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Hello, I have a portable A/C unit with a 6" diameter exhaust pipe. I want to hook it up to a dryer vent (I believe) for this purpose on my apartment's outer wall: My plan so far is to buy some aluminum insulation tape and a Single Wall Galvanized Metal Duct Reducer 6" to 4" / 6" x 4" to connect the hose. I guess I'll need 2 duct clamps and a short bit of 4" hose to plug into the dryer vent as well. Is there anything else I should look at? Thanks! Vivian Darkbloom fucked around with this message at 01:29 on Jun 19, 2018 |
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Jun 19, 2018 01:16
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H110Hawk posted:Does your state/locality have a "window (or second) egress required" for bedrooms? I believe they all do for fire safety reasons. If those clamps aren't as easy to open as the normal latch then you likely have a leg to stand on there. Not really. If that's the case the clamps will just come off. In this case the landlord has no duty to provide reduced noise or energy efficiency - just egress. The likely answer to this is "heavy curtains".
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Jun 19, 2018 07:11
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I've got an old Smiths 60-minute timer that seems like it should be possible to fix but I've no idea where to start - there must be a community or helpful site out there but looking for anything with "old timer" in it is pretty much not helpful. So if anyone happens to know of anything that might be helpful, I'd appreciate it. (Already found a site or two with a bunch of historical information on the manufacturer but zero technical stuff.) (Not my picture but it's the same model.)
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Jun 19, 2018 18:11
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Do you have a model number?
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Jun 19, 2018 19:32
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PremiumSupport posted:Do you have a model number? Nope. No patent number or date, either. All I know it's a "Smiths timer" manufactured in Great Britain by "English Clock Systems" and imported into Finland by Instrumentarium (it has a sticker on top).
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Jun 19, 2018 21:23
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Honestly, unless you have a working knowledge of how to repair clocks of this vintage I think you're better off taking it to a shop that specializes. I found a description of the work involved with maintaining and repairing an English Clock Systems Smiths clock which is not going to be very dissimilar to your timer. It's a lot of work to do it right. https://clockrepairs1969.wordpress.com/why-i-wont-be-servicing-your-clock-for-40-how-to-service-a-smiths-clock/
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Jun 19, 2018 22:41
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Hey, I was tasked to install a bunch of chain link fence inside an abandoned Walmart, anyone have any experience with this style of chain link stretcher - https://afence.com/store/30-A-FRAME-STRETCHER.html ? This job's kind of time sensitive, so I wanna get the right equipment.
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Jun 20, 2018 04:19
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Quick question: I've got a large hole in the drywall behind my stove (roughly 3' x 2') that the builders left open for the electrical cord for the stove. I believe this hole is how I'm getting mice in my kitchen, so I'd like to seal it up if I can. Do you all think it would make more sense to cut and fit a piece of drywall, or would something more removable, like a wire mesh make more sense? It's completely out of view, so appearance doesn't matter.
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Jun 20, 2018 17:10
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Bobulus posted:Quick question: I've got a large hole in the drywall behind my stove (roughly 3' x 2') that the builders left open for the electrical cord for the stove. I believe this hole is how I'm getting mice in my kitchen, so I'd like to seal it up if I can. Do it once, do it right. (Drywall.)
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Jun 20, 2018 18:19
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If you don't care about appearances, drywall is pretty easy to install. Just buy a 4'x2' patch (match the thickness of drywall you already have installed), cut it to size, screw it to the studs, and if you care about air leaks or whatever, you can sloppily mud and tape it. The real work with drywall is all the sanding and feathering to get it to not look like poo poo. But that has little if any functional value so it doesn't matter if you do it in a place that's impossible to see.
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Jun 20, 2018 18:48
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If you don’t care too much about appearance the adhesive mesh patches that you cover in mud look pretty decent. Like in the middle of a nicely finished wall you’d definitely see it, but you can blend them in OK. They are very easy to apply.
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Jun 20, 2018 18:57
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Bobulus posted:Quick question: I've got a large hole in the drywall behind my stove (roughly 3' x 2') that the builders left open for the electrical cord for the stove. I believe this hole is how I'm getting mice in my kitchen, so I'd like to seal it up if I can. I concur with the drywall recommendation, but I'm more curious about the wiring. Did the builders literally leave a huge hole in the wall with absolutely no fucks given for the wiring? Regardless if your stove has a molded plug or is hard-wired, I'd still put an appropriate receptacle in there.
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Jun 20, 2018 19:38
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Bobulus posted:Quick question: I've got a large hole in the drywall behind my stove (roughly 3' x 2') that the builders left open for the electrical cord for the stove. I believe this hole is how I'm getting mice in my kitchen, so I'd like to seal it up if I can. Mice can fit through crazy tiny gaps. If you have mice in your walls, they'll probably find another way in.
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Jun 20, 2018 20:07
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Bobulus posted:Quick question: I've got a large hole in the drywall behind my stove (roughly 3' x 2') that the builders left open for the electrical cord for the stove. I believe this hole is how I'm getting mice in my kitchen, so I'd like to seal it up if I can. Just install a 4x4 old work box and stove receptacle? Plug the hole and have a better stove electrical setup all in one go.
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Jun 20, 2018 22:54
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angryrobots posted:Just install a 4x4 old work box and stove receptacle? Plug the hole and have a better stove electrical setup all in one go. Where do you buy old work boxes that cover 16 square feet, and what the hell kind of cable do you route through them? 
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Jun 20, 2018 23:22
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I may have made the false assumption that he meant inches.
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Jun 20, 2018 23:25
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angryrobots posted:I may have made the false assumption that he meant inches.  same
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Jun 21, 2018 01:29
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Oh, I meant feet. To be fair, I think I was mentally exaggerating the size, since I hadn't looked under there in a year, but it's quite large. The house and neighborhood is from the 1950s and the electricals were redone at some point (This was the only house of the ones I looked at that has working grounding on the third prong, for example), so I suspect they were lazy during the renovation. I was mainly asking about the wire mesh because I was thinking that getting back into here might be useful at some point, since that gap is where all the bathroom tub and kitchen sink plumbing run, but I guess if I just fit some drywall and didn't finish over the screws, I could always unscrew it later if I needed to.
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Jun 22, 2018 16:01
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Bobulus posted:Oh, I meant feet. To be fair, I think I was mentally exaggerating the size, since I hadn't looked under there in a year, but it's quite large. Drywall it. You can get a 8'x4' sheet for $10. You'll have enough to do it several times over if you screw up the cut. Measure how thick your drywall is first and match that. Is that an exterior wall? Put some insulation in there too if so.
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Jun 22, 2018 16:52
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kid sinister posted:Drywall it. You can get a 8'x4' sheet for $10. You'll have enough to do it several times over if you screw up the cut. Measure how thick your drywall is first and match that. Learn how to cut drywall and bring a knife and straightedge with you before you buy the drywall. (Unless you have a vehicle big enough to fit a full sheet of drywall)
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Jun 23, 2018 04:15
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I just started removing the wallpaper border our kitchen/dining room has, and found this under the liner in one spot, about a foot wide.   It's in the dining room far from the stove or sink where moisture would be common, it's the only area where any mold is, and it is less mold than your average shower curtain, but I wanted to get a second opinion before I just spray some cleaner on it and accidentally activate all the death spores and kill my whole family in choking agony. Is this small amount of mold still drywall-cutting serious, or can I just pull my shirt over my nose and mouth and wipe it off with some vinegar or hydrogen peroxide?
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Jun 24, 2018 19:48
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Wipe it down with a mild bleach solution, or spray it with Lysol & wipe it; roll some Kilz over it & carry on.
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Jun 24, 2018 22:13
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PainterofCrap posted:Wipe it down with a mild bleach solution, or spray it with Lysol & wipe it; roll some Kilz over it & carry on. That's what I like to hear. Thanks!
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Jun 24, 2018 22:47
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There is also a Kilz primer that says it is specifically for mold and mildew. It was like double the price, but also an option.
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Jun 25, 2018 08:23
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We have a few windows that need new balance springs, but the little “pegs”that the springs connect to on the windows the,selves are broken off. Any suggestions on how to repair that?
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Jun 25, 2018 23:40
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So if we're 99% sure there's not actually a short, how bad is it to just replace an entire breaker in the box? Our roof leaked the other day and now the breaker refuses to be reset. It's all just regular outlets/lights, all the other breakers are fine, but one of the lights (which we've since disconnected entirely) turned from a boob light to a boob aquarium. i mean we rent, and our landlord has called an electrician, but soonest they can be out is next week. we've checked all the outlets with a multimeter and they're all dead, so can we just pop the breaker out of the box and pop a new one in and see if that works? And then we get the roofing contractor, yay. our landlord had never been up in the attic before, and now he's pretty pissed at both the previous owners and his inspector, because it's pretty obvious that the roof has been leaking for a while. he's owned the place for two years, and you can tell that this has been a long standing problem. so we're getting a break on the rent for my husband redoing the insulation up there, but when it comes to completely redoing the roof, that's something he doesn't want to deal with.
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Jun 26, 2018 01:25
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AA is for Quitters posted:So if we're 99% sure there's not actually a short, how bad is it to just replace an entire breaker in the box? If I recall correctly, this goes something like:
You can also ask in the home electricity thread.
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Jun 26, 2018 01:42
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We recently had to replace a Magna-Mike 8000 thickness gauge thing from my work that broke down. I was told to throw this away once the replacement came in, but decided to keep it instead to see if I could fix it. I don't really *need* it, but it's more stuff for the tinkerin' pile. Here it is:  This was working just fine, until one day it started to display the "BAD PRB" message, with or without the probe plugged into it. Unfortunately, I don't know what it is supposed to display without a probe connected to it when it is functioning properly (we never really removed it when it was in use) and haven't been able to find this information on the internet. This would at least give me a hint if it's something bad in the main box itself, or if the fault is in the probe / cable instead. It still powers up fine, and is responsive to key presses. All of the menus and such can be accessed without problems (well, all of the ones that don't require an active probe to be attached, at least). The included documentation has this to say about the error message:  Which points to the probe cable as being the culprit, although it looks fine with no obvious damage, and there are beefy rubber strain reliefs on both ends. That said, I can't find a replacement cable (or probe) anywhere for a reasonable price. I'd attempt to hamfistedly repair the one I have, but the internet has been surprisingly unhelpful as far as a pinout diagram is concerned. I've checked them all for continuity, and there are 2 or 3 pins that don't seem to connect to anything (by design?). The cable looks like this:   I don't suppose anyone here has some familiarity with troubleshooting these? Or access to technical / service docs?
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Jun 26, 2018 02:42
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AA is for Quitters posted:So if we're 99% sure there's not actually a short, how bad is it to just replace an entire breaker in the box? Breakers do go bad over time. If you're lucky they fail open. Swapping it is a prudent troubleshooting step. If it wasn't the issue it will similarly refuse to reset. Given your boob light was engorged are you sure there isn't water elsewhere? Capillary effect can bring water to exciting and distant places.
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Jun 26, 2018 02:51
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AA is for Quitters posted:So if we're 99% sure there's not actually a short, how bad is it to just replace an entire breaker in the box?
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Jun 26, 2018 03:18
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Slugworth posted:Your main lugs (Google it to see what I'm referring to) are *always* live, even if you shut off the main breaker. Exception: during power outages.
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Jun 26, 2018 03:23
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tactlessbastard posted:Exception: during power outages. Except unless the lines to your meter are physically broken you have no way to guarantee they won't re-energize at any moment.
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Jun 26, 2018 03:30
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H110Hawk posted:Except unless the lines to your meter are physically broken you have no way to guarantee they won't re-energize at any moment. Pshh, what are the chances? Go ham!
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Jun 26, 2018 03:54
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tactlessbastard posted:Pshh, what are the chances? Go ham! Little-known fact: the phrase "go ham" is such because of the chance that you end up smelling like a roast pig.
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Jun 26, 2018 04:09
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I think I know the answer to this already, but without further disassembly is there any way to know if this is able to support a fan? It had a crappy "non-replaceable LED panel" light burn out in it today. Like a nippleless boob light.   The old ratty wire is abandoned, the 14/3 coming out is what I'll be connecting the alleged fan to. It's a small room so a tiny fan is appropriate, something along the lines of: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hunter-Aker-36-in-Fresh-White-Indoor-Ceiling-Fan-with-Light-Kit-3-Blade/1000253503
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Jun 26, 2018 04:56
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H110Hawk posted:I think I know the answer to this already, but without further disassembly is there any way to know if this is able to support a fan? It had a crappy "non-replaceable LED panel" light burn out in it today. Like a nippleless boob light. Hard to say for sure without knowing how/if the box is attached to structure.
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Jun 26, 2018 15:16
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H110Hawk posted:I think I know the answer to this already, but without further disassembly is there any way to know if this is able to support a fan? It had a crappy "non-replaceable LED panel" light burn out in it today. Like a nippleless boob light. Probably? The box does not look "fan rated", almost nothing that old would be. It does look like to be attached directly to structure with the two screws in the bottom. If it is in fact screwed directly to structure with those, then it's probably fine with a ~30lb fan. If you want to be absolutely sure, the right way would be to excavate the box and install a new one. Since you've abandoned the old wire, it won't be as hard as it would have been.
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Jun 26, 2018 15:49
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PremiumSupport posted:Hard to say for sure without knowing how/if the box is attached to structure. Qwijib0 posted:Probably? Thanks, these both align with what I presumed I would hear. Based on what's in the attic the odds of this thing being affixed to anything other than structure are slim. Looks like we're rollin the dice. I'll give it a good solid pull on that mounting bracket thingy before actually affixing a fan to it.
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Jun 26, 2018 17:34
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H110Hawk posted:Thanks, these both align with what I presumed I would hear. Based on what's in the attic the odds of this thing being affixed to anything other than structure are slim. Looks like we're rollin the dice. I'll give it a good solid pull on that mounting bracket thingy before actually affixing a fan to it. If you have access to that box from above via the attic, you really ought to take the time to install one of those nice new-work fan boxes that spans 2 joists. Once those things are screwed into the joists, you could do pullups from the fan, and you won't have issues with it wobbling when the fan is on high. It might just be me, but I would never put a spinning, heavy object above my head without knowing that it was attached in a secure manner.
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Jun 26, 2018 20:07
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AA is for Quitters posted:So if we're 99% sure there's not actually a short, how bad is it to just replace an entire breaker in the box? Check the breaker first. Turn off that breaker and take off the panel. With the panel off and the main breaker on (and assuming the hot wires don't have way too much insulation removed), the only things in here that can shock you are the busbars and the screw terminals of any breaker flipped on. So let's see if that breaker can even turn on with its entire circuit removed from it. Get a flathead screwdriver. Unscrew the terminal for that breaker and pull it out. Next, turn the breaker back on. Does it stay on? If you got that multimeter handy, test for voltage between its terminal screw and the metal frame. If it doesn't give you voltage, then it's a bad breaker and replace it. Take the breaker out. For a lot of panels, you stick a flathead screwdriver in the gap between it and its horizontal neighbor, hold down the neighbor with your thumb and pry. Look at look at the label on the inside of the cover door for the manufacturer. If your panel is ancient, look up that manufacturer as that manufacturer may have been bought out and another maker is now making breakers for your panel. Now go to the hardware store and get a replacement. Match the amperage. If the breaker does give you voltage with its circuit removed, then you got a short somewhere in your system. If you do, let us know and we'll tell you how to find it. H110Hawk posted:I think I know the answer to this already, but without further disassembly is there any way to know if this is able to support a fan? Yeah it is. Do you see those two screws in the back side? Those go around a clamp to hold the box to a crossbar spanning 2 joists. That's what makes a box ceiling fan rated. Well, one method anyway. There's other boxes like pancake and saddle boxes that only need 1 joist. I think I've seen some side mount 1-joist ones with giant wood screws too. If you're wondering, the screws are there to make the clamp adjustable. That way you can slide the box back and forth on the crossbar to put it where you want (like centering it in the room) before the ceiling is applied. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 20:47 on Jun 26, 2018 |
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Jun 26, 2018 20:44
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