This past weekend our air conditioner decided it no longer wanted to blow cold air. The temperature outside was in the high 90s so we had all our doors and windows open with several portable fans spread around the room. It wasn't the most pleasant of experiences, but at least it wasn't over 100.
This morning Mr. Stillman from Service 1 Heating & Air Conditioning came by to have a look, and he was able to get it going with a quick start device which looks like a cylinder with two wires sticking out the top. He also replaced the capacitor while he was in there.
Today was only in the low 80s, so even though Mr. Stillman got it working for us again we didn't have much need for it today.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
New Sprinkler Manifold
Got a new sprinkler manifold put in this morning. The old one was leaking in a couple of places, though a tiny pinhole in one of the corners of the PVC pipe and through the left most valve. I had previously replaced every part of the leaking valve except for the bottom portion that was actually connected to the pipes, and it didn't help at all. Since these valves had been installed without union connectors, the only way to replace the valve bottom was to cut it.
The three valves were packed extremely close together, leaving no room to just cut out and replace one valve, so removing one valve meant rebuilding the entire manifold. The other two valves still worked fine, but they were very old so it was fathomable that they also wouldn't last too much longer. Plus, replacement parts were not only hard to come by but also tended to cost as much as a whole new valve, so I just went with all new valves.
To make things a little easier, I used an Orbit Underground 57183 3 Port Manifold which is a one-piece PVC section that connects three valves using unions. Then I put unions on the other side as well to make valve removal a simple procedure without the need for cutting. This Orbit manifold spaced the valves further apart than they used to be, which was significant because the inlet pipe had previously been connected to a 90-degree joint at a significant angle, so this additional spacing put too great of an angle on the inlet to make the same connection. Thankfully I foresaw this problem ahead of time and picked up two 45-degree angle joints that I could use to move the inlet pipe over.
I also installed a ball valve so I could shut the water off here rather than having to go around to the side of the house. All in all, it didn't take nearly as long as I expected. I teflon taped all the threads and hand tightened all the connections I could the night before to make things go faster this morning. It has been very hot here this past week and I wanted to get this done in the morning before the day reached up to 100 degrees. Once I got out there, it probably took about an hour to an hour and a half from start to finish.
The three valves were packed extremely close together, leaving no room to just cut out and replace one valve, so removing one valve meant rebuilding the entire manifold. The other two valves still worked fine, but they were very old so it was fathomable that they also wouldn't last too much longer. Plus, replacement parts were not only hard to come by but also tended to cost as much as a whole new valve, so I just went with all new valves.
To make things a little easier, I used an Orbit Underground 57183 3 Port Manifold which is a one-piece PVC section that connects three valves using unions. Then I put unions on the other side as well to make valve removal a simple procedure without the need for cutting. This Orbit manifold spaced the valves further apart than they used to be, which was significant because the inlet pipe had previously been connected to a 90-degree joint at a significant angle, so this additional spacing put too great of an angle on the inlet to make the same connection. Thankfully I foresaw this problem ahead of time and picked up two 45-degree angle joints that I could use to move the inlet pipe over.
I also installed a ball valve so I could shut the water off here rather than having to go around to the side of the house. All in all, it didn't take nearly as long as I expected. I teflon taped all the threads and hand tightened all the connections I could the night before to make things go faster this morning. It has been very hot here this past week and I wanted to get this done in the morning before the day reached up to 100 degrees. Once I got out there, it probably took about an hour to an hour and a half from start to finish.
Friday, July 4, 2014
Fourth of July BBQ - July 4, 2014
For the 4th of July this year our friends Ray and Dawn invited us over for a BBQ. We both had a great time hanging out, talking, and feasting on the fantastic food cooked on their new charcoal grill. Ray and I enjoyed watching the first episode of the original Batman series with Adam West, then we all watched a great 80's movie called The Hidden.
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