Fix It Fast: Start here for DIY help! (You'll know when it's a problem by smell.)

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Fix It Fast: Start here for DIY help! (You'll know when it's a problem by smell.)

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H110Hawk: Dec 28, 2006

There's a loving dead rat in my pool.

Besides fishing the thing out what do I need to do? Shock it? Chemicals are maintained already.

# ? Mar 22, 2024 20:40

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# ? Apr 29, 2024 03:26

Leperflesh: May 17, 2007

PainterofCrap posted:

The general rule of thumb is that 1/3 of the height is buried for anchorage. That gets problematic for a 20' post.

For a 6' fence post, that means a 2' hole. You go adding another 12'-15' to that and there's a real question as to how well that'll stay put.

On the other hand - as posted above - there's a 15' aluminum bat pole available on Az, that says 21" burial is sufficient.

We're talking about a box that's a foot wide, not quite 2' tall, and 4" thick, made of cedar - so the loads on it will chiefly be wind loads as I doubt the thing weighs 10-lbs, so maybe that'll do?

So another thing you can do is not dig a hole at all, and just drive a post into the ground. This is very unweildy for a really tall post, but you can perhaps drive say a shorter bit into the ground and then attach your longer bit to it via various and sundry attachment devices

As with Motronic I don't know for sand, maybe that'd make it especially easy?

Anyway you can do it by hand with a post driver, probably a thing you can rent:

or there's pneumatic and hydraulic ones too

# ? Mar 22, 2024 23:24

withak: Jan 15, 2003; Fun Shoe

Always hire someone to else use the post driver, let them pay for the inevitable injuries.

# ? Mar 22, 2024 23:33

Tezer: Jul 9, 2001

PainterofCrap posted:

I would prefer to not try digging by hand; a four-foot hole would take all day & wipe me out. Renting a Bobcat seems like major overkill.

Suggestions?

https://seymourmidwest.com/21324/

They have other sizes. The one I have the pipe unscrews and you can add addition length using a union, I've probably dug 40 4-foot deep post holes with mine over the years. Gets caught on rocks, but you said you have sandy soil. Whenever I hit a rock I would use a normal clamshell digger to grab it and remove it and then continue with the auger. I have mine set at the six inch size and have never adjusted it, so I'm not sure it's worth springing for the adjustable version vs. the fixed diameter version.

# ? Mar 22, 2024 23:46

Arrath: Apr 14, 2011

If you insist on doing it yourself (e: using a fence post driver), wear hearing protection cause that is right in front of your face and loud when you're really slamming on it.

# ? Mar 22, 2024 23:47

devicenull: May 30, 2007; Grimey Drawer

So I needed to hang some plastic in prep for removing ceiling drywall. It's not really possible to just tape it up there, so I present:

I taped the edge of the plastic, then cut some cardboard strips, and just hung it from the ceiling with drywall screws and washers. I'm actually fairly impressed with how well it seems to work so far.

# ? Mar 23, 2024 01:35

H110Hawk: Dec 28, 2006

That's brilliant.

# ? Mar 23, 2024 01:48

tuyop: Sep 15, 2006; Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted; Fun Shoe

devicenull posted:

So I needed to hang some plastic in prep for removing ceiling drywall. It's not really possible to just tape it up there, so I present:

I taped the edge of the plastic, then cut some cardboard strips, and just hung it from the ceiling with drywall screws and washers. I'm actually fairly impressed with how well it seems to work so far.

I hope I remember this when I need it

# ? Mar 23, 2024 01:56

mutata: Mar 1, 2003

devicenull posted:

So I needed to hang some plastic in prep for removing ceiling drywall. It's not really possible to just tape it up there, so I present:

I taped the edge of the plastic, then cut some cardboard strips, and just hung it from the ceiling with drywall screws and washers. I'm actually fairly impressed with how well it seems to work so far.

Bingo, that's great.

# ? Mar 23, 2024 05:29

H110Hawk: Dec 28, 2006

https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/residential/animals/dead-animals-and-pools.html

Fun fun. My pool is very cold right now, but no one will be swimming in it for months. Facebook mentioned a few days ago someone used rat poison nearby, which would explain the water-seeking behavior. Fuckers.

# ? Mar 23, 2024 05:57

ROJO: Jan 14, 2006; Oven Wrangler

Arrath posted:

If you insist on doing it yourself (e: using a fence post driver), wear hearing protection cause that is right in front of your face and loud when you're really slamming on it.

And consider a hard hat. I once was really getting into it and slightly raised the driver off the post, and caught the rear edge of the driver on the post on its way back down. Pivoted the driver right over and onto the top of my skull. Lots of blood from that one, like a horror movie - scared the poo poo out of my wife we she saw me.

# ? Mar 23, 2024 06:22

TooMuchAbstraction: Oct 14, 2012; I spent four years making
Waves of Steel
Hell yes I'm going to turn my avatar into an ad for it.; Fun Shoe

Any thoughts on this gutter issue?

https://i.imgur.com/Ptvr2jM.mp4

There's a bare spot on the ground where the excess water is falling. It's probably not a critical issue as it stands, but the water is landing closer to the house than it's supposed to -- the gutter normally drops the water off another 6' away or so and further downslope.

# ? Mar 23, 2024 12:50

Motronic: Nov 6, 2009

Can't tell anything from there. Looks clogged, so start by cleaning it.

# ? Mar 23, 2024 14:23

TooMuchAbstraction: Oct 14, 2012; I spent four years making
Waves of Steel
Hell yes I'm going to turn my avatar into an ad for it.; Fun Shoe

Motronic posted:

Can't tell anything from there. Looks clogged, so start by cleaning it.

I went up there with a ladder a couple of weeks ago, and cleaned out some leaves. I didn't, like, scrub it clean or anything, but it was basically empty. I'd be surprised if somehow a bunch of gunk got up there in the intervening time span.

# ? Mar 23, 2024 14:35

Beef Of Ages: Jan 11, 2003; Your dumb is leaking.

TooMuchAbstraction posted:

I went up there with a ladder a couple of weeks ago, and cleaned out some leaves. I didn't, like, scrub it clean or anything, but it was basically empty. I'd be surprised if somehow a bunch of gunk got up there in the intervening time span.

Did you also clean out the downspout?

# ? Mar 23, 2024 14:36

Deteriorata: Feb 6, 2005

TooMuchAbstraction posted:

I went up there with a ladder a couple of weeks ago, and cleaned out some leaves. I didn't, like, scrub it clean or anything, but it was basically empty. I'd be surprised if somehow a bunch of gunk got up there in the intervening time span.

The downspout may be plugged, as well. Take a hose up there and try running some water to see where it goes.

# ? Mar 23, 2024 14:36

TooMuchAbstraction: Oct 14, 2012; I spent four years making
Waves of Steel
Hell yes I'm going to turn my avatar into an ad for it.; Fun Shoe

Ah, good catch, I did not clear the downspout. Guess that's on the list for next week.

EDIT: two more discoveries:

1. Another downspout drains into a large black plastic hose that just goes underground, with no emergence point that I can find. At least water isn't flowing up out of the top of the hose, so presumably it's managing to drain away to...somewhere. I guess I can blast water down the hose when it's dry out, and try to ID where the water's emerging from?

2. A small amount of standing water pooled against the patio foundation in the back yard. That's a concrete slab with no basement underneath it, though, so probably not a serious risk.

TooMuchAbstraction fucked around with this message at 14:46 on Mar 23, 2024

# ? Mar 23, 2024 14:38

Slugworth: Feb 18, 2001; If two grown men can't make a pervert happy for a few minutes in order to watch a film about zombies, then maybe we should all just move to Iran!

H110Hawk posted:

There's a loving dead rat in my pool.

Besides fishing the thing out what do I need to do? Shock it? Chemicals are maintained already.

Unless it's in vfib, shocking it's not gonna do anything. I'd just bury it, man. My condolences.

# ? Mar 23, 2024 15:57

Anne Whateley: Feb 11, 2007; i like nice words

May I suggest a couple of frog logs so neither you or the animals have unpleasant surprises?

# ? Mar 23, 2024 16:53

wesleywillis: Dec 30, 2016; SUCK A MALE CAMEL'S DICK WITH MIRACLE WHIP!!

PainterofCrap posted:

I'm putting up a bat house.

The post needs to be at least 10' above ground. I would prefer to have it at least 12'; much above that, it gets unwieldy for me to do seasonal maintenance. Since they may not roost there for at least a year, that will initially be keeping certain winged stinging insects from moving in.

The hole is going to have to be at least three feet deep, probably four. Not sure if I can rent an auger to bore that deeply; Home Depot's don't reach three feet.

I'm digging in sand at least, rather than clay or rock.

I would prefer to not try digging by hand; a four-foot hole would take all day & wipe me out. Renting a Bobcat seems like major overkill.

Suggestions?

e: after a bit more digging, there's a nifty 3-piece, steel triangular telescoping pole for martins & bat houses. $130 is more than a 4x4x20 post, but at least I won't spend all day trying to select one that's straight, not split & full of knots. No doubt a lot lighter, too, and it can easily be telescoped down for maintenance

The directions say to dig a 12" hole 21" deep to plant the socket (the post is removeable) . That does not seem deep enough to me. On the other hand, I don't have to plant a ladder against it and climb my 300-lb self up to work on it - and less than 2' ground anchor is unlikely to handle that kind of lateral loading for long, anyway.

https://www.unitedrentals.com/marketplace/equipment/lawn-landscape/augers/one-man-auger-2-8-hp-27-42-depth-gas-powered

The one in the picture with the 4 wheeled power unit appears to be a little beaver product. They definitely have attachments for adding augers to go deeper.

# ? Mar 23, 2024 17:09

H110Hawk: Dec 28, 2006

Slugworth posted:

Unless it's in vfib, shocking it's not gonna do anything. I'd just bury it, man. My condolences.

# ? Mar 23, 2024 17:16

SpartanIvy: May 18, 2007; Hair Elf

I have a quick questions about fluorescent bar lights: Would a bad starter cause bulbs to burn out almost instantly on one end? I just put a new bar light in my vintage stove after the prior bulb burned out quite a while ago. I figured it was an ancient bulb so reasonable that if died. The new bulb flashed and then went out right after I switched it on. After testing the new bulb with a multimeter, one end of the new bulb gives 0 resistance, so it's definitely dead. The starter the stove uses is an FS-25 starter, and I've already ordered a new one, but want to make sure that's a reasonable cause to the bulb blowing out instantly.

# ? Mar 23, 2024 17:46

Beef Of Ages: Jan 11, 2003; Your dumb is leaking.

SpartanIvy posted:

I have a quick questions about fluorescent bar lights: Would a bad starter cause bulbs to burn out almost instantly on one end? I just put a new bar light in my vintage stove after the prior bulb burned out quite a while ago. I figured it was an ancient bulb so reasonable that if died. The new bulb flashed and then went out right after I switched it on. After testing the new bulb with a multimeter, one end of the new bulb gives 0 resistance, so it's definitely dead. The starter the stove uses is an FS-25 starter, and I've already ordered a new one, but want to make sure that's a reasonable cause to the bulb blowing out instantly.

Is there a particular reason you're not retrofitting with a bar LED? I've retrofitted several fluorescent troffers with LED bulbs where you bypass the ballast and any starter so it's much more simple from a wiring standpoint. This would also wholesale solve your problem by not using any of the stuff that may be giving you issues.

# ? Mar 23, 2024 17:52

Deteriorata: Feb 6, 2005

SpartanIvy posted:

I have a quick questions about fluorescent bar lights: Would a bad starter cause bulbs to burn out almost instantly on one end? I just put a new bar light in my vintage stove after the prior bulb burned out quite a while ago. I figured it was an ancient bulb so reasonable that if died. The new bulb flashed and then went out right after I switched it on. After testing the new bulb with a multimeter, one end of the new bulb gives 0 resistance, so it's definitely dead. The starter the stove uses is an FS-25 starter, and I've already ordered a new one, but want to make sure that's a reasonable cause to the bulb blowing out instantly.

Yes, 0 resistance means it is sending full power to the filament in the bulb, which will burn it out in a hurry. Its job is to boil off electrons (Edison effect), not produce light directly.

# ? Mar 23, 2024 17:57

PainterofCrap: Oct 17, 2002; hey bebe

wesleywillis posted:

https://www.unitedrentals.com/marketplace/equipment/lawn-landscape/augers/one-man-auger-2-8-hp-27-42-depth-gas-powered

The one in the picture with the 4 wheeled power unit appears to be a little beaver product. They definitely have attachments for adding augers to go deeper.

Thank you! There's a United Rental less than 10-miles from me and they rent that unit for $99+ tax etc.

Now to see if I can hump it into my pickup, or if it's finally time to buy folding ramps.

# ? Mar 23, 2024 22:29

SpartanIvy: May 18, 2007; Hair Elf

Beef Of Ages posted:

Is there a particular reason you're not retrofitting with a bar LED? I've retrofitted several fluorescent troffers with LED bulbs where you bypass the ballast and any starter so it's much more simple from a wiring standpoint. This would also wholesale solve your problem by not using any of the stuff that may be giving you issues.

The main reason is I'd have to disassemble the entire top of the stove again to rewire it and I want to put it off as long as possible. I should have done it when I was restoring the thing but I didn't. I also haven't found a 30" LED tube light that doesn't require a ballast, but if you can find one, I might prioritize the conversion.

SpartanIvy fucked around with this message at 03:21 on Mar 24, 2024

# ? Mar 24, 2024 03:16

3D Megadoodoo: Nov 25, 2010

H110Hawk posted:

There's a loving dead rat in my pool.

Besides fishing the thing out what do I need to do? Shock it?

Personally I think you should just let it stay dead. Of course if you have a defibrillator handy, go for it why not.

# ? Mar 25, 2024 15:43

A MIRACLE: Sep 17, 2007; All right. It's Saturday night; I have no date, a two-liter bottle of Shasta and my all-Rush mix-tape... Let's rock.

the water level in my toilet refills normally after a flush, but then slowly drains to a very low level over an hour or so. what should I look at first? thanks

# ? Mar 25, 2024 22:43

Deteriorata: Feb 6, 2005

A MIRACLE posted:

the water level in my toilet refills normally after a flush, but then slowly drains to a very low level over an hour or so. what should I look at first? thanks

I'd start with the flapper valve. They're rubber and rot and leak after a few years. They're cheap and easy to replace.

# ? Mar 25, 2024 22:56

kid sinister: Nov 16, 2002

Seconding the flapper.

# ? Mar 25, 2024 23:01

Flipperwaldt: Nov 11, 2011; Won't somebody think of the starving hamsters in China?

Oh, the water level in the reservoir, rather than the toilet?

# ? Mar 25, 2024 23:10

SpartanIvy: May 18, 2007; Hair Elf

To follow up on my previous florescent bulb and starter question. I ended up deep diving into how florescent bulbs work and long story short I've got a new and modern electronic ballast I'm going to install on my stove. I tested it with a 24" linear bulb I had on hand and it works great!

(There is a starter pictured there but that's from a previous test with the old ballast)

e: Because it may come up again, I'm not bypassing the ballast for an LED bulb because as far as I have found, nobody makes a 30" T8 LED bypass bulb. The one 30" LED bulb I've found (and ordered) still requires a ballast.

# ? Mar 26, 2024 00:44

A MIRACLE: Sep 17, 2007; All right. It's Saturday night; I have no date, a two-liter bottle of Shasta and my all-Rush mix-tape... Let's rock.

Flipperwaldt posted:

Oh, the water level in the reservoir, rather than the toilet?

no, in the bowl. it fills up to a normal level and then slowly disappears

# ? Mar 26, 2024 00:59

PainterofCrap: Oct 17, 2002; hey bebe

A MIRACLE posted:

no, in the bowl. it fills up to a normal level and then slowly disappears

Nothing in the tank flush or fill valves can affect the static water level in the bowl. It finds the natural level against the trap cast into the backside of the bowl unit.

A blocked vent can pull the water level down via suction, though but you would eventually see that.

# ? Mar 26, 2024 02:13

facialimpediment: Feb 11, 2005; as the world turns

A MIRACLE posted:

no, in the bowl. it fills up to a normal level and then slowly disappears

How slow? Over minutes, hours, half the day, full day?

And has the toilet bowl always drained itself like that, or is it a recent development?

# ? Mar 26, 2024 02:25

Motronic: Nov 6, 2009

Yeah, this sounds like a vent problem. Either keeping the bowl too high to begin with and/or siphoning when other drains are being run.

A MIRACLE, do you have any other drain plumbing stuff going on that is our of the ordinary? Noises, back ups, slow drains? How long have these and your original symptom been going on?

# ? Mar 26, 2024 02:25

facialimpediment: Feb 11, 2005; as the world turns

Here is why we're asking you those questions:

https://youtu.be/Y2o8upCxcqA?si=5MyUJ_dTdZZOW-6Q

# ? Mar 26, 2024 03:14

A MIRACLE: Sep 17, 2007; All right. It's Saturday night; I have no date, a two-liter bottle of Shasta and my all-Rush mix-tape... Let's rock.

Yea there�s some other weird stuff. It is happening very slowly this afternoon
Other stuff
- one of the sinks is very slow to drain inexplicably
- shower randomly splashes a bit of water the next day
- dripping sounds in toilet after finishing flush cycle
- drain flies in the very old tub that I vanquished with boiling water and a drain cap

# ? Mar 26, 2024 06:27

Motronic: Nov 6, 2009

Sounds like it's time to get a plumber or drain cleaning service in there.

# ? Mar 26, 2024 13:15

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# ? Apr 29, 2024 03:26

mobby_6kl: Aug 9, 2009; by Fluffdaddy

An quick update with a success story of the oven repair, in case someone ever needs this information (lol sure)

mobby_6kl posted:

So tha fan in my oven (Whirlpool JT 369) from the previous post finally completley poo poo itself it seems:

It actually worked fine without making noise again up until a few days ago, which is why I was too lazy to fix or order a replacement fan. Then the noise came back occasionally and now the fan is barely turning. Oops.
https://i.imgur.com/l3WcaJx.mp4

The fan had a little grille covering it but it was pretty easy to remove it as well as all the screws around the perimiter of the bottom cover.

However it won't budge at all when I'm trying to pull from this edge:

There's an inner wall there but it doesn't seem to be attached to the bottom (sorry a bit gross, this wasn't an accessible area)

There are some screws on the bottom that I didn't undo but there's other stuff mounted there that I don't want falling out.

I don't have the new fan so there's no rush, but maybe somebody has experience with how ovens are generally put together and what would be the best way to get to the fan assembly. I did find a service manual (https://elektrotanya.com/whirlpool_jt369sl_858736915897_en.pdf/download.html#dl which seems to be a great site for service manuals and doesn't try to just scam you) but it doesn't even show the fasteners or any procedures. Though there's a "Service Bulletin" for this exact issue lol.

I was out traveling for a while and then procrastinating so only got the new fan a few days ago. It was like $65 so like half of a basic new microwave, but decent combination convection ovens are still around $500 so being a cheap bastard, this was a no brainer.

I ended up taking off one more cover holding the rear convection fan motor just to get a peak inside before I ripped anything off, but the actual correct process was pretty simple:

Take off the two side feet
Take off the cover with a bunch of screws on the back and the sides
Undo the few screws that are visibly holding the bottom cover (like those marked B1)
Use a prybar to get it unstuck

Then you're in and just a few screws are holding the fan assembly

# ? Mar 26, 2024 22:43

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