Your recent repair? 2013 - 2020

[Winemaker]

I recently found that moisture somehow had gotten into my wristwatch -- an old Timex Expedition - and the inside of the crystal was fogging up. I figured that could not be good for the mechanism. So I took the strap off, took the back cover off and put the watch in a plastic bag with a pack of silica gel dessicant overnight. That did the trick. I put everything back together and the watch is returned to normal.

Not a big repair, but someone might find it useful.

Uncooked rice will also work, even for cell phones left out in rain.

 

[sengsational]

Somewhere, sometime, someone will be very grateful that you posted that video. I know that I am grateful for all the people who do that and have saved me collectively thousands of dollars.

Me too. I've used SO many YouTube videos to save me money. But not only that, it's pretty darn cool to nail a problem with your own two hands (as readers of this thread well know).

My videos are varied, most are DIY home maintenance. I've made a decision to not get any kickbacks (even though they withhold functionality). I want to give it away; my tiny contribution to the world.

Like anywhere online, there are people who troll and say mean things. I don't let it bother me. If they like the video, great, if not, the Internet is a big place. And often when somebody posts a mean comment, other posters will spontaneously come to my defense

 

[ERD50]

Time will tell if this repair lasts, but I think I fixed my Harbor Freight air compressor. This is the little 'pancake-style' one I got on sale in 2013 for $40. I really like it because it is small and light, I only use it occasionally for my nail guns (they don't use a lot of volume of air).

The last couple times it took a looong time to get up to pressure. I took it apart yesterday, and looked at some you tube videos. I didn't find anything obvious, one connection seemed a bit loose, so maybe it was leaking as it filled (the tank maintained pressure, but this is before the check valve, so could be a problem still).

I pulled the head, was pretty clean, the reed valves appeared to be OK. I didn't realize at the time that you can pop that reed plate out of the top of the head (it is just sitting in there, with silicone gaskets in between, compressed by the head bolts). The piston has no wrist pin, so it swings in an arc over its stroke. The “piston ring” is apparently made of Teflon, and it is maybe 3/8” high and a 1/4” thick, and is rounded to seal as the piston moves through that arc.

Not sure if it is a good idea or not, but I put some white lithium grease on it (might just catch dirt? I don't see any filter on this thing)? And I put some pneumatic oil on the reeds and crank as best I could. Came right up to pressure in ~ 4 minutes, about like new (and what the label claims). Takes about 50~60 seconds to refill from low trip (~ 85#) to high shut-off (~110#).

They make a new one for ~ 3x the price, quieter and maybe better quality, but it's heavier. I'll just try to keep this running.

I don't see any air filter, and I didn't make a note of where the air comes in, but I think I'll try to rig something up.

A couple videos that show that head/piton/reeds:

https://youtu.be/v-4jWqmBzh4?t=354

https://youtu.be/kDR4t5f117k?t=1172

https://www.harborfreight.com/3-gallon-13-hp-100-psi-oil-free-pancake-air-compressor-61615.html

-ERD50

 

[Happyras]

I just repaired my Kubota BX1500 front axle differential days before my bi-lateral hernia surgery (which I am now on day 3 from recovery). Yes, it was a heavy lift but I was able to get it on a bench, tear it down and find the input shaft bearings were shot. Ground a few pounds off the bevel gears and destroyed the differential bearings. The dealer said it would likely be $2K to fix, but they were booked out a month. Kubota really makes money on parts. The little shaft with gear was $183 alone, but all in with new seals and bearings/gears I got it done for <$500 with oil and flushing oils. Since I was once a machine designer, it was fun seeing how poorly some things are designed to fail. The surgery went well...thank god for the On-Q pain pump!

 

[Happyras]

OH, I have to add why this failed. The whole front assembly pivots on a single 3/4 inch bolt/shaft which is sealed with two little o-rings. As this shaft wears in the bushings, it leaks quickly and the bearings all fail. A real spring supported seal or packing type seal might not have failed so easily. This is simply doomed to fail in time.

 

[Koogie]

Time will tell if this repair lasts, but I think I fixed my Harbor Freight air compressor. This is the little 'pancake-style' one I got on sale in 2013 for $40. I really like it because it is small and light, I only use it occasionally for my nail guns (they don't use a lot of volume of air).
-ERD50

Kudos. I know that you aren't the target market as a light user but last year I treated myself to one of the electric nail guns when it was on super sale (the Ryobi 18V model).

Love it. Slap in the battery and off you go. No hoses, no noisy compressor, no draining it after. Lots of power and the battery lasts a long time.

Food for thought if the repair doesn't last.

 

[ERD50]

Kudos. I know that you aren't the target market as a light user but last year I treated myself to one of the electric nail guns when it was on super sale (the Ryobi 18V model).

Love it. Slap in the battery and off you go. No hoses, no noisy compressor, no draining it after. Lots of power and the battery lasts a long time.

Food for thought if the repair doesn't last.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I don't think those were available back when I bought this in 2013. I recall looking at the nail guns that use a fuel canister and a battery to ignite a single shot piston, but they were big $.

There's nothing like a nail gun. I don't use it often, but it sure makes some jobs so much easier.

-ERD50

 

[freedomatlast]

Kudos. I know that you aren't the target market as a light user but last year I treated myself to one of the electric nail guns when it was on super sale (the Ryobi 18V model).

Love it. Slap in the battery and off you go. No hoses, no noisy compressor, no draining it after. Lots of power and the battery lasts a long time.

Food for thought if the repair doesn't last.

Yep, I have the DeWalt 18V battery powered nail gun I got slightly used on ebay for cheap. Great tool! Battery lasts a very long time and is interchangeable with my other DeWalt tools.

 

[cbo111]

For $20 you're back in business! When I see topics like "A/C Blew Up", and they immediately start pondering getting an entirely new system, I just shake my head. That's fine if they knew what went bad and if it was something that's not easy to repair or replace, but when they have no idea and just say "I got a good decade out of it". Yeah, and it might have another decade if you dropped in a new capacitor!

Like my 13 year old microwave. I could have thrown it out and got a new one, but instead I replaced a door interlock switch. That was "free", because I had pulled some switches out of a REALLY old microwave that I threw out. I seriously doubt you'll want to watch it, but I made a repair video on the door interlock switches of my GE microwave

As a public service, I remind everyone that many microwave ovens have a high voltage capacitor that maintains a charge even after being unplugged. Apparently touching it can injure, even kill you. I learned this safety tidbit several months after tearing a microwave apart to attempt a fix (unsuccessful). Yet, somehow I live to tell the story.

 

[John Galt III]

Latest repair: ROOF.

The latest heat caused some screws and nails to back out of flashings. The flashing popped, the nail popped, and during a heavy rain, we had a beautiful capillary action incident drawing a lot of water through the nail hole -- which was covered just fine in caulk. The water came through the gap between the flashing and shingle, UP roof, via capillary action.

I had to re-caulk and put down a few stainless screws instead of nails. Should do the trick for a year or two. It is time for a new roof anyway, something I'm dreading.

Similar thing. I have a mystery water leak around my french door. It has double flashing on top. One flashing right on top of the door, and another layer of flashing on top of that, done with the aluminum siding. I noticed a gap between the 2 flashings which could let water in when the wind and rain are from the north, then have a pressurized layer of water being forced left and right, to the top corners of the door, and onto and behind the wooden trim, and then who knows where. One more thing to try!

 

[John Galt III]

I'm having the rotted wooden brick mould trim replaced around an exterior french door, with PVC. I noticed there are 2 different forms of PVC brick mould available. One has a completely flat backing, the other has a half inch wide, quarter inch deep notch all along the back, approx in the middle of the piece. Any reason to get one and not the other? The store clerks say it makes no difference. I asked about a nail going through the notch, same answer, doesn't matter. Why the difference in shape? The notched variety is $10 and the flat one is $12 each. Thanks.

 

[John Galt III]

Another post about the french door repair. I am having the bottom 8 inches of the wooden centerpost replaced with PVC also. It is 1.5 inches by 1.88 inches. The biggest PVC post I can find is only 1.5 by 1.5 inches. Clerks at Home Depot and Lowes don't know where to get anything larger. Cut 2 pieces of the 1.5 x 1.5 post and glue them together?

 

[Palmtree]

I don't think it matters much. I'm thinking it's a result of two different manufacturing runs on the trim. Or maybe one was designed with a small channel to allow any moisture to drain and not get trapped behind the moulding.

 

[ERD50]

I don't think it matters much. I'm thinking it's a result of two different manufacturing runs on the trim. Or maybe one was designed with a small channel to allow any moisture to drain and not get trapped behind the moulding.

Could be. Two other thoughts: 1) could it be simply to save on material that's not really needed (the one with the gap was cheaper - easy to do with a mold for PVC, extra work to cut out of wood)? 2) Does having that gap help keep the moulding flat when you install it, it would bridge any bumps/irregularities behind it (seems like baseboard is made that way, I assume for that reason)?

-ERD50

 

[John Galt III]

Could be. Two other thoughts: 1) could it be simply to save on material that's not really needed (the one with the gap was cheaper - easy to do with a mold for PVC, extra work to cut out of wood)? 2) Does having that gap help keep the moulding flat when you install it, it would bridge any bumps/irregularities behind it (seems like baseboard is made that way, I assume for that reason)?

-ERD50

My thought: with the cutout there, there would be more pressure on the remaining material, to fit tighter. Another interesting find: the new wooden brick mould has a ridge of some sort on the back. I had expected it to be flat. Mind blowing.

 

[mountainsoft]

I'm having the rotted wooden brick mould trim replaced around an exterior french door, with PVC. I noticed there are 2 different forms of PVC brick mould available. One has a completely flat backing, the other has a half inch wide, quarter inch deep notch all along the back, approx in the middle of the piece. Any reason to get one and not the other? The store clerks say it makes no difference. I asked about a nail going through the notch, same answer, doesn't matter. Why the difference in shape?

PVC trim is often molded to the same profile as wood trim. For wood trim that notch on the back helps reduce warping, but it shouldn't make any difference with PVC.

From a practical standpoint, having a notch on the back would help bridge irregularities behind the trim. I would opt for the notched version.

 

[sengsational]

Store clerks aren't my "go-to" for getting any information beyond which isle to find something.

I think it's just to save on manufacturing cost; the die that produces the product with the smaller cross sectional area will take less material and the machine can run faster (the thickest part of the extrusion limits the speed).

 

[John Galt III]

Thanks for the replies, everyone! I bought three 8 foot lengths of the notched variety at Home Depot. $10.39 each. They were sold out at the first HD. The very nice clerk called a nearby HD and they had 6 left. Must be a covid 19 thing. Everyone replacing rotted trim, lol. What about my other question? Can you glue two pieces of 1.5 inch by 1.5 inch PVC post together, then cut it, to make a 1 and 7/8 by 1 and 7/16 post ? I need to replace the bottom 8 inches of the center post in the french door. I'm having a handyman do it. It looks like the biggest PVC post you can find anywhere on the planet is the 1.5 by 1.5 at HD. Fencing stores only have the hollow stuff.

 

[mountainsoft]

Can you glue two pieces of 1.5 inch by 1.5 inch PVC post together, then cut it, to make a 1 and 7/8 by 1 and 7/16 post ? I need to replace the bottom 8 inches of the center post in the french door.

I don't see why not. I believe the box stores even sell a PVC cement for the purpose right next to the PVC lumber. If not, you could probably use regular PVC plumbing cement. Just make sure to get the clear stuff and not the blue stuff. I've heard there is also a clear adhesive in caulking tubes made for PVC, but I've never seen it myself. If so, that might give you more working time than regular PVC cement.

Gorilla also makes a PVC glue with no odor and longer working time.
https://www.amazon.com/GORILLA-PVC-R08000-Glue-Clear/dp/B00HSO1APU?th=1

I would think the hardest part of laminating two PVC boards together would be getting the glue on fast enough to stick the boards together before the glue dries. I would probably cut the PVC into short sections, maybe 12" long, so they're easier to work with for your task.

You can certainly cut PVC to size with a saw. I hate cutting PVC though as it leaves little plastic shavings everywhere that stick to everything due to static electricity. You can't really sweep it up, a shop vac is the only way I've found to clean up the mess.

 

[Sunset]

For laminating the PVC, I would not want to cut it into sections as joining them nicely will be hard.
Maybe use a paintbrush to slop on the glue quickly, it doesn't have to be waterproof like a pipe joint so not quite as critical in coverage.

Alternatively, how about using a pressure treated wood piece and painting it, or covering with a PVC sleeve ?

 

[mountainsoft]

For laminating the PVC, I would not want to cut it into sections as joining them nicely will be hard.

Just to clarify, I was suggesting if the OP only needed an 8" piece, to only laminate a 12" blank or so that can then be milled to the desired size and shape. No need to laminate 8 foot boards if you only need 8 inches.

However, I agree, trying to patch an 8" repair into the existing jamb will be problematic.

Alternatively, how about using a pressure treated wood piece and painting it, or covering with a PVC sleeve ?

When the bottoms of our door jambs rotted away, I simply ordered a new composite door frame and reused our existing doors. It cost way less than a new prehung door, won't rot, and I didn't have any patch sections to deal with.

 

[John Galt III]

For laminating the PVC, I would not want to cut it into sections as joining them nicely will be hard.
Maybe use a paintbrush to slop on the glue quickly, it doesn't have to be waterproof like a pipe joint so not quite as critical in coverage.

Alternatively, how about using a pressure treated wood piece and painting it, or covering with a PVC sleeve ?

Remember I'm having a handyman do this job. I've had 2 of them look at it and both said they could cut out the 8 inches of rotted wood, and splice in part of a 2 x 4 (pressure treated) or, even better, some PVC. Interestingly, neither one of them admitted to having any PVC on hand that would fit there, and they didn't know where to get it, but thought they could find it somewhere. These guys both have many years experience. Strange they don't know about PVC size availability. I didn't actually ask them if they could glue pieces together. I did a repair to this door myself about 10 years ago, in a different rotted area, with a 2 x 4 I cut up, and painted, and it is still holding up against the elements. No rot on the outside, not sure about the inside. I'd do the center post job myself, if it were more staightforward, but it involves cutting a groove for a kerf seal, and also planing down one half of one side of the 8 inch piece. What is a PVC sleeve and where can I buy one?

 

[Walt34]

FINALLY got the Honda FG100 tiller running right. First thing in the spring, it wouldn't start at all. Tried cleaning the carburetor, that didn't work and then replaced it. That worked, I thought, but only for a while. After some period of running, usually about a half hour or so it would start bogging down and eventually quit. After some time fussing with this aspect of things, it dawned on me that this always happened at about a half tank of fuel. Filling the tank made it run fine again, so clearly there was a hole in the fuel pickup line in the tank. It took a while to find that type of fuel line, it has to be thin-walled and very flexible to follow the "clunk" type fuel filter in the tank.

The thing is, I took that line out of the tank and examined it in minute detail, with a magnifying glass even, and couldn't find a thing wrong with it. Nonetheless, replacing that line fixed the problem and now it runs fine with a quarter-tank of fuel in it.

 

[Sunset]

FINALLY got the Honda FG100 tiller running right. First thing in the spring, it wouldn't start at all. Tried cleaning the carburetor, that didn't work and then replaced it. That worked, I thought, but only for a while. After some period of running, usually about a half hour or so it would start bogging down and eventually quit. After some time fussing with this aspect of things, it dawned on me that this always happened at about a half tank of fuel. Filling the tank made it run fine again, so clearly there was a hole in the fuel pickup line in the tank. It took a while to find that type of fuel line, it has to be thin-walled and very flexible to follow the "clunk" type fuel filter in the tank.

The thing is, I took that line out of the tank and examined it in minute detail, with a magnifying glass even, and couldn't find a thing wrong with it. Nonetheless, replacing that line fixed the problem and now it runs fine with a quarter-tank of fuel in it.

I once had a chainsaw become impossible to start, turned out the fuel line had rotted/dissolved away after 30 years.

 

[Sunset]

I decided my SSD in my computer was too small at 250 Gig. So I bought a new 100 Gig one.
I used clonezilla to clone the small one to the big one.
Problem was the big one kept pretending to be small, the issue appears to be that I have my disk encrypted.

It took many hours over many days... so many I started telling DW I might give her the new drive as I needed some way to get some value out of the $100 it cost me.

Finally today, I decided I'd clone again and then follow another set of steps off the internet.. and it finally WORKED.....

I've decided I'll hold off on further upgrading my system for a couple of years