Our tenant reported that the lights were flickering there. A subsequent message indicated that lights in the dining room went from bright to dim, and the same thing happened in bathrooms too.
Pasadena Water and Power sent one of their troubleshooters out on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, to check on the service line and the service panel. As it turned out there was a loose wire on the right hand side of the neutral service bar in the sub-panel. The loose wire was pulled taut and the screw tightened up. The problem seemed to have been fixed.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Building a folding picnic table
Home Depot sells folding table legs at $16.99 (for a pair). The kind that can be folded under a table top of 30" x 72". We can also buy a low cost folding table with molded plastic top in the marketplace ($38, from Lowes). This one folds nicely into a thin suitcase of 30"x36"x4" (from Amazon, 27 pounds, $46 + $18 shipping; also from this online shop, 36 pounds, $89+$39 shipping; also available from Home Depot in early September, at $47.97+tax).
We already have 2 picnic tables around the house. There is no point building another one. But a conceptual design can be entertained nonetheless:
- Table top: 30"x96" cut into 2 equal 30"x48" pieces (use 3/4" cabinet-quality plywood, $24.99 for a 4-ft x 8-ft sheet)
- Hardware: Use self-closing spring-loaded heavy hinge to link the 2 equal pieces ($14, also need to use 2 interlocking levers to prevent the hinge from closing onto itself when the table top is open to its flat position, $4)
Total material cost is around $65, to build it ourselves. The job is relatively simple, I think: 1). get Home Depot to cut the plywood (2 free cuts), 2). install legs (8 screws), 3). install the hinge (8 screws) and 2 levers (8 screws). But the material cost only is about the same as the purchase price from Amazon, and, the plywood table top a bit heavier. At the end of the day, "buy" might be winning over "build", in this case anyway.
We already have 2 picnic tables around the house. There is no point building another one. But a conceptual design can be entertained nonetheless:
- Table top: 30"x96" cut into 2 equal 30"x48" pieces (use 3/4" cabinet-quality plywood, $24.99 for a 4-ft x 8-ft sheet)
- Hardware: Use self-closing spring-loaded heavy hinge to link the 2 equal pieces ($14, also need to use 2 interlocking levers to prevent the hinge from closing onto itself when the table top is open to its flat position, $4)
Total material cost is around $65, to build it ourselves. The job is relatively simple, I think: 1). get Home Depot to cut the plywood (2 free cuts), 2). install legs (8 screws), 3). install the hinge (8 screws) and 2 levers (8 screws). But the material cost only is about the same as the purchase price from Amazon, and, the plywood table top a bit heavier. At the end of the day, "buy" might be winning over "build", in this case anyway.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Separate circuit for washer and dryer?
Got a call from our tenant over the weekend. Breaker #1, the breaker for the garage, including the washer and dryer, was tripped 3-4 times in the past week. As part of the remodeling project, the laundry hookups were moved into the garage from inside the house. The only change on the electrical side was to replace the plugs from 2-pronged to 3-pronged.
The electrical current requirements are 8-10 amps for a washer and 6-8 amps for a gas-dryer, according to Sears. We are on a 15 amps breaker there, which is close to the limit, but should be ok, as I thought originally. So, it's time to consider upgrading the service panel from 100 amps to 200 amps (a job around $1.5K-$2k)? And giving the garage a separate 20 amps circuit ($150-$200)?
We have a similar set of Kenmore washer and dryer in our house, from the 80's. The washer was pulled out, the bottom cleaned up, and the back examined. We noticed a green wire connected from the back of the washer to the faucet in the wall. Looks like that is the grounding wire that might be necessary to keep the surge current from tripping the breaker (surge current is usually generated when the motor starts, which happens frequently during a wash cycle), and that might have been the problem in our rental house?
On Monday, I went there to check on the washer and connected the green wire to the copper faucet (that was not installed by the mover, i guess). I left my cell phone number to the housekeeper there and a voice mail to our tenant. The problem might have been solved, as the tenant told me over a phone call on Friday. It would be delightful to have a simple solution for a seemingly complicated problem.
But in the end, the problem seemed to persist. An electrician was called in. He located a short circuit in one of the 2 plugs. The cost was around $175 (labor- $75/hour*2 + material).
The electrical current requirements are 8-10 amps for a washer and 6-8 amps for a gas-dryer, according to Sears. We are on a 15 amps breaker there, which is close to the limit, but should be ok, as I thought originally. So, it's time to consider upgrading the service panel from 100 amps to 200 amps (a job around $1.5K-$2k)? And giving the garage a separate 20 amps circuit ($150-$200)?
We have a similar set of Kenmore washer and dryer in our house, from the 80's. The washer was pulled out, the bottom cleaned up, and the back examined. We noticed a green wire connected from the back of the washer to the faucet in the wall. Looks like that is the grounding wire that might be necessary to keep the surge current from tripping the breaker (surge current is usually generated when the motor starts, which happens frequently during a wash cycle), and that might have been the problem in our rental house?
On Monday, I went there to check on the washer and connected the green wire to the copper faucet (that was not installed by the mover, i guess). I left my cell phone number to the housekeeper there and a voice mail to our tenant. The problem might have been solved, as the tenant told me over a phone call on Friday. It would be delightful to have a simple solution for a seemingly complicated problem.
But in the end, the problem seemed to persist. An electrician was called in. He located a short circuit in one of the 2 plugs. The cost was around $175 (labor- $75/hour*2 + material).
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Hallway lighting in an English Tudor House
We live in an English Tudor house, with steeply pitched roof, well-formed dormers on all sides, nice attic space upstairs, and, of course, dim entry and hallways. The decorative candlelight-like bulbs installed in the ceiling fixtures in the hallways appeared to be burning out all the time, seemingly faster than we can replace them.
This dimly-lit condition changed over a summer weekend in early August. We added 2 regular light sockets to each fixture and started to use energy saving bulbs (i.e., florescent tube packaged on top of a lamp socket) wherever possible around the house. A 60-watt equivalent bulb burns only 14 watts of electricity, significantly lower than the single 25-watts candlelight bulb (and we need 3 of those in each fixture). As it turned out we only needed 1 14-watt bulb in each fixture to brighten the hallway, for we have 2 fixtures in each of the 3 hallways.
We also put socket adapters into the lighting fixture hanging down in the staircase. The screw-on adapter allows conversion from a candlelight socket to regular. The staircase is now as light at night as in the day when natural light comes in from a skylight we installed 3-4 years ago.
Presently regular-shaped energy saving bulbs (60-watt equiv. with spiral tube) are sold at a little over $2 each in Home Depot ($1 per, if on sale, $1.25 each from Costco in an 8-pack). The bulbs in decorative shapes (e.g., balls and candlelights with small sockets) are still a bit pricey (at around $6-$7) and relatively hard to find.
A bit installation detail here. Each socket was installed horizontally tilting slightly downward. A brass coupling, about 3/8 inch long, was inserted on top of the socket's extra metal attachment clip. The socket is secured to the top, with a 1-in bolt threaded up into the fixture's top plate and locked down with a nut from above. Taking all 6 fixtures down was easy, but putting them back up was a bit of a pain, because it was hard to locate the holes for the 2 bolts from underneath. There must be a less painful way to find bolt holes from underneath the fixture plate, other than trial-and-error or marking a line on the ceiling.
This dimly-lit condition changed over a summer weekend in early August. We added 2 regular light sockets to each fixture and started to use energy saving bulbs (i.e., florescent tube packaged on top of a lamp socket) wherever possible around the house. A 60-watt equivalent bulb burns only 14 watts of electricity, significantly lower than the single 25-watts candlelight bulb (and we need 3 of those in each fixture). As it turned out we only needed 1 14-watt bulb in each fixture to brighten the hallway, for we have 2 fixtures in each of the 3 hallways.
We also put socket adapters into the lighting fixture hanging down in the staircase. The screw-on adapter allows conversion from a candlelight socket to regular. The staircase is now as light at night as in the day when natural light comes in from a skylight we installed 3-4 years ago.
Presently regular-shaped energy saving bulbs (60-watt equiv. with spiral tube) are sold at a little over $2 each in Home Depot ($1 per, if on sale, $1.25 each from Costco in an 8-pack). The bulbs in decorative shapes (e.g., balls and candlelights with small sockets) are still a bit pricey (at around $6-$7) and relatively hard to find.
A bit installation detail here. Each socket was installed horizontally tilting slightly downward. A brass coupling, about 3/8 inch long, was inserted on top of the socket's extra metal attachment clip. The socket is secured to the top, with a 1-in bolt threaded up into the fixture's top plate and locked down with a nut from above. Taking all 6 fixtures down was easy, but putting them back up was a bit of a pain, because it was hard to locate the holes for the 2 bolts from underneath. There must be a less painful way to find bolt holes from underneath the fixture plate, other than trial-and-error or marking a line on the ceiling.
Leak under the kitchen sink
We're back to fix problems in our own house now.
There was apparently some leak under the kitchen sink. It's been there for years! We finally had it fixed this time. As it turned out, the caulks around the sink was dried out over the years to allow water to seep through when flooded. Exactly the same problem occurred several years back around the tub upstairs, showing up as water coming down the ceiling in the guest bedroom downstairs, when someone took a shower. Alas! How we don't usually learn and remember from our own lessons!
Also the flex-plastic-pipe coming down from the sink to the garbage disposal needed a bit straightening up, since its elbow was a bit too long for it to connect downward in a proper 90-degree angle. Propane gun was used to heat the pipe elbow slightly in order to change its shape as needed.
Come to think of it, this slow leak condition over the years could've also caused the small section of the wall in the dining room to peel off, as the kitchen sink is on the same side of the wall about 10-15 feet away.
There was apparently some leak under the kitchen sink. It's been there for years! We finally had it fixed this time. As it turned out, the caulks around the sink was dried out over the years to allow water to seep through when flooded. Exactly the same problem occurred several years back around the tub upstairs, showing up as water coming down the ceiling in the guest bedroom downstairs, when someone took a shower. Alas! How we don't usually learn and remember from our own lessons!
Also the flex-plastic-pipe coming down from the sink to the garbage disposal needed a bit straightening up, since its elbow was a bit too long for it to connect downward in a proper 90-degree angle. Propane gun was used to heat the pipe elbow slightly in order to change its shape as needed.
Come to think of it, this slow leak condition over the years could've also caused the small section of the wall in the dining room to peel off, as the kitchen sink is on the same side of the wall about 10-15 feet away.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Guess we're finally there
Daddy went to the house to fix the small bathroom door this morning. The door won't close because the condensation line of the Central A/C System leaked into the door frame and caused either the door or the frame to swell up. It took a small hand-plane to shave the door off slightly in the upper right corner and a small brush to repaint the area a bit. It's a quick and easy 10-15 minutes job. Guess, we might be able to say, we're finally there.
But the A/C condensation line, how little we know about it. Even our A/C guy admitted that the darn thing escaped him completely when he did the "complete" maintenance in June. It might be worth mentioning that the upstairs A/C condensation line was also broken loose in our own house. Water dripped down into the first floor family room like crazy one night. It's a loose PVC coupling in the attic, that's probably been leaking slowly for months, if not years. The fix was easy. But cleaning out the wet stuff in the attic was somewhat painful.
And now, we might even have the answer to Daddy's question, why the small bath ceiling over the tub peeled off soon after his painstaking repair a couple of years ago. And we might also be able to solve the mystery why that small section in the dining room wall was also peeling off for as long as we lived there. The culprit? Maybe, just maybe, the condensation line of the 1st-floor A/C unit. Oh, BTW, did I forget to mention that the kitchen sink in our own house also needs fixing :-)?
But the A/C condensation line, how little we know about it. Even our A/C guy admitted that the darn thing escaped him completely when he did the "complete" maintenance in June. It might be worth mentioning that the upstairs A/C condensation line was also broken loose in our own house. Water dripped down into the first floor family room like crazy one night. It's a loose PVC coupling in the attic, that's probably been leaking slowly for months, if not years. The fix was easy. But cleaning out the wet stuff in the attic was somewhat painful.
And now, we might even have the answer to Daddy's question, why the small bath ceiling over the tub peeled off soon after his painstaking repair a couple of years ago. And we might also be able to solve the mystery why that small section in the dining room wall was also peeling off for as long as we lived there. The culprit? Maybe, just maybe, the condensation line of the 1st-floor A/C unit. Oh, BTW, did I forget to mention that the kitchen sink in our own house also needs fixing :-)?
Monday, June 25, 2007
Almost There
A lease contract was signed around end of May. Our tenant are moving in this weekend. So, this is the last week we can still enjoy the house, do some final touch up and clean up. Daddy still spent a lot of time there doing this and that. Sometimes, he'd just go there, do some reading, and enjoy a little quiet time. I guess after you devoted all your energy on something for a few months, it must be hard to let go. And there are always last minute things that surface from nowhere. For instance, with the summer coming, daddy found that backyard lawn was turning yellow. So he added a new line of sprinkler heads. The sight of the lawn dug up for a good 50-60 feet, with the PVC pipes laid down in the trenches, seemed to tell the world that this lovely project is still going pretty strong :-). Then last night, we noticed that the cabinet under the kitchen sink showed some dark wet pattern on the inside edge which might be the symptom of a leaky pipe somewhere inside the wall. The plumber was called in to attend to the problem next day. Two weeks ago, daddy did what was promised on his to-do list as the A/C Testing and learned that the central A/C unit was only blowing hot air, so there went another $850. In the past weekend, we were doing serious clean up in the garage. Piles of wood, boards, tiles, paint cans, tools, and extra material were loaded into our 12 year old minivan, then unloaded in our garage. Cleaning up our own garage will be something we will worry about later.
We decided early on that we were not going to sell this house, the first house we bought when both of us were still doing our graduate studies (3 years after Daddy started working full time). This is also the house where both our beloved children were born. I still remember the first day we moved in, when our neighbor Sonia from across the street knocked on our door and gave us a home-baked cake. It was the first time we experienced the American hospitality and we were so touched. The neighbors who lived there when we moved in 24 years ago are still there now. In the past several months they'd come by and chat a bit when they see us there. So, we will temporarily say goodbye to our old house. But we'll be back, when we are too old to climb the stairs in our 2-story house, where both our children grew up from kindergarten to 12th grade.
We decided early on that we were not going to sell this house, the first house we bought when both of us were still doing our graduate studies (3 years after Daddy started working full time). This is also the house where both our beloved children were born. I still remember the first day we moved in, when our neighbor Sonia from across the street knocked on our door and gave us a home-baked cake. It was the first time we experienced the American hospitality and we were so touched. The neighbors who lived there when we moved in 24 years ago are still there now. In the past several months they'd come by and chat a bit when they see us there. So, we will temporarily say goodbye to our old house. But we'll be back, when we are too old to climb the stairs in our 2-story house, where both our children grew up from kindergarten to 12th grade.
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