Miscellaneous
Anything else that needs (?) logging, but that doesn't deserve a page
of its own, is here.
Friday, December 15, 2000
I hung up a string of Christmas lights in the bedroom, draped from
pre-existing plant hooks and the ceiling fan. Wedding decor, very
festive! They're intended to welcome my bride home tomorrow. They're
tapped into the Variac that runs the lamp on the headboard, so they
can be dimmed too.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
We got maybe 2' of snow yesterday and today. Fortunately it was
powder, so the power is generally on around here, though the roads are
largely impassible—especially ours. We're not going anywhere
soon. I spent the day trying to get the $75 Gilson snowblower I got
at Goodwill years ago running again. It keeps stripping the bronze
gear in the auger drive. Said gears were once a relatively
inexpensive service part, as they were sacrificial, but are long
unavailable at a decent price. (They want $70 for mine.) I've been
trying to make new teeth on it with the acetylene torch and a brazing
rod. I made new bumps, then cut, filed, and sanded tooth profiles on
it. Then I got it all put back together, especially that wretched
drive belt that's so hard to fit. I had to weld a crack that was
starting in the fan chamber.
It fired up fairly easily considering it hadn't run in several years,
a little ether works wonders. I fed it to the snow, and I got maybe a
couple of feet in before the gear stripped again. Crap. All that
work for nothing. The 5 HP Briggs motor runs very well,
it would even idle nice and slowly. I should have taken the $50 I was
offered for it when I took the thing in to see about a new gear a few
years ago. (They wanted the motor. That place is out of business
now, or I'd be trying to take their offer. Snowblowers are going for
a premium right now, and I bet parts on the hoof to fix one would be
welcome too.) I have spent countless hours trying to repair that
gearbox, but I think I have to give up now. If I had a milling
machine I could try to make a proper new gear, but failing that I
think we're done.
In lieu of using the machinery I did a bunch of shoveling. We figured
out why the dog wasn't sleeping in its Dogloo, the entrance was
completely blocked by snow! We've had maybe half the usual annual
snowfall here in the last day, it's record-setting. (But they've only
been tracking it since 1889 or so.)
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
The Fluke IR probe has been flakey for some time now, and it wasn't
the battery. I opened it up to have a look. I found a solder whisker
shorting across the output terminals, I think that could explain its
sensitivity to the position of the battery and its wiring. I cleaned
off the whisker with a soldering iron, set the probe to Centigrade,
and put it all back together. The probe end is pretty elaborate. It
looks like it might have an emitter and a sensor, and there's a large
coil as part of the head assembly.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Some time ago I bought a Harbor Breeze ceiling fan at Goodwill, $15
with lights, and today I started installing it in the gazebo that's
out on the new deck. Everything was there except the mounting bracket
that the rod's ball hangs in, but of course it was all originally
intended to screw to a ceiling box and not into the single threaded
nut that's what's in the gazebo. Enter the acetylene torch and the
MIG welder. Using the dead spring and shackle bolts from the boat trailer rebuild, I made an "X" that lined up
with the screw holes in the shroud. I welded a dead metric capscrew
(originally from the 560 SEL's suspension pump)
that matched the gazebo's threads to the center of the "X". I welded
nuts to the X to take the screws through the shroud. I then hung a
circular ring (formed from another spring bolt) from a basket of old
framing nails such that the fan's hanger rod was happy. Another nail
welded in place gave it a guide to mate with the notch in the ball so
it wouldn't spin in the socket. After bending and forming I got it
all to fit together, then I hung the bracket from the gazebo. I
lashed each of the legs of the "X" to the gazebo frame to catch the
fan if the single bolt should ever break loose. I then assembled the
fan and hung it from the new mount, which was uneventful. For wiring
I dragged an old computer extension cord out of the junk pile, it was
black and quite long. One end was missing, so I wire-nutted that to
the fan. The other end I ran down the gazebo's metalwork to nearby
outlet, lashing it in place with black twist ties, and plugged it in
using a surplus computer power cord. (This extra joint is placed
where it is easy to reach, for enabling and disabling the fan.) Two
40 W candelabra-base bulbs completed the ensemble.
It all works well, but I think the fan needs a tiny bit more space
above it to get better airflow. I'll either extend the rod or the
basketwork at some point, I think I can add about 6" before it
gets low enough to be distressing.
It was slightly off balance, but the plastic spring clip used for
balancing worked well. It took some time to find the right place, but
it seems to have cured it. I replaced it with a stick-on weight from
the fan balancing kit.
[I later found the missing bracket in the trunk of the car I'd brought
the fan home in. Oops.]
Thursday, August 12, 2010
My Norelco Speedshaver (double-header) was crapping out again.
NORTH AMERICAN PHILIPS CO. INC.
TYPE SC7912
110V-6W-AC-DC ≅ 20'
HOLLAND
This was bought for my paternal grandfather in 1959 when he was in the
hospital just before he died. He never really used it, and I got it
at puberty. It's been a bit of a trial to keep it running all these
years, about 35 years of daily use, but it's a challenge I sometimes
enjoy.
I disassembled it (four screws, two of them under plastic plugs in the
whisker chamber) and put the dirty non-electric stuff in the
ultrasonic cleaner, it was desperately in need of this. The brushes
are worn down again, which is what is keeping it from running right.
BTDT. I need 2.5×4 mm brushes, about 10 mm long.
They're hard to find, I used to scavenge them out of other same-model
thrift shop shavers, but that supply dried up years ago. I'll
probably have to file something else down.
After work I went to the hardware store (Argonne & Montgomery, the
one I work next to no longer carries brushes) and bought a big brush
(1×5/8×5/16") that should be able to be cut down into
several of these. About $5. We'll see how it goes.
Friday, August 13, 2010
I used the Delta scroll saw to cut two brushes from the face of the
big brush, it came out that I got two side-by-side from one
2.5 mm slice off the face. Perfect. But they're too long as it
turns out, so I cut one in half and used it, leaving one spare. I
then reassembled the shaver, using 70W synthetic gear oil as
lubricant, and tried it out. Works fine again. The brush makings
will go into the shaver's case under the sink.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Went to Olga's (a co-worker's) property north of Deer Park and picked up
some downed aspen (or birch). We took the car trailer. About 2
cords' worth, and largely dry already. Was a very nice day for such
activity, the family had a good time I think. This should ensure that
we have enough wood for this Winter.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Jill's private oboe student showed up with a new Accent oboe. The
joints 'caught' going together the last little bit, and were very
difficult to break apart. This was of concern to all. I measured the
tenon and socket and determined that the inside part of the tenon and
the outside part of the socket were interfering as the joint seated
home. (The corked center is turned down a bit, and can't be at
fault.) I filed the outer 1/8" of the socket using a fine riffler,
gently and with several passes, to loosen the fit slightly. That
seems to have done the trick. I tried to err on the side of not
enough, we can always take off a bit more later. This oboe was (near
as we can tell) the OB790G, a $2,000 horn that's made in East Germany,
out of Buffet's Greenline material. It's on indefinite loan from her
uncle, who has some connection with some school somewhere. (It is
possible that it wasn't the G model as they appear to have a W suffix
in their product line that stands for wood, which means there may be a
suffix-less number for regular plastic, but their web site only has
two G models listed for oboes. The horn itself didn't have a
recognizable model number on it, so I'm not really sure. I haven't
handled any Greenline instruments personally, so I don't have that to
compare to. It was obviously plastickey, with a brushed grain
texture. If it were not Greenline I'd expect it to cost somewhat
less.)
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
We bought an entertainment center at the thrift shop. Not quite the
styling we were looking for, but not too bad. (Dark oak and leaded
glass.) It's just the right size, anyway. We've been looking for
awhile, and finding nothing that was just right. (Cherry finish,
Mission styling, tall.) If we're going to compromise anyway, a used
(inexpensive) unit is much more palatable than a new one. It's about
4' high, and 5' wide, so it's got a very nice big space on top for a
medium-large flat panel display. All the AV equipment will fit easily
into it.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Got the truck emptied out and swept, and unhooked from the car
trailer, so Jill picked up the entertainment center. Got the
neighbors (K's) to help carry it up the stairs and in, it was more
than Jill and I could handle by ourselves.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Installed the A/V equipment in the new entertainment center. The back
is open and it's on wheels, so it was fairly straightforward to get
everything hooked up and then rolled back into its niche. There was
about an inch on each side to the walls.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
I adjusted and tidied up the door hardware. The TV hole hinges are
nice German ones, they are screw-adjustable for positioning. I used a
chisel to remove the excess polyurethane glue where somebody had
repaired a door that got broken. The unit is not top-of-the-line
furniture, but it's definitely a step or two up from the bottom.
I finished repairing the collapsed stacks in the wood pavilion. Ready
to begin loading in the new wood, once I think it'll stop drying out
in the windrows.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
I replaced one of the downstairs 'hallway' globe lamps today. It's
been in daily use since I bought the house in 1993, and who knows for
how long before that. Impressive. Sylvania, 60 W 130 V.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Today they finished up the driveway revamp. (All I did was pay for
it.) It came out to about $5100, which is more than I'd expected.
Imagine that. There was a lot of digging and grading
required, though. It's nearly 1' deep in places, asphalt chunks
(cobble) topped with 100 tons of recycled asphalt. It's black, and
tamps down well.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
First fire of the home heating season. I'm surprised she hadn't
started already. (She's less tolerant of cool interior temperatures
than I am.)
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Got all the firewood finally loaded into the wood pavilion. About ten full stacks,
total, and the shed's nearly full. With great effort one could maybe
get twelve full stacks into it, but that would be difficult, and a bit
dangerous. We started with 1.5 stacks leftover from last year, and
had three long rows drying outside. They extended from about the end
of the terrace by the steps to the center of the middle garage. Will
need to get about that much each year, I'd say.
The wood outside got wet, in spite of the tarp. (It was kind of
leaky.) I'll need to get started loading it into the shed earlier
next time. I'd left it outside to take advantage of the usual
September weather, but it got wet at the end, and October was also
wet, and I lacked time. The extra drying time was, I'm sure, more
than offset by the water that got onto and into the wood; some of it
is quite wet.
If I could just get ahead of the game enough to get really
dry firewood to burn, I'd probably need less per year. Less work,
total, if I can just get on top of the chore and stay there. Yeah,
that'll happen...
Thursday, November 18, 2010
First snow. 1" or so.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
I'd been wanting to put shelves in the garage over the door into the
house since I bought the place, as that spot over its stairwell was
just this vast unusable cobweb collector. Today I finally did
something about it. Yesterday I'd bought some metal shelf brackets,
the cheap zigzag ones, and I put them up today. I used the leftover
plywood from the rickety corner storage shelf I'd torn down recently
(and replaced with a Gorilla Rack) for the shelves. To access the
shelves I built a hinged platform out of the plywood and some scrap
2×4's. It drops down from against the wall, bridging the
stairwell to the utility room and giving easy access to the new
shelves. That'll help a lot.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
0 °F and a foot or so of snow on the ground, it sure would be
nice to have the snowblower working! Monday I'd gotten a start on it,
but there was a lot more to do. Today I took apart the gearbox and
dug out all the brass-filled grease. I put the gearbox back together
with the new gear in place and reinstalled it into the machine, with a
fresh load of grease, but it didn't really want to start after that.
It was really cold, which didn't help, nor did the very stale gas in
the tank. I filled the tank with fresher fuel and sprayed some
starting ether into it to juice it up, then sprayed some into the
spark plug hole. I also used the propane torch to heat the head. I
finally got it firing, roughly, but it never really wanted to take
off, and had no power. I used most of a can of starting ether getting
and keeping it running until it was finally somewhat self-sustaining.
It backfired once and caught the starting fluid on fire, which was a
bit of a thrill considering that it was the exterior of the fuel tank
that was burning. Powder snow works as a fire extinguisher, though
you have to use a lot of it! Unfortunately you've then got
semi-melted snow packed into and refreezing in the works. It
was just pure joy all around, and then I ran out of time. Still no
idea whether or not the thing will work yet.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
I got the snowblower started again and noticed that I was again
smoking the belt. It's very hard to get the auger assembly in so that
the belt brake is in the right place. I figured out that the trick
is two screwdrivers: one to hold the brake 'off', and a
larger one slipped across the transmission pulley face to tip the
brake away from the drum. Once you do that it's possible to get the
belt installed in the right place fairly easily. I then tried it out.
It threw snow, but was anemic. After awhile it started running fairly
well, but was still not clearing well, and I eventually noticed that
the augers were on backwards! They were pushing the snow away
from the mouth of the blower. That explained a lot. So I got to take
it apart again, and put the augers on the right way around.
The engine seemed 'slow', so I found that I could bend the far side
support of the throttle spring to make the spring tighter, which
raised the RPM. I then adjusted the mixture and idle screws for best
effect. Finally this thing was starting to throw some snow!
I cleared the driveway and as much of the walkway and parking pad that
I could, given that there were cars on the way and a lot of
tromped-down icy paths. Near the end of the job I managed to catch a
piece of hidden Trex in the augers, which beat them to pieces.
Literally. I got out the BFH's and two big crescent wrenches and bent
things back into shape, then welded the breaks back together. Looks
less pretty than it did, but seems to work. I then finished the job.
At the end the muffler fell off, the screws had backed out. (I only
recovered one of the two, it's possible that one had been gone for
some time.) It didn't run right when it was breathing its own
exhaust. I shoveled the remainder, and then moved on to deep-frying
the turkey. Clearing the snow was to allow our guests to arrive
easily.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Broke into the third stack of firewood (of ten) this morning. (The
first true full-height stack, but I estimate that we've used the
equivalent of one full-height and one short stack to this point.)
Since we started burning on October 12 that's
about one stack per month; we've had some cold weather and, due to
guests, a couple of weeks of heating the downstairs too. Not bad! On
the other hand we didn't need to heat much at first, and it took
nearly the first month to get all the wood into the shed to
quantify, so that first month might not actually count much. At
closer to two stacks per month I'm less happy, but we should
still be fine.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
The last of the outside Christmas decorations is up. A few days ago
at the thrift shop I found a set of Musical Christmas
Bells, model MB9-C from 1989. (Hong Kong's Capricorn
Electronics, Made in China.) $2. These are real brass bells, nine of
them in a string, with a small controller box powered by a 12 V
wall wart that drives the solenoid clappers in the bells. What
distinguishes these from the usual schlock is that the twelve carol
arrangements are rather nicely done, much like you might hear a
(small!) bell choir perform. (I've seen a lot of junk since then with
molded plastic bells with speakers in them, complete with a bad light
show and greeting-card sound quality. Ugh.
These were a class act, although they are a bit on the
fragile side—the clappers often need adjusting after they're
handled.) These seem to have entirely disappeared from the
marketplace. I did see one set of these, the exact same set, on eBay
for $75. (A 12-bell set claimed that the original price sticker was
$85.)
I remember being very taken with these when they came out, enough so
that I'd bought a set as a gift for my parents even though they were
kind of expensive for a Christmas decoration. ($50? More?) They'd
hung them out in the utility room in a garland over the doorway to the
garage. The bells sounded lovely—the first few times 'round!
But it gets old fast. At least they still looked good even when
unplugged. When I bought these Jill was extremely emphatic that they
were not to go anywhere inside. Hey, honey, trust me. If
she would have asked, or even listened, I would have told her what I
was thinking.
I liked the bells, a lot, but a small dose is sufficient. At my
parents' they were far too close to the action. Eventually
someone would step out of the kitchen in desperation and yank the plug
on the things. Sometimes to applause. My idea was to hang
them outside, out where you park. When party guests arrive
they can be captivated by the bells for the little bit of time they're
willing to stand outside in the cold listening, but once inside
they're well away from the racket. Less is more. This morning I hung
them out under the eave of the new garage; the bells aren't rated for
outdoor duty but they should be well protected there. After adjusting
the clappers (again!) they cycled through their tunes. They sounded
very nice, I think Jill might not even mind them there. Daniel
thought that they were kind of cool, too.
Turns out my dad threw away their set of bells, they'd stopped working
and after mom died there was no champion there to protect them. I bet
I could have fixed them, but he was sick of the things. (I'd have liked
them for spares...)
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Yesterday I bought another flange bolt at the hardware store ($1.40,
rapacious!), today I reinstalled the muffler on the snowblower. I had
to remove three head bolts to get the shroud off so that I could reach
the bolt heads. I used a bit of anti-sieze on the muffler bolts.
Monday, December 20, 2010
About 3" of snow today. I fired up the snowblower (second pull,
with ether) and it was working pretty well, but I was catching a lot
of gravel. I cleared the pad and then started down the driveway. Not
even all the way to the end it started making scraping noises and
throwing sparks. One of the welds had broken on one of the fan
blades, and it had thrown against the throat and was scraping away. I
was short of time, and so ran it back and parked it. I think it'll be
easy to weld back. I also lost a pivot screw on the choke lever.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
We got about a foot of snow while we were gone. Today I fixed up the
snowblower again: welded the fan blades, replaced the missing choke
screw, and put back the original muffler bolt, which fell out of a
crevice in the engine where it had been hiding. I also set down the
skid plates, to try to avoid the gravel. All back together I then
cleared the driveway as best I could, but because it had been driven
on substantially since the snowfall it wasn't easy, nor well done.
Still, it beats a shovel. Nothing bad happened this time, for a
change.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Broke into the fourth stack of firewood (of ten) this morning.
Another full-height one. (You have to crack the next stack before you
finish the one in front of it, because they're too tall to reach the
top unless you stand on the depleted stack's remnants.)
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
More snowblower. The auger seemed to stall at times, I don't know if
it's the seriously-damaged belt slipping, or if it's the gearbox
again.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Broke into the fifth stack of firewood (of ten) this morning.
Another full-height one. About three weeks per stack burn rate?
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Started on next stack of firewood today, #6 of 10, a short one. We
were away (Disneyland) for most of a week last month, but there were
a couple of weeks of arctic blast too so it balances out. The bulk of
the wood in the last stack was partially-rotted but dry fir. A pain
to handle, and buggy, but it heated well.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Broke into the next stack of firewood today, #7 of 10, a tall one.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Picked up the first firewood for next year, filled the pickup and the
car trailer with some of a 100-year-old maple the relatives in Walla
Walla were forced to cut down. (It was starting to threaten the
house.) Heavy!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Today I noticed that we've finally lost a light bulb in the strand of
Christmas lights I'd hastily hung as temporary
welcoming wedding decor. Well, we liked the effect so after more than
ten years of daily use we finally lost a bulb. Running on a Variac
dimmer really helps extend incandescent bulb life! (They're usually
on all night at a very low level, as a nightlight. When they [and
the reading light] are on at a higher level it's usually about 80% or
so, which I've found provides adequate light yet really extends the
life of the 100 W bulb in the reading light.)
Sunday, June 5, 2011
The water pump has been short-cycling for quite some time now, and the
weather was finally nice enough to encourage tackling such
non-emergency projects. I got out the air hose and coupled it to the
pressure tank, and refilled it with air. This needs to be done a time
or two per year, now. (It's an old-style non-bladder tank, and when
the water system was redone to have a cistern the old air-injection
valve in the well no longer did its job. [It was later removed
altogether when the original well pump went bad and was replaced,
along with several sticks of corroded well pipe.]) If/when the tank
is replaced with a bladder type this job should go away. OTOH,
bladder tanks don't last as long as the old style.
Details: I fire up the oilless air compressor and run hoses out to the
wellhouse. (Some are kept in the wellhouse, others are not.) I turn
off the pumps and open the yard hydrant to remove water pressure.
Once the pressure is down to a dribble I remove the screw-in Schrader
air valve on the pressure switch pipe and replace it (9/16" wrench)
with a fitting that mates with the air hoses, and then jam the air
hose on. (You get a bit wet at this step, it's nice to have a warm
day for the operation.) Once air starts coming out the yard hydrant I
reverse the procedure and fire up the pressure pump again, and put
everything back away 'til next time.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
We have a lemonade dispensing tub in our party supplies, a Tablecraft
953, which got badly cracked while stored outside over the winter. I
used a Mini-weld III (Urethane Supply Company) airless plastic welder
that I got at the thrift shop, using the closest match rod that was in
the kit. (The kit's current equivalent seems to sell for about $200,
I got this one for $15.) It seems to work! I repaired the cracks in
the tub and filled it with water to see if it leaked. It didn't.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
My Dad's going to Ireland this Fall and we were discussing small
tripods. Recently I ran across a vintage Kalimar PE-8 tripod, which
is intriguingly small and was only $4. It's also all metal, except
for the plastic knob on the operating handle, yet still light. It,
however, was missing the camera screw. It will extend to about 4' in
height, with the geared center post extended. It's quite flimsy at
full extension, but at minimum extension (for use on a table) it is
quite nice. I thought it would make a nice gift, if I can replace the
camera screw.
I found a nice Allen capscrew with knurled sides in the junk box, and
re-threaded it 1/4-20, which is a close-enough match to the
camera-standard 1/4-20 Whitworth thread. I disassembled the tripod
head and drilled and threaded the hole in the top of the tripod, then
ground off the screw's neck threads so that it wouldn't grab in the
top once the screw was in. I also had to grind the length down some
so it wouldn't bottom in the test camera. Due to its length the
capscrew cannot be removed from the head except through a hole in the
disassembled head, so it won't go anywhere. The threads are a bit of
a mess, and the knurled head is too small, but I think it'll work for
whenever it's needed. It looks nice enough, anyway.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
The wind took out the lemonade tank again. While I was fixing a piece of Jill's 560 SL I fixed the tank again. I must
learn to be more careful stowing it, I doubt it's got much life left
in it at this point!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
A new sprinkler system has been commercially installed with the new
lawn (and landscaping). They reused what was reusable of my original
installation, which had been ruined when the West Wing was
constructed. (The dug-up original control cable is intact on the
surface of the dirt along the west wall, 'til about midway. The
apparently-intact cable from the valve box surfaced near the
north-side window of the music room. They spliced in a new piece of
cable between these points, the northern splice is in an underground
box beneath the window.) All worked when operated manually, but there
were some problems when I turned on the timer. Three circuits (of
six) were inoperative:
- Circuit #2, the red (#2) wire, was cut. Testing at the two cable
splices determined that it was cut somewhere under the dirt
between the valve box and where the (dug-up, snagged) wire
surfaced at the northern edge of the West Wing. Replaced with the
spare White (#9) wire in the cable.
- Circuit #3, the orange (#3) wire, had broken off its valve body
again due to all the handling required by manual valve operation
during the new installation. I scraped and soldered it back on as
best I could. (Again, and for probably the last time.)
- Circuit #5, the green (#5) wire, also was cut. Same deal as #2,
and the fix was the same. Replaced with the spare Gray (#8) wire
in the cable.
We're down to only one spare wire (#7, purple) in the cable! Given
that there are two broken wires it is probable that the waterproof
sheath is open underground, and not too unlikely that the inner
insulation is compromised on currently-working wires. We shall see!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
The well ran dry this morning. The new-lawn watering schedule uses
6× the amount of water as normal. (1 hour
[15 minutes/circuit] every other day versus 20 minutes
[5 minutes/circuit] every two hours from 8:30 AM
to 6:30 PM, for a total of 2 hours every day.)
There's no way we have enough water during Summer to put in new grass.
Which is why we called the landscaping company two months
ago, during our long wet Spring. They waited 'til it got hot before
they showed up, the jerks. We're probably going to have to let it die
and re-seed in the Fall. Just another dissatisfaction to add to the
(already rather long) list regarding this job.
I have completely stopped the watering system, I want to see how long
it takes until the cistern is replenished. (Jill has also suspended
laundry operations.) I should be able to maintain the non-lawn
watering schedule, but I'd like more baseline information.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Even with the watering system shut off it has taken 'til this morning
for the cistern to refill completely. (I've been checking twice
daily.) That is not good!
Monday, September 26, 2011
The Kenmore dryer (Model 110.76930100, Serial F83818628) has been
making dire noises again for awhile, today I pulled it apart. The
last time it was one of the two drum support rollers. As it is this
time! (The other one, I hope, but I no longer remember. The dead
roller was the one on the cantilevered pin over the motor, not the one
with a support bracket on the other side.) Anyway, as usual I took it
apart too far, before I figured out what I should have done. In fact
for this kind of thing there's no necessity even to pull it out from
the wall. The top pries up after removing two Philips screws in the
screen well. Two more screws inside the top front and the face lifts
off, after you remove the safety switch wires to the door. You then
reach under the drum and disengage the belt from the motor, then the
drum comes out the front. From there you can reach everything. The
rollers are held on their posts with triangular nylon retaining clips,
which can be pried open, gently. The failing roller's center was
hogged out almost completely, there's a lot of debris sprayed around.
One of the two door support ropes is also broken, I'll try to see if I
can replace that too.
I hit the online parts sources, and found that Sears' own site was
kind of a pain. The prices weren't that great, either. PartSelect
was faster to navigate, and less money. One irritation is that
through them the rollers are only sold in 2-packs. Total $33,
shipped, for two rollers and a door cable.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
The dryer parts came yesterday, today I installed them. (The wheels
are FSP, labeled "Support", numbered 349241T code 110206, made in US.
Also marked 4391722 Rev. C, TM Whirlpool.) I only replaced the one
wheel, but I did clean and grease both axle pins. (Axle grease,
naturally.) The spare wheel is taped inside the cabinet for next
time. I had a close look, and the dead wheel is also labeled FSP, so
I guess it's the replacement from last time. The door cable (#230131)
was easy to replace, just clip it in and hook up the spring.
Reassembly was mostly uneventful, and it again works quietly. I did
get the belt cocked off of its idler roller the first time, but it
didn't sound or track right and it was easily put right. I don't
think any damage was done to the belt, but the belt is old and will
need replacement eventually.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Brought back another truck/trailer load of maple from Walla Walla.
The trip was uneventful. (Also brought back a nasty heirloom couch,
the kind that folds down into a bed. Said couch is what's to go under
the downstairs TV, up against the wall. Not really what I'd expected!
It was pretty musty, I left it un-tarped in the hopes that three hours
in the wind would do it some good.) Daniel and I unloaded the trailer
into the shed, the stackable stuff towards the back, the jumble
towards the front. There's still some unsplit rounds on the trailer,
and the truck's still loaded with jumble.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
I split the last of the unsplit firewood and stacked it in the shed.
We're up to 6.5 stacks, a bit light. But we have a huge jumble of odd
blocks and chunks to throw in front of the stacks, both what's in the
truck and the pile from the last trip. I think we'll be OK for the
winter, we just need to get it all inside the shed.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Jill and her friend Carolyn unloaded the truck into the shed while I
was at work. All that's left is to move the jumble pile into the shed
too.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
The last of the firewood is in the shed. I finished the seventh stack
with the more stackable pieces from what came off the truck, then
Daniel and I moved the jumble pile inside. It's easily two more full
stacks' worth, so we can safely say we've got nine stacks. Ten is all
we need in a winter, if we heat pretty exclusively with wood, and if
conditions are good and the maple is dry enough it should stretch
further, or if we end up using the furnace more. We shall see!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
It's been getting cold and I've been tidying up. I found a "Freeze
Cap" brand faucet
cover I'd gotten at the thrift shop. I installed it on the faucet
behind the house. It's intriguing because you screw a plastic
retaining ring to the wall and a styrofoam-lined plastic cap bayonets
to the ring. It's easy and quick to install and remove, and the
plastic outer shell is much more durable than the usual raw styrofoam.
The box it came in was styled like the 1970's, and was a bit tired,
but the cap was in perfect shape. It probably sat around a lot of
years. When was the last time you found what was essentially a cheap
piece of plastic crap that was made in the USA and not China? Looks
like they're still available online,
about $9. (No mention of manufacturing location.) I'd like one for
the front faucet too, but because it's a rock wall and the faucet
sticks out further than it ought to (since the brick was replaced
with a rock veneer) I don't think it'll work.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Snow on the ground this morning for the first time. It's been pretty
cold for nearly a month now, especially the last couple of weeks, and
we've been starting to burn wood. I suppose it will begin in earnest
soon...
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
I bought a Snap-On branded reel trouble light at the liquidation
outlet. The build quality looked decent, though this is a whored
badge job and doesn't carry the usual Snap-On lifetime warrantee.
Costco once carried these, it seems. The notable thing about this one
is that the fluorescent light housing was broken in half! Snapped
clean in half at the neck and the wires yanked out of the bulb socket,
however it looked repairable. I overpaid, $30, but it really did look
like it might be a nice light once repaired, and the cord reel was
metal and looked sturdy. I've wanted a second reel light for the new
garage for some time, to match (sort-of) the one I've had in the old
garage for years. (I later found that those lights were on clearance
for $20 at Costco at one point, so I really did overpay!)
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
I tested the Snap-On light's cord, it had power, so I took apart the
broken light and began gluing it back together. I used JB Weld
epoxy and some spring clamps to hold the pieces in position while the
glue cured. There wouldn't be any real strength to this repair at
this point, but it's a start. I took particular care to make sure no
glue got into the mating flanges of the housing halves where it would
interfere with reassembly.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
I took the Snap-On light's glued housing and fashioned some metal
spring clips (out of an old MB windshield wiper blade spine, they look
a little like box staples) that pinched the housing pieces back
together, bridging the glued breaks. These are very stiff and bite
into plastic bosses in the moldings. I then used JB Weld epoxy
to pot these six clips in position. This should provide some strength
to the repair. I also took apart the fluorescent light socket,
removing the broken spring clip connections to the bulb. I soldered
those back together and put the socket back together, then tested the
loose light guts. Worked great. We're almost there!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Now that the glue had cured enough to survive handling I reassembled
the Snap-On trouble light. It went together easily, and worked. I
put it out in the garage and hung it near the door, so it could also
be used on a car parked outside that bay. At that point I found,
though, that the cord reel is intermittent and only supplies power in
some positions. Great. I left the light on for a couple of days to
finish the glue cure, since it was so cold outside. (Below freezing.)
The light is a nice one, anyway, and will also work on the end of any
regular single-outlet extension cord.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
I used the repaired trouble light to see what I was doing out in the
cold and dark on the Chicken Wagon. (On the
end of an extension cord, its troublesome reel cord doesn't reach to
where the car is normally parked.) Worked great.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
We finally finished burning the jumble pile and started on the first
real stack of firewood. If we count the jumble as two stacks' worth,
this makes number three (of nine). Not a bad start, though
temperatures have been down into the teens lately.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Bought an Ariens ST824 snowblower at auction today,
from a row of nine consigned from some institution or another. $150.
Model 924050, Serial 075104. Made somewhere between 1980–1991.
Needs some TLC, last servicing marked on it was 2007. It had
compression, and oil, but no fuel. We cranked it over with the
plug-in electric starter and it seemed OK. I pulled the plug and
found that it had spark once you unplugged the key ignition switch
(for which there was no key, I'll probably replace it with a
weatherproof toggle), so I shot in some ether and put the plug back.
It fired for a moment, so I think the engine will be OK. The auger
turns, but I'm not sure about the state of the 5-speed transmission.
It needs some metal straightening up front, and some orange paint.
I hit the Ariens site and downloaded Owner's, Service, and Parts
manuals, the Owner's manual also has a Servicing section, which is
good because the Service manual can only be opened on a much newer
Acrobat than the one on the machine I normally use. I also asked them
how old it is. They replied back quickly that it was
made 8/20/1986.
A resource.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
I tipped the blower up on its nose and removed the access panel. The
inside looks well-greased and in good condition, though the friction
wheel is definitely worn. One of the drive chains had dropped off,
but I found its master link parts stuck to the cover with grease. It
should be repairable. The differential lock pin is very stiff, it
could use some oiling. So far, so good! Can't leave the blower up on
its nose too long or all the crankcase oil will drip out of the filler
spout, it doesn't seal perfectly.
I bought rattle-can paint at the hardware store. Primer, orange, and
black.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
I used a piece of wire to snake the high-speed chain back around its
sprockets, and re-pinned it with the master link. Looks good. I made
sure to put the clip on in the 'correct' direction. I then started
wire-brushing rust and paint flakes off of the scoop.
I printed out the Servicing section of the Owner's manual.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Since I had the Chicken Wagon out of the
garage for welding I took advantage of the vacancy and put the
snowblower in. I took off the scoop, following the directions, and
took it all apart. (Tip up on nose and remove the four bolts and then
the bottom plate. While I was there I loosened the idler sprocket and
tensioned the chains properly. I put it back down on its wheels then
removed the belt cover and detached the blower belt. I removed the
two heavy bolts that secure the scoop to the tractor, then tipped the
tractor back onto its handles, then lifted the scoop off of the hook
rod. I removed the auger/gearbox/impeller by removing the side plates
and the plate at the impeller, nine nuts. The auger assembly then
just pulled out, though not without some difficulty due to the
deformed scoop sides. I removed the scraper and shoes while I was at
it.)
First up was some anvil work to straighten out the scoop, the lips of
the scoop were bent back and out yet the side planes were, overall,
pushed in. Weird. There was a crack forming where the barrel joined
the scoop, so I welded that shut, and ground the beads down some. I
wire-brushed the scoop and its parts, washed them with TSP, then dried
them and started painting with primer. I hung them all from a heavy
wire in the garage to keep them off the floor, and turned on the
heater in the garage.
I removed one of the augers from its shaft, you have to drive out a
roll pin. I then straightened the bent tips on the anvil, then
wire-brushed off all the rust. It wasn't greasy, so I just started
painting it. I left the other auger on its shaft for reference, no
real reason not to do them sequentially. The gearbox seems good.
This Ariens is infinitely better constructed than the Gilson snowblower
I've been fighting for years. Solid.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
More paint. The orange is not covering nearly so well as the black.
The nice ash bucket Jill got me a few years ago was falling apart, the
ears where the handle's bail attached were merely spot-welded onto the
body, one spot each! I scraped paint off with a jackknife and used
the spot welder to reattach that ear, two spots on the still-intact
flap and four on the flap that fell off.
Broke into the next stack (#6) of firewood today. (Five more to go!)
Monday, February 13, 2012
I brushed off the impeller and gave it a coat of primer. I was out of
orange paint so the scoop didn't get another coat.
I bought another can of orange paint today, and put some on when I got
home at night.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
More paint. Just about time to start putting it back together again.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
The main toilet flapper broke. Again. The plug is in great shape but
its rubbery plastic attachment strap broke off. I'd first used a
screw through it, it rusted away. I then used a galvanized roofing
nail, it rusted away. Today's attempt is a piece of bent 10-ga copper
wire.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
I put the one auger back on the snowblower, I had to relieve the shaft
a bit with a file. I then took off the other auger, its roll pin was
a beast. Once I got it off I wire-brushed it, straightened the bent
tips on the anvil, and primed it. I emptied the second can of orange
paint on the scoop, I think I'll get one more.
...After work I bought more orange paint, and when I got home I put
another coat on the accessible parts of the scoop. The auger got its
first coat of black.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
The garbage can's plastic lid was all broken and caved in. You can't
get just a replacement lid and the can itself is just fine, and
expensive enough that I don't want to get another one just because the
lid is compromised. I used duct tape to tack it back into shape and
Shoe Goo to fix all the cracks. Once the glue on the top had set up I
used duct tape to cover it all, as Shoe Goo is not UV-resistant, and
turned it over and beaded the cracks on the bottom too. I used more
glue than I'd have liked but it seems solid now, and should hold up
for some time. Half a tube of glue is still a lot cheaper than a new
can.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Recently we've been having Spring-like coatless weather, but today a
storm hit. Sideways snow, etc., a truly miserable day. It was fairly
wet snow, though, and we got maybe 6" of the stuff, I figured
maybe it was time I finished putting the snowblower back together. It
went well enough, but I did break off one bolt that holds a bearing
collar together. I left off the scraper because of the gravel
driveway; the shoes are down all the way and I don't want any
scraping, in fact. I put in some oil and gas, and it started readily
with the electric starter. The engine RPM seemed a bit low, but it
otherwise worked pretty well. The drive was reluctant to go at first
but as it warmed up it worked well enough. The differential and tire
chains meant that it in fact worked very well for me, unlike my
experiences with the Gilson. I got the driveway cleared, this one did
more for me today than the Gilson ever did. I threw a lot of
rocks in spite of my care, and the new paint on the chute got pretty
scratched up. Oh well, practice will no doubt help that get better.
The lack of knobs on the primary controls was not much of an issue.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
More snow. The snowblower started on the first pull, and cleared the
driveway again without complaint. Nice.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Broke into another (#5, a short one) firewood stack today. We've just
finished the second load of maple we acquired, and are now into the
half-rotted stuff we got between the two hardwood loads, from the
neighbors. If lucky we won't have to dip into the rest of the maple
before it warms up.
Friday, April 20, 2012
My Norelco Speedshaver (double-header) was crapping out again. It
needed new brushes, and one of the E-clips retaining the motor shaft's
spring retainer had broken. I had an extra brush that I'd made the
last time, so that was OK. I tried taking a
spare clip from one of the broken parts shavers, but that clip broke
too. I couldn't find my pack of Harbor Freight E-clips, so I ended up
wedging a split lockwasher over the post and gluing it into place.
Tacky, but seems to have worked.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
The water pump has again been short-cycling for quite some time now,
winter was not a good time to go take care of that. (I get wet, every
time.) Seems to need it every six months? The procedure is now
different than last time, because yesterday I
stopped by Harbor Freight and bought a cheap lightweight 1/3 HP
oilless air compressor and a hose and fitting kit, both on sale, and a
1/4" ball valve (about $85 for all), and today I installed it.
This new compressor lives in the pumphouse permanently, and though
it's really underpowered it was cheap, and it's not like you have to
stand there and watch it work. (It's also oilless, which I suppose is
nice since this is our drinking water supply, after all. My
original plan had been to resurrect my old 'siezed' HF compressor for
this job, but when I finally opened it up I found the integrated motor
fried and the compressor intact. Scrap, in other words.) I replaced
the Schrader valve fitting at the pressure switch with a ball valve
and a male air coupling, and rigged out the hose and comressor with
suitable fittings. Now it only takes me about 20 seconds to get air
going into the tank rather than 20 minutes. Much faster, and I don't
get wet since I only open the ball valve after everything's coupled up
and the pressure is off the tank.
Details: I fire up the little oilless air compressor and couple it to
the tank's fitting with the coily yellow hose. I turn off the pumps
and open the yard hydrant to remove water pressure. Once the pressure
is down to a dribble I open the ball valve on the pressure switch
pipe, letting in the air. Once air starts coming out the yard hydrant
I close the valve, turn off the compressor, turn on the pumps, and put
the hose back away 'til next time. Because the tank pressure is then
below the safety threshhold I have to hold the pump switch on manually
while the pressure builds. I use a shelf bracket as a wrench, it
takes a lot of strain off my fingers, since pressure takes awhile to
build sufficiently to reach the automatic operation point.
Friday, May 18, 2012
The front screen door (wooden) was sagging a bit and hanging up. I
bought a small turnbuckle today and some screw eyes, and screwed the
eyes in the verticals in the center 'pane', diagonally oriented so
that tension would the low side up to eliminate the drag. I used
heavy wire to tie the turnbuckle into the center, then tensioned it.
Works great! It's adjustable, too, to adapt to future warping, and
the wire is thin and doesn't obscure much of the screen.
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