12string Posted March 22, 2021 Share #1 Posted March 22, 2021 It started with fixing the rug shampooer. Just in time, something got spilled on the LR rug, and now it stinks. Got a call from the place that was refilling my empty air conditioner late Friday. All full, no leaks, but also no AC compressor clutch, should they start troubleshooting. Um, no. Good guys, but not VW mechanics, and I remembered having the problem before and it was a simple but odd fix. Then I remembered the mysterious occasional large coolant loss with no leak. Sure enough, radiator fans weren't running. Replaced the fan controller fuse hidden under the hood - the terminals were badly corroded - cold AC and hopefully no more coolant burps. The Roto tiller belt has been jumping off. The mounting for the idler pulley was bent. Fixed that, but I now have a belt with deep cuts and no one local has it. I managed to finish the garden by putting the belt on in the opposite direction with the tears moving away from the rotation, and not releasing the tension until I finished the last row. Couldn't put it back in the shed yet. There's a large motorized fishing kayak hanging in there. Not ours. And the woman who owns it can't really work the pulleys on the lift, I had to take them all down and realign them. But she can't even get it in the shed with the tiller in the way. And no way she can pick up that tiller. So now I have to build a bracket and wheels to rill the thing around. Now I have to fix the network controller for the watering system, the LAN keeps kicking it out for some reason. Always somethin' 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted March 22, 2021 Share #2 Posted March 22, 2021 I don't know what my family will do when I'm gone. They are all fn helpless. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted March 22, 2021 Share #3 Posted March 22, 2021 15 minutes ago, maddmaxx said: I don't know what my family will do when I'm gone. They are all fn helpless. They will call the Maytag repairman. He’s not doing anything anyway. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Further Posted March 22, 2021 Share #4 Posted March 22, 2021 21 minutes ago, maddmaxx said: I don't know what my family will do when I'm gone. They are all fn helpless. My kids seemed helpless, but, now they are moved out and pretty much self sufficient, I call the boy for help more than he calls me. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted March 22, 2021 Share #5 Posted March 22, 2021 14 minutes ago, Further said: My kids seemed helpless, but, now they are moved out and pretty much self sufficient, I call the boy for help more than he calls me. My sons ask themselves the question WWDD? They didn’t get involved that much with fixing stuff growing up but they know I never called a repairman. It’s easy to fix stuff now because there are YouTube videos. Always watch more than one because some people posting videos are clueless. 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Further Posted March 22, 2021 Share #6 Posted March 22, 2021 39 minutes ago, Longjohn said: My sons ask themselves the question WWDD? They didn’t get involved that much with fixing stuff growing up but they know I never called a repairman. It’s easy to fix stuff now because there are YouTube videos. Always watch more than one because some people posting videos are clueless. So true. I watch a half dozen or so video's and patterns emerge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerrySTL ★ Posted March 22, 2021 Share #7 Posted March 22, 2021 2 hours ago, 12string said: Now I have to fix the network controller for the watering system, the LAN keeps kicking it out for some reason. Years ago a company that I worked for had a golf course for a client. They used a new then 386 computer to control the system. The computer was kept in a shed with things like fertilizer. It kept over heating from all the dust and dirt plus running on hot days. We finally build a custom air filter plus added some fans. It had one of those quarter size batteries for CMOS system. The shed would lose power and one day the battery went bad and when the computer lost power, the clock reset to midnight. The water system turned on at the wrong time when golfers were out on the greens. Fun! We convinced them to buy a UPS that had a surge suppressor as they'd had that problem also. The strangest was that a lightning strike could mess up the computer. It took us a while to figure out that the electrical power coming in wasn't the problem nor the lack of grounding. Rather it was through the old serial port which controlled the sprinkler system. I didn't even know that they made surge suppressors for serial ports but we found one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted March 23, 2021 Share #8 Posted March 23, 2021 One time when I played golf in Phoenix during the day the sprinklers kept coming on sporadically. That kept us on our toes! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Kosciuszko Posted March 23, 2021 Share #9 Posted March 23, 2021 Fixing broken stuff sure does make for a busy day! On top of fixing all the broken stuff, imagine how busy your days are if you happen to be one of those unfortunate OCD types that this T-shirt describes... 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12string Posted March 23, 2021 Author Share #10 Posted March 23, 2021 Fixed the watering system. Last year, they sent me a new controller, to fix a firmware bug. Hmmmm.... That's exactly when the trouble started. It would connect to my LAN just fine, stay connected just long enough to contact their servers, then disconnect. Which is exactly what it's designed to do if their servers don't see your account attached to that controller. Emails back and forth telling them that's when it started and I diagnosed my network like crazy, has to be their end, nope, they sent 2 entire systems and another controller. I didn't change a thing. Started looking back into it yesterday. It's been connected, no problems. But now I have enough valve units to expand my watering system. They won't let me connect more than one controller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tizeye Posted March 23, 2021 Share #11 Posted March 23, 2021 Always something, but at least I can do most. Over weekend replaced soft close drawer slide. Unfortunately have to tweak it as was different brand and off just slightly using old mount. Find YouTube very helpful as had creaking sound on bed platform...and now I know what to look for next washday when linens are being washed and I can remove the king size mattress to fix the base. Major project over the last 6 months was changing the aluminum wiring to copper, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted March 23, 2021 Share #12 Posted March 23, 2021 32 minutes ago, Tizeye said: Major project over the last 6 months was changing the aluminum wiring to copper, Aluminum wiring was a great idea until everyone’s house burned down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12string Posted March 23, 2021 Author Share #13 Posted March 23, 2021 2 hours ago, Longjohn said: Aluminum wiring was a great idea until everyone’s house burned down. When we were adding on to the house there were a few outlets and wires I needed to move around. I opened one of the outlets with the aluminum wire, everything in there was charred and partly melted. Suddenly there were a lot of outlets and wires to me replaced. kudos to Tizeye, that's a PITA job 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tizeye Posted March 23, 2021 Share #14 Posted March 23, 2021 2 hours ago, Longjohn said: Aluminum wiring was a great idea until everyone’s house burned down. Reality is, it is not the aluminum wiring. Or as an electrician said...guess what the power company uses to get the power to your meter on the house. The problem is twofold. First is the now defunct Federal Pacific who had the market for aluminum control panels. The fudged the data for the UL approval of their circuit breakers that subsequently failed to trip in use which overloaded circuits causing the fires. Of course, with all the lawsuits, they declared bankruptcy. Next problem is the idiot/clueless consumer who naturally chooses the $0.89 replacement switch at Home Depot rather than the CO/AL switch (or receptacle) for $2.99 in a lone box on the bottom shelf at Home Depot. Worse they want to modernize with the modular rocker switch/plug where CO/AL is only in the old fashion design, white or beige. That is a disaster waiting to happen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12string Posted March 23, 2021 Author Share #15 Posted March 23, 2021 3 minutes ago, Tizeye said: the idiot/clueless consumer who naturally chooses the $0.89 replacement exactly what I found in my house. A few were AL, but any of them the PO changed were not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerrySTL ★ Posted March 23, 2021 Share #16 Posted March 23, 2021 3 hours ago, Longjohn said: Aluminum wiring was a great idea until everyone’s house burned down. Aircraft use aluminum wiring in many places. Nothing that has to flex. Rather things like the main power line between the engine pylons and other parts of the aircraft. Aluminum is lighter than copper at the same electrical load. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted March 23, 2021 Share #17 Posted March 23, 2021 A split bug and a generous amount of aluminum connection grease helps a lot but is still asking for trouble under a heavy load. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tizeye Posted March 24, 2021 Share #18 Posted March 24, 2021 Fixing stuff that broke Sounds like a job for WD-40 and duct tape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted March 24, 2021 Share #19 Posted March 24, 2021 10 minutes ago, Tizeye said: Fixing stuff that broke Sounds like a job for WD-40 and duct tape. Don't forget Marvel Mystery Oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR46 Posted March 24, 2021 Share #20 Posted March 24, 2021 I made a career out of fixing broken stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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