Do It Yourself (DIY)
Do it yourself tips, projects and fails.
Diagnosing a burning smell from a Vehicle with a laser thermometer
My mom smelled something that smelled like wiring burning while driving her truck. She took it to the service center but they didn’t find anything. When she pulled up for Easter dinner, I could smell it. The engine compartment seemed OK. I got out the laser thermometer and took readings on the calipers. That identified the problem.
35+ year old furnace was not heating. 2 year old Wifi thermostat was the problem.
I was working in my home office and noticed that the furnace wasn’t running. The forced hot air furnace is 35 plus years old and belongs in a museum, not a house, but I’ll get around to that later. I found that the problem wasn’t the furnace. Continue reading
How heavy is that log?
I was cutting and stacking some large pieces of White Oak that Asplundh had trimmed for Peco. They left the logs neatly stacked by the street.
They seemed heavy. I found a free online calculator that gives you an idea of what any given log weighs.
A quick fix for a broken Ford key fob
Add a booster fan for chilly rooms with hot air registers (works with air conditioning also)
Starting a woodstove that is installed below grade.
Hack your lawn tractor so you can actually see after dark.
Building a Harbor Freight trailer in Pennsylvania
I purchased a Harbor Freight kit trailer in Feb 2017. Here is what I learned building it and some details on registration, especially if you live in a State such a Pennsylvania
Dang cold froze my gas grill
I purchased a T-Bone steak (yellow tag sale) for my son and I for lunch. He went out to grill it and said the grill wasn’t working. The cylinder was full. I got a hair dryer and heated up the regulator and valve a little. After a couple of seconds we had a full flame and were on our way to a delicious T-Bone lunch. DISCLAIMER – Please consider that this was applying heat to a canister of flammable gas. Use at your own risk.
Tired of a dry room? A cheap, simple humidifier hack
With the recent cold snap in the Northeast, my forced air gas house heater has been running like crazy. I have had all kinds of issues with humidifiers in the system. Here is a simple hack to add some humidity to a room. Continue reading