The DIY thread - DIYourself

Karate Monkey

Well-Known Member
The cheapest I've found are the Park Tool gloves, since they're price protected.

Unfortunately, they're just as crummy compared to Black Lightning as they were before the pandemic.
 
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ekuhn

Well-Known Member
After a long week with no AC in the master bedroom/first floor, and one call back (ETA one week) out of 3 HVAC companies - A new Motor Control got me back up and running. Glad I was able to do and figure it myself (with some help), part alone was $550.

IMG_4807.jpeg
 

iman29

Well-Known Member
Ironic timing as I was dealing with my own central AC failure yesterday afternoon. Of course it fails on a Sunday when I have company over and I have a 7lb leg of lamb on the grill.

Once I realized what the problem was I contacted my regular guy but he doesnt have any time until this coming Friday. Did a little more research online but wasn't 100% convinced I could/should do it myself. All the symptoms pointed to a bad run capacitor since I could get the condenser fan spinning using a paint stirrer stick. But it wasn't blowing cold air inside anyway.

By 7:30PM last night the house was up to over 80F and I had no choice but to run to Lowes and buy 4 window units so everyone could sleep.

1626110038545.png

This morning I made about 6-7 calls to various places and 2 of the companies called me back, with the suggestion that it's not that hard or dangerous to replace it myself. The one guy that @HiFiGuy recommended basically walked me through the steps and even told me where to go buy the parts locally. That was all the confidence and youtube knowledge i needed to head outside.

Cut the power inside the garage panel and I pulled the outdoor breaker near the AC unit just to be sure (like I was told to). Took the service cover off and took pics of the wiring and how everything was labeled. removed the old capacitor and realized what a mess it was inside too which may also be why it was not blowing so cold the last few months. off to the supply store I went only 30 minutes round trip.
1626110407900.png 1626110433312.png 1626110465336.png


At the supply store the guy behind the counter (Universal Supply, Wharton) was super helpful and took it out of the box so we could compare and he talked me through checking the connections like the other service guy did. I had documented my notes in my phone so was 100% confident even tho they looked different I could wire it back up correctly.

Got home and did a little custom adapting the mounting plate with some plumbing washers since the new capacitor didnt quite fit the same. Wired it back up and I mist have repeated the colors and connections to myself out loud like 5 times cause I didnt want to screw it up. turned all the electric back on to try it out before I started cleaning up and the compressor kicked right on and cold AC was blowing indoors. sweet. from the time I got home to turning it on took about 15 minutes.

At the supply store I bought two cans of condenser cleaner and probably spent most of the time cleaning the condenser fins and then I drilled a hole in the flat bottom part of the bottom of the cover to help drain all the water - surprised I didnt find any existing drain that was clogged.

When I took the fan off I did find a little fried toad under there. poor guy must have got stuck in there and got roasted.


1626110880864.png 1626110901693.png1626110919189.png 1626110944083.png 1626111082023.png
So despite the fact I spent 600+ bucks on the window units last night, I think I just saved a few hundred bucks more for an emergency repair call since the parts and cleaner was only $85. Thanks to everyone who responded with suggestions on service companies in the other thread.

Guess I will be hanging onto these 4 window units anyway, since when I finally get around to having a generator outlet installed, the one thing it would not be able to do is run the central air.
 

Bike N Gear

Shop: Bike N Gear
Shop Keep
Ironic timing as I was dealing with my own central AC failure yesterday afternoon. Of course it fails on a Sunday when I have company over and I have a 7lb leg of lamb on the grill.

Once I realized what the problem was I contacted my regular guy but he doesnt have any time until this coming Friday. Did a little more research online but wasn't 100% convinced I could/should do it myself. All the symptoms pointed to a bad run capacitor since I could get the condenser fan spinning using a paint stirrer stick. But it wasn't blowing cold air inside anyway.

By 7:30PM last night the house was up to over 80F and I had no choice but to run to Lowes and buy 4 window units so everyone could sleep.

View attachment 162094

This morning I made about 6-7 calls to various places and 2 of the companies called me back, with the suggestion that it's not that hard or dangerous to replace it myself. The one guy that @HiFiGuy recommended basically walked me through the steps and even told me where to go buy the parts locally. That was all the confidence and youtube knowledge i needed to head outside.

Cut the power inside the garage panel and I pulled the outdoor breaker near the AC unit just to be sure (like I was told to). Took the service cover off and took pics of the wiring and how everything was labeled. removed the old capacitor and realized what a mess it was inside too which may also be why it was not blowing so cold the last few months. off to the supply store I went only 30 minutes round trip.
View attachment 162095 View attachment 162096 View attachment 162097


At the supply store the guy behind the counter (Universal Supply, Wharton) was super helpful and took it out of the box so we could compare and he talked me through checking the connections like the other service guy did. I had documented my notes in my phone so was 100% confident even tho they looked different I could wire it back up correctly.

Got home and did a little custom adapting the mounting plate with some plumbing washers since the new capacitor didnt quite fit the same. Wired it back up and I mist have repeated the colors and connections to myself out loud like 5 times cause I didnt want to screw it up. turned all the electric back on to try it out before I started cleaning up and the compressor kicked right on and cold AC was blowing indoors. sweet. from the time I got home to turning it on took about 15 minutes.

At the supply store I bought two cans of condenser cleaner and probably spent most of the time cleaning the condenser fins and then I drilled a hole in the flat bottom part of the bottom of the cover to help drain all the water - surprised I didnt find any existing drain that was clogged.

When I took the fan off I did find a little fried toad under there. poor guy must have got stuck in there and got roasted.


View attachment 162098 View attachment 162099View attachment 162100 View attachment 162101 View attachment 162102
So despite the fact I spent 600+ bucks on the window units last night, I think I just saved a few hundred bucks more for an emergency repair call since the parts and cleaner was only $85. Thanks to everyone who responded with suggestions on service companies in the other thread.

Guess I will be hanging onto these 4 window units anyway, since when I finally get around to having a generator outlet installed, the one thing it would not be able to do is run the central air.

Lowes would probably take those back. I remember trying to find a H2O pump after Sandy. They were all sold out but told me to stop back since everyone returns them after they pump out their basements.
 

w_b

Well-Known Member
Lowes would probably take those back. I remember trying to find a H2O pump after Sandy. They were all sold out but told me to stop back since everyone returns them after they pump out their basements.
True dat. Bring em back, one at a time, to different stores, with a sob story -needed for kid’s dorm room, but he beat me to it before we spoke...window’s too small... tux never came back from the cleaners....etc. I was at Homey D one night and these two Utes were trying to return tires. Car tires. No receipt. And I think they gave them store credit. Not even sure how they came up with the refund amount.

Maybe keep one cooler just for your unlikely generator scenario.
 
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iman29

Well-Known Member
True dat. Bring em back, one at a time, to different stores, with a sob story -needed for kid’s dorm room, but he beat me to it before we spoke...window’s too small... tux never came back from the cleaners....etc. I was at Homey D one night and these two Utes were trying to return tires. Car tires. No receipt. And I think they gave them store credit. Not even sure how they came up with the refund amount.

Maybe keep one cooler just for your unlikely generator scenario.

Yeah for now wife wants to keep them until the service guy comes later this week to do a full health AC system health check.

But i did keep all the boxes and packaging with the plan to return them at some point
 

rlb

Well-Known Member
At the supply store I bought two cans of condenser cleaner and probably spent most of the time cleaning the condenser fins and then I drilled a hole in the flat bottom part of the bottom of the cover to help drain all the water - surprised I didnt find any existing drain that was clogged.

Does it seem to be blowing a lot colder after the condenser was cleaned? Looks like it was overdue! Mine was noticeably cooler after cleaning, add that to the list of shit to do every year!
 

iman29

Well-Known Member
Does it seem to be blowing a lot colder after the condenser was cleaned? Looks like it was overdue! Mine was noticeably cooler after cleaning, add that to the list of shit to do every year!

Yes I think it’s cooler for sure. Was long overdue I don’t even know when it was ever done.

And I do have an AC service guy coming Friday but not @serviceguy LOL.
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
Even tho everything went wrong, it wasn't so bad!

The garden hydrant decided it would start leaking at the packing nut last week.
Ordered up a rebuild kit on the Blue Origin retail site, which arrived promptly a few days later.

Got out there today, and right off the bat

1626298960436.png

Perfect! So i go inside, and fire up youtube, cause i can't be the only one this happens to, and the fella taking his apart
took the nut off the far side, and pulled the pivot bolt right out! Cool, grabbed a punch and ball-peen, and drove the bolt out!
Easy peasy (it wasn't, but relative to drilling and re-tapping.)

So now there is an adjusting nut just under the handle to control travel/closing pressure. Work it, work it.
Success! Only the adjuster that is supposed to slide free is now seize to the plunger rod.
Grab my BFPW (pipe wrench) and pull the whole head off.
Holy crap, nothing broke!

I slide the plunger rod up through the packing nut and take it down to the shop where a few whacks with the punch and hammer do the trick.
Out with the old packing, in with the new, new nut, reassemble. Probably took two hours instead of 20 minutes, but who schedules 20 minutes
for a plumbing project?

1626299359137.png
 

iman29

Well-Known Member
Yes I think it’s cooler for sure. Was long overdue I don’t even know when it was ever done.

And I do have an AC service guy coming Friday but not @serviceguy LOL.

Confirmed the AC is much colder for real
Since wife used the oven today and that usually throws off the temps into the dining room and living room. Thermostat is also on the opposite wall of the oven and house temp only moved up 1-2 degrees instead of 5+. Living room/dining room has vaulted ceiling so whenever it’s this hot it’s usually warm in there. Today she also said she raised the temp a little this afternoon cause she was chilly. 😱

Will be covering the condenser for winter and cleaning it every year from now on.
 

iman29

Well-Known Member
Even tho everything went wrong, it wasn't so bad!

The garden hydrant decided it would start leaking at the packing nut last week.
Ordered up a rebuild kit on the Blue Origin retail site, which arrived promptly a few days later.

Got out there today, and right off the bat

View attachment 162334

Perfect! So i go inside, and fire up youtube, cause i can't be the only one this happens to, and the fella taking his apart
took the nut off the far side, and pulled the pivot bolt right out! Cool, grabbed a punch and ball-peen, and drove the bolt out!
Easy peasy (it wasn't, but relative to drilling and re-tapping.)

So now there is an adjusting nut just under the handle to control travel/closing pressure. Work it, work it.
Success! Only the adjuster that is supposed to slide free is now seize to the plunger rod.
Grab my BFPW (pipe wrench) and pull the whole head off.
Holy crap, nothing broke!

I slide the plunger rod up through the packing nut and take it down to the shop where a few whacks with the punch and hammer do the trick.
Out with the old packing, in with the new, new nut, reassemble. Probably took two hours instead of 20 minutes, but who schedules 20 minutes
for a plumbing project?

View attachment 162335

All plumbing work has a minimum of 2-3 hours and usually 2-3 trips to hardware store.
 
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