Recent content by The Engine Room

Got one. Thank you!

Once, I was called to repair a compressor at a feed mill that they said was short-cycling. I drained probably 70 gallons of water from the 80 gallon tank. The operator said he capped off the valve a few months ago "because it was leaking water and making a mess".

Could you imagine the mess if you were, say, lifting a car and you punched the mast down into your neighbor's septic tank? You might go ahead and get a long concrete bit; dill through the slabs; and drive a piece of rebar as deep as you can. If it doesn't firm up as you're pounding it in, you...

I have only ever come across those inside junction boxes in electric motors. I always assumed that they were used for compactness.

You should probably go ahead and bore through that second layer of concrete to make sure it's not a cistern or an old bomb shelter or something hollow...

+1 on the Toshiba VFD. I have one that's 230V input 480v output and I've run several different machines on it for years. I bought it on Ebay for like $650, which was expensive, but it has actually saved me a bunch of money since I was able to leverage a great deal on some 480v only machines that...

Look into making a "tempering tank". It could be as simple as a water heater tank without insulation or heating elements on a drip pan in the attic.

I actually did one of these before I built my previous house. My advice is to put up a header and frame in for an 8' door in the condo side of the building. Then just stud in the opening and continue like it wasn't there. It would be much cheaper to do it now so adding a door would be a matter...