-
Posts
4,074 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Personal Information
-
Location
USA
-
Occupation
Recent Profile Visitors
The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.
John Dirks Jr's Achievements

Advanced Member (5/5)
19
Reputation
-
Update. My initial diagnosis was wrong. The leak turned out to be the stopper lever connection. I tightened the nut about 1/2 turn with my fingers and it’s fixed. I actually disassembled the stopper mechanism first and cleaned all the gunk out. The drain works much better now, no more leaks and Mom is happy. I really need to slow down and double check things better. I think I’m getting a little rusty as I age.
-
Thanks Bill. I was there previously and it’s definitely leaking at the coupling where said beveled plastic washer would be. I attempted to fix it by tightening it. I was able to turn it about 1/4 turn by hand. After that, it leaked even worse. When I go back on Friday, I’ll have some new seals with me to install.
-
My mom’s bathroom sink drain has a leak I will be fixing. Does this type of junction use the rubber slip joint seals? If not, what else might I need? I’d like to be prepared when I get there to avoid additional trips to get parts. Thanks, John
-
It was either Home Depot or Lowes where I got this one. I can’t remember off hand. The data sheet says its low end operating range is -13. This morning it was 15 degrees outside. The thermostat had been set last night at 70 degrees. The temperature in the room when I woke up was 65 degrees. I grabbed the controller and bumped the demand to 80 degrees and went to take a shower and make my lunch for work. I went back out to the sunroom after that and the room temperature was up to 71 degrees in that short (30 mins) time frame. Clearly the system can produce adequate heat as long as you increase the demand. However, it’s obviously not matching the set temperature when it comes to the “maintaining” Im not going to do anything about it. I just wanted to make sure that it’s reasonable to leave it as the primary heat source instead of the more expensive to operate gas stove.
-
To follow up, my DuctlessAire 21 SEER model # DA 1221-H2-O does have an inverter controlled compressor.
-
Thanks for the reply Bill. I’ll look closer at the system to see exactly what it is. The first system I had was a DIY that failed due to a bad line set. The second one was not sold as DIY, although I installed it myself. When I say it struggles to keep up, I mean the room temperature may drop 2 or 3 degrees below the 70 degree set point when it gets below 25 degrees outside. Now, if I crank the demand way up, say 80, it will ramp up and start pumping more heat to catch up. But if I just leave it at 70, it may fall behind a couple degrees
-
Look what the cat dragged in! I have a mini split that serves my sunroom on the back of the house. Its rating is more than enough for the area it serves. Obviously, in really cold weather it’s going to be less efficient. I also have a free standing gas stove (vented) in the same area that is more than capable of heating the area without struggling even in the coldest weather I get here in Maryland. I’ve been trying to decide if I should shut the mini split down and run the gas stove during lower temps such as below 30. I’m guessing the gas stove will be more expensive to run and that’s ok but only if there’s some other benefit. The benefit would be reducing excessive wear on the mini split. I’m ok with the mini split being less efficient and I’m even ok if it falls behind a few degrees as it tries to keep up. I’m not ok if it suffers excessive wear while it struggles to keep up. The mini split has a built in automatic defrost cycle and I see it performing that task now and then. I never let snow or ice from inclement weather obstruct the coil So, my question is this. Does a mini split suffer excessive wear while it’s struggling to keep up in cold weather, or, is the only issue that it can’t meet the heating demand? Thanks gents.
-
I actually ordered two elements this time around. One was identical to the previous one at $50 and other claimed to be Samsung OEM at $70. The packaging on either didn’t build confidence with the cheaper one said China. The “OEM” one had no indication of where it was made. The claimed OEM one did have some differences in its construction. The spades for the electric connectors were larger and the soldering on them looked much stronger. They were actually soldered while the cheaper ones looked to be fused on with a tiny arc weld. The securing brackets on the claimed OEM were thicker. On the OEM one the end of the tubes were tapered where the cheaper on was cut straight. There’s no telling the difference in internal parts since we can’t see them. We chose the claimed OEM one as the visible aspects appeared to be better quality. We’ll see how long it lasts.
-
Believe me, I have numerous stories about that stuff too. Blew up, shot…..don’t forget burned
-
I thought dents in cars were so cool I once took a hammer to the side of my father’s car. At age 8, I learned that a ‘68 Dodge Polara did not dent easily. He was pretty pissed off when he discovered what I did. Luckily the damage was small but I sure thought I would have made a bigger dent than I did. An unsatisfying shallow hammer mark was what I remember. Man, the things I remember…
-
I had an Evel Knievel lunch box. I dented on the edge because I thought dents were cool. I used to like dents in car fenders too. For some reason I thought it looked cool. Battle scars I guess. Weird huh?
-
Hello gentlemen. I was wondering if you had insight on cook range heat elements. My father’s Samsung oven lower element burned open about a year ago. It was easy to get a replacement part and install it so I did. It’s now burnt open again. The previous part we got was $50 from Amazon. Is it a cheap part and that’s why it didn’t last? If so, how can we make sure to get something that will last longer? Are there other conditions that might make an element fail with a short lifespan? Thanks for your advice 🙂
-
I like the 1/2 ass dishwasher high loop by routing the drain hose over the trap arm. Not quite there but better than nothing
-
Chicago - No bonding jumper to metal box
John Dirks Jr replied to MPdesign's topic in Electrical Forum
The real problem there is that junction box edge should be flush with the outer edge of the drywall. It’s wrong the way it is because you can’t properly secure the receptacle tight against the box. Furthermore, when you put the cover on it likely will not properly enclose the wiring because there are gaps between the box edge and the drywall edge. The concern is that arching in the box can allow sparks to get behind the wall which is a fire hazard. Installing a proper depth box extender could fix that. -
Another thing to consider is differences in how the multi strand and single strand conductors are used. The multi strand stuff most often begins at one device and ends at another and that's it. The single strand branch AL intersects many devices all over that house. Since the problem is mostly happening at connections, there are many more incidences with the single strand stuff because there are many more connections to devices. Statistically with regard to recorded problems, one product escapes scrutiny while the other is deemed problematic.