Isn't learning fun / life?

 

Last weekend, I said huh? Yet another daytime running lamp burned out, on my wife's GM SUV. Again, this is a known issue back to the early 90's and GM has a TSB from 1992-2013. If 3157 bulb burns out, install a higher current 4114 lol yeah that will do it (it's bad advice but I do have a pack of 4114 in the basement--31w v. 27w, not good).

The TSB assumes there's a voltage spike, and that the 4114 may be more tolerant to such, but in reality, the socket overheats and burns. To add some context, her headlights are xenon and 35W--why would a DRL be tungsten and 27W, it's all heat, very little light!

A couple years ago, I replaced the right side, and next day, out again. HUH? Found a Jeep forum that stated when this happens, the socket is the problem, not the bulb.

Replace socket and bulb, been good for about a year.

When the left was out this weekend, I said that's it, we're not doing this every year. I'm trying LED. Should mainly drop the power to 4 watts, instead of 27. So < 1/6 the current.

The fender liners have to come out or be peeled away, and wouldn't you know putting it back, I stripped a screw? This would mean I can't replace in the future if need be, and can't access the front and rear windshield washer pumps (they acted up last week too).

I should have known because I did the same 2 years ago, but was able to get the screw out with a smaller torx. That time, instead of paying GM $4/screw, I bought a box of 50 replica ones from one of those cos who makes classic car parts etc. Maybe it was 50 for $14 plus shipping = $18 I only used 1 screw but I'd rather pay the lower unit cost haha

So the above experience has taken me to this world...and I enjoy learning.

https://www.irwin.com/uploads/documents/54_2013_Extractors_e...

I even have a set of the 6 spiral ones--didn't work and I broke the trap on the bathtub around 5 years ago requiring a plumber to come out lol

My point is **** happens, and then we learn some more that we didn't before. I'm pretty sure I can get the screw out, and I ordered a set of left hand drill bits to drill a 5/64" hole first....

ha ha

your just going down the rabbit hole, every time i put a shower head in it leaks and i dont buy the cheap ones and i use plumbers tape and putty it still leaks, i hate plumbing !!

Now you know why plumbers

Now you know why plumbers drink!

--
Frank DriveSmart55 37.322760, -79.511267

Yup. Put something higher in.

Had a customer that was blowing fuses on a main circuit board. His boss told him to put a higher amp fuse in. Well, he completely fried the board. The problem was an external device that was powered by the board.

johnnatash4 wrote:

Last weekend, I said huh? Yet another daytime running lamp burned out, on my wife's GM SUV. Again, this is a known issue back to the early 90's and GM has a TSB from 1992-2013. If 3157 bulb burns out, install a higher current 4114 lol yeah that will do it (it's bad advice but I do have a pack of 4114 in the basement--31w v. 27w, not good).

The TSB assumes there's a voltage spike, and that the 4114 may be more tolerant to such, but in reality, the socket overheats and burns. To add some context, her headlights are xenon and 35W--why would a DRL be tungsten and 27W, it's all heat, very little light!

A couple years ago, I replaced the right side, and next day, out again. HUH? Found a Jeep forum that stated when this happens, the socket is the problem, not the bulb.

Replace socket and bulb, been good for about a year.

When the left was out this weekend, I said that's it, we're not doing this every year. I'm trying LED. Should mainly drop the power to 4 watts, instead of 27. So < 1/6 the current.

The fender liners have to come out or be peeled away, and wouldn't you know putting it back, I stripped a screw? This would mean I can't replace in the future if need be, and can't access the front and rear windshield washer pumps (they acted up last week too).

I should have known because I did the same 2 years ago, but was able to get the screw out with a smaller torx. That time, instead of paying GM $4/screw, I bought a box of 50 replica ones from one of those cos who makes classic car parts etc. Maybe it was 50 for $14 plus shipping = $18 I only used 1 screw but I'd rather pay the lower unit cost haha

So the above experience has taken me to this world...and I enjoy learning.

https://www.irwin.com/uploads/documents/54_2013_Extractors_e...

I even have a set of the 6 spiral ones--didn't work and I broke the trap on the bathtub around 5 years ago requiring a plumber to come out lol

My point is **** happens, and then we learn some more that we didn't before. I'm pretty sure I can get the screw out, and I ordered a set of left hand drill bits to drill a 5/64" hole first....

--
Nuvi 2460LMT.

well

the good news is I got the screw out. I dunno what size it is but the smallest extractor with the 5/64 hole is too small. The next size EX-2 grabbed it easily and took it out. I really don't think the left hand drill bits did anything, could have drilled with a regular bit.

I could NOT separate the extractor and screw by hand! But holding it with a Vise Grip and the drill going clockwise came right off.

Now, I lost a cheap T15 torx bit. Looked everywhere! It's always something. But I decided to open the wallet and treat myself to a new set of $4 bits. The one I lost is not even as good as these lol

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZS6FY42/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b...

Stay with the left hand drill bit (usually)

johnnatash4 wrote:

I really don't think the left hand drill bits did anything, could have drilled with a regular bit.

A left hand bit tends to loosen things (assuming a right hand thread) whereas a “regular bit” or right hand can make things worse.

--
John from PA

I'm thinking

John from PA wrote:
johnnatash4 wrote:

I really don't think the left hand drill bits did anything, could have drilled with a regular bit.

A left hand bit tends to loosen things (assuming a right hand thread) whereas a “regular bit” or right hand can make things worse.

With the plumbing, the stopper was always broken (they don't last), but then the plate was gone because 1/2 of the bolts holding it broke upon trying to remove the plate to see if I could fix the stopper, or at least screw in a new plate on both sides (if only one screw it droops).

Now I was trying to drill out the screw that had the head broken off. I'm thinking that on my attempt, I had not drilled a pilot hole deep enough, and was expecting the extractor to do some of that. What caused the need for the plumber was that just the motion of pressing the drill or extractor against the screw, pushed the neck back holding the overflow, so it was flexing and broke the solder of the trap if you will...again 1952....of course all the replacement is PVC and rubber so not gonna rust or break again...

In my case yesterday, I drilled the pilot deep enough, so the spiral really is only ripping in laterally. I know I'm making a big deal out of a $4 GM fender screw, however, one has to learn somewhere. Look at the reviews of the product and there are people overjoyed because they got something out of an engine block. Again a week ago both my wife's front and rear windshield washers did not work, but we could hear the pump (at the time I had not realized there were two separate ones). If this screw were stuck in place, there would be no access to servicing those nor if replacent of fog or DRL were needed, which is why I wanted to get it out and replaced...

Sometimes, it is cheaper to call...

...a professional. Several years ago, my wife got up one morning and went downstairs to the basement to the family room. She came back upstairs and said, "Hey hon", (which in her parlance is,) we have a problem. Just the tone of the voice. You know it's not good. Turned out we had a pipe leaking right over the TV. Since I hate plumbing, I took one look and went to the phone book. Found a plumber and gave him a call. He said that he would be down in about an hour or so. An hour later, the doorbell rang and lo and behold, he had arrived. He went downstairs, looked at the pipe and said, "Yep, it's going to need to be repaired. Two hours later, the pipe is fixed, and it is time to pay the piper. He said that the charge was $150.00 which I didn't think was to bad. Oh, I forgot to mention on thing. This was on Christmas Day. I was expecting to pay at least $300.00. I asked him why so cheap. He said that he was alone and that he didn't have anything better to do.

--
With God, all things are possible. ——State motto of the Great State of Ohio

ok well

maddog67 wrote:

...a professional. Several years ago, my wife got up one morning and went downstairs to the basement to the family room. She came back upstairs and said, "Hey hon", (which in her parlance is,) we have a problem. Just the tone of the voice. You know it's not good. Turned out we had a pipe leaking right over the TV. Since I hate plumbing, I took one look and went to the phone book. Found a plumber and gave him a call. He said that he would be down in about an hour or so. An hour later, the doorbell rang and lo and behold, he had arrived. He went downstairs, looked at the pipe and said, "Yep, it's going to need to be repaired. Two hours later, the pipe is fixed, and it is time to pay the piper. He said that the charge was $150.00 which I didn't think was to bad. Oh, I forgot to mention on thing. This was on Christmas Day. I was expecting to pay at least $300.00. I asked him why so cheap. He said that he was alone and that he didn't have anything better to do.

Back to my incident, it started as simply that overflow plate that has the stopper lever was off, and wife wanted it put back, so need a new bolt as one side broke. After I could not remove the broken bolt, left it as is. Son who was only 1 1/2 at the time took a shower.

Downstairs, water is dripping though the ceiling, oh my gosh stop the shower!! Go into the basement, here's the puzzler. Water pooled in the basement right in the center, nowhwere near bathroom?

Call the idiots who advertise all the time with the orange vans, it's a Friday night, would first thing Tuesday be OK? lol AFter being on hold 23 minutes. Seem to recall the same when furnace stopped and it was 6F.

Can I plug someone? Didn't know who to call so it was Roto Rooter. We can be there hopefully in one hour. Was not any extra charges for off-hours or weekend.

Guy came but now it's 10:00 PM and he can't get the tub overflow plate and stopper at this hour (he seemed to be an independent contractor). Came back next day and did an excellent job. Like you said $150 and he wasted a ton of time cutting the old pipe with a hacksaw as his sawzall couldn't fit in there.

What happened is water flowed down the exterior walls and got into the ducts which are no more than flashing attached between joists (1952 house).....but to my orignal point it's all knowledge gained, painfully though..

Talking about service

maddog67 wrote:

...Found a plumber and gave him a call. He said that he would be down in about an hour or so. An hour later, the doorbell rang and lo and behold, he had arrived. He went downstairs, looked at the pipe and said, "Yep, it's going to need to be repaired. Two hours later, the pipe is fixed, and it is time to pay the piper. He said that the charge was $150.00 which I didn't think was to bad. Oh, I forgot to mention on thing. This was on Christmas Day. I was expecting to pay at least $300.00. I asked him why so cheap. He said that he was alone and that he didn't have anything better to do.

Here's my similar happy ending. Two Labor Day weekends ago my wife and I went somewhere on that Saturday, and when we got back our a/c was off. Oh oh. We've had companies come out a few times for a little preventative maintenance but never because something wasn't working.
Okay, at least I've got a few contacts to call and away I go. Now remember, this is Labor Day weekend and it was in the 90s the entire weekend. Why have a problem on a two-day weekend when you can have a problem on a three-day weekend is what I always say.
Anyway, I run down my list and the soonest anyone can come out is Tuesday. Yikes! Start googling local plumbers and start with those that advertise 24 hour emergency service. Hah, no way, Jose! Not before Tuesday. I was leaving messages for call backs, all to no avail. In the meantime my wife and I and our dog are miserable. We three get into the car and go for rides just to cool off.
Finally on Monday I call some company I had never heard of by the name of (and this is too sweet) "Integrity First" and leave a message. Sometime later I actually get a call from Rodney and he says he'll be there at 8 a.m. the next day, Tuesday. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
8 a.m. sharp the next day Rodney's in my driveway. I explain the problem and off to the back yard where the a/c unit is we go. He unscrews four screws that hold a cover on, and lo and behold, there's a burnt wire right there. Rodney goes to his truck, comes back with a spool of wire, replaces the bad one, puts the cover back on and my a/c comes back on. He was here no more than 15 minutes and charged me only for the service charge, $80. God bless Rodney.
Then one cold day the fan on the furnace blower started making one hell of a clanging noise. I turn the furnace off and call Rodney. Twenty minutes later he's in my drive way. Off to the furnace we go. He pops the front cover off and lo and behold a screw had backed out of the fan mount and the fan had shifted. He realigns the it, puts the screw back in, puts the furnace cover back on and out the door he goes. Again, just the $80 service charge. I will be forever grateful to Rodney, one of a kind in my book. Anyone listening to me in Lake County, Ohio, if you have heating or a/c problems call Integrity First first. The name couldn't be more fitting.

Phil

--
"No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse."

AC

plunder wrote:
maddog67 wrote:

...Found a plumber and gave him a call. He said that he would be down in about an hour or so. An hour later, the doorbell rang and lo and behold, he had arrived. He went downstairs, looked at the pipe and said, "Yep, it's going to need to be repaired. Two hours later, the pipe is fixed, and it is time to pay the piper. He said that the charge was $150.00 which I didn't think was to bad. Oh, I forgot to mention on thing. This was on Christmas Day. I was expecting to pay at least $300.00. I asked him why so cheap. He said that he was alone and that he didn't have anything better to do.

Here's my similar happy ending. Two Labor Day weekends ago my wife and I went somewhere on that Saturday, and when we got back our a/c was off. Oh oh. We've had companies come out a few times for a little preventative maintenance but never because something wasn't working.
Okay, at least I've got a few contacts to call and away I go. Now remember, this is Labor Day weekend and it was in the 90s the entire weekend. Why have a problem on a two-day weekend when you can have a problem on a three-day weekend is what I always say.
Anyway, I run down my list and the soonest anyone can come out is Tuesday. Yikes! Start googling local plumbers and start with those that advertise 24 hour emergency service. Hah, no way, Jose! Not before Tuesday. I was leaving messages for call backs, all to no avail. In the meantime my wife and I and our dog are miserable. We three get into the car and go for rides just to cool off.
Finally on Monday I call some company I had never heard of by the name of (and this is too sweet) "Integrity First" and leave a message. Sometime later I actually get a call from Rodney and he says he'll be there at 8 a.m. the next day, Tuesday. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
8 a.m. sharp the next day Rodney's in my driveway. I explain the problem and off to the back yard where the a/c unit is we go. He unscrews four screws that hold a cover on, and lo and behold, there's a burnt wire right there. Rodney goes to his truck, comes back with a spool of wire, replaces the bad one, puts the cover back on and my a/c comes back on. He was here no more than 15 minutes and charged me only for the service charge, $80. God bless Rodney.
Then one cold day the fan on the furnace blower started making one hell of a clanging noise. I turn the furnace off and call Rodney. Twenty minutes later he's in my drive way. Off to the furnace we go. He pops the front cover off and lo and behold a screw had backed out of the fan mount and the fan had shifted. He realigns the it, puts the screw back in, puts the furnace cover back on and out the door he goes. Again, just the $80 service charge. I will be forever grateful to Rodney, one of a kind in my book. Anyone listening to me in Lake County, Ohio, if you have heating or a/c problems call Integrity First first. The name couldn't be more fitting.

Phil

Something similar happened to us in 2008, heat wave came, AC stopped working coming back from a conference.

I was gonna DIY but good thing I didn't--at that time I didn't know one could be electrocuted even with the power cut off to the unit. My buddy was licensed in HVAC and a bldg mgr (haha once I dropped my car keys down an elevator shaft and good thing he was the bldg mgr) so we went to the supply house and bought a new capacitor for $14. He said you're gonna install it while I watch--I said great I want to learn to do it. But it ended up being he swung by during the day and did it, so I never did.....I guess at that time the unit was only 9 years old. I never maintained it at all, and it lasted 1999-2018, broke down 2019. I have no clue if the new one will last like that....

Probably not

My son is an HVAC Tech and when I asked him how long AC’s last, he said about 15 years is normal anymore. I asked him about furnaces and he said, “Maybe 20.” Don’t make them like they used too. (Or, is it to? Anyway, you get the drift.) smile

--
With God, all things are possible. ——State motto of the Great State of Ohio

Yours is a terrific attitude

Yours is a terrific attitude to have. And screw these crappy designs!

likely so!

maddog67 wrote:

My son is an HVAC Tech and when I asked him how long AC’s last, he said about 15 years is normal anymore. I asked him about furnaces and he said, “Maybe 20.” Don’t make them like they used too. (Or, is it to? Anyway, you get the drift.) smile

I moved in 2002, and seller put in new hvac in 1999. So I benefitted from a 3 yo. system. The capacitor did break 2008, but other than that, AC ran until 2019. The furnace started having a short cycle problem in 2016, at which time I had to start using cheap filters to be changed 1/mo.

After dancing around everything, the conventional wisdom seems to say the blower is like a person...can't blow as well over time. So the "good" filter strangled the blower in 2016, when it was fine in 2003.

They've never made anything like they used to lol it's a saying but also there is truth to it!

The new system came with a 10 year parts/labor from the installer--imagine if they go out of business? But they've been around since the 70's. One of two cos. that were in the 2003 phone book, still in business today...

Even the tech said variable condensers tend to need more service from his perspective....ours is single stage. But even the furnace has a variable blower....

p.s.

Since the wattage of the LEDs I used is not published, I'm going to measure it myself with that gauge I bought that's used inside RVs to show what a charger is doing (one that powers 12V appliances, then whatever's left charges the batteries). I have a hunch it's not 4 watts but maybe 7-8? this conclusion is from browsing what's online...measuring will say for certain....even if 8 watts, better than 27.....

verified

two ways that the LEDs use 3.1 watts--pretty nice to drop it to that from 27 watts.

I used the regular meter and my RV gauge setup

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Nqv8pJe6cNvi3VtXvdWQvtJGQoO...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15dy661lW5i7Ixzgkn9aiRZt6iUA...