Also about the water heater — I finally integrated it properly into the niche.

The previous one, as I mentioned, was vendor-locked by design, and replacing it with something else turned out to be quite difficult.

Different dimensions and distance between pipes

Pipe layout is usually different — the previous water heater had the hot water outlet on the right

At first, I tried a straightforward approach and mounted it upside down using flexible hoses, but that option turned out to be extremely unaesthetic and unreliable.

So I took measurements, sketched a custom bracket-adapter in Fusion 360 to fit the new heater onto the old mounts, taking into account that rigid pipes would run behind the casing.

And in the end, despite some effort, everything was installed in place and works better than before.

Apart from electronics and 3D printing, I sometimes have to repair completely ordinary household items.

For example, once I had to restore the base of some coat hangers. Though I must admit, 3D printing still played a role there too.

Read the full story about how I brought old coat hangers back to life in this post.

If you've ever wondered how a "boxing trainer" device works, I happened to get a chance to show you.

Some time ago, I was given one of these as a fun gift, but one of the strike zones didn’t work very well.

Inside, the assembly is extremely poor quality, using hot glue and sloppy wire connections.

But the key part is how the striking zones themselves are built. Inside, it’s just as basic—a circuit board with three contact pads and the same number of rubber “buttons” that close the circuit. A hit is registered only when two buttons are pressed at the same time.

The issue with registering hits was caused by poor contact between the buttons and the board, but I managed to fix it simply by working the buttons in a bit. I’m not sure how long that fix will last.

Let's get back to the dog house —I've started implementing the next step of the plan: reinforcing the surface.

I originally intended to do this in the style of papier-mâché and even bought a roll of thin kraft paper for the purpose.

Papier-mâché involves soaking the paper in water and then in a diluted PVA glue solution. This approach was a complete failure—the kraft paper started falling apart just in the water, and when applied to the frame, the whole structure became overly wet and softened.

So, I scrapped that idea and returned to a simpler one: applying glue directly to strips of paper and sticking them onto the frame. The result wasn't perfect either—it takes a massive amount of time, but at least it's producing results.

Next, I’ll add a few more layers until the surface is rigid enough for putty—after that come sanding and composite work.

If I were starting over, I’d seriously consider printing the entire frame with a 3D printer, even if it meant two weeks and 10 kg of plastic.

I decided to install a roller blind so that the light wouldn't disturb my sleep in the mornings.

After looking for ready-made solutions, I only found separate motor units and separate blinds.

I didn't order a complete roller blind—instead, I only ordered blackout fabric in the required dimensions. That's where I shot myself in the foot.

There turned out to be two main problems:

1. The fabric arrives folded many times over, and even after ironing, it’s not perfectly smooth.

2. The fabric doesn’t have a bottom weight, which is almost essential for proper tensioning.

So I bought a 6×6 mm profile in a hardware store for weighting. Then I modeled inserts in Fusion 360 that clamp the fabric and then get tightly fitted into the profile. I had to dust off the resin printer—some parts failed to print, but I had enough successful ones with some to spare.

I was away for a short while due to a vacation trip to another country — Kyrgyzstan.

I try to travel to new places several times a year.

Here are some interesting things I noticed from an engineer’s perspective:

1. We stayed on the 16th floor, and there was a gas stove (in my country, gas is prohibited above the 10th floor), even though the region is seismically active.

2. Throughout the city, there is an "aryk" system used for irrigation (watering parks and green spaces) and cooling. Allegedly, the water flowing through these small channels helps lower the air temperature. I won’t argue, but the efficiency doesn’t seem particularly high.

3. I rented a car for a few days — and there, the main units of measurement were miles, so it took me some time to get used to the imperial system and set the cruise control to 56 mph instead of 90 km/h.

Here are a few photos for illustration, and I’ll get back to my regular schedule of technical posts during the week.