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Navien NCB-240/130H dip switch settings and front panel configuration

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

My home is heated by a Navien NCB-240/130H. I recently had the motherboard and front panel replaced under warranty because it kept forgetting its settings, resetting to Zone Pump mode instead of Zone Valve (and thus not heating my house) at the most inconvenient times.

I found that documentation online for the configuration was lacking, so here is an explanation of what the two banks of DIP switches do, and here is the configuration guide for the front panel.

DIP Switch 1 (6-switch unit)

Switch	Function	Setting	Value
1 & 2	Operation Status	Normal Operation	1-OFF, 2-OFF
1 & 2	Operation Status	2-stage MAX	1-ON, 2-OFF
1 & 2	Operation Status	1-stage MIN	1-OFF, 2-ON
1 & 2	Operation Status	1-stage MAX	1-ON, 2-ON
4–6	Model Setting	NCB-190/060H	4-ON, 5-OFF, 6-OFF
4–6	Model Setting	NCB-190/080H	4-OFF, 5-ON, 6-ON
4–6	Model Setting	NCB-240/110H	4-OFF, 5-OFF, 6-ON
4–6	Model Setting	NCB-240/130H	4-OFF, 5-ON, 6-OFF
4–6	Model Setting	NCB-250/150H	4-OFF, 5-OFF, 6-OFF

DIP Switch 2 (8-switch unit)

Switch	Function	Setting	Value	Comment
1	Gas Type	Natural Gas	1-OFF
1	Gas Type	Propane Gas	1-ON
2 & 3	High Altitude	0–1,999 ft (0–609 m)	2-OFF, 3-OFF	Refer to Table 1 in “12 Appendix” in the Installation Manual
2 & 3	High Altitude	2,000–5,399 ft (610–1,645 m)	2-ON, 3-OFF	"
2 & 3	High Altitude	5,400–7,699 ft (1,646–2,346 m)	2-OFF, 3-ON	"
2 & 3	High Altitude	7,700–10,100 ft (2,347–3,078 m)	2-ON, 3-ON	"
4	Well Pump	Used	4-ON
4	Well Pump	Unused	4-OFF
5 & 6	Country	US/Canada	5-OFF, 6-OFF
7	Space Heating Thermostat	Used	7-OFF
7	Space Heating Thermostat	Unused	7-ON
8	Exhaust Temperature Control	Used	8-OFF
8	Exhaust Temperature Control	Unused	8-ON

Camellia oil: the ideal shave

Sat, 05 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Like many, I have a drawer half-full of part-used shaving soaps, brushes, and so on. Over the last year I began pursuing simpler solutions that would travel well, and had settled on the smallest soap sticks I could find: Speick and La Toja with a neat Mühle travel brush. I began using the sticks at home, too. It’s less hassle to lather on my face than in a bowl.

A few months ago I was planning a five-day backpacking trip, and realized that I often end up with an itchy neck by day four. I needed an option that would be suitable for lightweight or ultralight backpacking: I didn’t want to carry soap and a brush, and ideally wouldn’t need to thoroughly heat water, lather, and clean up just to shave.

Shave oil was the obvious option. But every brand I looked at was the same: packed to the gills with scents and botanicals, heavy on the menthol, and as much as $20 for a tiny bottle. I tried Somerset’s “Extra Sensitive Shaving Oil” (£11.50 for 35ml) and I have to wonder what the regular version is like — the “extra sensitive” was heavily scented and made my skin vibrate with menthol.

I tried shaving with some common cosmetic ingredients (e.g., squalane) and did not get a good shave. I didn’t want to use a typical food oil that would go rancid or attract bears in the backcountry, so I didn’t try olive or nut oil.

Eventually it occurred to me that I had a big bottle of stable, safe, non-food oil sitting on my shelf. I gave it a try, and enjoyed a bafflingly good shave: smooth, unscented, nick-free. The only downside is one shared with all shaving oils, a tendency to leave clumps of oil and stubble in the sink.

The oil I settled on is cold-pressed camellia oil (tsubaki abura), the oil of camellia japonica. A 100ml bottle is $10. I have been using it for years to oil carbon steel kitchen knives, which is its traditional use, along with machine lubrication (e.g., sewing machines). It’s tasteless, odorless, food-safe, and non-drying (all of which are good for kitchen knives!). Apparently it’s also non-comedogenic and used in skincare.

Six drops is more than sufficient to shave my entire face. I put some in a little dropper bottle for travel, and I’ve also been using it at home, because it’s fast, convenient, and gives just as good a shave as careful prep and luxurious lather.

For carry-on travel I pair the little dropper bottle of oil with a Bic Metal disposable razor, which is the simplest and best TSA-safe razor I’ve found. When I’m checking a bag I take my RazoRock Game Changer 0.84-P with a little sliding metal tin of Gillette Nacet blades.

As pictured, the Bic Metal weighs 5g, and the half-full dropper bottle is 9.4g. You could probably get that lower by using a different dropper bottle.

A total outlay of $10 in oil might be enough for me to shave at home and on the road for my entire life. Shaves at home with the Nacet blades cost me about 7¢. Shaves on the road with the Bic Metal cost about 25¢.

For backpacking and travel the oil also serves as an impromptu lubricant for squeaky gear that folds or turns, and as a skin emollient, but it’s small and light enough that it doesn’t need to be multipurpose.

My goal with a lot of gear is to get to a point of simply not having to think about it: to have found a solution that’s robust, reliable, and works so well that I stop looking for anything better. I have reached that point with this kit.

Tip: Synergy lag/jerking on macOS

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

I recently switched from using Across back to using Synergy for keyboard/mouse sharing.

I noticed substantial jerkiness and latency when my mouse was on the remote machine — pauses of a few hundred milliseconds every couple of seconds.

The culprit was AirDrop. Turning off AirDrop and closing AirDrop Finder windows allows silky smooth mousing.