?

Our old kitchen layout allowed us to remove the cupboard that is sitting ontop of the floor trap.  With the cupboard removed,  we could lower one of our hands to reach the outflow pipe where to could insert a hard spring rod or guide the pipe cleaner wire so that it could thread the pipe trap to reach the outflow pipe as shown

After renovating the kitchen,  we fixed the kitchen cabinet ontop of the floor trap.  We allowed an opening of about 13 inches wide,   just  enough to reach the top of the floor trap to insert something hard to clear the vertical pipe.

During one water clog,  we found the outflow pipe choked again.  We could not use the pipe cleaner nor any  hard spring rod as we no longer able to use our hand to reach the inlet of the outflow pipe.  The next available option opened was to reach the pipe trap from the lower floor which is about 12 feet below us.

The Solution

After going through our workshop to get some ideas,  we found a piece of 20 mm PVC pipe in which we managed to bend the end of the pipe to form a curve bend as shown.

With that piece of PVC pipe,  we could then guide the wire of our pipe cleaner from the top of the floor trap and threaded through the pipe trap to reach the choked outflow pipe.

  

4 Sept 2017 update

The head of the pipe cleaner is usually expanded from the spring wire.  Sometimes,  the head is too small to clear the sludge completely in large pipes.   Soon after cleaning,  the pipe will be clogged again.

The solution is to attach a cutter to the head as shown

The cutter was formed by cutting a length of 60 mm long 20mm PVC pipe with one end of it splitted and opened as shown.  The cutter must be attached to the  pipe cleaner with metal wires,  making sure it  will not be detached during the cleaning process.

How to Extract Water from Reef Tank without drillings of holes

29 March 2017


Reef tanks will  need fairly high water flow rate and an external pump sump is usually required so as to install a large water pump as well as other equipment such as chiller,  filter medias etc.  Large amount of water  will have to be extracted from the tanks.  The conventional way is to drill larger holes on either the top side of the back glass panel or the bottom of the tank.   This article will try to introduce another method.

What's Needed?

1.   1/2 piece of 4 feet x 2 feet perspex sheet available from any shop that sells lighting diffuser for the lighting fitting;

2.   2 numbers of 15" 20 mm diameter PVC tube

3.   2 numbers of straight joint for aquarium air distribution pipe

4.   Industrial Liquid Thinner

How to Construct?

 a.  Overflow box 

1.  Cut the perspex sheet to form a box of about 10" x 3"; make sure one of the back sheet of the box is long enough for a bend to be formed to hang over the edge of the water tank;

2.  Use heat gun or oven to soften the perspex of the longer back sheet with heat good enough to bend the perspex to form the hanger;

3.   Cut the front piece to form a row of grooves or small opening to allow overflow water to flow into the box;

4.   Assemble and join the 4 piece together using the industrial thinner.  Allow enough thinner to run to and fro at the joint so as to seal the joints properly;

b.  Over Flow Pipes

1.   Heat bend the 20 mm PVC pipe in the center enough to form a U-shape tube as shown in the picture;  The U tube should have a bend radius large enough for it to be placed over the hanger of the box;

2.   A flexible spring or PVC tube is necessary to ensure a smooth bend.  I used one piece of chest expander spring;

3.   Drill a hole large enough to insert the air tube straight joint at the top of PVC bend to form the air nipples

How It works?

When water is pumped into the tank,  the excess water will overflow into the overflow box.  It will be sucked up through the U-tube continuously.

But before any water can flow through the U tube,  the tube must be primed and fill the entire tube with water.

Water priming is make simple by plugging up the open end of the U tube and then suck the air out from the air nipple.  As soon as the water has filled up the U tube,  plug the air nipple and water will flow continuously and naturally.

 Other Relevant Sites
tinyurl  :https://tinyurl.com/ydfaloww

Lower Reef Tank Temperature Without Chiller

28 March 2017

One forumer in the Singapore Reef Forum asked how to lower the water temperature in a reef tank without using a chiller.   Another forumer asked for a picture of such construction.  The article will tell how.

What's Needed?

a)   To form a Cooling Tower

1.  2 pieces of 4 feet x 2 feet plastic sheets that are  available from the shop that sells office light fittings.  I got mine free when my office was under renovation.
2.  One pump sump of about 1.5 feet x 3 feet or other dimension to suit requirement
3.  Industrial liquid thinner

b)  To construct a dry filtration media within the tower

1.   About 3 rolls of twine string paper

2.   1/4" plastic tubing or plenty of plastic straws

3.    Few pieces of  10 mm diameter PVC pipe each cut to about 10" length

How to Construct?

a)   Description

As I have  retired the cooling tower a long time ago. The following sketch will give some idea on how to construct the cooling tower which was located at the back of the reef tank with a pump sump below the tank.

The tower was about 4 feet tall and filled with loose packed dry media made from flatten twine paper string that has gaps to allow air and water to pass through them.  


Water is fed into the top section using 2 Nos of 20 mm U shape plastic tube and overflow reservoirs without drilling any hole in the reef tank (link) The water is then allow to go through the rain shower plate, which is basically a plastic sheet full of small holes.

 b)  Constructing the Tower

1.  Cut plastic sheet into 10"x 4 feet strips and glue them up to shape using the industrial thinner.  As thinner will normally dissolve the surface of the plastic,  it will provide a good joint without using any other glue.  To form a good seal at the joint,  run a little amount thinner alongside the joint,  to and fro several times.  Allow  the plastic joints to dry over night.

2.  Cut a piece of plastic sheet and drill as many holes of about 1/8" to form the rain shower plate to be inserted on the top section to form the rain shower.  Allow at least 6" clearance between the fan and the rain shower plate.

3.  Allow one empty section for air inlet as shown in the sketch 

c)  Constructing the filter media

1.  Unroll the twine paper string and flatten the string out so that it can be rolled loosely together again with plenty of  1/4" tube or the plastic straws inserted in between to form another roll of filter media that can be filled the inside of the entire cooling tower.   The tube or plastic straws should be as many as possible to ensure the papers will be  loosely packed and that air and water will be allowed to flow freely through the filter media.

2.  Place twine paper rolls inside tower horizontally with each roll separated by the 10 mm PVC pipe for proper air circulation in between the rolls.

Conclusion

This set up can cool the water  to about 27 C which is the average wet bulb temperature of our ambient air. Constant feed of light Limewater and kalkwasser is all that is necessary to replenish lost water.  I used the setup for about 2 years without any other filters although I stored some dead corals inside the pump sump.

Other Relevant Sites
tinyurl :  https://tinyurl.com/y994fau6

Aquarium Chiller Resun CL650- Erratic Temperature Readings

27 March 2017

The chiller  controller has erratic temperature readings.  It fluctuated between 3 to 4 degrees C erratically.  As a result,  the chiller did not start and stop properly.  Otherwise,  the Chiller worked normally.

What Could Go Wrong?

 1.  Dry Joints -  They are often responsible for erratic performance and often give erroneous readings;

 2.  Faulty Capacitors - They will lost the filtering and cause voltages to fluctuate;  thereby,  giving erroneous temperature readings.

How to Dismantle and Remove the Controller?

The controller is flushed mounted with a dust protective plastic cover in the inside of the chiller casing.  The cover is secured to the chiller casing by four clips evenly distributed around the peripheral of the plastic cover.

To remove the cover,  one will need to push the clip inwards using one finger and pull the cover down at the same time using another hand.  Releasing the clips will need some care and patients,  releasing the clips one at a time.  Some reported that there might be four screws securing the plastic cover and they must be removed first.

Once the plastic cover is removed,  one can pull up the controller from the top of the chiller casing.  Observe and make notes on how the wirings are connected.

What Went Wrong?

Bench inspection suspected that there are a few dry joints.  However,  resoldered those joints did stabliise the readings and prevent much voltage fluctuations in the supply line but the controller continued to give erratic readings.

Finally,  bench testing proved that one of the two capacitors shown below had a deteriorated capacitance giving only 15 uf instead of the 400 uf.  Replacing the 400 uf capacitor fixed the erratic reading.

Degree of Difficulty

It was  not difficult to replace the capacitors but the 2 tier circuit board arrangement made de-soldering and soldering pretty difficult to carry out to test and replace those capacitors.

What to get a Replacement?

For those who need a replacement for the controller,  they should be able to find it on TaoBao (link) for about RMB200.  Write to them make an enquiry at this website.  Alternatively,  one could replace the controller.  

 Other Relevant Sites
tinyurl : https://tinyurl.com/yae4zudq

WuKong Air Conditioner Smart Controller

7 January 2016

tinyurl:  https://tinyurl.com/y836bbko

Introduction

Air conditioner is no longer a luxury but a household item in Today’s Singapore.  Most air conditioners nowadays have a simple controller with limited functions;  also,  these controllers are of a manual type and not intelligent.   The intelligent ones,  called smart controllers, will learn the control codes of existing air conditioners and allow users to control the air conditioner either through a set of pre-defined or customized programs or control strategies for comfort cooling as well as for energy conservation.

Types and Brands

There are several types of smart controllers available in today’s market.  The common ones are WukongI8 made in China,  Tado made in Germany and Ambi Climate made in Japan.   This article will examine only WukongI8.  

What is WukongI8?

WukongI8 is a smart air conditioning remote control that is designed and manufactured by a Chinese Company called “Gallaxy Wind”.  It is retailed at around RMB129/= for a standard model that controls only air conditioners and RMB190 for a model that will also control TVs and other devices such as lighting.  One can buy WukongI8 from TaoBao.

How WukongI8 Can Make  Air Conditioner Smarter?

WukongI8 is a smart controller.  It has a  set of independent built-in temperature and lighting sensors,  a microphone, and standard programs that can automatically turn on the air conditioner at 9:00 pm, for example,   lower the fan speed at 10:00 pm;  thereafter,  increase the room temperature by 2 degrees C in order to save energy.      

WukongI8 can also be programmed to run at other combinations with a different control strategy.  It has also a built-in energy monitoring recording device where users can use to monitor the energy usage of each control strategy and pick the right strategy.     

As WukongI8 is linked to the handphones through an internet connection,  the user can therefore program and control the air conditioner from anywhere around the Globe provided there is an internet connection.  There is no hard wiring connection between the air conditioner and WukongI8.  Connection to Router/Internet is through WiFi links.    

What are the Specifications?

Power Supply Input：85~240V AC

Power Supply Output：85~240V AC

Frequency：50/60Hz

WiFi:  WiFi2.4GHz b/g/n

Standby Power: ＜2W

Maximum Load：3500W

Maximum Current：16A –Australia/China grounded  AS3112

Andriod & iPhone software:  Andriod  2.3.7 or  iOS 7.0 and above

Official Warranty:  1 year

Firmware update:  free

What are the Basic Control Capabilities?

Besides the basic function of performing as a standard remote control,  WukongI8 can also perform the following additional functions

1. Has presets to turn on and off at air conditioner in 20-time segments
2. Automatically turns on the Air conditioner to cool room temperature to 24C when room temperature exceeded 30C.  It has also control strategies for heating functions;
3. Measures and logs the energy consumption of the air conditioner  giving aggregated yearly,  monthly, and daily energy usage
 

It has various pre-designed control strategies,  such as auto-cooling,  profile cooling,  auto sleep cooling etc;

Using the phone’s GPS system,  WukongI8 is able to tell if the user is carrying out the control at home or outstations and choose the desired control program.

What is the type of air conditioners that can use WukongI8?

 

WukongI8 can only work with air conditioners that have an infra-red remote controller having an LCD screen.  WukongI8 cannot work with radio frequency, remote controllers.  

How to Install? 

 

Installation is simple and straightforward.  Just plug in WukongI8 in series with air conditioner if one's air conditioner is connected to a  powerpoint nearby.   

However,  most split air conditioners in Singapore are remotely connected to a 15A socket outlet and therefore,  one would have the following two options:

1.    Extend the power to connect WukongI8 and locate WukongI8 within 5 meters from the fan coil unit;

2.    Rewire the power to the air conditioner so that the power to the air conditioner can be drawn from WukongI8’s 16A power socket. 

Note: As Wukong uses Chinese 16A power socket format,  one would have to use proper 16A socket outlets which can be ordered from Taobao 

As infra-red communication will need the transmitters and receivers to be able to “see” each other,  it is, therefore, a requirement for WukongI8 to be installed directly opposite the air conditioner.  However,  WukongI8 could also work to a distance of 6 meters at an acute angle of not more than 50 degrees.  

Can I install Wukong Separately?

 

Wukong can work separately without the air conditioner’s power  drawing from Wukong’s 16 A power socket but it will not be able to record and monitor the power usage

What will happen on the Connection of Wukong?

Once WukongI8 is physically connected up to a power supply,  it will scan the room for an air conditioner to learn the control codes and connect WukongI8 automatically to the air conditioner through the infra-red transmitter/receiver.  Upon successful connection,  the blue light of WukongI8 will turn on;  otherwise,  the lights will turn red,  indicating the loss of signal connection. 

The original remote controller of the air conditioner will still work and will override and bypass the controls of Wukong. 

How Do I Control Wukong?  

To control Wukong,  the user must 

1.    Download the handphone Apps,  called Wukong Home from Google Playstore.  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gwcd.airplugor download and register Weixin first as a user and then  use its QR code reader to scan the code on WukongI8

2.    On the first successful download,  the handphone will search for the presence of WukongI8 and retrieve its Ids for a user to set up the Apps  with a password; after that

3.    WukongI8 will scan the room for a compatible device,  learn the infra-red control code, and connect to the air conditioner'scontrol

4.      Once the connection is successful,  a familiar screen will appear and one can use the handphone to control the various basic functions of the air conditioner

From this page,  one can navigate to set the basics parameters such as languages,  Centigrade/Fahrenheit, and other parameters

  

On other pages,  one could manually check and control the various functions of the air conditioner such as temperature,  fan speeds & swings,  timer etc

On selection of the Smart Mode,  one would be presented with various control strategies to control the workings of the air conditioner as shown,  from constant cooling to temperature profile cooling,  night cooling,  auto cooling, etc.  By selecting the "details",   Wukong will give a description of the strategy.   

Wukong also provides a graphical plot for temperatures of the room for the last 24 hours

The Useful Functions

1.  Temperature Curve

This will allow users to set the hourly temperatures with a preset range so that one could have a lower temperature before sleep for example and then turn up the temperature in the middle of the night etc.  This temperature curve setting will be over-ride when the original air conditioner's controller is used.

 2.  Auto-Sleep Function

This function will lower the fan speed and also lower the set temperature by 2 C if the room temperature is above 28 C. 

What is  Inside WukongI8?

1.  Opening up WukongI8

1. Remove the front panel which is held onto the casing by glue
2. One will expose the components such as infra-red receiver,  temperature and lighting sensors and also the microphone

3. The controlling  unit can then be removed as shown

4. The controlling unit consists of the following components attached in the back of the unit

a)      The power supply unit

b)      The WiFi Board  and the EEPROM

c)      The Main Control Board

d)     The Power Output connection

Performance and Energy Savings

It is hard to compare the performance with and without Wukong operating as we have also bed cooler in operation at the same time.  

An energy data acquisition instrument was used to measure the consumption of the air conditioner together with the bed cooler over a period of 1 month for various combinations.  They drew about 2.5 KW  to about 5 KW depending on the setting of the Wukong.  Generally,  the various measurements can be divided into 5 categories

1. Power cooling for 3 hrs @ 26C without Bed Cooler and Wukong
2. Wukong Auto Sleep Mode without Bed Cooler
3. Wukong Auto Sleep Mode with Bed Cooler
4. Power Cooling for 3 hours @ 27C with Bed cooler but without Wukong
5. Wukong Temperature Curve with temperature setting between 26 to 28C with bed cooler

Note:  Power Cooling is a feature of Panasonic air conditioner which lowers the room temperature setting by 2C with higher fan speed

It has been found that Wukong has helped to save about 26% of the energy consumption.   With bed cooler and Wukong working in combination,  a further 13% energy could be saved with comfort cooling for a good night's sleep.

Note: The bed cooler was set to 29C which required the air conditioner to operate at lower than normal temperature and therefore,  consumes more energy.  More energy could be saved by setting bed cooler at temperatures lower than 29C.

 Conclusion

It is expected that more such devices will flood the market in the future as more people learned how to use the smart controller.  It is also expected that pretty soon,  the smart controlling device will become a standard item in the new air conditioners. 

Appendix I:  Suggestions to Improve Wukong

1. Temperature Curve to be set according to startup hours instead of the hourly clock

Presently,  the curve is set to the hourly clock.  The air conditioner will start at preset hour irrespective if one needs the air conditioning.  This leads to unnecessary wastage of energy.  For example,  if one were to preset 28C at 11:00 pm,  one would have to re-adjust the setting to the desired temperature when one starts the air conditioner at 11:00 pm.  A refinement would be to allow the temperature curve to be set according to when the air conditioner is turned on.  

2.  To prevent the Temperature Curve to be turned on automatically,  one would have to turn off the temperature curve setting every day and then turn the air conditioner from there;  otherwise, Wukong will not work properly.

  

Appendix II :  FAQ

1.  Can we use WukongI8 in an old air conditioner?

So long as the remote control is of the infra-red type that has temperature,  fans and other controls.  If the air conditioner can use universal remote control,  most likely there will be no problem.

2、Can I use it for Package unit air conditioner?

            Not supported

3、Can WukongI8 control other appliances?

Not supported

4、Can the APPs be shared among family members?

Yes

5、We don’t have WiFi at home

WukongI8 must work with WIFI router

6、What’s the  Wifi Speed?

2.4Ghz。

7、Any distance limitations?

Not for the handphone’s WIFI control as it uses the internet which can even control from overseas;  however,  WukongI8 must be installed as close as possible to the air conditioner.  Rightly speaking,  the infrared sensors of the air conditioner and WukongI8 should  "see" one another;  however,  depending on the color of the walls and ceiling,  the author has tried that one can still have adequate control receptions up to 6 meters at an acute angle of not more than 50 degree.

8、What is different between Weixin and the standard model?

The standard model does not have the Weixin function but the WukongI8  home App is useable for both models。

9、What is the handphone requirements?

Andriod 2.3.7or iOS 7.0 and above

10、Where can I download the WukongI8 Apps？

Use Weixin to scan the QR code on the box or unit or download directly from Google playstore. 

11、Why socket-outlet is 16A？

That is the standard outlet rating for air conditioners in China. Singapore uses 15A.

12、Ease to install？

As described in the blog。

13     We use a Universal remote controller？

Should be compatible with WukongI8. 

14、Can we still use the normal remote control?

Yes.

15、If I lost the password for WukongI8 home？

Reinstall WukongI8 with a new password。

16、What capacity air conditioner？

3 horsepower (HP) or less or not drawing more than 3500W.

17、What if our remote control is not working?

Try Universal remote control.  If it is still not working,  most likely the air conditioner remote control is faulty

180、Does WukongI8 works with other remote controllers?

It will not work with radio remote controllers.  Most likely, this controller will have no LCD screen. 

tinyrul :  https://tinyurl.com/y836bbko

How to Reset a Gigabyte MotherBoard BIOS

18 July 2016

Introduction

Many users are aware that Gigabyte motherboard has two identical BIOS onboard;  one for operation and the other for backup.  May be due to having this redundancy,  the operating BIOS tends to be corrupted easily when there is a:

1. Hardware Failure e.g Faulty RAMs
2. Power shut down during BIOS update process
3. Improper Overclocking settings
4. Virus attack

What Happened After a BIOS Corruption?

PC will not start up properly.  It will either

1. start up with fans spinning and stopping soon  thereafter or continue to spin until the PC turns itself off and restart  or
2. start up but will enter into BIOS straightaway. Savings and Exits will not fix the problem. 
3. The screen may or may not start with a PC logo and then disappears with a blank screen 

There may be also other syndromes.

How to fix

There are 4 methods,  depending on the severity of the BIOS corruption

Method 1:  Power on and power off

1.   Shut off the power supply(by turning off the main switch). Wait for 10 seconds.
2.   Press and hold PC Power On button and then turn on  the power supply.
3.   Release the PC Power On button once the PC  starts. 
4.   Shut off the power supply as quickly as possible thereafter.  
5.   Turn the power supply back on 
6.   Start PC as usual using Power on button

Method 2: Resetting the BIOS

1. Shut off the power supply and wait 10 seconds 
2. Press PC Power on button  and PC Reset button all at the same time for about 10 seconds
3. Release the buttons thereafter and turn on the power supply on to start the PC as normal

Method 3: Resetting the CMOS

The mechanical method of method 2 except to apply the jumper or remove the CMOS battery to clear the CMOS settings This method may require the removal of the board as the jumper might be difficult to locate; the alternative is to remove the cmos battery and wait for 10-15 seconds for cmos setting to be cleared

Method 4: Force Backup BIOS to be restored

When the above 3 methods failed, this last trick should work if the backup BIOS is in order.  However,  this
method should be used only as last resort by experienced technician and at one's own risk

1. Remove the motherboard as this method cannot easily  be done with motherboard still in the case 
2. Hook up the power supply unit, the speaker cable (important to listen to the beep sound) and the monitor cable; remove all except the 1st row of RAMs 
3. Find a tweezer with very sharp pointers; sharpen it if necessary to make it as sharp as possible so as to short the pins of the BIOS chip as accurately as possible without damaging the motherboard
4. Carefully examine and locate the Main BIOS and the Backup BIOS. They are usually next to each other;
5. Find out where is pin#1 and pin#6 of the main BIOS (pin #1 should be marked with a red or white dot)
6. Practice several times to ensure that the tweezer will short only pin#1 and pin#6 and not other pins. Bend  the tweezer pointer  if necessary to span across pin#1 and pin#6.
7. Turn on the Power supply without pressing any button
8. Carefully apply the tweezer to short pin#1 and pin#6 firmly.
9. Press the power on button (get someone to help if necessary)
10. Remove the tweezer once there is a beep or multiple beep sound from the speaker.  The multiple beep sound usually caused by faulty RAMS.

Hopefully,  one should  be greeted with the Gigabyte splash screen, or POST page after this.  Follow the instructions to load the backup BIOS. 

If all the above methods fail,  consider to send the board for RMA.

Important Update 1:- 3 Aug 2016

If one is using the On-Board Graphic system

1. Please note that it may be necessary to use a separate graphic card that has already got drivers installed earlier in the PC.  This is because when the BIOS is corrupted and immediately after  a reset,   a start up screen will always appear with option for users to select the way to optimise the BIOS.    This startup screen will not be shown by on-board graphic system as the BIOS has not yet been set up.    .     

Update:  29 Sept 2018 

If the recovery of Bios were to fail,  it may be possible that the bios chip has expired.   The older Bios chip has a life of around 10 years after which the chip's memory can no longer be re-programmed.  The  newer ones has longer life of around 18 to 20 years.   The only way is to replace the chip and re-programme it by downloading the Bios from the manufacturer's website.

 

Changing Drive Numbers in XP, Windows 7,8,10

10 Jan 2016

What happen when one gets to the Windows'  Computer Management and wanted to change the drive letter  and one cannot find the available drive letter.   

Why?

The drive letter has been used by other devices.   When we plug in a thumb drive for example,  Windows will assign a drive letter and this letter is saved in the Windows' Registry.

How To Change?

There are always software available to overcome this problem.  The easiest way I found is to amend the drive letter inside the Windows' Registry.

Where in Windows' Registry?

1.   Startup by typing "regedit" in the search box of the start button and run "regedit" as an adminstrator

Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/MountedDevices.  A screen as follows will show up

 2.  Right click the disk letter you found and choose to rename the device to other drive letter.

The PC will only let release the drive letter after one has restarted the PC.

 

 

Fixing The National Step Challenge Tracker

20 December 2015

The Singapore Health Promotion Board gives out Actxa Stride step tracker at a nominal cost of SGD$5/= * to all Singaporeans who registered for the National Step Challenge.  At times,  the tracker will not work properly after cleaning it using water.   What shall we do ?  Throwing it away is one option,  how about fixing it?  
* it was free before 1 Dec.  The National Step Challenge is from 7 Novemer 2015 – 8 May 2016 

Why the Tracker Stop working?

The tracker is water resistant but not water proof.   Water might not get into the tracker through the weakest part,  that is the USB charging outlet.    

If one inspects the strap or the belt closely,  one can find that there is a stopper to prevent water penetration into the USB.  

But this stopper is not water proof.   Water can easily find its way into the circuit boards when the stopper or the strap is removed for cleaning.  Furthermore,  the tracker plastic cover is removable and therefore,  not water tight.

What to do Next?

Dry out tracker

Method 1

What’s required?

1. Hair dryer

2. A small package of rice

Dry out  the tracker.  Using hair dryer with “warm to touch” setting for at least 10 minutes.  This method might not  work if the water has penetrated deeper into the tracker.  In that case, leave the tracker covered with rice inside the package for about 1 week and let the rice extracts the  moisture out of the tracker.

Method 2

This method for technical savvy readers

What’s Required ?

1. WD40 and a tooth brush
2. Paper towel for cleaning
3.  Hair dryer

1. Open the tracker's plastic cover by working from the opposite end of the USB outlet,  using just finger nails or something such as a coin to pry open the cover.  One should expose the circuit board with a Lithium Battery attached to it by a pair of wires.  Observe the position and placement of the battery.   
2. Carefully remove the circuit board, making sure not to destroy the “soft sponge wiring  contact” that is attached to the touch button of the casing.

3. Try touching the shinning golden plate next to the display.  If the set is responding to the touch,  then the tracker is working;  otherwise,  the trouble is in the soft sponge wiring contact. Dry the sponge out carefully and thoroughly with the hair dryer for at least about 5 minutes and reassemble the tracker back to its original state*.

4. If the tracker just  does not work,  dry out any moisture that can be trapped inside components using hair dryer with “warm to touch” setting for at least about 10 minutes.
5. Spray some WD40 on to the tooth brush (but not directly to the circuit board as WD40 will spoil the display unit).  Apply the tooth brush all over the circuit board,  avoiding as much as possible,  not to touch the display unit
6. After that ,  dry the WD40  with the hair dryer.

The display should turn on and off after touching the shinning golden plate next to the display.   If there is no display after the cleaning,  try charging tracker as the battery* might be flat.   If all the above failed,  one has a faulty tracker.

      * the battery should be discharged completely before reassembled back to its original state

7. Assemble the unit in reverse order,  making sure the battery is the original position

Why the Tracker’s Touch Button does not respond ?

When the tracker is opened or dropped on the floor,  the button might not work properly or insensitive to touch.  But when one lifts up the tracker and read or touches the “shinning golden plate” of the circuit board,  the tracker works.  

Why?

The tracker button is capacitance type that sense the present of finger.  If for some reason,   the capacitance should change due to possible micro movement of the printed circuit board,  it might render the unit not possible to detect the present of the  finger.

How to Fix?

Resetting the tracker and let the tracker re-calibrate the capacitance on startup

How to Reset the Tracker when there is no other button?

If the tracker is working,  one can either reset the tracker by

a)     Try uninstall and reinstall the Health 365 software.  it should  reset and recalibrate the tracker;

b)   If that does not work,  try leaving the tracker alone for about a week and let the battery discharge completely;  after that,  recharge and start the tracker;
.

c)      If one is technical savvy,  open up the tracker and drain the battery out by using a 100 ohms     resistor connecting across the battery terminal.  The discharge time can be around 1 hour.  Do not short directly the terminals of the battery. Recharge the battery* and the touch button should work again.

* recharge only after assembling back with its plastic cover intact.

How do I know the Tracker has been Reset?

On the first charge,  the tracker should display “Hello” and followed by the battery charging sign.

Are There any other Simple Ways to Reset?

There might be other ways to reset the tracker such as using the reset pin of the microprocessor but the author could not identify any technical information about the microprocessor to try out the pins.

Duplicating Condominium Access Cards

17 December 2015

I lost my access card to my apartment the other day.  The management of the Condominium  wanted SGD$60/= for the replacement of the card and another $100/= as a deposit.  The market rate to duplicate a card ranges from $15/= to $33/=.  This article will give some basics about access card and where and how I duplicated my card.

The Basics

Most access cards used in Condominiums are for access through the main or side gate.  These cards are called “RFID” cards which stand for Radio Frequency (RF) ID Cards.   Embedded inside each card is a coil of thin wires and a microchip.  Most of these cards are passive type,  meaning there is no battery inside the card. 

 

When the card gets near a card reader,  the coil  will receive an RF signal from the card reader. This signal will not only power up the card but also activate the microchip inside the card to send a code to the card reader to open the gate for example.

Some of the cards are encrypted for additional security reason,  making them difficult to clone.  Fortunately or unfortunately,  most cards are simple cards that just stored an ordinary code for the card reader.

The simple ones will use a frequency of 125Khz as a transmitting carrier.  Some complicated ones that allowed codes to be encrypted are running at 13.56 Mhz which will allow more codes to be written to the cards.     

How to Duplicate EM Cards

1.  Non Encrypted EM Cards

These cards are  called “EM” cards as it was first developed by EM Microelectronic of Switzerland.  They are labelled EM4100 or EM4102 and they work only on 125Khz frequency. EM cards also operate at some other frequencies. 

2  What you will need to duplicate EM Cards?

      1. EM Card Reader Cum Writer (copier)

      2. EM card or EM tag

  

      One can purchase the EM card reader cum writer (copier) from vendors in AliExpress for about USD $15/=.  This EM copier also supports EM4205,4305 writable cards or tags as well as T5557,  T5567, T5577,  CET5200 and CET5577 cards as described in the  brochure.  The complete set comes with 6 credit card size EM cards and also 6 RFID tags as shown below.

 

The reading  and writing of the card is very simple as shown in the following video.

How To Identify Your Card?

Many cards do not give any clue about what type and model;  fortunately,  there is a simple way to find out because most card readers will have a brand name and sometimes,  if one is lucky,  also the  model number.  Surf the net to get the required information.

What if my RFID is not the same type as yours?

 Like any lock or key,  all access cards can be hacked and duplicated.  One only needs to surf the net and find a solution.  If one's card is  simply having a single purpose such as opening the door or main gate,  it might not be encrypted and one is likely to find similar tools to read and write the card.  A good tool to use is a 9 frequencies copier as shown here.

This tool will try to read almost any card and give a voice in English that will report something about the  card,  such as operating frequency or if it can read and write your card.

What if all the above does not work?

 One may try to purchase another more expensive and powerful copier  such as this shown here. 

 

According to the description,  the copier will display the read and write operations.  For access card that is encrypted,  this copier can also be hooked up to a PC in which a software provided will be able to analyse the card and help to identify and crack the code.  However,  the author has not tried this tool yet.

Are there other tools?

There are many other tools available in the market that can read and write the card but most of these other ones will require one to know how to use the software and do some programming in order to duplicate or break the code.

Can I use EM copier for copying HID cards?

 Not all copier can copy both EM and HID cards although they are of the same frequency.   HID cards are just cards that is manufactured by another company.  HID card has a more advance coding system,  enabling more secured codes to be written to the card.  It is always good to check with the vendor if one suspected that their access card has more advance features.  Copiers that can copy both EM and HID cards demand a slightly higher price.

Is EM4100 and EM4102  the same?

EM4100 and EM4102 are the same type of card except for EM4102,   being newer model,  has a unique chipset configuration that will  enable the card to be made thinner than EM4100.  Please note that EM4100 is not programmable.  One could try EM4305 or other series of compatible  RFID cards or tags.

What about other EM cards and other 125 Khz Cards?

EM cards are not necessary made for the same purpose and therefore,  they may differ from each other.   EM4100 are 64 bits read only card that once written,  cannot be rewritten.   The other card like EM 4205 and 4305 are 32 bits, whereas T5557 are 330 bits types that may not be compatible with EM4100.  On the other hand,  EM4200,  being replacement of EM4100/EM4102 EM4005/4105 claimed to be compatible with the latter.

Is it legal to copy access cards?

Under the  existing legal framework,  duplicating access cards is treated no difference to  duplicating normal keys.  There are many shops and outlets including those  reputable ones like  Mister Minit and  Soxxi Master are offering such duplicating services.