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I'm looking to add some backsplash in the kitchen. Is there a go-to tile cutter that I should be getting? I'd imagine there will probably be a substantial amount of cutting, so I'd probably lean towards something in the sub-$100 portable wet saw range if anything.
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Jun 19, 2013 21:31
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Voodoo posted:I'm looking to add some backsplash in the kitchen. Is there a go-to tile cutter that I should be getting? I'd imagine there will probably be a substantial amount of cutting, so I'd probably lean towards something in the sub-$100 portable wet saw range if anything. Everyone I've ever known that hasn't decided to go into tile work for themselves full-time has just "rented" a tile saw from Harbor Freight. Buy the thing, cut all the tile you wish, return within 30 days. You can even burn out the motor beforehand if you don't want someone to get a used tile saw. The professionals doing on-the-side tile cutting do this, but get high-quality blades from somewhere other than Harbor Freight, though.
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Jun 19, 2013 22:45
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I'm doing some work on the sprinklers in our yard. My question is about the sprinkler shutoff valve:  It doesn't seem to completely shutoff, which I am not surprised at, it looks to be a gate valve that has seen better days. Ideally I would like to put a ball valve there. The water comes up from the bottom, goes to the house at the top and to the sprinklers on the left. It appears to be a threaded connection but I can't tell if the threads are part of that tee or the valve. Can I just put a new valve in series after this one? Is a PVC valve ok? Or should I replace it? I am unsure about replacing it because of the corrosion on the threads.
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Jun 20, 2013 00:44
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You could put the valve in-line but I would just replace that valve. Remove one of the possible failure points.
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Jun 20, 2013 01:41
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The threaded part is a threaded nipple - the tee has a female thread. That is the good news. The bad news will be trying to remove it without destroying the tee. It looks quite rusted. I would remove the PVC section, and hit the threaded end at the tee with PB Blaster...repeatedly. For days & days. Then, put a Stillson wrench on it, and pray to your gods.
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Jun 20, 2013 01:48
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PainterofCrap posted:The threaded part is a threaded nipple - the tee has a female thread. Yes this is exactly what I was afraid of. Any idea what ballpark a plumber would charge to fix this? I'm fine replacing the valve but if I screw up the tee I wouldn't know how to fix it and would require an emergency plumber visit to get water back to the house. I'm guessing that would cost more.
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Jun 20, 2013 02:30
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Go test the tee with a magnet and see if it's steel or not. If it isn't, then you should be OK trying to unscrew that nipple between the valve and tee. Expect it to crumble apart, but you'll be replacing it with a new brass nipple anyhow. You'll probably have to cut through the PVC somewhere to unscrew everything, then use a PVC coupler once you get all the other bits in place.
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Jun 20, 2013 02:43
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A plumber would likely cut the whole mess out above & below the house tee there & either re-thread, or use a compression fitting to install a new tee. You can replace the guts on the gate valve and it should buy you a few more years. One way to skin the cat, possibly, is to remove the valve assembly entirely - it unscrews from the valve body - and get a threaded cap to seal up the opening. What I do not know is whether or not you can find a threaded blank or cap with that threading to fit where the valve body goes. If you can find such an animal, then you could take the earlier suggestion and install a ball valve downstream. (edit) As to what a plumber would charge: that would depend on where you live as much as anything. Here in the Philadelphia area, they'll charge anywhere from $125-$250 just to show up. That job there would be charged a couple hours' labor plus a $25 (over)charge for materials. Whole bit could run $300+ Then again, if you live in a sane part of the country, they might charge closer to $150. (edit2) based on where I see (and do not see) corrosion, I would guess that the house line is either galvanized steel, or heavy copper. The valve body itself is probably brass. The tee is probably brass & is tied to the house main with compression fittings. The threaded nipple is definitely steel. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 03:32 on Jun 20, 2013 |
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Jun 20, 2013 02:50
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So I noticed that the AC unit for my house wasn't turning on and went out to investigate and found a snake wrapped around the fan shaft about ten times. I guess as it was spinning around its head got caught on something and stopped the fan from turning. I removed the snake but now when the thermostat turns on the furnace fan runs but the outdoor unit still doesn't start. How bad did this fucker mess up my AC unit?
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Jun 20, 2013 03:43
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quantegy posted:I'm doing some work on the sprinklers in our yard. I would cut the nipple on the house side of the valve flush with the valve body, unscrew the valve from the pvc, then use a wrench to get the nipple remains out of the tee. Replace with PVC. Male adapter -> globe valve -> Female adapter. Use bits of pipe between the FA, the valve, and the MA. It looks a little bit tight to get a union in there.
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Jun 20, 2013 03:47
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Elston Gunn posted:So I noticed that the AC unit for my house wasn't turning on and went out to investigate and found a snake wrapped around the fan shaft about ten times. I guess as it was spinning around its head got caught on something and stopped the fan from turning. I removed the snake but now when the thermostat turns on the furnace fan runs but the outdoor unit still doesn't start. How bad did this fucker mess up my AC unit? Did you check all your breakers? Main panel and possibly an outside breaker by the unit. Honestly I'm no expert, I just wanted to chime in and say way to kill a snake (gently caress snakes). e. vvv now I feel bad for the snake. He probably heard your AC unit humming, went and posted to ssssssomethingawful.com, and got the same advice. Poor bastard didn't get his tail out of the way in time trying to manually start your AC. 
uwaeve fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Jun 20, 2013 |
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Jun 20, 2013 03:50
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uwaeve posted:Did you check all your breakers? Main panel and possibly an outside breaker by the unit. Honestly I'm no expert, I just wanted to chime in and say way to kill a snake (gently caress snakes). Yeah, I checked the breaker and the unit seems like it's getting power, I can hear something faintly humming when the thermostat turns on.
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Jun 20, 2013 03:53
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Elston Gunn posted:Yeah, I checked the breaker and the unit seems like it's getting power, I can hear something faintly humming when the thermostat turns on. It is probably the starting capacitor for the motor that is bad. If you are willing, try turning it on and turning the blades by hand and see if it runs by itself. You'd have to remove the grate on top, and don't get your hand cut off. The fan should be blowing air upwards, so take that into consideration when you decide which way to spin the blades. Just give it a good hard spin and move your hand away instantly. If it keeps spinning, its the starting capacitor. If not, the motor may be fried. You can also check (with the power off) to see if there are any wires or plugs unhooked or damaged by the spinning snake head. That humming makes me think its the capacitor.
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Jun 20, 2013 04:13
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I had a similar sort of issue a few years ago with a water main shutoff I didn't even know was there until I suddenly found a bunch of standing water in my flowerbed. I don't recall the exact repair cost, but I believe it was $200 or less. I had to do a fair amount of digging first to get the guy some room to work in though, which I was happy to do given his hourly rate. I was sure the guy was going to keel over just from the effort of fixing the pipe. I'm sure he would have dropped dead if I'd made him dig it out too.
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Jun 20, 2013 06:23
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iForge posted:It is probably the starting capacitor for the motor that is bad. If you are willing, try turning it on and turning the blades by hand and see if it runs by itself. You'd have to remove the grate on top, and don't get your hand cut off. The fan should be blowing air upwards, so take that into consideration when you decide which way to spin the blades. Just give it a good hard spin and move your hand away instantly. If it keeps spinning, its the starting capacitor. If not, the motor may be fried. You can also check (with the power off) to see if there are any wires or plugs unhooked or damaged by the spinning snake head. That humming makes me think its the capacitor. just put a stick through the grate and poke at the blades.
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Jun 20, 2013 13:45
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Is something wrong with my wiring? Or do multiple gfcis on a circuit cause weirdness? Pool pump has a gfci on the cord. Any time the cord is unplugged and plugged back in you have to reset the gfci on the pump cord. I've read this is normal and by design on pool pumps, I've had 3 now that were all like this. Here's where it gets weird. I unplugged the pump yesterday to move some stuff around, plugged it back in, hit the reset button on it, pump doesn't start, my light plugged in to same outlet goes out. I turned off and on every breaker (they're not labeled good) nothing changes, outlet outside is still dead. I was tired and gave up to go to bed. I tried to buzz my hair this morning and saw my bathroom outlet was dead, I looked at nightlight in kids bathroom, also dead, then I saw the kids bathroom has a gfci outlet, I hit reset on it and both bathrooms and the outside outlet came back on. There is a breaker labeled GFI bathroom that's fatter than most of my other 20a breakers. I'm guessing I have a gfci breaker too? I didn't have to reset it this morning to get the stuff to come on. (I did shut that breaker off after my discovery to verify it was the one that ran those 3 outlets) Is it ok for the outlet in kids bathroom to be a gfci one if there's a gfci breaker? Is it in any way normal for that gfci outlet to somehow shut off 2 other outlets a decent distance away from it? Vin BioEthanol fucked around with this message at 16:20 on Jun 20, 2013 |
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Jun 20, 2013 16:16
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Thanks for all the help everyone. I got some PB blaster, sprayed it and waited a half hour. I guess it did the trick, or it wasn't as bad as I thought but it came right off with minimal effort. I'm ready to put on the new valve but I peeked inside the tee and noticed the pipe from the bottom protrudes a little more than halfway past the tee opening. Is this a big deal? Seems like it would be blocking the flow somewhat. Inside tee:  Old valve with rusty nipple attached: 
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Jun 20, 2013 19:39
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Wagonburner posted:Is something wrong with my wiring? Or do multiple gfcis on a circuit cause weirdness? Yeah, multiple GFCI outlets in a circuit can cause such weirdness. You also don't need multiple GFCI to be protected. You just need one GFCI outlet and it will also protect all others downstream. So, if you bathroom is the first in the circuit, it will trip and kill the outlets in the kid's bathroom if they drop a hairdryer in the sink or something. The GFCI breaker does the same thing, but since it's at the panel, there's no guesswork. It protected everything on that circuit, and if there's a trip, you know right where to go. Pretty valuable if your house is like mine, where the garage door opener stops working if a light bulb in the upstairs bathroom burns out. Whether or not it's ok - it's redundant for sure, and it can cause false trips. Assuming they actually are on the same circuit, that is. And yeah, it's normal for a GCFI outlet to turn off everything behind it on the circuit. That just means you know everything that blew out is after that outlet. One thing to keep in mind is that, while false positives occur sometimes, the fact that this occurred while you were plugging the the pump and the GFCI tripped on the cord but evidently didn't work means that you may actually have an issue with that pump. Might want to look into it.
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Jun 20, 2013 19:40
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Killing Flies posted:You also don't need multiple GFCI to be protected. You just need one GFCI outlet and it will also protect all others downstream. So, if you bathroom is the first in the circuit, it will trip and kill the outlets in the kid's bathroom if they drop a hairdryer in the sink or something. Thanks, so not even talking about a gfci breaker like I have but a gfci outlet, how does it protect others downstream? Does it have gfci protected output screw terminals on the back that other outlets would be chained off of? there'd be 2 romex cables coming down the wall to it? It happened right after I plugged it in and pushed the reset on the gfci on the cord. Its normal for the pool pumps gfcis to trip when they're unplugged for some reason, 3 of mine have done it and people on pool forums say the same. Vin BioEthanol fucked around with this message at 21:07 on Jun 20, 2013 |
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Jun 20, 2013 21:03
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Jaweeeblop posted:just put a stick through the grate and poke at the blades. My method is better, because you get a good spin on the shaft and you don't run the risk of the stick jamming in the blades. The fan won't get to full speed instantly, so there is minimal risk as long as you move your hand away immediately. This isn't a job for your grandmother.
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Jun 20, 2013 21:23
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quantegy, it's not a big deal, just proceed.
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Jun 20, 2013 21:51
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quantegy posted:Thanks for all the help everyone. I got some PB blaster, sprayed it and waited a half hour. I guess it did the trick, or it wasn't as bad as I thought but it came right off with minimal effort. Barely, but it would only be blocking the flow to the sprinklers, and they don't need a full unimpeded 3/4" flow. Judging from how bad that steel nipple corroded, put a new brass nipple in its place. Don't forget your tape or dope on the threads.
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Jun 20, 2013 23:00
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kid sinister posted:Judging from how bad that steel nipplecorroded, put a new brass nipple in its place. Don't forget your tape or dope on the threads. Yep, got one of those while I was at the store. Seems to be working fine, thanks guys.
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Jun 20, 2013 23:33
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Is there a decent guide online like babby's first sprinkler system diagnostics? I just bought a house, and when the automated system runs it runs for ages and turns the backyard into a swamp. I checked the little robo-timer thing and it is set to only run for 10 minutes every 3 days  The little in-ground box with a bunch of valves inside also gets flooded under about 12 inches of water during this process. I can't make them stop without turning off the pipe to the water outside the house. The plants outside are almost all alive, which makes me think that the watering system has been working to some degree. I really don't want to be wasting water. I really really don't want to have moisture near the house and attract termites (or any other crap that comes with moisture)Previous occupants were tenants, and the seller lives out of state and after close of escrow really doesn't care about anything (to be expected). So there's nobody I can talk to with specific knowledge of the system. I live in the middle of a desert, so the ground is bone dry to begin with if that's relevant.
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Jun 20, 2013 23:43
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iForge posted:My method is better, because you get a good spin on the shaft and you don't run the risk of the stick jamming in the blades. The fan won't get to full speed instantly, so there is minimal risk as long as you move your hand away immediately. This isn't a job for your grandmother. You're worried about a stick jamming the blades but think it's fine to put your hands in there? I've been an A/C tech for 3 years, I would never recommend your method to a client nor do it myself Jaweeeblop fucked around with this message at 00:02 on Jun 21, 2013 |
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Jun 21, 2013 00:00
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canyoneer posted:Is there a decent guide online like babby's first sprinkler system diagnostics? I just bought a house, and when the automated system runs it runs for ages and turns the backyard into a swamp. I checked the little robo-timer thing and it is set to only run for 10 minutes every 3 days Do you have the manual for your controller so you can start fresh with programming? Does it by any chance run for 10 hours? Our display shows MM:SS in some modes and HH:MM in others I think, which was confusing at first. I know you said the seller doesn't care about anything, but if you have contact information, maybe ask who installed or maintained the system. It may also be written on a sticker somewhere like in your control box. While you're bothering the sellers, see if they will write out their vendor list for you. Like who installed/serviced all the systems. If it was a rental property and they are out of state it means they have all the service done for them, all they need to do is take 5 minutes to write it in an email and you'll have it for anything that goes wrong. Good luck. uwaeve fucked around with this message at 00:13 on Jun 21, 2013 |
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Jun 21, 2013 00:09
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Home Depot carries some books like that. I'd also replace the controller if it's not watering the yard for the correct time.
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Jun 21, 2013 00:38
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Jaweeeblop posted:You're worried about a stick jamming the blades but think it's fine to put your hands in there? I've been an A/C tech for 3 years, I would never recommend your method to a client nor do it myself  Well i guess you got me beat since you have been a tech for a whole 3 years. We aren't talking about sticking his hand into an already moving fan here... Putting a stick through the grate and pushing on the fan blades will do gently caress-all nothing, but since you feel he is less competent than I do, I will revise my previous advice.Elston Gunn: If you are dumber than the average 2nd grader, please use a stick inserted through the tiny slots in the grate to clumsily push the blades of the fan a whole 7 degrees of rotation to test the starting capacitor. If you are really feeling competent, you can take off the grate and use a stick to push the blades a bit easier. I suppose you could use your hand to do it 10x easier, but you might bruise yourself or get a small cut from the blades if you leave your hand in there too long, but I think you are smarter than that. Please post pictures if you do cut your hand off, though.
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Jun 21, 2013 04:23
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iForge posted:
A stick is more than enough to start a fan, I do it all the time. You are telling someone to do something stupidly dangerous and are now arguing solely to try and save face. You are wrong here. Since I know you won't give up here a few accident reports from OSHA of licensed and trained techs getting mangled and sometimes even dying from being struck by fan blades. http://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/establishment.inspection_detail?id=125882241 http://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/accidentsearch.accident_detail?id=14511737 http://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/accidentsearch.accident_detail?id=170153753 http://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/accidentsearch.accident_detail?id=201178001 I never said Elston Gunn is stupid, accidents happen to everyone. This is a situation where the possibility doesn't even need to exist. Quit being stupid. Also yes my 3 years of experience in the trade should be trusted against a weekend warrior any day of the week.
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Jun 21, 2013 04:38
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Jaweeeblop posted:A stick is more than enough to start a fan, I do it all the time. You are telling someone to do something stupidly dangerous and are now arguing solely to try and save face. You are wrong here. I've been an electrician for over 10 years, so I have worked on plenty of these. Your stories involve contact with blades that are already spinning at full speed and one crushing injury from a belt and pulley. While it can be dangerous, it certainly doesn't have to be if you aren't stupid. I have all 10 fingers and have done exactly what I suggested to him dozens of times. Plus, the one guy who died was working on a commercial rooftop unit and those can be loving huge and many times more powerful than a single family home's unit. My suggestions were based on the assumption that he is smarter than the snake that got killed in his unit, and I still stand by them, but I am not going to poo poo up this thread further by continuing this argument. Do whatever the hell you want, Elston Gunn, I am done here.
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Jun 21, 2013 04:52
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Luckily I didn't have to use a stick or my hand to start the fan. I have a load management device installed which turns the compressor motor off for a couple minutes every hour and I guess it happened to be activated when I was testing. Fan motor seems to be okay. Here's a bonus picture of the snake. It was stretched pretty tight.
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Jun 21, 2013 17:45
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Wagonburner posted:Thanks, so not even talking about a gfci breaker like I have but a gfci outlet, how does it protect others downstream? Does it have gfci protected output screw terminals on the back that other outlets would be chained off of? there'd be 2 romex cables coming down the wall to it? Ok, let's talk specifics. A normal GFCI outlet, and any other outlet for that matter, will have five terminals. One side is the line (power coming in from the breaker box or from other outlets upstream) and the other is the load (everything downstream of that outlet). The fifth terminal is the ground connection. This basically means that the outlet completes the connection. Power comes in the line side and out the load side. A GFCI outlet does the same thing, but because it has a circuit interrupter built in if a ground-fault is detected, it cuts that connection in a faction of a second. A GFCI checks the current flowing between the hot lead and the neutral lead. If there's an imbalance, it trips. Since all the power flows from and to the same point (a circuit means it's a complete loop) any change in such voltage AFTER the GFCI would produce that imbalance and trip the outlet. It cannot possibly detect ground faults BEFORE the GFCI, because the interrupter does not see that imbalance going back to the source. So, if your GFCI is wired correctly, you'll see romex going into the box and hooking up to one side of the outlet, and romex going into the box and connecting to the other side. This is the most common, though if the box is also being used as a junction for something else there might be more. Now, let's say the wiring was done by someone that didn't know what to do, or maybe the GFCI outlet kept tripping and they wanted to make sure no other outlets went out downstream. In that case, they'd bypass the GFCI by having romex coming into the box from the breaker panel, romex going out of the box to other outlets downstream, and also pigtail on a bit of wire. They'd then connect that bit of wire to the GFCI outlet. This would mean that if a ground fault was detected, it would trip that outlet. However, since the power is flowing TO the GFCI and not THROUGH the GFCI, the other outlets on that circuit would remain functional. It's also possible that rather than connecting one side to the line terminals and one to the load, they just connected both to the load side, effectively doing the same thing. And yeah, it may be normal for the GFCI on the pump cord to trip. I wouldn't know on that one. However, it's not normal for it to knock out a GFCI outlet farther down. Basically, that means that either the GFCI on the pump's cord didn't trip fast enough, or didn't function at all. This may be a question you want to post in the electrical thread if you want some more details. Just keep in mind that if a GFCI outlet trips, and you want to go investigating, the lines are still live. A lot of people seem to think that just because the outlet tripped that it's safe to work with. There is still power flowing to the outlet, so treat it with respect. Killing Flies fucked around with this message at 20:37 on Jun 21, 2013 |
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Jun 21, 2013 20:07
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Any painters in here that can offer some advice? I moved into a house that has a tongue and groove pine ceiling in the living room, it's stained dark and has a light coat of lacquer on it. It really makes the room seem dark and small, and I would like to paint it white. Is there a good way to do this without it being a horrible pain in the rear end? I was thinking about using a sprayer, but I am worried about overspray and if it's worth the extra setup effort for my purpose. Is a standard primer good enough to use for this? Do they make rollers that are textured/"deep" enough to reach into the grooves so I don't have to brush up and down each groove?
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Jun 23, 2013 00:59
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I've recently got into whittling, I've got myself a nice sharp knife and I'm wondering about how to properly take care of it. Previously I've just used a sharpening stone but to be honest I'm not sure how effective it is, I was wondering if I might get a better edge with a sanding block and leather strop. The real question is what grade of sandpaper should I be using?
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Jun 23, 2013 17:05
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Stryguy posted:Any painters in here that can offer some advice? Sprayers are a pain in the rear end to use indoors. Use rollers instead. You got the right idea to use primer first. Primer is stickier than regular paint and is great for surfaces that paint would have a hard time adhering to. And yes, roller brushes do come in wider sizes for deeper surfaces. In fact, they come in a whole range of sizes. Solly posted:I've recently got into whittling, I've got myself a nice sharp knife and I'm wondering about how to properly take care of it. Previously I've just used a sharpening stone but to be honest I'm not sure how effective it is, I was wondering if I might get a better edge with a sanding block and leather strop. Try asking in the Metalworking thread. They would know best how to maintain a blade.
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Jun 23, 2013 17:46
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Solly posted:The real question is what grade of sandpaper should I be using? Short answer is it doesn't matter but I would use wet/dry automotive, 800 or 1000 for sharpening, 2000 for honing.
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Jun 23, 2013 19:16
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Lost the key to the shed door. What's the cheapest way to get it open?
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Jun 23, 2013 22:24
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the posted:Lost the key to the shed door. What's the cheapest way to get it open? What type of lock?
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Jun 23, 2013 23:30
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I'm in a basement apartment, and the landlord hasn't seen fit to install any kind of vent in the bathroom. So, there's tiny spots of black mold starting to appear on the ceiling and walls. Other than installing a vent, is there anything I can do to prevent this from getting out of hand? Isn't it usually part of building code to have a vent in the bathroom?
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Jun 23, 2013 23:39
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Backov posted:I'm in a basement apartment, and the landlord hasn't seen fit to install any kind of vent in the bathroom. I just use one of those foam mop on a stick things with some bleach and clean it up. I have lived in plenty of places without vent fans so I can't imagine they are required by any kind of code. Most of the time they are vented into a wall cavity or something retarded anyway so at least you can see the mold that is forming instead of it being hidden and you breathing it unkowingly for years! Try opening a window when you take a shower. That is usually more effective than any vent, unless you live in Florida or something.
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Jun 24, 2013 00:02
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