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I have a Toro pull start mulching mower. I noticed this morning that one of the wheels wasn't turning right, so I stopped and fixed that. When I went to start it back up, the pull start ripped off in my hand. How hard is it to replace the pull cord and is it something I can do myself? Edit: It's a Toro model # 20022 R-21S. Fox_Spy fucked around with this message at 14:41 on Jun 20, 2010 |
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Jun 20, 2010 14:15
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Fox_Spy posted:I have a Toro pull start mulching mower. I noticed this morning that one of the wheels wasn't turning right, so I stopped and fixed that. When I went to start it back up, the pull start ripped off in my hand. How hard is it to replace the pull cord and is it something I can do myself? It's super easy. Remove the three or four screws holding the old pullstart on, put new one on. If it starts easily now, you can also just rewind the drum, feed the cord through the hole, and reattach the handle. I did this so many times with a rotting pull-start on a honda motor that I'd only get 3/4 revolution, so it was super important to make sure the cylinder was BDC before pulling.
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Jun 20, 2010 16:30
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:It's super easy. Remove the three or four screws holding the old pullstart on, put new one on. If it starts easily now, you can also just rewind the drum, feed the cord through the hole, and reattach the handle. I did this so many times with a rotting pull-start on a honda motor that I'd only get 3/4 revolution, so it was super important to make sure the cylinder was BDC before pulling. Thank god for user serviceable parts. Just to be 100% clear though, I'm talking about replacing the whole cord. It frayed and broke. Also what does BDC mean? And while I'm at it, got any recommendations on where to buy the new cord?
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Jun 20, 2010 16:46
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Fox_Spy posted:Thank god for user serviceable parts. Just to be 100% clear though, I'm talking about replacing the whole cord. It frayed and broke. Also what does BDC mean? And while I'm at it, got any recommendations on where to buy the new cord? BDC=Bottom Dead Center. So you get a full compression stroke as you're pulling. As far as the cord to use, just take the old, rotted one to anyplace that sells rope and get yourself some. I think I finally ended up getting some 1/4" braided nylon "heavy duty weather-resistant clothesline" from Home Depot. You can also just buy a whole new unit; depending on how common your motor is, a small engine repair shop may just stock them. Edit: I just looked up your motor. Briggs and Stratton. Pull starts should be about $40 brand new and already wound. You might spend $5 in rope and a couple hours rewinding your own. babyeatingpsychopath fucked around with this message at 17:00 on Jun 20, 2010 |
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Jun 20, 2010 16:55
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grover posted:Yes, I meant the actual tuner mechanism insure the TV. TVs, VCRs, DVRs and CatTV boxes all have them. If you have an old VCR lying around, try plugging that in and feeding your TV from the composite output of the VCR. Moving the TV to a known "good" coax would work, too, if it's small enough to reasonably move. Okay, the VCR idea was so obvious I should have thought of it right away. The VCR doesn't clear up the satellite signal but watching a movie on the VCR is clear as day, for a VCR anyway. So the problem is definitely in the Dish cable. Hopefully I can find a Ground Loop Isolator and solve the problem.
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Jun 20, 2010 20:38
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Tell me about power drills. I've got a rusty old black and decker I inherited from my father-in-law and a couple of cheap rechargable drills that don't really have much power. I have a few jobs I need to do around the house and decided to treat myself to a decent new drill as a Father's Day present. I'd like to get a general purpose drill, but also something with enough punch to drill through brick. Are current cordless drills up to that or do I really need to be looking at something corded? I don't know if it's just because my old cordless drills are so gutless but I'm seeing a lot of newer cordless hammer/masonry drills and I'm a little skeptical about them. Is something like this going to be any good or should I be looking for a corded equivilent? Something like this, although is an "impact" action something different to a hammer action or just two words for the same thing? Any other tips, favorite brands, things to avoid, amusing anecdotes etc welcome! Edit: Another one I'm looking at and another question. Does handedness matter on drills with a second handle for balance? Are they usually adjustable for left handed freaks of nature like myself? Gravy Jones fucked around with this message at 12:33 on Jun 21, 2010 |
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Jun 21, 2010 12:16
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I have an 18v Dewalt cordless drill at work and at full charge I've never met something I can't drill into, including a bit of concrete. It has 2 settings, one for high speed, one for high torque. It came with two batteries and a 45 minute charger. My dad's old cordless drill was pretty good but this blows it out of the water. The impact action on the one you posted should be the same as hammer for drilling concrete/stone/masonry, if it were an impact wrench it would have a drive head instead of a chuck. No idea on handedness, I haven't used one with a second handle.
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Jun 21, 2010 15:34
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I had a Ryobi 1/2" cordless drill that I used, abused, and it kept on chugging for 8 years until one day it just decided to die. I decided that since I had my cordless Bosch screw gun and a corded 1/2" Hitachi drill that I would skip the expense of a cordless drill; instead I picked up a corded 3/8" Dewalt for about $40 on Amazon. The Bosch gets me through the quick tasks, and is even great for things like drywall. If you're looking at a multi-purpose drill, I'd suggest a DeWalt or Milwaukee 1/2" cordless with a hammer drill feature. Check Amazon's refurbs through CPO, I've bought several tools from there at a fraction of their retail cost and have been very satisfied.
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Jun 21, 2010 16:06
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Richard Noggin posted:If you're looking at a multi-purpose drill, I'd suggest a DeWalt or Milwaukee 1/2" cordless with a hammer drill feature. Check Amazon's refurbs through CPO, I've bought several tools from there at a fraction of their retail cost and have been very satisfied. This. 18V or better. Hilti is also a good brand and seems to be a bit more available in the UK. Make sure you get something keyless, keyed chucks are a bitch. I've had to use a couple of Bosch cordless drills (w/hammer) before, and the chucks have disintegrated. I don't like them.
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Jun 21, 2010 19:19
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GWBBQ posted:I have an 18v Dewalt cordless drill at work and at full charge I've never met something I can't drill into, including a bit of concrete. It has 2 settings, one for high speed, one for high torque. It came with two batteries and a 45 minute charger. My dad's old cordless drill was pretty good but this blows it out of the water. The impact action on the one you posted should be the same as hammer for drilling concrete/stone/masonry, if it were an impact wrench it would have a drive head instead of a chuck. No idea on handedness, I haven't used one with a second handle. Yep. I use these at work and they are tough. Sand, dirt, abuse -- it'll survive it all. Also suggest the 12v charger for the car. Very handy when you're aways from power. This one
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Jun 22, 2010 01:22
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Gravy Jones posted:Tell me about power drills. I bought a Hitachi corded impact drill when I built my addition, and it worked awesome. Any cheap impact drill is going to be mediocre at drilling BIG holes in concrete (I borrowed a rotary hammer that looked more like a jackhammer than a drill when I set my rebar), but any impact drill will kick the rear end off using a normal rotary drill for any masonry project. If there's a switch that turns it back to a normal drill, you can use it as a normal drill, too. grover fucked around with this message at 02:10 on Jun 22, 2010 |
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Jun 22, 2010 02:02
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grover posted:I prefer corded over cordless, as batteries have really short lifespans, and it sucks to have to throw away a perfectly good drill after 5 years just because the batteries are shot.
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Jun 22, 2010 19:12
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grover posted:it sucks to have to throw away a perfectly good drill after 5 years just because the batteries are shot. Also, batteries tend to die WAY too quickly into a project, especially on tasks that require a lot of oomf, like using hole saws or large diameter bits. If you're buying a drill this beefy, get one you can actually use for beefy projects. Why would you throw away a perfectly good drill just because the replaceable battery is worn out? I have 3-4 batteries for my Dewalt and yes, they do wear out after several years of use, but 40-50 bucks for another battery and I'm back in business. I've never considered replacing a working drill just because one of the batteries died, and I don't know why anyone else would? Your second point is more valid but my charger will fully charge a battery in under an hour, which is usually sufficient for me to work continuously with 2 batteries. Most people will probably find that a charger can recharge a battery about as fast as their drill can deplete one, and most cordless drill sets come with 2 batteries. I do also have a corded Dewalt for any extended drilling work (drilling hundreds of holes with a hole saw might be a good example) but I rarely need to resort to that, as the cordless is way more convenient and beefy enough to handle pretty much any normal job.
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Jun 22, 2010 21:53
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stash posted:Why would you throw away a perfectly good drill just because the replaceable battery is worn out? I have 3-4 batteries for my Dewalt and yes, they do wear out after several years of use, but 40-50 bucks for another battery and I'm back in business. I've never considered replacing a working drill just because one of the batteries died, and I don't know why anyone else would? I did solder up a new replacement battery pack for my favorite cordless drill once. Was a pain in the rear end, but worked. STILL cost damned near as much as a new drill would have, but was cheaper than a new OEM pack.
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Jun 22, 2010 22:09
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Thanks for the tips. I don't use it all that much, more for one off jobs than any big projects, so the battery running down isn't so much of the problem. Probably just keep my eye out for a good special over the next few weeks. Might check back in here if I find something to see if it gets a thumbs up or down before forking out the cash though!
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Jun 22, 2010 22:19
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I've been planning to produce an electric pottery wheel and have some questions about finding scrap components for it. Most of the limited information on the net has suggested I use a DC motor out of a treadmill since it will already have speed control, or, an AC motor with a gearbox. My question is, if you were searching for scrap 1-2hp DC motors (treadmills in my area seem to be pricy for what I want to do), or, a gearbox to turn high RPM -> torque that is reasonably small and simple, what kind of stuff would you be looking for to tear apart? Also, if anyone has made a DIY pottery wheel any guidance would be appreciated.
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Jun 23, 2010 05:08
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Cross Stitch Pattern Making: I had the idea to turn album covers, maybe a friend's MMO character, other pop-culture-y stuff into cross stitch patterns (for my own use). I have fiddled with several different pattern makers, and here are some of the issues I've encountered. - difficult to reduce a picture to a "manageable" level of thread colors without heavily compromising the picture - trying to do something like an album cover on a pixel-by-pixel basis makes it really gigantic. trying to reduce the size seems to make it quite blurry - other frustrations, like curved lines, etc I guess what confuses me is that you can find patterns in the store that appear to me to be pretty detailed and have "plenty, yet reasonable" amounts of colors. Is there some trick or paradigm-shift I am missing that would make my goal more reasonable? (or is this not really possible). I would also be open to suggestions for another craft to achieve this besides cross stitch (but excluding drawing/painting/etc as I don't have that sort of talent)
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Jun 23, 2010 08:26
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I'm currently in the process of designing a bit of experimental apparatus for my grad school research. I need a solid, sturdy base to mount various bits of kit, such that they'll be rigid in relationship to each other. I've seen in the past sheets of steel, maybe 1/4 inch thick, with a grid of threaded holes drilled through that might make a good base. Alternatively, I've seen metal plates with inverted upper-case T shaped channels along the base, which might also work well. Unfortunately, I have no idea what either of these might be called, which is making it pretty much impossible to start looking for online suppliers. Anyone know what I'm on about, and can help me out with a name (if not suppliers)?
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Jun 23, 2010 17:15
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Like this?
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Jun 23, 2010 17:30
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Optical breadboard might work. Edit: Air conditioning! I'm getting a lot of water dripping out of the end of the air handler and into the first bit of the duct/plenum/whatsis. It was freezing up previously, but I just got a new refrigerant charge last week which hopefully hasn't all leaked out. The service guy didn't open up the unit. He did vacuum out the condensate drain, which wasn't clogged anyway. What are the odds it's some dust or obstruction in there that I can take care of just by pulling off the side panel? I'm nervous about loving with it but not to the point that I'm going to call somebody if it's easy to fix. slap me silly fucked around with this message at 21:17 on Jun 23, 2010 |
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Jun 23, 2010 20:21
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I noticed last night that my (gas) water heater is making a loud whining noise whenever the hot water is turned on somewhere in the house. No leaks, bad smells, or other noises. Is this something to be concerned about?
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Jun 23, 2010 21:45
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Cupid Painted Blind posted:Cross Stitch Pattern Making: Are you including back stitch in your designs? Back stitch makes all the difference in the world in terms of creating details out of blobs of color. Even with the addition of backstitching or couching, you're never going to get a perfectly smooth curve. Unless you go truly giant, you're never going to get the same detail as you would in a picture - it's like the difference between a 150x150 .gif and a 1000x1000 jpeg. As far a colors, handling number of colors is a bit of an art form in an of itself. You don't necessarily want to spread it out across the entire spectrum of color in the piece, but concentrate it where it will make a difference.
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Jun 24, 2010 03:39
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Corrupt Cypher posted:My question is, if you were searching for scrap 1-2hp DC motors (treadmills in my area seem to be pricy for what I want to do), or, a gearbox to turn high RPM -> torque that is reasonably small and simple, what kind of stuff would you be looking for to tear apart? Dishwashers, washing machines, and clothes dryers. Find a local appliance repair shop and tell them what you are looking for and they should be able to help you out. You are looking for an electric motor to spin something heavy and that is exactly the type of stuff they are experts at.
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Jun 24, 2010 05:51
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I'm having a problem with ceramic tiles - the glue my friend is using to mount tiles apparently doesn't adhere to a certain piece of stucco-covered concrete for some reason. The strange thing is that he used the exact same glue to mount the tiles a few feet away from the "cursed" spot, where it's holding up great - but tiles fell off TWICE in the bad part. He scored the wall but the tiles fell off again. What gives?
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Jun 24, 2010 15:31
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:BDC=Bottom Dead Center. So you get a full compression stroke as you're pulling. Ordered the rope and a new handle off Amazon for 5 bucks and got it yesterday. 45 minutes later I have a working lawn mower again, awesome. Thanks for the help. Didn't wind it at first, but then I realized how stupid a move that was and wound the cord and I was good to go. Spent a little time just making sure I wrapped it as much as I could, think I got 2.5 to 3 loops with the cord. Not really sure why this would take a couple hours.
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Jun 24, 2010 16:43
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I recommend anyone with a pull-start tool print this guide out and stick it somewhere convenient. http://www.smallenginesuppliers.com/shop/html/broken_starter_rope.html Setting the engine at BDC is useless. It will work the first time, but there's no guarantee that the engine will stop at BDC every time. Richard Noggin fucked around with this message at 17:01 on Jun 24, 2010 |
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Jun 24, 2010 16:59
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badnoodle posted:Are you including back stitch in your designs? Back stitch makes all the difference in the world in terms of creating details out of blobs of color. I will try some of these things, thanks. I think part of it is that I may not have the "gift" of seeing the small changes that make a big difference.
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Jun 24, 2010 21:07
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Rocket Man posted:I'm currently in the process of designing a bit of experimental apparatus for my grad school research. I need a solid, sturdy base to mount various bits of kit, such that they'll be rigid in relationship to each other. I've seen in the past sheets of steel, maybe 1/4 inch thick, with a grid of threaded holes drilled through that might make a good base. Alternatively, I've seen metal plates with inverted upper-case T shaped channels along the base, which might also work well. Unfortunately, I have no idea what either of these might be called, which is making it pretty much impossible to start looking for online suppliers. Anyone know what I'm on about, and can help me out with a name (if not suppliers)? You might want to look into 8020 aluminum products. Also, try including "T track" or "tee track" in your search terms - might turn up a few other useful things. 
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Jun 24, 2010 21:46
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Acid Reflux posted:You might want to look into 8020 aluminum products. Also, try including "T track" or "tee track" in your search terms - might turn up a few other useful things. I love 8020, but it's ludicrously expensive. Rocket Man do you expect to have to reposition these things once they're installed, or is this a stationary application? Perhaps if you explained things a bit more we could give you more help. Personally if you're just looking for a solid mounting surface I would consider getting a thick piece of aluminum jig and tooling plate, and have a machine shop drill and tap whatever hole pattern you'll need in it.
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Jun 24, 2010 22:11
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Poknok posted:I'm having a problem with ceramic tiles - the glue my friend is using to mount tiles apparently doesn't adhere to a certain piece of stucco-covered concrete for some reason. The strange thing is that he used the exact same glue to mount the tiles a few feet away from the "cursed" spot, where it's holding up great - but tiles fell off TWICE in the bad part. He scored the wall but the tiles fell off again. What gives? If push comes to shove, you can scrape down the cursed stucko to the concrete then get some mortar like for bricks then put that on the side until you're even with where the stucco is then apply glue, stick the tile then grout around if that's the avenue you're taking. Stucco isn't a terribly good surface to be gluing things to to begin with since it has a tendency to flake away just by brushing at it. If that doesn't work, I'd check zoning for the house to make sure it wasn't built on an acient indian burial ground.
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Jun 25, 2010 08:53
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I take back my question about why it would take hours to wrap that thing. I went to finish mowing my lawn and got off to a great start, then the spark plug popped out of the engine. Looks like it unscrewed itself, I waited for it to cool off, then put it back in and started it back up. What kind of damage could my engine have taken from having the spark plug pop out while it's running? Then after that when I rolled it back out to where I was in the lawn and started it, I ripped the cord out again. It started though, I just tied the cord to the handle to keep the mower going and got as much done as I could before I ran out of gas. Then off to repair the cord again, where the damned spring coil popped out this time. And there's where I could see it taking hours.
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Jun 25, 2010 12:36
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Poknok posted:I'm having a problem with ceramic tiles - the glue my friend is using to mount tiles apparently doesn't adhere to a certain piece of stucco-covered concrete for some reason. The strange thing is that he used the exact same glue to mount the tiles a few feet away from the "cursed" spot, where it's holding up great - but tiles fell off TWICE in the bad part. He scored the wall but the tiles fell off again. What gives?
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Jun 25, 2010 21:53
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grover posted:There may be some oil or wax there that's weakening the bond. Can you chip off the stucco and try to bond with what's underneath? Yup, that's exactly what I'm gonna do in the morning. The wall was once covered with wallpaper, so it's very possible that there are remains of wallpaper glue on the stucco.
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Jun 26, 2010 01:14
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Any HVAC'ers here? Wondering if you'd had any problems with pre-filters clogging with snow/frost? Industry standard here is to fit frost coils, heater batteries before the filters to protect them from frost/snow by heating the air 10 degrees C or so. I'm doing a project for the company I work for as to whether they're really necessary, or if fitting correct louvers/reasonably efficient heat exchangers could stop them being required, basically just wondering if anyone had any anecdotal experience one way or the other.
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Jun 27, 2010 23:09
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I recently removed some ugly wallpaper from my walls. Now there are some spots where the paint underneath has peeled off with the paper. I've roughly sanded these areas but i can see and feel this isn't perfectly smooth. Is this a concern or will this be hidden by primer and paint?
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Jun 29, 2010 05:35
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You'll want to feather the edges of that area with fine-grit sandpaper.
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Jun 29, 2010 17:48
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The valve for my toilet water supply started leaking so I bought a new one. It's a compression fitting onto a copper house pipe like the old one. It says 5/8" input on the valve. I took off the old valve plus its compression ring and the nut behind the ring and put the new valve on. Trouble is, the new compression ring I can't get on the house pipe very far, it only leaves about 1/8" bare pipe in front of it (where the old one had ~3/8" pipe in front of it and it's ever so slightly cocked. I went ahead and tightened everything up, the valve itself is slightly cocked too. I turned the water on and it doesn't leak but I'm worried. How much bare pipe should I leave in front of that compression ring? does a tiny bit of a cocked angle hurt? and if I need to re-do this, how do I move the ring back on the pipe some? I'm afraid I'll gently caress up the ring if I just start going at it retardedly with a pair of pliers.
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Jun 30, 2010 16:18
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Wagonburner posted:How much bare pipe should I leave in front of that compression ring? does a tiny bit of a cocked angle hurt? and if I need to re-do this, how do I move the ring back on the pipe some? I'm afraid I'll gently caress up the ring if I just start going at it retardedly with a pair of pliers. If you had excess pipe in front of the ring before, you should have the same amount now. If the reason is because you couldn't get the ring to go back any further, get some sandpaper and get all the crap off the pipe so you can push the compression ring on there further. Whoever built one of our rentals didn't leave much pipe coming out of the wall and the compression ring has to fit flush with the end of the pipe and hasn't been an issue, that's been 13 years ago since we changed some valves in that rental and none of them leak. I don't know what the perfect industry answer is, but I imagine as long as the compression fitting is on the pipe and has been tightened, it's not going anywhere. Though I would refit the valve if it's cocked to one side. edit: If you take the fitting back off, you can try the pliers method before sand paper. Firmly grab the compression ring with the pliers and twist it back and forth while pushing toward the wall to see if it will go back further. Make sure not to squeeze the ring too much as to crush it with the tool though. keykey fucked around with this message at 17:37 on Jun 30, 2010 |
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Jun 30, 2010 17:34
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keykey posted:
I took it apart once tried that already and it wouldn't move, but I was too nervous to put a whole lot of force into it (cause if I screwed up the ring I'd have to leave the water off while I go to the store again) I guess I can "practice" on the old ring to see what its limits are. and as long as I have it apart I can do sanding too if I need to. What grit paper would be good on copper pipe? If I sanded with something too rough is it going to make that compression ring not seal right? I guess I could just try a little buffing drum in an air die grinder, no real chance of hurting anything there. (and the kids and woman love the noises of air tools in the house!) Vin BioEthanol fucked around with this message at 17:52 on Jun 30, 2010 |
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Jun 30, 2010 17:49
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120 or 150 grit. Really you just want to knock the crap off the pipe, not really sand the hell out of it, once you see some original copper coloring, stop.
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Jun 30, 2010 17:53
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