What did you do "IN" your garage today?

[Bessy]

Put the rotary tool to use modifying a filter refill for our robot vacuum for my wife. Apparently, Roborock doesn't offer the same filter anymore and the generic one she bought was about 2mm (5/64") larger. Simple enough to trim off with the cordless rotary, and we're back in business. Looked in my box for an oil filter replacement, turns out I used up the last one I had in stock. We'll pick one up after dinner tonight as we have to run out for some errands anyway.

 

[ambenz]

Been checking the 12 yr old garage ventless 30K BTU Procom heater these last few days as we have had outdoor tempature swings from 1F/-17C to todays 40F/5C. I set the heater to keep the garage at 55F. So far, it continues to keep the inside temp at 56F to 60F or 20C pretty consistantly. That 4 degree swing inside I can live with considering the garage isn't very well insulated (R13 or so) with 10 foot ceilings and 660 squares. I Run a box fan, linked to a heat snap switch, above the heater to blow the heat to the far side. Best investment for $200 I ever made.


I filled the small rock salt containers from 5 gallon buckets I get on the cheap, topped off the snowblower, and for the first time used my new O-Cedar EasyWring Spin Mop on standing water where the winter beater parks for the evening....


This gimicky mop worked suprisingly well and I was throughly impressed. The mop holds close to a quart of liquid. The spin system sure beats bending over a wringer and it has a small footprint. My wife got it for free via gift certificate for donating plasma. I could see the dry plastic gearing system is the achilies heel and I found some plastic safe grease and silcone lube and made sure the spinner would last for longer than a year...we will see as I will not hold my breath...so far, so good though.

 

[Outlawmws]

Been checking the 12 yr old garage ventless 30K BTU Procom heater these last few days

Is that siting on the floor and the flame is just inches off?

Can I assume you have vehicles parked in there, to say nothing of flammable liquids in containers?

I'd get that up about 18" to be on the safe side... Where that is won't meet code for a flame lit appliance in a closed garage here, and I doubt anywhere.


Why?

Back about 50 years ago after my first season pitting on race cars (I was a senior in HS) and the car I'd been on was sold as the two owners parted ways. The new owner was recruiting the old crew and our old driver.

He wet to the new owner's home and opened the side garage door (facing the front yard) and the garage exploded. The big garage door landed on top of cars in a driveway across the street. the driver landed in the middle of the lawn, out cold.

The house and car were a total loss. The new owners kids and their grandmother barely made it out of the house.

That car's tank or a line was leaking gasoline, and fumes had built up. Opening the door made a draft and kicked the fumes to the pilot light on the water heater, and ignited. This was before CA started enforcing the 18" rule...

 

[cannuck]

Our Jockey tractors with the 5.9's had them at least through 2003, I'm wondering if you have a block off plate bolted to the block.

Fender liner is out now, so will have a look in the AM if snow not too heavy. I seem to remember seeing a 2 bolt rectangular flange, if that makes any sense. What I can suggest, though, is there are SO many variations of 6BT one could have it and the next not. IIRC you can still buy a new 12V in industrial format.

 

[jblnut]

Today I hung up all my various belts in the same place. This has been a long time in the making !! Looks like I have a few belts on hand. Most are actual spares for stuff. Some are spares for stuff we haven’t had for 50yrs but they are still spares !!

 

[Wrench97]

Fender liner is out now, so will have a look in the AM if snow not too heavy. I seem to remember seeing a 2 bolt rectangular flange, if that makes any sense. What I can suggest, though, is there are SO many variations of 6BT one could have it and the next not. IIRC you can still buy a new 12V in industrial format.

I only recall having to change 1 in 20+ years of running those and that one was leaking out of the manual primer lever after changing a filter.

 

[jblnut]

Been checking the 12 yr old garage ventless 30K BTU Procom heater these last few days as we have had outdoor tempature swings from 1F/-17C to todays 40F/5C. I set the heater to keep the garage at 55F. So far, it continues to keep the inside temp at 56F to 60F or 20C pretty consistantly. That 4 degree swing inside I can live with considering the garage isn't very well insulated (R13 or so) with 10 foot ceilings and 660 squares. I Run a box fan, linked to a heat snap switch, above the heater to blow the heat to the far side. Best investment for $200 I ever made.

Do you have issues with condensation in garage when the heater is running ? I have a similar heater in a 16x24x9 space and I had to run a dehumidifier in there to keep the moisture under control.

 

[T_Roze]

Been checking the 12 yr old garage ventless 30K BTU Procom heater these last few days as we have had outdoor tempature swings from 1F/-17C to todays 40F/5C. I set the heater to keep the garage at 55F. So far, it continues to keep the inside temp at 56F to 60F or 20C pretty consistantly. That 4 degree swing inside I can live with considering the garage isn't very well insulated (R13 or so) with 10 foot ceilings and 660 squares. I Run a box fan, linked to a heat snap switch, above the heater to blow the heat to the far side. Best investment for $200 I ever made.


I filled the small rock salt containers from 5 gallon buckets I get on the cheap, topped off the snowblower, and for the first time used my new O-Cedar EasyWring Spin Mop on standing water where the winter beater parks for the evening....


This gimicky mop worked suprisingly well and I was throughly impressed. The mop holds close to a quart of liquid. The spin system sure beats bending over a wringer and it has a small footprint. My wife got it for free via gift certificate for donating plasma. I could see the dry plastic gearing system is the achilies heel and I found some plastic safe grease and silcone lube and made sure the spinner would last for longer than a year...we will see as I will not hold my breath...so far, so good though.

That spin mop is a great idea! Way better than corralling it all with a squeege!

 

[DGersic]

The pocket knife thread reminded me that my pocket knife hadn’t been sharpened in a while. Fixed that.




Did the kitchen knives too.




Started cleaning up the shop. It’s a mess from projects, parts, tools, and scraps. So, started cleaning, flinging, and putting away.

It’s still a mess, but slightly less so.

 

[ambenz]

Is that siting on the floor and the flame is just inches off?

Can I assume you have vehicles parked in there, to say nothing of flammable liquids in containers?

I'd get that up about 18" to be on the safe side......

Wow! Sounds like you been there, seen that...I have some precautions but never can you not be vigilant... The flame rail is two foot off the floor....the plemun cold air intake is about 18" off the floor, camera angle obscures. Mounted on a slab of slate. No open flammables in garage, I keep them in a outdoor shed. Gas in cars in sealed systems but ya never know... Baby monitor keeps smoke and CO detector within earshot. Garage housed water based car care products and some spray paint rattle cans. Lubercants are over 20 feet from heater and in metal cabinet.
Do you have issues with condensation in garage when the heater is running ?
The garage is NOT very tight and why the heater might be working so well. Wind rattles insulated clopay doors so humidity isn't much of a concern. The wall do not sweat as I use polystyrene in the cavities.
That spin mop is a great idea! Way better than corralling it all with a squeege!
Ya, I have wall to wall carpet in the garage and bought a parking containment matt to keep the carpet from too much winter damage so ya, the dang squeege get caught on the inevitable wrinkles in the matt.

 

[Outlawmws]

The flame rail is two foot off the floor....the plemun cold air intake is about 18" off the floor, camera angle obscures. Mounted on a slab of slate. No open flammables in garage, I keep them in a outdoor shed. Gas in cars in sealed systems but ya never know... Baby monitor keeps smoke and CO detector within earshot. Garage housed water based car care products and some spray paint rattle cans. Lubercants are over 20 feet from heater and in metal cabinet.

All good stuff. Glad to hear it!

 

[SMOKEYBEAR]

Had to bring them inside, shop is frozen. Drying the last coat / 3 of boiled linseed oil on the hammers I re-handled. I have 2 more small ones to do, waiting on the handles to get delivered.

 

[Outlawmws]

Had to bring them inside, shop is frozen. Drying the last coat / 3 of boiled linseed oil on the hammers I re-handled. I have 2 more small ones to do, waiting on the handles to get delivered.

Get an old incandescent bulb or heat lamp on those to speed drying..

 

[rd65]

The pocket knife thread reminded me that my pocket knife hadn’t been sharpened in a while. Fixed that.




Did the kitchen knives too.




Started cleaning up the shop. It’s a mess from projects, parts, tools, and scraps. So, started cleaning, flinging, and putting away.

It’s still a mess, but slightly less so.

I bought one of those systems a couple years ago, still have to fully use it (typical for me it seems). I did put a bunch of pocket knives in the garage next to the Lansky box. Just hasn't made it up the list yet. One of these days.....

 

[Beerhippie]

We're kinda hunkered down this AM, waiting to see if the power stays on. We got hit by another Chinook wind last night with gusts over 60 mph. The power was out most of the night and came back on at my cabin about 6AM, but apparently it's been on/off several times this morning here at the brewery. We had a planned brew day today, but if the power goes out again during a brew we could be royally screwed.

PP&L has maintenance/repair trucks out all over the valley.

Amazingly, given the saturated ground and gusting gale-force winds, we didn't lose any more trees here--but I'm sure someone did.

Now it's snowing like it's trying to make up for very dry year--according to Josephoregonweather.com, we have just under 7 inches of precip here in the valley for the year--about half of the thirty-year average.

I'll be moving Moby Brick into a friend's shop this weekend to get the trans pulled and the timing belt replaced. Timing belt/water pump kit came in yesterday. It looks pretty easy to do the job with the Suby mill mounted in the Brick as most of the timing belt cover is below the back of the engine comp. I'll have to pull the muffler and a heat shield, but no biggie.

 

[Beerhippie]

Well, I spoke too soon. The mini-blizzard cleared up to what might be a nice day, revealing an aspen down on our north fence:



I thought we could get a purchase on the stump end with the forklift and a chain and just rip the tree off the roots. Now the forklift is stuck in the only patch of mud in the area.

Fortunately, it took a light tug with a pick up to get the forklift out of the tiny patch of mud. I broke out a saw, which had been left dry and with the chain about to fall off the bar. Took care of that and cut the tree off about four feet above the roots to give us a stump large enough to get a pull on.



Bye, bye.

Aspen trees have an underground trunk that's sometimes larger than the trunk of the tree. I'll have to dig that out and cut it before we can pull the stump. Stump is out of the way, so no hurry.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Was working on the loft (9ft) in the new shop still under construction.

Ladder slipped out from under me and I came down on the concrete floor. Landed on my lower back and head hit the side rail of the gorilla ladder.

Took nine staples in my scalp to button up the gash in my head, broke two ribs and fractured four vertebrae.



The following image may be upsetting to some viewers.

Jeezuz! I know with the vertebrae injury a scar is the least of your worries, but it looks like Dr Frankenstein stapled you up. Hope you have a full recovery.

 

[Wrench97]

We're kinda hunkered down this AM, waiting to see if the power stays on. We got hit by another Chinook wind last night with gusts over 60 mph. The power was out most of the night and came back on at my cabin about 6AM, but apparently it's been on/off several times this morning here at the brewery. We had a planned brew day today, but if the power goes out again during a brew we could be royally screwed.

PP&L has maintenance/repair trucks out all over the valley.

Amazingly, given the saturated ground and gusting gale-force winds, we didn't lose any more trees here--but I'm sure someone did.

Now it's snowing like it's trying to make up for very dry year--according to Josephoregonweather.com, we have just under 7 inches of precip here in the valley for the year--about half of the thirty-year average.

I'll be moving Moby Brick into a friend's shop this weekend to get the trans pulled and the timing belt replaced. Timing belt/water pump kit came in yesterday. It looks pretty easy to do the job with the Suby mill mounted in the Brick as most of the timing belt cover is below the back of the engine comp. I'll have to pull the muffler and a heat shield, but no biggie.

Around here PP&L is Pennsylvania Power and Light........

 

[Beerhippie]

Around here PP&L is Pennsylvania Power and Light........

Pacific Power and Light--except I think they dropped the Light part sometime in the last decade or so when I wasn't looking.

Or maybe Light just sounds too woke....

 

[Beerhippie]

I guess that breeze we had last night was pretty wide-spread. State highways were out most of the day all over northern Oregon and southern Washington due to downed trees and slides. Lots of folks without power.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

Checked and topped off the rear differential fluid in the truck.

Checked and topped off the tires on the car and truck, spares included.

 

[CoogarXR]

Put a set of auxiliary/driving lights on the beater explorer. The original headlights look like candles. I put a set of these new lights on the bumper:


It's the same pair of lights I put on my old van:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KWCFBG1?tag=atomicindus08-20

They are an awesome deal at $16!

They make a hell of a difference. Here's what stock lights look like:


Here's with the LEDs on:


Yeah, they are probably brutal to oncoming traffic, but I only use them when I am alone on these back roads. Why? Well, as I took these photos, look who ran across the road:

The deer are everywhere out here. But at least I can see 'em now.

 

[Beerhippie]

Put a set of auxiliary/driving lights on the beater explorer. The original headlights look like candles. I put a set of these new lights on the bumper:


It's the same pair of lights I put on my old van:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KWCFBG1?tag=atomicindus08-20

They are an awesome deal at $16!

They make a hell of a difference. Here's what stock lights look like:


Here's with the LEDs on:


Yeah, they are probably brutal to oncoming traffic, but I only use them when I am alone on these back roads. Why? Well, as I took these photos, look who ran across the road:

The deer are everywhere out here. But at least I can see 'em now.

I tie my LED driving lights into the high beam. Makes it easy to not piss off oncoming drivers.

We have far too many town deer around here, too. Most rigs out here have either bull bars or front-end damage--or both.

 

[CoogarXR]

I tie my LED driving lights into the high beam. Makes it easy to not piss off oncoming drivers.

That's what I do too. I just tie into the high beam circuit, and drive a relay for the LEDs. It's not like I'm gonna forget they are on; it's just easier to turn them off when your muscle-memory is trained for the high-beam lever.

They only draw a little over 2A each. It's crazy how far lighting technology has come.

 

[bmwrd0]

I guess that breeze we had last night was pretty wide-spread. State highways were out most of the day all over northern Oregon and southern Washington due to downed trees and slides. Lots of folks without power.

Yeah, felt it over here, too. No tree damage at my house, but I did see this around the corner

 

[Beerhippie]

OUCH! So close to missing, but....

 

[Beerhippie]

I need to make a case for my latest purchase of a Milwaukee 2962-20 1/2" medium power impact wrench w/2 6AH batts.

No, no--I mean a case--something to carry it in in the rig so it doesn't get beat to **** too fast.

I'm a bachelor--I don't need to justify my purchases to anyone.

I don't like cases that advertise an expensive tool inside.



That should do--if it fits.



It fits--but I need to keep it from rattling around on the kind of roads I drive.



That works. Some 3/8" closed-cell sleeping pad from a yard sale. The battery is padded on the ends with some 1/8" CC Armaflex insulating tape. Impact fits tightly enough it can't move.

I proved, once again, that it's impossible to use contact cement--3M 77 spray--without getting it all over my fingers.

Now to figure out where to stow it in the Brick.

 

[rzims]

The cabin on the new property was a summer weekender for the previous owner.
It's 480sf with one side being an eating/sleeping/living area and the other half being a garage/storage area.
Water came from a well to the sink and drained to a 5g bucket underneath. No bathroom, but there's an outhouse a little ways away.
The old guy that owned said he installed a septic, but never got around to connecting it to the house. His wife fell ill and they haven't been up since 1986.
We've emptied and gutted it and I'm building a real bathroom.
Found the septic system and sure enough the inlet pipe is capped about 10ft from the house.
So, in keeping with the title if the thread, in the garage, im building a bathroom.

 

[rd65]

I guess that breeze we had last night was pretty wide-spread. State highways were out most of the day all over northern Oregon and southern Washington due to downed trees and slides. Lots of folks without power.

Not just southern Wa, I'm north of Seattle and we got hit pretty hard.

 

[Burt Shaver]

My daughters 2002 MXZ 500F with 4000km was getting extremely hard to start last year, had to take the plugs out 6 or 7 times and out mixed fuel in. So today I got it in the shop, got the carbs off, pilot jets out and soaking. First time cleaning this type of carb so if any of you have any tips feel free to share them

 

[rd65]

My daughters 2002 MXZ 500F with 4000km was getting extremely hard to start last year, had to take the plugs out 6 or 7 times and out mixed fuel in. So today I got it in the shop, got the carbs off, pilot jets out and soaking. First time cleaning this type of carb so if any of you have any tips feel free to share them

Are you going to disassemble further? If you plan on removing the float arm be damned sure to support the pin tower before driving the pin out. They break off easily. I've usually used a small spring loaded center punch to remove the pins.

 

[rd65]

Local PUD stated on their site that our power would be out until tomorrow morning sometime so I bailed on work at lunch and got the generator out and all hooked up. Two freezers, two refrigerators, the TV - satellite, and a lamp. The little Predator did just fine. Power came back on about 30 minutes ago. We rarely lose power here, this was the longest its been out in the 15 years at this house.

 

[DGersic]

I proved, once again, that it's impossible to use contact cement--3M 77 spray--without getting it all over my fingers.

Use gloves.

 

[Burt Shaver]

Are you going to disassemble further? If you plan on removing the float arm be damned sure to support the pin tower before driving the pin out. They break off easily. I've usually used a small spring loaded center punch to remove the pins.

I would really like to disassemble it further to clean the seat, it’s actually sticking closed and sometimes takes a little tap for it to open but my cousin warned me to be careful getting that pin out, that the pin hole tower can break same as you warned me, thank you. I tried gently tapping on the pin with a punch, tried getting some side cutters under the head on the big end of the pin but no luck so I think I’m going to try and order the spring loaded punch. Do you know if they come in different sizes? Where to order from? Maybe Royal Distributing?
I’ve taken the pilot jet out, I can’t see the main jet being plugged? Seems to be good flow through the pilot circuit after taking the pilot out I sprayed carb cleaner through it and could see flow coming out the 2 small holes. Appreciate any insight you have

 

[niget2002]

Took apart the spit valve on my son's trumpet. The bolt partially sheared off and keeps popping out of the threads. I was hoping I had the right size bolt. It's a M2 and I only have M2.5 in stock.

New M2 stainless steel assortment will be here Friday.

On a side note. It took me 30 minutes to get the spring bent back to get the valve back on the trumpet. When I do this next time, I'm going to partially remove the bolt. Thread in a new one from the opposite side, then put the final on back in the correct way.

 

[M.Brane]

All these fallen tree pictures are giving me flashbacks...

 

[Beerhippie]

Use gloves.

Then I end up with gloves stuck to my work.

 

[Outlawmws]

Doing little stuff and avoiding any heavy lifting more than raking leaves. (back has been acting up)

So I saw this on another forum and liked the concept as a more secure way to hold a lit match in a match extender:

I use BBQ lighter or torches at times, but hard to beat a match. I made some match extenders (its hard to find long handle matches now). Great for candle lanterns and early GPAs.

Thanks to this inspiration from Matt on the other forum, I decided I wanted to try making one like his wire match extension holder. It took a little close looking and figuring out the mechanism, simple as it is.

a coupe days ago I was successful, but Its way to big for the bottom holes on lanterns; so I'll make a V2 from thinner wire (12 ga copper is hard to bend tight, and is just physically bigger.)

But here are my old simple one (14 ga copper), my option for using an old school mechanical drafting pencil (the type that use full size leads like typical No. 2 wood pencils - not the thin Pentels...) for a match holder (yes it will take a big kitchen match, I used some of our 3 Stars brand wood matches, as we have them handy for candles.) and the new one; far more complex, but very secure holding the match as it has a mechanical grip not unlike the mechanical pencil, if not as aggressive.






Detail of the sliding gripper.





For most uses these all work but the new one reaches farther than the mechanical pencil and is not going to melt, and is more secure than my original simple coiled wire holder.


And the in progress addition for shooting for a match holder for lanterns that will work for a 200A:

My Vi on top, and 2 V2's below. I still need to find some 14 gauge for the middle one for the sliding closer, the small one is not getting a slider, but I'm not quite done with the jaw adjustments; and I may file a "V" so the match stick can get clamped on the corners and hopefully be more secure.

I may redo these if they work out, after I find my smooth jaw duckbills, as these have tool marks now..






And the middle one with some 14 gauge (Found some 2-14 grounded in the garage) for the slide - it fits all the lanterns including the notoriously small holes in the Coleman 200A (generally red) Lanterns:

 

[rharman]

Yesterday, we are heading out to the garage and hear a faint beep. I see the LiftMaster wall control flashing red & amber lights. And, not working. HomeLink in the truck won't open the door, the other, wireless, remote won't open it either. So, I open the door manually and away we go. It's a Liftmaster 8500, purchased in 2016.

We get back and I start doing some troubleshooting. Power cycle the opener, no luck. Check the sensor alignment, they're good.

Googled the flashing lights and find a number of posts about it. Apparently, the pair of capacitors on the board of the wall control have a tendency to fail. A new wall control is about $70 and caps are cheap. So, let's give that a shot. I ordered a 10-pack of caps from Amazon for $10 and they were delivered this evening.

Too cold in the garage so the work was done at the kitchen table. Details in each picture box...

Board removed, two caps in the lower left. No obvious swelling.	Back side of the board where the caps are soldered in.	Bad caps removed.
New caps ready to install.	Had a bit of difficulty getting the new leads into the board. Couldn't clear the solder. Then, I remembered I had the solder sucker - bought years ago but never used - until today.	Solder sucker worked like a charm. 4 empty holes.
New caps placed. Ready to solder. Small piece of cardboard underneath to ensure air gap for heat dissipation.	New caps installed, board ready to go back in the control housing.	Hooked it up and.... lights still flashing. Gave it 5 minutes to charge and it was back to amber only - normal. Pushed the button and... Up goes the door! Success! Back on the wall and good to go. Still have 8 caps left in case it fails again.

 

[mrb1]

Filled up a drywall bucket with tools and headed to the crawlspace. Yesterday morning woke up to no water pressure. Well pump, tank, and all lines down there were replaced with new 6-7 years ago. We just had some 0F temps but, I wrapped everything good and left a trickle run at night when below zero. And it was 20 something that night, so nothing frozen. Whacked the pressure switch with a wrench and it kicks right on. Let everything fill up and go ahead and remove the old. Probably would have been ok for a while longer, but for $30 might as well replace. Lowe's had zero switches on the shelf. Menards had several. Brick ranch with 3-4 feet of room down below, not bad. Hardest part of the job is getting my big old *** in and out of the bulkhead opening

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