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ntd posted:This is a really stupid question... There's nothing wrong with backstab connections. When rewiring some homes that have used these connections on newer outlets, I've always found that you have to cut the wire as it's impossible to pull them out. This may not be the case with ultra-cheap outlets but I wouldn't worry about the Levitons. Dip the end of the screwdriver in Plastidip and you wont scratch the paint off the screws anymore.
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May 1, 2013 14:10
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Aggressive pricing posted:Tankless heaters don't hold temp, that's pretty much the point. The cold water is the water in the pipes between the heater and the faucet/showerhead, it gets warmer as the coils in the heater warm up and is hot when the heater and pipes are hot. When people have ones that work almost instantly it's because the heater is really close to the faucet. There's no point in raising the temp on the heater and if you put it up too high you run the risk of scalding someone. If your father-in-law isn't actually qualified to work on these don't let him touch it. Depending on your local code, his suggestion may be illegal. That's what I thought, thanks! We're not expecting it to work instantly, though - it takes a couple seconds to warm up (our shower is pretty dang close to the heater), then in the middle of the shower, it'll go cool. FiL is a welder/all-around handyman, so we usually trust him, but I've always been told not to ever set a water heater over 125.
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May 1, 2013 14:15
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Tourette Meltdown posted:That's what I thought, thanks! We're not expecting it to work instantly, though - it takes a couple seconds to warm up (our shower is pretty dang close to the heater), then in the middle of the shower, it'll go cool. FiL is a welder/all-around handyman, so we usually trust him, but I've always been told not to ever set a water heater over 125. It also depends on whether your HW line is plumbed into a mixing valve after the HW heater unit. I keep mine at 140, but then it gets mixed closer to 120 with the hydrostatic valve, this supposedly keeps pressure up.
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May 1, 2013 14:22
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ntd posted:This is a really stupid question... You know, you can buy new screws with new paint on them... And it's absolutely worth your time to fix backstab outlets! Those things are fires waiting to happen.
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May 1, 2013 15:01
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ShadowStalker posted:There's nothing wrong with backstab connections. When rewiring some homes that have used these connections on newer outlets, I've always found that you have to cut the wire as it's impossible to pull them out. This may not be the case with ultra-cheap outlets but I wouldn't worry about the Levitons. Careful if you cut it - the exposed black wire after you cut will still be hot and could cause a short if it hits your ground. So if you cut it, make sure to tape over the back or just use needle nose pliers to wiggle the remnant back and forth until it slides out.
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May 1, 2013 15:23
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jackyl posted:Careful if you cut it - the exposed black wire after you cut will still be hot and could cause a short if it hits your ground. So if you cut it, make sure to tape over the back or just use needle nose pliers to wiggle the remnant back and forth until it slides out. Why would you work on an outlet without turning the breaker for that circuit off first? Never do that, that's an accident waiting to happen.
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May 1, 2013 16:00
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Tourette Meltdown posted:That's what I thought, thanks! We're not expecting it to work instantly, though - it takes a couple seconds to warm up (our shower is pretty dang close to the heater), then in the middle of the shower, it'll go cool. FiL is a welder/all-around handyman, so we usually trust him, but I've always been told not to ever set a water heater over 125. Sounds like it's tripping on safety, could be a heat sensor. I'd run the shower and have somebody at the heater with one of those pen power detectors, when the water turns cold they should be able to find the problem.
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May 1, 2013 17:49
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ShadowStalker posted:Why would you work on an outlet without turning the breaker for that circuit off first? Never do that, that's an accident waiting to happen. My dad was replacing some backstab outlets and went to stick a screwdriver into the back of one to pull the wire out when I asked him if he had cut the breaker. He hadn't. Some people just don't think things all the way through.
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May 1, 2013 18:05
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ShadowStalker posted:Why would you work on an outlet without turning the breaker for that circuit off first? Never do that, that's an accident waiting to happen. I'm not talking about that at all. I'm talking about the remainder of the wire sticking out of the tab after you cut the rest off, attach it to the screw terminal and stick it back in the box. That little stub sticking out the back becomes hot when you restore power.
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May 1, 2013 18:54
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Aggressive pricing posted:Do electric units have condensing coils? I'm not too familiar with them, but I can't imagine what they'd be condensing, electrical heat is already super efficient. No electric do not.Its a good idea to check the screen filter and also back-flush the unit in case you have any calc buildup. But let's do an experiment first. With these units there is a trade off of water pressure and heating performance. Try running the shower with the hot side only open 1/4 of total range, then 1/2, and 3/4 (you can do full open, but it will be a drop in temperature [due to water flow exceeding the units performance]) I looked back and said you saw a drop in temp even if you only run the cold side. Are you on city water or a well? Do you have any other issues with water pressure? You also might get a better answer if you post over in "poo poo rolls downhill"
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May 1, 2013 19:13
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Ahz posted:It also depends on whether your HW line is plumbed into a mixing valve after the HW heater unit. I keep mine at 140, but then it gets mixed closer to 120 with the hydrostatic valve, this supposedly keeps pressure up. I have no idea. Our house is relatively old (1958) and hasn't been updated. Is this common in older homes? Aggressive pricing posted:Sounds like it's tripping on safety, could be a heat sensor. I'd run the shower and have somebody at the heater with one of those pen power detectors, when the water turns cold they should be able to find the problem. We'll give this a try.
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May 1, 2013 19:27
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jackyl posted:I'm not talking about that at all. I'm talking about the remainder of the wire sticking out of the tab after you cut the rest off, attach it to the screw terminal and stick it back in the box. That little stub sticking out the back becomes hot when you restore power. Ah, we've always just replaced the outlets. Never had any issue with outlets that were backstabbed in any of the houses we've rehabbed. I know my whole neighborhood was done by the same electrical contracter and never had any issues with the outlets (all were backstabbed). Now the cheap switches are a different story. I replaced two in my house before I said screw it and replaced the rest. Discoloration at the bottom of the switch and sparking sound when turning on or off is not a good thing.
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May 1, 2013 22:58
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Aggressive pricing posted:What does it use as a flame sensor and has it shown a lock-out code? No lockout code (aquastat just blinks twice which it says is the code for lockout). I can't find anything that says what type of flame sensor it has. All I know is its a Buderus GC124 II I have this guide, but I couldn't find that in it. http://www.buderus.us/files/201301031741530.GC124II_Installation-Service_Instructions_en_6720804440_04_11.2012.pdf
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May 2, 2013 00:50
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I can't stand the stab slots, but I am also slightly  about that. I recently had a circuit that was pulsing like a dance party, so this really was a fire hazard. I rewired everything to use the side terminals and no problems since. Hard to be 100 percent sure but I'm pretty sure a bad, hasty strip and stab job on one of the outlets in the daisy chain was the problem.I had the cheap outlets and had no trouble getting the wires out of the slot using the tiny screwdriver.
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May 2, 2013 05:57
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bisonbison posted:I am building a paver patio, with a paved size of 5 1/3' x 8 2/3'. I'm in the san francisco bay area, working in a small sideyard in a condo complex. The soil is hard-packed, red clay. I just want to check my steps here: I'm done with 0-2 now. The sub-base is compact (no footprints, just a little loose dirt here and there), and pretty level... if I lay a 2x4 various places, it's level. I assume that's ok, and that I should just make sure that the base is truly compact and level? So: 1. Any hand-tamping tips? Drive the tamper down or just lift and drop a lot? 2. Lightly wet the base before compacting? 3. Any problem with doing the base over a couple days and then sand/pavers in one?
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May 2, 2013 06:44
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bisonbison posted:I'm done with 0-2 now. The sub-base is compact (no footprints, just a little loose dirt here and there), and pretty level... if I lay a 2x4 various places, it's level. I assume that's ok, and that I should just make sure that the base is truly compact and level? The more level it is now, the much easier it will be to actually work with. Though you don't want exactly level, you want true and graded for drainage. If you drive the tamper down, odds are you'll just be displacing your base everywhere since the surface of the tamper is so small. I'd recommend lift and drop but drive it slightly, you'll find out what works pretty fast as you see if you push too hard, the edges squish up. Definitely dampen your base, but not overly soak it. Have sand ready to lightly spread around as you wet and tamp it, the sand will filter down as you tamp and you want more to help you pack it in. No issue with how many days, but keep the rain off until you're done. EDIT: All my tips are for your real rock/sand base, not dirt. Yeah I would recommend slamming that dirt down pretty hard and don't worry about level there. Ahz fucked around with this message at 14:28 on May 2, 2013 |
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May 2, 2013 14:26
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bisonbison posted:I'm done with 0-2 now. The sub-base is compact (no footprints, just a little loose dirt here and there), and pretty level... if I lay a 2x4 various places, it's level. I assume that's ok, and that I should just make sure that the base is truly compact and level? I did a 15'x35' patio at my house. I didn't hand tamp though, I rented a tamper from the local Home Depot for the weekend and used and that. So much easier. 1. Tamped the clay base that was already in the yard 2. Dumped in the sub-base and tamped 3. Did half the paver base and tamped 4. Did the other half of the paver base and tamped 5. Filled in any low spots and raked out any high spots and tamped 6. Repeated step 5 until perfect 7. Layed all pavers 8. Added sand to fill gaps between pavers 9. Tamped the pavers (helps the sand get down into the cracks) 10. Added more sand 11. Tamped one final time
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May 2, 2013 14:31
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ntd posted:This is a really stupid question... If I was an electrician Id probably get a plastic screwdriver just for this. The paint does scratch really easily. There's also new plates that snap on without screws
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May 2, 2013 22:54
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I've got a container problem. I'm looking for something for a container for bait for crab traps. The bait container in the cages is a wire cylinder about 3.5" in diameter, and about 10 inches deep. We use chopped up fish waste, and instead of messing with cutting up bait on a rocking jonboat, we'd like to start pre-prepping bait canisters. I had an old stick of 3" thinwall PVC I chopped up into 10" sticks, and glued a few cheap knockout inspection caps on one end. That's good enough for a container, but the problem is we're having to improvise lids (like rubber band over Saran Wrap). Basically, I'm looking for cheap plastic cylinders with some kind of sealing or screw-on lid, roughly 3" by 10". That's right around 1250 ml in size; I'd also like the opening to be as big as possible (since we're throwing in stuff like triggerfish and flounder heads). I'm having trouble finding something decent; my first thought was plastic soup containers (the kind you get at Chinese places), but those have a mouth around 4.5" to 5" wide. I can find other stuff close to the right dimensions, but those have narrow mouths (shampoo bottles, etc.) Any ideas?
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May 2, 2013 23:04
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Plastic spaghetti container
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May 2, 2013 23:15
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Cakefool posted:Plastic spaghetti container Hmm good thought. I'll look around. e- nothing under 7 bucks. We're looking at 20-30 containers, so that's not really feasible. GD_American fucked around with this message at 03:30 on May 3, 2013 |
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May 3, 2013 00:02
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Can't you get more knockoff inspection caps as lids? How tight are they without adhesive?
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May 3, 2013 12:39
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Dragyn posted:No lockout code (aquastat just blinks twice which it says is the code for lockout). I can't find anything that says what type of flame sensor it has. It uses flame rectification, which is too bad because your problem sounded like a faulty thermocouple. Since you've had the problem since it was installed there are too many things that could be wrong for me to narrow it down. If I were you I'd repost the problem in the plumbing thread, and if they can't help call someone in.
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May 3, 2013 14:08
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Aggressive pricing posted:It uses flame rectification, which is too bad because your problem sounded like a faulty thermocouple. Since you've had the problem since it was installed there are too many things that could be wrong for me to narrow it down. If I were you I'd repost the problem in the plumbing thread, and if they can't help call someone in. Thanks! I'll give them a shot over there.
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May 3, 2013 14:10
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GD_American posted:I've got a container problem. I'm looking for something for a container for bait for crab traps. The bait container in the cages is a wire cylinder about 3.5" in diameter, and about 10 inches deep. We use chopped up fish waste, and instead of messing with cutting up bait on a rocking jonboat, we'd like to start pre-prepping bait canisters. Sounds like you want a cleanout with plug for the PVC you have.
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May 3, 2013 14:36
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The carpet installer people want to charge me $500 to remove and dispose of my old carpet and padding. Is there any way that I can do the removal myself easily?
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May 3, 2013 20:43
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Insane Totoro posted:The carpet installer people want to charge me $500 to remove and dispose of my old carpet and padding. Got a truck? A friend with a truck? Or you could rent a truck from uhaul for cheap. Just haul everything to your county dump. Carpet is easy to remove. Cut the carpet into a size that you can manage and roll it up. Just rip it off the tack strips. Pull up the padding and do the same. Most padding is barely glued down, Scrape any chunks left on the floor with a scraper. You could always rent a dumpster or even use one of those new bag dumpsters that home depot sells. It's hard and dirty work but easily doable.
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May 3, 2013 20:49
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Insane Totoro posted:The carpet installer people want to charge me $500 to remove and dispose of my old carpet and padding. Box cutter (with carpet blades if you want) + flat head screw driver + needle nose pliers (or roofing stripper if you want) Use the box cutter to cut the carpet into manageable strips and roll it up. I usually do 4-5 ft strips so I can fit it in my garbage can. Cut the pad into strips if you want to make it more manageable, or just pull it up. Then use either the roofing stripper or the screw driver + needle nose pliers to pull up the staples.
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May 3, 2013 20:51
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Insane Totoro posted:The carpet installer people want to charge me $500 to remove and dispose of my old carpet and padding. Don't forget the old "free beer and pizza if you help me with X" tactic. You get 5 or 6 people working simultaneously on it you could be done in time to make a celebratory chore-completion beer run.
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May 3, 2013 21:12
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Cakefool posted:Can't you get more knockoff inspection caps as lids? How tight are they without adhesive? Not at all, unfortunately. I jerry-rigged it by running around it with silicon then slitting it back open, making a half-rear end seal, but it's still not where it needs to be. oldskool posted:Sounds like you want a cleanout with plug for the PVC you have. That's probably gonna be my last resort; I'd hate to overbuild (and overpay) for what is just basically a special-shape freezer container. At around 7-8 bucks per container (pipe+cleanout+plug), it's kind of a tossup between that and the spaghetti containers. I can virtually see in the future me and my buddy just going "you know what, let's just build our own crab traps" and spending like 500 dollars there because of how this all started.
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May 3, 2013 23:32
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GD_American posted:Not at all, unfortunately. I jerry-rigged it by running around it with silicon then slitting it back open, making a half-rear end seal, but it's still not where it needs to be. Tennis ball cans, or maybe Pringles?
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May 4, 2013 01:56
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Hashtag Banterzone posted:Box cutter (with carpet blades if you want) + flat head screw driver + needle nose pliers (or roofing stripper if you want) Thanks for the heads up on this idea!
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May 4, 2013 05:19
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Ahz posted:The more level it is now, the much easier it will be to actually work with. Though you don't want exactly level, you want true and graded for drainage. Thanks for the tips. It made a lot of sense once I started. Sand was very helpful to touch up places that were too rocky to compact. Added 29 bags (14.5 cubic feet) of aggregate, and hand-tamped the poo poo out of it 10 bags at a time. Holding the last bag in reserve for tomorrow, when I work on grading it, then the sand screeding, then laying this pattern. Should be a full day tomorrow. Edit: was a full day. Bought and moved 1200 lbs of pavers. Installed all pavers. Came up 1 short. I thought I had 6 extra of the type I needed, but that was a previous pattern. Back to home depot! bisonbison fucked around with this message at 05:21 on May 5, 2013 |
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May 4, 2013 05:37
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I am considering getting a window AC unit for my lovely little apartment and was wondering how much it might add to my electric bill? How accurate are those estimated cost stickers on the units at stores? Do they assume 24/7 use? Or something a lot less. Would it be as easy to figure out as watts per hour converted to kilowatt hours * cost per kilowatt hour from my utility company? Or would that be wildly off due to various energy saving features where it isn't drawing full power all the time.
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May 5, 2013 13:21
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Does anyone know if it would be possible to fit doors in, or to, or in the vague vicinity of this square wooden arch thing we have dividing two rooms? It's 16 inches deep, and the wall it's set into is solid stone. I feel like whatever we do, we're going to have trouble opening the doors, but then I am a joinery moron. Any ideas?
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May 5, 2013 16:09
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How wide is the opening? Overhead sliding doors might be an easy option, you can look here for some various options, I'm sure there are many many other options and DIY versions though. Would work great if you can fit two doors across the opening and have room to slide them out of the way on each side http://www.barndoorhardware.com/
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May 5, 2013 16:40
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I intend the other room to become a bedroom, so while I love that sliding-wheeled-track barn door on that site, I'd like something that closes a bit more solid and secure like a traditional swing-opening-door-in-a-frame type business (just a foible of mine I guess, can't let the monsters in at night). It's a 46in opening, with uneven wall space on either side, 36in and 26in.
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May 5, 2013 17:06
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I was going to suggest bifold doors, but that's probably not as sturdy as you want.
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May 5, 2013 17:39
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ClearlyDeluded posted:I intend the other room to become a bedroom, so while I love that sliding-wheeled-track barn door on that site, I'd like something that closes a bit more solid and secure like a traditional swing-opening-door-in-a-frame type business (just a foible of mine I guess, can't let the monsters in at night). It's a 46in opening, with uneven wall space on either side, 36in and 26in. You could simply install some stops on your existing jamb and hang a door on it (bedroom doors are on the inside of the bedroom), but at 46" you would have to get a single door custom made since that's even wider than an exterior door. Another option is to make it a double door, which do come in size combinations that add up to 46", like 14"+32", or 18"+28". Just add flush bolts to the smaller door and you can then add a regular knob to the other side. BTW, doors are sometimes referred to by their foot size and remainder, so a 30" door is 2'6" wide and can be referred to as a 2/6 door. What size are your existing interior doors in the rest of the house? kid sinister fucked around with this message at 22:47 on May 5, 2013 |
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May 5, 2013 22:30
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GD_American posted:Not at all, unfortunately. I jerry-rigged it by running around it with silicon then slitting it back open, making a half-rear end seal, but it's still not where it needs to be. Buy a bunch of these bungie balls, and affix one end to one side of the tube, then make a 3" circle of plywood, or plastic, or whatever, and affix that to the middle, then on the opposite side of your tube affix a loop of rope or bungie cord large enough for the ball to go through. Use RTV or some other gasket maker to create a seal for where your circle material meets the end of the tube, and you have a lid that won't get lost, is easy enough to undo while you're on a boat, and shouldn't be too expensive.
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May 6, 2013 00:00
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