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| "Ash green or ash dry, is what the king shall warm his toes by" |
I had a few moments of panic when the fan did not kick-on. I checked it before laying the fire and the fan kicked on just fine.
Mrs ERJ is well calibrated to the finest nuances of my moods. "Modified Stationary Panic"-to-"Full-Bore-Turbo-Assisted-Panic"*, she has seen and endured them all. She handed me the flashlight and suggested that she could start wiggling wires. God bless that woman!!!
The fan is one of the things that keeps the fire-box from over-heating and tearing itself apart. Without the fan, we get very little heat out of the small (20k BTU/hr) unit. With it, we can heat 1/2 of our living-space to very-warm, have the bedrooms warm enough to sleep in and keep the basement warm enough such that the pipes would not freeze.
Operator error
I had bypassed the disc-thermostats and replaced them with a toggle switch. When pulling out the damper, I had bumped the toggle-switch to off.
Why did I bypass the thermostat? Because there was a long delay before it kicked on. The snap-disc had an airspace between the firebox and the fan unit, which slowed its response. Additionally, the snap-disc was located in the extreme lower, outboard corner of the fire-box. Heat goes up (in air) and clearly the top of the fire-box was much, much warmer than the bottom.
Maybe I am a closet control-freak. I "fixed" the problem by bypassing it and introduced at least one other failure mode.
Washing Machines
Southern Belle and Handsome Hombre put a bid on a house. SB is looking for a washing machine and other accessories women consider essential to "nest building".
I found this on Craigslist. Southern Belle was NOT amused.
Looking at prices, in most cases it is hard to justify spending 65%-of-new for a used appliance with unknown problems and no warranty. New 3.5 cubic-foot washing machines cost about $475-$500 locally and SB and HH may have to save up and purchase one of them.
*A tip of the fedora to Patrick McManus
What is wrong with a properly working old school washing machine?
ReplyDeleteI expect more of a price spread than paying 2/3rds to 3/4 of price-of-new.
DeleteFor a well used machine, I'd expect to pay no more than half of new price and preferably considerably less.
DeleteWhere we used to live there was a used shop with rebuilt uses machines for under $150, with a in house warranty.
Out here, there aren't many people and they have lots of money, so used machines are 2/3 or new - and if less, you have to assume they have major problems.
But we're remote enough getting anything new is a hassle.
Jonathan
New does not mean good. The last new one I purchased lasted 4 months. Went to an estate sale and bought one for 30% of new price, and 5 years later still going.
ReplyDeleteI have been keeping an eye on Craigslist and I was surprised by how few washing machines were posted. I am not too keen on joining Facebook due to their metasticizing privacy policies, so I don't get onto FB marketplace.
ReplyDeleteThin markets are much more of a hit-or-miss proposition.
You have two disc thermostats? Was one an overheat safety shutoff? How were they wired?
ReplyDeleteYou might think about wiring the manual switch in parallel with the one that turns the fan on when it gets warm. That would let you start the fan early until everything is up to temperature, then turn the switch off so the fan automatically stops when the fire goes out.
That was my thought as well. Have the manual switch for control, but have the disc thermostat as a safety.
DeleteOr simply relocate the thermostat to a better place....
Haven't heard the name ofPatrick McManus in a while. Used to enjoy his writing.
ReplyDeleteI highly recommend Speed Queen washing machines. When we had to replace our 30+ year old washer a couple of years ago, it had the fewest bells and whistles, i.e., fewest electronic bits to fail.
ReplyDeleteWith washer dryers you buy the simplest ones possible. Avoid LG and especially Samsung. I like GE, Maytag and Speed Queen. Simple ones can often be fixed by the handy homeowner, the high end ones much less so. And eventually they do break, all of them
ReplyDeleteOddly, I was just looking at washing machines. Lowes is running a special for the next 2-3 days. $300 for a 3.5 cubic foot Amana. It seems to be a smaller model that is on the way out. Search for it at the slick deals site. In stock in s Lansing and deliverable to any Lowe's. Hope this finds you in time.
ReplyDeleteWe wore out two of those wringer washing machines when our six kids were all home! They do an efficient job if you run them right. As far as temperature is concerned, we had -33 last night, a high of -25 here in Copper Basin, Alaska. Both stoves going and the oil drip stove too!
ReplyDeleteIf you're patient start looking for estate auctions in the area. Some amazing good buys show up. Appliances are common as well as tons of memorabilia which doesn't sell much but you might find something you'll want.
ReplyDeletePatrick McManus is one of the funny guys you will enjoy reading. I've got all his books and they are dog eared due to use.
Suggest considering a Speed Queen washer…. Cost more but are commercial machines and should last longer than me.
ReplyDeleteWell, my wife wanted and purchased two fancy washers over the last six years. Big money, big electronic problems right after the warranty period. Cost was more than the purchase price. I went to a reputable appliance dealer and bought a 20-25 year old whirlpool and paid two hundred for the machine. It was clean inside and out, (I took it apart to see). It’s a simple washer, does all that we need and it has manual controls. Two years now and it’s working nicely.
ReplyDeleteI've heard from a number of different sources, including appliance repair people, that the average lifespan of new appliances is 6 years. I chime in with the other people above who say look into Speed queen washing machines. They cost more, but their life span is 20-25 years. We bought the lowest tech version of Speed Queen about 5 years ago, and have had no problems with it.
ReplyDeleteMcManus remains one of the authors I laugh out loud in reading.
ReplyDeleteThe only advice I can offer on the washer/dryer is what some others have offered to avoid as many electronics as possible. Older units can be okay, if one can get a history - but to your point, paying 3/4's of a new price is a bit hard to swallow.
Like most things, this is where the InterWeb and its reviews can be helpful.
I will add my voice to the speed queen commercial suggestions. We bought ours at ABC warehouse. Little more expensive, but simpler layout and no stupid lid lock. That alone was worth the extra cost.
ReplyDeleteAlso a Speed Queen fan. First one I bought lasted 27 years but buying new home it came with appliances. Ran into buyers about 6 years later and both Speed Queen's were still going strong. Also moved states and dryer went belly up. Went to Lowe's and looked at their dented sales. Found dryer for 1/2 price. Dickered and got him down to about a 1/4 of original price. That was 18 years ago and it's still going strong. Stay away from Frigidaire. I learned on a wringer washer and loved putting the clothes through the wringer. But that was back when we hung our clothes.
ReplyDelete