Your recent repair? - 2021 to ?

[NW-Bound]

I ordered the RO filter set on Friday 2/19. I do not have an Amazon membership, but got free shipping because the order was above $25. Received it yesterday, Sat 2/21. All my recent orders were like this. Not just from Amazon, but also from other vendors via US Postal. Perhaps the shipping volume has gone way down since the holiday season. People are getting broke, after spending the stimulus check?

Anyway, installation of the filter cartridges was super easy. This RO is a Watts Premier. The aftermarket "Auto shut-off" valve is branded APEC, and it turns out to be identical to the original one.

I flushed the cartridges, emptied out the storage tank, and re-pressurized it. Easy peasy (no tools needed), and I have soft water again for drinking and cooking.

 

[ohiodep]

Partially disassembled our Samsung dryer and did a thorough lint cleanout. Amazing amount of lint extricated.

 

[Finance Dave]

I do handyman work part time, so I'm always doing something lol.

But on my personal house, I had an easy one today. Our master shower door has a little aluminum "tray" at the bottom that catches water and let's it run back into the shower. It was filthy and the little rubber plug on the far end (the end that's over the rug when you open the door) kept coming out since it was just "push fit". I took the whole thing off, cleaned it well, put the rubber plug in with some silicone, then when I went to remount it, one of the threaded mounting holes was stripped. It was a 6-32 screw, so I decided to tap it to 8-32 and buy a larger screw. Bought stainless steel so it wouldn't rust, had to cut it with a hacksaw, then reinstalled and sloped the tray so water runs into the shower. Not counting the trip to Lowe's, the whole job took about an hour.

 

[Finance Dave]

Partially disassembled our Samsung dryer and did a thorough lint cleanout. Amazing amount of lint extricated.

Have you had the pipe cleaned that goes outside? As a handyman, I've done about 10 of those...and usually not too bad on short pipes, but if you've got more than about 10' of pipe they can really get clogged up bad over the years. I usually recommend cleaning about every 3-4 years.

I was a licensed home inspector for 7 years, and in our classes they presented data from national fire studies...and lint buildup was the leading cause of dryer fires.

Also, do NOT use those very thin shiny flexible hoses as your "transition duct". Instead, use either solid pipe, or if that's not possible, use a semi-rigid aluminum flex duct. The shiny flexible ones are made of mylar, which is a plastic that is also used in helium balloons. Definite fire hazard and strictly prohibited in nearly every dryer manufacturer's installation instructions.

 

[travelover]

Have you had the pipe cleaned that goes outside?.......

I have a long dryer duct run in my new-to-me house and when I moved in, I used a leaf blower to blow it out from the laundry room. OMG....... The area around the dryer duct outlet looked like a snow storm had hit it.

 

[Sunset]

I have a long dryer duct run in my new-to-me house and when I moved in, I used a leaf blower to blow it out from the laundry room. OMG....... The area around the dryer duct outlet looked like a snow storm had hit it.

Great idea, and FUNNY....

 

[Finance Dave]

I have a long dryer duct run in my new-to-me house and when I moved in, I used a leaf blower to blow it out from the laundry room. OMG....... The area around the dryer duct outlet looked like a snow storm had hit it.

Great! yes...I did one about 3 months ago where I collected enough lint to fill a kitchen trash can.

 

[Ronstar]

Don't know if this is a repair or not. We had a lot of air gushing out of our faucets when we turned on the water in our house. Sinks, showers, toilets. Some worse than others. Problem has been getting worse through the winter. IIRC, the air gushing happened last winter also, and then disappeared.

It seems like this happens whenever it gets cold outside. But I haven't been able to find an explanation for it.

We are on a well with a pressure tank. I suspected pump or pressure tank issues based on what I read online.

Before calling the well people, I drained the lines to see what that would do. Turned off the well breaker and water heater breaker. Then opened every faucet in the house (except outside hose bib) and flushed every toilet. Allowed the pipes to totally drain. And left the faucets open for a while after all of the water and air were out of the pipes.

Then I turned on the well breaker and let the water run through all of the faucets for about a half hour. And flushed the toilets again. Then started turning off the faucets one at a time. And turned the water heater breaker back on. It's been 3 days now and the air gushing has not yet returned.

 

[ERD50]

I have a long dryer duct run in my new-to-me house and when I moved in, I used a leaf blower to blow it out from the laundry room. OMG....... The area around the dryer duct outlet looked like a snow storm had hit it.

I've seen the leaf blower trick on youtube, and many warned against it.

The pressure can separate the sections of the duct, and then you can have a leak into your house (dangerous/deadly fumes if a gas dryer, moisture problems in any case).

Hopefully, you can inspect the entire length to validate that nothing separated.

Don't know if this is a repair or not. ...

We are on a well with a pressure tank. I suspected pump or pressure tank issues based on what I read online. ...

Just make sure the pump runs for at least one minute as it replenishes pressure in the tank (watch the pressure gauge go from low to high, and listen for the relay to kick in/out). Short cycling of the pump can wear it out in a short time, it relies on some water flow for a minute to cool it from the initial current surge at start up.

I actually have a little micro-controller connected to mine (DIY programming), and I get an email if it runs too long or too short.

-ERD50

 

[zinger1457]

The pressure can separate the sections of the duct, and then you can have a leak into your house (dangerous/deadly fumes if a gas dryer, moisture problems in any case).
Hopefully, you can inspect the entire length to validate that nothing separated.

Had the 90 degree fitting going from the wall to the main line inside the wall come apart at the bend, no idea how it happened or how long it had been that way, only noticed it when installing a new dryer. Had to open up the wall to get access to it, the inside wall was filled with lint, filled a good size garbage bag.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

A few weeks ago, my tankless hot water heater blew up. There was an explosion, which ruptured the heat exchanger, followed by gushing water onto the floor. I had installed the heater myself >15 years old. I guess we were somewhat early adopters on tankless heaters. It had been acting up a bit, so the failure was no big surprise. One immediate problem was that this failure was right in the middle of our cold snap, so temps were < -15F. Days of ice-cold showers followed, but at least we have a sauna.

The good news is that I had already scoped out what model I wanted to replace it with. I tried to source it locally, but struck out. (I drove 90 minutes to pick one up from someone selling it from eBay, but he had misrepresented a different model as the one I wanted. Argh.) I immediately ordered one, but it was coming from Tacoma, so it took a few days to get here. In the meantime, I gathered everything I needed to install.

It arrived on time on a Saturday morning. I hoped to get it in that day, but I ran into unanticipated problems getting rid of the old venting. I got the venting cleared, then worked through Sat. night, then all day Sunday on the venting, the black iron pipe for gas, and sweating copper fittings for water, etc. At the end, I had innumerable problems getting the notoriously leak-prone copper couplings from the big-box store to stop leaking. I finally got it working on Sunday evening. Rejoice!

After a nice dinner, I was so happy! Birds were singing, angels trumpeting. I had a beer to celebrate, and was about to head to bed. I was taking a pee, and decided to run the hot water at the lavatory in the powder room. Rejoice! Hot water comes gushing out of the sink! Hoorah! Then I felt something at my feet, and there is water all over the floor! I reach around the back of the sink, and the fulcrum point for the sink stopper just came off the drain pipe. So there was just a big hole in the drain pipe! I almost cried after the exultation —> dejection process.

Oh, well, the faucet and drain were probably ancient history. (We’ve been in the house 23 years.) So, I ordered a new faucet/drainpipe combo. No big deal. Last Saturday I put it in, but it took an inordinate amount of time. This is a tiny Kohler pedestal sink, wedged up against the wall, with no room to work. The main problem was the old mounting nuts and basin nut were fused to the old faucet and drain, respectively. My basin wrench was not big enough, and I couldn’t get a wrench or pliers on there due to the close quarters. I finally used a Dremel cut-off tool to cut through the nuts. From there, it was smooth sailing to get the new faucet installed. Happy again.

Until, of course, I turned the water supply back on to the powder room. The toilet went crazy. (It is a special, low-profile, one-piece Kohler toilet, with a special float valve.) I opened the tank lid, and water was spewing everywhere like crazy! (To be fair, I had some reason to thing this fill valve was acting dodgy, so it was on my “maintenance list.”) In any event, I tweaked the valve to get it calmed down for the time being, and ordered a new fill valve and flush valve kit. That is THIS weekend’s task. Sigh.

 

[REWahoo]

^ Exhibit A (B and C) of why I hate plumbing repairs. I feel your pain.

Currently awaiting the arrival of parts to attempt a repair of our out of service water softener. Only two years old and still under parts warranty, but this is the second time it has gone on the fritz since I purchased and installed it. If the new parts don't get it working again I'm going to trash it and purchase a brand (Fleck) I've hear is reliable.

 

[jollystomper]

It started out as a repair, then became an improvement...

Other than sweeping and infrequent wiping/vacuuming, we had not done anything with wooden steps leading down to our finished basement since we moved into the house 30+ years ago. they have vinyl stair treads covers, but close to half of them had loosened and we eventually pulled those out as to not slip on on them.

I finally got around to looking at replacement covers, but of course 30 years later they are not the same size or color. At first my lazy thought was to just buy enough to replace the missing ones, who really cares about the mismatch. but after putting them down... I decided I cared.

So... I decided to pull up the old treas covers that were still there and replace all of them. But after getting up close and personal pulling up the old ones, I now thought "you know, maybe I don't want to just put new covers on these old steps without first sprucing them up a bit...

To make a already too long story short, I ended up thoroughly cleaning, patching, and hand sanding the steps enough to put now a new stain, then used gel stain to update their look. I had seen mention of gel stain being an easy way to put on a new stain without having to completely strip off the old one.

It worked out great. One coat is all I need, and I'll put the new running down tomorrow. Of course, they look so nice that the hand and side rails now look old and dirty, not to mention the stairwell paint. There will be more gel staining and painting in the future...

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

it started out as a repair, then became an improvement...

Other than sweeping and infrequent wiping/vacuuming, we had not done anything with wooden steps leading down to our finished basement since we moved into the house 30+ years ago. They have vinyl stair treads covers, but close to half of them had loosened and we eventually pulled those out as to not slip on on them.

I finally got around to looking at replacement covers, but of course 30 years later they are not the same size or color. At first my lazy thought was to just buy enough to replace the missing ones, who really cares about the mismatch. But after putting them down... I decided i cared.

so... I decided to pull up the old treas covers that were still there and replace all of them. But after getting up close and personal pulling up the old ones, i now thought "you know, maybe i don't want to just put new covers on these old steps without first sprucing them up a bit...

To make a already too long story short, i ended up thoroughly cleaning, patching, and hand sanding the steps enough to put now a new stain, then used gel stain to update their look. I had seen mention of gel stain being an easy way to put on a new stain without having to completely strip off the old one.

It worked out great. One coat is all i need, and i'll put the new running down tomorrow. Of course, they look so nice that the hand and side rails now look old and dirty, not to mention the stairwell paint. There will be more gel staining and painting in the future...

Scope creep!

 

[REWahoo]

Currently awaiting the arrival of parts to attempt a repair of our out of service water softener. Only two years old and still under parts warranty, but this is the second time it has gone on the fritz since I purchased and installed it. If the new parts don't get it working again I'm going to trash it and purchase a brand (Fleck) I've hear is reliable.

OK, I'm done with my sorry @ss piece of junk A.O. Smith water softener. The new parts didn't fix it and I'm not going to waste any more time on attempting to repair a clearly unreliable product. I ordered a new Fleck softener from Amazon and it should be here in a week.

 

[Finance Dave]

OK, I'm done with my sorry @ss piece of junk A.O. Smith water softener. The new parts didn't fix it and I'm not going to waste any more time on attempting to repair a clearly unreliable product. I ordered a new Fleck softener from Amazon and it should be here in a week.

Hope it goes well and the install is easy. Hopefully you have flex lines and not hard-lined copper that you have to cobble together a bunch of fittings and extensions.

 

[zinger1457]

Replaced the anode rod in my water heater, when I replaced the water heater five years ago there was a lot of rusty crud on the bottom of the tank so thought I would be more proactive this time. The old rod didn't come out easy at first, no luck using a ratchet with extension bar, have a fairly heavy duty impact wrench and that made quick work of it. Not really sure what determines that an anode rod is bad, there was corrosion and it was pitted, but only $17 for a new rod so installed it.

 

[John Galt III]

Replaced the anode rod in my water heater, when I replaced the water heater five years ago there was a lot of rusty crud on the bottom of the tank so thought I would be more proactive this time. The old rod didn't come out easy at first, no luck using a ratchet with extension bar, have a fairly heavy duty impact wrench and that made quick work of it. Not really sure what determines that an anode rod is bad, there was corrosion and it was pitted, but only $17 for a new rod so installed it.

Thanks for this, ZInger. I tried to get the anode rod out of my previous water heater, and it wouldn't budge even with penetrant and breaker bar, and the whole tank rotating as I worked on it! I do have an impact wrench I bought for something else. Never thought about using it on the anode rod. Maybe I'll try it on the new water heater when the time comes.

 

[Music Lover]

Thanks for this, ZInger. I tried to get the anode rod out of my previous water heater, and it wouldn't budge even with penetrant and breaker bar, and the whole tank rotating as I worked on it! I do have an impact wrench I bought for something else. Never thought about using it on the anode rod. Maybe I'll try it on the new water heater when the time comes.

I couldn't loosen the anode rod on my 6 month old HW tank...and I'm not weak. I did get it off with an impact wrench though.

 

[Sunset]

I didn't replace the anode rod in my previous water heater and it lasted 15 yrs.

I'm afraid to try on my new water heater, because if I break it, or break the natural gas pipe seals. Ours is the black non-flexible pipe, so I'm concerned vibrations and shaking of the water tank could just barely loosen a connection and our house blows up a month later.

So I'm thinking to not "fix" the issue.

 

[zinger1457]

I didn't replace the anode rod in my previous water heater and it lasted 15 yrs.

I'm afraid to try on my new water heater, because if I break it, or break the natural gas pipe seals. Ours is the black non-flexible pipe, so I'm concerned vibrations and shaking of the water tank could just barely loosen a connection and our house blows up a month later.

So I'm thinking to not "fix" the issue.

Definitely a concern if using a long breaker bar, the tank with want to twist, didn't feel any movement when using the impact wrench, came loose in about 2 seconds.

 

[Finance Dave]

Replaced the anode rod in my water heater, when I replaced the water heater five years ago there was a lot of rusty crud on the bottom of the tank so thought I would be more proactive this time. The old rod didn't come out easy at first, no luck using a ratchet with extension bar, have a fairly heavy duty impact wrench and that made quick work of it. Not really sure what determines that an anode rod is bad, there was corrosion and it was pitted, but only $17 for a new rod so installed it.

That's funny, as I've heard that they can be EXTREMELY tight to the point that you need a 2nd person to hold the water heater from rotating. Sounds like you experienced nearly that.

 

[Walt34]

I didn't replace the anode rod in my previous water heater and it lasted 15 yrs.

A lot depends on the water that's going into it. Where we used to live in the D.C. area no one changed anode rods and water heaters all lasted 20+ years. When we moved to WV the water is harder so we run a water softener that adds small amounts of salt, which of course is corrosive. Our first water heater lasted nine years, the second about the same, and the $1400 installed cost replacement for the third got my attention so I started looking into maintenance. It turns out that both regular flushing and changing the anode are important for water heater longevity in areas where the water is the least bit corrosive and/or has high mineral content. Heat, of course, accelerates almost all chemical reactions and corrosion is one of them.

I just checked the anode a few months ago. When it needs replacement it'll be obvious as most of it will be gone! The manufacturer of the water heater, A.O. Smith actually recommends using an impact wrench, and that makes quick and easy work of getting the anode out. I put mine back as it was not near the end of useful life; I'll check every two years. It takes longer to drain some water out than to check the anode. You want to get the tank water level below the top so you don't get a minor flood when you take the anode out.

I also flush the water heater every two months and keep a log taped to the side of it.

BTW, the replacement anode rod I bought from Home Depot was $10. A 1/2 inch drive plug-in impact wrench from Harbor Freight is $40. A single 1 1/16 inch impact socket (do not use a regular one!*) is ~$20 on Amazon. So for less than $100 you can save bundles of money by increasing the longevity of the water heater, perhaps by 2 or 3 times.


* If regular chrome steel sockets are used with an impact wrench there is a good chance it'll virtually explode in pieces. You'll probably get away with it a few times but at least wear eye protection. And the 1 1/16 size for the nut on the anode rod is a standard across all (or almost all) water heaters.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

When I prophylacticallty replaced my glass-lined AO Smith water heater, it was 41 years old! No anodes were ever harmed in the upkeep of this heater.

 

[NW-Bound]

When I had a water softener, the water heaters lasted 2 or 3 years. And because we had 2 of them (52 gal each) in order to store production from the solar heater panels, they took turn failing, and I was always replacing them. Sodium in the soft water is really bad for water heaters.

When the 2nd water softener failed, I said to heck with it, and learned to live with hard water, the 2 tanks lasted a long time. I did not keep record, but it had to be 20 years or more. One of the pair just leaked a couple of months ago, so I removed it and did not replace it, because our solar panels failed some years ago. I now run the sole heater with electricity from the PV panels.