Our AC has been acting up. Since it’s expected to be almost 120°F tomorrow, that’s not a good thing. I noticed that the compressor was still running after the air handler fan had shut off, so I pulled the disconnect and inspected the main contactor, and it was stuck closed - which was what I thought the problem might be. I ordered a replacement, but it will be a few days until it arrives. So, I sprayed the sticky one with Silicone spray, and it’s been shutting off as it should, at least so far.
That knowledge probably saved me $200-$400 for a service call.
A spray soapy water on every pipe.
Before you do, though, look for oily spots, especially at joints or valves. If you see oil, that’s a sure sign that there is freon leaking from that spot. Confirm with the soapy water.
There was a blurb on the news last night about how MIT engineers* were setting up workshops to show folks how to fix everyday stuff. Mechanical, Electrical, What-Have-You. Saves them money, saves shit from being thrown in a landfill, and makes folks happy and self-confident.
*Not sure if they were still affiliated with MIT or just folks who had gone there.
Bonus nice thing to know things. These days if you are at all handy, you can look on YouTube for detailed DIY fix it instructions. My old washer was probably heading for the dump when it turned out the very difficult repairs was only a slightly hard one that required several people to get it done, 30 minutes and a $22 part.
Everything from relearning how to string a bow, to oil boiler repairs, hot water heater repairs, garage door opener adjustments and even replacing the pull down stairs into the attic were greatly aided by youtube videos.
It’s astonishing how you can sometimes type the most seemingly esoteric “how to…” question into google and find there are dozens of folks who have posted detailed instructions on exactly how to do that. What an incredible resource. Maybe even better than this MB!! :eek:
One of my DVRs was acting up. Got a replacement (bigger!) HD, took the old drive out, plugged it and the new drive into a PC, fired up a special Linux OS on a USB stick that had the software to copy all the stuff from the old to the new, plugged the new drive back into the DVR. All my settings, programs, etc. were saved.
This is maybe the fourth time I’ve upgraded a drive in a DVR. A typical week at my house.
I had a Craftsman snow blower, it was effectively impossible to work on the carburetor. No excuse for the design, they wanted the machine to have to go back to them for a repair. I’ve cleaned up and rebuilt even chainsaw carbs, no major problem and a lot smaller. I swear the snow blower engine was actually designed to be impossible to fix.
I think my proud “I fixed it” moment was when I took apart my dryer and put it back together. Yes, it was my fault for running that blasted rug through the dryer in the first place. The backing failed and the rug came completely apart. I had to completely disassemble the dryer and remove all pieces of the rug and then put it back together. Thanks to a very handy DiY site I was able to do it.
After checking the obvious - power available, plugged in, no loose connections inside, no door switches stuck, etc., I called a service person.
Said service person opened the lid, closed it, opened it, closed it, opened it, closed it.
Now it works.
“That’ll be $100, please.”
At least he was kind enough to explain that this resets the computer, and I should try this if I have a problem in the future, before dropping another Benjamin. :smack:
