Project Update Thursday - 2013/07/18 – Conversation in Home Improvement

Conversation started Jul 18, 2013 at 18:59.

BMitch

Jul 18, 2013 18:59

Welcome to Project Update Thursday

Chris Cudmore

Oooh! PUT!

Cleaned the garage. That's it.

Monso

I just came back from an autonomous robot competition, got 3rd in world!

wax eagle

bravo

Fixed my AC on Monday night! only took me two amazon orders and a twighlight trip to walmart...ended up completing the fix with a headlamp on...

Monso

My compressor was smoking so I decided to look into it

The outer piston was also being chewed away by the outer counterweight/balancer

BMitch

@Monso awesome

Monso

Jul 18, 2013 19:09

These were new pistons with new bearing so now I've got to find out why this happened too

BMitch

Added a water line for the fridge

Monso

The squirrel cage was in pieces so now sure which happened first

BMitch

Demoed further down the walls so I can fix the electrical that was in the soffits properly.

lsiunsuex

being unemployed has provided me with the time to paint the garage door and trim, clean the garage, paint the trim around a window on the patio, paint the patio door, do some landscaping, seal the flag stone, seal the planting bed top cap

and that was just in the first week!

BMitch

And yes, there's a sawzall in my kitchen, what else do you cut your sandwiches with?

Monso

Jul 18, 2013 19:11

@BMitch A chop saw, duh

lsiunsuex

looks good @BMitch

BMitch

Pulled out the bottom cabinet on one side, almost ready to lose my sink on the other side. Floor was also pulled up.

I think I figured out my squeak/sagging floor. Looks like they missed the joist on one of their seams so I'll pull the subfloor up in one spot and shift it over.by one joist.

Oh, and I replaced the florescent tube light with recessed led.

No, the photo isn't upside down. Yes, that's a pencil I found stuck to my ceiling when I removed the old light fixture.

Tester101

Dang, that's where my pencil went. I've been looking all over for that.

BMitch

It really should have been the first place you'd look for a pencil

@waxeagle Headlamps really are essential for home repair projects. It's too hard to find a kid that wants to sit and hold a light these days, no attention span.

wax eagle

Jul 18, 2013 19:27

@BMitch remember snake lights. do those still exist?

BMitch

I've got a flexible light with my power tool kit, it's usually left in the box since a headlamp is so much more useful.

amazon.com/DEWALT-DW918-14-4-Volt-Flexible-Floodlight/dp/…

actually, mine should be the 18v version, but same deal

@waxeagle so what was the problem with the AC, bad blower motor?

wax eagle

@BMitch I think it was the Cap, but I ended up doing the motor too

and putting in two new Caps instead of just one...

BMitch

were they bulging out on top, ready to blow?

I'm always eyeing caps after there was a batch of bad caps several years ago.

wax eagle

@BMitch no, just very rusty.

AC started blowing warm air the other week, right before vacation. I came back and realize the fan wasn't spinning outside. Seemed like a good bet it was the motor or the cap...I didn't really want to buy a Cap just or it to be the motor so I decided to go ahead and replace both...got them in and realized the motor needed a seperate cap...

motor or cap, whatever I did fixed it :)

though that wth moment when I realized the new motor has 4 wires and my old motor only had three was kinda priceless.

Tester101

Jul 18, 2013 19:45

The forth wire is just another run wire.

wax eagle

@Tester101 yep, I found a video and there was a helpful diagram on the motor :)

Tester101

The 2 capacitors are the Start capacitor, and the Run capacitor.

The start capacitor is used to get the motor running, and is removed from the circuit once the motor reaches a specific speed.

wax eagle

@Tester101 well in this case it's just a pair of run caps. one for the motor, one for the compressor

Tester101

The run capacitor is used to create a second phase, for a single phase motor.

I finally got around to fixing my slow drains.

Monso

I ended up paying a guy to replace the caps and he left it running backwards

Tester101

Jul 18, 2013 19:52

Turns out the previous owners were very hairy.

Dang, so the fan was adding heat instead of removing it?

Monso

Well the fan and compressor were running backwards, I'd like to think it was doing nothing

That was 3-4 years ago, had a guy out last week to check it. Said new systems are rated for a 20deg difference and mind was doing 25 so don't touch anything

@Tester101 How was that still draining

Tester101

@Monso It wasn't. That's why I finally had to get around to it.

wax eagle

Jul 18, 2013 20:13

@Monso yikes. My new motor actually has a set of wires to flip the direction if it happens to be running backwards. It seems to be running correctly though so I haven't messed with them.

Monso

@waxeagle Yeah, it had a red to black and black to red

wax eagle

gotcha. and the compressor was running backwards too? that's not good

Monso

it was one motor

Monso

Jul 18, 2013 20:50

So I've got a plumbing question

I have a shower/tub that has a plug only allows a slow drain. Up to your ankles for a shower, but clears in a few hours

Tester101

1 hour ago, by Tester101

Monso

I've tried chemically, a snake, hose with expanding end, baking soda/vinegar (which worked the best) but still have a problem. I've been avoiding using that shower

touche, it's probably hair but I can't figure out what to try next

Tester101

Does the drain have a stopper that you put in the drain, or a lever that moves the stopper into place?