Inspect Your Air Conditioner Before Hot Weather Arrives!

 The fins on your air conditioner condenser are out-of-sight-out-of-mind, but you can save yourself some money and trouble if you inspect and clean them yourself. Turn Off The Breaker! Don't use any sharp objects. Use very soft brushes so you don't damage the fins. Use 1/4" drive sockets to run the screws, not a screwdriver! Remember to turn off the breaker! Maybe tape it in position while you are working. Watch out for wasps. You got this!

Drip, Drip, Drip!

That annoying sound of dripping water prompted the discovery of a soaked ceiling tile in the basement.  Immediate exploratory surgery showed that water was dripping from above when our shower was running.  There was no access panel in our bedroom to reach the leak, so drywall surgery came next. We found a poorly done solder joint where the riser went into the elbow sending water to the showerhead. Note the crack separating the elbow from the solder.  Whomever installed this decades ago did not heat the elbow, but just the copper pipe.

Here's the post-mortem photo.  No solder in the joint, just on the pipe and the lower edge of the elbow.  We located the problem and made the repair in the same day.  Now we have to install the access panel where we cut the hole in our drywall.

This Took A Little Detective Work With The Voltmeter,

and we finally found the problem.  The electrician who installed this box a few years ago failed to run down the screw on one of the neutral wires.  The washer was going through death-throes yesterday and we thought it was a goner, but it is feeling much better now! Dogs Barking: It was feeding time and the people were ignoring them!

The New Floor Progresses

This is how we were yesterday morning when the contractors were working in the entrance hall. We keep sweeping, and it seems there is always more to pick up.  I was still finding a few staples today from the carpet pad and 1/4" plywood tile-underlay. The dogs have to be confined while the stairwell is open for the contractors.  We set up exercise pen panels around it at the end of the day.

Here we are tonight, with about seven feet of width to go; and then the trim. The dogs will be glad when this is over and done.  They have to be locked up all day because the workers are in and out the door to cut pieces to fit.  I have been giving the critters extra walks to settle their nerves and to exercise their legs.

New Year; New Look, or

Tediousness Continues

This all started last summer when we began by tearing out carpet in the basement, and seeking out and destroying termite damage. Zeke and I started, but a first rate contractor had to take over for extensive renovations.

Then, plumbing issues were identified and contractors came in to take care of multiple issues.

Everything you work on seems to highlight an unknown problem, but you just have to take care of things and let the experts make everything right.  The basement is mostly done now, and soon a new shower will complete the downstairs portion of our projects.

We have been ripping out carpet and tile upstairs in preparation for new flooring to be installed next week.  Those tiles are glued down on thin plywood that is nailed to the subfloor every 4 inches. Lifting that up has not been fun, but we developed a system and have pushed through it.

We are just about to drive the dogs nuts with all of our destructive activities.  I think they feel like William Shatner in his Twilight Zone episode with the Gremlin.

Nightmare In The Laundry Room

We did some de-constructing tonight in preparation for a plumbing project.  The box had shaved the insulation off of a wire at a time in the past; either forty some years ago or recently during another part of our basement renovation project.  The house has not burned down and nobody has been electrocuted, so we feel good. The breaker is taped down and this will be properly repaired tomorrow.  It's always something.

I See Paint Specks In My Future...

Back To The Old Grind!  (This is WAY better than painting with a roller!)

Is Your Old Nu-Tone Fan Running Slow?

These old fans seem to run forever, but eventually you will hear them struggling to come up to speed.  Don't torture these fine little fans by running them on dry bearings; take them down and oil them.  When you take the cover off yourfan, you will find that you unplug the fan and loosen some screws to take it down.

Put a finger over the little washer as you work it off, or you will be looking for it on your shop floor.

It's a brushless motor in a can.

Use a screwdriver and a small hammer to push the indents back.

Pop one of the endplates loose. 

There is a thin washer that goes between the felt and the bearing.  Capture it with a small screwdriver...

...and slip it back over the motor shaft.

Oil the bearing and soak up the wick.  Replace this end and repeat on the other end of the motor.

Put it all back together and test the motor before you stick it back in the ceiling.  Mr. C's Super Sekrit Gun Oil is super slick, and really hangs onto parts.  Use it straight, or add it to your favorite electric motor oil for some Super Sekrit enhancement.