Your recent repair? 2013 - 2020

[Keim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 Very nice! But if the turntable is set for German 50 Hz, and you play it at US 60 Hz, wouldn't it play faster? So I think the slower playing is due to mechanical friction. Supplying it with 50 Hz from an inverter might be easier than mechanically modifying it? Maybe not, but an option to consider. Do you have any more info on that added speaker? It sure doesn't look to match the style of the main cabinet. An interesting addition! -ERD50

I ended up rebuilding the motor with a different rotor. Iirc thinner diameter shaft. The different circumference solved the speed issue.

That speaker is interesting, isn't it? Opening it up reveals two oblong speakers sandwiched together, firing into one another. They are wired together, with one capacitor feeding them off the main amp. Even more interesting: when it's plugged in the tonality of the other speaker changed, indicating an internal crossover being activated. The speaker plug is large, round with about six prongs.

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover ............. When removing the bolts for the second arm, I broke off the bolt whose nut is captured in the subframe. I'll take it in Monday to see if they can fix it without replacing the whole subframe. ...........

As a follow up to my tale of woe from Saturday..........

The good news is my local repair shop removed the broken bolt and replaced the arm for $180, so I got off easy, still saving myself about $350 for my efforts. Stupid, stupid design.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover As a follow up to my tale of woe from Saturday.......... The good news is my local repair shop removed the broken bolt and replaced the arm for $180, so I got off easy, still saving myself about $350 for my efforts. Stupid, stupid design.

Was that a body shop, or a regular auto-mechanic shop?

I did one worse - years ago, I broke a bolt doing a simple thermostat replacement, then damaged the head (or was it the intake manifold?) trying to drill and ez-out it. Arggghhh! Only 'saving grace' was that the car really needed a valve job (valve guides were worn, and burning lots of oil), so this pushed me to have the shop do it all since it needed a partial tear-down anyhow. Fixed the oil burning issue, and it also seems the head gasket had a small leak, and my thermostat replacement attempt might have actually been the gasket issue, not the thermostat.

-ERD50

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 Was that a body shop, or a regular auto-mechanic shop?.............-ERD50

It was an independent auto mechanic repair shop. I was concerned that removing broken bolts might be a lost art in this day and age of parts swapping, but they came through for me.

[mn54]

7 year old washing machine was filling very slowly. looked online and diagnosed the problem and how ti fix it. part cost $40. thank goodness for the internet and those kind people who put the how to videos on there.

[Ian S]

Today I unclogged the freezer drain in our 15 y.o. Maytag refrigerator. It's a regular thing I've found I had to do every 6 to 8 months. Symptoms include water on the floor and ice buildup in the bottom of the freezer compartment. Requires removing all the food and shelves for access to the back panel that has to be removed. Of course by the time there are symptoms, the bottom drawer is frozen in place. I use a hair dryer to thaw the stuck drawer as well as to remove the ice buildup around the drain. Didn't have a pipe cleaner to run through the tubing so used a long zip tie instead. Also poured hot water in to get any gunk out.

[spencnor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian S Today I unclogged the freezer drain in our 15 y.o. Maytag refrigerator. It's a regular thing I've found I had to do every 6 to 8 months. Symptoms include water on the floor and ice buildup in the bottom of the freezer compartment. Requires removing all the food and shelves for access to the back panel that has to be removed. Of course by the time there are symptoms, the bottom drawer is frozen in place. I use a hair dryer to thaw the stuck drawer as well as to remove the ice buildup around the drain. Didn't have a pipe cleaner to run through the tubing so used a long zip tie instead. Also poured hot water in to get any gunk out.

We had this exact problem with our LG refrigerator 2 months ago. I didn't have a clue what was wrong and how to fix it so it cost $160. to get it fixed. The service guy used a steam machine to melt the built up ice and to unclog the drain. It seems some stuff from the refrigerator fell into the drain tube and clogged it. If it happens again I should be able to fix it.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keim ... That speaker is interesting, isn't it? Opening it up reveals two oblong speakers sandwiched together, firing into one another. They are wired together, with one capacitor feeding them off the main amp. Even more interesting: when it's plugged in the tonality of the other speaker changed, indicating an internal crossover being activated. The speaker plug is large, round with about six prongs.

Sounds like an Isobaric "CONE to CONE" configuration:

Isobaric Subwoofer Design — VUE Audiotechnik



In the CONE to CONE config, one driver pushes while the other pulls. They act together like one unit. Some non-linearities (distortions) cancel out this way. I assume this speaker is to provide more bass, but that's a fairly small speaker? I've never seen Isobaric used for anything other than a woofer.

-ERD50

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mn54 7 year old washing machine was filling very slowly. looked online and diagnosed the problem and how ti fix it. part cost $40. thank goodness for the internet and those kind people who put the how to videos on there.

What was the part, or the fix you did ?

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spencnor We had this exact problem with our LG refrigerator 2 months ago. I didn't have a clue what was wrong and how to fix it so it cost $160. to get it fixed. The service guy used a steam machine to melt the built up ice and to unclog the drain. It seems some stuff from the refrigerator fell into the drain tube and clogged it. If it happens again I should be able to fix it.

Sometimes this is the only way you end up learning something, it's how I learned the thermocouple in a furnace breaks and costs about $10 unless you get a repairman to do it

[Keim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 Sounds like an Isobaric "CONE to CONE" configuration: Isobaric Subwoofer Design — VUE Audiotechnik In the CONE to CONE config, one driver pushes while the other pulls. They act together like one unit. Some non-linearities (distortions) cancel out this way. I assume this speaker is to provide more bass, but that's a fairly small speaker? I've never seen Isobaric used for anything other than a woofer. -ERD50

I don't think its isobaric. They are wired in phase. It's more of a mid/tweeter.

[mn54]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunset What was the part, or the fix you did ?

the part was called a water inlet valve. Apparently over time it gets clogged up, especially the cold water inlet, and needs to be replaced. Once you get the machine opened up it is pretty straight forward to replace it.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keim I don't think its isobaric. They are wired in phase. It's more of a mid/tweeter.

Interesting, pretty strange configuration, don't think I've ever heard of anything like that.

-ERD50

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mn54 the part was called a water inlet valve. Apparently over time it gets clogged up, especially the cold water inlet, and needs to be replaced. Once you get the machine opened up it is pretty straight forward to replace it.

That happened to mine, I was able to pull out a little screen that is built into the valve, clean it and replace it.

I've been meaning to add some sort of screen to the hot water source under the sink, just past the shut-off valve. That way I could clean it by turning off that valve, and I would not need to pull out the dish washer to get to it. That screen should catch everything before it gets to the valve. That should be a standard component to a dishwasher, IMO.

Gotta add that to my to-do list before I forget again.

-ERD50

[Sunset]

I have a brass splitter for my outside water tap, each split has an on/off lever.
The levers became very stiff to turn due to water deposits, so I soaked it in vinegar for 24 hours and now it works like new.

[Koogie]

Not much compared to some of the rocket surgeons on here (very impressed with some of the stuff!) but I installed my first light fixture yesterday.

I do a lot of my own plumbing, carpentry and handyman stuff around the house but for some reason have always been afraid of electricity (wires in the wall full of dangerous invisible pixies!). It probably stems back to my dad getting hurt once while doing wiring in the barn when I was a kid.

Anyway, after much nagging and procrastination I put up a new light fixture that DW wanted in our renovated bathroom. Saved having the *&^*^^% contractor come back in, too.

[Philliefan33]

We suspected that our water softener at the vacation house wasn't giving us soft water anymore. I did some troubleshooting, and determined that the brine was not being drawn out of the brine tank during the "brine" cycle. Thanks to YouTube, I figured out how to clean the injector valve. We have a lot of iron in our water, and the valve was clogged up with orange guck.

I just ran the softener through a regeneration cycle, and success! Now I'm considering installing a particulate filter before the water softener to combat the buildup. It might also help alleviate the spurts of orange water we get after we've been away for awhile.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Not a repair, but an enhancement to my motorhome. Its water heater runs on propane only. Looking for a place to refill the propane tank can be a chore while traveling, and it is silly to use up the propane when I am plugged into shore power at RV parks with hookup. There's an aftermarket kit that has an electric element that screws into the drain hole of the heater. Instead of buying the entire kit, I bought just a replacement heater element, and use it with a digital and settable thermostat off eBay. This is the same $12 electronic temperature controller that I have used to make my own sous vide cooker. While driving, I can also power the water heater with the whole-house 2kW inverter, that runs off the batteries being fed from the alternator. My 225W solar panel is too puny to run this 500W water heater. PS. I just realized another nice feature provided by this digital temperature controller. Even when I cannot run the electric heater and have to turn on the propane heater, the temperature display is nice to show the temperature of the tank, and to know if it is good for a shower.

Travelover sent a message asking me about this controller, and I just now see it.

I am sharing more info here, because this inexpensive device can be used for many other applications such as aquarium heaters, green house temperature control, solar water heaters, etc... It can also be programmed for cooling (turning on when above a preset temperature). I have used it earlier to turn a slow cooker into a sous-vide.

Search eBay for "LED Digital 110V Temperature Controller". Several vendors are selling the same thing. Make sure you get the Celsius or Fahrenheit version as appropriate. Very nice thing for under $11 including shipping if you shop carefully. I have tested the accuracy against the $100 Thermapen, and my unit is within 1F. Very impressive.

We were happy to have readily available hot water during our recent RV trip. I spliced in a regular light dimmer (hidden under a cabinet drawer) to the output of the controller in order to reduce the power drawn by the heater element. Instead of 500W, I set it to 250W so as not to overdraw power from the engine alternator. It's slow to heat the 6-gal tank, but at the end of a drive of a few hours the temperature gets to my programmed cut-off point of 110F.

By the way, I also reduced the ammonia-absorption fridge heating element to 250W, and it kept cool just fine. The 500W maximum total power drawn by both the fridge and the water heater is a level that I feel comfortable with, as the system voltage is still around 13.8V to keep the house batteries charged.

This setup has allowed me to reduce the propane use during the trip. Looking for propane refilling stations is a pain. Two years ago, our motorhome-mounted tank last the entire 2-month trip in Nova Scotia.

[NW-Bound]

The condenser fan of my home HVAC stopped running. A manual spin of the blade to start it got it going. This means either the auxiliary coil of the induction motor is out, or more likely the run capacitor in series with the coil has gone bad.

It turned out to be the latter case, after I opened up the wiring and made some measurements (with the power disconnected, of course). The capacitor has become open-circuit. The label on the motor says it wants a 3 uF capacitor, so that's what I have ordered on eBay. A mere $3.59 including shipping, and it's on its way.

[NW-Bound]

I found the post on my 1st use of the controller to make a sous-vide. See: http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ml#post1639436

I paid $9.73, compared to $10.88 for the 2nd one perhaps a year later. Inflation!

PS. Edit to add photo of the panel mounting.

The large lighted button is the remote switch for the 2KW pure sine-wave inverter. The lower rocker switch turns the controller on/off as needed. The controller has non-volatile memory, and remembers the settings. Other electronics including the inverter and all wirings are mounted in the cabinet and out of sight.