DIY repair

[Way2slow]

As many on here know I'm pretty much a fix it yourself type person, but that is getting more and more difficult.  Not because of ability, but because of the quality of parts you get to try and fix it.  Since we have gone from and industrialized nation to a consumer nation, the junk we are getting is near useless.  I've been doing a lot of electrical work on my pontoon, adding flood lights, led lights trying to upgrade the wiring.  The more I do, the more I feel sorry for those that don't have the knowledge and skills I have and depend on what parts they get to be suitable.  After all, that's what they are made for, right!  WRONG,  they are made to look like something you need.  I ordered some crimp-on connectors off ebay, used a couple to get me out of a bind, until I could get some good ones, and threw those in the trash.  I had to solder those they were of such thin and poor quality and forget the spade connectors having a firm grip.   I ran 4ga wire from the TM batteries to the TM Plug, plus a 8ga for the 24 volt flood lights I installed for night fishing, and  8ga wire from the cranking battery to the console for all the 12 volt stuff.   I sure was glad I already had these cables because finding them I fine stranded pure copper would have been trouble and very expensive.   Most of what I could find was this copper coated aluminum junk.  Which I did have to order a 100ft roll of that in a 16ga for my led lights because the copper wouldn't be available until August.  So I will have to pull out what I've done when I get the copper.

Because I'm running 12 volt and 24 volt off the same Main Power switch on the console, I had to use relays to control them.  Picked up two 30 amp, five pin relays at the local parts store.  One failed the first trip, the other failed the second trip.  I didn't have the sockets for them at the time so I decided to order two with sockets.  Go on good old ebay and looked through all their lies at what they had listed.  Claims of 80 amp relays with the socket, the sockets have 16ga wire.  A true 80 amp relay is a Starter solenoid, not a 5 pin plug in relay, 16ga wire might handle 7 amps if it's for a short run, 80 amps would vaporize it, but you see listing after listing of those.  Finally called Digikey and got what I needed.

It's seems no matter what you get today for parts is a cheap imitation of what you really need

It's time to redo the brakes on my wife's highlander, it's seems there is only one manufacture in the US that makes brake rotors. and past experience with those other countries, the first time you brake hard and heat them, they warp and you get that wheel chatter every time you stop.    The problem there is you don't know a good one from a junk one.  Price means nothing, some sellers just sell the super cheap things for more money to my you thing it's going to be a better part, it's not. 

It gets down right disgusting when you are trying to do something right, and can't get the parts to do that. 

 

Don't look like I'm gonna have to worry about any of it for a while.  Just got back from the ER. had a grinding disk explode, shattered a bone in my right hand and had to have a few stitches.  Gotta call Ortho tomorrow, probably going to need surgery.  Just so glad I had a leather welding glove on or it would have been much worse.   

 

Imagine what that would have looked like without  the welding glove being on it.

 

 

[MN Fisher]

21 minutes ago, Way2slow said:

It gets down right discussing when you are trying to do something right, and can't get the parts to do that.

When it comes to electrical components for the canoe - other than wire...which I get marine-grade from West Marine - I get everything from Digikey or Jameco.

[Jigfishn10]

Most all of my repairs are done on a home and I find more electrical components -switches, receptacles etc - being substandard than anything else. 

 

Although, faucets - both bath and kitchen - are catching up in the substandard category. 

 

I will say, and I’m surprised, that my appliances have held out. My dishwasher gets used a lot and in the 8 years I’ve had it, I just recently - like a year or so ago - replaced a valve on it. Only cost like 5 buck plus shipping. So not bad. 

[Jig Man]

I used to be a guy who did all of my repairs.  Now I “have a guy” for each of them.  Some things I deliver and some come to the house.  This way is a whole lot less stressful and less dangerous.

[J Francho]

1 hour ago, Jigfishn10 said:

Although, faucets - both bath and kitchen - are catching up in the substandard category. 

This is infuriating.  I paid a handsome sum for the name brand kitchen faucet to replace the trusty one that leaked for years.  The new one leaks, unless you shut it off from a certain position.  The $40 cheapo I put in for the deep sink in the basement works perfectly.  I sold that house, so not my issue anymore.

15 hours ago, Way2slow said:

Don't look like I'm gonna have to worry about any of it for a while.  Just got back from the ER. had a grinding disk explode, shattered a bone in my right hand and had to have a few stitches.  Gotta call Ortho tomorrow, probably going to need surgery.  Just so glad I had a leather welding glove on or it would have been much worse. 

Oh man, sorry to hear it.  Get well soon.

[Jigfishn10]

30 minutes ago, J Francho said:

This is infuriating.  I paid a handsome sum for the name brand kitchen faucet to replace the trusty one that leaked for years.  The new one leaks, unless you shut it off from a certain position.  The $40 cheapo I put in for the deep sink in the basement works perfectly.  I sold that house, so not my issue anymore.

I am finding that if you register the product the manufacturers are pretty good about replacements. I have had a good experience with Moen in the past.

[J Francho]

Do they come and redo the work?  Who compensates me for that?  Who cares how good they are at replacing broken junk.  I paid MORE for stuff that works right the first time.  

[TnRiver46]

And here I thought it was always just me being an idiot (which is still a factor….) I hate everything that I purchase from Lowe’s!!! You always end up having to go back like five times before you’re done with anything 

[CountryboyinDC]

Looks like that hurt. I hope the hand surgeon (I would go see a hand surgeon over a general orthopod for that) can get you straight.

 

I know that I get frustrated easily with the quality of parts (from auto parts to plumbing fixtures and everything in between).  We (collectively, maybe not you and I) have asked for it.  We want cheap with free delivery, and then when it's made from pot metal and poorly moulded plastic, we complain but don't speak with our pocketbook.

[Jigfishn10]

10 hours ago, J Francho said:

Do they come and redo the work?  Who compensates me for that?  Who cares how good they are at replacing broken junk.  I paid MORE for stuff that works right the first time.  

Good question 

I was just sticking to the title of the topic. ?

So, hypothetically, you get a tradesman in to do the work, why wouldn’t you call that person back?

[J Francho]

11 hours ago, Jigfishn10 said:

So, hypothetically, you get a tradesman in to do the work, why wouldn’t you call that person back?

I don't need a tradesman to replace a tap.  I'm revoking your man card.

[MN Fisher]

2 hours ago, J Francho said:

I don't need a tradesman to replace a tap.  I'm revoking your man card.

I've replaced the shower-riser in my tub - had to sweat in the main riser line.

 

Also had to sweat in couplers when I replaced the water-heater...they'd hard-soldered the lines to the old heater.

 

I do all the plumbing and house-electrical work around here...saves me oodles of money.

[J Francho]

Yeah, plumbing comes easy for me too.

[DaubsNU1]

My Dad is retired carpenter...he started in the 1950’s when they built houses from the ground up. Taught me a ton about lots of stuff...even cars...I’ve pulled engines, replaced camshafts, clutches, brakes, bearings, electrical, radiators, etc. You could do that on older cars. Now with all the electronics, all I can still to the basics (oil change, guild changes, brakes, maintenance), but the big stuff gets taken to the dealership. Thankfully my good hunting buddy is the service manager. I feel a little better taking things to him. 

 

I do a lot around the house (plumbing, electrical, carpentry, etc.) but I refuse to get in the breaker box. Nope!

 

@Way2slow, that looks painful. Glad you were wearing heavy gloves! Get well soon brother!

 

I wear eye and ear protection no matter what I’m doing around the shop. Hearing your story, might be time for me to add the face shield as well...I would hate to see what that could have done to your head/face(!)

 

Wife convinced me to ditch our 12 year old washer and dryer when we moved in to new house...guy at the Mart suggested we keep the existing...saying “they don’t make em like that any more...you will be lucky to get 7-8 years out of this new stuff...”  She insisted on getting new : ) 

 

Hang in there men!

[MN Fisher]

6 minutes ago, DaubsNU1 said:

but I refuse to get in the breaker box. Nope!

It's not terrible - I strung a second outside box from the inside one a number of years back...50amp GFI breaker as the source from the main.

[schplurg]

On 7/14/2021 at 2:40 PM, Way2slow said:

As many on here know I'm pretty much a fix it yourself type person, but that is getting more and more difficult.  Not because of ability, but because of the quality of parts you get to try and fix it.  Since we have gone from and industrialized nation to a consumer nation, the junk we are getting is near useless.  I've been doing a lot of electrical work on my pontoon, adding flood lights, led lights trying to upgrade the wiring.  The more I do, the more I feel sorry for those that don't have the knowledge and skills I have and depend on what parts they get to be suitable.  After all, that's what they are made for, right!  WRONG,  they are made to look like something you need.  I ordered some crimp-on connectors off ebay, used a couple to get me out of a bind, until I could get some good ones, and threw those in the trash.  I had to solder those they were of such thin and poor quality and forget the spade connectors having a firm grip.   I ran 4ga wire from the TM batteries to the TM Plug, plus a 8ga for the 24 volt flood lights I installed for night fishing, and  8ga wire from the cranking battery to the console for all the 12 volt stuff.   I sure was glad I already had these cables because finding them I fine stranded pure copper would have been trouble and very expensive.   Most of what I could find was this copper coated aluminum junk.  Which I did have to order a 100ft roll of that in a 16ga for my led lights because the copper wouldn't be available until August.  So I will have to pull out what I've done when I get the copper.

Because I'm running 12 volt and 24 volt off the same Main Power switch on the console, I had to use relays to control them.  Picked up two 30 amp, five pin relays at the local parts store.  One failed the first trip, the other failed the second trip.  I didn't have the sockets for them at the time so I decided to order two with sockets.  Go on good old ebay and looked through all their lies at what they had listed.  Claims of 80 amp relays with the socket, the sockets have 16ga wire.  A true 80 amp relay is a Starter solenoid, not a 5 pin plug in relay, 16ga wire might handle 7 amps if it's for a short run, 80 amps would vaporize it, but you see listing after listing of those.  Finally called Digikey and got what I needed.

It's seems no matter what you get today for parts is a cheap imitation of what you really need

It's time to redo the brakes on my wife's highlander, it's seems there is only one manufacture in the US that makes brake rotors. and past experience with those other countries, the first time you brake hard and heat them, they warp and you get that wheel chatter every time you stop.    The problem there is you don't know a good one from a junk one.  Price means nothing, some sellers just sell the super cheap things for more money to my you thing it's going to be a better part, it's not. 

It gets down right disgusting when you are trying to do something right, and can't get the parts to do that. 

 

Don't look like I'm gonna have to worry about any of it for a while.  Just got back from the ER. had a grinding disk explode, shattered a bone in my right hand and had to have a few stitches.  Gotta call Ortho tomorrow, probably going to need surgery.  Just so glad I had a leather welding glove on or it would have been much worse.   

 

Imagine what that would have looked like without  the welding glove being on it.

 

 

 

Nasty! You were using an angle grinder? Dang I didn't know that could happen.

[J Francho]

Angle grinders are up there with table saws for me - they're the devil. I had an angle grinder accident, but I was way luckier than way2slow. Only knocked a tooth out. Easy fix, and almost no pain. It looked funny for a for weeks. 
 

Heal up soon man.

[MN Fisher]

2 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Angle grinders are up there with table saws for me - they're the devil.

Don't have an angle grinder, but my table-saw and I are best friends. From 1/8" birch-sheathed plywood to angle-aluminum to 3/8"x1" steel flats...I've cut it all on my little pal...with the appropriate blade of course - I think I got around 10 different style blades hanging by the saw.

[Jigfishn10]

21 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

they'd hard-soldered the lines to the old heater.

My water heater at my home in Maine is the same way. I went to replace the anode rod and found the hot and cold water lines soldered.

Oh well, when the house is empty this fall I’ll end up replacing it then.

On 7/16/2021 at 8:51 AM, J Francho said:

I don't need a tradesman to replace a tap.  I'm revoking your man card.

LMAO! 
Are you sure you’re not tapped? ?

[Scott F]

I’m a fix it myself kind of guy. I did restaurant equipment repair for almost 40 years. Lots of plumbing and electrical work. Now that I’m older, I know I can’t physically do some things. I just moved into a house that has an above ground swimming pool that wasn’t in great shape. A guy wanted $1,800 to take it down and haul it away. I took it down myself and the only expense was a $40 metal cutter to cut up the side walls which I gave to a guy who handles scrap metal. I cut up the liner and the rest of the frame work in small enough pieces so the garbage men took it all away.  Now I have a 30’ hole in the backyard that needs to be filled in and sodded over. In the old days, I’d have done that too but my back can’t handle that type of work anymore. I’m having a hard time finding someone to do that work in a timely fashion. Everyone is so busy and are short handed. 

[TnRiver46]

On 7/16/2021 at 12:00 PM, DaubsNU1 said:

My Dad is retired carpenter...he started in the 1950’s when they built houses from the ground up. Taught me a ton about lots of stuff...even cars...I’ve pulled engines, replaced camshafts, clutches, brakes, bearings, electrical, radiators, etc. You could do that on older cars. Now with all the electronics, all I can still to the basics (oil change, guild changes, brakes, maintenance), but the big stuff gets taken to the dealership. Thankfully my good hunting buddy is the service manager. I feel a little better taking things to him. 

 

I do a lot around the house (plumbing, electrical, carpentry, etc.) but I refuse to get in the breaker box. Nope!

 

@Way2slow, that looks painful. Glad you were wearing heavy gloves! Get well soon brother!

 

I wear eye and ear protection no matter what I’m doing around the shop. Hearing your story, might be time for me to add the face shield as well...I would hate to see what that could have done to your head/face(!)

 

Wife convinced me to ditch our 12 year old washer and dryer when we moved in to new house...guy at the Mart suggested we keep the existing...saying “they don’t make em like that any more...you will be lucky to get 7-8 years out of this new stuff...”  She insisted on getting new : ) 

 

Hang in there men!

You are smart!!! I try to do electrical all the time and I’m not good at it. Not in the least! 

[Jigfishn10]

11 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

You are smart!!! I try to do electrical all the time and I’m not good at it. Not in the least! 

It’s hard to do electrical work with a fishing rod in your hands. ?

I’ve seen you work. Haha

[Way2slow]

Electrical is easy and straight forward.  Just be sure you use wire and components that match the circuit you are working on.  There are some basic rules you need to follow but a little research on the net will give you all the info you need.  Now, in a town/area with strict building codes, you have to be careful.

 

So far, got lucky with the hand.  Initial review by hand surgeon says bone is broken but it's still in good alignment.  If it stays. they won't have to do surgery on it.  Go back this morning for another look.  In a few days when they take the stitches out, they are going to put it in a hard cast for five or six weeks, that's gonna suck. 

I'm left handed, but use my right hand for 90% of the time and have had more of a problem doing stuff than I did when they did surgery on my left hand that put it in a cast for almost three months. 

 

 

[J Francho]

Good to hear it will mend. The waiting is the hard part.