The DIY thread - DIYourself

Noticed the attic exhaust fan wasn't on today. Not sure how long since it's turned on. I went up with screwdriver in hand and as I touched the temp setting dial it came on. Could some type of relay be sticking? I'm pretty sure this thing will be on 24 hours a day for the next week regardless, but at some point I should look at this.
Change out the t-stat there immediately. If you didn't turn the stat at all then you've got a short in there.
 
I think it's the motor now. Went up today and the motor will only hum and barely turn. I can't remember the last time we had triple digit temps in the forecast. Perfect time to go work in the attic.

It's probably metric, so a 2kg hammer should do it.

They probably sell the "core" and hopefully the wire to the motor uses some sort of connector.
Just unplug, r&r, plug back in??
GLwF
 
It's probably metric, so a 2kg hammer should do it.

They probably sell the "core" and hopefully the wire to the motor uses some sort of connector.
Just unplug, r&r, plug back in??
GLwF
Motor is available but I'm going to wait a week since I'll be out of town. Spent over $30k on new AC units over the past two years so I'm hoping they can deal with the heat.
 
Last edited:
Motor is available but I'm going a week since I'll be out of town. Spent over $30k on new AC units over the past two years so I'm hoping they can deal with the heat.
If it's really going to be as hot as they are predicting I wouldn't let it go. With the predicted heatwave your roof is vulnerable to damage.
 
speaking of this heat and a/c does anyone on here know their way around a/c systems, trying to determine if ours is cooling as designed (i keep seeing references to line in vs line out temps for the condensor coild outside, but everything seems to conflict with each as is normal on the internet) or if i should put in a service call to have it checked out, coils are all clean but it feels like its not keeping up later in the day (per the wifes complaints, i havent had a chance to take actual temperature measurements)
 
speaking of this heat and a/c does anyone on here know their way around a/c systems, trying to determine if ours is cooling as designed (i keep seeing references to line in vs line out temps for the condensor coild outside, but everything seems to conflict with each as is normal on the internet) or if i should put in a service call to have it checked out, coils are all clean but it feels like its not keeping up later in the day (per the wifes complaints, i havent had a chance to take actual temperature measurements)

I just talked to my buddy about this. He said a healthy system will do about 20 degrees less than ambient. And that's under ideal conditions, proper insulation, good windows, etc etc. I don't set below 75 when it's above 90 out. It's holding at 75 without issue today.
 
I just talked to my buddy about this. He said a healthy system will do about 20 degrees less than ambient. And that's under ideal conditions, proper insulation, good windows, etc etc. I don't set below 75 when it's above 90 out. It's holding at 75 without issue today.

we usually manage better than that, its currently 75 inside (we usually set it at 73 during the day) and the weather station is showing 106, guess its just a balancing/picky wife issue, but its not getting messed with today.
 
He said a healthy system will do about 20 degrees less than ambient. And that's under ideal conditions, proper insulation, good windows, etc etc
came to say this as well.

A few years back I had to drop about 13K on a whole new furnace/AC system since the one we put in was over 20 years old. He said the same thing when its this hot you can only expect about 20F less than what it is outside. so right now its 75-78 in the house which feels like Alaska compared to how it feels outside.

this season we have been leaving the AC set to a steady temp instead of foolishly trying to make it catch up later in the morning, and it's working out much better. depending on how your house faces the sun etc... can also have a big impact. Since we have one zone/central unit, the bedrooms are always a little warmer than the rest of the house but the ceiling fans help a bit with that.

This reminds me the coils are due for the annual cleaning but no way I am turning off the AC to do that this week, with my luck lately something will fail when Im cleaning it.
 
came to say this as well.

A few years back I had to drop about 13K on a whole new furnace/AC system since the one we put in was over 20 years old. He said the same thing when its this hot you can only expect about 20F less than what it is outside. so right now its 75-78 in the house which feels like Alaska compared to how it feels outside.

this season we have been leaving the AC set to a steady temp instead of foolishly trying to make it catch up later in the morning, and it's working out much better. depending on how your house faces the sun etc... can also have a big impact. Since we have one zone/central unit, the bedrooms are always a little warmer than the rest of the house but the ceiling fans help a bit with that.

This reminds me the coils are due for the annual cleaning but no way I am turning off the AC to do that this week, with my luck lately something will fail when Im cleaning it.
It seems like it just makes sense to leave it on at a set temperature basically the whole day. If you wait until the hot part of the day to let it do it's thing, it's running inefficiently. If you have it going overnight/morning it'll be cooling the air while the condenser is more efficient.
 
came to say this as well.

A few years back I had to drop about 13K on a whole new furnace/AC system since the one we put in was over 20 years old. He said the same thing when its this hot you can only expect about 20F less than what it is outside. so right now its 75-78 in the house which feels like Alaska compared to how it feels outside.

this season we have been leaving the AC set to a steady temp instead of foolishly trying to make it catch up later in the morning, and it's working out much better. depending on how your house faces the sun etc... can also have a big impact. Since we have one zone/central unit, the bedrooms are always a little warmer than the rest of the house but the ceiling fans help a bit with that.

This reminds me the coils are due for the annual cleaning but no way I am turning off the AC to do that this week, with my luck lately something will fail when Im cleaning it.

yea we have always left it set at the normal temp (i think we have it set to a couple degrees cooler overnight, but no change if we are out of th house), but then we have big fluffy dogs who hate being hot so . . . . .
 
With the pool catastrophe nearly resolved (and my bank account much lighter) of course more stupid little things go wrong.

Got the pool filled and went to fire up the pump. Started up and then died. Checked the GFCI inside near the timer in the basement and it was tripped I’m thinking ok this should be easy. It’s either the pump or maybe the outdoor outlet is bad.

Went back out to try the pump again and when I went to plug it back in I didn’t align the prongs exactly and one of them broke off like it was barely attached.

Did a quick search and tried to find an OEM replacement wire/plug since I need it to be waterproof so I don’t just want to cut the plug end off and make a new one.

but then I asked the pool guy via text and he literally has a full OEM replacement wire in his truck for me. Will come fix it tmw morning for me and get everything started up.

Saves me the hassle of roasting in the sun tmw after work trying to replace it.

Guess not really a DIY maybe an almost DIY 😜

IMG_7967.jpegIMG_7968.jpegIMG_7965.jpeg
IMG_7967.jpegIMG_7968.jpegIMG_7965.jpeg
 
With the pool catastrophe nearly resolved (and my bank account much lighter) of course more stupid little things go wrong.

Got the pool filled and went to fire up the pump. Started up and then died. Checked the GFCI inside near the timer in the basement and it was tripped I’m thinking ok this should be easy. It’s either the pump or maybe the outdoor outlet is bad.

Went back out to try the pump again and when I went to plug it back in I didn’t align the prongs exactly and one of them broke off like it was barely attached.

Did a quick search and tried to find an OEM replacement wire/plug since I need it to be waterproof so I don’t just want to cut the plug end off and make a new one.

but then I asked the pool guy via text and he literally has a full OEM replacement wire in his truck for me. Will come fix it tmw morning for me and get everything started up.

Saves me the hassle of roasting in the sun tmw after work trying to replace it.

Guess not really a DIY maybe an almost DIY 😜

View attachment 263309View attachment 263310View attachment 263311
View attachment 263309View attachment 263310View attachment 263311

Look on the bright side. It didn't break in the female socket 🙂
 
speaking of this heat and a/c does anyone on here know their way around a/c systems, trying to determine if ours is cooling as designed (i keep seeing references to line in vs line out temps for the condensor coild outside, but everything seems to conflict with each as is normal on the internet) or if i should put in a service call to have it checked out, coils are all clean but it feels like its not keeping up later in the day (per the wifes complaints, i havent had a chance to take actual temperature measurements)

I just talked to my buddy about this. He said a healthy system will do about 20 degrees less than ambient. And that's under ideal conditions, proper insulation, good windows, etc etc. I don't set below 75 when it's above 90 out. It's holding at 75 without issue today.

So we just got an email from our HVAC company that said to not to set the ac more than 20* below ambient.
The logic is that it stresses the system and can cause failure over time.
I’ve heard this before, but don't like it.

Remember blinds and curtains are your friends in keeping temps down.
 
So we just got an email from our HVAC company that said to not to set the ac more than 20* below ambient.
The logic is that it stresses the system and can cause failure over time.
I’ve heard this before, but don't like it.

Remember blinds and curtains are your friends in keeping temps down.

Uh, it will just run continuously.
Set it to 50 and let me know
 
Back
Top Bottom