Penny wise pound foolish thread

[ransil]

I pumped my septic at 10 years 3 times in my house, always looked good when the lid came off.
My rental house was having issues getting backed up and needing emergency pumps that adds a few $$$.

l was down there a few years ago and did an inspection and found the out pipe tipped up, had that repaired and new filter installed.
Inspection/ filter cleaning earlier this year it didn't look great but was ok, few inches scum/ solid layer, broke it up with a shovel.
Tank additives IMO do nothing , renter was using them monthly .

 

[Retired Expat]

We had our septic pumped the other day. It has been at least 10 years since it was last pumped. Bought home 8 years ago. I did test it and it was around 15% full of solids. Total cost was $330.

The guy that did it said it's not the worst idea to have it pumped every 3 years. He said think of it as $110/year in maintenance cost. He also noted that if leach fields go south, a sand mound septic will run $30k. He doesn't do sand mounds. I really don't think he was trying to sell his services. I figured in 30 years, I would have sub $5k in pump outs vs the massive cost of new septic.

Im going to add that on other maintenance things to do around the property.

Any other routine things you swear by to keep/extend the life of products? Regular oil changes and tire rotation are also something else I do.

Septic and leach field biological treatments are a very worthwhile! Also since we don’t tend to use grease traps be sure to use grease jars and to wipe out excess grease from pots and dishes. Grease will clog up a leach field!

 

[Sorcerer]

Septic and leach field biological treatments are a very worthwhile! Also since we don’t tend to use grease traps be sure to use grease jars and to wipe out excess grease from pots and dishes. Grease will clog up a leach field!

You're right. I walk the grease out back and throw it in the woods...along with other things that can't go down the garbage disposal. Grease is nasty for the sepric.

 

[Koolau]

Cheaper to just put a jumper pack in the car to take care of any battery breakdown. It will allow you to get going again and get a better deal on a new battery in the near future on your own rather than a roadside assistance one.

I did that successfully but then one time, the battery went 100% fail - no amount of "jump" could overcome the (apparent) dead short in the battery.

 

[ychuck46]

I did that successfully but then one time, the battery went 100% fail - no amount of "jump" could overcome the (apparent) dead short in the battery.

It didn't give any indication it was that dead at all leading up to the failure? That sucks.

 

[Koolau]

It didn't give any indication it was that dead at all leading up to the failure? That sucks.

Yeah. It's always summer here so you don't notice a marginal battery trying to start with gelled oil, etc. Then suddenly (if you're lucky) you get that familiar "click, click, click" and you get a jump start. But when you get a dead short (battery maybe 5 or 6 years old) there's no click and there's no jumping. That's all she wrote.

 

[zinger1457]

The last time I had my tank pumped out was about 6 years ago, at the time there was a solid crust layer on top of the inlet side, they charged me an extra $50 to have to break up that layer before they could pump the tank out. The guy suggested flushing spoiled buttermilk down the toilet every few months to help keep the bacteria count up so I started flushing a quart down 2-3 times a year and it has worked, no hard crust layer on top since.

 

[freedomatlast]

It didn't give any indication it was that dead at all leading up to the failure? That sucks.

Unfortunately a lot of the newer AGM batteries (used with many of the newer cars with the worthless start/stop feature) do not.

 

[Sunset]

I did that successfully but then one time, the battery went 100% fail - no amount of "jump" could overcome the (apparent) dead short in the battery.

Once I was driving slowly in a parking lot and went over a speed bump, that little motion caused my good battery to suddenly short and the car died.

First and hopefully last time I get a shorted battery as there is no warning and it kills the car engine. Glad it didn't happen on a freeway.