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Tag: Bamboo Floor Board While the price of gas has most companies wondering what they should do next, Rapid Glass, a locally owned Minneapolis auto glass replacement and windshield repair shop has implemented several solutions that may help reduce the dependency on foreign oil, reduce green house gas emissions, limit the amount of waste in our landfills, and offset fuel costs with several new innovative techniques. This Minneapolis window repair shop is doing its part to go green year round. "We celebrate Earth Day every day, all year long," said Rick Rosar, President of Rapid Glass. "Our auto, home and business glass company began going green several years ago before most auto glass companies even thought about it. Many of us have been recycling our glass bottles, aluminum cans and other products at home for a long time; however, not until recently did commercial businesses begin taking a serious look at ways to protect the environment." Instead of throwing away small cutoff pieces of glass that normally end up in the garbage, Rapid Glass donates the pieces to local schools, art academies and smaller businesses that manufacture small crafts and stained glass windows. The company also makes it a point to recycle any small pieces of extruded aluminum left over from custom shower door installations. Additionally, Rapid Glass has opted for a new dispensing system for their adhesives, switching from rigid cartridges to recyclable sealer packs to reduce its garbage volume for these products by 90%. Many quality auto glass replacement sealers must be heated due to the climate in Minnesota and it is common practice for glass replacement technicians to leave their truck running to heat up the sealers with their defrosters prior to the installation. However, Rapid Glass has installed on-board heating devices that are hooked up to the vehicle's own heating/cooling system, allowing the technician to shut off their truck, thereby reducing fuel costs, green house gas emissions and reducing additional service costs on the mobile glass service vehicles. The company also uses electric inverters and its newest auto glass installation trucks are equipped to run on E85 Flex fuel. In its offices, Rapid Glass staff recycles paper and plastic materials and stores soft copies of documents on computer hard drive space rather than maintaining hard copies. About Rapid GlassRapid Glass is a locally owned Minneapolis auto glass repair and windshield installation company that has been providing mobile on-site service for over 25 years. The auto glass repair specialists also provide home window glass repair, shower door enclosures, mirrors, and glass table tops. Rapid Glass serves Minneapolis, St. Paul and surrounding suburbs.

Tag: Control Switch SEEKONK Wayside Auto Sales is jumping into the future as an independent repair shop that services hybrid vehicles. Not only that. It also serves as the local training site for Worcester-based Automotive Career Development Center (ACDC), which conducts workshops in servicing hybrids as far afield as Chicago, Las Vegas and Toronto, as well as in Iceland and Germany. “It’s growing. There are definitely more people asking (about getting hybrids serviced),” said Jeff Gouveia, who runs the family-owned shop on Fall River Avenue, along with his father, Al, and brother, Al Jr. He said many owners believe only dealerships can service hybrids. “There’s false information and misconceptions out there,” he said. “Independent repair shops can fix them.” As concern about the environment is matched by concern about rising gas prices, electric-gasoline hybrid vehicles, such as the iconic Toyota Prius, are gaining in popularity. But with heavy battery packs charged with over 200 volts, hybrids present a real problem for service technicians and emergency personnel who have not been trained to deal with dangerous levels of electricity. “It’s new to us technicians, but not new to electricians,” said Al Gouveia Jr. “It’s new to the automotive world.” “Sixty volts and one amp will kill you,” said Jeff Gouveia as he and Al Jr. demonstrated how to handle a 274-volt battery pack from a first generation Toyota Prius. (Second-generation Prius have 201-volt battery packs.)

Tag: Cord With Plug As simple or as complex as you like - a trickle charger that'll save you having a flat battery in rarely-driven cars. Lots of car enthusiasts have more than one car. The kept-mostly-in-the-garage car might be a full-on show car, it might be a classic of yesteryear, or it might simply be a car that you drive rarely. In this household – three cars and two people – the rarely driven car is my turbo Maxima V6. In the lucky event that I have a sequence of new cars to test, poor old Max might be driven only a few times in a month  - and then mostly on short trips to the post office. The outcome is that more often than not, it’s got a flat battery. And that’s with a near-new battery in the battery box in the boot! I’ve already got a battery charger but it’s not really the kind of thing I want to leave connected semi-permanently. For one it’s a mains-powered charger with short battery leads – and often the Maxima is parked outside. And outside weather and 240V battery chargers don’t really go together well. Secondly, I often have another requirement for that battery charger, and so I don’t want it tied up semi-permanently on the Maxima. And finally – and it sounds trivial - but I have a healthy respect for the hydrogen gas released during battery charging and I always feel a bit vulnerable pulling on and off those bare alligator clips – especially when the charger doesn’t have an on/off switch on its main body. Maybe some of these things apply to you as well. So what was needed was a low-cost trickle charger, one that could be left connected for long periods to just keep the battery topped-up. (A trickle charger is not the sort that you connect when you want to boost a flat battery into life in a few hours; nope, it’s the type that is connected for a few days or more at a time.) It would be good if it had a long low voltage lead and a readily accessible on/off switch. A quick and easy connection method to the car would also facilitate its use.

Tag: Diesel Engine Generator After winter and its many months of closed windows and furnaces on full blast, homes are full of dust, dirt and grime. And with spring comes the annual work of spring cleaning. If you're tired of it already, here are some ways from Woman's Day magazine to lessen the time you spend cleaning each week: 1. Clean one shelf at a time: When a refrigerator shelf is nearly empty, take it out to clean in the sink. You could save nearly 30 minutes by cleaning one shelf at a time. 2. Recyle those socks as dust rags: Use old cotton socks on both hands instead of a dust rag. 3. Use an extension cord on your vacuum: Keep a long extension cord on the vacuum so there is no need to unplug and plug. 4. Coat your shower door with baby oil: Put a thin layer of baby oil on a clean shower door to repel water and mineral deposits. Eliminates scrubbing later.

Tag: Bamboo Floor Board While the price of gas has most companies wondering what they should do next, Rapid Glass, a locally owned Minneapolis auto glass replacement and windshield repair shop has implemented several solutions that may help reduce the dependency on foreign oil, reduce green house gas emissions, limit the amount of waste in our landfills, and offset fuel costs with several new innovative techniques. This Minneapolis window repair shop is doing its part to go green year round. "We celebrate Earth Day every day, all year long," said Rick Rosar, President of Rapid Glass. "Our auto, home and business glass company began going green several years ago before most auto glass companies even thought about it. Many of us have been recycling our glass bottles, aluminum cans and other products at home for a long time; however, not until recently did commercial businesses begin taking a serious look at ways to protect the environment." Instead of throwing away small cutoff pieces of glass that normally end up in the garbage, Rapid Glass donates the pieces to local schools, art academies and smaller businesses that manufacture small crafts and stained glass windows. The company also makes it a point to recycle any small pieces of extruded aluminum left over from custom shower door installations. Additionally, Rapid Glass has opted for a new dispensing system for their adhesives, switching from rigid cartridges to recyclable sealer packs to reduce its garbage volume for these products by 90%. Many quality auto glass replacement sealers must be heated due to the climate in Minnesota and it is common practice for glass replacement technicians to leave their truck running to heat up the sealers with their defrosters prior to the installation. However, Rapid Glass has installed on-board heating devices that are hooked up to the vehicle's own heating/cooling system, allowing the technician to shut off their truck, thereby reducing fuel costs, green house gas emissions and reducing additional service costs on the mobile glass service vehicles. The company also uses electric inverters and its newest auto glass installation trucks are equipped to run on E85 Flex fuel. In its offices, Rapid Glass staff recycles paper and plastic materials and stores soft copies of documents on computer hard drive space rather than maintaining hard copies. About Rapid GlassRapid Glass is a locally owned Minneapolis auto glass repair and windshield installation company that has been providing mobile on-site service for over 25 years. The auto glass repair specialists also provide home window glass repair, shower door enclosures, mirrors, and glass table tops. Rapid Glass serves Minneapolis, St. Paul and surrounding suburbs.