Your recent repair? 2013 - 2020

[Ronstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 Maybe hot glue a couple wood blocks to the back, to act as bumpers, so they keep any bumps away from the connectors? Hot glue hold pretty well, but is pretty easy to remove if needed (IIRC, Iso-Propyl Alcohol will break the seal almost immediately). Took me a bit to follow, but now I see. The elbow 'shows' the surface that curves away to the other elbow when turned 90° from the other. For a minute, I thought it was one of those "impossible dovetail" tricks or something! Looking forward to the next Switcher update. BTW, I manage to catch the historic "Big Boy" steam engine #4014 going through a suburb of Chicago. Took quite an effort on my part because I left late, and had to keep trying to catch it down the line while trying to follow updates on twitter( #up4014 ) and the UP site (but that's another story, maybe for another post if I feel up to it). I finally caught up about a minute before it entered a crossing where people had gathered, I could see the smoke/steam (it's converted from coal to oil) - no place to park, so I just double parked with flashers on since I would still be within 50' of my car and only a way for a minute or so (train was not stopping). We will be in south/west 'burbs for a wedding and visiting one of the kids, their spouse and our grand-kid, so we might stop to see it on display in West Chicago on Sunday. https://www.up.com/forms/steam-trace.cfm https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/schedule/index.htm https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/4014/ -ERD50

Thanks for the links! I'm a train nut - I'll try to get some photos of "Big Boy" on the move Tues am.

[John Galt III]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jazz4cash The electric in-tank fuel pump started going out on my ‘02 Chevy S10 pickup with 120k miles. I got two quotes for $975-$1200 which includes -$400 for parts. SOP is to replace everything in the tank (pump, fuel level sending unit, tank pressure sensor, etc. An OEM kit with the pump and soft parts is available online for < $35 including shipping! I checked YouTube and learned I could do the job by raising the bed without dropping the tank. The only issue was 100’F heat index while lying on my blacktop driveway. I just worked an hour or so in the early morning for a few days. It was about 5 hrs labor for me so that’s > $180/hr for my time.

Way to go, jazz4cash !! I decided to let the mechanics change my in-tank fuel pump, since the job was supposed to be a PITA on my 88 GTA. $535. They charged me $60 for the pump and the rest was labor ! Maybe this a blow-that-dough event for me, lol... Anyway, $535 is a lot lower than the price they quoted you, so I don't feel so bad.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar Thanks for the links! I'm a train nut - I'll try to get some photos of "Big Boy" on the move Tues am.

I'm not up to the level of train nut or geek, but have a pretty deep interest. And this being the LARGEST steam locomotive EVER built, and the ONLY operational one, well that's something. A 4-8-8-4, with articulated drive train (not the body/boiler - that's one section) to take the curves.

I got a decent video as it went through Elmhurst, it was moving fairly slowly (not a crawl though). I made a point of just pointing the phone, but watching un-aided, as I hate missing the actual event while fiddling with the camera. So I got the best of both, the experience, and a decent video/sound ( those whistles have all that steam whisshhhing sound to them!).

The best videos I have seen so far, are the ones of it starting up. Catch that if you can. The slow chug-chug-chug, and the steam goes through some changes/venting or something as it accelerates, not sure what that is about.

If I have a moment, I'll start a thread on this. Though it is moving out of the Chicago area, it will be traveling west back to Cheyenne on Aug 8, and is here till Tuesday AM.

(update) - Here's a separate thread on the train:

http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ml#post2272973


-ERD50

[John Galt III]

Was washing a shirt in the bathroom sink and thought a hard piece of broken plastic part might have gone down the drain. Removed trap to make sure. Good, nothing in trap except lots of shaving stubble. Cleaned it out, reassembled trap (all plastic parts). Dripping. Tighten it up some more. Still dripping. Take it all apart again. Notice one of the washers is broken! Find new washer at Home Depot $1.86. Home Depot worker very helpful, knew exactly which one I needed. Install. Leak stops at that gasket, but starts at another gasket farther downstream. Tighten it up. Won't go any tighter. Had very slow leak, but I just kept an eye on it and put a bucket under it. Next day leak stopped, even with water running. Bucket still under it just in case. I'm calling it a success. lol.

[wmc1000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Galt III Was washing a shirt in the bathroom sink and thought a hard piece of broken plastic part might have gone down the drain. Removed trap to make sure. Good, nothing in trap except lots of shaving stubble. Cleaned it out, reassembled trap (all plastic parts). Dripping. Tighten it up some more. Still dripping. Take it all apart again. Notice one of the washers is broken! Find new washer at Home Depot $1.86. Home Depot worker very helpful, knew exactly which one I needed. Install. Leak stops at that gasket, but starts at another gasket farther downstream. Tighten it up. Won't go any tighter. Had very slow leak, but I just kept an eye on it and put a bucket under it. Next day leak stopped, even with water running. Bucket still under it just in case. I'm calling it a success. lol.

Yep, I find this is a common occurrence with plastic drains! I usually put some paper towel around the connections for a week and then check to see if they are dry.

[John Galt III]

Replaced the front brake pads on my car. 105,000 miles on the original pads ! Easy job. But I had to do the first wheel over again since I didn't notice I had to seat the spring clip in the pad tab. A mechanic who knew what he was doing could have completed this whole job out in 20 minutes. For maybe a $100 labor charge, lol. Took me two hours, but I enjoyed doing something useful and money-saving.

[aja8888]

Cleaned the throttle body on stepdaughter's 2003 Rav4. Also replaced the idle air control valve and throttle positioner at that time. She purrs like a kitten at 600 RPM now. Car has 132,000 on it.

[Senator]

I installed a new boiler... Saved about $3,000 for 16 hours of work. A boiler guy would have done it in about 5 hours.

[Henry Lili]

- Repalced a car side view mirror.
- Two bathroom sinks and faucets/lines.

[ls99]

Replaced Throttle position sensor on 99 Suburban. It is a 7.4 engine. To remove, have to dis assemble the intake ducting and loosen the throttle body, else can not remove the sensor. There is an indentation in the intake manifold for the dsensor body. About 40 minutes total. Symptom was late and hard shifting of the transmission. And no codes.

[Winemaker]

I have a leaking power steering line on a 07 Blazer. I ain't gonna touch it. My mechanic will be amply rewarded.

[bolt]

- I repaired all the USAs economic maladies-.


A nations reputation is a mirror of its currency -jmho-.
FDR & Nixon both removed USAs currency from the gold standard.
All FIAT currencies have failed. All currencies worldwide are now FIAT.
You do the math.

[Walt34]

Replaced the master bathroom toilet tank lever, one of the items I mentioned buying at Home Depot in this post. The old one broke, as in the lever fell off. It took five minutes to replace, but only because on the way to the basement to get an adjustable wrench I stopped in the kitchen for a cookie.

[aja8888]

Walt, you are on a roll.....painting, screens, toilet......

[sengsational]

I'm doing the (mostly) DIY HVAC replace. Before going this route, I did a bit of poking around here and noticed several "regulars" here have gone that route (which gave me courage). It's not worth getting the license for managing refrigerant and the associated tools, so I'll outsource that bit, which includes brazing (I've only got a propane torch). But I'm expecting delivery of the replacement components on Tuesday. The old 1991 era system is ready for recycling. I'm pulling a few parts off that might sell on eBay. I've kept the cooling side limping along for years by having "the man" add small bits of R22. The furnace was pretty healthy as, since it's the upstairs unit in a 2 story foyer house, it never ran much.



The whole project has been a zero "hardware store run" effort so far. Happened to have an old bag of cement (actually stored in a sealed 5 gallon pail) and got the aggregate from the creek bed. I thought about shooting this project and adding to my DIY videos, but it's really sweaty in the attic, so couldn't justify it; shooting roughly doubles the time it takes to get through a project.


One more thing... I got an estimate to have this done turn-key: $7156. That's a 1.5 ton, 14 SEER A/C and an 80% 40K BTU replace. I found the same exact thing online for $2013 for a $5143 savings (less refrigerant and brazing, which I've not got a price on yet). But still, I figure the quote I got had about a 75% mark-up on materials and labor...I think they've got plenty of business and aren't hungry right now. I guess the best time to buy is in the spring or fall. But I don't care as this is the upstairs system and we're empty nesters.

[John Galt III]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sengsational I'm doing the (mostly) DIY HVAC replace. Before going this route, I did a bit of poking around here and noticed several "regulars" here have gone that route (which gave me courage). It's not worth getting the license for managing refrigerant and the associated tools, so I'll outsource that bit, which includes brazing (I've only got a propane torch). But I'm expecting delivery of the replacement components on Tuesday. The old 1991 era system is ready for recycling. I'm pulling a few parts off that might sell on eBay. I've kept the cooling side limping along for years by having "the man" add small bits of R22. The furnace was pretty healthy as, since it's the upstairs unit in a 2 story foyer house, it never ran much. The whole project has been a zero "hardware store run" effort so far. Happened to have an old bag of cement (actually stored in a sealed 5 gallon pail) and got the aggregate from the creek bed. I thought about shooting this project and adding to my DIY videos, but it's really sweaty in the attic, so couldn't justify it; shooting roughly doubles the time it takes to get through a project. One more thing... I got an estimate to have this done turn-key: $7156. That's a 1.5 ton, 14 SEER A/C and an 80% 40K BTU replace. I found the same exact thing online for $2013 for a $5143 savings (less refrigerant and brazing, which I've not got a price on yet). But still, I figure the quote I got had about a 75% mark-up on materials and labor...I think they've got plenty of business and aren't hungry right now. I guess the best time to buy is in the spring or fall. But I don't care as this is the upstairs system and we're empty nesters.

sengsational, is that $7156 estimate for just the outdoor heat pump unit, installed? Is the interior unit (air handler) compatible with the refrigerant you will be using in the new exterior heat pump?

[travelover]

This won't be of interest to 99% of you, but I installed a DC-DC battery charger in my travel trailer. Generally, trailer batteries don't charge well off the tow vehicle's alternator due to long wires and more recently due to "smart charging" in the tow vehicle aimed at better fuel economy. These DC-DC chargers have been around for a while but were north of $250, but Renogy has one priced a little over $100, on sale.



https://www.renogy.com/renogy-12v-dc...ttery-charger/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcVjPap9dkY

[davebarnes]

Repaired a broken path light. No light as wires were broken.


1. Had to buy a new ground stake as the old one was stripped.
2. First trip to HomeDepot for a few feet of 16/2 brown lamp cord.
3. Second trip to HomeDepot to buy a new soldering gun as my 45-year-old gun died in the middle of the soldering process.
4. Reassemble and test.

[samclem]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sengsational I'm doing the (mostly) DIY HVAC replace. Before going this route, I did a bit of poking around here and noticed several "regulars" here have gone that route (which gave me courage).

Looks great. Yep, I went this route when I replaced the AC in the house we are re-doing for DD (2 ton, replaced evap coil too. I had done the furnace myself a few months earlier). I went crazy in re-doing the ductwork, otherwise it would have been a piece of cake.

You know this, but for others: When the AC guy comes to do his part of the install (brazing he lines, evacuation of the system, and fill with refrigerant), the critical bits are to 1) assure he/she is back-purging the copper line with nitrogen as he does the brazing (else the inside of the copper gets a coating that will eventually come loose and clog something/damage the compressor) and 2) Assure he/she evacuates the system thoroughly before adding the refrigerant. For most installations, it should be pulled down to the 500 micron level, then left there for a period of time to be sure all is well. This can take a long time, and some tech's are tempted to take shortcuts, so it pays to be specific about it in advance when discussing the work you want done. The guy who did DD's house charged me about $300 IIRC, and I did all grunt work (equipment in place, power hooked up, etc). The only thing I'd do different next time is to include a sight glass in the line so it is easier to diagnose a problem. I'll be doing the AC on our own home in a few months, and I'll probably handle things the same way. It saves a lot of money AND you know it is done right.
[/QUOTE]

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover This won't be of interest to 99% of you, but I installed a DC-DC battery charger in my travel trailer. Generally, trailer batteries don't charge well off the tow vehicle's alternator due to long wires and more recently due to "smart charging" in the tow vehicle aimed at better fuel economy. These DC-DC chargers have been around for a while but were north of $250, but Renogy has one priced a little over $100, on sale. https://www.renogy.com/renogy-12v-dc...ttery-charger/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcVjPap9dkY

Very nice solution!