gregmac

14,456 reputation

3067

bio	website	gregmaclellan.com
	location	Canada
	age	32
visits	member for	2 years, 10 months
	seen	10 hours ago
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Professional software developer, with several years working on industrial control and monitoring systems. Slowly remodeling parts of my house.

	14,456 reputation	bio	website	gregmaclellan.com	visits	member for	2 years, 10 months
3067 badges		location	Canada		seen	10 hours ago

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Dec 4	comment	How can I repair this door and deadlock? I saw the picture before I read your text, and my first thought was that someone tried to kick in your door. This is the trouble with hollow-core exterior doors though, in addition to the lack of insulation: they can easily be kicked in. That's why most exterior doors are solid wood or steel fiberglass.
Dec 4	comment	Why does my ceiling fan turn itself on at night? The switch is a remote. Find the manual, and change the codes on it - it may be done by some key sequence, or there may be jumpers on the remote and inside the fan that have to match. It seems a bit unlikely that it's interference or a signal from something your neighbours have if it happens consistently every night and at no other time of day, but it's worth a shot to start with.
Dec 4	comment	Why does the pressure, attached to a submersible well, keep increasing? @MichaelJ honestly, I've never looked (and I worked on water systems for a few years). It still sounds like you've screwed with the precharge, so you should follow my instructions to check and also check the operating pressure (watch the cut-in/out pressures on the gauge). Also, most plumbers know crap-all about water treatment and pressure systems, so don't rely on hope. :) Granted, I may be biased, but I've had to clean up after plumbers "fixed" treatment systems more times than I can count..
Dec 3	comment	What goes on threads first: tape or dope? It's not a good answer in general since it provides no reasoning or citations as to why this might be correct. Normally I would just not upvote, but answering like this is implying the original question is valid, and I don't think it is (and I'm by no means alone, judging from responses of other users and this question).
Dec 3	comment	What goes on threads first: tape or dope? Note: A discussion on chat caused this related question to be opened: diy.stackexchange.com/questions/21117/…. FWIW, no one else had ever heard of using both.
Dec 3	comment	Are these walls prepared properly for tile? A picture would help.
Nov 29	comment	What goes on threads first: tape or dope? Use one or the other, not both. Frankly, I've never heard ANYONE suggest using both, and have never seen anyone do this, and I didn't even fathom there would be debate about this. Personally, I typically use dope for metal fittings, and tape for plastic, but it's not set in stone. Using too much tape OR dope with plastic can cause the fitting to break, and certainly that's a bigger concern if you have both.
Nov 29	comment	What goes on threads first: tape or dope? What?? Why? I've NEVER seen this done, and can't imagine any need to ever do this: both products have the same ultimate purpose. I typically use dope on steel and brass fittings that I'd use a a big wrench on, and tape on plastic pipes. I see no benefit whatsoever to using both, and in fact, I'd say it's more likely to cause problems than doing it properly with one or the other. I'll remove my -1 if you can update with a good rationale, but just saying to use both is bad advice in my opinion.
Nov 28	comment	How can I install a timer with three-way switches? Depending on what you want, the cost may vary. To have the switch OR the timer turn on the load is cheap and easy -- but it means for example, if you turn on the switch, it permanently overrides the timer. If you want to be able to remotely turn off the light when the timer turns it on, or have the timer turn it off if you've remotely turned it on, you'll need a real 3-way timer. A quick look around shows Leviton makes one that has a special "coordinating remote switch", Smarthome has some stuff that can be linked, and there are others that say they're "3 way" but I can't find manuals.
Nov 26	comment	why won't my furnace turn off once it reaches the desired temperature In addition to the questions above: Did the problem start happening after replacing the thermostat, or did you replace the thermostat in an attempt to fix? What kind of thermostat was there before and what did you replace it with? Were the terminals/wires labelled and are you sure you reconnected them properly? (This may not be relevant, but:) Does the problem go away if you put the old thermostat back in?
Nov 25	comment	Is there a mechanism to prevent a door from closing violently? Some of these also have the ability stay fully open, preventing the closer from engaging. Once you close it a bit, the closer will close it all the way.
Nov 24	comment	What could be causing this drop in water pressure? Is this a new problem, or has it always been this way? What size pipes do you have in the house, particularly the main branch?
Nov 23	comment	How much weight can screws in drywall withstand? @Gastón How do you know it's not screwed into studs, and to follow up, WHY is it not screwed into studs?? That is the correct way to mount this, and while it may "work" with some specialty drywall products, it's like arguing you don't need a hammer because your shoe can drive in nails perfectly fine if you're persistent enough.
Nov 20	comment	Drilling a hole Most of us here would use that as a reason (aka excuse) to buy the required tool...
Nov 15	comment	How can I redirect the discharge of my forced air vent? Is this a ceiling, wall, or floor-mounted register? A picture might help.
Nov 15	comment	What model circuit breaker is this? Nothing is wrong with aluminium wiring, except when you treat it like copper. Everything it's connected to has to be rated as CO/ALR, including wire nuts. You also have to use anti-oxidant paste (eg, Noalox) on all stripped ends. All of the trouble with AL wiring comes from it expanding and contracting as it heats and cools, which can lead to arcing. In older homes, just like copper it can be over-loaded as they didn't build houses for all the electrical gadgets we have today, but AL is usually a size bigger (eg, 15A circuit is 12AWG AL, while normally 14AWG CO). -Former owner of house with AL
Nov 14	comment	How to wire multiple thermostats There are wifi-enabled thermostats that allow remote control from a computer/phone/tablet (I have a CT30 that does this). There are some that allow multiple thermostats to be linked together (eg, NEST, which also has motion sensors to automatically recognize when you're there), although this still doesn't get a multi-zone system, just a way to heat or cool the entire house from multiple locations.
Nov 9	comment	How can I temporarily reconnect a fuel tank? You should talk with your agent about how to deal with this -- eg, lowering the price for you taking the risk of there being a gas leak or an appliance that doesn't work or some other problem.
Nov 7	comment	Is it possible to boost an electrical circuit for more current draw? FYI power draw for the 2270: Sleep/Ready/Printing: .9W (Sleep WLAN On: 2.8W)/65W/495W (source). Add up the power on the circuit: 495W for the printer, PC is probably 50 to 200W, plus LCD monitor 50W, TV anywhere from 50 to 500W, Lights.. There's another question on circuit capacity planning which talks about maximum loads in more depth than I can get into here.
Nov 6	comment	Is it possible to boost an electrical circuit for more current draw? You can't run 20A on a 14AWG wire (it's against code and a fire hazard): you have to upgrade to a 12AWG for 20A. If you're going to do that, you might as well just run a second circuit (in which case another 15A 14AWG circuit would be fine). As I said, your problem sounds like too much current for the wire size, causing a voltage drop (if the problem was you were drawing over 15A, the breaker would trip) so even if you could, just changing to a 20A breaker wouldn't help at all.