This Old #%&@*$ House

My buddy was given an air compressor that has a 20amp plug on it. The receps in his garage are the standard 15amp type. His breakers, including the one that controls the receps in his garage, are 20amp. His house was built in 2006.

I told him I thought he could simply replace one of the 15amp receps with a 20amp because the house should have 12ga wire for how new it is along with the breaker being 20amp. I also told him he could use a caliper to verify the wire it he wants to be sure.

Does all of this sound correct?

-BEP

It does but I'd say vet via Youtube expert videos on wiring.

Don't know if this belongs here or in the pet thread.

My neighbor's cat (who wears a collar and I am 90% sure which house the cat lives in) has gained a lot of weight recently and has started hanging out under our deck (yes, the one that had raccoon and hedgehog tenants last year).

I love kittens, but I don't want a litter under my porch. Any ideas?

Spoiler:

Really, I wouldn't mind keeping a litter of kittens in the basement, taming them, and convincing my family to keep one or two. So if the suggestions go into how to get mama to trust me, and then to catch and tame the kittens, that is ok too.

Just go knock on their door and ask if that is their cat and if it is pregnant? If it is, there are cat keep away things like sprays you can buy but I am not sure how well they will work outdoors, or you can put a lattice fencing skirt or chicken wire around your deck to keep out cats and other bigger animals.

The only thing worse than cat owners that let their cats outside are cat owners who don't spay their cats they let outside...

The various sprays and pheromones typically don't won’t work very well outside but it depends upon how exposed the area is to wind and the elements. They also don’t work on every cat.
If you can’t completely seal off the area you can just try to make it physically uncomfortable. Most cats don’t like the noise and texture of lightly crinkled tinfoil so laying out sheets of it might work. Or just fill the space with objects that won’t her to easily lay down or enter/exit. You likely won’t find a solution to dissuade her from nesting in there that won’t also make the space unusable for anything else until after she’s had her kittens.

Best option might just be to provide an alternative area, a small box, carrier, or other shelter filled with towels.. Set it near the deck (or under if possible) and put some food in it to encourage her to go in there, then just physically pick it up and move it wherever you want after she’s settled in.

bepnewt wrote:

My buddy was given an air compressor that has a 20amp plug on it. The receps in his garage are the standard 15amp type. His breakers, including the one that controls the receps in his garage, are 20amp. His house was built in 2006.

I told him I thought he could simply replace one of the 15amp receps with a 20amp because the house should have 12ga wire for how new it is along with the breaker being 20amp. I also told him he could use a caliper to verify the wire it he wants to be sure.

Does all of this sound correct?

-BEP

It's correct but definitely have him verify it's #12 wire. I still see lots of houses where #10 wire is run for all general electric. Check the breaker too.

Thanks for the input on the 20amp. He decided to get an electrician to do the work.

-BEP

Discovered my fabric expandable garden hose has a leak in it (about a foot from where it attaches to the faucet). Is it fixable, or am I just SOL?

UpToIsomorphism wrote:

Discovered my fabric expandable garden hose has a leak in it (about a foot from where it attaches to the faucet). Is it fixable, or am I just SOL?

You should be able to get a screw on garden hose end with a probably 5/8" nipple on it and a couple hose clamps at a hardware store. We sell all that stuff at the marine store I work at.

Finally after 7 years I managed to clog the garbage disposal for the first time last night. Simply unscrewing the drain pipe and digging out the clog, I figured it out without having to YouTube or anything hehe.

Stele wrote:

the clog

Was it a dish towel? Five pounds of rice? An entire turkey carcass?

A plumber once gave me good advice on the disposal: Keep it on a low-carb diet. Oh, and don't try to slam an entire carcass into the thing.

Just broccoli slaw. Kind of tiny bits already. I think maybe I turned on the water before the disposal, which usually is recommended, but the bits are so small they went down altogether without getting chopped?

Carcass is doable. You just have to pace yourself. Don't let the disposal bite off more than it can chew.

Who puts bones down the drain? Then again, I'd probably be fine living without a garbage disposal. Mine usually only gets run to clear the stuff that accidentally falls down in it, builds up, and causes water to drain slow anyways.

We've clogged ours often enough that it's on a strict liquid diet, save when the odd tiny spoon or piping tip slips in unnoticed.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:
UpToIsomorphism wrote:

Discovered my fabric expandable garden hose has a leak in it (about a foot from where it attaches to the faucet). Is it fixable, or am I just SOL?

You should be able to get a screw on garden hose end with a probably 5/8" nipple on it and a couple hose clamps at a hardware store. We sell all that stuff at the marine store I work at.

This works on traditional hoses but for fabric expandable hoses it's a bit more complicated. This video shows several types and how to repair them.

If it were me, I'd throw it away and get a standard rubber hose. I have yet to find a fabric expandable one that lasts more than a couple years while my old rubber hoses have lasted 20 and have never had a leak.

Tried replacing my old LED kitchen light fixture (that stopped working) with a new one.

Still doesn't work.

This does not make me happy, as it means I have to pay about $200 for an electrician to drop by and take a look.

Have you tried replacing the light switch?

That's my next attempt. It's ona 3-way, which complicates things.

I noticed last night that it works, just the amount of light coming out of the LEDs is very, very low. The on-off switch works (for both switches). One is a dimmer, one isn't, so I will check and see if I have a dimmer switch I can replace the current dimmer with.

My fuzzy understanding is that compatibility between fixtures and light switches is definitely a thing with LEDs. The fixtures I've installed have included a list of specific switch models that are compatible. The lists are pretty long, and I suspect at this point, any switches that specify "LED compatible" are probably fine. But if you're using existing, older, switches, that's probably the first thing I'd look at.

I looked, and I can't tell if the switches I have are (a) LED compatible; or (b) 3-way compatible, so I will be calling our electrician.

mudbunny wrote:

It's on a 3-way, which complicates things.

Think that applies to a lot of issues.

Texting with my brother last week when he reported the pump going out on his washing machine. I replied that our 14 y/o washer hadn't had any issues yet.

I shouldn't have said that.

Heard a squeal then the washer stopped this morning. Stripped it down and removed the motor, ran the wires to run the motor outside of the machine and it seemed to work just fine. Thinking Clutch or Gearbox, motor coupling was good to go. Bypassed the latch switch with the cover off to watch the clutch while it was on and...everything just worked like it should.

Going to let it ride for now. Clutch is a $50 fix or so, but the gearbox is around $300. If it turns out to be the gearbox, I'll probably just buy a new washer.

That's some good troubleshooting. I could do that with a PC motherboard but not a washing machine I think

I feel that it would be impolite of myself to not mention that our Dryer also stopped working that same night.

I'm leaning towards a power surge that messed things up. Or something went through the wash that created some extra sticky lint. The washer going out was the pump being clogged, and I unclogged it by manually spinning it when I was troubleshooting. The item then went through our dryer and clogged it up as well. I ran a duct cleaner through our dryer vent that night.

So far everything is back to working but I'm not putting a lot of trust in it right now.

Now to evict whatever critter is living under our shed so that our dog stops trying to dig down under there.

So, finally getting to do more improvements to the garage. Took out all the old flourescent light fixtures, most of which the bulbs were burnt out and I had no interest in replacing the bulbs them selves. Put in led light strips. This was taken before I used the little plastic stips with nails in them to clean up all the cords. I put in 10 x 8' led light strips that were linkable. The instructions say to not string more than 5 in a row so I have 5 on each wall switch.

IMAGE(https://scontent.ffcm1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/280260256_10229956143114728_9220040975130911413_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-6&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=isunFEb69AMAX9nrysI&_nc_ht=scontent.ffcm1-1.fna&oh=00_AT_aoCf2hZIF0LBEIkXChlgzluIHrlINIZ__E4M3uCLb0g&oe=6281F391)

I'm pretty close to getting an EGO Mower, model #LM2135SP. I want a brushless motor don't need the extra battery life that comes with the higher model. I signed up for emails from EGO, hoping they will send one if they have a discount or something.

If you guys happen to see a sale on EGOs, especially that model, please give me a head's up.

-BEP

Now that it's mowing season again, I'm wondering if it'd make sense to replace my walk behind mower with anr electric one. I use the ride on for as much as I can, and then the walk behind just gets used to go around the edges and the smaller areas I can't get with the tractor. I could probably get away with something pretty low-end for that, and it'd be one less small engine I need to gas and maintain. Hmm...

I got an EGO last year and I love it. The only problem is the battery is slowly dying (last year I could get about an hour with a full charge, now it is about 45 minutes).

I would recommend it, but I would also try to get a second battery. I have an EGO leaf blower and weed eater and all the batteries are compatible with each device, so if the mower battery dies, I charge it while I mow with one of the two smaller ones.

I'm looking at the Ryobi models that take their 18v batteries. I've already got a wad of them, and can probably live with the smaller size and lower run time.