What did you do today?

[19richie66 17,004]

6 minutes ago, wallfish said:

NICE.

My grandson has been interested in getting one of those but I want to use it for cutting new gaskets. I've sent some NLA stuff to a guy in CA ( Eric the gasket man) to be laser cut and they come back PERFECT like OEM gaskets. Just not sure if I'm smart enough to do all the setup

I also thought about that but not sure if I have enough intelligence to get the spacing correct for the holes to line up 

[Handy Don 10,751]

6 hours ago, JPWH said:

I just watched grandkids have fun.

Happy and lucky grands, there!

So far, only one old enough to pilot, but we’ll get out the trailer!

I can see that there will be competition among them in the future since i’m resolutely sticking with ONE machine at home.

[Ed Kennell 36,070]

Took advantage of this sunny 50F day and walked the fence lines cleaning out 12 bluebird boxes.

 

 

[19richie66 17,004]

Finished these up. Just need to frame them. 

[ebinmaine 63,508]

Four or five years ago I picked up a mobile phone that was getting quite stuffed and incapable of proper updates by about three years ago. 

 

3 years ago ago I got another one that was good in all functions except one pretty important thing. It had a VERY weak capability for receiving signal. I lived with that because I carry another phone while at work and use Wi-Fi while at home. 

One year ago I got another.  It has been the worst "smart" phone I've ever had /seen/ heard about etc.....

 

So

 

 

 

Incredibly 

 

 

 

 

Painfully 

 

 

 

Slow.  

 

 

Well I couldn't take it anymore and yesterday got a new phone. Again.  

 

This one is very good. 

☎️📞📲

 

🐻 Bear is much happier.  

 

[cleat 5,049]

58 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

Four or five years ago I picked up a mobile phone that was getting quite stuffed and incapable of proper updates by about three years ago. 

 

3 years ago ago I got another one that was good in all functions except one pretty important thing. It had a VERY weak capability for receiving signal. I lived with that because I carry another phone while at work and use Wi-Fi while at home. 

One year ago I got another.  It has been the worst "smart" phone I've ever had /seen/ heard about etc.....

 

So

 

 

 

Incredibly 

 

 

 

 

Painfully 

 

 

 

Slow.  

 

 

Well I couldn't take it anymore and yesterday got a new phone. Again.  

 

This one is very good. 

☎️📞📲

 

🐻 Bear is much happier.  

 

 

What one do you now have that works well ?

 

The wife and I both use Samsung S20FE's that work well but I wish they received weak signals a bit better as we are out in a weak area.

 

[ebinmaine 63,508]

6 minutes ago, cleat said:

 

What one do you now have that works well ?

 

The wife and I both use Samsung S20FE's that work well but I wish they received weak signals a bit better as we are out in a weak area.

 

 

This one is a Samsung Galaxy A14 5g. 

 

I can't verify its signal strength here at home yet. 

I bought this model because it's the same as my current work phone and that one works fairly well even in the boonies. 

[Ed Kennell 36,070]

Gotta be careful where you step going for the mail in Amish country.

 

    Seein ya every day Jay  @roadapples.

[ebinmaine 63,508]

9 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

careful where you step

Behhh....

That's just feet deodorant. 

[EB-80/8inPA 1,527]

10 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

Gotta be careful where you step going for the mail in Amish country.

 

    Seein ya every day Jay  @roadapples.

I can’t help but think of him from time to time dodging dumplings on the bike.

[19richie66 17,004]

Well since I’m a little late for this year, I decided to get a jump on next year. The way my projects go, I figured I would give myself enough time . 

[ebinmaine 63,508]

@19richie66

 

Them're  coooool

[19richie66 17,004]

Well if you need any, hit me up. Only 359 more days till Christmas  

[ebinmaine 63,508]

50 minutes ago, 19richie66 said:

Well if you need any, hit me up. Only 359 more days till Christmas  

 

We don't do christmas here but I was thinking a medallion of some sort for shows.  

 

[8ntruck 6,478]

Today, I noticed evidence that there had been a recent backup from the basement floor drains.  A bit of investigation led me to believe that the whole house trap (located about 8' outside of the house, and 4' underground) is plugged.  Applying my home made cleaning rod through the clean out port.  This improved the situation slightly, but the problem is not solved.  Judging by what came back on the cleaning rod, the blockage is muck.  

 

My wet & dry shop vac would probably do the job.  But, how not to foul it up with drain muck?  Ideas presented on the interweb suggest a 5 gallon bucket, lid , and some plastic plumbing fittings will provide a sump to collect the muck before it reaches the shop vac.

 

I'm assuming the box stores will be open tomorrow so I can get supplies to build the thing.

[SylvanLakeWH 24,297]

Just had that fun on Christmas afternoon,,, I have a power cable snake that I use about twice a year out to the main drain - 75' or so... Reamer tip first, then the claw,,, Works great!

[19richie66 17,004]

3 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

We don't do christmas here but I was thinking a medallion of some sort for shows.  

 

Just let me know what you have in mind and I’ll try to make it happen. 

[Handy Don 10,751]

11 hours ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

power cable snake that I use about twice a year

These are a reasonably inexpensive rental item, too, for anyone not wanting to own/store one!

[8ntruck 6,478]

Well, I played plumber today.  I modified my cleaning rod into a jet rod:

 

 

1/2" vinyl tubing, hose fittings, and a miniature nozzle.  Zip tied everything to the cleaning rod I made several years ago using a piece of drain snake and a 10' piece of 1/2" EMT.

 

I stuffed that down the cleanout and probed it around a bit.  Inside to do a 3 flush flow test.  Still backed up, but was draining quicker.  I ran my manual drain snake about 25' into the drain from one of the cleanouts in the basement.  The snake came out clean, reaffirming that the clog is in the house trap.  Another session with the jet rod, and the drain has adequate flow.   It still feels like there is sediment in the house trap.

 

The house trap is 6 or 8 feet underground.  I'm not sure if my shop vac will have enough oomf to lift the sediment  that far.  Only way to find out is to collect the bits and pieces to get to the house trap and give it a try.

[Ed Kennell 36,070]

HVAC and water maintenance.      I have hard water that likes to eat copper and brass.    My Mike had a slow day today, so we replaced all the copper with SST and plastic.

All new oil filters, nozzle, valves, and cleaned the chimney and boiler.     

 

Also installed new lamp and filter  and recharged the well tank.

 

I sure am grateful to have a son with a HVAC business.  I'll sleep well knowing he is here to maintain things when I take my dirt nap.

 

[8ntruck 6,478]

Not a good day today.  The plan was to pop the cold water faucet with a leaking gland seal out of the kitchen sink, take it to the hardware store to match a cartridge, and put it back.  Three maybe four hours, right?  Nope.

 

These faucets have permanently attached handles - came that way new.  A strap wrench on top just slipped.  A basin wrench won't clear the cutout in the under counter farm style sink.  Can't get a grip on the bottom nut with Channel Locks.  My Crescent wrench won't clear the sink.  A hammer and chisel didn't knock the nut loose.

 

I finally got my calipers on the nut and discovered that it is 1 1/2".  OK, I went out and got a 1 1/2" socket to modify it to fit around the pipes.  It is a 3/4" drive socket, so there enough meat to enlarge the square into a round to fit over the pipes.  While making a round hole out of a square one with a die grinder and carbide burr, my compressor seizes up.

 

Well, I bought it used some 35 to 40 years ago.  Don't know how old it was then.  Well, that's out of the picture for now.  I'll make the repair/replace decision later. 

 

The carbide burr is in the drill press now - working better than I expected.  The cold water faucet is still in the counter.

 

I guess the bright side of this is that I now have a reason to get a bigger compressor. .....

Edited January 4 by 8ntruck

[kwalshy 227]

On 1/2/2024 at 4:39 PM, Ed Kennell said:

HVAC and water maintenance.      I have hard water that likes to eat copper and brass.    My Mike had a slow day today, so we replaced all the copper with SST and plastic.

All new oil filters, nozzle, valves, and cleaned the chimney and boiler.     

 

Also installed new lamp and filter  and recharged the well tank.

 

 

I sure am grateful to have a son with a HVAC business.  I'll sleep well knowing he is here to maintain things when I take my dirt nap.

 

@Ed Kennell  I'm going to be proactive and probably replace the hydronic LP boiler at my parents house this Spring/Summer.  What brand would your son recommend for a 150-200 thousand BTU (MBH) system?  I would prefer to not buy one from a big box store.  Thanks

 

My house & theirs both have Weil McLains, mine is a 2008 era Ultra Series, I don't recall what model at my parents house.  Though I did need to replace the gas control valve a few years ago.  

[Ed Kennell 36,070]

4 hours ago, kwalshy said:

@Ed Kennell  I'm going to be proactive and probably replace the hydronic LP boiler at my parents house this Spring/Summer.  What brand would your son recommend for a 150-200 thousand BTU (MBH) system?  I would prefer to not buy one from a big box store.  Thanks

 

My house & theirs both have Weil McLains, mine is a 2008 era Ultra Series, I don't recall what model at my parents house.  Though I did need to replace the gas control valve a few years ago.  

2008, there just getting broken in.      I installed mine in 2000.         Mike is using Burnham and Utica now.     He usually buys Burnham because they have a local plant.

[8ntruck 6,478]

It was in the high 30s with a pretty heavy fog yesterday evening.  The temperature dropped into the mid 20s overnight.  We woke up to some interesting frost this morning:

 

 

I did manage to get the cartridge out of the kitchen sink faucet last night.  Spent this morning shopping for one.  ACE, the blue box store, the green box store, and a local plumber wholesale outfit were unable to help.  The wholesale outfit gave me a couple of out of town suppliers to call.   Fortunately, the supplier in the next city of any size to our east had the cartridge in stock.  So, we are going to take a little trip tomorrow.  Turns out that these Kohler faucets are out of production - apparently that includes the service parts now.

 

The blue box store has some 27 ton wood splitters in front of the store.  The Craftsman machine had a Kohler 6.5hp engine for power, the off brand had a B&S engine for power.  Other than the engines, paint, and decals, the machines appeared to be identical.  Price was $600.  TSC had 20 ton splitters for $1,000 +/- in front of their store.  I wonder what is up with the price difference?  The splitters at TSC look like they could be towed on the road behind a car.  The splitters at the blue box store had hitches, but the running gear didn't look like it would be road worthy.

 

1/15 edit.  On my last trip to the blue box store, I noticed that the price on the log splitters is now $1200.  Either they had a sale, or they were mis-marked.  Guess I should have tried to pick one up at the $600 price.

Edited January 15 by 8ntruck

[kwalshy 227]

14 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

2008, there just getting broken in.      I installed mine in 2000.         Mike is using Burnham and Utica now.     He usually buys Burnham because they have a local plant.

 LOL!  I'm more concerned about the 1994 boiler!   Thanks for the recommendations, I'll look into Burnham & Utica