The DIY thread

[python]

unlike mostly the success stories, this is about a diy FAILURE...my failure.

thought of posting this later after getting my head together, but got some time now and here it goes...

we have 2 printers. one a monochrome, high-speed laser used almost exclusively by ms python for her business and an inkjet el cheapo used by me occasionally and by our kids. not that we are cut off the laser speedo, but that's the layof the land here.

long story short, i needed yesterday to print the amazon return label to find out to my irritation that the ink jet was out of a yellow ink. the display said 'replace the Y cartridge'. it was not the 1st occasion like this, but it was the 1st time i had no spare Y cartridges. what the fork, i thought, and decided to engage the laser for a one-page B&W job.
turns out, it was also out of a toner (sure ms python neglected it) but she is in switzerland now and i had no way of getting the help nor did i find the spare toner.

aha, i thought, there must be a work around to print B&W even if a Y cart was out. turns out, it was a plain stupidity gravely underestimating the corporate drive to force sales a user does not need....

i still tried. google suggested all sorts of things. from resetting the cart chip by a special gadget i dont have, to fiddling with the printer settings to physically swapping the chips on the cartridges...nothing worked. the stupid (or perhaps smart ?) epson loaded with 3 good cartridges out of 4, including the full black ink cart, refused and refused....

i was mad at the creepy business practice, at myself, at ms python...

long story short, i recalled i can print at a local library a block away. i did that. then, i ordered more cartridges from amazon. and finally i decided (for the 1st time) to order the toner for the wife's laser printer too...

i failed at diy, but thankfully amazon made my pain very short lived :redface:

 

[JayKosta]

+1 for using the library printer!

Jay

 

[jmdirt]

I hate that about color printers, if one cartridge reaches a set number of prints, its game over. I tried the resetting trick, but it only gave me a few more prints. Most of the time the cartridges reach their set number with plenty of ink to print.

My DIY advice is don't buy the little reset thing.

 

[Merckx index]

she is in switzerland now

Must be very popular with the Swiss, after that recent WC game

Whenever I have a problem with anything computer related (e.g., if laptop in the shop) I go to a local Fed Ex store. You can get on the internet there, plus print anything, from the computers, or from a printer/photocopy machine that accepts flash drives. Just be careful to choose B&W if that's what you want, coz the default setting is the more expensive color, I'm sure that's just a bug they don't know about.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re: Re:

Maybe one of the rubber door stop wedges would work?

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Door-Stop/Rubber/N-5yc1vZ1z0xd7bZ1z114to

You could even glue it on one you find the correct amount of correction.

I kinda like the looks of that "Oatmeal Door Jammer"... it's rather hard to explain, but I just really don't want to cut or drill into the wood. Because then I might as well just replace the whole damn ladder if the wood splits.
-----------
Printers are a ***, btw., it's not the printer itself that costs that much, it's the ink you will end up spending most of your money on. Not sure there is a way around it.

 

[Unchained]

Trike my experience is to use a carefully cut and crafted metal studs to imitate the wooden parts.. you have to look at the inside and outside dimensions and see if you can sneak a piece of something to reenforce the long struts.. you can also buy two long pieces of steel and sandwich them using standard hardware or threaded rod w cap nuts anywhere your hands or clothes could rub against the exposed end of the the bolt or threaded rod... you could probably get by for @$10-20 bucks..
I have already called the FBI because you are going up to your attic so often.. what's up there?
Plus what is stopping you from just putting an additional rung at the bottom..2x6 or 2x8.. to make the bottom even.. you wouldn't want to step on it but it would be stable and level..
Large plastic coffee cans..used for dog poop bag storage..
Hasler postage machines!!! They start giving you a low ink warning @30-40 days after you replace the @$65 dollar toner cartridge!! Ripoff!!!

 

[jmdirt]

More attic ladder boot ideas:
This isn't exactly how I was thinking about using the door stop wedge, but this might work:

https://www.finehomebuilding.com/2007/07/01/attic-ladder-shoes

If the thickness is enough you could put one of these on the short leg:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Fakro-Plastic-Ends-One-Pair-2-Ends-for-Fakro-wooden-attic-ladders-62027/100672589?cm_mmc=Shopping%7CG%7CBase%7CD22%7C22-8_LADDERS%7CGeneric%7CPLA%7c71700000032189356%7c58700003830574769%7c92700034123497420&gclid=CjwKCAjw7IbaBRBqEiwA6AyZgnM2vwaRGM-3jY4jz_29AdZx8jSRmV8GbXKYzAmp4S1LhPGlvsQ9bBoCcfsQAvD_BwE&dclid=CP-_hqudkNwCFU5pfgod7jAKBA

And I have to include this just because:

https://www.amazon.com/Calculated-Industries-1190-Inflatable-Contractor-Grade/dp/B015CJEHZM/ref=sr_1_31_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1531078146&sr=8-31-spons&keywords=ladder+leveling+tool&psc=1

 

[JayKosta]

HD / Lowes probably has rubber 'booties' that go on the top of extension ladders to prevent scratching the wall. One of those might work, just fill it with spacers cut from the 'free' paint stirring paddles.

Jay

 

[python]

@jmdirt
useful information. thanx. i kinda considered the chip re-setter and now will hold back.

@m e
yeah, the shops like fedex and kinko's do all the computer services. for a price of course. it is an exceptional situation for me as i typically have a readily available alternative in-house - from several laptops to 2 printers to using my phone as a modem in case my cable wi-fi stutters...incidentally, i learned only after THAT incident, that amazon can send you an electronic code that one can display on a phone to a UPS code reader. The label will be printed by the shop.

@everyone using/shopping for inkjet carts
prior to that incident i was regularly ordering the re-manufactured carts from inkjet.co. at $4-5/cart it seemed a great deal compared to the generic sets. and they worked more or less after exhausting me with a barrage of messages like 're-install', replace with original' etc...this time i ordered from amazon...the deal seamed unreal -$12.99 for a set of 12 (4x3). that's 1/4 the price of what i considered a great deal. moreover, the pack arrived in 24 hours and when i inserted a Y there was NO the stupid barrage of warnings !!!

and most importantly, they were packaged so (hermetically sealed) that i dont see them drying as the inkjet.com were.

here it is. enjoy
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=MIROO+Remanufactured+126

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Thanks for all the tips everyone, I'll figure something out about the ladder. It's a very minor fix, in the meantime I have a much more urgent DIY to tend to. Buckle up - I get to replace a phone mount jack! Here's the story...

The internet has been cutting out at my place for days now, yesterday was just the last straw because, while I was trying to watch several riveting episodes of Scott & Bailey on Roku just as they were in the middle of an interrogation the internet cut out. So fully pissed off I call the internet/phone company...

I'm on the phone for almost half an hour, after running some tests customer service on the other end determines I need to have a phone tech come over to look at my phone lines. If the phone/DSL lines are bum on the outside of the house Centurylink will pay, if it's on the inside I'll have to pay for the astonishingly low price of only $85+ to fix whatever the problem is. I think you fine folk know me by now...

I checked out some DIY vids, after some investigating it turns out my ancient phone/DSL jack is bum, so now I'll have to replace it. I'll be going to Home Depot later today to pick one up, providing I hook the wires up correctly it'll cost me something like only $5. (The other $80 I would have spent on the phone tech I can just spend on printer ink. :razz: )

Now I just need to cancel that appointment with the phone tech, will keep you all posted on how my latest DIY goes.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Ta-daa!

Okay, that replacing a phone jack jive was one of my more pain-in-the-arse DIYs, just because the colors of the phone cables I found in the wall weren't what I expected. I expected to find a red, green, yellow, and black, instead I found a mess of oranges and blues, and half-oranges and half-blues... it's best to not even think about it.

Thankfully I did find a webpage (from a presumably knowledgeable electrician/phone cable person), it steered me toward the right direction.

So now that I'm all (hopefully reliably) hooked up to the internet/DSL & phone connection) - what do I do with this mess of phone cables I will more than likely never need? (Excuse the mess, btw., I just don't really care what kind of a mess is going on under my bed at this particular stage of my being.)

 

[JayKosta]

If it WORKS, then just put some electrical tape over all the others and CALL IT DONE!

Jay

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re:

If it WORKS, then just put some electrical tape over all the others and CALL IT DONE!

Jay

I'm happy to report that it does work - I had to use the orange and half orange, and blue and half blue with the red, green, yellow, and black cables that came in the phone jack, my place's wiring is bizarre. (Apparently these types of cables are for commercial type of buildings, can't figure out why a residential home would have commercial wiring.) The NID box looks fairly new (had to figure out how to pry it open, but it's nothing some bicycle tools can't accomplish), but the rest of the house's wiring is probably at least 30 - 40 years old...

Ah well, I'm happy to have saved $80, I would have hated having a tech guy come over and charge me at least $85 to install a $5 part. That's just unacceptable in my frugal world.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Okay, now that my phone wire issue has been successfully tackled it's back to the ladder thing...

Only just now did I find out it was my brother and dad who had cut the ladder's legs to length, that may explain a few things. Not only are the legs uneven, one is already beginning to split because the weight on the legs is uneven. I just put some duct tape and some cable ties around it, hopefully it'll last a few more years. Here's a piccy...

The garage floor is probably very uneven as well, not to mention it's very slippery. So I'm trying to fashion something out of door stops, bought both the regular kind as well as the "Oatmeal Jammer" jmdirt had mentioned. I kinda have an idea stewing in my brain, will naturally keep you all posted.

And to answer Unchained's earlier question about climbing up to the attic so often - the attic is where I hide the dead bodies. I mean, doesn't everybody?

Just KIDDING! :lol:

 

[JayKosta]

For the leg that is splitting, I'd get a metal screw-drive hose clamp of suitable size - they are quite strong. And position the screw mechanism so it won't be in the way. After tightening the clamp, wrap it with duct tape to prevent snags.
For the uneven leg, I'd cut pieces from a wood paint stir paddle and staple & glue them to the bottom.

Jay

 

[jmdirt]

I keep thinking of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqO58ATjyoc

 

[Merckx index]

Re:

And to answer Unchained's earlier question about climbing up to the attic so often - the attic is where I hide the dead bodies. I mean, doesn't everybody?

Not a good idea to store dead bodies up above, because as they decompose, icky liquid starts oozing out, and leaking through the floor. That's what ultimately did in Ira Einhorn.

But maybe someone here has a fix for that. How do you stop leaking dead bodies from dripping to lower floors? It's gonna take more than duct tape, and don't even talk to me about clamps.

But burying dead bodies remains the way to go.Just don't do it out in the woods somewhere! So many murderers make that mistake--like that guy who killed Bibi Lee. A shallow grave is eventually discovered, if not by humans then by animals. Bury the body in your backyard, then cover the site with a cement patio. Or at least plant a tree or something to obscure the area. I mean, come on, if you're going to all the trouble of killing someone, shouldn't you spend a little time and energy on proper disposal?

 

[jmdirt]

Re: Re:

And to answer Unchained's earlier question about climbing up to the attic so often - the attic is where I hide the dead bodies. I mean, doesn't everybody?

Not a good idea to store dead bodies up above, because as they decompose, icky liquid starts oozing out, and leaking through the floor. That's what ultimately did in Ira Einhorn.

But maybe someone here has a fix for that. How do you stop leaking dead bodies from dripping to lower floors? It's gonna take more than duct tape, and don't even talk to me about clamps.

But burying dead bodies remains the way to go.Just don't do it out in the woods somewhere! So many murderers make that mistake--like that guy who killed Bibi Lee. A shallow grave is eventually discovered, if not by humans than by animals. Bury the body in your backyard, then cover the site with a cement patio. Or at least plant a tree or something to obscure the area. I mean, come on, if you're going to all trouble of killing someone, shouldn't you spend a little time and energy on proper disposal?

Wasn't there a guy who killed his wife, buried her in the back yard and then put a headstone on it? I mean who's going to look in a grave for a dead person?

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re:

For the leg that is splitting, I'd get a metal screw-drive hose clamp of suitable size - they are quite strong. And position the screw mechanism so it won't be in the way. After tightening the clamp, wrap it with duct tape to prevent snags. Jay

That's an excellent fix, Jay, I didn't think of that. Off to Home Depot I go again...

I keep thinking of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqO58ATjyoc

Ha-ha! I just knew it was going to be something from Christmas Vacation, though I was thinking of the scene where Griswold falls off the ladder while hanging xmas lights on his house. (I think of that each time I'm hanging xmas lights, it brings a smile to my face and takes the nervous edge off.)


As to the DIY body disposal... he's brought up some excellent points, like with everything MI thinks things carefully through. I wouldn't expect any less from him.

 

[jmdirt]

Has anyone tried a bottle of AC charge from an auto parts store?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc2LmO0CIvM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8DNAtN-Lxc

EDIT: Info:
https://refrigeranthq.com/best-r-134a-ac-recharge-kits/

 

[python]

not sure, but this post may be the 1st one about a cycling diy project on a cycling forum

will be as brief as possible...as many cyclists with more than 1 bike, i have an odd number of various length and gauge spokes lying around. they are unused spares for the various size wheels we used over the years -from a standard 14G 310mm to the kids 14 inch wheels when they were little.

long story short. w/o going into the specifics, and i am sure i was NOT the 1st attempting it, a thought attended me that I could re-use some of those LONG spares on SMALLER wheels (saving on buying the right size spokes) IF i could extend the threads on the LONG 14G spares and then trimming the excess length.

as most diy-selfers i have a good collection of taps and dies, including the minis like M2, M2.5 etc. I knew the 14G spoke= 2mm diameter and therefore an M2 should work. It took seconds to discover that it WONT.

Puzzled, I resorted to my Google friend to discover that the spoke threads are rolled, not tapped and that i need a special machine to do it.

Not only I learned about the differences btwn the rolled and tapped threads, but due to the fact that i enjoy fiddling with the wheels I decided to buy the machine. luckily it was affordable imo. thus a learning experience may now convert into savings on wheels for me, my folks and my friends...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001PT6R4I/?coliid=I39JPJJLAON6MN&colid=9C3HZYD81QOL&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

 

[JayKosta]

Was the trouble with the spoke threads the 'threads per mm' or something special about them being rolled versus cut?
Most small sized threads are rolled because it is much less expensive, but their size and thread count is typically the same as used in threading dies. Is there a 'correct size' threading die available for spoke threads?

Jay

 

[python]

the regular spoke of 14G is 2 mm in diameter. when i attempted to see if the M2 die would naturally thread into the the nipple spoke side, it simply would not fit w/o destroying the thread. i then took my caliper and measured the spoke thread (outside) diameter and the spoke shaft diameter. it turns out the outside thread diameter was 2.2 mm.
which was the direct reason an M2 die does not fit. Besides, as i found out from reading further, the pitch of the 14g spoke thread is different from a standard M2 pitch.

a standard 14G bike spoke thread is designated as 2.2 mm x 56 TPI. yep, it's a weird nomenclature mixing metric and english systems, but that's the way it is. the reason the thread outside diameter is bigger than the spoke shaft is b/c during rolling some material is 'squeezed' out. there is no die as far as i could find out...

if you take a look at a link in my previous post, you will see the rolling head, not a die.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re:

not sure, but this post may be the 1st one about a cycling diy project on a cycling forum

Don't think any of us mind whatever your latest DIY may be, however, the description of the Cafe goes as, and I will quote:

Grab a short black and come join in the non-cycling discussion. Favourite books, movies, holiday destinations, other sports - chat about it all in the cafe.

I'm trying to stick to that, so my latest non-cycling related DIY may be how to grow some radishes. (My latest try was a complete disaster... crikes, even 5-year olds know how to grow radishes. I'm just not ready to talk about this latest fail of mine yet.)

 

[python]

Re: Re:

not sure, but this post may be the 1st one about a cycling diy project on a cycling forum

Don't think any of us mind whatever your latest DIY may be, however, the description of the Cafe goes as, and I will quote:

Grab a short black and come join in the non-cycling discussion. Favourite books, movies, holiday destinations, other sports - chat about it all in the cafe.

I'm trying to stick to that, so my latest non-cycling related DIY may be how to grow some radishes. (My latest try was a complete disaster... crikes, even 5-year olds know how to grow radishes. I'm just not ready to talk about this latest fail of mine yet.)

tricycle, with so many smileys, you knew i was NOT serious , didn' you