The DIY thread

[Tricycle Rider]

If I were working with it more often - for sure. Might actually invest since I'll be fixing my folk's house next year, might be useful here n there

Are you a bot?

 

[Neely]

Are you a bot?

Huh? What do you mean?

 

[jmdirt]

where to get it please share if any link available?

epoxy based acrylic from the local paint store.

 

[Unchained]

Retrofitted the hood in my kitchen with LED lamps.. the hood came with halogen lamps that were good for everything except for longevity..2 lights that shine down on the stove top cooking surface and we often leave them on as kind of kitchen night light.. Issue was we were burning out a bulb every 4-6 months and the replacement was $31 dollars a piece.. LED was $8 and the connector with 8 in pigtails was an easy fix just cannibalize the old connections.. Wire nuts..I drilled out the sheet metal cavity with a uni-bit and everything fits..box for lamp says 3 years guaranteed.. We shall see..
Halogen bulbs said don't touch them.. and I wore clean rubber gloves each time and it was still a persistent disaster

 

[jmdirt]

As I have discussed before, my house was build in the early 1900's (on the tax list 1910). It still has most of the original leaded glass windows (22 out of 26), and some 1950's era storm windows. Other than stopping cold winds from pounding the old glass, I don't think that these storms, or others for than matter, really do anything to stop the cold. The 2.5 inch space between the window and the storm is always the temperature of the outside.

So what is the point of storm windows? Just to stop the cold winds?

 

[Unchained]

Somehow I was volunteered to man the grill yesterday for 3 items..31 lobsters.. lots were small chicks and some medium sized..
and 14 black abalone and a dozen or so full chicken legs w thighs.. I am a fan of grilled lobster but.. when they are small even a little over cooking can make for a dry,chewy rubber like meat..instead I went with what I have done in the past.. Drop 6-8 at a time, boiling water for 4-5 minutes.. Twist and break head-tail connection and remove tail meat, put all the cooked meat together in a big pot,pour a couple of sticks of melted butter all over, generous salt and some paprika and mix it around.. the coated tails then go to open flame grill to get a little color and taste from the coals..ready to serve..
Abalone cleaned and then cut into to thumb thickness strips.. Pan tossed w butter, onions and garlic.. and then finish using the grill.. Still pretty " chewy " but everyone said that they enjoyed it.. Do chicken on tin foil first and then get about 5-7 minutes a side w great attention not to start it on fire.. I personally can eat cold pizza, lobster or chicken 24\7 ..we did not have access to any decent corn on the cob..but if you soak it and leave on the husk it's probably one of the best BBQ results you can eat.. Butter, salt,pepper.. and if you are a Mexican you put mayonnaise on it with some chili powder mix..different flavor.. Very popular ..also pretty easy is quartered small zucchini squash and paint on some olive oil and salt, maybe parmesan cheese and grill it until near black.. Easy to eat.. Easier to make..
I am not in a spacious enough house for a dedicated pizza oven but if I win the lotto first thing I buy after I hire personal trainer.. I have seen some fantastic designs and finished pizza results on YouTube and I can spend lots of time watching people make pizza..

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Somehow I was volunteered to man the grill yesterday for 3 items..31 lobsters.. lots were small chicks and some medium sized..
and 14 black abalone and a dozen or so full chicken legs w thighs.. I am a fan of grilled lobster but.. when they are small even a little over cooking can make for a dry,chewy rubber like meat..instead I went with what I have done in the past.. Drop 6-8 at a time, boiling water for 4-5 minutes.. Twist and break head-tail connection and remove tail meat, put all the cooked meat together in a big pot,pour a couple of sticks of melted butter all over, generous salt and some paprika and mix it around.. the coated tails then go to open flame grill to get a little color and taste from the coals..ready to serve..
Abalone cleaned and then cut into to thumb thickness strips.. Pan tossed w butter, onions and garlic.. and then finish using the grill.. Still pretty " chewy " but everyone said that they enjoyed it.. Do chicken on tin foil first and then get about 5-7 minutes a side w great attention not to start it on fire.. I personally can eat cold pizza, lobster or chicken 24\7 ..we did not have access to any decent corn on the cob..but if you soak it and leave on the husk it's probably one of the best BBQ results you can eat.. Butter, salt,pepper.. and if you are a Mexican you put mayonnaise on it with some chili powder mix..different flavor.. Very popular ..also pretty easy is quartered small zucchini squash and paint on some olive oil and salt, maybe parmesan cheese and grill it until near black.. Easy to eat.. Easier to make..
I am not in a spacious enough house for a dedicated pizza oven but if I win the lotto first thing I buy after I hire personal trainer.. I have seen some fantastic designs and finished pizza results on YouTube and I can spend lots of time watching people make pizza..

Wow, I never knew you were such a chef! Not keen on boiling living things alive and then eating them myself but, speaking of chewy...

It's tradition in my family (half of us lapsed Catholics) to cook and serve store-bought (already demised) fish on Xmas eve, being I was the cook I made sure everyone was ready for (and sitting at the fecking table!) for when my fish was ready. Well, even though timed something went terribly awry during this cooking session, the cod I had baked turned out so chewy I had to spit it out and give it to the dog!

I tell ya, truing a wheel I know how to do, but cooking/baking/broiling/bbq-ing fish properly will be the absolute end of me!

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Egads, a DIY gone awry, picture this...

So it's autumn, which means lots of leaf raking, I have this older leaf vacuum with a Briggs and Stratton engine that needed a new air filter. I changed the filter successfully but didn't attach the control cover properly when reassembling, so it flew right off (along with the bolt) while I was merrily walking up and down the street vacuuming some leaves. I went just about nuts looking for the part but couldn't find it, luckily I was able to replace it via Amazon. But it didn't come with the bolt, which happens to be some exotic size you cannot get at the local Home Depot.

Now here comes the fun part - the leaf vacuum manual doesn't even show the control cover let alone its bolt, so how am I supposed to order a new bolt without even knowing its size and dimensions? I contacted Sears parts and they didn't even know what I was talking about because they were looking at the same shitty diagram as me, and Briggs and Stratton only shows part numbers and not the dimensions of the bolt itself on their website. I'm not blindly ordering some $9 Briggs and Stratton bolt unless I know it'll fit, so I'm stuck having to experiment with much cheaper bolts that may or may not fit.

Grrrrrr, I curse Briggs and Stratton and the bolt (and my stupidity), next time I'll make sure all the parts are secured properly!

 

[jmdirt]

Egads, a DIY gone awry, picture this...

So it's autumn, which means lots of leaf raking, I have this older leaf vacuum with a Briggs and Stratton engine that needed a new air filter. I changed the filter successfully but didn't attach the control cover properly when reassembling, so it flew right off (along with the bolt) while I was merrily walking up and down the street vacuuming some leaves. I went just about nuts looking for the part but couldn't find it, luckily I was able to replace it via Amazon. But it didn't come with the bolt, which happens to be some exotic size you cannot get at the local Home Depot.

Now here comes the fun part - the leaf vacuum manual doesn't even show the control cover let alone its bolt, so how am I supposed to order a new bolt without even knowing its size and dimensions? I contacted Sears parts and they didn't even know what I was talking about because they were looking at the same shitty diagram as me, and Briggs and Stratton only shows part numbers and not the dimensions of the bolt itself on their website. I'm not blindly ordering some $9 Briggs and Stratton bolt unless I know it'll fit, so I'm stuck having to experiment with much cheaper bolts that may or may not fit.

Grrrrrr, I curse Briggs and Stratton and the bolt (and my stupidity), next time I'll make sure all the parts are secured properly!

Do you have a tap/die set? You can make any bolt fit!

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Do you have a tap/die set? You can make any bolt fit!

I am not familiar with the tap/ die set, but I did order a whole set/variety of metric bolts from Amazon (if all fails order metric), and one of them fit just fine without stripping the threads. I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl... for $8 I got 720 pieces of metric bolts instead of paying $9 for just one Briggs and Stratton one which may or may not fit - wooooo!

I'll have to look into this tap/die set in the future, it sounds quite marvelous!

 

[Unchained]

I am not familiar with the tap/ die set, but I did order a whole set/variety of metric bolts from Amazon (if all fails order metric), and one of them fit just fine without stripping the threads. I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl... for $8 I got 720 pieces of metric bolts instead of paying $9 for just one Briggs and Stratton one which may or may not fit - wooooo!

I'll have to look into this tap/die set in the future, it sounds quite marvelous!

When you use a tap and die, some key elements.. Go a couple of turns and use oil and or grease combo and back out the device and clean it relube and go in a little deeper and let the tool cut a little and clean the little bit of metal shavings..* and have the bolt or replacement nut in your hand before you start.. Really pretty easy once you get the feel for it.. Weird thing about the tap and die set..just sits around collecting dust but when you need one, it pays for itself on the first use..

 

[jmdirt]

Our dryer started making some pretty haunting sounds, but was still drying so I ignored it for a while until it sounded like it could self destruct at any moment. My wife called an appliance repair place (a colleague's son), and the repair was going to be $300-350. Since its a 12 year old dryer and I can get the same model for $500 one sale, I decided that I had noting to lose and tore it down. The drum rollers were worn and not that smooth, but they weren't making any noise...that was what I thought the problem was. I put the drum back in and turned it by hand, noise at the motor. Fortunately it turned out to be the belt tension idler pulley, not the motor itself. Since I didn't have the parts, and it was Sunday, I just put it back together, and ordered a $30 kit (tensioner/pulley, belt, drum rollers) from A. I put the kit in yesterday and it seems to be fine.

The drum rollers and belt tensioner pulley rely on a bushing rolling on a coated shaft which they call 'self lubricating'. It doesn't seem like a great design, but I guess it lasted 12 years. The type/quality of coating probably makes a difference and the $30 kit I just put in probably doesn't have the same coating as OEM, but I guess I'll find out.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Our dryer started making some pretty haunting sounds, but was still drying so I ignored it for a while until it sounded like it could self destruct at any moment. My wife called an appliance repair place (a colleague's son), and the repair was going to be $300-350. Since its a 12 year old dryer and I can get the same model for $500 one sale, I decided that I had noting to lose and tore it down. The drum rollers were worn and not that smooth, but they weren't making any noise...that was what I thought the problem was. I put the drum back in and turned it by hand, noise at the motor. Fortunately it turned out to be the belt tension idler pulley, not the motor itself. Since I didn't have the parts, and it was Sunday, I just put it back together, and ordered a $30 kit (tensioner/pulley, belt, drum rollers) from A. I put the kit in yesterday and it seems to be fine.

The drum rollers and belt tensioner pulley rely on a bushing rolling on a coated shaft which they call 'self lubricating'. It doesn't seem like a great design, but I guess it lasted 12 years. The type/quality of coating probably makes a difference and the $30 kit I just put in probably doesn't have the same coating as OEM, but I guess I'll find out.

I continue to have some noise issue with our dryer, the noise seemingly appears and disappears with the temperature. So once it gets cold out (the dryer is in the garage) I just give it sort of a lift and kick so the belt (?) readjusts itself, so far this has worked. The dryer is at least 10 years old though, so eventually I will have to replace it. (No way am I hiring a repairman to come over, once appliances get to be old enough it's not worth the money to have them repaired professionally.)

 

[jmdirt]

I continue to have some noise issue with our dryer, the noise seemingly appears and disappears with the temperature. So once it gets cold out (the dryer is in the garage) I just give it sort of a lift and kick so the belt (?) readjusts itself, so far this has worked. The dryer is at least 10 years old though, so eventually I will have to replace it. (No way am I hiring a repairman to come over, once appliances get to be old enough it's not worth the money to have them repaired professionally.)

You can easily spend $1000 repairing a $500 appliance.

 

[Unchained]

You can easily spend $1000 repairing a $500 appliance.

That's a fact!! And if you watch YouTube videos the repair people always seem to have dexterity with the sheet metal fasteners and they pull and push things and nothing breaks. I have had some luck but let's call it a draw on me making the repair was worth the money and embarrassment. Just got a new front load washing machine from Costco and it has WiFi and plays music when load is done or you can add softener. I am sure that there is someone that needs a message sent to their phone or computer, tablet, smart watch, that the clothes are done, come and get it.. I find it all too much.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Had to replace the kitchen sink garbage disposer yesterday, many, many bad words had been said while doing it. And that's all I've got to say about that.

 

[jmdirt]

I continue to have some noise issue with our dryer, the noise seemingly appears and disappears with the temperature. So once it gets cold out (the dryer is in the garage) I just give it sort of a lift and kick so the belt (?) readjusts itself, so far this has worked. The dryer is at least 10 years old though, so eventually I will have to replace it. (No way am I hiring a repairman to come over, once appliances get to be old enough it's not worth the money to have them repaired professionally.)

Sorry I meant to reply to this earlier.

The tensioner pully probably has a grove in it and the belt rubs, so when you kick it, it probably settles back to a smoother spot. Other than the bushing being completely shot and wobbly on mine, it had a really deep grove on about 2/3 of the surface (not sure why it didn't go all the way around).

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Sorry I meant to reply to this earlier.

The tensioner pully probably has a grove in it and the belt rubs, so when you kick it, it probably settles back to a smoother spot. Other than the bushing being completely shot and wobbly on mine, it had a really deep grove on about 2/3 of the surface (not sure why it didn't go all the way around).

I think you're probably right... I did actually open up the dryer in the back and upon seeing its innards and watching some DIY vids I said screw it, I'm way over my head here. (Don't have the muscle to keep moving the heavy dryer back and forth and on its side and whatnot.) But it did look like the belt and pulley were all right and nothing looked overtly rusty or broken, so I think you're right, the belt occasionally gets displaced and then just has to be "kicked" back into position so it sits on the drum (and whatever else) properly.

 

[Unchained]

I know that this does not really fit but it does.. This is the week of the Baja 1000. I am seeing some scattered reports on social media that go something like this.. Young guy( looks like 15,16..flies from Holland to San Diego.. buys a motorcycle.. changes out the tank for more gallons.. changes the tires after dealership mechanics make suggestions Baja specific. He rides to Ensenada and gets a ride south, sort of on the fly gets support as a privateer.. Eats and drinks misc food and supplies along the way and the gas support he got worked without a hitch..he did a transatlantic do it yourself Baja 1000 and he won the Ironman Category.. I will read more as it is available but absolutely amazing!!!
Teams w multiple follow trucks, trailers, mechanics, motor homes and support staff are for sure shaking their heads in disbelief.. I know I am..

 

[Tricycle Rider]

I know that this does not really fit but it does.. This is the week of the Baja 1000. I am seeing some scattered reports on social media that go something like this.. Young guy( looks like 15,16..flies from Holland to San Diego.. buys a motorcycle.. changes out the tank for more gallons.. changes the tires after dealership mechanics make suggestions Baja specific. He rides to Ensenada and gets a ride south, sort of on the fly gets support as a privateer.. Eats and drinks misc food and supplies along the way and the gas support he got worked without a hitch..he did a transatlantic do it yourself Baja 1000 and he won the Ironman Category.. I will read more as it is available but absolutely amazing!!!
Teams w multiple follow trucks, trailers, mechanics, motor homes and support staff are for sure shaking their heads in disbelief.. I know I am..

Had to look up what the Baja 1000 is first, but if the rider DIYed his bike so that he didn't really need a whole entourage to aid him during the race good for him!

EDIT: Found this article about the rider and the race, the rider's name is Wouter Jan Van Dijk. Apparently he was racing on a severe budget and had to fix his bike up so it would meet regulations to begin with, and during the race some nice people from other teams fed him and helped him out if they were able. It's a pretty remarkable (and even heartwarming) story .

One of the most epic Baja 1000 stories ever

This is Wouter Jan Van Dijk. He's a motocross enduro rider from Australia. Wouter decided he wanted to race the Baja 1000 this year. This was a late decision made on his own. No sponsor involvement, no team, no crew, just an idea. This also means no co-r...

opposite-lock.com

And here's an excerpt from a different article:

"In the bike realm, Wouter-jan Van Dijk and Nicola Dutto stole the show. The former, a Dutch enduro rider from Australia who has never raced in Baja, arrived in La Paz with a used bike that did not conform to SCORE regulations until he and his fellow competitors scrambled to make the necessary adjustments. Competing in the Pro Moto Ironman class, Van Dijk battled a damaged wheel, made stops with nearby teams for food and warmth, and arrived at the finish forty-eight hours later with a bike held together by zip ties."

A man after my own heart, I love it!

 

[Unchained]

Thanks for finding that and posting it..There are some big holidays in Mexico.. September 16th is Independence Day and November 20th is the Day of the Revolution.. so today there are a few parades, no work or school.. Saw a couple of people this morning and asked if they saw this guy and nobody did..don't know if he is still in Baja..most people leave Sunday or Monday. The hand painted numbers.. a couple of Facebook posts of him eating street food out of a Styrofoam container.. Guy is no frills, low tech. And the fact he did it sight unseen also incredible.. there are lots of low to no visibility areas..motorcycles start at night and when you get further North there is this condition that is hard to describe but the soil is the consistency of powdered sugar maybe a foot deep and when someone goes through it a big brown cloud is created and it takes a minute or two for it to settle enough to see through it.. To think that guy went through areas without prior knowledge is really humbling.. It's hard for people who have lots of experience. Who knows maybe he is around for a few days.. I will ask around, handshake in order.

 

[Unchained]

View: https://m.youtube.com/shorts/EMbdZFl-JKU

Few good shots here

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Is there anything as cursed as plumbing pipe compression rings? Or, to be more specific, removing them? Pictures this...

While replacing the new garbage disposal recently I noticed the water supply shut-off valves needed replacing as well because they were leaky, so far I've replaced one, but with much difficulty. Now, replacing the valves themselves is easy enough, but getting the old compression rings from the prior valves off is a *** and a half! (I've never been lucky enough to where I can just twist and pull them off, nope, I had to get a compression ring puller, and even then it was extremely difficult to get the ring off. I need to build more muscle...)

While it would probably be the easiest I'm not going to cut the copper pipe to get the old ring off because I don't feel comfortable cutting any kind of permanent piping in fear it may end up too short (and then I'm really ***!), so the hard way I'll have to replace the other valve(s).

Stupid compression rings, who invented them and why?

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Egads, another adventure in plumbing! Picture this...

The sprinkler main shutoff valve is ancient and has had a leak for a while now, finally I decided to try to replace it myself. Currently the valve is completely under water so I'll have to get rid of the water first because I can't tell what size the pipes are, and therefore I don't know what size of valve I need. (I have an idea what it should be but this is Eugene, things here are weird.) I also have to patch up a few small holes I had made into the visible pipes while I was digging (ooops), I hope to at least be able to patch those myself.



Stay tuned, this is an ongoing project. If I can't DIY this I'll have an emergency handyman on standby!

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Now that we're on break from a terrific first week of the Giro here's an equally riveting update on my latest attempt at a DIY (lol!), I ended up paying a pro $150 because, pictures this...

Once I had removed the excess water I found the shutoff valve and the piping, I know sprinkler system pipes are a bit like Legos in that you just add or subtract as needed. But once existing valves are involved things get a bit messier. So I just said *** it I'll call a pro because if I had messed anything up I would have had to turn off the main water supply to the whole house (!) until things got repaired, I didn't want to chance that. Pro said the water that was there was probably groundwater that had no place to go, turns out that the shutoff valve isn't leaky and it actually doesn't need to be there at all! (This is indeed Eugene, things here are weird.)



I'm not going to cry over $150 because I got some valuable information and pro did replace the pipes I had put holes into while digging, I had saved myself a lot of unnecessary labor and headaches, and a potential disaster. I would have preferred to fix this myself because I like the challenge, but for some home improvement projects that could affect the functionality of the entire house it really is better to just call a pro.