Your recent repair? - 2021 to ?

[bjorn2bwild]

...........Could it be that the replacement fuses had the wrong rating? Maybe I should order another pack of a few degrees higher?

Should be easy enough to test, no?
180C x 1.8 + 32 = 356F.
Put one of the fuses into an oven at 300F (tested with thermometer), remove and check for continuity, if good, repeat at 325, 350 etc.
I would expect a more consistent pattern in time to failure if the fuses were 'misrated'. Possible faulty thermostat?

 

[NW-Bound]

Should be easy enough to test, no?
180C x 1.8 + 32 = 356F.
Put one of the fuses into an oven at 300F (tested with thermometer), remove and check for continuity, if good, repeat at 325, 350 etc.
I would expect a more consistent pattern in time to failure if the fuses were 'misrated'. Possible faulty thermostat?

Yes, it's not hard to check as you describe. It's that every little thing around me turns into a science project, and there's not enough time to "study" everything.

Another thing that occurred to me is that the top metal dome where the fuse is mounted is slowly covered with brown fat. Note how the original fuse at 172C is only at 342F, while the fryer is allowed to go up as high as 400F, as I mentioned in the original post (on last year's thread).

Perhaps they rely on the shininess of the metal dome to reflect part of the heat, and that quality is now gone.

 

[bjorn2bwild]

Another thing that occurred to me is that the top metal dome where the fuse is mounted is slowly covered with brown fat. Note how the original fuse at 172C is only at 342F, while the fryer is allowed to go up as high as 400F, as I mentioned in the original post (on last year's thread).

Perhaps they rely on the shininess of the metal dome to reflect part of the heat, and that quality is now gone.

I like that better than the faulty thermostat.

The fix of course would be to clean the metal dome, providing the chrome finish is still intact...... or make a supplemental heat shield to shelter the fuse.

 

[NW-Bound]

I looked again at the air fryer today, in an eye on how to remove the metal dome on top of the chamber to clean it. That takes more work than I want to commit to at this point. But, it occurred to me to check the operating temperature of the fryer with a thermocouple, which I have. It's so easy to thread the thin wire sensor through the tray door gap into the interior chamber. Why had I not done that?

With the temperature setting at 300F, I observed the fryer cycling its heater to bring the temperature up to 350F, and allow it to go down to 300F before turning on the heat again.

Two observations:

1) the peak temperature is quite a bit higher than the temperature setting. Has it always been this way? Or has the temperature sensor gotten off with age, and causes overheating which tripped the safety fuse?

2) the hysteresis of +- 25F is quite high. I would think they would design it to be tighter, which should not be hard with electronic control.

The fryer has a small temperature probe that sticks out 1/2 in into the cooking chamber. The electronic control uses this sensor to take measurements, then cycles on/off the heater via a relay. I would think they could easily use a triac to cycle the heater, or better yet, control the duty cycle to maintain a tighter temperature range.

Back on the safety thermal fuse being burned out, I did not try the top temperature setting of 400F to see how high the actual internal temperature would be. I don't feel like opening up the fryer again so soon to replace the fuse once more.

 

[ERD50]

....

2) the hysteresis of +- 25F is quite high. I would think they would design it to be tighter, which should not be hard with electronic control.

The fryer has a small temperature probe that sticks out 1/2 in into the cooking chamber. The electronic control uses this sensor to take measurements, then cycles on/off the heater via a relay. I would think they could easily use a triac to cycle the heater, or better yet, control the duty cycle to maintain a tighter temperature range.... .

How much current does this fryer draw? I'm working on a hobby project now with an SSR (Solid State Relay), which is just a triac switch packaged with an opto-isolated input control. These things aren't as simple as a relay when you get into the ten amp plus area. A Triac drops ~ 1~ 1.5 volt, so that 10 amp load creates 10 ~ 15 watts of heat that has to be dissipated to keep the junction temperature below the destruction level. I was testing mine today with a 10 A load, and it takes a heat sink that's about a 3" cube to be conservatively safe. A relay that handles 10 A is not large, doesn't require a heat sink, thermal compound, torquing down mounting screws, etc.

But a relay doesn't want to be switched on/off too often (though I haven't noticed specs on this - other than life cycle specs, typically 100K, but I'm told that each switch dissipates some power and you'll overheat the contacts). I'd bet the 25F hysteresis is to avoid short-cycling the relay.

-ERD50

 

[NW-Bound]

How much current does this fryer draw? I'm working on a hobby project now with an SSR (Solid State Relay), which is just a triac switch packaged with an opto-isolated input control. These things aren't as simple as a relay when you get into the ten amp plus area. A Triac drops ~ 1~ 1.5 volt, so that 10 amp load creates 10 ~ 15 watts of heat that has to be dissipated to keep the junction temperature below the destruction level. I was testing mine today with a 10 A load, and it takes a heat sink that's about a 3" cube to be conservatively safe. A relay that handles 10 A is not large, doesn't require a heat sink, thermal compound, torquing down mounting screws, etc.

But a relay doesn't want to be switched on/off too often (though I haven't noticed specs on this - other than life cycle specs, typically 100K, but I'm told that each switch dissipates some power and you'll overheat the contacts). I'd bet the 25F hysteresis is to avoid short-cycling the relay.

-ERD50

You have the point about the dissipation heat of the triac. It is not insurmountable in this app because of the fan that an air fryer must have.

The vertically mounted fan has impellers mounted at both ends of the shaft. The motor is mounted above the cooking chamber, with the lower end of the shaft poking through the dome into the cooking chamber. The lower impeller is to circulate the air inside the cooking chamber. The upper impeller is to stir the air above the chamber dome, in order to ensure the electronics mounted at the top does not get "cooked" by the oven heat. This forced air cooling would allow the use of a smaller heatsink for the triac than ordinarily needed.

About cycling of the relay, I observed that the internal temperature of the fryer took about 10 sec to heat up from 300F to 350F, and about 30 sec to cool down. That was with the fryer empty. With some food for a "payload", the thermal mass is higher, and during normal cooking, the cycling of the heater would be even less. I would think halving the hysteresis and doubling the relay switching operation would not be harmful.

 

[NateW]

A vacuum pump and gauges wasn't the main issue with my installation...it was the braising. Not that I couldn't buy a torch, but I figured it would take a while to get good enough to risk my brand new system to my fumbling. The solution was to get an independent HVAC guy to evacuate and charge the system after I got it in place. But it sounds like braising is not required on these kits (mine was a standard evaporator coil / condenser unit system).

Yes, it's very difficult to get this right. From what I read, when brazing refrigerant lines, you are supposed to have dry nitrogen in the line to prevent copper oxide, a contaminant, from forming.

 

[NateW]

Not really a repair, but I inspected the septic tank. It is required every 3 years and by taking a short course, I'm allowed to do it myself every other time.

The upshot is that you measure the thickness of the scum on the top and sludge on the bottom and compare it to the depth of the tank. I'm still OK, but will probably be over in 3 years, so I'm thinking of having it pumped now. I was shocked to see what it costs here in Washington - about $600 for a 1250 gallon tank. In Michigan 3 years ago I was paying half that.

Thank you for posting this. We are looking at houses and some of them have septic tanks. I had better read up on them to see what added expenses or headaches I could have with a septic system.

 

[travelover]

Thank you for posting this. We are looking at houses and some of them have septic tanks. I had better read up on them to see what added expenses or headaches I could have with a septic system.

It can be substantial. When I sold my 50 year old house in Michigan, it failed inspection and it cost me over $20K to remedy it.

 

[coveredbridge]

Replaced the impeller on my Cyclone Rake leaf vac. After 15 years of use the impeller blades were beaten up pretty bad, causing the blower to vibrate so much that the motor handle and safety cover both broke off the blower. Ordered the parts from Cyclone Rake and got to work. First problem was that they didn't have a replacement for the motor handle so I had to drill a new mounting hole and reuse the broken handle. Better than nothing I guess. Encountered a big problem when I tried to pull the impeller off the motor shaft. It was froze on the shaft, and in trying to pull it off I mashed the threads on the shaft. I was ultimately able to get the impeller off after a couple days of lubrication, but I had to take the motor to my local farm equipment dealer who was fortunately able to tap the damaged threads without any trouble. While he was tapping the thread he said, "looks like you got a leaking valve cover gasket there". So off I go to search for the gasket. Finally found one in stock at the sixth placed I tried. Replaced the valve cover gasket and reassembled the blower with the new impeller. Changed the oil and air filter while I was at it. Started it up and seems to be working well. Ready to suck leaves again next fall.

 

[doneat54]

Went into the barn to make sure the generator would start, remembering that it took a lot of pulling the cord last time. Big snowstorm on the way and the power goes out here often. Checked fuel, set choke, pulled the cord 10-12 times, switched to left hand, pulled 10-12 times. Back to right hand, pulled 15-20 times. Cussed. Left, 10 pulls, right 15, <gasp> pull more, cuss more, check choke again, cuss pull.... not a sputter.



Go back in the house and search YouTube for "Predator 2000 Generator won't start" (this thing is only 3-4 years old and I have never so much had the cover off). Watch 3-4 videos, learn about a low oil false shutdown issue, see where you can get to the carb inlet to spray starter fluid.


Put gloves on, go back into the 23 degree barn, flip on lights in the shop then go to get gen from other room and bring it in....figure I'll give the pull start one more try....


...and it fires right up.



So that is my "repair" LOL....

(Hey, at least I saw where the oil dipstick is on a video, didn't even know it was there!!)

 

[bjorn2bwild]

Went into the barn to make sure the generator would start, remembering that it took a lot of pulling the cord last time. Big snowstorm on the way and the power goes out here often. Checked fuel, set choke, pulled the cord 10-12 times, switched to left hand, pulled 10-12 times. Back to right hand, pulled 15-20 times. Cussed. Left, 10 pulls, right 15, <gasp> pull more, cuss more, check choke again, cuss pull.... not a sputter.
Go back in the house and search YouTube for "Predator 2000 Generator won't start" (this thing is only 3-4 years old and I have never so much had the cover off). Watch 3-4 videos, learn about a low oil false shutdown issue, see where you can get to the carb inlet to spray starter fluid.
Put gloves on, go back into the 23 degree barn, flip on lights in the shop then go to get gen from other room and bring it in....figure I'll give the pull start one more try....
...and it fires right up.
So that is my "repair" LOL....
(Hey, at least I saw where the oil dipstick is on a video, didn't even know it was there!!)

You may already know this, but is worth repeating -
After the last use, drain most of the fuel from the tank and run the generator dry. Add a little gas treated with preservative to the tank and repeat, then drain the carb fuel bowl.
I use white gas instead of the treated gas with excellent results - one or two pulls next use with fresh gas in the tank.

 

[doneat54]

You may already know this, but is worth repeating -
After the last use, drain most of the fuel from the tank and run the generator dry. Add a little gas treated with preservative to the tank and repeat, then drain the carb fuel bowl.
I use white gas instead of the treated gas with excellent results - one or two pulls next use with fresh gas in the tank.

Good tip. I should probably do that with my big generator at the other house, it gets us seldom. This one here is a little "suitcase" gen and really gets used intermittently all year, as the power goes out almost as much in the summer with storms as it does in the winter.


So you use white gas for the last run-dry? Where can you buy that?

 

[euro]

Looked up "white Gas" and found a number of products:

@doneat54: what gas do you use? Just ethanol free or something else?


""""White gas is a common name for a number of flammable substances:

- As a generic term for camp stove and lantern fuel, its most popular current usage, also called Naphtha, 100% Light Hydro Treated Distillate, or Coleman fuel[1]

- Pure gasoline (without additives), commonly used when leaded gasoline was the norm to prevent fouling in situations where the properties of the lead additive were not required

- Un-dyed gasoline """"""

 

[bjorn2bwild]

Good tip. I should probably do that with my big generator at the other house, it gets us seldom. This one here is a little "suitcase" gen and really gets used intermittently all year, as the power goes out almost as much in the summer with storms as it does in the winter.


So you use white gas for the last run-dry? Where can you buy that?

Walmart etc... Camp stove fuel.
It is formulated with low residue qualities and similar combustibility to motor fuel.

Use just a little for short run times, as it lacks the additives found in regular gas. I have been using this method for over thirty years with no problems.
If the small generator will be used on a regular basis, you could use Sta-bil or a similar product, and leave the tank full.
I don't like the exhaust odor with Sta-bil.
P.S. With the white gas method, I empty the carb bowl twice - after the first and second run til dry routine.

 

[Walt34]

Another more recent fuel is Trufuel and some fuels labeled by some tool manufacturers such as Stihl. It has no alcohol in it, comes in both 4-stroke and two flavors of 2-stroke fuels, and is sold by Home Depot, Lowes, and I think Menards, and other larger hardware stores. Is is supposed to be good for five years in the sealed can and two years after opening.

I just started buying it late last summer mostly to "flush out" the fuel system of the evil alcohol and parafins that are in regular gasoline. Then I drain the entire fuel system including the fuel lines and carburetor bowl and store it dry. Some equipment, like the snow blower, can go for several years with no use if we don't get any appreciable snow so I don't like just using stabilizer with regular gasoline. The downside is that it's about $20 gallon, but if it saves me the hassle of one carburetor cleaning I'll consider it worthwhile.

 

[REWahoo]

Walt, it may not be as good as your $20/gal fuel but I purchase ethanol-free gas to hopefully accomplish the same thing (I do add Sta-bil). Several stations here sell it, priced about $0.50/gal above regular. This website will tell you where it is available in your state: https://www.pure-gas.org/

I purchased a new portable inverter generator a couple of months ago that automatically runs all the fuel out of the carburetor when shutting off. I had to do it manually by disconnecting the gas line, but that worked really well with my 20 year old construction-grade generator, which still starts on the first pull (but is obnoxiously loud!).

 

[Koogie]

I've switched to using ethanol free gas in our small engines as well. Seems better.

And Stabil, etc.. may not be doing much of anything anyway...

 

[Walt34]

Walt, it may not be as good as your $20/gal fuel but I purchase ethanol-free gas to hopefully accomplish the same thing (I do add Sta-bil). Several stations here sell it, priced about $0.50/gal above regular. This website will tell you where it is available in your state: https://www.pure-gas.org/

Thank you. I've seen that site before and the nearest alcohol-free gas is a pretty good hike, far enough that the $20/gallon stuff doesn't seem that much in comparison. And since I only use it at the end of the season for lawn stuff and what little the snow blower uses, I use one or two gallons a year so it's not that bad.

 

[travelover]

DW wanted the carpet swapped out for laminate flooring in a spare bedroom, so I foolishly agreed. Upon removal of the carpet, I realized this room was an add-on and the first 4 feet slope down about 3/4 of an inch, which is just not going to work with the new flooring. No problem I thought, I'll just buy leveling compound and pour my way to level. But, no, the asshats who did the prior work installed a particle board underlayment and the leveling compound is water based, so that is a no go.

My current plan is to build up the low area with incremental thicknesses of plywood so I only have to totally remove the particle board in the last foot wide strip. I'll install plywood to replace that last section of particleboard underlayment and caulk all the seams generously. That should allow me to pour the leveling compound and created a flat surface across each plywood step.

I should know by now that no project is as easy as it looks, but this has turned into a ridiculous exercise.

 

[mountainsoft]

My current plan is to build up the low area with incremental thicknesses of plywood so I only have to totally remove the particle board in the last foot wide strip. I'll install plywood to replace that last section of particleboard underlayment and caulk all the seams generously. That should allow me to pour the leveling compound and created a flat surface across each plywood step.

I ran into something similar when we were fixing up my mom's old house a few years ago. It was a combination of sagging particle board, a settling foundation, and mismatched repairs. There were a few small areas around the house like that, so I just used ready-mixed floor patch like this:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Custom-...rep-1-Gal-Pre-Mixed-Floor-Patch-FP1/100678058

In some of the deeper depressions I ended up doing two or three coats (letting dry between coats) but it worked out well and was easy to do. I used this method to screed her laundry room floor level with the dining room floor. It took a few applications, but turned out nice.

There was a bigger area in her back bedroom where the foundation had settled (weird foundation setup). I did something like you where I filled the majority of the dip with layers of plywood scraps. Then I troweled over those shims with the floor patch. It wasn't pretty, but it turned out nice in the end.

 

[mountainsoft]

I've switched to using ethanol free gas in our small engines as well. Seems better. And Stabil, etc.. may not be doing much of anything anyway...

Same here, though I add Stabil just in case.

However, I've replaced most of my small engine tools with EGO battery powered tools. No gas, no maintenance, no noise, no smell. Just pop in the battery and go. My tiller and snow blower are the only gas engines I have left now.

 

[Sunset]

DW wanted the carpet swapped out for laminate flooring in a spare bedroom, so I foolishly agreed. Upon removal of the carpet, I realized this room was an add-on and the first 4 feet slope down about 3/4 of an inch, which is just not going to work with the new flooring. No problem I thought, I'll just buy leveling compound and pour my way to level. But, no, the asshats who did the prior work installed a particle board underlayment and the leveling compound is water based, so that is a no go.

My current plan is to build up the low area with incremental thicknesses of plywood so I only have to totally remove the particle board in the last foot wide strip. I'll install plywood to replace that last section of particleboard underlayment and caulk all the seams generously. That should allow me to pour the leveling compound and created a flat surface across each plywood step.

I should know by now that no project is as easy as it looks, but this has turned into a ridiculous exercise.

Couldn't you paint the particle board with 2 coats of oil based paint.
Then apply the water based leveler.
I'm actually wondering if anyone knows if that would work.

I'd probably still add underlay to build up the very low areas, just to save on leveler.

 

[travelover]

Couldn't you paint the particle board with 2 coats of oil based paint.
Then apply the water based leveler.
I'm actually wondering if anyone knows if that would work.

I'd probably still add underlay to build up the very low areas, just to save on leveler.

I don't know if oil based paint would be adequate. I thought of painting it with fiberglass resin or RedGuard but even those still seem like a risk given how particle board swells, not to mention the cost and smell.

 

[1242Vintage]

Replaced a rotten 25 year old fence yesterday that was blown down a couple weeks ago. Fixed up the gate too. Now I can put the critters back in the field and be assured that they won’t wander away in the middle of the night.