my thoughts on the Amazon fire tablet hd8

My kids pooled their money to get me the Amazon Fire Tablet hd8 for Christmas.  I've been confined to bed as I suffer from cancer so they thought that it would be a great distraction for me from boredom and pain.

It's advertised on Amazon.com for about $80 available with either 16 or 32 gigs of memory. Mine is only 12.46 gigs total, not 16, with 10 gigs of free memory available. For more memory, a different memory card would have to be purchased. The box came with the tablet, USB2 charger and power adapter. There was also a folded up card showing a diagram of the external function buttons and inputs. There was no manual. For one, you have to purchase it for about $5.00 from their book store.

There are videos for the tablet found in the help section of the tablet if you can find them.
There are 2 camera lenses, one in the front and one in the back which can be easily switched. The pics are HD but unspecified pixels. Video at only 720p is available. They can all get stored on Amazon Prime if you choose that option.

The tablet comes with a battery that holds a charge up to 12 hrs. I had to charge mine for several hours before I could turn it on. Once turned on a set up page appeared and went through the uncomplicated process. You set up your e-mail address, social sites and an account for amazon.com store and amazon prime account. You can also set up  Alexa, a voice interaction for purchasing and making contact with those added to her list.

The rest became a bit more challenging and frustrating, especially since things just didn't seem to want to work, perhaps because I hadn't a clue as to what I was doing. Without a manual, I had no clue to where anything was as the screen was filled with nothing but ads followed by apps. To do anything you need an app for it. There is a browser: Silk by amazon and an antivirus needs to be installed from the app store along with others to keep your tablet clean and running smoothly.

Basically, the tablet was designed specifically for Amazon.com store for easy and quick access and a way for amazon to hit you with ads. Each and every time you turn the tablet on, you get an ad, a full locked page ad. Social sites and e-mail have limited viewing. What you do, what you see and where you go are controlled all for one purpose-sales. With free children's games, videos etc. the tablet has become a substitute baby sitter which keeps even the youngest users hooked.

As for me, I prefer to be free to explore the internet and can do the same as on the tablet except much more, using either my desk top or lap top, which have a larger screen and no built in adware.

Are Pay as You Go, Cell Phone Plans, Worth the Money?

I first began using a TracFone 15 years ago for talk only when I was called out of town for several months and needed a cell phone for communication. I went with TracFone brcause it was convenient, no contract and the price seemed to be what I could afford at the time. Back then there weren't too many options for pay as you go cell phone companies so it wasn't as if I had the same choices as today. There were no activation fees and setting up minutes on my phone was easy enough as long as I had a credit card. I could add minutes through the phone and were detected within minutes and was ready to go.

I learned quickly that my minutes were taken up with not only outgoing calls but with incoming, in and outgoing text messages. The 240 minutes that I initially had, ended up being cut in half due to me having to pay for incoming and text messaging that was already paid for by someone else. So it's like double paying. By the time the month was over, the cost of my minutes ended up well over $100.00. As for quality of service, half of the time I had none and had to drive several miles until there were a few bars on my phone showing the service availability.

I should have went with an unlimited service plan which would have cost me around $100.00 a month at the time anyway, especially since I had to use the phone a lot.

Today there are a lot more pay as you go cell companies and options where having to sign a contract is not needed. You still have plenty of alluring choices of inexpensive service plans along with inexpensive smart and flip phones. Be careful with the plan that you choose because they still charge you for all in and out calls including texts unless you go with unlimited. If you just plan on having the phone in the car only for emergencies, the plan doesn't matter, but I recommend that you have automatic refill. One of these days when you're going to need it, you might find out that you forgot to add minutes to your phone and the sim card is expired rendering your phone useless. It happened to my wife.

Depending on your needs, the memory and speed on a phone is like on a computer these days. There is so much filler crap built in to the phones that take up memory and speed so you need to have enough of it if you are planning on taking a lot of pics and going on the internet.

Another important factor to consider is whether a phone is compatible with the service feed in your area. If the phone is a G3 and the only service in your area is G4, it ain't going to work. I recently had to replace my wife's TracFone because of that. Some service companies put out all available services from G1 up, these guys don't. She couldn't even use the phone in our own house. I went with a different company, got a flip phone for about $30.00 and unlimited talk service for $20.00 a month. I am not being charged for any calls in or out and the phone works well anywhere she goes in the area.

For us, a pay as you go plan has worked well. We only use the phone for talk and have auto refill, not having to worry about adding minutes the following months is a plus. I'm not locked in with a contract and can change plans and companies anytime I want. The unlimited plan is definitely a way to go if you plan on using the phone.

Canon MG3022

Canon MG3022 wireless printer

I purchased the printer only because I needed a printer right away and was on a budget. I had just purchased a new lap top and had to print some stuff and get it in the mail ASAP. I knew that you get what you pay for and here it really is the case.

My printer is black and ivory a lot bigger than my previous Canon iP 90 which crapped out on me 2 years ago. This one is not portable and needs wi-fi to work. It could be wired but it doesn’t come with a printer cable. Any printer cable will do and I happen to have a couple lying around so that won’t be an issue should I want to use it elsewhere.

The set up for the wi-fi can drive you crazy if you don’t watch their video for every step on YouTube. Most of the time, even if you do what they show you, won’t work. If you use the installation disk that came in the box for the software and drivers, chances are your computer will freeze up like mine did. I ended up downloading the latest install file from their website. If using the disk happens to work for you, you will still need to download the updates so you’re just better off downloading the new install file. All in all I spent 3 hours setting this printer up.

The ink that comes with the printer will not last very long. I printed an alignment and a trial print and used up half of my ink on just 2 sheets. Expect to purchase Pixma 245 xl black and 246 xl color ink immediately. Don’t even bother getting the standard capacity 245 and 246, it’s a waste of money and you will end up buying new ink cartridges very quickly. They are not cheap!

You will need a better software for printing should you want to do anything beyond basics. Their software won’t have it. I couldn’t even print a 2”x2” photo for a passport using their software. The size wasn’t included nor could I add it in. I had to use trial software that came with my new computer to print anything beyond the basic.

The printer has a scanner which is controlled through the software installed on the computer.

I give this printer Canon MG3022 only * (1 star) for price which is under $45 in store and under $40 on the internet. I would not recommend anyone buying this one unless you are a glutton for punishment.

ASUS Laptop X Series X550ZE-WBFX

                ASUS Laptop X Series X550ZE-WBFX AMD FX-Series FX-7500
(2.10 GHz) 8 GB Memory 1 TB HDD AMD Radeon R5 M230 15.6" Windows 10 Home
 64-Bit

ASUS Laptop X Series X550ZE-WBFX

The lap top looks very sleek, attractive and the speed on the Asus is okay and works well for what I need the lap top for. It also has plenty of memory all around. Overall, though, I am somewhat disappointed. I should have remembered the saying “you get what you pay for” but unfortunately I was on a budget. 

The lap top comes with the bare minimum software and at first start up you have a choice of installing some useless trial applications along with a lite version of anti-virus software. Not knowing that most of them were useless trial apps to me and what actually came with the lap top, I installed a few. It was like malware with constant nag windows to buy. The Asus online storage is okay but don’t need it. It too has constant nag windows to upgrade. I uninstalled everything but the Windows program, Office and a free PDF file reader which I had installed at my first startup which I like.  I installed my own anti-virus which I’ve used for decades.

The batteries are sub standard and although it shows that they are good for 3hrs, I only get about an hour of use out of them. They will not charge to 100% , only to 99%. After about 5 minutes of use the available power has dropped down to 65%. I had the laptop fully charged, after plugging it in and powering it up, I noticed that the batteries were in the process of being charged. I had lost approximately 20% of battery power as it sat sat unplugged and power turned off. I never had that situation with my other laptop.

The key pad works well but the mouse pad is garbage and doesn’t work well unless I’m a bit rough with it. I’m just going to have to get myself a mouse. The DVD/R is cheap but for now it works.

Windows 10 is a little getting used to especially when upgrading from Windows Xp. I hate the menu setup along with their browser. Maybe I'm used to xp or just getting old and like things a bit easier to navigate through but dislike Windows 10. Others say they like it.

Had I known that this lap top was not what I expected, I would have purchased one much better than this after several more months of saving up for one.

I give this ASUS Laptop X Series X550ZE-WBFX only ** (2 stars) because of good speed and memory.

Ace, Hinged Knee Brace

Ace, Hinged Knee Brace

I’ve been suffering from arthritis and often times my right knee ends up getting the blunt of it and becomes very painful to walk and could last for weeks. This brace is intended for knee injuries, but I thought that I would try it anyway hoping it would help. The brace is much bulkier than it looks like on the box. It’s made from Butyl neoprene, nylon, polyester, polypropylene and Eva foam. It can be used on either leg. It was easy enough but a little time consuming putting it on. It has several hook and loop straps along with Velcro.

There are very rigid edges which were digging into my leg. The Velcro was also doing the same thing making the brace uncomfortable to wear. The box says nothing about needing some sort of a knee sleeve to go under for protection. I picked up one from a sporting goods store and put it under the brace, no more pinching the skin. I wore it for two days comfortably, even to bed and removed it after the pain had disappeared. I don’t know whether the metal hinges make any difference on the brace or if it’s just hype. I would surmise that their hingeless brace would work just as well. Make sure that you get some sort of a sleeve to go under to protect your skin from the edges and Velcro otherwise you will be in more discomfort. Yes, it’s another product made in China.

I give this **** (4 stars) out of 5 because I had to go out and buy a sleeve for it before I could wear it.

Sound Spa Rejuvenate by Homedics

Sound Spa Rejuvenate by Homedics

The sound spa Rejuvenate is a sound machine made in China for the purpose of helping those with difficulties in falling asleep. You definitely get what you pay for here! It has 6 nature sounds, one of which is white noise. The others being thunder, summer night, brook, ocean and rain. To me the worst sound is the summer night that has an annoying ventilation fan along with the sound of a cricket in it. The added fan sound is nothing in the summer nights in nature I’m accustomed to. For that matter it isn’t even a nature sound. All sounds are mono/lo-fi with the lack of ability to combine one with another. I don’t know about you but I don’t hear nature in lo-fi. There is no way of changing the event time, slower or faster loop repeat. The cost is just under twenty bucks.

My purpose in getting the Sound Spa was not for sleep deprivation but for background ambiance for an area I created to simulate a cottage by the lake feel, using my art. It’s a place I spend a lot of time relaxing and entertaining. I purchased my first one not knowing the quality of sounds and the lack of information on the box. I was also hoping to find some birds chirping somewhere on it… nope. It was white but compact and portable. It needed 4 double AA batteries, not included. It comes with a power adapter but I have no outlets near by.

When I turned it on, it played the thunder. I wasn’t very impressed by it and then played the other sounds in sequence. They were just as bad, poor quality sound. There are 6 buttons below the speaker to change the sounds and volume controls on the right. Volume levels are digitally set with no adjustment for infinite levels. The on/off switch and the 15, 30 and 60 minute timer is to the left of the speaker.

I was hoping to see an output for a second or external speaker for a wider effect but it had none. I placed the unit in an inconspicuous place to see what kind of effect I would have with just mono. I wasn’t too impressed. I went out to my local Walmart and bought a second unit. I set it up and placed it on the opposite wall away from the first one and turned both units on; first the one on my right and then the left. I wanted to hear the first sound in my right ear rather than my left giving it a wider prospective. Because there is a slight delay in sound from one unit to the other, I now have stereo effect. I can also play 2 different sounds simultaneously i.e. thunder and rain. I also get much more realistic sounds of nature now using two units rather than one with a crappy lo-fi.

I did try it to help me fall a sleep as I do have a problem in that area as well. I've been listening to the fan of a window air conditioner which has helped, however with winter coming, I'm going to need something else. I find that the sounds are too harsh for me with no decent adjustment for the volume. Since it's digital, the volume settings are either too loud or too quiet...nothing in between. The harsh sounds are annoying and instead of helping me fall a sleep, they hinder it. If there was a tone control on the unit, it would help soften the sound. I can also hear the loop in each of the sounds as I concentrate on them.

If I had to rate this item from 1-10 stars, I would give it ** (2 stars) due to the lack in quality of sound and options. If you are looking to purchase this inexpensive sound machine with harsh sounds, want a little more than just poor quality mono, get two and run them at the same time. They’re inexpensive enough not to. They don’t need to be in sync to work well, just remember to separate them so that they hit each different ear, one for the right and one for the left. I would have them far enough away from your ears so that the harshness might be absorbed somewhere in the room softening the sound. Try the ocean sound that way!

one awesome log home which can be converted to a bird house

I’ve often been asked why? Why bother building custom, elaborate bird-houses when birds could care less what they look like? Someone interested in acquiring a bird house could easily go to the store and buy one for a few bucks or if they were handy, making one is fairly easy, with the right tools. So, why spend all that labor and time building something that could be purchased for a few bucks?

There are several reasons why I do it: 1; It’s relaxing. 2; it’s challenging, 3; it’s creative, 4; it’s fun, 5; it’s an art-form/craft, 6; a great feel of accomplishment, 7; teaches you patience. 8; keeps me more focused. 9; it’s a great diversion…after painting my 300^th painting; I needed a diversion from it and from my usual daily routine. 10; it involves a great ego trip after others see it and are blown away by it. I have one more which was an unexpected surprise while working on my recent project, 11; I lost two pant sizes. That’s true. Because I was so focused on my project, I had little time to think about eating or being hungry. When I got up each morning, I had my usual coffee and toast and got to my project. Mid morning time, I would take a short break for a bowl of cereal and then back to my project until lunch which came around 1:30P.M. For lunch I would have a half a sandwich with a bottle of light beer before getting back to my project. I would quit for the day around 5:30 and get ready for dinner. For dinner I would have a small serving of whatever the wife made and a glass of wine. Since I wasn’t very active physically, I didn’t need a lot of calories to burn off so I didn’t eat a lot nor was I hungry. What I ate was just healthy stuff.

The last thing on my mind is trying to sell these masterpieces which can take several weeks to complete. I don’t think that anyone would be interested in purchasing one especially for what I would have to charge for one. Yes there is a lot of intense detail in every one of my bird-houses which take hours and hours of my time. I also realize that birds could care less about any of that let alone know the difference in the quality of one. Sure I’d love to sell a few, but realistically it probably just isn’t going to happen. Therefore, I consider my projects as conversation pieces when completed. I’ve given several away to family and friends in the past to use as they see fit. Some have used them for birds while others keep them inside in plain view for their visitors. You would be surprised how well it breaks the ice of conversation without the usual small talk.

I built my first one, a simple one at that in just a few hours all painted and ready to hang, many, many years ago. Others liked what they saw and asked me to make them one. After making about a half a dozen, I got bored with them and began adding a little more detail to each new one. To say the least everyone loved them. After a while I had about twenty orders. Each one was different and all detailed. At first the detail was simply painted in and later they were made out of wood and glued in place after painting and cutting them out. The roofing was made from either painted gutter wrap or real shingles. I had left over shingles and just painted them a different color.

Some of the designs were duplicates of homes or vacation cottages or rental houses which I had been to. Sometimes I even add landscaping to the project as an extra wow factor. I use sand gravel and small stones I’ve picked up along my many travels. If I see something unusual, I’ll just pick some up and place it in a container for future use. Painted saw dust makes a good alternative for grass and attach it to the base using Mod Podge. Colored crab sand also has many uses for landscaping my miniatures. Since Mod Podge dries clear not only will it keep the sand on the base but it gives it a final finish.

I also have made bird feeders to attract more birds into my yard. I love to sit and watch them on daily basis and often see some unusual ones that I would not normally see around. Making bird-houses or feeders can be a lot of fun especially once they are completed and are being used. If you decide to make some, do it for the fun of it or for the art. Treat them the same way as you might a painting. I love to paint. I paint for myself for the enjoyment and not with the idea of selling them, even though I’ve sold several. Once you start doing something for money, it becomes a job and often times the enjoyment is sucked right out.

My recent project started out with the idea of making a bird house but ended up a craft project which can be easily converted into a bird house by simply drilling a few holes in strategic areas where I had built cubicles for nests. The project turned into a log home which was made mostly of cedar. The decking on the roof was from a piece of ¼” scrap birch plywood I had on hand. The roof was made from real asphalt shingles, cut and adhered to the deck using roof cement.  The logs were 3/16” dowels I picked up at a local home improvement store and stained with an exterior, natural cedar stain, then glued individually using an exterior construction adhesive. Everything else was cut from stock cedar, stained to match the logs, and then glued into place using exterior, waterproof wood glue. The grass was made from cedar saw dust glued and then painted and sealed. The stone landscaping was from various collections I gathered during my travels. They are from lakes and rivers. They too were glued in place and sealed so that the sandy parts would not come loose. The entire project from start to finish took four weeks. Now I just have to figure out where and how I’m going to display it.

here I am right after completing this cool little gem

The house is mostly made from cedar. The logs are from dowels, individually cut, glued and stained. The posts and supports were cut from a piece of stock cedar. The doors and windows are trimmed out. The roof is made from real roofing left over. I painted it using a special paint for roofing.

I used black sand for the path to the doors and little red stones from Wisconsin for landscaping

I used oil paints to create the stone look on the chimney. If I wanted to make this into a bird house all I have to do is drill a hole just left of the windows located on the left side of the chimney. There is a large enough cubicle in there for a bird nest.

I used cedar saw dust and added color to it for grass. Both the left and right side of this wall have cubicles in side for bird nests, should I want.

what's a cool log house without a deck,railings and some sort of cover for shade or area for barbecuing. Both the front and back decking and posts/railings were cut painstakingly with a utility knife and a small hand saw from cedar.

The search for a perfect alternative birch vihta/sauna whisk for my area

The last time I had the opportunity to use a real birch made vihta was back in the late sixties; that was in northern Canada. I am a first generation Finn and the sauna and vihta have always played an important role in my life. Whenever and wherever we went for a sauna, vihtas were always on hand. The folks with the sauna always provided their guests with them. I never had the opportunity to learn about the making or the handling of them until recently.

As a teenager living in the Chicago land area, my dad had built a sauna but the sauna whisk was never in the picture. The traditional sauna whisk was made of birch which is pretty much non existent in this area except for a few which might be found in forest preserves and they are protected. There was no thought regarding an alternative to birch until I had a real urge to find one. There was something about the use of a sauna whisk in the sauna which was on my mind for years but never really came into play until I built my own sauna.

I had a big urge to experience the vihta again after several decades. The purpose of it is to massage the muscles and joints by beating one self with the vihta. The soft leaves are perfect for a great massage while in the sauna. Birch leaves give off a wonderful odor and the stained water after dipping it in a bucket of water can be used to wash your hair. It has some wonderful properties in there which makes your hair glisten with nutrients. I even drove 5 hours north to an area that had birch trees so that I could harvest a few for my sauna. But alas they were filled with worms and by the time I got home a few days later and was ready to use them, the leaves had fallen off.

I got on the internet and did a bit of research and found a few alternatives to birch vihtas. Many of them just weren’t available locally and what was were protected. If you got caught, there would be a stiff fine and jail time involved, so I decided not to pursue that avenue. I decided to try various other trees and bushes that were in my back yard to see whether they might be a good candidate. I have lilac bushes, cotton wood, elm, apple, cherry, juniper, maple and mulberry trees.

The elm, apple and cherry trees were all infested with worms and the leaves were almost eaten with big holes in them. The branch configurations weren’t quite right either for what I wanted. The lilac bushes were beautiful with large dark green leaves and perfect stems/branches however, although they added a wonderful odor in my sauna, they fell apart almost immediately. The juniper boughs are similar to cedar which also gave me a wonderful aroma to my sauna but I ended up with juniper needles everywhere. My maple trees had worms on them but I was able to harvest enough for one small vihta. The odor was magnificent but the leaves fell off very quickly. I think that the leaves weren’t quite mature enough during harvest as they were still light in color. They need to be dark green. I haven’t given up on maple quite yet and will give them another try in the near future, provided the leaves haven’t been eaten by worms.

The cotton wood leaves could easily be mistaken for birch from a distance. They have nice dark color to them and have big leaves about the size of a birch leaf. The stem is a bit longer and I wonder how they will hold out. My tree is too tall to get to the leaves but there are several not too far from me which I will have to try soon as well. I harvested some mulberry branches this morning. While bunching them together, I found a tick on one of the leaves. Fortunately I discovered it in time and cut the leaf off making sure not to make contact with the tick. Ticks will not jump on you; they will only get on you by contact. I finished making my vihta and stuck them into water like a bouquet of flowers and just got done using them. I dunked the leaves into warm water just before using them and to my amazement, the leaves held together. They did a wonderful job acting as a vihta although they did not give off any odor. I feel so relaxed after a great massage with the vihta. Mulberry branches will definitely be on my list.

Keep in mind that these sauna whisks/vihtas can only be used once. I thought about ordering a few through the internet but the shipping from Europe or Finland is just not worth it for one time use. More to come as I try making vihtas from different sources.

Can I Use Canvas Boards with Wet On Wet Technique?

I've watched all 403 Bob Ross’s “Joy of Painting” some more times than others and he often says not to use canvas boards for this technique. His reason was that because the middle of the board is cardboard which sucks up the medium used and you end up with a dry board. At the time it may have been the case as the panels were only single primed. Today, however, I can purchase triple primed canvas boards even at box stores like Walmart or other stores carrying paint/craft supplies. The drawback still is that the center is cardboard and like with pre-stretched canvasses, quality varies even from one board to another.

There are many reasons why most of us might want to use canvas boards. The obvious one is they’re cheaper. Another is that you don’t have to put it in a custom frame costing you plenty. I use both depending on what my purpose is. My goal is to enjoy painting but keeping my costs down. I paint every day. Sometimes I’ll do one and other times I will do two. In a years time this thing with painting could cost me a fortune.

I first began using canvas boards for painting portraits. I wasn’t sure how liquid white would get absorbed into the board and often mixed liquid white into the paint to thin it rather than onto the canvas board itself. Doing portraits need a soft oil paint and rather than going out and get ripped off by purchasing more paints, I decided to use my thick Winton oils by Windsor and Newton and just thin them down. Winton oils worked well for me doing the wet on wet technique so why not on portrait. My goal is to save money when ever I can. I’m tired of getting ripped off by paint supply stores and by manufacturers. When I discovered how well this worked, I decided to take it up a notch and try painting the entire board with liquid white and liquid clear.

The first thing I did was to take a 9"X12" canvas board which was only double primed, covered 1/3 of it with liquid white. The middle section, I covered with diluted soft white thinking that it may be a good substitute for liquid white should I run out. The bottom 1/3 I covered with liquid clear. I just let it sit and see what happens. They were all still wet and slick after 24 hours. Just to see if they would last another 12 hours, I thought that I'd let them sit over night. 12 hours later they were all still wet and slick, ready to go. So 36 hours later the canvas board still had not sucked up either of the liquid white or liquid clear.

I have now used various size canvas boards up to 16”x 20”, the largest, I found and covered them with liquid white and then painted a landscape. Most of them were completed in a day. My problem was that the larger size boards began to warp, but then as I recall I had the same problem using acrylics earlier in my learning to paint period. The way I solved that problem was to secure all four sides of the board using tacks or screws….no, not through the board! I used a piece of luan plywood slightly larger than the largest canvas board I could find and then screwed small screws into the luan along the sides of the canvas board so that the head of the screw would secure the top, bottom and sides. I used two on all sides giving me a total of eight screws holding the board well in place and keeping it from warping.

I like doing many of my paintings using colored gesso and mix my own colors for the background thus saving on waste. Let’s face it folks, there is a lot of wasted oil paints using this technique costing you and me plenty. By doing most of my backgrounds in acrylic gessoes, I save a lot of oil paint. Acrylic gessoes also add texture. I discovered that for some reason the liquid clear disappears over Gesso after a few minutes. Two coats are needed over acrylic Gessoes. I apply the first coat over the entire board and let it sit for about 5 to 10 minutes. If the board looks and feels dry, I'll go ahead and add a second coat. This usually does the trick and allows me to finish my painting with out problems.

Liquid white and liquid clear work better on a fresh white canvas board right out of the package. Once more gesso is added to the board whether black or other colors, liquid clear seems to get sucked in while liquid white does not. So do what I do, add a second coat of liquid clear if need be and go about your painting.

Here are some paintings I did on canvas board:

a wet on wet technique on canvas board

another wet on wet using canvas board

using acrylic gessoes for backgrounds saves money

canvas board painting using liquid clear and liquid white

For more art stuff visit me here:Markku-artist

 

More on the Kip B1 sauna heater

You would think that replacing an old sauna heater with a new one would be a simple task, pop out the old and pop in the new. But, not these days, apparently, not even for a skilled professional like me. I’ve installed a few in my day and have been around saunas all my life. Considering I’m 67, that’s a long time. The Harvia Kip B1 has had more problems than I bargained for when I bought it in November 2016. There are plenty of U.L regulations involved with these heaters than there were in the past so that the novice and new users won’t do something stupid and end up killing themselves. But sometimes, things can just go overboard.

I like my saunas between 180 – 190F which even for most Finns like me is a pretty comfortable zone although there are those that like it much hotter. The Kip B1 just couldn’t get past the 170F without the heat sensor kicking the unit off. There is a high temperature limit control which shuts the unit down if it senses that it’s too hot in the room. But of course the limit control is set to a much lower temperature which may be suited for the novice. There is nothing mentioned about this in the installation guide, which seems to be lacking quite a bit of other important detail. An addendum has been added to the paperwork as a separate updated installation guide, which also leaves out important information i.e. heater calibration. Apparently the calibration controls the temperature of the sensor; when to shut the unit off, should there be a problem.

Another problem I was and still am having with is the timer mechanism. It’s inaccurate and shuts off at various times, but on average, right around the forty – five minute mark. Okay, I suppose that I can work around that but when the time lapses after the second hour (the hour on the timer, not real time), the high temperature sensor switch shuts the unit off tripping the reset button. I contacted the folks where I purchased the unit from (Almost Heaven Saunas) and rather than telling me straight out that the unit needs to be calibrated for my specific use, they had me move the sensor probe to various different spots on the side wall of the installed unit to see if that would make a difference. Nope! It kept doing the same thing, tripping the high limit control switch. The temperature sensor probe is mounted on the wall using a metal sensor housing which is nothing like the installation manual shows. Anyone with a half a brain knows that any metallic object in a sauna is going to get hot, hot enough where it can cause severe burns if touched. Just by putting one’s hand near a metallic object you can feel the heat radiating from the object. Common sense tells me that if the heat temp sensor is mounted into a closed metal housing, it’s going to get mighty hot inside the housing giving the sensor a wrong temp reading and consequently shutting down.

The warranty states that the user under any circumstances is not to change or deviate from the installation manual. If this has been done, the warranty becomes null and void. Therefore, I had to play their game until I was told otherwise in making changes. It wasn’t until a few months went by, frustrated as hell, ready to file a discrepancy complaint with my credit card company; they finally told me that I needed to re-calibrate the temp control unit inside the heater. This was to be done by a qualified licensed electrician which would have cost me plenty for them to come out. Because I had been a remodeling contractor, I was allowed to make the calibrations myself.

Re-calibrating was a fairly easy and straight forward process except for an arthritic old man lying on the floor working in cramped position trying to get to the control unit from underside of the mounted heater with about 7” to work with. Once I finally got to the unit, I followed instructions to the letter, making sure that it was done correctly and then putting everything back the same way that it was. I’m currently testing the heater as I write this and already had to go in and reset the limit control as it shut the unit off at 180F. However, the unit did come back on; where otherwise I would have had to wait until it cooled down totally. I thought, since I had the sauna fired up, I would go ahead and use it rather than wasting all of that heat and energy. After resetting the limit switch and waiting about five to ten minutes, it was nice and toasty at 197F and just turned the control knob off rather than seeing if it went to 200F. I wasn’t interested in getting it that hot but I was curious to see whether the limit switch would pop off again. As long as I got it above my comfort zone, worked for me and left it at that.

Obviously, the limit switch should not have gone off and there are still problems with the F***en thing and am not done with it yet, but I am headed in the right direction. It’s time to contact the wonderful folks at Almost Heaven Saunas again to see what more B.S. is involved as if I didn’t already know. Like I said, warranty crap, got to follow the game, makes them feel more important.  I just cannot believe the stupidity in the design of this heater nor can I believe that this is an actual Finnish manufactured product. If Harvia tried selling this piece of junk in Finland as it is, here in the US, they would be laughed out of business. As a matter of fact, after talking with a relative in Finland, I was told that Harvia has a bad reputation there as people think that their saunas are junk! They too can't even get a decent löyly from their units.

So I got a hold of the folks at Almost Heaven Saunas and once again I was directed over to their tech guy at their factory here in the US out east. He had me send him some more pics and then told me he’d contact me. Nope not to this day! I had a suspicious feeling that he would just blow me off and sure enough he did. Figures! I also had a feeling why the reset switch would pop at a certain temperature but wanted confirmation from these so called experts and an okay to make the necessary adjustment. Well…at this point I just figured the hell with it! I’m tired of screwing around and just take care of it anyway. Today, I used my sauna without any problems. My biggest complaint is that there is not enough of löylyä. That’s a Finnish term for the event that happens after throwing some water on to the rocks. It's a shot of hot air coming at you after throwing water on the rocks. This event only changes the way it feels in the sauna and not the actual temperature as one might think. To achieve the proper amount of löylyä you need to throw a bit more water on the rocks than what they tell you in the manual. Because the elements are so close to the top of the heater and following the instructions of placing the rocks 2 inches below the rock cover rather than placing the rocks 2 inches above the elements like all other manufacturers tell you, this does not give you enough space to entirely cover the tops of the elements as per instructions. Therefore, I’m stuck with throwing a few ounces versus cups of water on the rocks which has little or no effect in creating the löyly. That too will be taken care of very soon.

Jan 17,2017.

So the tech guy from Almost Heaven Saunas finally decides to give me a call. He wanted me to move the sensor around. I guess since they have no answers theirs is to move the sensor around. I told him that I've already done that from previous instructions. I also brought up the question regarding the placement of the sauna rocks and its problem with löyly. Interestingly, for an expert he had no answers.

March 16, 2017

I finally have my sauna working as it should for now, maybe and average around 190°F. The thing shuts off at 192°F. I suppose that I can live with that. I and other Finns I know with the same heater, feel that this unit is a piece of crap and so is the timer!

May 26, 2017

Since I've had the heater now for 6 months, has time changed my mind about the Kip B sauna heater?

Answer: No it's still a piece of junk with sporadic problems. One time it'll work perfectly and then the next time I'm right back to square one.

Would I recommend it to my friends?

Answer: Not in this lifetime!

What advice do I have for those wanting to buy the Harvia Kip B series heater?

Answer: Buy something else if you can afford it. If you are a beginner sauna user, it's fine for you and will get up to 140F in about an hour. If however you are a seasoned user like myself and absolutely must have this heater, I suggest going with the next size up for better performance. Although the major components are made by Harvia, I'm willing to bet that a lot of the U.L safety controls, timer/thermostat and switches aren't and rob power from the heating elements. I'm also willing to bet that these heaters are not, let me repeat that, are not assembled by Harvia in Finland! This size heater (6kw) is supposed to heat up the size of my sauna up to 180F within an hour or so, my old one did. This heater will not and will take a little over 1 1/2 hrs when working as it should. Other times 2+ hours if I'm lucky.

Before I purchased the Harvia Kip B sauna heater, I always looked forward to using my sauna. These days, I reluctantly turn it on wondering what's going to go wrong with the unit today. This is wrong and should never happen. The sauna experience should be an enjoyable one not one with constant intricacies!