Random Thoughts - Part Deux [NO POLITICS]

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by Spuds

Did you try duct tape?

I always had good luck with cheap band-aids.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by Spuds

Did you try duct tape?

nope. might need to though!

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by soundman98

nope. might need to though!

I know what I'd do with that defective puppy - and I don't care how good a deal I got on it.

Life can be too damn short -

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by soundman98

so a year ago(or was it two?!?), i bought a ventless dual-fuel heater as a display model from home depot for a little more than half off the regular price.

i fussed with it on and off all last winter, could never figure out how it was supposed to get connected correctly, always had a leak somewhere in the connection assembly.

i finally had some time to mess with it. first step was pulling it all apart and cleaning out all the thread sealant i used before. then i discovered the problem. in all my yanking, cranking, and tightening, i cracked the propane inlet threads, so it was continually leaking right at the first fitting..

come to find out that while the companies website still exists, the customer service number has been disconnected, and all parts seem to be non-existent from everywhere. so instead of me getting the great deal, home depot got a great deal selling a paperweight.

so i attacked it with a screwdriver.

fortunately, they provided needle valve adjusters on the natural gas inlet, so i could tweak the inlet pressure to get it to work off propane. it's not 100% right, seems to blow a little hard, but it doesn't leak anywhere, and now i've got heat in the garage for the few times i need it!

They didn't sell a paperweight it was a DIY one!

[ScoobsMcGee]

Originally Posted by humfrz

I know what I'd do with that defective puppy - and I don't care how good a deal I got on it.

Life can be too damn short -

Provided no one was injured, I'd totally put a sign out front of what used to be that house which read "Free Firewood."

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by humfrz

I know what I'd do with that defective puppy - and I don't care how good a deal I got on it.

Life can be too damn short -

it's only ever going to be used in the garage, which is sealed up about as tight as a screen porch.

and there will never, ever be gas connected to it unless it's in use, and i'm within spitting distance from it. i might be crazy, but i'm not insane!


i do have another propane torpedo heater, but it doesn't have a thermostat, and it sounds like a jet taking off a block away, so it means that i need to stop everything, turn it on, stop talking to myself because i can't hear anything while it runs, warm everything up, then turn it off again, and repeat, about every 10 minutes. the point of this was so that it's automatic enough to keep the garage tolerable while i'm pretending to be working in there!

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by ScoobsMcGee

Provided no one was injured, I'd totally put a sign out front of what used to be that house which read "Free Firewood."

one of the previous new guy's that-is-no-more hit a plastic gas line at a house while trenching with a shovel for pool electrical...

as part of the cost of hitting it, it was required that we all attend a day 'class' about it. (it would have been nicer if they had just lined us up and snapped our knuckles with a ruler for 4 hours)

one of the first things they spent 1/4 of the day on was the origins of 811, and chain of command. they went through an incident where a utility crew hit an unmarked gas main and a sewer line in the middle of winter while doing some repairs in the street, and no one claimed jurisdiction.

as they were trying to notify emergency services, and get gas and electrical shut down, the gas backfed through the sewer lines into nearby houses. when the furnaces kicked on, the houses blew up, one by one. it was something like 10 houses by the time all the agencies got organized enough to do anything about it.



i also learned that the utility companies can legally run their lines on the surface, and it would still be the fault of anyone that hit them for any reason.
if a homeowner were to hit a line with a lawnmower, they could be ticketed for it...

a plumber was there because he rotted out a clogged sewer line(house to street), the gas company had cut and ran their gas supply THROUGH the sewer line, and the plumber was fined and ticketed for hitting the gas line with his pipe clearing equipment, and additionally ticketed for not having the entire front yard marked out, not having a dig ticket on file, and for not digging up to clarify that he wasn't close to any utility lines. the 'teacher' said the only right way for him to do his job is to quote every single customer to dig up their entire yard, for every simple roto-rooter job--imagine getting that quote...

i think everyone that was forced to take that 'class' left more angry and disgusted with the utility companies than they had arrived.

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by soundman98

one of the previous new guy's that-is-no-more hit a plastic gas line at a house while trenching with a shovel for pool electrical...

as part of the cost of hitting it, it was required that we all attend a day 'class' about it. (it would have been nicer if they had just lined us up and snapped our knuckles with a ruler for 4 hours)

one of the first things they spent 1/4 of the day on was the origins of 811, and chain of command. they went through an incident where a utility crew hit an unmarked gas main and a sewer line in the middle of winter while doing some repairs in the street, and no one claimed jurisdiction.

as they were trying to notify emergency services, and get gas and electrical shut down, the gas backfed through the sewer lines into nearby houses. when the furnaces kicked on, the houses blew up, one by one. it was something like 10 houses by the time all the agencies got organized enough to do anything about it.



i also learned that the utility companies can legally run their lines on the surface, and it would still be the fault of anyone that hit them for any reason.
if a homeowner were to hit a line with a lawnmower, they could be ticketed for it...

a plumber was there because he rotted out a clogged sewer line(house to street), the gas company had cut and ran their gas supply THROUGH the sewer line, and the plumber was fined and ticketed for hitting the gas line with his pipe clearing equipment, and additionally ticketed for not having the entire front yard marked out, not having a dig ticket on file, and for not digging up to clarify that he wasn't close to any utility lines. the 'teacher' said the only right way for him to do his job is to quote every single customer to dig up their entire yard, for every simple roto-rooter job--imagine getting that quote...

i think everyone that was forced to take that 'class' left more angry and disgusted with the utility companies than they had arrived.

I'm more angry and disgusted with utility companies than when I arrived on this page 5 minutes ago...

We had an incident when somebody blew up some very large lipo batteries because they weren't charging them correctly (I forget exactly what they did, but it was excessively stupid). The entire company had to take online battery training. And then they did it again and the entire company had to take a revised training...

[ls1ac]

The other thing to consider when using a non-vented heater in a garage is the condensation. All cool metal surfaces will get wet. Tools, all parts of the car, light fixtures.

Before i gave up on a top hat heater and went vented i would open the doors and run my summer fan after i worked. The other shop i used a torpedo heater as it put heat where i was working, and again would open the doors when done.

[ScoobsMcGee]

Happy to say that the passenger seat came out without any drama, unlike the driver's seat. Now to figure out this airbag occupancy sensor. Thankfully have all winter for that.

The TOB went from a slight whine at the beginning of the week to a wail when I started up the car yesterday. So I put the thing away despite the nice weather and will spend the winter working on the seat, and figuring out which clutch/flywheel to get to accommodate the inevitable high boost pully I'm not smart enough to avoid getting.

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by ScoobsMcGee

Happy to say that the passenger seat came out without any drama, unlike the driver's seat. Now to figure out this airbag occupancy sensor. Thankfully have all winter for that.

The TOB went from a slight whine at the beginning of the week to a wail when I started up the car yesterday. So I put the thing away despite the nice weather and will spend the winter working on the seat, and figuring out which clutch/flywheel to get to accommodate the inevitable high boost pully I'm not smart enough to avoid getting.

Tracbox has seatbelt chime disable option.


https://www.geraldjustprojects.com/p...gt86-trac-box/


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by soundman98

it's only ever going to be used in the garage, which is sealed up about as tight as a screen porch.

Remember when you gave me shit about connecting a trickle charger to the AC compressor hard line?

Either you know what's up, or you don't. I totally get it.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Spuds

I'm more angry and disgusted with utility companies than when I arrived on this page 5 minutes ago...

We had an incident when somebody blew up some very large lipo batteries because they weren't charging them correctly (I forget exactly what they did, but it was excessively stupid). The entire company had to take online battery training. And then they did it again and the entire company had to take a revised training...

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by ScoobsMcGee

figuring out which clutch/flywheel to get to accommodate the inevitable high boost pully I'm not smart enough to avoid getting.

I've seen compressor inertia take over driving the accessory belt. It flops loose off of the h-damper. Even before I witnessed the failure IRL, once I learned about the HKS drive, I knew that it would be the only supercharger I could ever consider.

The drive unit acts like a sprag clutch so it doesn't push the belt. That's a huge deal for me.