kurt

Oui. They even got a name for it. I think it's the "Savoyard knock".

I'll be interested to see what you think. Folks that understand steel usually like them.

The single thing I don't like about the Opinel is I can't open it with one hand. You have to "knock" it on a surface to pop the blade. I've been using the same one's for so long, I haven't shopped them in years. I've been looking at the links and see they now have a nice line of kitchen knives.

It's a French fisherman's knife. Pearwood handle, unique proprietary blade locking ring, been around for century or more. Cheap. Like $10 for a #8. I've had the #12 for a couple decades.....I can't wear it out. They are the best darn cheap knife I've ever found. When I say beat the crap out of it, I mean just that. I use it to split kindling with a hand sledge, pry bar, screwdriver, you name it, I do it. Couple licks on a stone puts a razor edge on it and it holds. You use one of these and then understand the damn stainless Rockwell uber hard blades are just a pain in the ass. They're kind of a cult blade. When you see someone else with one you both look at each other and smile. They make a really nice mushroom knife and a couple other specialty blades. Check it out.... Opinel Or, if you don't read French..... Opinel USA

I wish I could get a set of kitchen knives with the same steel as in Opinel knives. I beat the crap out that thing (and several others) and they just won't die. Cheap, effective.

That's the "correct" application for these things; point of service. In China, we have the tankless heater (Ariston, Italian) in the kitchen which backs up to the bathrooms. Total pipe run is a couple feet. It's perfect; no wait time. It's a dual heat exchanger type; we also use it for our radiators. I love the thing. Most everyone has one hanging on the wall just outside the bathroom; south China, it doesn't freeze and it's a great place to locate it. Put these things in conventional American housing with spread out floor plans and long pipe runs and they can be problematic. Some of my customers love them (those with point of service or smaller well designed houses) and others hate them (those with giant houses with the water heater down in the basement and 2 floors away from the fixtures they supply). It's kinda personal. If they work to someone's satisfaction, they're a nice way to go.

I was an early adopter. Bosch. Maybe they've figured it out. 6 seconds I can easily deal with. We were waiting 90 seconds-2 minutes. It was ridiculous. Lots of wasted water. The cold water sandwich part....if they figure that out, I may go back in. In my perfect world, I'd be in brand new with a circulating loop and fully insulated pipes. Then, it's probably perfect.

Sure looks like it. All the white staining and efflorescence on the brick says water in the chase. Looks like a busted/cracked/deficient liner dumping condensate into the assembly. Chimneys usually fall apart from the inside out. My guess is water from a screwed up liner....(?).... I take it back. The crown is cracked. It looks like someone placed a new concrete crown without any overhang on corbeled brick. That's a sure leaker. That's my guess.

I ditched tankless. Long wait to get hot water to the 2nd fl., and use at the kitchen is aggravating because turning the water on and off repeatedly (like one does at the kitchen sink) results in what the industry calls the "cold water sandwich"....the sensors get messed up (or something) and it takes a while to get the hot water rolling again. Maybe that's just the early generation models, but I found it aggravating. Also, the water bill nearly doubled.....no one gets out of the shower, they just stand there. I've got a 12" rain head running a lot more than 2.5 gpm which is part of the problem.

Buncha comedians.....

Yup. Click to Enlarge 31.29 KB

I think Les is right on the labeling part. I also suspect a lot of these things are just re-badged units from the same manufacturer/supplier.

I agree with that, but I don't know if it's due to Rheem quality or the fact that plumbers got a good deal for selling them so they pushed them over over brands, i.e., there's simply more of them out there. At least, there is in Chicago.

My experience with GE, Lochinvaar, AO Smith, Rheem, State....they all look and feel the same nowadays, near as I can tell.

No, I tell people it's efflorescence and it means there's moisture in the wall. I make a determination about where the water is coming from and if it's serious or not. Sometimes it's just a little efflorescence, sometimes it means the place floods. How much, where, what time of year, type of construction, and a lot of other variables will affect my analysis. Telling people to monitor something is silly. They don't know what to look for and they don't know how to interpret what they're seeing. That's what they pay us to do.

I carry an Opinel knife to use for all those things you're not supposed to use a pocket knife for. Pry bar, screwdriver, spade, random hacking and cutting. It's a one blade multi-tool.

I did the same thing when I was in DC. Bury the knife in the hedge and dig it up when finished. That bracelet looks like an interesting flesh ripper. A bracelet with dozens of hardened steel edges and points. Ouch. After that, I've carried a Leatherman for the last 25 years and I've used it a total of zero times. I'm not much into the multi tool ethic. Multi tools have an inverse relationship with functionality. The bigger the number of options, the less capable they are for their intended purpose.

Used Sharkbites one time in a crunch situation. Work like a dream. So good, it was hard to believe. They can be disassembled. In most jobs, though, I go compression. Cheap, easy, time says they work.

Yes, please. I'm all in favor of people saying what they think and I'm also for active moderation. It's an internet forum with all the force and impact of a small potato popping in the microwave. Like he said, this isn't IN.

Well, it was in English, and it sure sounds like he's proposing what I asked him.....and it's not really any of my business......but it's so ridiculous I had to ask to make sure he was being serious. (Personal and belligerent comments deleted by moderator.)

Here's the Bosch thing.....I guess it is square, kind of. The whip is brought into the box, then the cord plugs into a fancy recep on the back of the DW. It's a really nice system. Click to Enlarge 7.83 KB Click to Enlarge 11.08 KB

Yeah, I kinda remember that. I don't know why because it works great.

But, we're all conduit here, and for the guys I work with, flexible conduit means Greenfield.

It's the only thing I'm seeing nowadays. Radiant and tankless.

Same here. In Chicago, it will forever be BX and/or romex and trying to make it otherwise is pointless. Nobody cares about these distinctions except us. I often explain in off hand comments that I call it this way because that's how everyone recognizes it, and if anyone hears it being called otherwise, OK, I told you first.