As a follow-up to my previous post on home maintenance parts every homeowner should have in their house right now, I’ve put together this list of basic tools and supplies for any homeowner that wishes to attempt of basic home maintenance on their own. You may not believe me, but I promise you that even if you’ve never wielded a screwdriver (no, not the drink…) in your life, a minor investment in these tools and supplies — and some patience and willingness to learn by trial and error — will pay off for years to come. You really can do it!

I’ve split my list into two sections. First, the “Must Haves” are what I consider the bare minimum you’ll need to be able to perform most basic and intermediate home maintenance tasks, including nearly all the DIY projects I blog about. The “Nice to Haves” are things that aren’t essential, but they’ll save you a bunch of time and energy, and as you grow in DIY expertise you may want to consider adding to your tool kit.

I’ve created an Amazon Listmania List containing recommended versions all of these basic tools and supplies, which makes it easy to price shop them, or even add them to a Wish List so friends, family, and Santa know what you want for you birthday or holiday gifts!

Must Haves

1. Basic Portable Tool Kit

I keep my “fancy” tools (for working on cars, boats, and personal watercraft) in a huge, shiny, red tool-chest-on-wheels in the garage, but I don’t recommend relying on these tools for home maintenance. First, when you bring those tools inside the house, there’s a chance they may not make their way back to the garage. Second, it’s inconvenient to go outside and grab what you think is the right sized wrench, only to find you guessed wrong and that you need to take another trip to the garage.

Instead, I recommend picking up a basic portable tool kit from Costco, or Amazon, or your local hardware store. At a minimum, it should have a hammer, an assortment of flat-head and Phillips head screwdrivers, various standard and metric wrenches, a socket wrench, various sockets in standard and metric sizes, a set of standard and metric Allen wrenches, an assortment of driver bits, a level, standard pliers, and needle-nose pliers.

For less than $40, you can buy this 65 piece set by Stanley, which is an OK deal… except that it doesn’t come with any wrenches.

So I recommend that you spend $60 and can get something like this 115-piece set from Denali, which has most of the tools you’ll need, and comes with a bag for carrying them around the house. Another advantage to having a bag like this is that when you purchase additional tools, they’ll fit inside a bag, but they won’t fit inside a molded plastic cases like the Stanley set.

Regardless of which kit you purchase, it should contain an assortment of tools and be easily grabbed and carried around the house.

2. Tape Measure

A basic tape measure will likely be included in any portable tool kit, but it may only be 12′ or 16′ long. It’s worth spending $9 a slightly nicer tape measure that’s at least 25′ long and has a reliable locking mechanism, like this Stanley tape measure (which is the exact one I use).

Tape measures are crucial when you need to measure how long to cut PVC tubes for plumbing projects, or floor area for tile projects, or wood length for carpentry stuff, or for hanging pictures on the wall. Just remember the adage: measure twice, cut once.

3. Utility Knife

A decent utility knife is an essential part of any tool kit. There are various styles available, including the traditional box cutter style that uses replaceable razor blades, or the click-type that allows you to break off the end when it gets dull and click up a new blade, or the folding style utility knife (which is what I use).

These knives are great for breaking down boxes (for all the stuff you order from Amazon), or cutting rope, slicing open electrical wire insulation, trimming rubber tile, scoring drywall, and a million other things. A knife is one of the original tools of the early human, and is still one of the most useful things you can have in your kit.

4. The Tape Trinity: Duct, Electrical, & Teflon

No tool kit is complete without a roll of each of these tapes. Duct tape (not “duck” tape) was originally designed for sealing HVAC duct work — and still performs that task wonderfully. But its use is almost limitless when you need to keep something in place or create a quick fix. Vinyl electrical tape is perfect for further insulating wires, wire-nuts, and butt-splices during electrical projects. And Teflon tape is a necessity for any plumbing project that involves anything with threads.

5. Level

The ancient Egyptians used liquid to accurately keep their building projects flat, and nobody’s invented anything since that can do it better. The tool kit above that I recommend comes with a basic level, but I like having a larger level available for my projects — and I use it more often than you might guess. In a pinch, you can download a free level app for your smart phone. I’ve used that app on my iPhone with good results when I didn’t have my regular level available.

6. LED Flashlight and/or Headlamp

More often than not, DIY projects involve opening stuff up and poking around inside. And that’s when a decent light source is a must. A a minimum, your tool kit should include a quality LED flashlight, but you can kick things up a notch by also adding an LED headlamp, which will keep both your hands free while you illuminate your work area. Why LED? The light is brighter, your batteries and bulbs both last longer, and it’s more resistant to impact. And for “man card” points, it’s always cool to rock a MagLite!

7. Pipe Wrench

If you’ve got even the most basic plumbing tasks on your DIY list, a pipe wrench will come in handy. They range from ridiculously huge to the downright cute, but a 10-14″ wrench will probably do most of what you need. Of course, it’s cheaper (per wrench) to just buy a set with four different sizes, and you’ll be sure to have the perfect tool for the job.

8. Smooth Jaw Channel Lock Pliers

Another necessity for plumbing projects, dependable channel lock pliers are worth their weight in gold. The tool kit I recommend above includes a basic channel lock with a grooved jaw, but to protect the finish on plumbing fixtures, you really should have a set of smooth jaw channel lock pliers, too.

9. Hacksaw

For simple cutting jobs, there’s no beating a hacksaw. It’s great for cutting PVC, copper pipe, wood, metal, and anything else you can think of. A basic hacksaw is included in the kit above, but it’s not a bad idea to have one with a decent handle, especially since you can get one for under $10. Buying a couple extra blades isn’t a bad idea, either.

10. Wire Cutters and Wire Strippers/Crimpers

A basic set of wire cutters is already included in the above kit, and those are more than good enough for snipping wires during electrical projects (after the power is shut off). But for stripping wires and crimping insulated connectors, you can’t beat a stripping/crimping multi-tool.

11. Digital Multi-meter

Once you start tinkering with electrical projects, you’ll pull your hair out (or possibly make it stand on end) without a multi-meter. Higher-end ones (such as the Fluke T5-600 I use) can be found for under $90, and the really fancy professional ones can get up to $400, but are overkill for home users. You can find ones for under $10 on Amazon with mixed reviews, but I recommend spending $25 on this well-reviewed unit from Mastech, then step up to something like a Fluke when you want something a bit more robust.

12. Soldering Iron

The first time you use a soldering iron to replace an LED diode, capacitor, or relay on a circuit board instead of buying a new one, your $15 investment in this basic model will pay for itself 10 fold. These are also great for tinning speaker wires, or anywhere else you want to make sure you have a semi-permanent wired connection. Don’t be afraid of the soldering iron. The more you practice with it, the better you’ll get.

13. Wire Nuts and Butt Splices

Continuing with the electrical theme, I’ve found it’s never a bad idea to have a healthy assortment of wire nuts of various sizes in your tool kit. They come in really handy when wiring in new switches, light fixtures, pumps, irrigation heads, etc. And right next to them in my tool bucket (yes, I use a bucket) I like to keep an assortment of various heat-shrink butt splices. They help make secure, tight, weatherproof connections when I’m splicing in anything electrical.

14. Zip-Ties

Almost as useful as duct tape, a zip-lock baggie full of various lengths of zip-ties will be empty and needing a refill before you know it. These are great for keeping wiring projects tidy, or for hanging and securing objects.

15. Basic Cordless Drill/Driver

So far, most of the items I’ve suggested have been relatively inexpensive. And while a decent cordless drill will be one of the more expensive tools in this list, you don’t need to run out and grab an expensive pro-series model (unless you really want to). Drill brand wars can get like Mac vs. PC wars. Personally, I’m a fan of Makita brand drills. I received one as a gift years ago, and they’ve never let me down, so I haven’t found a need to shop elsewhere. The Makita LXFD03 I use is on the spendy side, but a more basic model will be fine for basic DIY needs. This Dewalt drill/driver kit is currently the #1 seller on Amazon, and hovers around $90. The price is relatively low because it uses the older NiCAD battery technology (as opposed to the newer Lithium Ion), but still packs 18V which is plenty of power for what you’ll likely be doing.

You’ll use a cordless drill for drilling holes (duh), driving screws, removing access panels, tightening bolts, and more. Features such as a keyless chuck, multiple speeds, and adjustable torque settings will come in extremely handy. And with a tool like this, you’ll be extremely handy, too!

16. Smart Phone with Camera

You probably already have this tool in your pocket right now. A phone-based camera is a great tool that I use on nearly every single DIY project I tackle. They’re great for snapping photos of things before (and as) you take them apart, so you don’t have to rely on your memory when putting them back together. A picture is worth a thousand words when you’re wiring in a new thermostat and trying to remember how the one was was wired. Instead of trying to write down your fridge’s model number, snap a photo. Trying to describe to the guy at the hardware store what the water lines look like under your sink? Show him instead. Snapping photos before heading to the hardware store is the best way to get the right advice the first time. And if you’re trying to take a photo of wiring or plumbing in a dark confined space, turn on the phone’s flashlight, hold it inside, and snap a photo where you’d never be able to fit your head for a clean view.

17. Small Shop Vac or Cordless Handheld Vacuum

Sometimes (alright… way more than sometimes), DIY projects can result in a bit of a mess. So in order to maintain household harmony, cleaning up after yourself is a must. I generally run to the kitchen and grab our Dyson cordless hand vac, but when I saw this Stanley mini wet/dry vacuum on sale at Costco last week, I knew I couldn’t live without it. It’s already come in handy after I accidentally shattered a florescent bulb on the garage floor!

18. Course Thread Drywall Screws

This one was suggested by my friend Smack (not his real name, but everyone calls him that), and it’s one I completely agree with and always have in my own toolkit: course thread drywall screws. I refer to them as “grabbers,” and they’re great for joining things together, hanging pretty much anything in drywall, and they also screw into wood and sheet metal pretty well, too. I recommend getting a variety of sizes (and I even have some galvanized ones I can use outside). These are always the first screw I grab when doing a project, and with scant few exceptions, generally the only one I need.

19. Pick-Up Tools

Suggested by my buddy Jason, I totally agree with him that this pair of tools will come in extremely handy. First, a flexible magnetic pick-up tool will save your bacon whenever you drop a screw, bolt, washer, or any other metal down into crevices where your eyes can’t see and your hands can’t reach. For stainless hardware and other stuff that’s not attracted to magnets, however, you’re out of luck… unless you have something like this mechanical grabber claw with LED light. It can help you see what you’re reaching for, and retrieve it with a minimum number of swear words. I’m ashamed to admit that I drop stuff a lot, and therefore use both of these tools frequently.

Nice to Haves

The “nice to have” list is a much smaller list than what I consider the “must haves,” but if you already have all the tools from the first list and are itching for an excuse to hit the hardware store (or the hardware section of Amazon), then these items are what I consider the “next level” of DIY tools:

1. Caulking Gun

For minor caulking projects, you can simply buy a small tube of caulk that can be squeezed like a toothpaste tube. But for bigger jobs, you’ll need a full sized tub of caulk and a caulking gun.

2. Electrical Receptacle Tester with Ground Fault Button

If you plan on upgrading a number of electrical outlets, or you find yourself troubleshooting outlets on a semi-regular basis, then a receptacle tester might be a good addition to your tool collection. They’re under $10, and I recommend getting one like this that also has a button to generate a ground fault, so you can test whether your GFCI outlets will trip when they’re supposed to.

3. Coax & Ethernet Cabling Tools

If you need to run RG6 coax cable (like for A/V projects, cable TV, or satellite) or Ethernet cable in a project, then you’ll definitely want the tools on hand to help you terminate them quickly, easily, and properly. For coax cables, my favorite is the Paladin 70053 Kit. It has everything you need to cut, strip, prep, and compression fit coax, BNC, and RCA adapters onto RG6 cable. On the Ethernet site, I use the Paladin 70007 Kit, which makes prepping and terminating network cables a breeze. After using these kits, you’ll wonder why anyone does it differently!

4. Endoscopic Camera with LED Light

OK – I admit this one’s a bit out there. But after dropping a wrench in the hull of my Sea Doo for the umpteenth time, I went looking for a better solution than fishing around with a coat hanger or a magnet. For around $20, you can buy a waterproof endoscopic camera that attaches to your laptop via USB —  which you can then shove down drains, into tanks, under your Sea Doo motor, into HVAC ducts, through your pool plumbing, or anywhere else you want to take a peek. I found this one on Amazon, but I bought a slightly different one on eBay. It’s the most fun you can have with a DIY tool for $20!

5. Mini Utility Pump

This is more of a luxury than a necessity, but I suppose that’s why it’s on the “nice to have” instead of the “must have” list. I use a Simer Mini M40P utility pump to massively speed up the process whenever I flush my water heaters. I also use it when flushing my Sea Doos with anti-freeze when I winterize them. I’ve used it to drain the water fountain in the driveway, and it can clean up the water in a utility room when your water heater’s TPR leaks (ask me how I know). At around $75 they’re not cheap, but if saving time is worth it to you, then treat yourself and pick one up.

6. Reciprocating Saw (SawzAll)

This item was also suggested by my friend Smack, although he considers it a “must have.” I didn’t include it on that list because I’ve actually only ever needed to use a reciprocating saw (commonly called a SawzAll) one time, and that was a few years ago to remove a muffler. In all other cases, a hacksaw did the trick just fine. However, perhaps this is one of those items that once you get one, you don’t know how you ever lived without it. I’m certain one of these would indeed be “nice to have,” so maybe I’ll pick one up soon and see how much I actually use it.

7. Compound Miter Saw

Also suggested by Smack, and one I completely agree with. I love using my “chop saw.” Whenever I do project with PVC my compound miter saw makes short work — and makes a decent mess (which is why a shop vac is on my “must have” list). You can pick up a decent one for around $100, and they are great for cutting dowels, plastic pipe, boards, and wood trim. If you’re doing any job with crown molding or baseboards, a miter saw will be your best friend. I lined the entire closet at my cabin with aromatic cedar planks using only a chop saw and a brad nailer. It’s a very versatile tool that more advanced DIY folks will truly appreciate.

 What’s on Your List?

So there you have my “must have” and “nice to have” list of tools and supplies for the average DIY homeowner. Again, you can find them all on my Amazon Listmania List so you can add them to your Wish List — or just buy them yourself.

If this list seems overwhelming, don’t feel pressured to buy all these tools all at once. Start with the basics, and expand your tool collection as you expand your skills. Put these items on your birthday or holiday wish-lists, and make sure your friends and family know that tools as gifts are always appreciated. Keep an eye out for sales or clearance items at your local hardware stores, and don’t be afraid to ask others for their opinions and experiences with their tools.

And now that you’ve got tool collection going, I also recommend that you check out my article on Home Maintenance Parts You Should Have In Your House Right Now.

Do you have something on your list that should be on one of mine? Please tell me about it in the comments!

In my original review of my very first Ecobee Smart Thermostat, I described how I had wired my Ecobee’s equipment interface to my whole-house evaporative humidifier at the Utah house. Because my furnace’s control board had a 24V HUM connector, I used that connector to help activate the humidifier. The problem, however, is that the furnace would only energize the 24V HUM terminal when the system called for heat, meaning I couldn’t run the humidifier with A/C or with the furnace fan alone.

So my updated method wiring a whole house humidifier is as now follows:

1. Bridge the R/H terminal on the Ecobee Equipment Interface to the ACC1r terminal on the Ecobee Equipment Interface

Wiring for a humidifier on the Ecobee Equipment Interface

The short green wire above connects the R/H terminal on the Ecobee’s EI (the lettering is hidden by the wire) down to the ACC1r terminal. This provides 24V power from the R/H terminal to the ACC1r terminal.

2. Connect the ACC1 terminal on the Ecobee Equipment Interface to one of the humidifier leads

The slightly darker red wire (on the right) in the above photo connects the Ecobee EI’s ACC1 terminal to one of the low voltage trigger leads on the humidifier (it doesn’t matter which one). I just used a wire nut to connect, and then insulated with electrical tape:

Wiring to the humidifier’s low voltage trigger leads

3. Connect the 24V/COM terminal on the furnace’s control board to the other humidifier lead

The other low voltage trigger lead on the humidifier connects to the COM 24V terminal on the furnace’s control board. That’s a very popular terminal in my furnace, so to ensure a solid connection for all the devices that need it, I attached a single wire to the terminal, and then wire-nutted that wire to the other COM wires. The brown wire in the following photo connects to the remaining lead on the humidifier:

The humidifier’s other lead connects to the COM 24V terminal on the furnace control board.

4. Configure settings on the Ecobee thermostat

In addition to running the humidifier while heating, if you want your humidifier to also be allowed to run while cooling,  or simply with the fan, you need to set the “Humidify only while Heating” setting in the thermostat’s Installation Settings / Equipment section to “No.”

This setting lets your Ecobee run the humidifier during heat, cool, or with the fan only.

And that’s how I connect a whole house humidifier to my Ecobee Smart thermostat! My humidifer is powered by a standard 120V wall plug, and is triggered when the two low voltage leads are energized.

When the Ecobee wants to turn on the humidifier, it “closes” the circuit between ACC1 and ACC1r. Because the ACC1r terminal gets a constant 24V from the equipment interface’s R/H terminal, closing the circuit between ACC1 and ACC1r completes a 24V circuit on the humidifier trigger wires, which then turns on the humidifier.

Your wiring needs may be slightly different, depending on the triggering needs of your humidifier and/or whether or not your furnace board runs on 24V. If you have a 120V control board, you may need to use a 120V to 24V transformer and wire it between the control board, the Ecobee EI, and your 24V triggered humidifier.

As always, I welcome your feedback, questions, and comments below!

The climate in Utah is particularly arid, both in the summer and the winter, and so I had my builder install a Lennox whole-house humidifier as part of our HVAC system in the Utah house. It helps keep us feeling comfortable at lower temperatures, meaning we save money on heating.

The Lennox Healthy Climate HCWP3-18 humidifier we use is a “water pad” system, meaning that when our Ecobee WiFi thermostat calls for humidity, a solenoid valve on the humidifier opens and allows water to drip down through an expanded metal water pad, while a large fan blows the water droplets into the furnace duct, where the water vaporizes into the air that’s rushing up through the furnace and eventually out of the floor vents throughout the house. Here’s a photo of my humidifier with the fan housing removed:

Whole house humidifier with fan housing removed.

This Lennox unit been a reliable and effective way of increasing the humidity throughout the house, which not only makes us feel more comfortable but also helps leather, wood, and other “soft” materials wear better because they don’t dry out.

A couple of days ago, however, I was participating in a discussion on the Ecobee thermostat mailing list, and we started discussing whether it’s more effective to use hot water or cold water in this type of humidifier. The general consensus on the mailing list is that the hot water side is more effective, since vaporizing hot water is much easier than cold. A quick web search of humidifier manufacturer instructions confirmed it: it’s almost always preferable to use hot water in a water pad system.

And as Murphy’s law would have it, the plumber (or HVAC professional) who installed my unit plumbed it to the cold side. To make matters worse, he used a saddle valve to tap into the cold line to divert water to the humidifier. Saddle valves are no longer
“up to code” in a number of countries (including Canada), as well as more and more states in this country. They can clog easily, especially in states with hard water like Utah, and they are generally more prone to leaks… which is a bad thing in a vacation house that’s not lived in all the time.

So I saw this as an opportunity to do two plumbing projects in one sitting. First, I’d remove the old saddle valve from the cold side, cut out the piece of copper pipe that the saddle valve had pierce, and put in a proper T fitting, and install a permanent pressure gauge. I’ve always wanted a pressure gauge, for not other reason than I think they look cool.

Second, I’d tap into the hot water feed coming off the 2nd water heater, also using a proper T fitting, and connect a small shut off valve that feeds the humidifier water line. That way, I can shut off the water to the humidifier without having to shut off anything else, which will come in handy when I (inevitably) need to replace the humidifiers solenoid at some point in the future.

What really excited me about this project, however, is that I’d finally found an excuse to use what I think is one of the best advances in plumbing since flushing toilets: SharkBite fittings. If you’re unfamiliar with them, check them out the next time you’re at a hardware store. They make joining copper or CPVC pipe a breeze. No solder, no threads, no tools. Just slide in the pipe, and it’s connected and sealed.

I dropped by BJ Plumbing Supply in Orem, showed the guys photos of my current setup, and started gathering all the parts I’d need. The guys there are always friendly and helpful, and their prices are no higher than the big box stores — or even online sources I’ve found. If you have a local plumbing supply store, get to know the guys there. They will save you time and money, and are happy to pass along free advice.

Getting Started

Once I got home with all the parts, I started by shutting off the main water to the house:

Main water valve shut off

Next, I went into the utility room and snapped this “before” photo:

This is how the contractor installed the cold water feed to the humidifier

The pipe with the black tape wrapped around it is the cold water line. Following that pipe down in the direction of water flow, you can see the saddle valve that feeds the humidifier, followed by the shutoff valve for the inlet to the water heater, then the white expansion tank I recently replaced. The line then feeds into the first water heater (which does the majority of the heating) and then feeds warm water out of the first water heater into the the inlet on the second water heater, when then feeds hot water up through the pipe on the left side of the photo.

There’s a bathroom on the other side of the utility room wall, so I turned the sink faucet on cold and the shower faucet on hot, to help bleed pressure from the system. I turned both water heaters’ gas valves to PILOT, then then shut off the yellow-handled cold water  inlet valve feeding the first water heater, and used a hose to drain some water out of each water heater. Once the shower and faucet had both stopped running, I new that both the hot and cold sides were de-pressurized.

Cold Side First

I removed the 1/8″ compression fitting that fed into the humidifier from the existing saddle valve:

Existing saddle valve with 1/8″ compression fitting removed

Then I used a flat head screwdriver to remove the saddle valve from the cold water pipe. I had brought a brown Tupperware container and a towel to help catch any water, nothing dripped out when the valve was completely removed:

Cold water copper pipe with saddle valve removed

Having never used (or removed) a saddle valve before, I was surprised at how small the hole was. I decided that it could very easily get clogged with minerals or sediment, and made a silent vow to never use a saddle valve in any future projects!

With the saddle valve removed, I used a Pasco mini pipe cutter ($5 on Amazon) to make a clean cut just “downstream” of the saddle valve’s hole:

Yes, you can use a hacksaw, but a pipe cutter is preferable.

The main advantage of a pipe cutter over a hacksaw or a Sawz-All is that the cut is always clean, and the pipe stays perfectly round:

First cut done – and clean!

After a short learning curve on the first cut, the second one to remove about 2″ of pipe on the other side of the saddle valve hole was a snap:

Both pipe cuts completed.

The next part was what I’d been waiting for: installing the 3/4″ Shark Bite T fitting. It really was a simple as pulling the pipes apart (I have flexible copper on the water heater side, so making room was easy), attaching the fitting in the middle, and pushing inward on both pipes. At $20 each, they’re not super cheap, but they’re totally worth it. Not only are they easy to install, but you can re-use on other projects them later by taking them apart with cheap plastic tool that looks like an orange letter C. It seriously took about 12 seconds to push this baby into place:

My first Shark Bite fitting installed easily!

Next up was wrapping some Blue Monster Teflon tape around all the threads of the two bushings I needed to reduce the 3/4″ outlet of the Shark Bite fitting down to  1/4″ for the pressure gauge, and then screwing them all together:

Blue Monster Teflon tape is my new fav!

The final step for the cold side was to screw in the gauge, tighten it down. Because I had the shut off valve closed just “downstream” of  my new gauge, I decided to turn the houses main water back on so I could see if everything worked… without leaks. I panicked when I turned the house’s main water back on, because I immediately heard water gushing!

But then I remembered that I’d left turned the bathroom’s cold faucet open. Phew! Everything was working fine. No leaks anywhere, and the gauge was showing 60 PSI of water pressure:

Pressure gauge showing pressure… with no leaks!

Now for the Hot Side

Emboldened by my early success, I moved over to the hot side. First, I used my handy dandy pipe cutter to remove a 3″ section of copper pipe:

Hot side pipe cut, ready for the T fitting.

Then I put Blue Monster Teflon tape on all the reducing bushings and the new 1/8″ stainless hot water shutoff valve threads, and assembled them all into the Shark Bite T fitting:

All hot side fittings taped and assembled.

Installing this second Shark Bite fitting was just as easy as the first. Click, click, push!

Hot side fitting installed!

The final step was to connect the existing compression fitting from the humidifier’s copper feed to the new hot shutoff valve:

Hot water feed to humidifier connected!

I opened the inlet valve to the water heaters, crossed my fingers, and waited for a leak. It never came. Everything worked perfectly on the first try!

The “after” shot with new fittings, valve, and gauge installed.

I temporarily clicked up the humidity setting on my Ecobee WiFi thermostat using my smart phone, and waited to hear the humidifier kick on. After a few moments, it did… and I heard water flowing and felt the copper feed tube warm up. My humidifier was now using hot water!

Final Thoughts

So does the hot water feed to the humidifier really make that much difference? Honestly, it’s too early for me to tell. If it does, it’s probably minor, but it is technically the preferred way to do. If the previous install hadn’t been using a saddle valve, I may have been less motivated to go through the effort. But since replacing the saddle valve required pipe cutting anyway, I figured “why not?”.

One thing I did notice, however, is that the excess water flowing from the humidifier’s drain pipe is cold. That makes sense, since the the large fan blowing on the hot water is like blowing on hot soup to cool it off, and heat is transferred into the furnace’s airflow.

In total, this project took about 20 minutes, and cost me about $70 (2 x Shark Bite T fittings @ $20 each, $12 for the pressure gauge, $8 for the stainless angle valve, and another $10 in assorted brass bushings). And even if the hot water doesn’t make that much difference in humidity, it’s still worth the expense to eliminate a potentially troublesome saddle valve from the system.

As always, I welcome your comments, questions, and feedback below.

If you liked this post, you can also check out how I wired my Ecobee WiFi thermostat to my humidifier in this post, and if you want to monitor for leaks in your utility room (if you have a faulty saddle valve, for example), then you can also check how I connected a WaterBug water sensor to my Ecobee.

As we wrap up our Holiday vacation here at the Utah house, I’ve been tinkering with some home improvement projects (part of how I relax on vacation really is by fixing stuff). So today, I did two quick, cheap, and simple projects today to reduce the energy use of our water heaters.

Tip #1: Turn Off One Water Heater

We have two water heaters in the Utah house’s utility room, which are connected “in series,” like this:

Two water heaters connected “in series.”

This is a common setup in modern houses, since buying two 50 gallon water heaters is generally cheaper than a single 100 gallon unit. And, assuming you’ve got them plumbed with the appropriate shut-off and bypass valves, it gives you dual-redundant system, so that you can operate on a single water heater if one dies, and you can swap in a new one without depriving the house of hot water.

In most series water heater setups, Tank #1 does the majority of the work (and uses the most energy) to heat up cold water. Tank #2 then stores the water heated by Tank #1, and burns gas occasionally if the water isn’t used before its temperature drops.

What I did today, however, was turn the thermostat on Tank #1 down to its lowest setting. Because the incoming cold water here in Utah is really cold (especially in winter), Tank #1 will take over the job as a storage tank, using ambient temperature in the basement utility room to bring incoming cold water up to room temperature. Tank #2 will then burn gas like Tank #1 used to, but it will be actually using less energy because the starting temperature of the cold water will be 20-30 degrees Fahrenheit higher than normal.

The downside to this approach is that there will be less overall hot water in high-demand situations, but that really doesn’t happen that often at this house. In situations where we have lots of people wanting to take showers, then I can fire up Tank #1 again and have lots of hot water available. But I estimate I can save at least $40 a month off my gas bill with this one trick, and I most likely won’t notice anything different at shower time.

Even if you only have one water heater in your house, you can still lower its thermostat, since every degree cooler you go is money in your pocket. Maybe try nudging it down just a tick or two, and see if you (or anybody else) notices. If not, then you’ve been overheating your water, and wasting money.

UPDATE: After running like this for less than a day, I noticed I could hear the burner on Tank #2 firing more often than normal (meaning more often than it used to run on Tank #1 when it was the primary heater), so I thought it about the setup some more… and determined that this approach will work fine for homeowners with two water heaters in series… unless you have a recirculating pump that returns warm water to Tank #1 (like I currently do). With the recirculating pump running, it’s pulling warm water from Tank #2 around the house, then pushing it into the bottom of Tank #1. The hot water then cools somewhat when it hits the cold water sitting in Tank #1, but the pump also forces cold water from Tank #1 over into Tank #2, even when no hot water faucets in the house are demanding hot water (the pump is essentially creating the demand). When enough cold water hits Tank #2, the burner fires up to bring it up to temperature. And that’s happening way too often.

So for now, I’ve switched back to my original settings, until I can re-plumb the recirculating pump to push water into Tank #2. Look for a new blog post soon!

Tip #2: Insulate Your Exposed Hot Water Pipes

As I worked on my humidifier and pressure gauge plumbing project this week, I decided I wanted to insulate any of the hot water pipes I could see in the utility room. If I can see them, that means they’re exposed to the air, and are radiating (and therefore losing) some amount of heat into the air.

Exactly how much energy I’m losing this way is hard to tell, but insulating them is extremely inexpensive, so even without knowing exactly — it’s still the right thing to do. Out of curiosity, I took a few readings with my brand new Fluke 62 MAX+ IR Thermometer that Santa brought me this Christmas just so I’d know how hot the exposed copper pipes were on their exterior surface.

At the local hardware store, I picked up five 6′ insulating foam pipe covers, each of which cost $1.18 each. For less than $6, I was able to cover all the hot 3/4″ copper pipes I could see in the utility room (including the copper flex hose that connects Tank #1 to Tank #2). Here’s the “before” picture (which is actually the “after” picture from the above-mentioned humidifier and pressure gauge project):

Before installing insulating foam.

And here’s the after:

After installing insulating foam.

Again, all the material cost less than $6, and I had about 3 feet left over. Next time I’m down here, I plan to use some black duct tape to secure the ends of the foam around the fittings, just to have a more snug fit.

After finishing this project, I waited a few hours to allow the foam to heat up and then took another set of readings with my IR thermometer. The foam was between 15F – 20F cooler than the exposed pipe, which confirms they’re doing their job.

Insulating is an often overlooked method of saving a lot of money over time, by spending  a little money and time. I’ve got some blog posts planned in the future as I try to tackle some weatherstripping and insulation projects this winter (stay tuned!)

That’s All, Folks!

These two water heater tips are quick and cheap, and guaranteed to save you money. If you have any quick energy saving tips of your own, please feel free to leave them in the comments. You just may give me an idea for my next blog post!

So my buddy Greg Ellis hits me up on Skype this morning and asks if I have time to “take a walk”, which is how we like to meet and discuss business. We both like exercise, and it’s a great way to get both the blood and entrepreneurial juices flowing. But today, since it’s the last day of our vacation here in Utah, I’d promised my family they could have Krispy Kreme Donuts for breakfast, so I told Greg we could talk on a donut run instead. He didn’t object, and was at my house a few minutes later.

After picking up the donuts, we were headed back to my house when I suddenly yelled out “Oh! I need sheet metal!” as I turned sharply into the Lowes Hardware parking lot. Greg laughed and said “Of COURSE you do!” as if it’s something everyone yells when returning home with a dozen Krispy Kremes.

There’s a project here at the Utah house that I keep forgetting to tackle, into which Greg was unwittingly sucked. He’s always a great sport, however, so we still talked biz as we roamed the store to grab a 6 x 18″ piece of galvanized aluminum, some tin snips, and some sheet metal screws.

Back at home, Greg was more than happy to help out as I checked this minor annoyance project off my list. Thanks again for the help, Greg!

This project centers around the filter in my furnace. The HVAC “professional” who installed the furnace in this house gave me enough room in the return duct to insert a 20 x 25 x 1 inch filter, which sits diagonally inside the duct, like this:

My furnace filter sitting diagonally.

However, when the furnace’s fan turns on, the suction will sometimes pull the bottom of the filter towards the fan, which stands the filter straight up on the right side of the intake duct. Then, when the fan shuts off and the suction disappears, the top of the filter will fall backwards, thereby allowing unfiltered air into the furnace. It was sloppy ductwork on the part of the installer, and it’s something I’ve been meaning to fix for years.

Measure Twice, Cut Once, Cut Yourself

Because the duct is 20″ wide (I know that because a 20″ wide filter fits perfectly) I knew the width of my 18″ sheet of metal would be fine. I used my level as a straight edge to score a 3″ section on the sheet metal:

Scoring my sheet metal.

Then I used my tin snips to cut as closely as I could along the score line:

A metal strip, ready to be bent.

Of course, I nicked my thumb on the sharp edge of the newly cut metal, but it wouldn’t be a DIY project without a little blood.

Bend and Fit

Next, I used a an exposed 2 x 4 on the wall of the utility room a jig to help me bend the strip in half, meaning it was no longer just a strip… it was a bracket!

Strip + bending = bracket!

I placed the strip inside the duct and slid it up against the base of the filter, so I’d know where to secure it, then drew a line along the edge of the bracket with a Sharpie:

Finding the right location for the new bracket.

Secure and Finish

I removed the filter so I’d have a bit more room to work, lined up the bracket with the Sharpie line, then secured it to the bottom of the duct with some sheet metal screws:

New bracket secured.

The final step was to replace the filter, and check to make sure the bottom couldn’t slide forward. Success!

No more filter sliding!

So what have we learned?

We’ve learned that donuts can totally help you remember DIY projects, and we now know the answer to the eternal question: “How many BYU Business School graduates does it take to fix a furnace filter duct?”

I little over a year ago, I made my very first plumbing-related blog post: a report on how I learned I should flush my water heater to eliminate rust-colored water, and should replace its anode when it’s fully eroded. Since that first post, I’ve enjoyed progressively attempting more complex DIY plumbing projects, and have shared most of them with you here on my blog. And bolstered by the success of those projects, I decided last week it was time to take on what I consider to be my first “major” DIY plumbing project: replacing a water heater!

How to Know When to Replace Your Water Heater

On average, a quality water heater should last between 12-15 years. As a general guide for how long yours will probably last, check the warranty on your unit. As with most warrantied items, they’re designed to wear right after the warranty period ends. Although, if you have extremely hard water in your area, the lifespan of your water heater could be significantly shorter. Or, if you have average water and/or maintain your water heater by flushing it annually and replacing the anode when needed, you could potentially double or triple its expected lifespan.

Most homeowners, however, don’t maintain their water heaters at all. Hey, I’m not judging — I didn’t do anything with either of the water heaters in our main house until that very first plumbing post over a year ago…  after both water heaters had been in service for over 15 years! And even though I finally “saw the light” and eventually started maintaining them, I still couldn’t fight the feeling that I was living on borrowed time (and it turns out, I really was).

There are a few obvious signs that it’s time to replace your water heater. The most obvious, of course, is if it starts leaking from the sides or from the bottom. If it’s leaking from a hose or fixture, those can just be tightened or replaced.  But if the tank has rusted through its wall or bottom and is leaking, you’re in trouble… and you’ve waited until the most expensive time to replace your water heater. Why the most expensive? Two reasons. First, if the leak causes water damage in your house, repairs house can get real expensive, real quick. Second, a major water heater leak will force you to shut off your water heater — meaning nobody in the house will be able to shower, do laundry, wash the dishes, or otherwise use hot water until you get a new one. And when you call up that plumber (in Beverly Hills… you know the one… “Mr. Everything Will Be Expensive)” and tell him to hurry over because you don’t have any hot water, all he’ll be able to hear is “ka-CHING, ka-CHING!” He’ll buy the replacement from a plumbing supply warehouse for $400, tell you it costs $700, and charge you $500 more to install it. And you’ll be far less prone to price shop, or even take a few days to research your options, when replacing your water heater is an urgent priority… and you’ll end up paying way more than you really should.

But what if your water heater isn’t leaking, but has visible rust or corrosion on the top, sides, and/or bottom? That’s still a sure sign it’s time to replace it.

Rusty water heater is no bueno.

Bite the bullet and spend the money to replace it now, before you end up spending money on replacement plus home repairs.

In my case, my two water heaters weren’t showing any signs of rust, but they had both been installed in 1997. Back then, this neighborhood shared a community well, and the water was extremely hard. And even though we’ve now got city water (and fire hydrants — yay!), those water heaters are now 17 years old, spent most of their life with hard water, and were neglected by me for all but the last year. So even with no exterior signs of trouble, I had a feeling that my aging water heaters probably looked like this on the inside:

Scale and rust buildup inside your water heater.

Build-up like that not only turns your water brown, but it forms an insulating barrier on the bottom of your tank… which requires more burning of natural gas to heat your tank. So by proactively replacing my water heaters now, I’ll save money every month by using less energy to heat our water.

Choosing a Replacement Water Heater

There are plenty of options for water heaters, but the two leading US brands sold by professional plumbers are Bradford White and Rheem/Ruud (Rheem/Ruud also make Richmond and GE water heaters). I’ve got two Bradford White electric units out at our cabin, and two Bradford White gas units at our Utah house. I like the Bradford Whites — they have a solid reputation as quality water heaters. But their anodes are integrated into their hot water tube (unlike the Rheem/Rude units that have standalone anodes), making it harder to extract the anode during my annual flush and inspection. Here at the main house, we’ve got two Rheem units: a 75 gallon tank that services some bedrooms, the laundry, and the kitchen, plus a 50 gallon tank that services a few other bedrooms. They’ve both been worry-free for 17 years, so I decided there’s no reason not to trust the same brand again. I located their model numbers, called Rheem’s customer support department, and asked for the current model numbers that correspond to my existing units. One major advantage of using a direct replacement is knowing I wouldn’t have to worry about modifying the existing overhead venting, and I also knew that the existing cold “in” and hot “out” water locations would work fine with the replacement units.

My existing 50 gallon tank is a 1997 Rheem 21V50-2, which is the same as a 2014 Rheem or Ruud PRO+G50-38N RU58. My 75 gallon tank is a 1997 Rheem 21VR75, which matches the current Rheem/Ruud PRO+G75-75N RU. I got the best price on the 50 gallon unit for $399 from a local hardware store (yay McLendon!) and picked up the 75 gallon monster at a commercial plumbing supply company (Keller Supply) for $899. I also picked up new expansion tanks for each of the new water heaters, because both of the old ones leaked water when I pressed their Schrader valves to test. Water from an expansion tank’s Schrader valve means its bladder has ruptured and it needs to be replaced (see this separate blog post on the importance of expansion tank testing and replacement).

Out With The Old…

Of course, before one can install a new water heater, one must remove the old one! I decided to start with the 50 gallon unit first, so for the rest of this article, I’ll focus on that one. I probably would have been fine using all of the existing hoses, pipes, and fittings that were already in place with the old tank, but since I wanted to make a few upgrades (I’ll explain below), I decided to replace most of the surrounding plumbing at the same time.

The day before doing the swap, I snapped some close-up photos of all the existing connections with my iPhone. Having them for reference makes it way easier than standing in a hardware store, scratching your head, trying to remember whether you needed a 3/4″ male NPT, or a 3/8″ compression fitting. Here are some of the shots I took of my old water heater and connections (click on any image to launch the gallery):

Armed with my photos, I met my Dad at the McLendon hardware store near his house for some old-fashioned hardware store father/son bonding time (when I was a kid, we used to hit Parkrose Hardware pretty much every Saturday morning). At McLendons, we tracked down their plumbing section expert (he wasn’t hard to find… he was behind the desk in the plumbing section), showed him the photos, and he walked around with us for 30 minutes, answering questions and making suggestions, until we had all the necessary bits and a more than a few helpful tips.

When I know exactly what I’m looking for, I go to the “big box” hardware stores like Home Depot or Lowes. But… if I actually need help with a project, it’s totally worth paying an extra dollar or three for the service and expertise that comes only at a hardware store filled with people who’ve actually used the tools and parts they sell. Rock on, McLendons!

After returning home with my bag of plumbing bits, I waited until everyone had gone to bed, then shut off the main gas outlet in the utility closet that houses the water heater. This turned off the burner, allowing the water in the tank to cool overnight. I also shut off the cold water inlet and the recirculating pump.

The next morning, I drained the tank by opening a nearby hot water faucet to break suction:

Open a hot water faucet any time you drain a water heater

then connected my Simer M40P mini pump (seriously – that thing has come in way more handy that I ever imagined) and sucked all the water out of the tank and into a nearby drain:

Using a pump really speeds things up!

Once the tank was empty, I warned my wife that I needed to shut off the water main to the whole house for a few minutes. Normally, you wouldn’t need to do that when replacing a water heater — you’d just close the cold water shutoff valve on the cold water inlet to the tank. However, during this project, I wanted to replace the old “faucet-style” shut-off valves on both the cold water inlet and the recirculating pump return line with “lever-style” ball valves, which are less prone to leaks, can be shut off quickly with a 90 degree turn of the lever, and can be quickly glanced at to determine whether or not they are open.

With the water to the whole house shut off, I used channel lock pliers and a Crescent wrench to disassemble and remove everything between the cold water inlet nipple on the tank and the threaded end of the cold water copper line sticking out of the wall:

Cold water inlet sticking out of the wall

Now came the first opportunity to use an awesome new tool I’d recently picked up: a four-in-one copper pipe cleaning tool. I used it to quickly clean the threads on the 3/4″ cold water inlet pipe, wrapped the threads with Teflon tape, screwed on a 3/4″ Shark Bite ball valve, and tightened it down with a wrench.

Shark Bite 3/4″ ball valve installed

With the new ball valve closed, I turned the main water back on to the house. Next, I removed the Taco 007-SF5 recirculating pump  from its flanges (that’s the same pump I replaced in this YouTube video).

Recirculating pump removed

Next, I used a pipe wrench to remove all the brass and bronze fittings from the drain outlet of the old tank.

Bronze fittings removed from tank’s drain

Finally, I was able to remove the hot water line that connected to the hot water stub in the wall, disconnect the TPR valve from its discharge tube, unscrew and lift off the overhead vent ducting, then unscrew the lame excuse for an earthquake strap from the wall. Not surprisingly, I discovered that the “professional” that had installed the strap used tiny screws and put them directly into the drywall… nowhere near a stud. It’s not exactly “earthquake proof” when a strong sneeze could have knocked that tank over.

Final connections removed

At about this time, my Dad showed up at the house to help me with the swap. An old-skool farm boy from Idaho, he’s who I get my “handy gene” from. When I was a kid (and he was the age I am now), I’d “help” him with his DIY projects around the house every Saturday… mostly by handing him tools, holding flashlights, reading instructions, and playing “go-fer.” Now that he’s retired, we’ve swapped roles. I placed a comfy chair in the hallway in front of the water heater’s utility closet, and he settled in to watch me help.

With everything disconnected it was time to remove the old tank. It’s considerably lighter when it’s empty, but still heavy enough to require a hand truck. I muscled it out of the metal floor pan and onto the hand truck, then wheeled it outside to the driveway. Just as I was wheeling it down the outside steps, some rust-colored water that remained in the tank started pouring from the bottom side seam. I’d dodged a bullet — the tank was in the early stages of failure, and could have let go at any minute! I’d been right about living on borrowed time!

With the old tank gone, the utility closet seemed a whole lot roomier!

An (almost) blank canvas to work with!

But I wasn’t ready to bring in the new tank just yet. The old tank’s TPR valve had been mounted on top and discharged horizontally into a copper drain pipe in the wall, but new tank’s TPR valve was mounted on the side and discharged downward. So for the first time in my life, I got to use a propane torch to remove the plumbing sweat joint on the old copper drain pipe!

No sweat! Literally. I removed the sweat joint.

I did the same thing to the old-style recirculating shut-off valve near the floor. Note the awesome char marks I made on the wall!

Old faucet-style recirculating line shut-off valved removed

I used my four-in-one pipe cleaning tool once again to clean both exposed copper pipes, then used a Shark Bite cap to plug the old TPR valve discharge drain, and did my best to clean out all the crud in and around the metal floor pan (which, I discovered, had a drain into the floor in the far corner – cool!). Now I was ready to bring in the replacement water heater!

In With The New!

Using the hand truck once again, I brought the box containing the new water heater into the house, cut it open, and wheeled the new tank into place.

Looks exactly like the old one… but awesomer!

With the new tank in place, the first thing I did was use a pipe wrench to unscrew and remove the existing drain from the front of the water heater, then screw in a new 4″ red brass nipple with male threads on both ends (look near the bottom of the above photo).

Because most of the old fittings and flanges from the recirculating pump return line were bronze, I was able to clean them (using my new brush tool) and re-use them with the new water heater. Here’s a “before & after” shot of the two bronze Taco recirculating pump flanges:

All the bronze hardware cleaned up nicely!

I spent a good chunk of time disassembling, brushing, cleaning, and re-applying fresh Teflon tape to all the threads of the brass and bronze recirculating pump and drain line components, but it was totally worth it. I put them all aside for re-assembly later.

Next, I re-installed the vent ducting on the top of the water heater, and used my original sheet metal screws from the old water heater to attach it. Because the new tank was the same height as the old one, the ducting didn’t need any modification; it just popped right back into place!

In order to make connecting everything on the new water heater as easy as possible, I decided to use CVPC pipes and Shark Bite fittings everywhere. CPVC is a special type of PVC pipe that’s rated for use anywhere you’d use copper, but it’s 1/3 the price of copper, easier to cut, and easier to connect (you can glue CPVC vs. sweat soldering copper).

Shark Bite fittings are “push-on” fittings that make plumbing almost as easy as playing with Legos. And the best part is that you can remove them with a small orange plastic horseshoe-shaped tool and re-use them any time. It really is ridiculously easy to use, and is perfect for rookie DIY plumbers like me:

Armed with my Shark Bite fittings and CPVC, I decided I’d connect everything up in the direction of water flow from the shut-off valve. The first thing I wanted to install was my new Amtrol ST-5 expansion tank. The factory-set precharge on this expansion tank is 40 PSI, but you’re supposed to modify your tank’s pre-charge to the actual pressure of the water coming into the water heater.

Because our city’s water pressure is a wimpy 40 PSI, we use a pressure boosting tank here at the house which keeps the water pressure between 50-65 PSI (the pump turns on when water use in the house drops the pressure down to 50 PSI, and turns off again when the boosted pressure reaches 65 PSI). But our pressure tank is down in the basement on the south side of the house, and this water heater’s location is on the main floor on the north end, so I needed  to know the exact water pressure at the expansion tank’s location. Using CPVC and Shark Bite fittings, finding the pressure was easy. I made sure the pressure tank was boosted to its max of 65 PSI, then clicked together some Shark Bite fittings, CPVC, and a pressure gauge to quickly get an accurate reading:

Building “temporary plumbing” is easy with Shark Bite

My glycerin-filled gauge showed that 57 PSI should be the max I’ll see at this location, so I took my new expansion tank out to the garage and pumped it up to 57 PSI. After that, connecting everything up was like playing with Tinker Toys. I turned off the shut-off valve again, used the Shark Bite disassembly clip to take apart  the pieces I’d put together, then used my Rigid Plastic Pipe Cutter to cut all the small pieces of CPVC that I’d need, click everything into place, screw in the expansion tank, and attach brand new stainless steel hot and cold hook-up hoses to the tank.

Everything clicked right into place

That round black plastic gadget to the left of my pressure gauge is a Watts Vacuum Relief Valve. My old tank didn’t have one installed, but after reading about how they can save your tank from crushing in on itself if a vacuum occurs on your water line, I decided it was cheap insurance. In some locations, they are actually required by code, so I recommend you spend the extra $30 to install it (see Update #2 at the bottom of this post for details about an additional check-valve that I now recommend including on the cold water inlet side).

With the water connections up top completed, it was time to turn my attention downward. I put a 1/2″ Shark Bite ball valve on the exposed copper recirculating return line near the floor (the one where I toasted the wall), and also installed a new gas hookup hose on the gas line just above it. I used yellow gas pipe Teflon tape (different than the stuff rated just for water or air use) to make sure all the fittings were sealed tight, then connected the hose to the water heater’s gas inlet. Before turning on the gas valve at the wall, I covered all the joints with some Oatey Leak Detector, which creates highly visible bubbles if there’s a gas leak. You can also diluted dish detergent (which was always good enough for Dad), but I had some of this stuff handy anyway, so I used it.

Gas line installed… and leak free!

I turned on the gas valve, and was thrilled to see no gas leaks. There was no water in the tank yet, but I wanted to make sure the pilot would light properly before I continued, so I turned the water heater’s gas valve to PILOT and pressed the ignite button (which was cool, since my old water heater had to be lit with a match). After a few attempts, a small blue pilot flame sprang to life behind the viewport:

We have pilot light!

I turned my attention next to rebuilding the recirculating pump return line. I started by placing a bronze tee on the 4″ threaded nipple I’d attached to the tank’s drain hole, connected the original ball valve drain on the right side, then worked my way back toward the recirculating pump’s flange connections using the bronze fittings I’d cleaned, as well as some new brass threaded nipples and a new bronze check valve.

I re-installed the recirculating pump and connected the flange on the other side. At this point, it was now easy to custom cut the correct length of 1/2″ CPVC pipes and use a couple Shark Bite 1/2″ elbows to finish the job.

Recirculating and drain line installed

I realized at this point that the anode rod in my old water heater was only about a year old, since I’d replaced it when I made my very first plumbing post in 2012. So in a massive fit of frugality, I decided to remove the brand new anode from this tank, add it to my collection of spares, and re-use my 1 year old rod from the old tank. Removing the old anode from the tank I’d taken outside to the driveway was easy, since I’d put fresh Teflon tape on it the last time I’d inspected it, and didn’t over-tighten it.

Removing the anode in the new tank that had been installed by the factory, however, was another story altogether. They had torqued that thing down big time. It took everything I had to break that thing free with a two-foot long long socket wrench. Hmmm… it’s almost as if the manufacturer doesn’t want homeowners to be able to remove them, so the tanks will wear out faster and you’ll have to buy a new tank sooner…

Anyway, once I got the anode out, I noticed that the factory had used only a minimal amount of Teflon pipe dope on the threads:

Factory installed anode rod

I cleaned it up, put it in my spares pile, then put fresh Teflon tape on the 1 year old anode from the old tank, before popping it in the new tank:

Slightly used anode ready for its new home

With the old anode in place and all the connections complete, I decided it was to time turn on the water and let the tank fill. I held my breath… and opened the newly installed Shark Bite ball valve up top. I heard cold water gushing into the tank, and kept a keep eye open for any leaks. To my surprise, there were none! I also opened the recirculating line valve near the floor, but waited to turn on the recirculating pump until the tank was full.

As the tank filled, I turned my attention to the discharge tube for the TPR valve on the front of the water heater. Because the floor pan has a built-in drain, I decided to make it easy on myself and have the TPR valve discharge straight down into the pan. I’d purchased a Watts 100DT drain tube for $4 at Home Depot, which is the cheapest way to go. I measured and cut off a small amount from the bottom of the pipe so that it would reach past the lip of the floor pan, then hand-tightened it into the TPR valve.

Once everything was in place, I added a real earthquake strap, and used a socket set to drive the long lag bolts deep into the wall studs. This tank is going nowhere!

When the tank finished filling, I turned the gas valve’s thermostat to HOT, and heard the satisfying “whoomf” of the burner firing. I was making hot water!

My first water heater install – and I didn’t ruin anything!

Carbon Monoxide Testing

If you’re doing any DIY projects that involve a fuel-burning appliance (such as a gas fireplace, gas water heater, gas stove, gas dryer, etc.), then your job’s not done until you’ve verified that the appliance is safely venting any and all exhaust fumes outside the house. CO poisoning is a real threat, and managing that threat should not be the type of thing you “come back and do later.” According to the CDC, more than 400 American die every year from CO poisoning. Take these safety steps now… or catastrophe could prevent you from being around later.

The venting on a gas water heater must be adequate to safely evacuate all exhaust from your water heater. And that means that it’s creating a draft that pulls the exhaust up and out. Hand-held CO testers are available, but the first “quick and dirty” test you can do is the mirror test. Take a mirror and place it close to the opening below your water heater vent, like this:

Water heater CO mirror test

Of course, the size of the mirror in the above photo is massive overkill, but it will still do the job. Notice how the mirror is fogged up? That’s bad. That means that CO is venting out the side of that vent opening, instead of being sucked up by a draft. The owner of this water heater should shut if off immediately and get a professional to help fix the venting issue.

If your water heater passes the mirror test, that’s good… but still not good enough. For any location in your house that has a fuel-burning appliance nearby, you should invest in a CO sensor to install nearby. They can picked up at any hardware store or online retailers. After replacing my upstairs water heater, I installed a First Alert CO615 plug-in sensor from Amazon. It cost around $30, and is easily installed directly into an outlet in the utility room like this:

First Alert CO Monitor and Alarm

It monitors the CO levels in that room, which should be zero if the vent is doing its job. But if the vent gets clogged, or disconnected, or otherwise compromised so it stops doing its job, that $30 could save my family’s life.

After replacing the downstairs water heater (see below for details on that project), I felt safe because I already had a CO sensor in the downstairs utility room that was hard-wired into my whole-house alarm system. After some more research, however, I discovered that CO sensors only last for between 5-7 years, and that one had been installed at the same time as the original water heater… which was almost 17 years earlier. I replaced that sensor, too.

Seriously – get a CO sensor for every appliance in your house that burns fuel. I know it’s cheesy to say something like “the life you save could be your own,” but it’s true… as well as the lives of your children and pets. Check out the CDC’s FAQs about Carbon Monoxide poisoning and how to prevent it.

Finishing Touches

As the water in the tank heated, I cleaned up my work area, verified the timer settings for my recirculating pump, then measured and cut some rubber pipe insulation tubes for all the hot water pipes. I used black duct tape to seal the joints and ends of the insulation tubes.

Insulation tubes around the hot water outlet hose and the TPR valve

Insulation tubing around the recirculating pump return line and drain

And that’s how I installed my very first water heater!

Final Thoughts and Lessons Learned

My final thoughts are that I’m extremely glad I decided to tackle this project myself. It seemed major at the outset, but after completing it, I realized it’s like anything else: if you have the right tools and supplies, work without rushing, and think ahead, there’s nothing “magic” about installing a water heater. Anyone can do it.

I also learned the CPVC and Shark Bite fittings are the novice plumber’s friend. I know plenty of pros who also use them, but for those of us who will probably only install 2 or 3 water heaters in our lifetime, they are no-brainers.

I also re-confirmed that while you may get the best prices from big box stores or e-commerce websites, there’s simply no substitute for an old-skool hardware store with an expert behind the counter who will steer you in the right direction.

So go check your water heater. The manufacture date will probably be on the sticker on the side of the unit. If it’s over 12 years old, you might want to start looking for signs of wear. If it’s much older than that, you may want to consider being proactive and swapping it out now. And feel confident that if a computer geek like me can swap his out in a single afternoon, you can, too!

I welcome your questions, comments, and feedback below!

UPDATE #1

I replaced my 75 gallon unit yesterday (1/22/14). Here are some before pics and the “after” shot!

Cold inlet and hot outlet on old 75 gallon water heater

Corrosion from leaky hot water outlet

Corrosion on cold water side, too

Old 75 gallon water heater removed

New 75 gallon water heater (with new expansion tank) installed!

UPDATE #2

I added a check valve on the cold water inlet side of the tank, which helped stop warm water from the tank expanding out into the cold line. I included photos with a separate blog post about it here. The SharkBite fittings made it a very easy job. If you’re reading this post and planning to replace your water heater, I recommend doing this, too.

If you’ve got kids, then you’ve probably noticed that they never have problems finding a switch to turn lights on. Yet mysteriously, they lack the ability to turn lights off. I’m convinced it’s just never something that becomes important for a human… until they’re paying their own electricity bill. Using an occupancy sensor switch can help — by lowering your electric bill and saving your sanity.

But I had a unique situation at our Utah house where I wanted to combine a motion sensing switch on the same circuit as a standard 3-way switch. As I imagine is the case with most people, we don’t usually enter our Utah house through the front door — we come in from the garage. Our door from the garage opens into a long hallway with a mud room area and coat closet on the right, and doorways to the the laundry and a bathroom on the left. This entrance hallway continues about 20 feet where it hits the kitchen and the living room. The switch for the entrance hallway lights is on the left wall, immediately after you come in the door from the garage. But there’s another switch at the end of the hallway near the kitchen that also operates the hallway lights, meaning the switches are wired as “3-way” switches.

What I needed was an occupancy sensor switch on the wall near the door that could turn on the hallway lights as soon as someone walked in from the garage (especially nice when carrying groceries). But I also didn’t want to lose the standard on/off functionality of the switch near the kitchen to manually control the hallway lights. I also didn’t want a motion sensor on the kitchen end, because it would turn on the hallway lights any time someone moved in the kitchen of the family room. My search for an occupancy sensor switch that could also function as 3-way switch led me to the Lutron Maestro 600 Occupancy Sensor Switch, and this post explains how it worked for me.

Lutron Maestro 600 Occupancy Sensor Switch

The Maestro 600 Occupancy Sensor Switch can support up to 600 watts on one circuit (hence the “600″ in the name). I counted 27 available colors on Amazon, but I settled for the Light Almond to match all the other switches at the house. The Maestro 600′s part number is MS-OPS5M, followed by a two letter designation for the color (so mine was the MS-OPS5M-LA). It can be configured via simple push-button commands to act as an occupancy sensor or a vacancy sensor. What’s the difference? An occupancy sensor turns the light on automatically, then shuts off automatically after a pre-determined amount of time (5 minutes by default in this case). A vacancy sensor requires you to turn the light on manually, but then shuts it off after it doesn’t sense motion for an amount of time. By default, this switch operates as an occupancy sensor, so that’s how I left its settings.

Installing the Maestro in the location near the door was straightforward. Throw the breaker to cut off power, remove the old switch, then install the new switch using the same wires. Here’s a quick video from Lutron, which even includes the additional info needed when wiring to another 3-way switch:

The only slightly tricky part was that I had to rewire the “companion” switch on the kitchen end of the hallway with a jumper wire in order to let it work with the Maestro occupancy switch. However, the included instructions explained it nicely (as does that video above), so it only took a few extra minutes to access the second switch and modify the wiring.

Once everything was wired up and the power turned back on at the breaker, I was pleased to see that everything worked exactly as I’d hoped. When walking in from the garage, the hallway light turns on automatically. I can turn it off manually with the companion switch when I reach the kitchen, or just wait 5 minutes and it will turn itself off. Additionally, I could manually turn on the hallway lights with the companion switch, and then the Lutron would turn them off again after sensing no motion for 5 minutes. When hitting the companion switch, I can hear the “click” of the relay in the Maestro switch, but that’s not a big deal. I also noticed that if I quickly hit the companion switch repeatedly, it would “ignore” some of the clicks. But that shouldn’t be an issue with standard use.

The Maestro Occupancy Sensor Switch retails for $41, but can be picked up for around $30 at most big box hardware stores (I got mine at Home Depot), or slightly less on Amazon.

It’s affordable, easy to install yourself, and does exactly what it promises on the box. It also looks sleek and modern, and will blend in with pretty much any decor. So if you’re tired of constantly reminding your kids to shut off their bedroom lights, I recommend buying one and installing it in vacancy sensor mode. That way, they’ll have to manually turn their lights on (and it won’t automatically turn on the lights if they get up to go to the bathroom), but their lights will shut off if the switch doesn’t sense movement in the room for whatever amount of time you set. Or install one in a pantry, closet, or laundry room and set it to turn the lights on automatically when you walk in with your hands full.

I’ll be buying a few more myself, and installing them in rooms where I’m always complaining about lights not being turned off.

During a visit with family over 2012 Christmas holiday, my nephew Jake introduced me to the world of “Plasti-Dipping” car parts. Jake drives a white VW Jetta, and used a product called Performix Plasti Dip to “blacked out” a few key elements of his car (grille, emblems, wheels, tail lights, and other trim pieces) to give it a custom look. Here’s a pic of Jake’s Jetta that I stole from his Facebook page:

Jake’s Jetta with Plasti Dip swagger

With cars that are relatively ubiquitous (such as a Jetta), I really dig the custom look. My 2008 GMC Yukon Denali (which lives at our house in Utah) is also a very common car — especially around Utah. I’d challenge anyone to drive more than 5 miles anywhere in Utah without spotting at least one… probably in black (like mine).

I bought my black Denali used at a car auction, and the previous owner had already customized it with wheels and tires, and also by removing the “GMC” and “Yukon” badges from the rear — giving it a clean look. I took the customization a bit further by installing these Escalade-style LED tail lights a couple of months ago, and by replacing all exterior incandencent white bulbs with “hyper-white” LEDs, but seeing Jake’s Jetta over Christmas inspired me to change out one more exterior element of my black Denali that had always quietly bothered me: the red “GMC” logo on the front grille. I always believed it would look way better in black.

Recently, I dropped by Home Depot to pick up a can of black Performix Plasti Dip (it comes in lots of colors), and found some time yesterday afternoon to tackle my first Plasti Dip project.

My good friend and master house painter Jerry Whalen has demonstrated to me over the years that applying the paint isn’t the most important part of a quality painting project: it’s all in the prep. So I initially started this project by applying four wide painter’s tape strips around the external edges of the GMC logo’s red sections, then I tried tearing small pieces to mask off the internal bits:

Masking attempt #1

It didn’t take me long to realize that a far better approach would be to simply cover the entire logo with four strips of painter’s tape:

Masking attempt #2

and then use the blade of my pocket knife to carve out just the red parts. However, while using my thumbnail to try and locate the correct spot to insert my knife, my nail pierced through the tape perfectly, and I found it quicker and easier to get a precise edge just by using my thumbnails and fingernails to unmask the red parts:

“M” unmasked with my fingernails

After discovering this trick, unmasking the rest of the logo only took a few minutes:

Just the red bits exposed

Since I’d never used Plasti Dip before, I didn’t know how bad the potential overspray could be, so I used some more painter’s tape to mask off a wider area around the logo:

Ready for a first coat of Plasti Dip

Next, I followed the directions on the can and shook it for a full minute. I did a test spray on my snow-covered front lawn to get a feel for how wide the spray pattern would be, and then I shot my first coat on the emblem:

First coat of Plasti Dip applied

You can still see a lot of red through the first coat, but that’s fine. The can says to wait 30 minutes between coats, and then keep applying until you’re happy with the result.

I went a little heavier on coat 2 (maybe a bit too heavy) and probably went a bit too early, too:

Coat #2 applied

I had some drips and bubbles, but I did my best to smooth them out with my finger.

Eventually, after 4 coats, I was happy with the color and texture:

All dry after 4 coats

Before removing the masking tape, I used my pocket knife to quickly run around the outside edges of the letters, just to make sure everything would separate properly. Then I carefully removed the tape to reveal the finished product:

My GMC logo is black!

I’m pretty happy with the result, especially for a first attempt. Although, If you know where to look, and you look really close, there are a few minor imperfections… but those are my fault for going too heavy and quickly on the second coat. That’s OK, though, because one of the great things about Plasti Dip is that while it stands up to weather and car washes just fine, it can be easily peeled off with your fingers. So I might take another shot at this the next time I’m down in Utah.

Also, the finish I used is a matte black, but Plasti Dip makes a “Glossifier” that will give a shiny finish to anything — including something that’s already been Plasti-Dipped. That’s something else I might try in the future.

Thanks again to my nephew Jake for introducing me to Plasti Dip, and for encouraging me to go ahead and give it a shot. It’s a cheap, easy, and non-permanent way to customize your car (and if you’re really crazy, you can even Plasti Dip your entire car).

After texting him photos of this product, Jake is now encouraging me to “dip my wheels.” That will take a few more cans of Plasti Dip… and a bit more courage. But I’m seriously thinking about giving it a go!

In 2007, I purchased a brand new, stainless steel, side-by-side KitchenAid refrigerator for the Utah house. It worked great for almost 7 years, until two months ago… when I noticed a small puddle of water coming from under the fridge. Upon further investigation, I also noticed that the unit wasn’t able to keep the freezer below 0° F or the fridge below 38° F, and and that the metal divider between the fridge and freezer (which is called a mullion strip) was warm enough to make the rubber door seal give off a faint melting/burning odor. I guessed that all the problems might be related, but I wasn’t sure how. I decided to attack the temperature and mullion strip problem first. One of the most common causes of a fridge not being able to keep temperature (as well as a warm mullion strip) is dirty condenser coils. If not cleaned regularly, they can get clogged with dust and prevent airflow from cooling the coils as the condenser fan tries to draw air through them. I removed the vented plastic cover on the bottom of the fridge, where air is supposed to come in, and inspected the coils. Ewww. They looked like this:

This is what condenser coils that haven’t been cleaned in years look like.

As gross as that looks, it actually made me happy, as I presumed this was the cause of at least one of my problems, and that cleaning the coils with a vacuum would solve it. After a quick cleaning, they looked much better!

Cleaning the coils would certainly fix my problem… our would it?

With the condenser coils clean, I rolled the fridge forward so I could check behind it. The puddle of water was bigger back here, so I knew I was closer to the source. I put my hand down next to the vent at the bottom corner of the fridge, expecting to feel warm air coming out as the condenser fan drew room air from the front of the fridge, across the newly cleaned condenser coils, and out the vent:

Checking for air flow from the condenser fan

To my dismay, I felt nothing… which meant my problem was worse than simply dirty condenser coils. Time to take things to geek DEFCON 3, which meant busting out my tools! Using a 1/4″ hex head drill socket, I removed all the sheet metal screws from the fridge’s rear panel:

Removing the rear panel to access the condenser fan

I could hear the compressor running, but I could see that the condenser fan wasn’t spinning. That’s bad. That’s very bad. To oversimplify it a bit, that means that while the compressor was circulating coolant through the metal tubes inside the fridge (to absorb heat) and through the tubes attached to the condenser coils outside the fridge (to release that heat and cool off), the condenser fan wasn’t drawing any air from the front of the fridge and across the coils to help them cool off. That’s explains why the mullion strip (which houses some of those heat-exchanging tubes inside the fridge) was warm, and why the the unit wasn’t able to keep things cool. I also noticed that the small plastic tube feeding water to the ice maker was resting against one of the copper heat-exchanging tubes. That tube was hot (due to the fan not working), and it had melted a small hole in the ice maker supply tube. Every time the ice maker called for water to make more ice cubes, water would spray out of the hole, forming a puddle on the floor. Here’s a close-up of the slightly melted water tube:

Over-heated heat copper exchange tubing melted a hole in my ice maker feed tube

I still didn’t know why the condenser fan wasn’t working, but at least I’d solved the mystery of the puddle! So to help cool off the condenser coils while I continued to troubleshoot, I grabbed a floor fan, turned it on HIGH, and set it at the rear of the fridge (my floor fan actually has double fans, but for obvious reasons I only turned on the bottom one).

Floor fan blowing air across the condenser coils

Normally, the fridge’s condenser fan would pull air from the front of the fridge and push it out the vent in the rear. But because I still wanted to be able to open the fridge doors, I put my fan at the rear of the fridge pushing air across the coils and out the front. As long as air is flowing across the coils, they’ll cool properly, and after a few minutes with the fan running, the mullion strip started to cool and temperature inside the fridge began to drop! As the fridge cooled off, I turned my attention to what I knew would be the easy fix: the melted ice maker tube. First, I shut off the supply valve in the wall behind the fridge.

Ice maker water shut-ff valve

Next, I used scissors to cut out the melted section of plastic tube.

Cutting out the melted section of tube

It looks like a sad and deformed piece of macaroni!

After a trip to a nearby hardware store, I returned home with a 1/4″ quick-connect plastic coupler, which is a far easier (and reliable) way to repair refrigerator water lines than trying to use copper fittings.

1/4″ quick-connect plastic coupler

I pushed the connector onto one side of the ice maker tube:

Quick-connect half-way done

then pushed the remaining tube into the other side:

…and done!

I turned the supply valve back on, and re-routed the plastic tube away from any copper heat exchange tubing to avoid such problems in the future, and turned my attention to the condenser fan. A condenser fan is designed to run any time the compressor runs. If your compressor is running, but your condenser fan isn’t, then one (or possibly both) of the following two things is (are) broken:

1. The condenser fan itself
2. The control board that provides voltage to the fan when it’s supposed to run

In most cases, your fridge’s condenser fan will go bad long before its control board does. Swapping out the fan is relatively fast and inexpensive, assuming you can get your hands on one (and they’re not hard to find). I removed the wiring plug from the fan, and checked the fan’s label to see what voltage it required:

The label says the fan wants 115V

I also noted the fan’s part number (UDQR007W7), and was happy to find that I could buy a new one on Amazon for less than $60. Please be a dead fan… please be a dead fan… I pressed buttons inside the fridge to lower the desired temperature, which kicked on the compressor. Using my volt meter, I checked the voltage on the wiring plug that I’d removed from the fan. At first, I read 109V:

109V reading

Then zero: Then 112V:

112V

Then zero again. The low and intermittent power readings let me to suspect that maybe the problem wasn’t with the fan, but rather with the control board that’s supposed to send at least 115V (and probably more like 120V) to the fan whenever the compressor is running. To find the part number for the control board, I went to my fridge’s secret compartment. Did you know your fridge has a secret compartment? Yep – it probably does! Because professional appliance repair dudes can’t possibly remember all the various part numbers for every electronic piece on your fridge (and let’s face it… if they did have that ability, they probably wouldn’t be working as appliance repair dudes), most manufactures hide printed wiring and service sheets somewhere in a part of your fridge that anyone other than a repair dude would probably never look. On this KitchenAid fridge, it’s tucked inside the rear of the plastic vented cover that I’d removed to clean the condenser coils:

The secret compartment where the printed schematics are hidden

And here’s what it looks like unfolded:

It may not be a treasure map, but it’s still got what you’re looking for!

The service sheet showed the main circuit board’s part number was 2307028. I looked up that part number, figuring I’d able to quickly get my hands on one for decent price, especially since my fridge was only 7 years old, right? RIGHT? WRONG! My search results included a number of major online appliance parts outlets that listed the control board’s part number… but all of them showed it as “Out of Stock.” After 20 minutes of searching through parts providers’ websites and owner DIY forum posts, I was shocked to discover that I was far from the first to have these types of problems with a KitchenAid, Whirlpool, Maytag, Kenmore, or JennAir fridge — all of which used this exact same Whirlpool control board with part number 2220398, W10219463, AP4411082, 2307028, W10185291, 2307005, 2303934, 2252111, or 2223443 (depending on the brand). But the kicker was that all sources reported the same thing: that part is discontinued, andWhirlpool Corporation (who owns KitchenAid and all those other brands) doesn’t make it any more! I figured there’s no way that could be true. My “high-end” fridge had cost thousands of dollars… and was barely seven years old! KitchenAid’s website, however, still showed the part priced at $225.79 as a “Special Order” item:

This actually doesn’t make me feel special…

I called KitchenAid’s customer service line and asked for their parts department. They informed me that their website was mistaken — they no longer make the part. But they did give me a phone number for an independent repair company that I could contact and arrange to ship my board, have them repair it, and ship it back. I took down the number, but wasn’t ready to give up so quickly. Further online research revealed an apocryphal story about the Japanese manufacturer of these boards being destroyed in the tsunami of 2011. I’m not sure if I believe that, but even if it is true, I find it hard to believe that Whirlpool Corp was unable to find another source willing to make them. They probably didn’t want to incur the cost of establishing a new vendor and going through quality control… although, with the seemingly high failure rate of these boards, it doesn’t seem like quality control is really that big a deal to them. Anyway, when my “regular” DIY parts sources don’t come through for me, I go where all power shoppers go: eBay! I searched for “2307028″ on eBay and was flabbergasted by what I found. Turns out you can buy a replacement control board… for $850! Obviously, once this problem became widespread among the thousands of owners whose refrigerators rely on this defect-prone board, the laws of supply and demand took hold… driving the price of this control board to nearly half the price of a new fridge (or a tenth of the price if you bought a $9,000 Architect Series model). eBay listings also included repair services for the control board priced around $250. That’s still nuts for a board that used to cost less than that brand new! In my geek rage, I decided I’d do a little more tinkering before I caved and paid for the repair. It was time to yank the control board and see if I could identify the problem myself. I unplugged the fridge, moved my fan out of the way, then used a screwdriver to remove the inverter box (the grey plastic box in this photo):

The grey plastic inverter box needs to be moved out of the way to access the metal control board housing

With the inverter box out of the way, I removed the screws holding the metal control board housing in place, then pulled the housing out to expose the control board:

The infamous Whirlpool / KitchenAid control board!

I unplugged all of the connectors (it’s always smart to snap photos like this before taking anything apart), and got my first clear look at the naughty control board:

Control board with all connectors removed

I removed the board from the metal housing by pinching the five plastic pins (one in each corner plus one in the middle) and put it on a towel on my kitchen counter to get a better look:

Control board, up close and personal

Because I knew the problem manifested as intermittent power to the fan, I speculated that cause was most likely one of the following three things:

1. A bad physical connection where the board connected to the wire running to the fan
2. A failed (or failing) capacitor that regulates the power to the fan
3. A failed (or failing) relay that switches power to the fan

I traced the two condenser fan wires back from the fan to determine which of the six plastic plug connectors on the board fed voltage to the fan, and it turned out to be two of the pins in the connector marked P5 on the board (lower right corner in the photo above). I tested the wires for continuity, and they checked out fine. I flipped the control board over, and re-soldered the pins on connector P5, thereby (hopefully) eliminating possibility #1. To eliminate possibility #2, I inspected the capacitor nearest the P5 connector (looks like a silver cylinder wrapped in black plastic in the photo). It was a 220 uf 35V (pronounced “two-twenty microfarad thirty-five volt”) unit, and if you carefully compare its top to the other two capacitors in the above photo, you’ll notice that the light reflects off it differently… meaning it could be slightly bulging at the top, which is a sure sign of failure (or impending failure). Here’s a closer shot of all three capacitors (the one in question sits in position C32):

Faulty capacitor? Maybe…

I figured I wouldn’t take any chances, and capacitors are cheap… as in $1.49 at Radio Shack for a new one. I don’t shop at “Da Shack” much these days, but I can still rely on them for capacitors, and there’s a store less than two miles from the Utah house. A few minutes later I was back home with a replacement:

Will Radio Shack part 272-1029 do the trick?

I unsoldered the old one:

Old capacitor removed from location C32

and soldered in the new one, making sure to keep the “stripe” on the side of the capacitor facing the same direction (toward the bottom of the board) as the original (which is more important than just cosmetics):

New capacitor in place

To eliminate potential problem #3, I’d have to figure out which relay controlled the fan. I flipped the board over, and traced the circuit with my finger from the connecting pins and determined that the potentially faulty relay was the second one from the top in this photo:

Relays on the control board

It’s a 4A 125VAC (“four amp, one-twenty-five volts alternating current”) relay, and among all three possible problems, it had the highest probability of being the actual culprit. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a source for these relays in Utah, and I was headed back to Seattle in two days, so I wouldn’t have time to find one online and get one shipped. I hoped that maybe fixes #1 and #2 had solved the problem, so I re-installed the board and powered up the fridge. After a few minutes, the compressor came on… and so did the fan! Hooray! But after another minute or so, the fan stopped… while the compressor kept running. Nooooooo! I tested the voltage to the fan connector once again, and was disappointed to read only 88V:

88 is the perfect MPH for a time travelling Delorean, but bad for a 115V fan

And then zero volts again. Arrgggh…. Power still wasn’t getting off the control board reliably. I don’t leave a lot of food in the fridge when I’m not in Utah, but I didn’t want the food inside the freezer the thaw, so I decided I’d throw a temporary fix at the fridge while I was back in Seattle for a few weeks, and then deal with the control board issues again when I returned the following month. Using an old VCR power cord and some spare computer power cables, I cobbled together a 120V power cord and spliced it directly into the condenser fan. This meant that the fan was plugged directly to the wall, and no longer powered by the control board, so it would run 24/7:

Home-made fan power cable

Why did I make a connector instead of just wiring the fan directly to the cable? Good question! It was so I could easily disconnect it and install the back vent panel on the fridge, which is an important part of ensure proper air flow over the condenser coils:

Fan connector through the vents

I used the fridge normally for the next couple of days, and then returned to Seattle. On my next trip down to Utah the following month, the fridge continued to work fine with the compressor fan running 24/7, and I was tempted to leave it as it was… but the question of that final relay was still nagging me. So, at the end of my week there, I emptied the fridge (we used all the frozen food that week), removed the control board again, and decided I’d wasted enough time on the board myself. I phoned the company that KitchenAid’s customer service had suggested: CoreCentric Solutions. They quoted me $121 (including shipping) to “recondition” the board and send it back to me with a one-year warranty. I figured that’s a far better deal than some of the other online locations such as FixYourBoard.com that offer to do it for $220! I shipped it off, using the Utah house’s address as the return shipping address, so the repaired board waiting for me the next time I went to Utah (which was a three weeks later). As you can imagine, I was extremely curious to examine the board and compare it to the “before” photos I’d taken. Here’s what my “reconditioned” board looks like now:

Reconditioned board from CoreCentric Solutions

At first glance, it was obvious they’d replaced the C32 capacitor (the exact same one I’d already replaced myself), but their “RECONDITIONED” sticker conveniently covered the other new item on the board. Here’s a close-up shot with that sticker removed:

One of these things is not like the other…

I knew it! The original board had four identical NAIS-branded relays here, but CoreCentric Solutions had replaced the second one from the trop with an Omron 5A 250VAC relay… which is considerably beefier than the original 4A 124VAC one (Omron’s part number for this relay is G5Q-14-DC12). The heart-breaking news is that a relay like that costs about $5. I flipped the board over to inspect the solder joints:

Checking which solder joints are new

It’s easy to see a human-made solder joint vs. a machine made one, so I was able to quickly verify that CoreCentric had replaced nothing else on the board. I’d spent $121 to confirm exactly what I’d thought… the fix for the board was a capacitor and a relay totaling around $6. Live and learn. I installed the “reconditioned” board back in the refrigerator:

Repaired board back in place

I buttoned everything back up, and fired it up. After a few minutes, the compressor and fan came on… and they stayed in sync the entire week. The fridge now works great again. To make my $121 “tuition payment” worthwhile, I hope that anyone else experiencing this problem finds this blog post, tracks down the capacitor and relay I’ve mentioned above, then replaces them on their own control board themselves (or you can ask a geeky friend with basic soldering skillz to do it for you). I’m very disappointed in Whirlpool Corp’s lack of customer service with this issue, particularly since this one control board affects so many of their products. Here are just a few of the model numbers of Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, Kenmore, and JennAir refrigerators that use control board W10219463 or 2307028: 10641522500 10641523500 10641524500 10641529500 10644022600 10644022601 10644022602 10644022603 10644023600 10644023601 10644023602 10644023603 10644024600 10644029600 10644029601 10644029602 10644029603 10644032600 10644032601 10644032602 10644032603 10644033600 10644033601 10644033602 10644033603 10644034600 10644039600 10644039601 10644039602 10644039603 10644322400 10644323400 10644324400 10644329400 10644422600 10644422601 10644422602 10644422603 10644423600 10644423601 10644423602 10644423603 10644424600 10644424601 10644424602 10644424603 10644429600 10644429601 10644429602 10644429603 10644432600 10644432601 10644432602 10644432603 10644433600 10644433601 10644433602 10644433603 10644434600 10644434601 10644434602 10644434603 10644439600 10644439601 10644439602 10644439603 EC3JHAXRL00 EC3JHAXRL01 EC3JHAXRS00 EC3JHAXRS01 GC3NHAXSB00 GC3NHAXSQ00 GC3NHAXST00 GC3NHAXSY00 GC3NHAXVA00 GC3NHAXVA01 GC3NHAXVB00 GC3NHAXVB01 GC3NHAXVQ00 GC3NHAXVQ01 GC3NHAXVS00 GC3NHAXVS01 GC3NHAXVY00 GC3NHAXVY01 GC3PHEXNB00 GC3PHEXNB01 GC3PHEXNB02 GC3PHEXNB03 GC3PHEXNQ00 GC3PHEXNQ01 GC3PHEXNQ02 GC3PHEXNQ03 GC3PHEXNS00 GC3PHEXNS01 GC3PHEXNS02 GC3PHEXNS03 GC3PHEXNT00 GC3PHEXNT01 GC3PHEXNT02 GC3PHEXNT03 GC3SHEXNB00 GC3SHEXNB01 GC3SHEXNB02 GC3SHEXNB03 GC3SHEXNB04 GC3SHEXNQ00 GC3SHEXNQ01 GC3SHEXNQ02 GC3SHEXNQ03 GC3SHEXNQ04 GC3SHEXNS00 GC3SHEXNS01 GC3SHEXNS02 GC3SHEXNS03 GC3SHEXNS04 GC3SHEXNT00 GC3SHEXNT01 GC3SHEXNT02 GC3SHEXNT03 GC3SHEXNT04 GC5NHAXSB00 GC5NHAXSB01 GC5NHAXSB02 GC5NHAXSB03 GC5NHAXSQ00 GC5NHAXSQ01 GC5NHAXSQ02 GC5NHAXSQ03 GC5NHAXST00 GC5NHAXST01 GC5NHAXST02 GC5NHAXST03 GC5NHAXSY00 GC5NHAXSY01 GC5NHAXSY02 GC5NHAXSY03 GC5NHAXVB00 GC5NHAXVB01 GC5NHAXVQ00 GC5NHAXVQ01 GC5NHAXVS00 GC5NHAXVS01 GC5NHAXVY00 GC5NHAXVY01 GC5SHEXNB00 GC5SHEXNB01 GC5SHEXNB02 GC5SHEXNB03 GC5SHEXNB04 GC5SHEXNB05 GC5SHEXNQ00 GC5SHEXNQ01 GC5SHEXNQ02 GC5SHEXNQ03 GC5SHEXNQ04 GC5SHEXNQ05 GC5SHEXNS00 GC5SHEXNS01 GC5SHEXNS02 GC5SHEXNS03 GC5SHEXNS04 GC5SHEXNS05 GC5SHEXNT00 GC5SHEXNT01 GC5SHEXNT02 GC5SHEXNT03 GC5SHEXNT04 GC5SHEXNT05 GC5THEXNB00 GC5THEXNB01 GC5THEXNB02 GC5THEXNB03 GC5THEXNQ00 GC5THEXNQ01 GC5THEXNQ02 GC5THEXNQ03 GC5THEXNS00 GC5THEXNS01 GC5THEXNS02 GC5THEXNS03 GC5THEXNT00 GC5THEXNT01 GC5THEXNT02 GC5THEXNT03 JCB2488MTR00 JCB2581WES00 JCB2582WEF00 JCB2582WEY00 JCB2585WEP00 JCB2585WEP01 JCB2585WES00 JCB2585WES01 JCB2587WEF00 JCB2587WEY00 JCB2588WER00 JCD2395WES00 JCD2395WES01 JCD2395WES02 JCD2591WES00 JCD2595WEK00 JCD2595WEK01 JCD2595WEP00 JCD2595WEP01 JCD2595WES00 JCD2595WES01 KBLC36FMS01 KBLC36FMS02 KBLO36FMX01 KBLO36FMX02 KBLP36FMS02 KBLS36FMB01 KBLS36FMB02 KBLS36FMX01 KBLS36FMX02 KBLV36FPM01 KBLV36FPM02 KBLV36FPS01 KBLV36FPS02 KBRC36FMS01 KBRC36FMS02 KBRO36FMX01 KBRO36FMX02 KBRP36FMS01 KBRP36FMS02 KBRS36FMB01 KBRS36FMB02 KBRS36FMX01 KBRS36FMX02 KBRV36FPM01 KBRV36FPM02 KBRV36FPS01 KBRV36FPS02 KBUDT4265E04 KBURT3665E01 KSBP23INSS00 KSBP23INSS01 KSBP25INSS00 KSBP25INSS01 KSBP25INSS02 KSBP25INSS03 KSBP25IVSS00 KSBP25IVSS01 KSBS23INBL00 KSBS23INBL01 KSBS23INBT00 KSBS23INBT01 KSBS23INSS00 KSBS23INSS01 KSBS23INWH00 KSBS23INWH01 KSBS25INBL00 KSBS25INBL01 KSBS25INBL02 KSBS25INBL03 KSBS25INBT00 KSBS25INBT01 KSBS25INBT02 KSBS25INBT03 KSBS25INSS00 KSBS25INSS01 KSBS25INSS02 KSBS25INSS03 KSBS25INWH00 KSBS25INWH01 KSBS25INWH02 KSBS25INWH03 KSBS25IVBL00 KSBS25IVBL01 KSBS25IVSS00 KSBS25IVSS01 KSBS25IVWH00 KSBS25IVWH01 KSCS23FSBL00 KSCS23FSBL01 KSCS23FSBL02 KSCS23FSBL03 KSCS23FSBT00 KSCS23FSBT01 KSCS23FSBT02 KSCS23FSBT03 KSCS23FSMS00 KSCS23FSMS01 KSCS23FSMS02 KSCS23FSMS03 KSCS23FSSS02 KSCS23FSSS03 KSCS23FSWH00 KSCS23FSWH01 KSCS23FSWH02 KSCS23FSWH03 KSCS23FTBL00 KSCS23FTBL01 KSCS23FTBL02 KSCS23FTBT00 KSCS23FTBT01 KSCS23FTBT02 KSCS23FTMS00 KSCS23FTMS01 KSCS23FTMS02 KSCS23FTSS00 KSCS23FTSS01 KSCS23FTSS02 KSCS23FTWH00 KSCS23FTWH01 KSCS23FTWH02 KSCS23FVBL00 KSCS23FVBL01 KSCS23FVBL02 KSCS23FVBL03 KSCS23FVMK00 KSCS23FVMK01 KSCS23FVMK02 KSCS23FVMK03 KSCS23FVMS00 KSCS23FVMS01 KSCS23FVMS02 KSCS23FVMS03 KSCS23FVSS00 KSCS23FVSS01 KSCS23FVSS02 KSCS23FVSS03 KSCS23FVWH00 KSCS23FVWH01 KSCS23FVWH02 KSCS23FVWH03 KSCS23INBL00 KSCS23INBL01 KSCS23INBL02 KSCS23INBL03 KSCS23INBT00 KSCS23INBT01 KSCS23INBT02 KSCS23INBT03 KSCS23INMS00 KSCS23INMS01 KSCS23INMS02 KSCS23INMS03 KSCS23INSS00 KSCS23INSS01 KSCS23INSS02 KSCS23INSS03 KSCS23INWH00 KSCS23INWH01 KSCS23INWH02 KSCS23INWH03 KSCS25FSBL00 KSCS25FSBL01 KSCS25FSBL02 KSCS25FSBL03 KSCS25FSBT00 KSCS25FSBT01 KSCS25FSBT02 KSCS25FSBT03 KSCS25FSMS00 KSCS25FSMS01 KSCS25FSMS02 KSCS25FSMS03 KSCS25FSSS01 KSCS25FSSS02 KSCS25FSSS03 KSCS25FSWH00 KSCS25FSWH01 KSCS25FSWH02 KSCS25FSWH03 KSCS25FTBL00 KSCS25FTBL01 KSCS25FTBL02 KSCS25FTBT00 KSCS25FTBT01 KSCS25FTBT02 KSCS25FTMK00 KSCS25FTMK01 KSCS25FTMK02 KSCS25FTMS00 KSCS25FTMS01 KSCS25FTMS02 KSCS25FTSS00 KSCS25FTSS01 KSCS25FTSS02 KSCS25FTWH00 KSCS25FTWH01 KSCS25FTWH02 KSCS25FVBL00 KSCS25FVBL01 KSCS25FVBL02 KSCS25FVBL03 KSCS25FVBT00 KSCS25FVBT01 KSCS25FVBT02 KSCS25FVBT03 KSCS25FVMK00 KSCS25FVMK01 KSCS25FVMK02 KSCS25FVMK03 KSCS25FVMS00 KSCS25FVMS01 KSCS25FVMS02 KSCS25FVMS03 KSCS25FVSS00 KSCS25FVSS01 KSCS25FVSS02 KSCS25FVSS03 KSCS25FVWH00 KSCS25FVWH01 KSCS25FVWH02 KSCS25FVWH03 KSCS25INBL00 KSCS25INBL01 KSCS25INBL02 KSCS25INBL03 KSCS25INBT00 KSCS25INBT01 KSCS25INBT02 KSCS25INBT03 KSCS25INMS00 KSCS25INMS01 KSCS25INMS02 KSCS25INMS03 KSCS25INSS00 KSCS25INSS01 KSCS25INSS02 KSCS25INSS03 KSCS25INWH00 KSCS25INWH01 KSCS25INWH02 KSCS25INWH03 KSCS25MSMS00 KSCS25MSMS01 KSCS25MTMK00 KSCS25MTMK01 KSCS25MTMS00 KSCS25MTMS01 KSCS25MVMK00 KSCS25MVMS00 KSSC36FMS01 KSSC36FMS02 KSSC36FMS03 KSSC36QMS01 KSSC36QMS02 KSSC36QMS03 KSSC42FMS01 KSSC42FMS02 KSSC42FMS03 KSSC42QMS01 KSSC42QMS02 KSSC42QMS03 KSSC42QMU01 KSSC48FMS01 KSSC48FMS02 KSSC48FMS03 KSSC48QMS01 KSSC48QMS02 KSSC48QMS03 KSSO36FMX01 KSSO36FMX02 KSSO36FMX03 KSSO36QMB01 KSSO36QMB02 KSSO36QMB03 KSSO36QMW01 KSSO36QMX02 KSSO42FMX01 KSSO42FMX02 KSSO42FMX03 KSSO42QMB01 KSSO42QMB02 KSSO42QMB03 KSSO42QMW01 KSSO42QMX01 KSSO42QMX02 KSSO48FMX01 KSSO48FMX02 KSSO48FMX03 KSSO48QMB01 KSSO48QMB02 KSSO48QMB03 KSSO48QMW01 KSSO48QMX02 KSSP36QMS01 KSSP36QMS02 KSSP36QMS03 KSSP42QMS01 KSSP42QMS02 KSSP42QMS03 KSSP48QMS01 KSSP48QMS02 KSSP48QMS03 KSSS36FMB01 KSSS36FMB02 KSSS36FMX01 KSSS36FMX02 KSSS36FMX03 KSSS36QMB01 KSSS36QMB02 KSSS36QMB03 KSSS36QMW01 KSSS36QMW02 KSSS36QMW03 KSSS36QMX01 KSSS36QMX02 KSSS36QMX03 KSSS42FMB01 KSSS42FMB02 KSSS42FMX01 KSSS42FMX02 KSSS42FMX03 KSSS42QMB01 KSSS42QMB02 KSSS42QMB03 KSSS42QMW01 KSSS42QMW02 KSSS42QMW03 KSSS42QMX01 KSSS42QMX02 KSSS42QMX03 KSSS48FMB01 KSSS48FMB02 KSSS48FMX01 KSSS48FMX02 KSSS48FMX03 KSSS48FMXO3 KSSS48QMB01 KSSS48QMB02 KSSS48QMB03 KSSS48QMW01 KSSS48QMW02 KSSS48QMW03 KSSS48QMX01 KSSS48QMX02 KSSS48QMX03 KSSV42FMM00 KSSV42FMM01 KSSV42FMM02 KSSV42FMS00 KSSV42FMS01 KSSV42FMS02

Yeah. That’s a bunch of them. And there are probably more! If you’re the owner of one of these refrigerators and have experienced this problem, please tell me about it in the comments!

Update: Solder Points for Replacement Relay

I’ve had a lot of positive feedback on this article, which is great. I love hearing about others who’ve been able to fix their refrigerators with these same steps.

I’ve also received some requests to point out exactly where the solder points for the relay are on the rear of the control board. This is another copy of a close-up of the rear of the board, with the five solder points for the relay that should be replaced outlined in red:

Five solder points for the relay are shown in red

I hope it’s helpful!

One of the reasons I enjoy doing DIY projects is because I love saving money. But not all DIY projects are created equal — and the least equal is replacing light bulbs. I hate replacing light bulbs. I feel very little satisfaction after doing it, and I often put if off until enough bulbs in a room have burned out that it makes my wife pester me nicely remind me to get it done. I’d seriously rather replace a toilet than replace a light bulb.

But what if there was a way to save money, while at the same time massively reduce the frequency of light bulb changes? That’s exactly what LED light bulbs and fixtures can do for the DIY handyman (or handywoman).

But be warned: not all LED lights are created equal. There are some specifics to watch out for, and tips for picking the right ones for your application. I’ve purchased plenty of the wrong LED bulbs in my search for the ones I like the best. I’ve also had bad luck with a few manufacturers, and great luck with others. The purpose of this blog post is to help you learn from my mistakes, and pick the right LED bulbs the first time.

LED vs. CFL

Maybe you’re reading this blog post thinking “Bah. I don’t have to worry. I’ve already got CFL bulbs at my house. Those are just as good as LED, right? RIGHT? Please say I’m right, Steve!”

Sorry… I can’t say you’re right. But I’ll try to let you down easy. Yes, CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) were first on the residential scene, and so they got a lot of attention initially, and they’re still around on store shelves. And because they’ve been available longer, they’re slightly less expensive than LED options. But the LEDs really are superior in practically every way. LED’s are even more efficient, they last longer, they turn on to full brightness instantly (CFLs are notorious for needing a “warm up” period every time they’re switched on), they’re available in “warmer” color temps, they’re more likely to be dimmable, and best of all, you don’t have to look at that weird curvy tubing trying to pass itself off as a bulb! So when your CFLs burn out, replace them with LEDs. Trust me, you’ll be happier.

Choose the Right Color Temperature

Probably the most important, yet most overlooked, factor in choosing an LED bulb is the color… or more precisely, the color temperature.

Let’s geek out for a bit. Light that is visible to the human eye ranges from red on the “low” end of the visible spectrum to purple (or violet) on the “high” end. Our eyes can’t see light that’s “below” red (called infra-red) or light that’s “above” violet (or ultra-violet). We can see everything in between, but how we perceive and interpret light differs based on where it falls within the visible light spectrum. Visible light that’s closer to red is interpreted by our brains as “warm,” while visible light that’s bluish or closer to violet is perceived as “cool.” So keep that in mind when choosing a color temperature for your LED bulbs, based on the “feel” you’re trying to achieve in the space you’re lighting.

Most LED bulbs and fixtures will have labels that say “soft white” or “bright white” or even “daylight.” My advice is to completely ignore those labels. Instead, flip the packaging over and look for a section on the packaging that shows the color temperature in degrees Kelvin. That’s the only true indicator of how “warm” or “cool” the light output will be. Check out this chart:

Color temperature in Kelvin

Notice that the lower the number, the “warmer” the light. The higher the number, the “cooler” the light. Standard incandescent light bulbs output light that’s around 2500K in color, which is soft and just slightly yellow. The warmest LED lights I’ve been able to find are 2700K, and that’s a perfect color temp for nearly all interior spaces in a residence (bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, living areas, etc.). Even if the package says “soft white,” don’t be fooled. I’ve seen plenty of 3000K bulbs that are labelled as “soft white,” and there’s nothing soft about them. As you can see from the above chart, that’s the same light color as a standard fluorescent bulb… which is not at all what you want for your living spaces. This picture shows (approximately) 3000K on the left, 2700K in the middle, and 2500K on the right:

Color temperature can change the “feel” of a room.

For garages, utility rooms, and maybe even pantries, 3000K is fine. You can still get away with 2700K, but I personally prefer something a bit more “industrial” and cooler for those types of spaces. Again, ignore the words on the package and look for the number.

For exteriors, either 2700K or 3000K will work… depending on the look you’re going for. The 2700K bulbs are a softer more traditional look, while the 3000K bulbs are slightly harsher, but not too harsh that it looks bad.

You can find 3500K LED bulbs for residential use, but I’d stay away from them. That color is so cool that it has a blue tinge to it, kind of like modern Xenon headlights. It’s not at all pleasant to look at, or live with. And please… for the sake of your neighbors, don’t use them on the outside lights of your house or around your driveway. They’re way too harsh and visually abrasive. You don’t want your house looking like a gas station:

3500K lights are what you’ll usually see at gas stations

Be Consistent with Your Color

Regardless of which color temperature(s) you go with, you need to be consistent. Don’t mix 2700K and 3000K fixtures outside your house — it sticks out like a sore thumb. I won’t say which neighborhood it’s in, and since we’ve got houses in three different places, I won’t be “outing” any of my neighbors by saying this, but I have a neighbor near one of our houses that has one 3500K light in one soffet and a 2700K bulb in the one next to it…  and every time I drive by it at night, it drives me crazy! That 3500K color is overly harsh, but it’s made worse by being near a much softer light. You’re better off buying the proper color to replace all your exterior lights at once, and then spend an afternoon putting them all in.

Get the Same Lumens for Fewer Watts

Apart from your light’s color, you also need to decide how bright you want your light to be. Color is measured in Kelvin, while brightness (or light output) is measured in lumens. Most homeowners can’t conceptually visualize the difference between 900 lumens and 450 lumens. But because we’ve all been raised with traditional incandescent bulbs, we can generally visualize the difference between a 40 watt compared to a 60 watt compared to a 100 watt bulb… even though wattage is a measurement how much power the bulb burns while lit, and not light output.

The “problem” (if you can call it that) is that LED bulbs are insanely more efficient than incandescent bulbs. They can put out the same amount of light output (lumens) as a traditional 40 watt bulb… while only burning 8 watts! That’s why you’ll often see LED bulbs with a “wattage equivalent” shown on the package. So pick the equivalent wattage for the light output you want, but make a note of the lumens (which will also be on the package). As we move away from traditional bulbs, start trying to think in lumens you want for a fixture, not watts. Here’s a comparison chart to help you choose the lumens you want:

Standard vs. LED Light Output

Also, if you’ve got a light fixture with a warning label on it that says something like “60 watts max” — keep in mind that’s a limit on the energy usage of the bulb, not the light output. So if you found a 100 watt “equivalent” LED bulb that actually only uses 14 watts, that’s fine to run in that fixture.

LEDs aren’t just Cool, they’re Cooler

Another major benefit of LED bulbs is that they operate at a much cooler temperature (actual temperature, not color temperature) than traditional bulbs. That means you don’t have to worry as much about them melting or burning lamp shades, you can touch them sooner after turning them off, and they won’t raise the temperature of the room while they’re lit.

LEDs Last Way Longer

For me, one of the biggest benefits of LED bulbs is that they last longer than traditional incandescent or halogen bulbs. Much longer… like decades longer. Normally, you’ll find a rating on the packaging for number of hours the LED is designed to last. The EcoSmart 6″ LED fixtures I use throughout our Seattle house are rated for 32 years, based on 3 hours of daily use. But even if I double that average daily use to 6 hours a day… that’s still at least 16 years before I’ll have to change it! Not only will that save you money in the long term, but quality of your marriage will increase as a result of not needing to be nagged lovingly reminded that you need to replace light bulbs.

Not All Brands Are Equal

As I said during the intro, I’ve had some bad luck with a few LED brands. The worst was “Lights of America” — which are sometimes sold at Costco. They didn’t last anywhere near as long as they promised on the package… so I removed them all and took them back to Costco for a full refund.

That doesn’t mean that all the LED light brands at Costco are bad, however. Costco also sell a number of bulbs from Feit Electric (also available on Amazon), and I’ve had very good luck with those — especially for my exterior soffit lights and motion detector security lights. I can recommend you try these out, but note that their color temperature tends to be a bit on the “cooler” side, even though it says 2700K on the package. I use these small Feit BR30 flood lights in multiple places both inside and outside our houses. I prefer them outside the house, however, because there’s a very slight delay when you hit the switch before they come on. That’s not a big deal for exterior lights on a timer switch (like this one), but it’s a tad annoying to me for interior lights.

My favorite LED manufacturer, however, is CREE. They started out providing the “guts” of other manufacturers’ LED devices such as light fixtures and flashlights, but recently got into manufacturing complete bulbs. They make the internals for my favorite LED fixture, which is the EcoSmart 6 inch LED downlight, sold at Home Depot and Amazon. I wait for them to go on sale for around $25, then I buy a dozen of them. If you have 5″ or 6″ can lights at your house, replace them with these EcoSmarts. They are dimmable, the color is perfect, and they update the look of any room without being obnoxious.

My favorite stand-alone LED bulb is also made by CREE, and I’ve also been able to find them at Home Depot and Amazon. My favorite is this 60W equivalent 2700K “warm white” bulb. It puts out 800 lumens of light, while only using 9.5 watts of energy, and is warranted to last for 10 years. I always keep a few of these on hand for interior lamps, fixtures, and wall sconces. CREE’s standalone replacement bulb is also available in a 2700K 40W equivalent (that only uses 6 watts of power), which is great for accent lighting. You can also pick them up in “cooler” color temps, all the way up to their “daylight” 60W 5000K bulb. But that’s way too harsh and blue-ish for anything other than a utility room, or maybe a garage. If you need more light output, they also make 75W and 100W equivalents (that actually use a fraction of that wattage). These are perfect for garages or exterior post lights.

I also love these Feit Electric candelabra base LEDs, which are perfect in our entry chandelier. That fixture takes 18 bulbs, and these all burn 4.8 watts each, instead of 40 watts each like a standard bulb. And I won’t have to change them for almost 23 years! I normally prefer 2700K for all lights inside the house, but I like the 3000K color in a chandelier because it creates a more “dramatic” look.

Changing chandelier bulbs is a pain. Using LEDs, you only have to do it every 20 years.

I also have to give a shout-out to Phillips, who have been making great LEDs for a while now. I like their color and light output, but they tend to be far more expensive than other LED options.

I recently swapped out my halogen bulbs in my driveway pedestals for some 40W Equivalent 2700K Clear Blunt Tip Decorative LED bulbs (candelabra base for the entry pillars, and standard base for the rest of the driveway and garage sconces). I love them. They burn 5 watts of energy each, and look fantastic at night.

Whichever brand you choose, I recommend keeping an empty box (or snapping a photo of the package) so you can remember which bulbs you liked for a specific application. That will help you eliminate visual differences between bulbs in the the same room or application.

Check for Dimming Capability

If you plan on using LED bulbs with a dimmer switch, make sure the bulb says “dimmable” on the package. The dimmable ones are sometimes slightly more expensive, but worth it if you need that function.

Look for “dimmable” on the packaging if that’s something you need.

Buy and Compare

If you’re new to LED bulbs, my advice is to buy a few different versions or brands for your application, then install them and see how you like them. Keep your receipt, then return the ones you don’t like to the store and buy a full batch of the ones you’ve decided to go with.

Lots of Pros, But Also Some Cons

As you can probably tell, I’m a huge fan of LED bulbs and fixtures. But there are some drawbacks to using them.

First, their purchase cost is much higher than standard bulbs. Over the life of the bulb, you’ll save money — from energy usage as well as not having to replace them as often. But the higher up-front cost can be prohibitive. My advice is to think long term and just bite the bullet. Their costs have come down since they first hit the market, and will probably continue to do so as technology improves.

The other possible drawback is that some older timer and motion sensing switches are sometimes not compatible with LED (or CFL) bulbs. I had timers at the Utah house that turned on the exterior lights at dusk. During the day, however, I noticed that the LED bulbs were flickering a bit, albeit very dimly. When I replaced the older timer switches with these newer Honeywell EconoSwitches, the problem was solved.  Most current dimmers and motion switches will support newer technology bulbs, and will say so on the package.

And speaking of the packaging, this is more of a vent than an actual drawback of the product, but it seems the packaging for LED bulbs is overkill. Most of the LED bulbs I buy come in huge plastic blister packs, or bulky boxes with excessive cardboard and 2-3 times the packaging material they really need. I realize it’s probably to help reduce theft (because the LED bulbs are more expensive), and maybe it’s to attract your attention on the shelf to convince you to try LED over traditional bulbs. But for a product that’s advertising itself as a way to save money and energy, it seems like there’s an awful lot of waste in their packaging. I’d prefer the simple paper boxes, like you get with traditional bulbs. Perhaps as LEDs become more mainstream, we’ll get there.

Final Thoughts

Again, as is probably obvious from this post, I’m an LED light fanboy. Because they use much less energy, I’m slightly less annoyed when the kids don’t turn off their lights (although that still doesn’t stop me from installing occupancy sensors in their bedrooms). I really love the fact that once I install one, I don’t have to go grab a ladder for 10, 20, or maybe even 30+ years. I like the fact that they run much cooler, and present less of a fire hazard. And as long as you keep in mind the color temperature when you purchase them, the light can be warm, welcoming, and soothing. So if you want to save time, money, and maybe some of your sanity, give LED bulbs and fixtures a try. This might be the perfect time to wrap up this post by saying something like “LEDs are helping to create a brighter future,” but ending a blog post with something so cheesy is lame.

So instead, I’ll simply remind you that I always welcome your questions, comments, and feedback below!

You wake up in the morning, or come home from work, and you can instantly tell something is wrong. The house is cold. You can hear the furnace running, and you can even feel air coming out of the registers. But it’s not hot air coming out, it’s cold! Well, it’s not COLD cold, it’s just room temperature. As if the furnace is just recirculating the air in your house without actually heating it.

Which is probably exactly what’s happening.

You did the right thing by running to the Internet to solve your problem. I’m glad it brought you here.

This same thing happened to me many years ago, before I got into doing my own home maintenance (and before blogs existed), back when I was still (over-)paying repair guys to come to my house to fix stuff (I’ve told this story before in this Home Maintenance Parts post). It was a dark and stormy night. No, seriously. It was one of the coldest winters I can remember in Seattle, and my furnace had stopped blowing warm air. The house was freezing, and my family was complaining, so I started phoning HVAC repair companies to schedule someone to fix it. But because of the cold snap, all the furnace repair guys were slammed. The soonest I could get anyone to the house was two days later… so we got by with sweaters, slippers, extra blankets, and running the gas fireplaces 24/7 for a couple of days.

When the repair guy finally showed up, he was in and out of my house in about 10 minutes. It took just as long to write up the bill as it did to actually fix the problem — a bill for $200 ($150 for the service call and $50 for the part). But my furnace was blowing hot air, and my family wasn’t complaining any more, so I didn’t complain either… at least not out loud.

But I was complaining a little on the inside. I’d watched the repair guy do his 10 minute job, and it didn’t look difficult at all. He’d simply swapped one tiny part, which turned out to be my furnace’s hot surface ignitor — a part you can get online for around $25.

Hot Surface Ignitors

A hot surface ignitor works much like the filament in a light bulb. It has two electrical wires that, when energized, heat the ignitor’s surface to the point that it glows orange. Your furnace then shoots natural gas close to the ignitor, igniting the gas which warms the air that your furnace’s fan blows through your house. You can see the ignitor glowing brightly on the right side of this photo:

Just like a light bulb, your hot surface ignitor will eventually “burn out” from normal use. One tiny crack is enough to stop the flow of electricity, and make your house cold. Here’s what my old ignitor looked like — notice the tiny crack in the middle:

Eight times out of ten, if your furnace is powering up, and everything else seems to be normal — except that it’s blowing cold air (well, unheated air) instead of hot air, you probably just need to replace your ignitor.

Replacing a Broken Hot Surface Ignitor

Luckily, swapping out a hot surface ignitor is easy. Turn off the power to your furnace (by hitting the switch, pulling the plug, or tripping the breaker). Depending on your furnace, you may or may not need a screwdriver to remove the main cover. Some units have more than one cover panel, so just keep removing panels until you find it. Or I suppose you could break down and actually read your owner’s manual… but where’s the fun in that?

Once you locate the hot surface igniter, take a very close look to see if you can find any cracks. A flashlight might come in handy if your furnace location isn’t well lit. If you do see a crack, you’ve discovered your problem. If you don’t see a crack, don’t waste money by replacing it anyway and hoping that’s the problem. Confirm that it’s fine by using a multi-meter to test for continuity through both wires attached to the ignitor. If you don’t get the “beep” confirming continuity, your ignitor needs to be replaced. If it does beep, then something else is wrong.

With an older furnace, you may have to use a screwdriver to disconnect the old ignitor’s wires from the furnace. But with a newer system, you can just unplug it. There will probably be at least one screw holding the ignitor in place. Once the old one is out, put the new one in its place, reconnect it, replace any covers on your system (many systems won’t power up with the covers removed), and turn your system back on.

If your thermostat is calling for heat, it shouldn’t take long for your furnace to click on, heat the ignitor, and start burning gas again.

Congratulations! You’re back on your way to a warm house. Don’t forget to tell your wife how difficult a job it was.

Finding the Right Ignitor

There are many different variations of hot surface ignitors, depending on the model of your furnace, though they all work in the same way. The fastest way to find the right one is to locate your furnace’s model number (it’s probably printed on a label inside one of the cover panels) and search online for your model number and the words “furnace ignitor” (or “furnace igniter” — both are acceptable spellings). When you have the part number, search for the number on Amazon and order two of them. Use the first one to replace the currently broken one, and store the second one somewhere close to your furnace — so it’s handy when (not if) it burns out again. All three of the furnaces at my house use part number LH33Zs004, which will work on most Bryant, Currier, and Payne furnaces. I duct taped the box holding my spare ignitor to the side of my furnace, so it’s really easy to find when I need it.

If This Doesn’t Fix It

Of course, a broken ignitor isn’t the only thing that can go wrong with your furnace. It just seems to be the most common (in my experience).

The next thing I’d check is the fuse on your control board. Depending on the age of your system, it could be an older glass fuse, or a newer spade type. If the fuse is blown, simply replacing it might solve your problem. But if you replace the fuse and it blows again, then something more serious is causing that fuse to blow, and it’s probably time to call the repair guy.

If the fuse isn’t blown, then take a look at your control board to see if there’s a blinking LED light. When there’s trouble, your furnace will blink this light in a certain sequence to give you an idea of what’s wrong. Usually, the key for the blinking codes will be on a sticker on one of the cover panels. If you can’t find the key, do a web search for your furnace’s make and model to find out what the light is trying to tell you. It could be something easy you can fix without needing to call the repairman.

The ignitor won’t work if your furnace isn’t powering up at all. In that case, the next likely culprit could be the 24V transformer. It’s possible, but rare, for these to simply fail on their own. Usually, something else has caused the transformer to fry (usually a problem with the common side of the transformer being improperly grounded to the metal chassis — look for a screw that has pierced your wiring). Use a multi-meter to test for power on your furnace’s control board (touch one probe to the 24V terminal, and the other to the COM). You should see 24V when the unit is powered up (be aware that some units have a safety switch that kills the power when the panel is removed — you’ll have to tape this switch in the down position when testing). If you don’t, then the problem might be the transformer. You can buy a new one for around $50. But again, it’s likely that the fried transformer is a symptom of a bigger problem, not the problem itself. If you replace the transformer and it fries again, check how it’s grounded.

These tips cover the most common issues, but of course… you might just be one of the unlucky ones to experience an uncommon problem. In those cases, you may just have to bite the bullet and hire a professional. But watch him like a hawk, learn, and then please come back here and comment on the fix so others can benefit.

You Can Do It!

It’s easy to be the hero and restore warmth to your house by simply replacing the hot surface ignitor in your furnace when it stops blowing warm air. Just be grateful we no longer live in a time where fixing your furnace looks like this.

As always, I welcome your comments, questions, and feedback below.

The post Fix Your Furnace If It’s Not Blowing Warm Air appeared first on Steve Jenkins' Blog.

Something had been bothering me at the Utah house for a few years, so I finally got around to doing something about it this week. Take a peek at the photo below and see if you can find it:

If nothing in the above photo bothers you, then move along… this blog post is not for you.

But if you noticed that the tub drain and clean-out cover are both polished chrome, while the tub’s faucet and spout hardware are finished in brushed nickel, and it makes the voices in your head scream out in agony, then your problem can be solved for about $25 and less than 10 minutes of your time.

First, you’ll need to pick up a new tub drain kit in the finish you want. These can be found at almost any big-box home improvement stores, or you can easily find them online. It’s easiest to go with one that has the same screw layout as your existing clean-out cover (mine has a single screw in the middle,  but yours might have two screws), although most of the kits come with a piece of metal that will let you convert between the two. You could go with something like a Danco brand kit from Amazon with the same type of knob-based drain plug as my existing drain plug, or you could get fancy and replace yours with the “Tip Toe” drain plug type that allows you to open and close the drain with your foot. You’ll probably pay double for the name brand units that have “Kohler” or “Delta” or “Moen” stamped on them, but I went for the plain look to save some money.

First, start by removing the old trim from your tub. A flat-head or Philips screwdriver is probably all you’ll need to remove the clean-out cover.

Removing the pop-up drain piece might prove a bit trickier. But if you have a WATCO brand pop-up drain, you can watch my YouTube video to easily remove it with a flat-head screwdriver and a 9/16″ wrench:

To remove the “tub shoe” (the part of the drain that’s connected to the bottom of the tub), you’ll need to unscrew it from the base of your tub. These can be screwed in pretty tight, but you may get lucky and be able to remove yours by simply placing the handles of some pliers or channel locks down inside the drain, then turning them counter-clockwise (lefty-loosey) with the tool’s handles press against the metal cross pieces, like this:

But to do this job right, I recommend spending $10 on a tub drain removal tool, like this one. It makes short work of any tub shoe, and will come in really handy when it’s time to tighten down your new one.

Just insert the tool into the drain (the two ends support different drain sizes), and use a wrench or a screwdriver to loosen the existing drain, like this:

If the cross-pieces of your drain are rusted out, this tool won’t work for you. Instead, you’ll need to use a tub drain extractor like this.

One way or another, when you get your drain removed, you might see some material that looks like mud underneath it:

Don’t be grossed out — it’s only plumber’s putty, which is used to help seal the underside of the tub shoe to the tub and prevent water leaking under the drain.

Pick up as much putty as you can with your fingers (try not to let too much of it go down the drain), then use something like a scrubber sponge or baby wipes to make sure the area around the drain is completely clean so that your new drain will seal properly.

Now you’re ready to grab your new trim pieces. Here’s the brushed nickel kit I got for $29 at Home Depot (I splurged and payed a few extra dollars for the “tip toe” version):

When you take it out of the package, you might notice that there’s a threaded adapter on the threads of the tub shoe. Remove it if needed to make the drain fit properly:

Or hand tighten it all the way if you need to keep it:

If your replacement drain has a rubber gasket (as shown), you won’t need to use plumber’s putty when you install it. But if your doesn’t come with a gasket, you must use plumber’s putty around the drain hole before you install the replacement drain (use plenty — you can easily clean up the excess after you’ve torqued down the replacement drain). Seriously, don’t skip this part — you’ll never get a good seal without a gasket or putty.

Use your handy drain tool to tighten down the replacement drain (make sure it’s nice and tight to ensure a good seal). At this point, you can also install the matching clean-out cover above the drain.

If you’re truly OCD, you’ll need the cross members of the drain to line up properly, too… even though you’ll probably never have to look at them again!

Now you can install your new drain plug, following the directions in your kit. With a Tip Toe plug type, you’ll need to screw in the base portion first:

Then screw on and hand-tighten the knob that makes contact with your foot:

Now your tub drain and clean-out cover will match your faucet hardware, like this:

But before you celebrate, close the drain and put enough water in the tub to completely cover the top of the drain plug. Let it set for 15-20 minutes and make sure the water level doesn’t drop. If your tub sits above another room in your house, visit that room a few times during that 15-20 minutes to make sure you don’t see any drips coming from the ceiling. The time to fix any leaks is now, when there’s only a small amount of water in the tub… as opposed to later when it’s full of water.

If there is a leak, it’s probably because you didn’t use enough plumber’s putty, or because you didn’t tighten down the drain shoe tight enough. That $10 drain tool is probably sounding like a bargain at this point…

Once you’ve confirmed there are no leaks, you can sit back and relax.

Unless, of course, you have other bathrooms in your house where the $&*%-ing builder didn’t care enough to match the finish on all the bathroom hardware. If that’s the case, once you’ve done this job once, the next time will be even faster. I also swapped out the guest bathroom trim pieces in under 6 minutes.

Before:

And after:

And then…

finally…

the voices in my my head…

were quiet.

If the voices in your head would like to leave any questions, comments, or feedback below, I welcome them!

The post Upgrade your Bath Tub Trim – Fast, Easy, and Cheap appeared first on SteveJenkins.com.

If you’ve got a KitchenAid (or Whirlpool, or Kenmore) fridge with an ice maker that’s not making ice, don’t call the repairman. This is a very easy (and relatively inexpensive) fix that you can totally do yourself. These same instructions will work for any similar Whirlpool, Maytag, Kenmore, Amana, or JennAir refrigerator, since they’re all made by the same company and (for the most post) all use the exact same replacement parts.

A couple of months ago (after my epic saga with my KitchenAid fridge’s dead control board), that same fridge’s ice maker stopped making ice. Ok, so it didn’t completely stop at first… it just kinda made wimpy little wanna-be cubes of ice, and then it stopped altogether. Excited by another challenge, I grabbed my tools and test equipment, then started pulling things apart.

I jumped on YouTube and found this excellent video explaining how to remove the ice maker. Even though it says it’s for a Kenmore fridge, it was the exact same procedure for removing it from a KitchenAid:

I also found a number of troubleshooting videos to help diagnose and repair a failing ice maker. I used the “wire trick” to attempt to manually trigger the ice making process. I tried taking it apart, cleaning all the contacts, and putting it back together. I tried all the “tricks” I could find on YouTube and the blog-o-sphere… but nothing seemed to work. After eliminating all the other possibilities, I concluded that the motor was simply dead (and I’d later find out I was right). I started shopping online for a replacement motor.

As always, I started by using my fridge’s model number to search for the part I needed (to make things easy, I snap photos of my appliance’s model and serial numbers, then type them into a Google Sheets spreadsheet so I can access them from anywhere — including a parts store).

I searched for “KSCS23INSS00 ice maker part number” and discovered that the Whirlpool OEM part number for my KitchenAid ice maker was 2198597, but that part number would replace any of these identical ice makers from Whirlpool, Kenmore, Amana, JennAir, or MayTag; W10122502, 626663, 1016069, 2198678, AH869316, EA869316, PS869316, or W10190960.

Using the new part number, I started shopping for replacements. I found I could buy the whole ice maker unit from a number of online parts sources between $107 – $110 (brand new). Some locations like PartsSelect even provide helpful videos on how to replace them (which I recommend watching). I could save a bit of money if I just bought the motor assembly portion, which was slightly cheaper at between $80 – $95 (there were also helpful videos).

But as it has so many times before, Amazon.com came to my rescue. First, I found this complete Whirlpool Icemaker 2198597 for $78.31 (including free Prime shipping). I figured that would be way cheaper than getting the repair dude to come out, plus I’d be buying the whole unit for less than the cost of just the motor module from the other places… so I almost clicked the button to just go ahead and just buy it.

But then, I saw that tiny little link near the bottom of the item description that said “6 used from $46.46” — and I was intrigued.

I mean, who sells a used ice maker on Amazon? The answer is: nobody. The “secret” is that they’re not actually used, but are actually ice makers that have been purchased and then returned to Amazon.com. At that point, Amazon can’t sell them as “new” any more, so they sell them through their “Amazon Warehouse Deals” program. Sometimes the packaging is missing or damaged, and sometimes there might be a tiny scratch somewhere on the plastic. Amazon will always tell you the item condition (such as “Very Good” or “Like New”) and how much of the surface area might be affected (sometimes they actually say “less than 1%.”) But these items are good as new, work perfectly, come with Prime free two-day shipping,  and can be returned like any other Amazon purchase. As of the writing of this article, the cheapest one I could find on there was $61.05. I lucked out and found one for $46.46.

But whatever the cheapest one there is that’s sold by Amazon Warehouse Deals, just go ahead and grab it. Why was mine only $46? Because they said the original packaging was damaged. So when it arrived, and I took it out of the box, here’s what it looked like:

There’s a small rip in the plastic bag. Other than that, the unit was perfect! I placed the new unit (on the left) next to the old unit (on the right) to compare them. The easiest way to tell them apart is the newer unit has a darker and shinier brown non-stick lining on the metal tray where the ice cubes form, while the old unit’s tray looks weathered:

With both units side by side, I noticed one very minor difference between the new ice maker and the old one. Look closely and see if you can find it. I didn’t know if it would make any difference once installed (looking back, probably not), but I didn’t want to take any chances. Besides, I’d already taken my old one apart previously when troubleshooting it, so I knew it was just a matter of a few screws and less than 5 minutes to partially disassemble both units and move the slightly different part from the old ice maker to the new one.

Did you find the difference? My old unit had a smaller “bucket” on its right side that catches water flowing from an overhead rubber tube into the unit, and the newer unit had a larger one. This photo shows my old bucket (now attached to the new ice maker) with the newer (but larger) bucket next to it:

I had to pull off the motor assemblies from each unit to swap out the buckets, but that gave me a chance to compare them, too:

Here’s a close-up of the old (broken) motor on the right, with the replacement unit’s motor on the left:

The units look identical (except for the sticker placement), but I like to tell myself that they hopefully found a better motor supplier and that this ice maker will last more than seven years. Probably not, but at least I’ll know how to replace it again in seven more years.

A few minutes later, everything was back together and my ice maker was back inside the freezer (this photo was taken before I installed the front cover):

I closed the door, crossed my fingers, and let some time go by. Every now and then I’d hear the magical “hissing” of water flowing into the ice maker, and then later hear the “clunk clunk clunk” of 8 cubes at a time falling into the in-door ice bucket. Behold!

Do some of the “tricks” available online work to fix your ice maker? Probably — if it’s just a loose or corroded connection. But chances are high that the problem’s going to lie with one of the electrical points in the system, which is going to either be the motor that rotates the arms to eject the ice, or the thermostat that regulates the heating of the ice when it’s time to dump the ice.

For $40 – $60 plus literally 5 to 10 minutes of work (and it will probably only take you 10 minutes if you’re missing an arm) to pop in a brand new unit, at some point it’s just not worth wasting your time trying to hack your way around a broken appliance… especially when no “trick” in the world is going to fix a dead electric motor.

If you’re not paying for the repair guy, and you just want to look like a hero and have a working ice machine again, sometimes the cheapest fix is to buy a new one on the cheap (with 2-day free shipping!) and install it yourself.

Again, for your reference, here are the links to the new and “used” (cough, cough) ice makers on Amazon:

• New Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Kenmore, MayTag Icemaker 2198597
• “Not allowed to say new” icemaker 2198597 from Amazon Warehouse Deals

WARNING: Do not be fooled by items on Amazon like the “ERP (Exact Replacement Parts) Icemaker” or “RIM597 Replacement Icemaker” being sold by companies like PartsHouseSupply or Supco. I’ve linked to them only so you know what to avoid, and not so you can buy them (seriously… don’t buy them).

Even though they might reference the OEM part number in their description, these are not KitchenAid or Whirlpool OEM factory parts. When it comes to major appliances, stay away from anything that says “replacement” and stick with the factory parts. Those units I mentioned (and others like them) are cheap “replacement” units that are even worse than the factory parts. They will not fit exactly the same, and they will not work as well. Hear me now, believe me later. Don’t be tempted by the extra $20 in “savings.” You won’t actually save anything, and will end up with a badly fitting unit that spills water all over your freezer… and you’ll wake up to a frozen mess. Sometimes the cheapest isn’t the best value, and that’s the case with ice makers. Buy factory original parts… but buy them smarter.

As always, I welcome your questions, comments, and suggestions below!

The post How to Cheaply Fix a KitchenAid / Whirlpool Ice Maker by Just Replacing It appeared first on SteveJenkins.com.

I’ll admit it — I titled this post to attract homeowners who are searching for how to fix a leaky toilet. But wouldn’t it be even better if you could prevent your toilet from leaking in the first place? This article will help you do both!

During this year’s Spring Break, our family spent some time at our cabin in Eastern Washington. There are lots of way to relax out there: reading, watching movies, playing cards, using the 100 megabit fiber internet connection, etc. But one of my favorite ways to relax is to tackle DIY projects. So I was actually happy when I noticed that one of the toilets at the cabin was “hissing” for a few seconds every now and then — that’s the sound of the fill valve, and almost always a sign that the “flapper” inside the tank is allowing water to leak from the tank into the bowl.

Because I keep replacement parts on-hand, and because all three toilets at the cabin were installed at the same time, I decided to replace all three flappers at the same time. As I did so, I realized that there are four main components that cause most toilet issues. They are:

1. Shut-Off Valve – sometimes called an angle valve, this is usually located down near the floor and behind the toilet, that controls the water flowing toward your toilet (and that you use to shut off the water whenever you need to fix your toilet)
2. Supply Line – sometimes called a riser, this is the hose between the shut-off valve at the wall and the fill valve in your toilet’s tank
3. Fill Valve – the valve that fills your toilet’s tank when it’s empty, then shuts off the water when it’s full
4. Flapper – a (usually) rubber lid for your toilet’s flush valve — this opens when you press your toilet handle and allows water to flow from the tank into the bowl

There are a few other parts on a toilet that could go bad, but 99 times out of 100… one of these four items is the problem. And whenever water is involved, small problems can have huge consequences. In a best case scenario, it might just be a fill valve that doesn’t shut off at the right time, overfilling your tank and and wasting water. Or it might be a leaky flapper that causes your toilet to fill more often than it needs to, also wasting water. In both cases, your money is going down the toilet… and this $25 Toilet Tune-Up will pay for itself in the first month. But in a worst case scenario, a failed or leaky shut-off valve can cause tens of thousands of dollars in water damage to a kitchen or bathroom… especially when there are rooms below it (I wish I didn’t know that from experience). And if that ever happens, you’ll really wish you’d taken my advice.

Preventing home maintenance problems is always cheaper than fixing them (especially when water is involved), so this could be the best $25 you spend all year. This project is extremely easy and you don’t need any prior experience to do it.

Let’s go through the four components of the $25 Toilet Tune-Up, and I’ll explain why you need each of them.

Item 1: Shut-Off Valve (Stop Valves Suck, Ball Valves Rule)

There are two general types of toilet shut-off valves: multi-turn valves (also called stop valves or globe valves), and quarter-turn valves (also called ball valves). These valves aren’t just used on your toilet — the exact same valves appear under your kitchen and bathroom sinks to allow you to shut off water flow to your faucets.

You might be able to tell them apart just by looking at them, but how can you be certain which type you have? Go turn one off. Really! Right now. Go to a toilet or sink in your house and shut off the valve all the way (“righty-tighty” turns it off), then turn it back on. If you had to turn the handle more than a quarter-turn to get it all the way off, you have a multi-turn valve (or stop valve). If it only moved 90 degrees to the off position, then you have a quarter-turn (alwo written 1/4 turn) valve.

If you already have a quarter-turn valve installed on your toilet, go ahead and skip to the next step. Those valves are extremely reliable, and you probably won’t have any problems with it for as long as you own your home.

But if you have a multi-turn valve, I recommend replacing it immediately… particularly if it’s been installed for 10 years or longer. I’m very wary of multi-turn valves. I’ve witnessed multiple failures, and I personally had one fail inside a kitchen cabinet one time while I was out of town for the weekend… and I came home to a huge and very expensive mess. All that could have been prevented had I simply replaced it with a $7 quarter-turn valve.

Take a peek inside a multi-turn valve to see how it works — and understand its weaknesses:

As you crank the handle, you’re tightening down a rubber plug or bib-washer to plug the hole that allows water to flow through the valve. That rubber (like all rubber) eventually fails. Another rubber element that often fails is the packing washer that surrounds the stem. If you really did go shut off your multi-turn valve like I recommended above, it probably leaked a little bit, didn’t it? That’s the packing washer… not doing its job.

Now take a look inside a ball valve (this is a cut-away version of a larger ball valve that’s used as a shut-off for water heaters and other supply lines, but it works the same way as the smaller chrome one pictured above):

When the ball is turned 90 degrees, it blocks the water. It’s easier to use, there’s no rubber that breaks down over time, and any plumbing expert will tell you they’re preferred over multi-turn valves in kitchens and bathrooms.

When I replace a shut-off valve, I almost always use the BrassCraft G2CR19X angle valve (less than $9 on Amazon). The “upstream” side of the valve connects to the standard 1/2″ copper pipe coming out of your bathroom wall, and the “downstream” side heads out at a 90 degree angle (which is why you’ll sometimes hear this called an “angle stop”) to a standard 3/8″ compression fitting. But if your existing shut-off valve goes straight instead of making that angle, you’ll need a BrassCraft G2CR14X straight valve instead. You might need a slightly different valve depending on your existing plumbing, one of these two valves is almost certainly the one you need.

Here’s a good video (less than 4 mins long) that shows how easy it is to replace your shut-off valve:

Item 2: Supply Line (Braided Stainless Steel FTW!)

Once you’ve got the right shut-off valve in place, the rest of the upgrade is super-easy. Next on our list is the supply line. As its name implies, it supplies water from your shut-off valve to your toilet. They can be made of plastic, flexible PVC, rubber, or even a non-flexible metal like copper or chrome. Here’s one made of plastic with nylon braids:

Some of the other choices out there aren’t bad, but for less than $5 a far better choice is a braided stainless-steel hose, like the Fluidmaster B1T09. Stainless hoses are less likely to pinch, leak, or fail in some other way.

Measure the length of your existing hose to see how long the stainless replacement should be. It’s OK if the new one is a bit longer, but make sure that if you go shorter, it’s not stretching to make the distance. That will put strain on the connections and possibly cause leaks. Most supply hoses will have a metal 3/8″ female compression fitting on one end that connects to the shut-off valve, and a 7/8″ female plastic fitting on the end that connects to the fill valve in your toilet tank. If you close your shut-off valve before replacing it, you should be able to do so without spilling much water (and you won’t have to shut off the water to the house, either).

When installing the new supply line, my advice is to tighten the shut-off valve end hand-tight, then use a wrench to make it just snug… but don’t over-tighten. On the other end that connects to the fill valve sticking out the bottom of the toilet tank, a solid hand-tightening (about as hard as your hand can make it without making noises like The Hulk) is all you need. Of course, if you’re doing this entire “tune up” at once, you should install the new fill valve before attaching the supply line.

Item 3: Fill Valve

Depending on the vintage of your toilet, you could have any number of different fill valve setups inside your tank — ranging from the older style controlled by a large round float:

To the newer style “floating cup” style fill valves, like the ones inside every Kohler, Eljin, and American Standard toilet:

What those toilet manufacturers won’t tell you is that they don’t make those fill valves. They’re all just re-branded Fluidmaster 400A Fill Valves, which are less than $8 on Amazon. Every plumber I know keeps a dozen of these in his truck (and I always keep three in my garage). They are cheap, easy to install, and just work. If you wait too long to replace it, the rubber gasket at the base of the fill valve could fail, and you’ll get a leak like this:

The other big sign that it’s time to replace your fill valve is a slow-filling toilet.

If your toilet has one of the older fill valves (including one with any metal parts), or if you know the fill valve hasn’t been replaced in 5+ years, just go ahead and throw one of the newer Fluidmaster 400A valves in now to prevent problems down the road. Here’s how:

One thing that video doesn’t point out clearly is how to properly install the gasket on the bottom of the fill tube. The gasket goes on the inside of the tank, with the smaller “lip” facing down inside the hole in the tank. This will help make a good seal and prevent any leaks. When in doubt, check how the gasket it looks on the the old fill valve when you remove it.

Another minor issue with the video is that the newest versions of the Fluidmaster 400A no longer have a metal adjustment clip — now they have a plastic adjustment mechanism, which you just twist with your fingers to find the right fill height for your toilet.

Item 4: Flapper

Aptly named because it opens and “flaps” shut, a leaky flapper is the most likely cause of toilets that fill constantly. The fact that they’re rubber makes them flexible (so they can do their job well), but that also means they’ll break down over time — and if you have hard or chlorinated water (or if you put any bleach-based additives in your toilet tank), they’ll break down faster than normal.

My favorite is the Korky 100BP Ultra Water Saver Flapper, which is less than $6 on Amazon. At that price, you should have a couple of them on hand at all times. They’ll pay for themselves many times over in water savings. Depending on the style of your flush valve, you might need a slightly different flapper… but there will be a Korky branded product for it (Korky makes the best, hands down). Installing and adjusting the flapper for maximum water savings is a breeze:

Stretching Your Money

By spending this $25 on a Toilet Tune-up now, you’ll prevent expensive problems later. Once you’ve got a high quality quarter-turn shut-off valve and braided stainless-steel supply line,  those should be fine for many, many years — probably as long as you own your home.

I keep a few flappers on hand at all times, because flappers need to be checked and replaced regularly, perhaps every 4-5 years or so. Flappers fail faster if you have hard or chlorinated water. That’s also why I recommend not putting ANY chemicals inside your toilet tank (such as the Clorox toilet tabs). Those will attack the plastic and rubber inside your toilet. Instead, I recommend the Lysol No Mess Toilet Bowl Cleaner. It keeps the cleaning chemicals in the bowl, and outside the tank. I also keep extra fill valves on hand, though they don’t fail as fast as the flappers. On average, I replace them every 7-8 years or so, just to prevent problems.

To help you find all parts I recommend in this post, I put together this $25 Toilet Tune-Up Parts List.

Good luck with your $25 Toilet Tune-Up! As always, I welcome your questions, comments, and feedback below!

The post Leaking Toilet? Try the $25 Toilet Tune-Up appeared first on SteveJenkins.com.

The Ferrari Testarossa, along with its later 512 TR and F512M variants, are iconic cars of the 80s and 90s. Every kid my age wanted to be Sonny Crocket cruising around Miami in a white Testarossa. What we never saw, however, was Crocket having trouble starting his Testarossa. Every time he had to run from (or to) the drug dealers, the car started perfectly every time.

Those of us who own these wonderful cars know the real story: the Testarossa and 512 TR are notorious for their “hot start” problem. If you start your car when it hasn’t been running for a while, you’re probably fine. But if the engine is hot, or even still warm after being run recently, the heat soaks into the starter solenoid so that when you turn the key… it won’t start. In fact, it doesn’t even click. You get nothing. Fixing the Testarossa / 512 TR starter solenoid problem isn’t quite as easy as fixing a Sea-Doo starter solenoid, but it’s still doable even if you’re a first-time DIYer. And trust me… it’s way cheaper than dropping $2,391.56 on a new starter (yes that’s the real price, and no – you can’t just buy a new solenoid from Ferrari… you have to buy the entire starter assembly).

What Causes the Testarossa / 512 TR Hot Start Solenoid Problem?

Before attempting to fix the Testarossa / 512 TR hot start problem, it’s important to understand what causes it. The solenoid sits directly above the starter, just an inch or two to the left of the exact center of the TR engine bay (this image is a 512 TR, but the Testarossa location is the same):

Starter solenoid location on a 512 TR

Most TR owners agree that’s a terrible place for a starter solenoid, because it gets really hot right there. Inside the starter solenoid is a brass sleeve — and inside that is a snugly-fitting steel piston. That steel piston is designed to slide back and forth inside the brass sleeve to close the battery contacts and provide power to the starter motor when you turn the key. When the solenoid is cool, it works great. But when metal gets hot, it expands — and different metals expand at different rates. So when the solenoid is heat soaked, the steel piston inside the starter solenoid binds inside the brass sleeve and refuses to move… leaving you with a Ferrari 512 TR or Testarossa that won’t start.

Fixing the 512 TR / Testarossa Hot Start Problem

The trick to fixing the problem is reducing the friction between the steel piston and the brass sleeve, allowing the piston to move when heat causes them both to expand. You’ll need the following to do this fix:

• A brake cylinder hone tool ($15 on Amazon) and a drill.
• Some Blue Magic metal polish cream ($6 on Amazon) — this stuff is also great for keeping exhaust tips shiny!
• Some anti-seize lubricant ($7 on Amazon if you don’t already have some)
• A Dremel multi-tool ($37 on Amazon if you don’t already have one)
• A Phillips head screwdriver, a 13mm socket, and a 10mm wrench to remove the starter and solenoid.

Removing the Starter From the Engine Bay

Start by removing the starter assembly from the engine bay. Don’t worry, it’s easier than you think!

First, make sure you open the front bonnet and turn off the plastic battery disconnect knob on the passenger side (above the battery location).

Next, use a 10mm wrench to remove the two nuts (and their washers) holding the front of the coolant expansion tank in place shown here:

Remove the nuts holding the coolant expansion tank in place.

Use the 13mm socket to remove the three long bolts (with washers) that hold the starter to the large flywheel housing. Loosen all three first, then remove them the rest of the way by hand:

Remove these three bolts to free the starter.

There are two electrical connections to remove from the solenoid. First, disconnect the starter lead (it has a female spade connector that slides onto a male spade terminal) from back left side of the solenoid (you won’t need tools, it should just pull off). With the starter loose, it’s now easy to use the 13mm socket (or a 13mm wrench) to remove the nut and lock washer that hold the positive battery cable on the top threaded post of the solenoid.

With the starter unbolted and the solenoid disconnected, you should now be able to gently lift the coolant expansion tank upward and have enough room to slowly move the starter & solenoid assembly free.

Removing the Solenoid from the Starter

The solenoid is attached to the stop of the starter with three Philips-head screws:

Three Philips-head screws hold the solenoid onto the starter.

Those screws might have some Lock-Tite holding them in place, so there might be a bit of resistance at first. Once all three screws are removed, the outer housing solenoid should separate easily from the starter like this (I actually took these shots during re-assembly, but they still provide the needed visuals):

Solenoid housing removed from starter.

If the interior solenoid spring in the above photo falls out while you’re removing it, that’s OK. Just put it aside for later. The steel piston portion of the solenoid will now be “sticking out” of the starter like this:

Steel piston in place.

There’s another spring behind the piston that helps hold the “tail” of the piston on the starter motor lever (look at one of the pictures below to see what that tail looks like), and you have to “unhook” that tail by pushing it inward and wiggling the tail end upwards. It might take a couple tries, but you’ll get it. When the piston comes out, remove the retaining spring assembly and set it aside. This photo shows the starter motor lever on a Testarossa starter:

The starter lever on a Testarossa starter. This is where the “tail” of the solenoid piston hooks.

When the piston is free, put aside the starter and bring the entire solenoid assembly somewhere you can work on it (workshop, bench, etc.).

Grinding and Polishing the Solenoid

Here’s what my solenoid looked like before I did this fix:

Bosch starter solenoid.

If you look carefully, you can pick out the Bosch part number: 0 331 303 032. And what’s strange about that is that I’ve got a 1992 512 TR, yet that’s the part number for solenoid that fits on the the earlier Testarossa starter! Turns out the Ferrari factory used some Testarossa parts when assembling my 512 TR. Ferrari aficionados won’t be surprised by that. Before the more computerized assembly lines currently in use at the factory in Maranello, that kind of stuff happened all the time. These are hand-built cars, and so every now and then you’re going to get something “custom” like that.

Here’s what the brass sleeve inside my solenoid looked like before the fix:

Inside my solenoid sleeve.

Now grab your brake cylinder hone. Its course stones are designed to grind and smooth out the inside of a brake cylinder, but it’s also perfectly sized for a Testarossa solenoid:

A brake cylinder hone fits perfectly in the Testarossa solenoid.

Attach your brake cylinder hone to a drill, and gently insert it into the solenoid’s brass sleeve:

Don’t push it down too far or you’ll damage the stones.

Before you run the drill, get a feel for just how deep into the sleeve you can insert the hone before it bottoms out. If it bottoms out while you’re running the drill, it could chip the top of the hone’s stones (it likely won’t damage the solenoid, but will make the hone less effective).

When you’re ready, run the drill on high speed and hone the inside of the solenoid sleeve, moving the tool up and down slowly to cover the entire surface of the sleeve. Feel free to stop and inspect your work from time to time. After 45 seconds or so, it should look shiny and feel pretty smooth. You can hone it longer if you like, but I wouldn’t go for more than a couple of minutes max. Even if you go longer, it’s unlikely that you’ll take off too much material, but better safe than sorry. It should look like this when you’re done:

Solenoid sleeve after honing.

If you have a can of compressed air or an air compressor, it’s not a bad idea to blow out any metal or stone shavings left inside the piston when you’re done honing.

Now it’s time to bust out the Dremel and the metal polish creme to smooth the steel piston . Using a white cloth buffing wheel attachment on your Dremel (don’t use a polishing or grinding attachment), apply a small amount of metal polish to the wheel and polish the outer surface of the steel piston . Be sure to polish the tapered edge on the bottom, too. Start with the low speed to spread the polish around (it will turn dark grey as it works) and then increase up to medium speed on your Dremel to see a mirror-finish appear. If you never go full speed, and only use a cloth buffing wheel, you won’t actually remove any metal; you’ll just polish the metal that’s there. When you’re all done, wipe it down and inspect your work. It should be nice and shiny! There’s no harm in polishing all of it, if you want it to be pretty:

A nicely polished solenoid piston.

Great job! Now it’s time to start putting things back together!

Re-Assembling the Starter Solenoid

Test fit your honed sleeve and polished piston. There should be a lot less friction than before and it should slide in and out easily:

Much less friction after your fix.

Get your anti-seize lube (they sell individual packets at most auto parts stores) and head back out to the car:

A few dabs of anti-seize might come in handy.

Re-attach the retaining spring to the “tail” portion of your steel piston, then re-insert it into the starter body and latch it back onto the starter motor lever. Again, it might take a few tries, but you’ll get it. Use your finger to smear a small amount of the anti-seize lubricant to the polished outer surface of the piston so that it has just a light coating. Don’t use too much, or it could prevent the piston from moving inside the sleeve, which ruins the point of this process (if you use too much and the solenoid doesn’t move, just disassemble, wipe some off the piston and try again).

Finish mounting the solenoid to the starter by inserting the long spring into the middle of the piston (don’t forget this part!), then slide the housing over it. Re-secure the housing with the three Philips-head screws (some Loc-Tite on the threads isn’t a bad idea). Your starter and solenoid are ready to re-install!

Re-installing the Starter and Testing Things Out

I find it’s easier to re-attach the battery cable to the top solenoid post before moving the starter back into position, so rest the starter on the engine block while you use a 13mm wrench or socket to tighten down the lock washer and nut that holds the cable to the solenoid. Then lift the coolant expansion tank gently and move the starter back into place. Re-insert the three long bolts (don’t forget the washers) and hand-tighten them all as much as possible before torquing them down with the 13mm socket. Make them snug, but don’t over-do it.

Re-connect the female spade connected on the back left side of the solenoid.

Re-attach the washers and nuts on the coolant expansion tank, then double-check to make sure you have no “extra parts” left over, or any tools left in the engine bay.

Turn on the battery disconnect, say a prayer to the ghost of Enzo… and start the car.

If your 12 cylinders roar to life, you’ll know you didn’t mess anything up. But to truly test out the fix, you’ll need a passenger and a hammer as insurance. Drive the car until it gets hot. Go on the freeway and push it hard (obey all speed limits… cough cough… of course) and give the solenoid a chance to really get heat soaked.

Park the car somewhere safe (on a downhill decline would be best, so you can just bump-start the car in second gear using gravity, if needed) and shut it the ignition. Count to 10, then try to start it. If it works, congratulations! You just fixed your hot start problem!

But if it doesn’t work, don’t panic – you’re not stranded. If you can’t bump-start the car on a decline, open the engine bay and have your passenger gently tap repeatedly on the solenoid with the hammer (make sure you show them where it is so they don’t hammer something else accidentally) while you turn the key to start the car. Keep holding the key in the start position as they tap (it shouldn’t take more than 5-6 good taps). The tapping will jar the piston loose so that you can start the car and get back home.

Tweak your fix by repeating the honing steps and taking off some more material in the brass sleeve. In some extreme cases, I’ve actually heard of some owners that cut a relief channel in the sleeve. But chances are you won’t have to do any of that, and hopefully this fix worked for you on the first try.

Congratulations – you just saved yourself a couple thousand dollars, and kept the original part in the car (which is important if you ever take it to a Concours).

Alternative Fixes

If originality isn’t important to you, there are a few companies out there that make replacement solenoids that can be used in place of the original Bosch units. Ferrari themselves switched over to Denso solenoids part way through the 512 TR production run.

The original Testarossa Bosch solenoid was Ferrari part 120967 and Bosch part 0 331 303 032. It can be replaced by WAI part nbumber 66-9131, Ace Electric part number 7-851, or ZM part number ZM-576.

The original 512 TR Bosch solenoid didn’t have a Ferrari part number (you have to buy the entire starter), but the Bosch part number for the solenoid was 0 331 303 033. It can be replaced by WAI part number 66-9146, Ace Electric 7-745, or O’Reilly part number BWD S5402.

Just make sure that before you order a solenoid, read the original Bosch part number on your existing solenoid… in case you got a “custom” job from the factory, too.

I actually tried the TR version of the WAI replacement for my solenoid, and it fit perfectly. It even worked fine for a while, but the problem returned. I decided to go back to the original solenoid and use this fix, and look forward to many years of trouble-free starts ahead of me. I hope the same for you!

As always, I welcome your questions, comments, and feedback!

My baby – a 1992 512 TR.

The post DIY: Fix a Ferrari Testarossa / 512 TR Hot Start Problem appeared first on SteveJenkins.com.

Summer 2015 in Seattle has been officially declared the hottest summer here on record (check my weather station’s 2015 max temps on my Weather Underground weather history graph for geeky details). For those in the Pacific Northwest living without central A/C, it’s been miserable. And for those fortunate enough to have central air conditioning, running the A/C all day has been expensive. But things can get even more expensive if your A/C unit stops working and you call an HVAC repair man. Hopefully, this article can help you avoid that.

When your air conditioning stops working, what you’ll usually notice is that your HVAC fan runs normally, but the air coming out of your vents isn’t cold. If that’s happening to you, the #1 most likely cause is a failed capacitor in your outdoor A/C unit or heat pump. The #2 most likely cause is a failed contactor. I recently replaced both the capacitor and the contactor in one of our A/C units when it stopped blowing cold air, so I’ve documented the process to share with you here.

Disclaimer: Although these two fixes are simple enough fix for a beginning DIYer, you will be dealing with high voltage, and therefore you must take the proper precautions as explained in this article. Make sure power to the appropriate equipment is turned off, and that electricity in your capacitor is safely discharged (as explained below) before proceeding. There is a risk for serious electrical shock (enough to kill you) if you’re not careful. So be careful, and proceed at your own risk.

Recommended Tools

Before tackling any HVAC projects, I recommend having the following three tools in your arsenal:

1. A set of rubber-handled insulated screwdrivers. They are perfect for any electrical DIY work, but especially for high-voltage stuff like HVAC. You can pick up an inexpensive 7-piece set for under $20 like these Titans, but if you can stretch your budget closer to $35, this 6-piece set from Wiha is what the pros use (they’re rated to 1,000 volts).
2. A quality multi-meter (like the Fluke 117). Even though the HVAC-specific Fluke 116 is what most professional HVAC technicians use, the Fluke 117 will do most of the same functions as the 116 while also being slightly more useful for all your other electrical projects.
3. A Leatherman Wave Multi-tool. I never go anywhere without my trusty Leatherman Wave, and I strongly recommend picking up the Bit Driver Extender because the 1/4″ socket in the extender is perfect for inserting and removing those 1/4″ sheet metal screws used in most HVAC applications.

What are the A/C Contactor and Capacitor?

Your air conditioner’s contactor and capacitor work together to help power your air conditioner’s fan and compressor whenever your thermostat calls for cool (the capacitor and contactor in your heat pump work the same way).

The contactor is the “switch” that receives a low voltage (usually 24V) signal from your furnace to turn on. It’s a standard magnetic relay, meaning low voltage flows through a coil inside the contactor to creates a magnetic field, which then pulls down a piece of metal that connects both sides of the high-voltage circuit usually (120V or 240V). Closing the circuit allows high-voltage to power the fan and compressor motors. A contactor with one magnetic coil that connects one circuit is called a “single-pole,” if it has two magnetic coils that connect two circuits it’s called a “dual-pole,” and so on.

The capacitor is like a “battery” that stores some of that high voltage goodness to create what’s called a “phase shifted current,” which is what causes your fan and compressor motors to spin (thanks one of my readers, Jerry, for commenting and helping me understand that better).

Your A/C capacitor will be either a dual capacitor or a single capacitor. A dual capacitor has three sets of terminals on top: one for the compressor, one for the fan, and a shared “common” terminal for both to use. A single capacitor only has two terminals, and if your unit uses single capacitors, you probably have two of them in your system (one for the compressor and one for the fan).

Accessing Your A/C Contactor and Capacitor

Your contactor and capacitor will be protected by some sort of panel on your air conditioning unit or heat pump. The Rheem outdoor air conditioning unit at our Seattle house has a panel that removes with four screws from the top and side:

Removing panel screws from a Rheem air conditioner

The heat pump at our cabin has a curved panel on one of the unit’s corners. If you’re having trouble finding it, look for where the wires and plumbing enter the unit. That’s always where the panel will be.

Be careful when removing these panels, as some of the wires are “hot” and the capacitor may contain some charge… even if the unit is not running.

Here’s what things looked like under my A/C unit’s access panel:

Contactor and capacitor on a Rheem air conditioner.

The contactor is the rectangle switch-looking thingy on the left, and the round gooey mess on the right is the top of my capacitor. That gooey mess is a sure sign that the capacitor is leaking and needs to be replaced.

Diagnosing a Bad A/C Contactor or Capacitor

The only 100% accurate way to test for a bad capacitor is to use a decent multi-meter like the Fluke 117 (which is the one I recommend). But a quick visual inspection might be enough to indicate something’s wrong. If your capacitor is gooey (like in the above photo), it’s way to failure… if it hasn’t failed already. The other dead giveaway is a bulging top. In this image, notice the bulging top on the capacitor on the left. The one on the right looks normal:

A bulging capacitor (like the one on the left) is a sign it’s gone bad.

If your capacitor is bulged or leaking, that was probably your problem, and replace it will fix your air conditioning.

To test your contactor, a multi-meter is also helpful to confirm that you have high voltage running to the contactor (and that your problem isn’t caused by something as simple as a blown fuse or breaker) and continuity on both sides of the circuit when the contactor is “closed.”  But if you’re confident that your contactor is receiving power, you can do this quick-and-dirty test with a rubber-insulated screwdriver (the rubber is important so you don’t shock yourself). With the power to your air conditioner turned on and your thermostat not calling for cooling, hold the rubber-insulated end of the screwdriver and use the other end to hold in the “button” (circled in red in the image below) on the contactor for 5-10 seconds to manually close the circuit. The fan and compressor on your air conditioner or heat pump should run normally until you release the button.

Press this button to close the circuit on your contactor

If pressing the contactor button turns everything on, the capacitor is probably OK, but keep reading to test the contactor’s coil.

If you press the button and hear a hum, and the fan and/or the compressor doesn’t turn on, you’ve probably got a good contactor and a bad capacitor. The hum you hear is the fan and/or compressor motor getting some power… but without that “extra oomph” from the capacitor, it’s not enough to get it moving.

If absolutely nothing happens (and you’re certain you’ve got power to the contactor), you probably have a bad contactor.

If everything works manually, you still need to verify that the magnetic coil is automatically closing the circuit on the contactor when the thermostat calls for cool. Stay outside with your air conditioning unit and have a helper inside the house turn the thermostat down so the system calls for cooling. You stay outside and watch the contactor (you can do this from your phone by yourself if you have a smart thermostat like an ecobee). If the contactor’s button doesn’t get pulled down by the magnet to close the circuit when the system calls for cooling, the “coil” portion of the contactor is likely your problem and the contactor needs to be replaced.

In my case, neither the contactor nor the capacitor had failed completely, but the capacitor was leaking (as seen from the first photo) and the contactor was making a loud buzzing sound when the system was running — both of which are signs that failure is imminent. Because the parts are cheap and easy to replace, and because a healthy contactor and capacitor can extend the life of expensive compressor and fan motors, I decided to replace both the capacitor and the contactor at the same time, and it might not be a bad idea for you to do the same.

Buying the Correct Replacement A/C Contactor or Capacitor

The best way to find the right replacement for your contactor or capacitor is to go to Amazon, type in the model number of your old one, and purchase the same kind. Both items are destined to fail eventually, so if you need to replace them now, I recommend buying two so you have a spare on hand when this project is done. Or, if you’re reading this but haven’t had either of them fail on you yet (trust me, it will happen eventually… and probably when it’s least convenient), you should go through these steps to find the correct replacements and order spares now so it’s a quick and easy process to repair your A/C or heat pump when the time comes. The parts are cheap, and you’ll be the family hero when you can fix it before the house gets above 76F.

If you need to disconnect or remove anything to get a better look at the part numbers on your capacitor or contactor, do the following three things first:

1. Make sure power to the air conditioner or heat pump is shut off. This is different than the power to your furnace. There should be a large shut-off lever or a fuse panel outside and near the unit.
2. Don’t touch the terminals of your capacitor until it’s been discharged. Use a rubber-handled screw driver or rubber-handled need-nose pliers (the rubber insulates you from electric shock) to “short” the terminals and dissipate any residual charge in the capacitor. On a single capacitor, just use the tip of the tool to touch both sets of terminals with the metal part of the tool the same time. On a dual capacitor, dissipate both sides by using the tool touching the C and the FAN together and then the C and the HERM together. It’s worth noting that this is not exactly the “recommended” way of dissipating a capacitor (as one of my buddies mentions in the comments below). The “recommended” way to drain a capacitor is to use a 1000 Ohm resistor that’s rated for the voltage and hold it between the terminals for 5 seconds. With that said, I’ve seen lots of HVAC professionals use the screwdriver trick. As always, proceed with caution (and eye protection probably isn’t a bad idea).
3. Take close-up photos of the connections with your mobile phone (get a few different angles) so you know how everything goes back together.

When shopping for a replacement capacitor, you’ll need to make sure:

1. You’re buying the right type of capacitor.
2. The capacitor is able to deliver enough voltage to help power the compressor and fan motors.
3. The capacitor has enough capacitance to store that voltage until it’s needed.

Concerning capacitor type, there are two general categories: “start capacitors” (used only when the motor starts) and “run capacitors” (used the entire time the motor is running). Most A/C capacitors are run capacitors, but there are some units that will require a start capacitors instead, so make sure you get the right kind for your unit (again, thanks to my reader Jerry for his education in the comments about capacitors).

As for voltage, most air conditioners and heat pumps have compressor and/or fan motors that require either 370VAC or 440VAC to start. If your unit requires 440VAC, you cannot use a 370VAC capacitor. But if your unit only requires 370VAC, it’s totally fine (and not a bad idea) to use a larger 440VAC capacitor. With voltage, you can always go bigger than required, but you can never go smaller.

For the capacitance, make sure the replacement capacitor has the same micro-farad rating (shown as MFD or μF) as your old one. For dual capacitors, the capacitance is shown as “45/5” or “45+5” MFD, which means the compressor side is rated at 45 μF and the fan side is rated at 5 μF. For single capacitors, you’ll just have one value. Unlike with voltage ratings (where it’s OK to go bigger), you should not get a capacitor that’s rated higher in capacitance than the original. Keep the same capacitance in your replacement.

If your capacitor’s exact replacement is too expensive or hard to find, you can replace it with any unit that has the proper ratings. For example, my Rheem RAKA-037JAZ air conditioner came with a dual capacitor marked “Aerovox TT 10000 AFC SH1238.” I couldn’t find an exact replacement anywhere except direct from Rheem, and they wanted way too much money. But with some searching I found out that particular Aerovox is a 370VAC 45+5 MFD capacitor, so I purchased this TRCFD455 unit on Amazon for less than $11 (including shipping), which is rated up to 440VAC and 45+5 MFD. Again, it’s fine to go bigger on the voltage, but you can’t go smaller.

My existing contactor was a 24V Honeywell R8242A-1032, which isn’t available any more. The replacement is listed a Honeywell DP1025A 5006, which I found for $20 shipped on Amazon (note: the wiring for the new one was a bit different than my old one — read more on that below if you’re using this same contactor).

If you’re coming up empty, try contacting a local HVAC supply house. They might be able to tell you what you need based on your equipment’s model number. And some HVAC repair companies will sell parts direct to consumers if your house is too hot, you’re in a rush, and don’t want to wait a day or two for Amazon shipping. Remember when I said you should order spares before they break? Seriously. It’s cheap insurance!

Installing the Replacement A/C Contactor or Capacitor

Make sure you’ve followed the three steps mentioned above (power to the A/C unit or heat pump off, capacitor discharged, and photos taken) before you proceed.

My A/C unit had a large shut-off switch like this:

Shut off the power to your A/C unit or heat pump before you proceed, and don’t forget to discharge the capacitor.

Remove the access panel (if you haven’t already) and locate your contactor and capacitor. Here’s a reminder of what my old ones looked like:

Contactor and capacitor on a Rheem air conditioner.

Triple-check to make sure there’s no power to the unit (I did mention that 240V is nothing to scoff at, right?), then disconnect all the spade connectors from the part(s) you’re replacing. If they’ve been on there for a while, using your Leatherman’s pliers will make things easier. Remove any screws holding the part(s) in place. Check out how rusted my old contactor was on the bottom:

This rusty old contactor was on its way out.

Remove the old parts (in my case, I replaced both the capacitor and the contactor). If you’re installing a capacitor, double-check it to make sure it has the correct rating. If it’s too low, it won’t start the compressor and fan motors:

Replacement dual capacitor ready to install.

Drop the new part(s) into place and secure them (you can wait to the end to secure them if you prefer). The replacement capacitor should drop into the old hole, but it’s OK if you need to figure out a different way to mount it:

Securing the new capacitor.

Once the new capacitor and/or contactor are installed, re-connect all the wires using your pre-disassembly photos as a guide. If the markings aren’t clear, the C (common) terminal on your dual capacitor will have the most spade connectors (mine had four), the HERM (compressor) terminal will probably have one fewer than the C (mine had three), and the FAN will probably have only one. Here’s how my new contactor and capacitor looked when re-connected:

Reconnect your capacitor and/or contactor just like the old ones.

If you’re replacing an old Honeywell R8242A-1032 contactor with the newer Honeywell DP1025A 5006 contactor, read this next part carefully. The terminals on the older R8242A-1032 are marked T1, T3, L1, L3, C, and C. On the newer DP1025A 5006, the terminals are marked T1, T2, L1, L2, A1, A2. Logic might suggest that you simply hook up the T1 and L1 connections just like the old one, then connect the wires from the old T3 and L3 terminals to the new T2 and L2 terminals, right?

Wrong!

The internal wiring on the two relays is different, so when replacing a Honeywell R8242A-1032 with a Honeywell DP1025A 5006, here’s how the old contactor’s terminals map to the newer contactor:

• 240V to fan: T1 (old) -> T2 (new)
• 240V to compressor + capacitor: T3 (old) -> T1 (new)
• 240V from panel: L1 (old) -> L1 (new)
• 240V from panel: L3 (old) -> L2 (new)
• 24V from Thermostat: C (old) -> A1 (new)
• 24V from Thermostat: C (old) -> A2 (new)

It really doesn’t matter which old C wire goes to which new A1 or A2, and it actually doesn’t even matter if you swap the L1 and L2 incoming 240V power wires on the newer relay. But the old T1 wires must connect to the new T2, and the old T3 wires must connect to the new T1, or things won’t work.

When everything’s re-connected, turn your A/C unit’s main power back on:

Main power to the A/C unit turned on.

Then tell your thermostat to call for cooling again.

If you did everything correctly (and as long as you were careful, there’s no reason you believe you didn’t), your A/C unit or heat pump compressor and fan should both be running (instead of just humming) and chilled air will once again be flowing from your vents. Congratulations on a great DIY fix!

I won’t blame you if you walk around the house demanding high-fives from the spouse and kids.

Go ahead. You’ve earned it.

As always, I welcome your questions, comments, and feedback below!

The post Air Conditioning Not Blowing Cold? Replace your Capacitor or Contactor appeared first on SteveJenkins.com.

The most popular DIY post on my blog is, by far, How to Fix a Whirlpool & KitchenAid W10219463 / 2307028 Control Board for $6. As of this post, it’s received over 430 comments; the vast majority from frustrated homeowners who went online in a last ditch effort to find a way to make their Whirlpool, or KitchenAid, or Kenmore refrigerator start working again after being told the control board they need is no longer available… and discovering that for a few dollars in parts (and some very minor soldering skills), they can fix it themselves in minutes.

Even though I’d guess that more than 95% of the fridge owners who stumbled across my article were able to fix their problem by replacing a single capacitor and relay on the main control board, there are a handful who’ve experienced some other problems, too.

In the case of a visitor named Marco, he wasn’t experiencing the systems I described in my control board post, but rather a total loss of everything: compressor, fans, and LED lights stopped working. He tried disconnecting the power and plugging it back in, and saw all the LED come on then go off again, then nothing.

This was a sure sign that the Digital Inverter Control for his fridge was fried. Other names for this same part are Inverter Box, Inverter Board, Compressor Control, or Digital Speed Control. From the outside, the inverter box looks like this:

Whirlpool inverter box

On the inside, the box contains electronics that increases the output voltage to 230V, but also digitally varies the frequency of the current supplied to your refrigerator’s compressor from between 53Hz to 150Hz, which results in controlling its speed. Instead of simply turning “on” or “off” (like older fridges), digitally controlled compressors can run faster or slower depending on your fridge’s cooling needs. Of course, being a more “advanced” digital part means it’s more susceptible to failure (especially due to power surges). It also means it’s a lot more expensive to replace, if you leave it to your repairman.

To purchase a new replacement Inverter Board from Sears Direct, you’ll pay around $275. You if you shop online, you can find the same OEM inverters new for around $150, like this one on Amazon. If you’re willing to go with a used one, you might be able to find one on eBay for around $70-75. I recommend getting a new OEM unit on Amazon, so you know it will work and you can easily return it if you have any problems (or order the wrong one).

Once you have the new unit, replacing the inverter box on your refrigerator is as simple as unplugging the old one and plugging in the new one. No soldering skills are required, although you will need a screwdriver to remove the rear panel from your fridge to locate the inverter. After swapping out the inverter (Marco bought a new one), his fridge was working like new again.

Most Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Kenmore, Amana, Maytag, or Jenn-Air refrigerator use the same inverter board with part number W10629033 (which recently obsoleted the previous part number W10133449). That same inverter box will also replace the following part numbers in any of those brand’s fridges: 1384553, 2221559, 2223385, 2224047, 2304098, 2304175, 2306957, 2997771, AP5801669, AP4308835, AH1960495, EA1960495, PS8760019, and PS1960495.

If if your fridge is acting stone-cold dead and won’t light anything up, it might be worth taking a chance on a new inverter. Good luck, and thanks Marco for the heads up!

The post A Cheap(er) Fix for Whirlpool / KitchenAid / Kenmore Refrigerator Inverter Box (W10629033 / W10133449) appeared first on SteveJenkins.com.

At 8:19 PM on December 30, 2015, I received the following text from Jim, our next-door neighbor at our cabin in East Wenatchee:

Steve, we’re at the river and your heat pump fan just broke so fan is hitting shroud. I tried to wedge to balance but no luck so I pulled breaker. I’m worried about freezing its 25 here. You around? Is there a way to turn off your heat pump and still heat, you have wireless thermostat that will let you make change remotely?

Unfortunately, I’d silenced my phone and put it away because we had family visiting for the holiday and we were watching a movie. I didn’t see the text until the following morning (which was yesterday), the morning of New Year’s Eve. I was lucky that Jim heard the fan hitting something inside the heat pump tower and pulled the breaker — he likely saved me having to replace a $200 fan motor (thanks, Jim). Jim was also right to be concerned. Temperatures out near the cabin had been in the low single-digits overnight, and the highs hadn’t been above freezing in some time. If the temperature inside the cabin dropped below freezing for too long, the water stored inside the plumbing’s copper pipes would freeze, expand, and rupture the pipes — causing serious damage. Search online for some “burst frozen pipes” photos. It’s not pretty. Here’s an especially bad one:

Frozen pipes can cause a serious mess

Because we don’t have natural gas out at the cabin, my HVAC system is a traditional Lennox heat pump setup with a single-stage “auxiliary” electric heat backup feature — which is supposed to kick in if the heat pump stops working (or when it’s too cold outside for the heat pump to efficiently handle the heat exchange and generate warmth). But to make the problem worse, the Internet at the cabin was down, so I couldn’t remotely connect to the ecobee thermostat there to make sure the AUX heat was running.

I texted Jim back, thanking him for the heads up, and asked if he’d mind sending me some photos so I could take a guess at what happened. Here’s what he sent me:

Damage to the top of my heat pump

Close-up of the damage

The photos show that the center section of the heat pump’s top panel had actually sheered, causing one side of the fan to drop. Those four nuts are what hold the fan motor to the top panel, so my guess is that one of them became loose over time, which caused the fan to wobble as it spun, which made things more loose, until eventually it wobbled so badly that it bent and tore the metal.

But I could speculate as to the cause later. Right now, I needed new parts to fix it.

It was the morning of New Year’s eve, and I had a 2.5 hour drive ahead of me… to a town that probably didn’t have the parts I needed. I keep all the model and serial numbers for my major appliances in a Google Spreadsheet, which really came in handy. I called a local supply house, gave them my model number, and asked if they had a replacement top panel and fan (I guessed that the fan probably got dented when it hit whatever Jim described). They had both in stock, so I swung by, picked up a new fan and top panel, and headed east over the mountains.

When I arrived, I was glad to walk into a cabin that was 55F inside — the AUX electric backup heat strips in the furnace had worked, and were keeping the interior of the house from freezing. I disabled the heat pump in the thermostat installation settings, then turned the heat up to 70F and let the AUX heat do its thing. Normally, using electric AUX heating elements in a furnace is an expensive way to heat a house, but because this cabin is within the Douglas County Public Utility District (which operates hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River), electricity at the cabin is the cheapest in the country at only 2.5 cents per kilowatt-hour (that’s a quarter of what electricity costs in Seattle). So I figured I could afford to heat the cabin a bit while I was there.

Happy to find no burst pipes, I got to work outside right away. Jim had already pulled the fuses for me:

Heat pump fuses removed

I still threw the breaker inside (you can never be too careful with 220 Volts). The bit driver extension (part 931009) on my Leatherman Wave multi-tool happens to have a 1/4″ socket on the end… which is the perfect size for removing sheet metal screws in heat pumps. I removed all seven screws and flipped to top panel over, exposing the fan:

Underside of the top panel of the heat pump exposed

Next, I took photos of the fans wires, so I’d know which wire went to the contacter, the capacitor, and the control board. The brown wire went to the capacitor:

Brown wire to the capacitor

The white wire went to the contacter:

White wire to the contacter

And the black wire to the FAN terminal on the control board:

Black wire to the FAN terminal on the control board

Once I knew how everything went back together, it was easy to pull the spade connectors off their terminals:

All wires disconnected

At this point, I decided to take things inside the garage, where it would be warm enough that I could work without my gloves!

I started by removing the four nuts that hold the fan motor to the top panel. The wire is where Jim had attempted to “farm fix” the panel. It was a valiant attempt, but the panel was too far gone:

Four nuts remove the fan motor

With the mounting nuts removed, I could flip over the old top panel and set it aside. Notice the missing plastic in the shroud where the fan had taken a chunk out:

Bottom of the damaged top panel

I took out the metal mounting plate (in the middle of the above photo) and unscrewed the damaged shroud. I hadn’t brought a new shroud with me, so it would have to do until I could order a new one.

Inspecting the fan revealed that it had been bent in multiple places when it gouged the shroud. Fans are relatively cheap ($50), and bent fan blades can cause premature wear on fan motors (over $200), so I was glad I’d brought a new fan along.

Even after removing the set-screw from the collar, the old fan was stuck on the motor shaft. I sprayed some WD-40 down the collar, let it sit for a while… then whacked it with a hammer. The old fan slid off easily:

Old fan removed from motor

Upon inspecting the fan motor, I could see that the motor had indeed shaken itself loose… but it wasn’t one of the top nuts that had come loose, but one of the four mounting bolts had stripped out from the bottom of the motor. It was 1:00 PM by this time, and I knew local shops would be closing soon for New Year’s Eve. I hurried into town to Motor Mart Electric Motors, a local shop in Wenatchee that specializes in electric motors, including HVAC ones. I was in the store for less than 5 minutes, and was back on my way with a new mounting bolt and a couple of stainless nuts. Here’s the old stripped bolt next to the new one I picked up. You can see on the top left where the old nut had stripped off the bolt and caused that corner of the motor to shake loose:

Original motor mount bolt next to the new one… which is just slightly longer

Before putting everything back together, I cleaned up the motor a bit with some Simple Green:

Cleaned up motor ready for re-installation

Then I screwed the old shroud to the new top panel and placed the mounting plate in the middle (using my deflated river tube to protect it from scratches):

Old shroud and plate on new top panel

I re-ran the wiring conduit through the hold in the shroud and placed the motor on the mounting plate:

Motor ready to be re-attached

I used three of the four original mounting nuts on the top side of the panel, but the new bolt was slightly too long to allow the original nut to tighten all the way down. Rather than hacksaw some of the bolt off, I used a stainless nut to tighten that corner of the motor:

Stainless nut helps keep the longer bolt tighened

Then I screwed the original nut on top to finish it off:

All four original nuts tightened down

Finally, it was time to install the new fan. I pushed the new fan onto the motor shaft, until the collar was flush with the end of the shaft (which is how the Lennox service manual says to do it). I tightened down the set screw, and gave it a test spin. Hooray! No wobbles!

Shiny new fan mounted.

Back outside, I placed the new top panel and fan assembly onto the heat pump, checked my phone to verify the original wiring, then plug everything in:

Everything put back together

I replaced the corner panel, plugged the fuses into the outside fuse box, then went inside and turned on the breaker.

I went to the thermostat and tinkered with it until it stopped using AUX heat and called for the heat pump. I saw the lights flicker (that’s good) and heard the familiar hum of the compressor. I went outside to find a happy heat pump… still with plenty of time to clean up my tools, jump in the car, and drive 2.5 hours back to Seattle to celebrate New Year’s Eve with my family (OK… I may have stopped for a Dusty’s Burger in Wenatchee on my way home).

So the next time your heat pump decides to be difficult, don’t call the repairman right away. Armed with your model number, you can search for parts, service manuals, and maybe save yourself a few hundred dollars on a service call — especially on a holiday weekend.

Of course, any HVAC tasks involving Freon needs to be done by a license professional (state laws require that), but for many other repair and replacement tasks, you can safely do it on your own (pull fuses, throw breakers, and test wires before you touch).

It also helps to have friendly and helpful neighbors!

Questions, comments, or feedback? I’d love to hear from you below!

The post DIY: Replacing the Fan on a Heat Pump appeared first on SteveJenkins.com.

This is another of those posts that might only be for my own benefit, so that the next time I need to change the oil on my wife’s 2008 Cadillac Escalade, I can simply locate this post to remember what parts I used… and whether I liked them.

I drove the car around on a few errands to warm up the oil, then brought it home and drove it on my lift. I removed the drain plug and let the old oil drain into the metal oil tray on my lift, and when it slowed to a drip, I removed the filter and let it drain from there, too.

When the dripping stopped, I used some shop rags to clean things up, re-installed the drain plug, and put on the new filter: a K&N HP-1017, I chose that oil filter for a few reasons. I’ve had great results from K&N oil filters on my Sea-Doos and other cars in the past, and the K&N HP line has a good reputation without costing too much. But one thing I really love about the filter is that it can be tightened and removed with a standard 1″ wrench or socket (though I used a 27mm 12 point socket).

K&N HP-1017 oil filter

The 2008 Cadillac Escalade holds 6 quarts of oil, so I bought a large 5 qt bottle of Royal Purple Synthetic 5W30, plus a 1 qt small bottle to finish the job. I’d also considered the Royal Purple Oil Filter, because it’s also a great choice… but it doesn’t have the wrench point, so the K&N won out.

Royal Purple 5W30 synthetic oil

Using a large funnel, I poured in the 5 quart bottle, then a little bit of the 1 quart, before checking the oil level with the dipstick. It showed full, but after starting the engine and letting it run for a couple of minutes, it was reading about 3/4 full. I ended up using all of the remaining 1 qt bottle to get it to full, meaning I’d done a pretty good job draining nearly all the old oil out before re-filling (draining the engine while it’s warm really helps with that).

After taking the Escalade off the lift, I drained the lift’s oil tray into my Blitz 12 qt Dispos-Oil container, so I can take the old oil (and the old filter) to my local auto parts store for recycling.

With all the “dirty work” done, I used a Sharpie to write the date, mileage, and next oil change mileage for the Escalade on the window cling that comes with the K&N oil filter (another feature of that filter I like) and put it on the driver’s side of the windscreen. To reset the engine oil life message, I scrolled through the on-board computer to find the “1% OIL LIFE REMAINING” message, then held down the checkmark button for a few seconds until the screen reset to “100% OIL LIFE REMAINING.”

Changing your oil teaches you more about your car, allows you know the job’s done right, and saves lots of money over the dealership or an oil change shop. If you’ve never changed your own oil before, don’t be scared to give it a try. You probably have a friend, family member, or neighbor who will be willing to help you learn. And if they have a lift, they may even let you borrow it!

The post Oil Change and Filter Parts for 2008 Cadillac Escalade appeared first on SteveJenkins.com.

Even if you don’t understand the function of a GFCI outlet, or know what “GFCI” stands for, there’s a really good chance you’ve seen at least one (and probably a few) in your home. This is what a GFCI outlet looks like:

A standard GFCI outlet

GFCI stands for Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter, and that’s precisely what it does: it stops the flow of electricity to the outlet by opening (interrupting) the circuit if it senses any abnormal current flow to the circuit’s ground, thereby preventing a possible electric shock to anyone using a device that’s plugged into the GFCI outlet.

You probably have a GFCI outlet in your kitchen, as well as in each bathroom in your house, as they’ve been required in potentially damp locations for many years. And if you have any outlets outside your house, it’s been a US requirement since 1973 that they be connected to a GFCI-protected circuit.

You’ve also probably had to “reset” at least one of your GFCI outlets at some point by pressing its RESET button (shown in red in the above photo) after it was tripped by a power surge, storm, or an overloaded circuit. But other than when you discover something’s not working and have to reset it, you probably don’t give your home’s GFCI outlets a second thought… which could be a dangerous mistake.

GFCI Outlet Service Life

GFCI outlets save thousands of lives each year by preventing electrical shocks due to dampness, improper use of extension cords, etc. But depending on the vintage of your home and/or its GFCI outlets, they may no longer be protecting you like you believe they are. GFCI outlets have an average service life of only 10 years, so if your home is older than that, there’s a good chance your GFCI outlets aren’t fully protecting you. And if you live in an area more prone to storms or power surges, it’s not uncommon for a GFCI outlet to wear out in 5 years or even less.

Testing your GFCI Outlet

The best way to see if your GFCI outlet is still doing its job is to test it. Keep in mind that the outlet must be powered (meaning its breaker in your electrical panel must be on) in order to be properly tested. An unpowered GFCI outlet can’t be tested, and it won’t allow you to reset it until it’s powered.

The simplest way to test your GFCI outlet is to press its TEST button, which interrupts the flow of electricity and pops out the spring-loaded RESET button. You can then press the RESET button reconnect the circuit and resume normal operation. The most common GFCI outlets have a red TEST button and a black RESET button as shown in the first photo, though newer outlets have gone away from those colors and the buttons tend to not stand out as much.

If you press the TEST button and the GFCI outlet doesn’t trip (and you’re certain it’s powered), replace it as soon as possible. If your test causes the outlet to trip but the RESET button won’t reset it, that means it’s reached the end of its service life and needs to be replaced (it probably wasn’t protecting you anyway). Again, verify that the breaker isn’t tripped before determining that the GFCI outlet is faulty, since a GFCI outlet can’t be reset if it’s not getting “upstream” power.

As crazy as it might sound, you should test your GFCI outlets monthly. If that’s too often for you, you should test them at least quarterly at a bare minimum. Every six months or once a year is nowhere near often enough. I know it’s extra work, but it really could save your life.

Using a Test Device

While pressing its test button is better than nothing, the only true way to test a GFCI outlet is with a test device that actually creates a ground fault, such as this Triplett Plug-Bug:

A basic GFCI outlet tester can literally save your life

At under $7 on Amazon, it’s extremely cheap insurance to protect you and your family from hazardous electrical shocks. Just plug it in the outlet, press the button on the tester (not the outlet), and see whether your GFCI outlet trips. Indicator lights on testers like this one can also be used to show whether any outlet (it works on both GFCI and standard) is wired properly by identifying common problems such as an open ground, open neutral, open hot, or reversed wires. I recently used my tester on a kitchen GFCI outlet at our cabin, and discovered that it had been improperly wired for many years. The outlet would trip when I tested it with its own test button, but additional “downstream” outlets were still receiving current. I was able to re-wire the outlet properly, and I now use a tester to check my GFCI outlets instead of pressing the outlet’s test button. Again, for under $7, I recommend you do the same.

Replacement GFCI Outlets

Because they’re a wear item that will need replacement, I save money by buying GFCI outlets in 3-packs. I use (and recommend) these 15A GFCI outlets by Eaton. Eaton has a great reputation for quality, but the feature I really like is that these GFCI outlets run a self-test periodically. A blinking red LED indicator means they’ve reached the end of their service life and need to be replaced. So if you don’t think you’ll remember to manually test your GFCI outlets monthly, using these self-testing versions are a good option. They’re available in a number of colors to match your existing outlets and switches.

Safety First

Testing your own GFCI outlets is definitely something any homeowner can (and should) do. Replacing a GFCI outlet that has reached the end of its service live is something most homeowners can do… but it’s important to follow basic electrical safety procedures such as shutting off the circuit at the breaker and testing all wires in an outlet box before touching anything. This is particularly important in multi-gang boxes (boxes that contain more than one outlet and/or switch). Never assume that a wire is dead just because the one next to it is (ask me how I know). Always use an electrical tester before touching anything. If you don’t have one, you can pick up a circuit tester in a set along with a GFCI outlet tester for less than $15. Again, it’s cheap insurance that every homeowner should have.

Final Thoughts

It probably comes as a surprise that the GFCI outlets in your home are designed to wear out after a few years (much like your home’s smoke and CO detectors), and that there’s a very good chance that some or all of your GFCIs are way past their intended service life. Using inexpensive tools, you can regularly and safely test your home’s GFCI outlets to identify potential problems before you encounter a serious injury (or worse). If replacing your own GFCI outlets is outside your comfort zone, hire an electrician… or better yet, invite a handy friend over for some barbecue.

Just like testing your expansion tank or flushing your water heater, testing your GFCI outlets is something all homeowners should do on a regular basis… though most don’t even know they’re supposed to. Add a monthly GFCI outlet check to your household maintenance calendar, and sleep better knowing they’re doing their job.

As always, I welcome your questions, comments, and feedback below.

The post You Should Test and Replace your GFCI Outlets More Often Than You Think appeared first on SteveJenkins.com.