What's under your lip/in your nose right now? - Part 2

[Waho]

I don't envy you west MI guys. My brother's roommate was driving to work a few weeks ago going up hill downtown in GR. Traffic suddenly stopped so he stopped, when they started moving again his car started rolling backwards downhill as he let off the brakes and couldn't catch traction as he got on the throttle. So he got back on the brakes and helplessly slid into the car behind him.

Over here in Mid MI we've been getting a dusting every day, but its not enough to mess with my commute. The bitter cold is awful though. The battery in my car is a 700 cca only a year old and working fine, the truck however has the original ACDelco 615 cca that's starting to have trouble starting below 10 degrees. Hopefully it'll make it through this winter.

 

[rothenbj]

Waho, your story brought back memories. In college, a group of us went to Johnstown to watch the finals of the western half of PA's high school basketball tournament. It wasn't televised in State College and one of my football player friend's dad had a bar there where we could catch the game.

It was snowing and Johnstown is real hilly. We started heading down this hill and the car just started sliding with nothing stopping it. At the bottom of the hill was a main street with busy traffic moving and on the right a grave yard. I sat in the back seat with no control over the events wondering if there was a message being delivered.

Fortunately, as we picked up speed, we slid into the curb, stopping our momentum. We were able to slowly inch the car down the rest of the way with no further incident.

Hitt, that fuel doesn't sound too bad if you have a short drive. I'd hate to think what I'd go thru if I needed it. My small engine folks suggested using only premium gas from the best gas stations. Your run of the mill convenience stores aren't the place to buy it. I go out of my way to get exxon or mobile for all my two cycle stuff.

Which Gas Stations Sell the Best Quality Gasoline? » AutoGuide.com News

In addition, I got away from the various mixes for oil and have only used Opti-2 for all my 2 cycles and have never had a problem.

2 cycle oil - Opti2, Opti4, and Chemical Rebuild - Premium Lubricants from Interlube International

 

[hittman]

I've been buying the best gas for a while. There's a station about six miles away that carries it. My guy told me that before too. He also said it's only good for 5-6 months. The true fuel isn't very expensive. My snowthrower is a 4 cycle. I didn't use it at all last year and just once so far this year and that was just because I wanted to run it. I could have shoveled no more than I had to clear.

 

[hittman]

It's about 12 degrees this morning and my youngest daughter had to go up to the school. I went up to get a shower and came down to find only the outside glass door closed. You think she could close the inside door? Nope. I honestly believe she has a genetic disorder with closing doors and shutting off lights.

 

[rothenbj]

Don't you just love it Hitt! Did you ask her why she didn't think to close the door on the was out? I'm sure the excuse must have been priceless.

We got just an inch or so which should buy me a week or so. Next week the weather is supposed to get into the 50s so I'm not even thinking of cleaning things up. I've got bigger things to concern myself with. I need to get a new TV.

I went to turn it off before I left this morning and it wouldn't turn off. I've been having issues with my FIOS remote losing its programming so I figured that was the problem. I put it into program mode but couldn't find the right code using the easy method and I didn't have time to look up the code so I just turned it off at the power supply and took off for the chiro. appointment.

During poker I realized I should have just used the TV remote so when I got home, I turned the power back on and grabbed the Fios remote to see if it corrected the problem but didn't need it because the TV started up on its own. That confused me. Well it wouldn't turn off with either the FIOS or Samsung remote. I googled and apparently the IR sensor in the TV is shot. Add that to this-



and this with different colors in the background-



and I'm thinking a bullet would be cheaper than getting it fixed. It's only 4 or 5 years old and I've been living with that blotch for well over a year, but now this is a game changer. I figure one of the LEDs went bad at the top and it was primarily only seriously noticeable some of the time, I lived with it.

My big question is am I safe to turn it off again? The Super Bowl is the first week of February so there's a month to go. I don't know when the SB sales start but I figure I have a week or two to go to see what's available and work on a wish list of possible models. I guess I'll have it see if I can find an answer in some Samsung forum if the TV will remain stuck "ON". I so, no problem, I'll just turn off the power, but if that could change and it couldn't be turned on...... Oh boy.

 

[hittman]

Is there a power button on the tv? That's really weird. I've had the same Sharp tv for about six years now. You could buy three for what I paid back then.

 

[rothenbj]

No power button or anything else. Just sent out to Samsung support to see if I should remove the power or leave the TV on until I find a replacement. Now, out of nowhere, everything is working again. The TV has been on for over 24 hours other than the brief moment I removed power and brought it back up. I made a mistake in my first post. It was on when I left for the chiro because I had returned the power and the TV started up without being turned on so I just left it on. After some length of time it goes into a standby mode where the tv goes black with a message to hit the menu button to return to TV.

Anyway, this is driving me crazy. There has to be something malfunctioning but my technological mind says electronics either work or fail unless it's a heat issue where something overheats and stops working, then cools down and will start until it heats up again until it finally doesn't work anymore and there was no cooling period.

 

[hittman]

If it's anything like the stuff I work on then it's not just fail or work. I can't tell you how many intermittent problems I see.

 

[hittman]

I finally got to the store to get some true fuel for the snowthrower. I drained the tank and filled it with the true fuel and ran it for about five minutes like the mechanic suggested. I noticed that after a couple minutes of running that the engine smoothed out and ran great. Now to see how it starts next time.

 

[rothenbj]

Was it just as cold? I might pick up a can and see how it works in my blower. I found it at HD for $19 bucks in a 110 oz can. It sounds like a better deal than 6-32oz cans (192 oz) of the true fuel for $34 and I'd certainly go thru it in less than two years. Slightly cheaper per oz and less out of pocket if it didn't actually improve how the blower runs. They also sell singles for less than $6 which might be even a cheaper option to check it out.

 

[hittman]

That's what I did was just bought a couple cans at $6 to try it. They didn't have the big can or the six pack at the lowes store that I went to. It wasn't as cold yesterday. But it's been warmer than that in days I tried to start it in the past.

 

[hittman]

I noticed the induction blower motor on my furnace is starting to rattle a little so started pricing a new one. The cheapest I could find at first was around 350. I did some more searching at lunch and found one New in the box on eBay. Made an offer and got it for 175.

 

[rothenbj]

Hitt, did you get the new limit switch installed? Your house isn't that old is it? My house was 33 years old when I replaced the heater three years ago. Never a problem in the 17 years I was here and the only reason I replaced it was age and the need to have them replace the heat exchanger with an air conditioning unit. I hope that's not what I can expect in the future.

I'm cane free for the last 5 days but still not walking completely normal. Hope time and my chiro gets me stabilized. He started talking about me getting hip and knee xrays, something I'd like to avoid. I really don't like the implications.

My TV issue will be resolved next Friday as I decided on a Sony which will be delivered then. I had to wait until next week as Sony is dropping the price $200 for their Super Bowl promotion and will probably be their last price reduction until after their new units come out and then you have to find someone that still has the old ones.

I got it at half the price it was when they were released last year and it was one of the top three from all the reviews I read so I'm happy. I also got it locally from someone I've known since I moved here and they double the standard 1 year warranty the manufacturers offer these days.

Funny that I questioned the need after the remote started working again but figured this was the best time of year to do it. This morning, the remote decided to tell me I did right, I'm back to not being able to use it.

 

[hittman]

I didn't install the new limit switch. I may be wrong but was thinking that if the old one is working then maybe I should just save the new one until I need it. I'm thinking of doing the same with the induction blower. At least try to wait until spring when I won't have to listen to anyone complain that it's getting cold inside since I've had the furnace off. I'm not sure how long the blower will take but I found some repair instructions and it's definitely not a five minute job. I would say it's probably going to take at least an hour or two.

 

[hittman]

We took the kids to see the new movie Hidden Figures. It was pretty good. After we got home, my wife dropped her iPhone and now there's no display. I hope like heck it comes back on. That's the last thing I need to spend money on right now.

 

[rothenbj]

My only question about the switch would be, since the first one didn't work, are you sure the replacement will? I think I may want to put the new one in and keep the old one in case of a future failure.

Good luck on that phone. I'm glad I decided to go refurbished. I paid around $100 each for two phones, they've paid for themselves in savings from insurance and $20 plus each for two years paying them off. No need for the latest and greatest for me.

 

[hittman]

I thought about that too with the switch. I ohmed it out and it checks good. Maybe I will put it in. We did get my wife's phone fixed. It was right at 100 like I thought. The display was bad. They had it done in just a couple hours. I've never bought the latest iPhone. I'm always a model or two behind. I'm still using a 5s.

 

[The Rebel]

I've become an expert at replacing screens on devices. With two boys who some how forget to leave their cases on, it's become the norm in our house. I can replace an Ipad screen in under 15 minutes these days. Replacing the screen on an Iphone requires a little more time, but once you do it a few times, it's pretty easy. Youtube is a fountain of knowledge that has saved my a lot of money.

 

[hittman]

I've replaced batteries in a few iphones but hadn't done a screen yet. I looked on ifixit and it was going to cost somewhere between 45-60 to buy a screen so I paid an extra 40 to have it done for me the same day. That didn't seem too extreme and of course my wife wouldn't want to go without a phone for a week while I wait for a screen to come. I'll continue to do batteries as needed though since they aren't an emergency repair.

 

[The Rebel]

Need some really good eyes or a magnifying glass to do these things. A set of micro screwdrivers is a must as well. The screws they use are tiny! I found a couple I missed on my son's Ipad, but I wasn't about to tear it apart again to put them in. They are safely tucked away in a small bag for the next time I work on it.