I looked into repairing a microwave of ours; guess which part costs roughly 90% of the cost of a new oven? No, go on, take a minute, you’ll never guess. 
So after posting that I thought, “It’s been a while since I’ve dropped a tablet into the condensation pump.” So I went to the utility closet in the basement, opened the door, and… water on the floor. 
I had to get to work, so couldn’t troubleshoot the problem. Both the propane furnace and the A/C drain into the pump, and I believe both were on at certain times over the past 24 hours. So is there a clog in the furnace’s drip pan? A clog in the A/C’s drip pan? Or perhaps a bad pump? I’ll mess around with it when I get home.
9:99 =10:39
9:59 works better.
My wife is right — I’m the Voice of Doom! If you’re living somewhere that got snow recently, you might have a leak in the foundation, which may be a once only thing, but maybe not.
Sticking your fingers in your ears right about now? Closing your eyes tightly so’s not to read anymore ominous screeds? Singing to yourself La, la ,la, I do not hear burpo? My wife would declare you a wise man.
Signed,
burpo the wonder jinx
Good luck with the mishap.
To be clear, most of the banana tricks I’ve tried do work, to some degree. It’s just that none of them, even in combination, work enough. I still end up eating bananas that aren’t very good because they’re not ripe enough, at the start, and bananas that aren’t very good because they’re too ripe, at the end.
And I often use times like 9:99 on my microwave, just because it’s quicker to hit the same button multiple times, and it’s usually not that precise anyway. Like, when I bake bread, I set the timer for 22:22, not because twenty-two minutes and twenty-two seconds is the optimal baking time, but because the proper baking time is, oh, a bit more than twenty minutes.
Cornmeal is softened by cold water, hardened by hot water. If you need to clean a pan that has cornmeal and grease, first rinse it in cold water to loosen the cornmeal and then wash in hot water to remove the grease.
Nah… 9:99 is fine…
If I want it shorter, I go for 8:88
How does this work for grits? I’m currently on a ketogenic diet but back when I allowed myself carbs I was frustrated by my inability to get soft grits. I remember getting an off-brand of raw grits that still tasted like there was sand in them even after being prepared in a pressure cooker.
My tip was for cleaning pans, not cooking. But you could soak the off-brand grits in cold water for a couple hours before cooking to make them turn out tender.
Just discovered this.
Hash brown cooking. This trick requires a box grater. The one with four sides.
Once you have grated the potato, put it all back in the box greater and turn it upside down. You’ve just created a colander that you can rinse under water to get rid of the extra starch on the potatoes. Now, dump them out on paper towels to dry off the water. Fold the towels over and press.
Then, throw the paper towels/potato’s into a microwave for a minute or two (YMMV). Then drop the potatoes into a skillet for browning.
This would work well to make a hash by adding cooked bacon.
Is your box grater not open at top and bottom? Don’t the potatoes just fall into the sink?
Easy fix, put your hand over the top of the box grater before you tip it upside down. Instant colander. That’s what I do anyway.
That’s a good one! I wonder what I’ve done with my box grater…
Wanna hear a box grater joke?
Here’s a tip:
If you have central air conditioning, then on the next nice day,
- Turn off the circuit breaker to the central A/C system. (Then set thermostat to cool, with a low setpoint temperature. Verify outdoor unit is not on.)
- Remove the cover that houses the wiring on the outdoor unit.
- You will see a contactor and one or two capacitors. Write down all the info on the contactor and capacitor(s). Also take photos.
- Order a couple spare contactors, and three or four spare capacitors. They’re dirt cheap from Amazon.
- Put them in a box and store them in a safe place.
The next time the system fails, there’s a good chance it’s due to a faulty contactor or (more often) a faulty capacitor. If you’re the least bit handy, you’ll have no problem replacing them yourself. (If you’re uncomfortable doing it, find a friend or family member who can do it.) It’s a lot cheaper & faster than calling an HVAC company. If it doesn’t work, then the problem is more serious, and then you’ll have to call a pro.
What was the outcome of the water in your basement? I gots to know.
Yes.
Audiophiles gonna hate but:
A semi inner tube can provide a perfectly serviceable turntable drive belt. Just use sharp scissors and cut across the tube to get the correct width. These last longer than the “real” ones do, too!
I have restored the operation of many VCRs and under dash 8-track tape players with rubber bands from those large rubber band assortments sold in store’s stationery sections. I have been informed that many drive belts in high-end cassette decks are just standard O-rings, but I’ve never ventured into one of those. Yet.
One should also mention that the size of capacitors used in HVAC equipment has everything it takes to kill you … easily hours after you turned off the power to the unit …
(I am a cheap bastard and try to fix stuff on my own, but if there is a decent sized cap in there, I normally cut my losses - or sometimes give it a go 2 or 3 days later, when I know the cap is def. discharged))
I still don’t know where the leak is coming from.
I removed the clean out from the furnace for the water drain. A bunch of gunk came out. Used a Shop Vac to suck it out and blow air into it.
Floor is still wet. Pump is working, because I can hear it.
