I'm the same. I've got spare roofing shingles, bathroom tiles and a few other odds and ends stored in the attic, just in case.
Your recent repair? 2013 - 2020
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I'm the same. I've got spare roofing shingles, bathroom tiles and a few other odds and ends stored in the attic, just in case.
Mr._Graybeard
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The hinge and display cover on my HP Pavilion 15 laptop broke. Oh joy, a replacement cover for the laptop is over $100 if you can find one ... I stumbled across a used Pavilion cover with new beefier hinges for $45. Still a lot of money for a chunk of plastic, and it doesn't fit the display exactly ... but that's why duct tape was invented.
I suspect these are popular replacement parts ... poor design from HP.
I suspect these are popular replacement parts ... poor design from HP.
My car had a engine check light for a while due to a MAF fault. Now it needs to pass an emissions check to get a license renewal. I found, & fixed, a corroded ground connection, which fixed the MAF, but now there was an EVAP fault. Had to partially drop the gas tank to get at & replaced the EVAP vent valve. Thought it was fixed. Failed the emissions check cus it hadn't been driven enough to complete running EVAP tests. Drove it a couple days to accumulate some miles. Oops the check engine light is on again. Same EVAP code. Drove it to empty the gas tank. Let it sit a week or so till I feel inspired to work on it again. Started it up to put it in the detached garage on the lift. Our local woodchuck has struck again. It blew out all the transmission fluid on the drive way. Transmission cooler line hose, apparently chewed open. Had to use a come along winch to pull it into the garage on the lift. To be continued. Side issue, I sold my truck for $1500. To not own a truck is a quality of life enhancement. Using my minivan till the car is fixed.
John Galt III
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Mysterious French door leak into house, episode xxx. I was able to get water to enter the house by placing moderate flow from a hose onto one small area next to the corner of the door. So this is the entry point!! (Or, at least one of possible many entry points, ugh). Will be concentrating on this 'entry point' alone for a while, and see what happens.
John Galt III
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Thatguy, why is the quality of life better without a truck? No one asking favors? Don't have to repair it any more?
Sunset
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I think having fewer vehicles is less maintenance, especially if they are old vehicles.
Kwirk
Full time employment: Posting here.
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I prefer to rent a truck for the rare times that I really need one, once or twice per year. No money 'invested,' no insurance, no excise tax, no maintenance. Home Depot rents them for $20, IIRC.
YMMV, especially if you have a boat or travel trailer. I don't have those things for much the same reasons.
YMMV, especially if you have a boat or travel trailer. I don't have those things for much the same reasons.
Souschef
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I have an older Sears 12 V cordless drill. One of the batteries shorted and burned up the charger.
Went on line and found the charger was obsolete
. Also the replacement batteries were $50!
As luck had it, eBay had a complete set for $27. I took the old charger apart and found the burned resistor. DW said I should toss it, but I said, I have 50 years in Engineering, and if I cannot fix a PC board with 3 components, I will hang it up"..
Upshot was I ordered replacement resistors, and now I have 2 chargers. for 3 batteries, which should be more than enough.
Went on line and found the charger was obsolete
. Also the replacement batteries were $50!As luck had it, eBay had a complete set for $27
. I took the old charger apart and found the burned resistor. DW said I should toss it, but I said, I have 50 years in Engineering, and if I cannot fix a PC board with 3 components, I will hang it up"..Upshot was I ordered replacement resistors, and now I have 2 chargers. for 3 batteries, which should be more than enough.
I originally bought a pickup truck when my old car was replaced just because they are so convenient to have, and to haul larger sized radio control model airplanes. Of course I bought a fiberglass cap to put over the truck bed.
At the time I was freshly divorced and had no interest in becoming entangled with any ladies. One of the guys at work asked in amazement "You're going to go out on dates with a pickup truck?" I said "Sure. And if one of them doesn't want to go out with me because of the pickup truck that's fine. It'll save us both a lot of bother."
The future DW-to-be didn't mind the pickup truck at all. She liked it even better than her car because the truck had A/C and her car didn't. Even now she wants to always have a pickup truck although she never drives it.
And people asking to borrow it or asking me to help them move has never been an issue. In the last 35+ years I helped one friend move a couch, and one family member in a move, and I didn't mind either one.
At the time I was freshly divorced and had no interest in becoming entangled with any ladies. One of the guys at work asked in amazement "You're going to go out on dates with a pickup truck?" I said "Sure. And if one of them doesn't want to go out with me because of the pickup truck that's fine. It'll save us both a lot of bother."
The future DW-to-be didn't mind the pickup truck at all. She liked it even better than her car because the truck had A/C and her car didn't. Even now she wants to always have a pickup truck although she never drives it.
And people asking to borrow it or asking me to help them move has never been an issue. In the last 35+ years I helped one friend move a couch, and one family member in a move, and I didn't mind either one.
Mr._Graybeard
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Those EVAP leaks are a pain, most of all because they usually have no impact on how the car/truck is running. The first thing to replace is the gasket on the gas cap, of course, but after that the tiniest of leaks at a hose-tubing junction can set a code. The leak can set one of several codes, and the specific code number can help you narrow down the location of the leak.
NW-Bound
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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I have not had a pickup for decades. I now use a 4'x8' trailer when I need to haul something bulky.
calmloki
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Last winter our gas furnace (buried under the floor) failed a week before we left for Cali. Wood heat and a milk house heater got us through. This summer decided to get it fixed. Three weeks after someone said my diagnosis of a failed exhaust inducer motor sounded right I called to find out where he was. He'd said he would order one up to match the motor label I'd crawled under and shot when trouble shooting. He now claimed that our 20 year old Rheem furnace was obsolete and the motors were no longer available, so... That didn't sound right to me, so I Googled it and ordered a direct replacement. Crawled under and installed and it didn't work. Until I reviewed pictures of vacuum lines and checked the old motor for the hidden vacuum nipple. Crawled under and made the proper missing connection and all is well.
I tried to hire the work out and get someone else to do it, I really did.
I tried to hire the work out and get someone else to do it, I really did.
Sunset
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Good Job !
I had replaced out furnace motor about 7 years ago, thinking I might get another few years out of it, but it's been better than that
ERD50
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I bought one of these 5 years ago. A free app on your phone or tablet will connect over bluetooth. It gives you the codes (and lots more!), allows you to reset, and best of all - will tell you if the codes are 'ready" after a reset, so you don't waste a trip to the testing station.
At $13, so much better than the purpose built code reader I bought earlier.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051CAE1C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
And for a somewhat humorous recent 'repair' -- DW told me her car started making a weird screeching noise, totally random. Hmmm, not good. Car is 8 years old, low miles, and she likes it doesn't care about a new car now, so I got to look into this.
Later, I needed to borrow her car, and she reminded me of the noise. OK. I get up to highway speed, no issues, then suddenly, a pretty loud screech/squeal. Really weird, can't connect in my mind what this could be. But I focus, and it seems to be coming from the passenger door. I'm thinking maybe the window motor is stick and running, and stripping out gears? Hmmm.
So I hit the window switch, it rolls down a bit, seems OK, I roll it up, and I can tell it went up a little further than it came down - and the noise stops!
Hah! All it was was the window being a little open, just need to be shut/seated completely. But the sound was weird, not really a typical wind noise from a cracked open window at all, it must have just resonated right to squeal.
But I got to tell DW that I fixed her car, as I drove 55 mph down the highway!
-ERD50
NW-Bound
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My brother told me our mother drove her car to his house once, asking for him to look it over as it drove terribly and noisy. It turned out that one of her rear windows was down.
Some time earlier, I had to diagnose "engine noise" like that for her earlier car. That time, her driver glass window was not raised all the way, just like in your case.
Some time earlier, I had to diagnose "engine noise" like that for her earlier car. That time, her driver glass window was not raised all the way, just like in your case.
The belt mouldings (exterior weather-stripping) on my 4Runner drivers door and liftgate were dry-rotted so I ordered them from the dealer. They quoted me $60 each for labor to install them for a total of $120. I looked them up on-line and was able install them both myself in about 5 minutes. The liftgate took all of a minute to complete and that's being generous.
ls99
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My Samsung dryer's drum refused to turn. Just a bit of hum from the innards. Considered dumping it for a short while. A few months ago I had to repair the drum, as it was cracked. Twice. The engine block epoxy repair has held up, so the drum is functional.
Slept on the problem. Next day decided to try and figure out what is actually wrong.
Slowly rotate drum, it has load on it, so belt is good.
Hit power button, then hold door open and push on the door close switch, the hum is louder. Give a long nudge to the drum, and it starts rotating, thus the motor is driving it. Diagnosis: Bad start winding. Repeat nudge start a few fitems to confirm.
Yep, bad start winding. It is not a capacitor start motor.
Decided that hauling it to a dump, looking for a used one on craigslist, go look, haggle, haul home is actually a lot more hassle than ordering and replacing motor.
Ordered motor, arrived two day later. Labor to dis-assemble, R&R motor, re-assemble, a little over an hour. Included vacuuming out the fuzzies and collecting $1.20 change from the enclosure.
Plug back in, push pwer on, select a mode, close door and it is running. Thus all is well.
Slept on the problem. Next day decided to try and figure out what is actually wrong.
Slowly rotate drum, it has load on it, so belt is good.
Hit power button, then hold door open and push on the door close switch, the hum is louder. Give a long nudge to the drum, and it starts rotating, thus the motor is driving it. Diagnosis: Bad start winding. Repeat nudge start a few fitems to confirm.
Yep, bad start winding. It is not a capacitor start motor.
Decided that hauling it to a dump, looking for a used one on craigslist, go look, haggle, haul home is actually a lot more hassle than ordering and replacing motor.
Ordered motor, arrived two day later. Labor to dis-assemble, R&R motor, re-assemble, a little over an hour. Included vacuuming out the fuzzies and collecting $1.20 change from the enclosure.
Plug back in, push pwer on, select a mode, close door and it is running. Thus all is well.
Had this done 4 years ago. The original 29 year old unit is still cooling our 3000+ home, although I admit on the 90+ degree stretches sometimes it struggles to keep up.
Figure one more fill might be worth it, then a full replacement. Any idea how long the fill lasts? I suppose it depends on usage and potential leak. my guy came back and said no leak, so therefore warranty would not cover a new unit. Kinda pissed me off at the time, but the house is still cooled, just not efficiently.
fixed my washer's bearing...that was a fun one. Side load so all the spindle weight crushed the bearing seal and allowed water seapage. Eventually it sounded like a brick was in there.
Replaced dryer wheels, sounded like a mouskateers concert when we dried clothes.
Snapped a bolt on the treadmill, needed to fix that.
Garbage disposal became lodged, had to dislodge.
Hmmm what else...that was last week, can't wait to see what this week brings.
Replaced dryer wheels, sounded like a mouskateers concert when we dried clothes.
Snapped a bolt on the treadmill, needed to fix that.
Garbage disposal became lodged, had to dislodge.
Hmmm what else...that was last week, can't wait to see what this week brings.
Ed B
Recycles dryer sheets
The 40 year old Magic Chef bit the dust. It's hard to believe standard double oven standard sizes changed over 40 years.
We went with a Whirlpool 24 wide x 46 high. Had to have cabinet makers come in and modify the opening and redo the small cabinets below.
I hated spending the money but we love the new oven.
We went with a Whirlpool 24 wide x 46 high. Had to have cabinet makers come in and modify the opening and redo the small cabinets below.
I hated spending the money but we love the new oven.
Music Lover
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Investigated a spongy floor in the bathroom at GF's cabin...initially suspected water damage but after crawling underneath (the cabin is 3 feet off the ground) it turned out that the tongue on a piece of tongue and groove plywood had failed. I glued and screwed a piece of 2x8 between the joists at the seam of the plywood and that solved the problem. It's nice when the fix is less work that expected and only takes 10 minutes
It's a rare moment, savor it!It's nice when the fix is less work that expected and only takes 10 minutes
Ronstar
Moderator Emeritus
Put a tube in one of my riding mower front tires that goes flat on a weekly basis. Tried to get the tire off the wheel, (following youtube instructions) but I couldn't get the tire off due to the wheel being so small. But I was able to manipulate the tire on the wheel and create enough space to jam the tube between the tire and wheel. Pumped it with air and all is well.
finished flooring
Finally put in the last board. We laid engineering hardwood over our 1st floor. This was the last piece of about 1600 sq ft. While it was expensive, the DeWalt electric staple floor gun made it a lot easier than the old pneumatic mallet nailers.
Finally put in the last board. We laid engineering hardwood over our 1st floor. This was the last piece of about 1600 sq ft. While it was expensive, the DeWalt electric staple floor gun made it a lot easier than the old pneumatic mallet nailers.
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