David Malawey

Why didn’t anyone tell me you need to clean your water heater?! Maybe that’s normal for Texans, where the water is nasty. I grew up in St. louis with the country’s 💦cleanest water💦 and the strongest crime. Honestly in the 90’s we drank the tap water daily and in 2010’s my friend told me his uncle predicted soon people will sell plastic bottles of water, like it’s coke. 🥤

I was skeptical, but curious. 🧐 That sounded like the dumbest idea - buying water that’s otherwise free at the tap, and buying a bottle when you can keep one forever. A totally foreign concept to me. After moving to texas I realized taps are not to be trusted for drinking.

[The Photos]
First, the refurb of the old steel tank. I learned Ospho works nicely, and spreads far, as shown.

Then, I had to flush the old tank and expel lots of big chunks of mineral junk. There was tons of it.

Then it reminded me to flush my home’s water heater. So I photographed the water as I flushed. Maybe Gemini can estimate something about the water condition from the photos. All my faucets develop scale continually and perhaps I can add a system to improve that.

If you fail to clean your water tank for 3.5 years: the tank will make spooky clunking noises while the chips of sediment swim around. But no chips were detected in the flush out. Next, I’ll need to replace my sacrificial anode.

Soon the maintenance will be caught up and I can get back to building the lab! I’d love to know if this info was useful to readers. I’m sharing because I’d love if someone shared this info with me 🙂-David

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2 weeks ago | [YT] | 190

David Malawey

These two white chemicals are now part of OpenLab! I bought Titanium dioxide for epoxy coloring or tinting paints with white color. Then I had to buy the Hydrated Lime as I’ve learned it mixes with water, can be brushed onto your roof or bricks, and reflect light to reduce the summer cooling load on the HVAC system.

I think it’s interesting the difference is almost imperceptible, and with the first photo you can take a guess at which is which. I’d say when spread out on wood, the TiO2 is just a tiny bit more concentrated “whiteness.” Recently I tested the Lime coating on a brick and a steel tank with those results shown also.

This year we have transitioned from La niña weather patterns to El Niño. Texas had a fairly mild summer last year and but this year we will probably see some extreme heat. So now is a good time to consider a white coating on your roof or home. At least for me I am considering it. It’s too cheap not to try! Only $24 for the huge bag of lime.

From some quick research, the simple coating of lime on the home will wash away if it rains the next day, but if given a week, it will fully cure from a reaction involving airborn CO2. Just wanted to share my initial results because the temperature drop on my samples are really impressive!

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 156

David Malawey

I never liked the red boxes, so this one will be silver and black. Since I had to disassemble it, I also improved the structure & sealing of gaps. This particular box houses many sensors and sensitive electronics so it gets special treatment.

I filled dozens of gaps, eliminating airflow from the interior to exterior. I’m now anticipating the dessicant in this box to last 2x longer, and the humidity can be controlled more tightly. In 2018 I lost a $120 Bosch distance sensor that was stored indoors, never abused, and simply corroded its circuits away. Now, all the special digital equipment lives in here and by controlling the environment carefully in the box we have an insurance against losing investments like the Bosch sensor. (by the way shame on them for selling such a non robust device at such a high price).

I handled several small details that hopefully adds a bit of strength and reduces squeaks and rattles. All the sealing and cork treatment was only 10% of the effort compared with the painting. And I’ve used the box for 6-8 years so it has earned the upgrade. If the upgrades prove to make an impact, it will all get documented & shared in details in OpenLabProject. There are 50 tools & supplies in the lab which i’ve customized like this (but less intensive) and they are all in a queue to be tested by time and shared per utility. The tools glide better, things stay cleaner, workflows are smoother, and the projects are more enjoyable.

If you have questions or you made your own tool storage upgrades like this, share in the comments!

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 245

David Malawey

📦Anyone Organizing? 📦 For daily life it’s hard to justify this fine attention to bins. But for running a business, I need decisions to last for 10 years (hopefully longer) and SCALE.

So, I put painstaking detail into these choices of containers for my business, then duplicated the choices for my home. The most important feature of these containers: they’ve been in production for ⏳10+ years ⏳without changes. Same model number, same shape. No distruptions when I need to expand.

Plano. AkroMils. Sterilite. The manufacturers can be counted on 👷‍♂️to maintain their models and styles for years to come. So that means you’ll save hundreds of dollars 💰or hours in the long run. Consider adopting some of these choices instead of the random types of new containers that appear at your local retailer. 🛒

You should know that when you shop kitchen & closet storage (and TOOLS, goodness) at walmart and other major stores, they intentionally make changes so consumers will need to start over and buy more. My sharing here is a way of fighting back against the dishonest antics. Just like a business, we want economical and consistent high quality options at home, am I right?

Lots more details shared at qr.net/openlabproject

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1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 185

David Malawey

OpenLab continues to grow with documentation now covering the wash station. In modern times it’s very affordable to equip a space with good plumbing and this utility sink is absolutely crucial to this lab’s function! Even if you are building a lab in your garage, it pays off to dedicate some space and about $200 to set up a utility sink.

If you’re new here, I am on a journey to assemble the world’s first fully documented lab for multidisciplinary engineering. This is a lab where we can build anything we imagine, and there’s no cutting of corners like pretending that water isn’t important.

For the filter installation, I actually had a lot of fun learning about water purification and I’m thrilled we have affordable systems under $60 that can make extremely clean water. I also studied the health factors with water filtration. After I fill a 5-gallon bottle of RO water, I add 5mL of my own solution made of natural sea salt with a diverse but natural profile of minerals. The drinking water reports around 50PPM on a meter, after this treatment.

As a lab coordinator at Texas A&M, I really want to equip our labs with a station like this as we presently have no sinks in most labs and no hot or filtered water in the building. So this documentation in Openlab will be ready to go when we one day get approval to upgrade our labs.

see qr.net/openlabproject for details.

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1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 340

David Malawey

Today I posted washCup.sldprt which is a printable utensil holder - the idea is to store the forks in the same container where I wash the forks. This way there's no loading utensils one by one. The whole container (or set of containers) come out of the dishwasher and go into use.

Generating the CAD model with an elegant feature tree was actually a challenge. When our parts have many holes or repeating features we want a repeated series and simple code behind the geometry, just like a software developer should make clean simple scripts with nested loops. Last year I bounced the idea off another engineer and we couldn't quite reach this result - I'm joyful to say this perforating pattern is worth copying if you're doing CAD models. The last photo shows the "cutting tool" which is the places where cutting takes place, no matter what size the model is. This method lets your perforations go through the walls regardless of the cup size and shape, and guarantees the holes all remain upright.

The teardrop shape is a popular 3D printing technique for holes - it gives a hole without any overhang and is great for FDM printing without supports. So, the perforations are made with teardrops that are extruded out radially. Feel free to download and use this design on your own. I've titled it "washCup" on my grabCAD profile. One photo also shows a holder for the holders. Literally just bond two 2x4s together and lay a strip to prevent slipping. Then, we can set down the green bins and they cannot tip over.

Your other 3D printing and Kitchen innovations are welcome in the comments! Have you tested out any printables that you loved and kept using?

[LINK] grabcad.com/library/washcup-1

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1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 175

David Malawey

🧰 This is tool box 6. 🧰 Five boxes are posted on OpenLab “tour” section and today I’ll publish this one.

With these photos published online, viewers can see a video and ask “what type of tool did he use to deburr that cut?” or “what was that handy thread measuring thing?” and find the answers all in these photos. I want all my processes to be repeatable, so the open source hardware has no gaps.

In the near future, we could ask Gemini “do I have all the tools I need to replace my barbecue smoker heating element?” and the AI can verify if I need to order something. I bet there are loads of opportunities we haven’t thought of. By the way, you’re a young person weighing a purchase: if the tool is not in openLab you probably don’t need it. That is, to reproduce all the types of projects I perform.

Lastly, feedback: if you know tips I’ve not implemented, or you see improvement opportunities, I’d love to learn from you. This lab is for continuous improvement (kaizen) and gathering best practices from the audience, which I am so grateful for! 😊 Thanks everyone 🫡

EDIT: It’s LIVE now on qr.net/openlabproject 🧑‍💻

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1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 115

David Malawey

Belated Post of my learning in Mexico, Feb 2026: if you care about these things, subscribe to my channel to keep improving.

Mexico DIY: the bad news is they’re far ahead of us in technical skills. I grew up in the Midwestern USA and 1 of every 3 homes on the block had a technician. We built things and repaired things and that was an “American” trait in my mind. Nowadays, I can’t find talent to hire for robotics building and my local home depot & lowes has 0 out of 50 workers who can give advice on tools and supplies. Along with outsourcing manufacturing, our leaders ripped all the hands/on talent out of the USA for 2 generations. It breaks my heart because it makes my work more lonely and understimulated financially. The good news: mexico has lots of inches and LBS and ounces so Im finding compatible materials for global open source development. Photo 1 shows my trip to cancun’s home depot.

Mexico Robotics: This is the 3rd robot i found in international airports after korea and … amsterdam? This robot mops the floor and offers a slap jn the face if youre an american robotics developer who tried to start businesses in the USA. It shows a sensible and easy task for a robit that we simply dont support in the USA because founders in the hardware space cant compete with software founders in the work of tricking investors and making false promises. While the USA spirals into the stupidity of an all-software economy, mexico is steadily making better lives with real hardware like this.

Mexico airlines: just kidding I flew delta. I opened my life preserver capsule to find my preserver is 5 years expired. On two different flights. Keep in mind Delta is the top-tier airline in the USA.

Ok now i’m depressed so your encouragement is welcome. Have a good day.

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1 month ago | [YT] | 82

David Malawey

Well I can’t make it worse! Here’s an ill-advised repair I’m going to test out. In 2027 you can see the results. ChatGPT says don’t do this - what would you do with a 60-minute budget?

In 2025 my toyota repair certificate expired for the Pear White paint with a rare factory shortcoming and a poor paint life with likelihood of peeling.

Stacked with intermittent hail damage, my 4runner’s peeling paint spots need to be addressed lest it degrades into rust spots. With spot tests of sanding, I found this flaking paint to be hard as rocks, and I don’t have time for the perfect repair: sanding down to metal and starting over. So it’s a light sanding, removal of dust, and a coat of hard Rustoleum enamel to protect the surface and smooth it out.

With these fine cracks, the panel holds water and steams it in the sun for rapid degradation. 6 months back, i tested a spot with enamel, and it holds up. Today, i coated a large section with a lot more enamel. If it looks alright in March, I’ll finish this economy-repair and in 2027 report how it looks over time.

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1 month ago | [YT] | 104

David Malawey

Today I learned 🔬HOW TO TEST 🔬the ultrasonic cleaner! In 2025 I decided Openlab may need an ultrasonic cleaner - it’s many uses for parts washing and conditioning sold me over the years. But online, the methods and claims are fuzzy, lacking concrete engineering data and instruction.

In 2025 I began to examine this tool and how to use it. In what ways does ultrasonic actuation deliver best results? what can we do with ultrasonic actuation that we can’t do with other tools? With mixed results, I couldn’t even be sure if it was doing anything at all. Sometimes it helps clean parts. Often times it seems to do nothing at all.

Now we have a test that makes it worthwhile to proceed with experimentation! Aluminum foil is a specimen that shows CLEAR measurable results. The foil has severe pitting and deformation after just 60 seconds and 50 watts from the machine. Thanks to Gemini for (collecting) the idea and a youtuber in Germany with a sample video, I’m sure we can find good uses for this. 🤓

Then, we describe how to use Ultrasonic cleaning with our other maker tools to systematically benefit from the technology .🦸‍♂️. See in the image how the aluminum foil responds to the semiwave treatment for just 60 seconds.

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1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 111