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Mercedes -Those nixie watches are neat,I had to google them to see what they were.
Are there any particular brands you recommend or something to keep in mind?
Damn Torch, if I’d known about your retro tech geekery last year, I’d have had a few items for you when I left Anaheim for Australia!
DFA 1979 is touring? Damn! I’m jealous!
Congrats on getting hitched, David! You guys are a charming couple and I’m happy this is happening.
“installed a dishwasher”
So is that the one for car parts or regular dishes?
DT: “There’s a difference?!”
even though Jason refuses to blog with pants on, but that’s a story for another day
Well, that’s because his normal attire these days has all too often been a hospital gown. I’ll give him a pass.
The name Only Fanbelts is gold.
I’m already loving this series!!!
I don’t know when I’ll be in North Carolina again, but I know where I’m going when I am there.
Rick Roll payphone is the perfect 80’s song/tech meets early internet meme mashup. Love it.
And come on now, you obviously keep the gold i3.
My OnlyFanBelts Profile.
Join me for positions you won’t see anywhere else. My fanbelt can rotate 90 degrees and 180 degrees twice for every 3 strokes. Yes that’s right, I drive a Corvair.
Since it’s OnlyFanBelts I expected feet pics. On pedals, of course.
There are other websites for that kind of thing. 😉
Hey, now. This isn’t CrankingHamster.
Thomas, enjoy Death From Above 1979. I saw them in December 2017 with The beaches and it was a good show. Saw them a few times back in the early 2000’s too. Enjoy History, I was really impressed with it when I saw the Hives there a couple of weeks ago.
Now that I think back that was a 10 day stretch with 4-5 shows, including The Tea Party at the Horseshoe which definitely caused some hearing damage. Combining a venue that doesn’t care about volume and a band that loves to crank it up means I should have brought earplugs.
Thanks! History’s a pretty fantastic venue. I saw Hot Chip there last year and the clarity of the line arrays is remarkable. I’ll be going with some of my closest friends, so it ought to be a good time.
David,
When you replace your blower motor, put a new capacitor in as well. They are so cheap there’s no reason not to—and it can save you trouble later. We usually replace the contactor as well, again as relatively cheap insurance.
And, while you’re in there, clean out the condensate pan—and especially the condensate drain trap. Add pan tabs or spray the coils with Viper Coil & Pan treatment. I know you’re cheap, but you have pets: use pleated filters!
The best way to find a good HVAC person is to talk to the ones who only do commercial & industrial, so strike up a conversation with whoever services the building you work at. Commercial guys almost always start in the residential side, and if they make it to commercial, that weeds out many of those who don’t care. Our company expressly allows us to do side work as long as we are not directly competing: we don’t do residential, so I’m free to service private homes, just not businesses.
-a good way to start the conversation is to ask how they feel about the upcoming refrigerant change: “Doesn’t it have propane in it?” You can learn a lot about someone’s work ethic when they’re ranting 😉
Wow, TOSSABL this is amazing advice; thank you so much!
> Only Fanbelts, a brilliant name that Matt Hardigree came up with, and one that will probably yield a phone call from my mom.
… Wherein your mom will have to explain the reference.
For one, our AC went out at our place. I went up into the attic and diagnosed a failed blower motor, which I will be replacing myself because I’m far, far too cheap to have an HVAC tech come in and tell me it’s something that it’s not (to be fair, most HVAC techs are honest, but you know what I mean). Plus the job seems easy, and will probably save us a grand. A grand!
Are you sure its the actual motor and not just the start-run capacitor? Those capacitors are a pretty common fail point.
Great point. Definitely check amp draw (if actually running) against manufacturer’s data plate.
Capacitors are ~$10(less here, but I don’t know prices there)
I’m not 100% sure, though I will tell you that the motor was just humming and vibrating, but not actually moving, and when I gave it a spin by hand, it did not continue spinning. That, to me, tells me it’s the motor.
You’re almost certainly right.
But, before you buy a motor, make sure the motor is getting both legs. Check or replace the capacitor.
In residential units, I’ve seen the cheap breakers they put in fail on one leg more often than both
Even if it is the motor, you should replace the capacitor as well.
The tricky thing with HVAC can be getting a supply house to sell a DIYer parts. A lot of them won’t.
I buy my capacitors on Amazon. They may have motors too.
They didn’t have the motor I needed. I also wanted to fix my AC same day. It was fuckin’ hot out! But yeah, there are places on the internet that will sell parts to DIYers, if you can wait. Getting stuff locally same day can be a challenge with HVAC, which is stupid. I drove to several places before I found one that was willing to pretend I worked for my town’s park district, and sell me the part for cash with no paperwork.
Capacitors are cheap enough, go out often enough and are needed quickly enough it’s worth keeping a spare on hand.
Fair point. I should order one.
Absolutely; I bought a capacitor to go with the motor. I appreciate the advice!
Good! I’m sure you’ll have no trouble. You’re right, wrenching skills very much translate. My training is all in the carpentry, architecture and woodworking fields, so I’ve been learning the other way.
Much respect!
Love this!
Glad to hear yall are doing well! Have a wonderful week!
For the record, my unsolicited advice to Dave was to keep the nice (gold) i3 and sell the black one.
Every day is worthy of The Good China.
This was my advice as well.
Glad to hear you weren’t inundated w/ all the terrible flooding in your junkyard lair under that volcano over yonder…hope everything is goin good SWG. We’re all looking forward to the JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAG
article that we keep bugging the Autopian to let you write!
Fanbelts? Do any modern cars still have a fanbelt? How far back to I have to set my time machine to find fanbelts as a common component?
Don’t kink shame. ;P
Reliable vehicles use fan chains.
If this isn’t COTD material I don’t know what is.
Lol thanks rusty
Super reliable cars use fan gears.
It’s a reference to DT’s hot take that cars using timing belts are unreliable.
Tons of newer RWD vehicles still use a belt driven fan.
I really like this and look forward to seeing more of it. I like the writers on this site, both staff and contributors, because of the writing style: irreverent, funny, but still getting the story across. It’s nice knowing a little about you all.
David, getting married is a big step, and being anxious is just part of it. Can you handle being responsible for someone else? Damn right you can! When you really love someone, you will do any and everything to be there for them. But I’ll add this, save every penny you can, cause you’re going to need it.
Mercedes, that is a great pic of you two, you can just see the love, happy for you both. I so enjoy the diverse storylines every day. How you do all that you do, I can’t even imagine.
Jason, I have never worried about someone I don’t really know as I did (and do) for you, following your recent episode. I just wish I had picked up on the love for old tech sooner. Just a few years ago, the company I worked for disposed of literally tons of old stuff just down your alley. We couldn’t give it away and gave it to a recycler, I would have given you whatever you wanted. Heck I would have shipped to you for nothing, just not to have it ‘recycled.’
Thomas, I would truly enjoy fall this year, if it wasn’t 107F today and most of the rest of this week. Climate change is a bitch.
Matt, just wait until you try a salad spinner!
I feel like Jason bet the newsroom that he could rickroll the entire member base. Well played.
And David, will Elise become Elise Tracy when you get married? Or will she stay Elise Not Her Real Name? Tracy nee Not Her Real Name, perhaps?
I thought her name was Dottie…
“Dottie Rusty Tracy”
Oh wait, that would be a good kid’s name ha ha
I’ll add the Rec Room to my to do list, already been to Abari and Pins Mechanical here in Charlotte and the Carolina Arcade Museum up in Forest City. Love old coin operated arcades, and looks like I could actually make it there in the Bolt without having to charge to get home!
Jason, I love the rickrolling payphone – you might also want to try calling 719-266-2837…
Say it Ain’t So! I Can’t Go for That, it’s only for Private Eyes. I think Rich Girls can call that line, but Some Things are Better Left Unsaid.
What a great idea for a new series! Congratulations to the entire staff in all things life related!
David, congratulations and such an exciting time in your life. I remember that feeling and wouldn’t be surprised if you eventually sold off both i3s for a minivan or something. Something about being a husband and possibly a dad does weird things. Your whole life becomes about other people than yourself.
Mercedes, I love your birds! I had a cockatoo for years too. Parrots are super smart and have quirky personalities.
Jason, you make me want to dig out my Vectrex and waste a weekend. 😀