Your recent repair? 2013 - 2020

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Modified my double barrel stove to be more efficient. Removed the top 55 gal drum. Added the small 30 Gal drum with some piping inside.

Works great, uses half the wood than before and makes a lot more heat. The top of the small barrel runs around 500 to 600 F.
 

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ls99 said:
Modified my double barrel stove to be more efficient. Removed the top 55 gal drum. Added the small 30 Gal drum with some piping inside.

Works great, uses half the wood than before and makes a lot more heat. The top of the small barrel runs around 500 to 600 F.
Click to expand...


I would love to have something like that in my wood shop, esp this winter (El Nino)!
 
Heard a humming/buzzing noise coming from the heater fan in my Nissan Versa. Thought it might be a mouse nest in the fan. Decided to first check the in-cabin air filter since it was (supposed to be) easier to remove than the fan motor. Removed glove box. OK, easy enough. Now to follow youtube directions and grab tab on filter, push up and pull out. Nothing. Not budging. Get vice grips, do same routine. Nothing. Nowhere. Review notes from last time I removed in cabin air filter. Notes say just grab tab on filter with vice grips, and wiggle. Still not coming out. Dang! Who cemented this thing in when I wasn't looking? Leave it for another day. Next day, back under the dash with vice grips, this time I yelled at it. That worked, filter plopped out meekly. Removed lots of small leaf particles from filter and the air duct. I had to park my car at my parents' house for a few weeks, and the yard people there like to grind up the leaves with a riding mower, then blow the small fragments of leaves into piles (and also into everyone's air ducts). Reinstall filter, turn fan on. Just a very low hum/buzz present now. Good enough!
 
John Galt III said:
Heard a humming/buzzing noise coming from the heater fan in my Nissan Versa.......
Click to expand...
The first time I changed mine, a leaf accidentally slipped by and lodged in the squirrel cage. It has been throbbing now for 5 years. I keep praying it will self dislodge, as crawling under the instrument panel to remove the fan is not on my short list of fun things to do. :(
 
I repaired the upper rack of my Kitchen Aide Dishwasher. The wheels had come off and it kept falling off the track which drove my wife nuts.


During a vacation day and before holiday guests arrived I purchased a rebuild kit and installed it one afternoon in an hour or so. I did need to go to the hardware to purchase a special screw driver and of course when I got home I noticed that the kit included an adapter that I could have used for the screws.


Oh well, I figure I saved at least $50.00 and probably closer to $100.00 and my wife was much happier over the holidays.
 
Refrigerator

We got a new Maytag fridge, and I had to work on the freezer compartment. I had to remove the icemaker because our water is lousy and it takes up a lot of room. I asked the delivery.installer if he would remove it and he said, no it is wired in. So I removed the two screws holding it and disconnected the plug in the back.
The bigger PITA was the upper freezer rack had a crosswise divider that we wanted to remove. I went down to Youtube and found a video from the Appliance Ninja on how to do it. I would have never known to raise the wheels by pushing 2 tabs except for the video!
 
John Galt III said:
Review notes from last time I removed in cabin air filter. Notes say just grab tab on filter with vice grips, and wiggle. Still not coming out. Dang! Who cemented this thing in when I wasn't looking? Leave it for another day. Next day, back under the dash with vice grips, this time I yelled at it. That worked, .......... Good enough!
Click to expand...

Hope you remembered to update your notes to add the yelling step!
 
Twenty year old laundry dryer wasn't working as efficiently. Took off front, and disassembled area below the lint trap. Removed 20 yr old collection of lint that had gotten past the lint filter. Messy.
 
Keim said:
Twenty year old laundry dryer wasn't working as efficiently. Took off front, and disassembled area below the lint trap. Removed 20 yr old collection of lint that had gotten past the lint filter. Messy.
Click to expand...

Good job! It always amazes me how resourceful E-R.org members are. Don't know why I'm surprised because this is one of the characteristics of the E-R mind.

I can definitely relate to your dryer fix. I did this several times on our previous dryer. On ours the first sign that the vent pipe was becoming clogged was the dryer didn't dry the clothes properly because the humidity sensor was partially covered with lint. For us it was a straightforward but time consuming task to remove the front housing to access the vent pipe.
 
I suspect that 20 year old dryers will outlast new ones. We have a 32 year old Kenmore dryer. Only have to replace the rollers and lint filters once in a while.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app
 
I rebuilt an outside wall that had been covered with vinyl siding and had rotted. Worst part was wrestling plywood sheets but it worked out quite well.
 
Refrigerator started making loud noise that got progressively worse. Turned out to be a bad condenser fan. Found the part and a video on the internet, took about an hour once I got the part. Also cleaned off the coils underneath with a vacuum after propping it up, now DW wonders why things are so quite. :)
 
OrcasIslandBound said:
I suspect that 20 year old dryers will outlast new ones. We have a 32 year old Kenmore dryer. Only have to replace the rollers and lint filters once in a while.
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Still using the Kenmore dryer we bought when we just got married. It's gonna be 36-year-old soon. I recall that I replace the belt once, perhaps 15 years ago.

The companion Kenmore washer did not last as long. It failed maybe 5 years ago, so last a mere 30 years, after who knows how many thousands of wash for a family of 4.
 
Bought a circular saw blade sharpener yesterday at Harbor Freight. The price with a 20%-off coupon was $40, and it even came with a diamond disk.

I just spent a bit more than 1 hour to sharpen about 10 dull circular blades that I saved over the years. The carbide tips were ground by that diamond disk with ease. Son of a gun. I guess I never have to buy saw blades again.
 
NW-Bound said:
Bought a circular saw blade sharpener yesterday at Harbor Freight. The price with a 20%-off coupon was $40, and it even came with a diamond disk.

I just spent a bit more than 1 hour to sharpen about 10 dull circular blades that I saved over the years. The carbide tips were ground by that diamond disk with ease. Son of a gun. I guess I never have to buy saw blades again.
Click to expand...

Sounds interesting, I'll have to look into that. I use the Drill Doctor for sharpening drill bits and it does an excellent job.
 
Replaced my car battery, as it was 5 years old and I'm a little cautious. I've found some good discounts online for Advance Auto, for example a $40 off $100 purchase coupon which I used for this battery. The guy even installed it for me right in the parking lot, saving me a trip back with the "core" battery.
 
travelover said:
Replaced my car battery, as it was 5 years old and I'm a little cautious. I've found some good discounts online for Advance Auto, for example a $40 off $100 purchase coupon which I used for this battery. The guy even installed it for me right in the parking lot, saving me a trip back with the "core" battery.
Click to expand...

that's a good deal especially with a free install. a shop/dealer would charge you 1/2 hour labor at least
 
Your recent repair?

One of the stations on the HOA gym weight machine was out of order. I rerouted some misplaced cables to the proper pulleys and everything worked. Not a big repair, but one beyond the abilities of the other gym users I guess.


Sent from my iPhone :).using Early Retirement .//82339)
 
The 18 year old sink in my smaller bathroom had a small chip so repaired it using a porcelain repair kit. It worked well but the enamel in the sink started peeling in a different area so decided it was time for a new sink. Picked up a new sink and faucet and went to work. Everything was going good until it was time to connect the water supply lines to the new faucet. Sure enough the new faucet connections were about 2" shorter than the old one and the water lines wouldn't reach. The water lines installed were the cheap one piece valve non-braided water lines so instead of trying to extend the faucet connection I decided it was best to replace the valve and use a good braided water line. Took a little longer than I expected to complete the install but it looks good.
 
Not a repair. Preventive maintenance. Started up the big 40 year old fridge in the basement, just to move the refrigerant/oil around and do whatever is supposedly good for it. Listened to it whine and chirp for about 5 minutes, which is what it does each time I start it up after it has been sitting unplugged for more than a year. Then the strange noises stopped, replaced by the white noise of the fan and the low hum of the compressor. Ahhhh. Put some ice cube trays in the freezer and they froze. Check. Felt the fins on the bottom and they were warm. Check. Let it run for 12 hours, then took ice cube trays out, said *see you next year* to the big fridge, and unplugged her. (Yes, I do use it once in a while for lagering home brew.)
 
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