OT - What are you fixing right now?

kl8ton

Canugghead

Canugghead said:

Aeropress plunger got stiff and shrunken, was going to order a replacement plunger and this ewetube fix popped up... the guy soaked the plunger in mineral oil for hours, then gave it a few short microwave zaps, some folks reported how messy it was. 

I decided to do things differently. Chamber sealed in mineral oil and SV for an hour.

It's now working as good as new! No more leakage when filling with hot water using the upside down technique, and full pressure without coffee oozing up around the piston plunger when depressed.

@botch, a hack to keep in mind but I doubt you'll get there any time soon.

xfire_ATX

After new siding and repainting the house last year the Garage doors are now dark grey instead of white and facing West.  They got hot and my Garage got hotter.

Added insulation- 
Foam the thickness of the door, Foil on one side (inside you cant see), R4.8
They come 54", I needed ~46" to fit so cutting styrofoam had some mess with it.


Outside


Inside

GrateEggspectations

Nice job, @xfire_ATX! Great result there. My garage door was uninsulated when we bought the house and remains that way, though I should really do it given our climate means it gets pretty darn cold. 

Corv

There's an unplanned but potential effect of this that got me.

I needed a new garage door and since I live in CO, went with an insulated one. At the time a contractor was doing some work and he was using the garage as a staging area. He remarked, casually, one day, that it was noticeably warmer with that door on.

That led to me having him add power, more windows, drywall and an insulated roof. Now that I had a really good workshop, I got going on a project. The project itself is not relevant except to mention that so far it's more than a little expensive and that darn door is to blame. A significant unintended consequence.

Botch

Corv said:

He remarked, casually, one day, that it was noticeably warmer with that door on.

That led to me having him add power, more windows, drywall and an insulated roof. Now that I had a really good workshop, I got going on a project. The project itself is not relevant except to mention that so far it's more than a little expensive and that darn door is to blame. A significant unintended consequence.

I did the same to my extra-deep, double-car garage in Grand Forks ND.  Traded my compressor for a forced-air kerosene heater, which I found out could take my insulated garage from -25º to 70º in 40 minutes; whoop, I was set!  
First weekend to woodwork, and I learned that the air temp warmed up that quick, but not my cast-iron tablesaw, onto which my forearm was frozen to for about 12 minutes (and nobody double-dog-dared me).  Also noticed that the water vapor from the kerosene heater was condensing on every metal tool in the garage, arrgh!  
I did  get a number of projects made, PCS'd in Oct 95, sold that house in Jan 96, and it was destroyed in April (May?) 96 when that huge flood/fire hit Grand Forks.  

GrateEggspectations

Sounds like you are very lucky to have sold when you did, @botch. 

Canugghead

Furnace died last week, thankfully the worst of winter is over, don't even have to fire up all the space heaters in the house.

Making a gamble, ebay shipping from OH, wish me luck 🤞 Even if it doesn't work, we have the whole summer to decide on a replacement.

MaskedMarvel

I did a ceramic coating on our Bronco Sport this week. Meticulous but easy, if you’re patient. Absolutely zero reason to pay anyone else to do it, which can literally cost thousands. Only thing I didn’t do was remove the wheels. 

Results are incredible. 

Definitely did my research, and consulted ChatGPT throughout, which was pretty helpful. 

Those water beads will get tight over the next week

MaskedMarvel

Had to add this after a maintenance wash and using a drying aid…

Canugghead

Had fun uncasing, rewinding and rejuvenating my 40+ yo fish tape, works as smooth as new now!

GrateEggspectations

@Canugghead

TIL about fish tape. 

kl8ton

Canugghead said:

Had fun uncasing, rewinding and rejuvenating my 40+ yo fish tape, works as smooth as new now!

I just cut an 8 foot section off of mine to remove a spoon from a sewer drop.  It couldn't make the bend at the trap (nor did I want it to). A bunch of awesome flushable wipes were built up around the spoon.  I used some pliers to make a custom shape at the end of the wire for spoon removal.  No pics because, gross - but it did happen.

kl8ton

GrateEggspectations said:

@Canugghead

TIL about fish tape. 

TIL what TIL stands for!

Canugghead

kl8ton said:

GrateEggspectations said:

@Canugghead

TIL about fish tape. 

TIL what TIL stands for!

+1

Canugghead

GrateEggspectations said:

@Canugghead

TIL about fish tape. 

I'm surprised you never saw your father use one.

Canugghead

@kl8ton what a waste, I would have bought a piece of bulk wire from HD 

fishlessman

Canugghead said:

@kl8ton what a waste, I would have bought a piece of bulk wire from HD 

i have one like yours but its not long enough to go down the piece of pvc buried under the driveway to the garage. dont have conduit anywhere in the house. been using it to break ice in the laundry drain and adding boiled water from the stove kettle as well. worked a few times this winter. when it freezes the water backs up to the second floor sink and makes an awful mess as it comes thru the ceiling back to the first floor i think it came with the house when i bought it. i need atleast a hundred footer to use it for the underground wiring

GrateEggspectations

Canugghead said:

kl8ton said:

GrateEggspectations said:

@Canugghead

TIL about fish tape. 

TIL what TIL stands for!

+1

Today I Learned.

kl8ton

Canugghead said:

@kl8ton what a waste, I would have bought a piece of bulk wire from HD 

HA HA.  It was off a 100' reel.  Yes, it is possible I will miss that 8 ft someday.  Not likely.  :-)

Canugghead

kl8ton said:

Canugghead said:

@kl8ton what a waste, I would have bought a piece of bulk wire from HD 

HA HA.  It was off a 100' reel.  Yes, it is possible I will miss that 8 ft someday.  Not likely.  :-)

Smart move, might as well get rid of some dead weight and no special trip to HD.

alaskanassasin

After using liquid pipe thread sealant I am finding a some lp projects started leaking after a few years, I will be going back to thread tape. Anyone else have this issue? @fishlessman?

lousubcap

Thread tape for the win.

kl8ton

alaskanassasin said:

After using liquid pipe thread sealant I am finding a some lp projects started leaking after a few years, I will be going back to thread tape. Anyone else have this issue? @fishlessman?

Man that sucks.

Next time I'm at the campground I'll check my natural gas fired pool heater.  I believe the plumbers that I had install it used thread tape on black pipe.  

Canugghead

Got a new upright freezer, needed to switch the hinges from one side to the other.

Was able to avoid:
1) removing and reinstalling the drawers and glass shelves
2) laying the doorless unit on its back or side
3) disturbing the refrigerant

lousubcap

Next time buy the one with the door on the correct side...😜

fishlessman

alaskanassasin said:

After using liquid pipe thread sealant I am finding a some lp projects started leaking after a few years, I will be going back to thread tape. Anyone else have this issue? @fishlessman?

for most threaded pipe, tape and then rectorseal sealant.

for gas, propane, natural gas we use just gasoila sealant, its a soft set type sealant. no tape because it can shred and clog carbs, stove  burner nozzles etc. gasoila is different than most pipe sealants and thats what you want on propane and natural gas

never thread anything with hot oil, that gets welded

alaskanassasin

Thanks @fishlessman

Canugghead

Windshield washer hose, clear hose soaked in just-boiled water for easy insertion and tight fit, no clamps needed. 

Blues2

New potty & bidet , (hired, maybe cheating here but…) after dominant arm surgery