What did you do "IN" your garage today?

[LeonardY]

Washed the truck.

Spent most of the time scrubbing the small fruit spatters from the fruitless pear. The fruit is the size of a grape. The squirrels go after the pit and drop the fruit. The residue is hard to clean off. I've used some bug and tar remover that the auto place said was great.
Still had to scrub with a nylon brush.

Lots of elbow grease.

I followed that with rubbing compound. Then with cleaning wax.

Took almost the whole day. Still need to wax the entire truck.

I figured the pressure washer is done. I was turning it off and on to use it. When it was shut off, water was pouring out of the bottom.

I checked Amazon and they had the newer model, (Near identical)
On a prime deal day price of $143. I figure my time is worth more than screwing with the broken one so I bought it.
Now I'll have a spare hose, nozzles and spray wand.

 

[Outlawmws]

Sounds like you have some nice, vintage kit.
Where and what are you hunting?
I am up at our property, sitting in my deer blind at the moment. Bought some take-out in town and brought a couple of barley pops.
See if anything comes out this evening. Rifle opener is one month from today.

Sierras above Stockton this time. California Blacktail deer, some small game is open, Tree squirrel, The bunny's, Mountain quail and ruffled or blue grouse...

Season has been open but I'm trying tp get past the worst of this full super moon...

 

[GrayFlattop]

I prefer 1/2" ply--not beaver-board. Ply will take and hold a drywall screw, but beaver-board won't. Or whatever dimensional lumber is lying around--even wooden surveyor's stakes work.

It's amazing how many "boo-boos" happen to new drywall on a jobsite. It's also amazing how happy I am to not be the guy fixin' 'em anymore!

1/2 ply is the way to go. 1/4 in a pinch. 1x stock or paint sticks can split causing a re-do. I can’t really say I enjoy it, but…

 

[Beerhippie]

Mowed lawns. While I was doing that, the guy from one of our kitchen equipment lease services showed up. We've been trying to get this guy out for months to take care of several items. He covered most of them, but when asked to install some sanitized dispensers, begged off as he didn't have the parts he needed.

The parts he needed were a couple of 3/8" NPTM X 3/8" OD comp or pushfit fittings--which are available for a few bucks at the local hardware stores. LAME!

I'm not supposed to work on this ****, as it's all leased, but I reckon I can handle hanging a box on the wall and plumbing it.

Door Guy finally showed up, replaced a relay and now our auto door on the big beer cooler works as it should. He tuned the abused rails on the other overhead doors.

Being located over an hour-and-a-half from the nearest small city, getting techs out here can be a PITA--which is why I wear so many different hats in a day.

Spent another hour or so fighting with four of these valves:



In theory, they're rebuildable. In practice... good luck.

There's a face-mount o-ring that seals the valve:



That's designed to be self-cutting. If you look closely at that one--that I just attempted to rebuild--you can see a little scrap of o-ring near top center and the notch where it was clipped out of on the far left side of the ring.

I tried adding chamfer to the bore of the valve body with a Dremel and Cratex point. I honed the bore with a Flex-Hone. Still no luck.

I gave up and ordered four of the fifty-dollar valves.

Finished the fancy-*** shoulder strap mount for our Stihl cordless blower:





and blew the leaves and grass clippings off all the table pads and walks out front.

Using the blower is now nearly pleasant. Why didn't I do this earlier? Why doesn't Stihl put a ring on there? Why does Stihl think a battery-powered blower, with no exposed moving parts, requires a two-step safety that can't be activated easily with average-size hands (now defeated)? "Oops, I didn't know it was loaded!"

While I had the blower out, I blew leaves and a billion dead flies out of the shop.

Flies are back in force after a nice, flyless start to the week. It seemed like fly season was over--but I know better.

 

[PWC Repair]

I started fixing the plexi windshield on my Toro Workman. This thing stays out in the weather 24/7. And after several years the plexi was getting clouded, was pretty scratched, etc. I started with 1000 grit and soapy water to get through the majority of the damage. Then I moved on to 1500 grit, then 2500 grit, and finally on to some compound. WOW! I can actually see through it now! I've got a fine compound to go still and a good waxing after that, and maybe I'll try to keep it waxed this time LOL!

 

[Beerhippie]

1/2 ply is the way to go. 1/4 in a pinch. 1x stock or paint sticks can split causing a re-do. I can’t really say I enjoy it, but…

I learned to take this trick even farther: When hanging rock, we'd start a full sheet at the inside corner. Of course, this means the sheet doesn't end on a stud. Use a 3" wide strip of 1/2" ply for a splint and the screws go right in without hassling trying to hit the edge of a stud.

Saves on rock, too. If you want to get all fancy and ****, you can add two narrow strips of 1/4" ply to the outside edges of the strip of 1/2"--glue or staple. Now, when you screw the edge of the rock down, it pulls in over those little strips, making for a "tapered seam" on the vertical.

It also makes things more fun when the next guy uses a magnet to find the studs...

 

[PWC Repair]

Winterized these 3, stabil in the fuel, ran antifreeze through the open loop cooling system, fogged cylinders, dried them out good and took the batteries out.

BOO........I'm not ready to do mine yet. I feel like I recognize your name from one of the watercraft forums. I'm 'Myself' on those. I shure wouldn't mind having that red GSX. I've got my eye out cause I'm thinking about selling my HX.

 

[Burt Shaver]

BOO........I'm not ready to do mine yet. I feel like I recognize your name from one of the watercraft forums. I'm 'Myself' on those. I shure wouldn't mind having that red GSX. I've got my eye out cause I'm thinking about selling my HX.

I am on a Seadoo Forum, what’s your screen name on the forum? I had an HX, I didn’t like it, I didn’t really give it much of a chance albeit. I only rode it for about 10 minutes and decided it wasn’t for me.

 

[Burt Shaver]

BOO........I'm not ready to do mine yet. I feel like I recognize your name from one of the watercraft forums. I'm 'Myself' on those. I shure wouldn't mind having that red GSX. I've got my eye out cause I'm thinking about selling my HX.

SimpleArkansan?

 

[PWC Repair]

I am on a Seadoo Forum, what’s your screen name on the forum? I had an HX, I didn’t like it, I didn’t really give it much of a chance albeit. I only rode it for about 10 minutes and decided it wasn’t for me.

I'm not on that one. Screen name is 'myself' on PwcToday, Greenhulk, and x-h20. The HX is is love or hate machine. I ride standups so the HX fit just right. I just recently got it back together after a 5 year hiatus. More porting, more compression, and an RFi pump.......it's a BEAST!!

 

[Burt Shaver]

I'm not on that one. Screen name is 'myself' on PwcToday, Greenhulk, and x-h20. The HX is is love or hate machine. I ride standups so the HX fit just right. I just recently got it back together after a 5 year hiatus. More porting, more compression, and an RFi pump.......it's a BEAST!!

Very nice machine, would that be a 155 mm pump then. PWC today is dead is it not? I was on another forum but there was literally nobody there,

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Not all of us, I'm going hunting in a couple of days:

stoves as old as 103
Lanterns from 1936, 1947, another that the burner/core is lat 1940's (Franken lantern with an 80's fount)
---I have lanterns over 100 years old, I'm just not bringing them.
canteen from 1918
forks and knives from the civil war
Guns are all over 50 years old, some WAY older..
WWII army shovel

That's just off the top of my head...

I've had passing thoughts on making a "Carr camp setup" with varying over 100 YO, or would have bene available then. it wouldn't be that hard.

Should we ask how old your MREs are?

 

[PWC Repair]

Very nice machine, would that be a 155 mm pump then. PWC today is dead is it not? I was on another forum but there was literally nobody there,

Yes, PwcToday is pretty much zero action these days. The rfi pump is still 140mm but it's large hub. The thrust difference, especially low end, is MUCH better than the standard 140mm pump.

 

[Outlawmws]

Should we ask how old your MREs are?

No MRE's here, fresh cooked food, and not canned food either.

 

[2001ZR2]

not much time today but was redirected to the driveway to diagnose the drivers side low beam not working on the wife's GMC Envoy Denali..rerouting the wires and replugging them in seemed to alleviate the issue for now.

 

[Death Row Dave]

Working on some steel wheels to determine the correct offset I need for the Tiger

 

[Wrench-Polisher]

Got my snow blower ready for winter. Grease the axles, auger shafts, diff gear. Coat the whole thing in fluid film and change the spark plug.

 

[rd65]

Should we ask how old your MREs are?

Probably not MREs but sea rations

 

[niget2002]

3d printed a mount for the little mini switch I picked up for the 3d printers. I need to rearrange a few things to move the other 3d printer closer to this one. This is on the wall behind the big printer.

 

[Beerhippie]

Oh, man... those $50 valves have about doubled in price--$95!

Chasing air leaks...



arrow indicates where the leak is. Glad it's there, as I rebuilt the pneumatic cylinder last week. $24 each for the flow-control pushfits from McM-C. Actually, that's for a nylon-body assembly--the brass ones are $55 each. Nylon will be fine for this application, as the valves don't move. Still much cheaper than buying from the equipment manufacturer.

 

[nadogail]

Observed the installation of my new garage door.

The Garage Door Service company will not make any money on this job. There were several errors in measurements and communication. They are making everything right, even though the original technician screwed up the measurements.

They proposed to install a door that was in stock but heavily discounted because after it was installed the original customer’s wife didn’t like the color. I accepted the proposal for a previously installed door at an alternative color because of the discount.

While the door was being installed the Tech and I both noticed that the door didn’t fit, I now am getting an all new door in the preferred color for the original estimate.

For any one interested, the door service company is ALL-PRO QUALITY GARAGE DOOR, 858-576–7223. They serve the Greater San Diego area.

 

[Beerhippie]

I got an email this morning:

Hi Tim,



I got the approval this morning to order you a new dryer under warranty, I’ve got that shipping direct to you in Enterprise. Thank you.



Lori Denny
Service Coordinator
New Frontier

Ingersoll Rand Industrial US, Inc.
418 Valley Avenue NW, Ste B107
Puyallup, WA 98371
USA


YAHOO! Finally!

I hit a brick wall trying to go through IR Corporate for the warranty. I finally found a listing of IR service centers and a few phone calls, an email later and it's all good.

Best part is that they aren't asking for the busted one back. The one I'm warrantying is a replacement for another unit that died after about ten year's use. The two units are broken in different ways, so I should be able to make one working one from them to have for a spare!

The service center originally wanted to send a tech out here to see if they could repair the dryer. After looking at a map of just where Enterprise, OR is in relation to Puyallup, WA, they changed their tune. 6 hr. drive each way and an overnight stay for the tech....

 

[Jgaz]

Oil change, inspection and tire rotation on the truck this morning.

 

[coldh2o]

3d printed a mount for the little mini switch I picked up for the 3d printers. I need to rearrange a few things to move the other 3d printer closer to this one. This is on the wall behind the big printer.

Switch mounted with ports up is a prime debris-catcher, especially in the garage. I 3d printed RJ-45, HDMI and USB plugs for the empty ports in all my equipment.

 

[Outlawmws]

Pretty much completed hunting prep and packing. Went grocery shopping squeezed in some yard work raking old oak leaves out of corners and between agapanthus. Even made brownies for the trip, early AM!

I'm out of here for about a week O'dark thirty tomorrow AM.

 

[niget2002]

Switch mounted with ports up is a prime debris-catcher, especially in the garage. I 3d printed RJ-45, HDMI and USB plugs for the empty ports in all my equipment.

I have rubber port plugs. I just hadn't put them in yet.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Still up at the property.
I built this little deck a week ago and painted it then.
This afternoon I lifted it and backed into place with the boom pole.
Working alone so Careful Careful!
That aluminum will dent if you spit at it hard.
I will lift stop at Menards and pick up some concrete patio pads to level it the next time I come up.

 

[cannuck]

Sorry for no pics, but the USB port in my cell data any more. Have been doing bathroom remodel back to studs and had plumber in to rough-in tub/shower. Got badly misinformed from hardware supplier and tub/surround vendor and rough-in was a bit too deep in the wall. I happen to hate PEX for so many reasons, it is all in soldered copper (as is rest of 45YO house). So, just needed to pull the lot back an inch or so, but that would leave shower valve off square. Needed to be able to bend two lenghts of pipe out a few degrees down low and a foot higher beck to vertical. I have bending capacity and use a lot from 1/4" up 2", but no way to get at an assembled run inside a stud wall. So, I made a lever bender with two hooks to pull on outboard end and a "push shoe" in the middle to do the outward bends and a set of shoes traded to outboard end with tensile loop in the middle to bend inward. A little practice with bare steel shoes gave wall failures in compression, so made another set with 1/8" nitrile liners and it allowed a very small bend with only minor distortion and no compression collapse. VERY limited in how much it can bend but staging multiple points got me into alignment and square to wall.

If only the rest of the world used rigid copper there might have been a market for this, but as it would still be a very special case tool at best. It will just take up more space in a drawer of the cabinet where my pipe tools go

 

[PWC Repair]

FINALLY, got my Stihl leaf blower to run correctly.......YAY!! I've had that stupid carb off and cleaned, and adjusted, and it would run a bit and die if I gave it full throttle. I replaced the fuel lines, fuel filter, primer bulb, gaskets, air filter........same old, same old. I finally removed the whole filter assembly and used spacers to run the nuts back on tight. Then I fired it up and ran it and watched the fuel lines. As I revved it up I could see tiny bubbles appearing in the supply line. As I just held it full throttle more and more bubbles came and the gas was flowing BACKWARDS, back into the tank!! The thin flapper part on the bottom that pumps fuel was deformed JUST ENOUGH to not fully seal off!! Fixed and running great now.

 

[aggie113]

Replaced a single 30A breaker subpanel with a dual 30A breaker 100A (rated) subpanel and pulled out a 10 gauge run to the main panel replacing it with a 6 gauge run. Upgraded the 30A breaker in the main panel with a 60A breaker... All so I could install a second mini split in the garage and put the compressor for it near the original one so they can both feed off the same subpanel!

A friend who actually knows electrical will come over this weekend to finish up the actual lands on the terminals and make sure I didn't mess up so nothing burns down later

 

[Old Man Roger]

FINALLY, got my Stihl leaf blower to run correctly.......YAY!! I've had that stupid carb off and cleaned, and adjusted, and it would run a bit and die if I gave it full throttle. I replaced the fuel lines, fuel filter, primer bulb, gaskets, air filter........same old, same old. I finally removed the whole filter assembly and used spacers to run the nuts back on tight. Then I fired it up and ran it and watched the fuel lines. As I revved it up I could see tiny bubbles appearing in the supply line. As I just held it full throttle more and more bubbles came and the gas was flowing BACKWARDS, back into the tank!! The thin flapper part on the bottom that pumps fuel was deformed JUST ENOUGH to not fully seal off!! Fixed and running great now.

The irony of you having trouble making a 2 stroke run.lol

 

[FLHCHAZ]

Put more tools away, got the console out of the Buick and gave it some R&R. Drank a beer (ok 2 beers).

 

[PWC Repair]

The irony of you having trouble making a 2 stroke run.lol

I know right? I had called a buddy who worked for his dad growing up at a small engine shop. He ran his own shop for years after that. He said in 30 years working on small engines he had NEVER seen a bad fuel pump flapper allow fuel to flow backwards into the tank and empty the line. I figure well,.....if it CAN happen, it will happen TO ME LOL!!

 

[Old Man Roger]

I know right? I had called a buddy who worked for his dad growing up at a small engine shop. He ran his own shop for years after that. He said in 30 years working on small engines he had NEVER seen a bad fuel pump flapper allow fuel to flow backwards into the tank and empty the line. I figure well,.....if it CAN happen, it will happen TO ME LOL!!

So the pulse of the engine operates the pump action, so Im guessing it was leaking?

 

[niget2002]

I have rubber port plugs. I just hadn't put them in yet.

Went out this morning and installed said rubber port plugs. They were my last two too. I guess I should order some more. I may dig around for a 3d print and print my own out of TPU.

 

[PhantomEB]

I agree, she'll need plenty of time to adjust.

Ignore the hour mark, as I haven't fixed it but this was just minutes ago



She let me rub her belly this morning, and again this evening but only when we were outside

@KwikFab, you and I are alot alike. Total dog people with an aim to enjoy life as good as we can. Our two bulldogs are both rehomes, have had to deal with the former owners not giving them the attention they needed. Now those dogs have artificial turf back yards where Momma and daddy can sit outside with us in their view.

nice work on that skid plate. Thought mine was bad enough with 1/8th“ plate, full width and pretty much goes from bell housing to doubler tcase.

 

[PhantomEB]

More lights gone onto the garage, gravel pad side now. Momma loves being able to turn them on for Mollys midnight poops.

 

[rd65]

The irony of you having trouble making a 2 stroke run.lol

add to that his familiarity with internal fuel pump carbs from watercraft....creases in flappers all the time....I hope he realizes us Roger guys are known for teasing. I have seen a few Stihl carbs with flappers worn enough that you can feel a detent in the surface outlining the hole from the carb body or the fiber type getting small holes from wear along the edges. I always run a pick over them to be sure there isnt wear on the black, plastic type.

 

[KwikFab]

@KwikFab, you and I are alot alike. Total dog people with an aim to enjoy life as good as we can. Our two bulldogs are both rehomes, have had to deal with the former owners not giving them the attention they needed. Now those dogs have artificial turf back yards where Momma and daddy can sit outside with us in their view.

nice work on that skid plate. Thought mine was bad enough with 1/8th“ plate, full width and pretty much goes from bell housing to doubler tcase.

Hell yeah!

I would've done an underbelly skid covering most components but the only thing that would really hit anything would've been the transfer case

I'd have to take a bad line to really hit anything else

Funny you bring that post up though - I just dropped her off this morning to get spayed as I made the decision to adopt her

Welcome the newest member of the family!

Here she kept me from getting my red bull this morning lol



She's a huge fan of sun bathing in the backyard too

 

[Beerhippie]

More kitchen problems today.

Last night, one of the coolers in the kitchen up and quit working. Fortunately, it was nearly empty at the time, so no food wasted.

Did you know your refrigerators and freezers are designed to self-destruct?



That coil in the tub full of corrosion is there to evaporate the condensate water from the defrosting cycle. Condensate water is pretty damned acidic, so it eats through the coil--which carries hot refrigerant. The coil was replaced a few weeks ago and is already pretty corroded. I left the drain out of the tub so it drains to the floor and the nearby floor drain. One problem solved.

Anyhow, the immediate problem was that the cooling fan for the condensing unit had stopped. It was too hot to work on last night--and the kitchen too busy--so I got on it first thing this AM. I keep several of the fan motors for these on hand, as this happens pretty often.

But this one had a rather unusual failure mode:



We had a mouse in the kitchen last week. I set some traps, but no luck. I guess it found its own trap.

Removed dead mouse and the fan works fine now.