OT - What are you fixing right now?

fishlessman · January 23

alaskanassasin said:

@Canugghead when I change the oil on my vp215 I can see sludge or something lingering in the bottom of my sight glass. I think the 'vacuum sealer oil" is basically mineral oil and does not have any detergents in it. If you can, when you cycle the seafoam through your pump save the drained mess in a mason jar or clear plastic container and let it sit on the counter for a day or so so we can see how much crap came out of there!

i see they make a synthetic vacuum sealer oil as well as the mineral based oil

alaskanassasin · January 23

@kl8ton have them check the a arm bushing.

Canugghead · January 23

@alaskanassasin
@fishlessman
Thanks, like Cap said I learn so much from this forum

alaskanassasin · January 23

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/u4/2ei9t285b0zr.jpeg

kl8ton · January 25

alaskanassasin said:

Oh boy. I'll have them add it to the list!

It's funny how some things come full circle. I guess the recall for the ball joint was to see if the nut was loose. If it was loose the fix was to add a second nut. Double nut FTW.

kl8ton · January 25

By the way, I am outside the date range recall.

alaskanassasin · January 28

@Canugghead I think this is the answer to my DB conundrum. It looks like they changed the pumps out for a quieter version.

https://vacuumsealersunlimited.com/shop/commercial-chamber-vacuum-sealing-machines-accessories-parts/vacmaster-commercial-vacuum-sealing-machines/vacmaster-vp215-chamber-vacuum-sealing-machine/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=17834323190&gbraid=0AAAAAD2Jjf_Sf-1EHlq5WRI8miC26OHYt&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIi9SZ9byukgMV-Ux_AB3fhABDEAQYASABEgJv8_D_BwE

Canugghead · January 28

@alaskanassasin Class action for a replacement pump?

alaskanassasin · January 28

Canugghead said:

@alaskanassasin Class action for a replacement pump?

If you ever get a chance to try the new one you will think the muffler fell off of ours.

Canugghead · January 28

alaskanassasin said:

Canugghead said:

@alaskanassasin Class action for a replacement pump?

If you ever get a chance to try the new one you will think the muffler fell off of ours.

and they want us to throw seafoam at it 😂

Botch · January 29

Well, I'm not the one doing the fixing, but I've had four plumbers in my house thi$ week.

First guy "Jadin" came in Monday morning to descale my tankless water heater, and luck would have it the Friday before my garbage disposal quit working, so I had him look at that too. He showed me lots of rust on the blades (rust?!); then he re-set the breaker and flipped the switch on, and I mockingly started yelling at him, "Hey you just let the smoke out of it!" He chuckled, and said "Badger" brand was sold by Lower/Home Despot and not known for longevity, the newer one is SS, and also $$. He told me the water pressure in the house was lower than what the city was providing, didn't know why.

Jadin's boss/company owner showed up, and he started showing Jadin different things that weren't right, including two traps under the sink (not per code) and a mishmash of iron, galvanized, and brass fittings (can you say "galvanic corrosion"?) The boss also showed me how this corrosion is starting to leak when you leave the hot water running, and also found why my pressure was so low (something about an aerating filter). He said those things needed fixing sooner rather than later, and a year ago I was warned the same thing by the TWH team, so I had him write up an estimate; he also noted my toilet was worse for wear (which I knew) and he threw in installation of a "tall man's toilet", gratis. They're also replacing the ball valves running to my washing machine, as they were froze in place (also gratis), and replacing everything with plastic piping; we scheduled.

Jadin showed up this morning, brought in the materials, and two more guys showed up to do all the installation. Haven't heard any muttered curse words yet so I hope its going well...

ColbyLang · January 30

Too lazy to post a video. Plugged our closed loop flour system this morning. Lost 4 hours time and about 1000# of flour thru the blown line/vacuuming out. Such a nightmare with 500’+ of 4” aluminum pipe 20’ in the air

BeanHead · January 30

Wow @ColbyLang that sounds like a nightmare.

ColbyLang · January 31

BeanHead said:

Wow @ColbyLang that sounds like a nightmare.

Never a dull moment with business ownership.

ColbyLang · February 16

Maytag Bravos XL dryer. Heating element change and a general look see. Cleaned out lint chute, replaced all components included with parts kit. Just buttoned it back up. Time for a test drive. One hour and $40 from Amazon

WeberWho · February 22

Tracking down a replacement motherboard and plug for the dishwasher..

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/3g/wzfgmbuw3fpa.jpg

xfire_ATX · February 23

alaskanassasin said:

Since we built this house 5 years ago our laundry never really got dry. We started with a maytag washer dryer combo, the washer fried the motherboard about two weeks out of warranty then the gear box a year later so I bought the BBQ forum recommended Speed Queen washing machine. However the clothes were still always damp coming out of the dryer so we accelerated our plan of buying the matching speed queen dryer and gave our maytag to a young person moving out of their parents. Unfortunately our clothes were still not getting completely dry! Swmbo has been running the dryer twice per load ever since. I always felt like the issue was with the dryer vent line, and remember telling the builder I had never seen one run up a wall and through the attic but he assured me it was not a issue.
Last week I was laying in bed and thought to myself I wonder if anyone makes like a inline dryer vent fan or booster, to my surprise, Yes! I also found doing some surface research that dryer vents should be 25' or less and every 90 adds 5', So I sprang out of bed and got out the tape measure, 10' up the wall, to a 90 and 25' across the attic I came up with 40' of vent!
So I installed this bad boy Monday. The clear line goes to the vent and triggers a pressure switch that turns the fan on when it senses pressure then runs for 5 minutes and checks again. Pretty cool. Our clothes are dry finally, swmbo put a full size quilt in there last night and it was dry in one cycle.

We've lived in our house ~11 years and had a similar drying problem. Well maybe 3 years ago the Gas Dryer caught fire and I quickly disconnected, shoved through the garage and hosed down w water.

Before we put a new dryer in paid to have duct cleaned- likely hadn't been done in the 30 years this house has been in existence. New Electric Dryer and things seemed hunky dory but to be safe 6 months ago we said lets stay on top of this and get vents cleaned again. Boy did that open a Pandoras box.

First company could figure out why (Dryer vent exits roof) why after cleaning he could get any noticeable airflow, ran a camera- got stuck. Two guys spent 8 hrs on job got camera out and gave up. Hired another guy and his tool got stuck. He brought in a friend and after crawling around in sub attic and dissasembling duct and clearing a huge clog it still wasnt flowing. Ending up cutting two holes in my utility room ceiling and here is what we found.
*From wall up to ceiling is Gutter Downspout, wall isnt framed for a 4" duct to run it.
*From there it makes 4 snake like turns before heading towards the roof exit.

After disassembling they found so much blockage its no wonder my dryer has sucked. Currently we are running this stupid water trap but we are likely going to redo this room, put a new duct running through garage and out the side of the house.

Corv · February 23

I had no idea that there were dryer vent boosters. Thanks!

alaskanassasin · February 23

@xfire_ATX that is some wild improvising on your builders part! Glad you got it figured out.

@Corv it solved our problem, now clothes are dry with one cycle.

Canugghead · February 24

Bought a new straight foil shaver thinking it'd do a better job than my old rotary one. Wrong! it's marginally better but I expected a closer shave.

I recall @botch (thanks!) posting about reviving old shaver with toothpaste. Instead of just spreading toothpaste over the foil I took the entire head assembly apart and smeared the components with toothpaste containing baking soda...

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/qe/xuvd2kl1z8om.jpg

Voila! it now performs at least as good if not better than the new one! While I was at it I dropped two blobs of glue on the pesky (hard to operate) sliding switch that's flush with the body...

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/l8/n6rls1yymrja.jpg

Botch · February 24

@Canugghead thanks for the confirmation on the toothpaste idea.
I usually replaced my rotary head cutters every year. The last time I did neither Target nor Kohls carried the heads themselves, and I had to go to Amazoid. Found knockoffs that were 1/4 the price, took a gamble, and they sounded like a Waring blender chopping up a cellphone. Come to think of it, that was last Jan, so I guess it's time to pony up and get a decent shave head again.

lousubcap · February 24

Canugghead said:

Bought a new straight foil shaver thinking it'd do a better job than my old rotary one. Wrong! it's marginally better but I expected a closer shave.

I recall @botch (thanks!) posting about reviving old shaver with toothpaste. Instead of just spreading toothpaste over the foil I took the entire head assembly apart and smeared the components with toothpaste containing baking soda...
Voila! it now performs at least as good if not better than the new one! While I was at it I dropped two blobs of glue on the pesky (hard to operate) sliding switch that's flush with the body...

Gotta admit that when I saw your above post I Immediately thought Norelco (the obvious) as I have been in their camp for many, many decades. However, despite replacing the blades every year I find the shave closeness is trending south. Time for the Arm&Hammer Advanced White toothpaste to perform a resurrection.
Tuesday AM project.

MaskedMarvel · February 24

Don’t know how I’d lost track this thread. I do DIY something every ding dong day, it seems..

yesterday was descale the water heater

Bought a “Turbo Tank Cleaner” off Amazon. Stacey really loves a lot of hot water, and I thought performance was declining (probably cold temps outside). For those who aren’t familiar - it’s an auger that screws into the drain valve port (you have to remove the original drain valve) and slaps around inside the tank with water running through via a cordless drill.

Well - I couldn’t get the drain valve pipe out. It is almost flush with the tank, and between the blowoff tube and a computer controller, so I decided enough risk for me. I’ll just flush normally.

Fair amount of solids removed, but I do this every two years or so, so nothing crazy.

Plugged the unit back in and… and…

three cycles of trying to fire, and it went into lockout mode. Unplug. Repeat. And repeat. Repeated about twenty dang times.

Profanity.

Had to google the error sequence. Along the way, I got lots of suggestions from YouTube. The heat sensor and flame detector can get fouled next to the burner. YouTube made it seem ridiculously easy to DIY (typical), so I started disassembling the burner.

… the gas burner is a module that screws into the base of the heater and is connected by wires and the gas tube to the controller. It’s SUPPOSED to friggin slide right out after being unscrewed. This one did not. It was frozen in there so badly I was certain the installer had glued it in to seal it well.

Keep in mind - I have flushed this system many times, and I’ve cycled power on it (even running it off a portable generator during outages) several times. And - I hadn’t TOUCHED the damn controller or burner unit. Just unplugged it from the wall.

More profanity.

Finally, I did what we should never do, I used a tool for a purpose for which it was not intended.

I jammed my cushion grip made in America Craftsman slotted screwdriver between the burner unit and a hard looking piece of sheet metal and gave her a twist.

Nothing. Not a budge. Frozen. Glued beyond repair.

Extreme profanity. New profanity that has no meaning other than to those who’ve reached this point.

And then, defeated and resigned to calling a plumber and seriously considering installing an instant on system, as I sat there in the wet and grimy cluttered ass disaster area in front of the water heater.. I heard an audible “clunk” from the bottom of the unit.

As if by total magic, one side of the burner module dropped a centimeter - free of the adhered gaskets.

Popped the other side, slid the module out, gave it a very gentle few swipes with a Brillo pad, then a moist green scrubby, then a dry towel. And reset the module in place.

Reconnected the gas line and wires. Stood back. Prayed. Plugged the water heater in, and…

She fired up first cycle like a phoenix rising from the ashes of despair I had created …

hot water is great now. I feel confident that the burner unit is functioning, again, as intended.

…. Further research shows this is a common failure for plumbers to deal with. So much so, they travel with a dozen replacement modules and sensors.

I’m expecting no more trouble.

…. I also lowered the tank target temp by one setting. Stacey hasn’t complained, and the tank longevity and ridiculous gas bill will thank me for it.

Oh.

And - The “Turbo Tank” auger thing is getting returned. I’ll stick with the manufacturer’s recommended method…

Canugghead · February 24

@MaskedMarvel Quite an adventure, glad for the happy ending.
@botch @lousubcap Full disclosure, can't remember how old the shaver is and it still has the OG blades

@lousubcapI think any toothpaste would work, I suggest you watch some ewetube videos. Have fun!

johnmitchell · February 24

@MaskedMarvel. Geez what a read😳. Glad you are sorted!!👏

alaskanassasin · February 24

What a pain in the butt @MaskedMarvel glad you got it figured out!

kl8ton · February 28

My son's brakes.

alaskanassasin · February 28

That is impressive @kl8ton

DoubleEgger · February 28

Got your money’s worth out of those pads.

poster · February 28

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/mi/izg8dk9j1ybt.jpg

Picked up a 3 point flail mower for my tractor for cheap (pic 2). Normally these are pulled directly behind the tractor for clearing over grown fields. I wanted to clear brush along ditches on the side of a road so I decided to modify it into an offset type, so I can drive along the camp road and clear the brush from the side. Drew up what I wanted and got started.
I relocated the drive last week and coupled it up to a shaft extension connected to the drum. Tonight I tacked up all the mounting brackets.The drive shaft should be in next week and I'm hoping to give it a run soon. It should clear 4' off the side of the tractor when done.

OT - What are you fixing right now?

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