Minor Win thread - Life is good!

In reply to Sonic :

I don't understand how "normal" people manage.

I replaced the condensate pump on my furnace last week. $70 plus an hour of my time. 

In reply to ShawnG :

It's the diagnosis that trips me up.

2018 Honda Pilot (70k miles) triggers CEL and my HF $100 OBD II reader points to a catalytic converter problem.  I toss in new O2 sensors and spark plugs - light stays off, no back on, turns itself off then back on. 

Honda sends recall for a new fuel pump - says it can trigger CEL so in it goes to the dealer.

They replace fuel pump and run diagnosis on CEL.  "Fuel Injector #2 is weak causing CAT to work harder thus triggering CEL.  We gonna replace all 6 injectors under warranty"  Sounds great - I'll grab some more Starbucks coffee from your waiting room. 

I was challenged on this one. 

In reply to Sonic :

It's handy being handy. Not everyone has tools, or even a basic understanding of mechanics, let alone electronics.

Our house has electric resistance heat with an air handler in the attic. It's tight up there, poorly lit, dirty, and generally not a pleasant place to be. Bob and Kathy Homeowner aren't going to get up there if it poops the bed. They'll reset the breaker a couple of times and then take out a HELOC for a new heat pump. As I should, and would, if I wasn't such a majestic tightwad.

Minor win: Mrs Monohue made some major progress moving earth in preparation for her spring garden. Of course, now she's sore enough to be rendered immobile and responsibility  for the child will fall to me all weekend, again.

I may be in the wrong thread.

Sonic said:

The gas furnace wasn't coming on yesterday when we got home after dinner out.  58 degrees inside.  Error code E2, low pressure switch.  Checked some stuff, found the exhaust fan wasn't turning well, motor was hot.  Took fan off, took it all apart, cleaned everything and found a mostly sized bearing on the fan shaft.  Soaked in oils and got it free, lubed them both, all back together and reinstalled, cleaned the contacts on the low pressure switch, and everything works.  New parts are on order as the fan is a temp fix, but at least we have heat until then.  
 

Another example that is common to people here, fixing something on your own and saving the $1k in service fees for an emergency hvac call.  How do normal people go through life? 

Nicely done and extra points for ordering the parts right away.   I'm from the trades, my wife grew up in a home where they had to call for everything.  Over the years she's gotten in the habit of asking "How much would that have cost?"  It's an expensive world if you can't fix things for sure.

Must be furnace season.

Our gas (propane) furnace died recently, but we knew it was dying. The main culprit was the blower motor not starting without help, but it was 37 years young, and the firebox insulation was falling apart too. A new motor was $400, and a new furnace to match the new AC from last summer was only $1270 with the propane conversion kit. I ordered it, picked it up from the trucking company in the big blizzard a couple of weeks ago, and spent a couple evenings doing the conversion and collecting parts (it is about 11" shorter, so I had to build a platform). I planned on doing the swap on a Thursday evening, but didn't. Friday morning 6am it went down. I finger started the blower motor to get the temperature in the house up a little, but it screamed it's last dying breath about 8:30. So I took the day off and did the swap. It was a lot more work than I anticipated, but it got done. Supporting the AC coil and ductwork while pulling/installing a furnace underneath it all was a challenge. No major hiccups, but the little 5a fuse popped when I tried to run it. Turns out you shouldn't connect the blue thermostat wire, even though the wiring instructions say you should. Oh well, a trip to the store and $1.86 later it was running. The house only got down to 58F, even though it was below 20 most of that time.

I figure I saved around $2K doing it myself.

ShawnG said:

In reply to Sonic :

I don't understand how "normal" people manage.

I think of that all the time. Country living is bad enough, add in automotive and I don't know how some people can afford to do it.

My win, Procrastination wins again. The highly rated wipers on my car barely lasted a year. I had some kicking around the shop, one fit the passenger side, driver's side was 2" short but I used it anyway, figuring I'd order the correct one. That was two weeks ago.

While walking through WM this morning I was drawn to the clearance section, and saw RainX wipers that were the correct size marked down to $4.50. I grabbed all 4, and since they scanned in incorrectly I got the first one free. I got 4 wipers for $12, so $3 a piece.

In reply to Sonic :

A few years ago our local HVAC company tried to charge me $1100 to replace a $100 retail draft inducer that was held on to the furnace with 4 screws and 1 spade connector...

...AFTER I had diagnosed the issue, removed the part, and found both the original and superseding part numbers, all before I even called them.  Not including the $175 service charge (which I do not have an problem with).

It would have been $1000 labor for literally 5 minutes work plus 5 minutes checking and cleanup.