What did you do today?

[Spicoli43]

Article on Hibiscus... The art of staying slim... That's all fine and good, but unless I can eat unlimited homemade Biscuits and Gravy, Ice Cream and Chocolate, I'm not going to be drinking gallons of this tea.

https://greenmedinfo.com/blog/tart-flower-secret-staying-slim

 

[Spicoli43]

Had a weird voltage problem today in my truck... Just driving along and the radio volume cut down like I had turned it down myself. Then the whole truck started tripping out, chugging along... I barely made it to a parking lot and it was zapped. When I turned the key, I got the clicking like it was the starter, but then got a jump and it started fine.

Then I had another jump from roadside assistance and the battery is whacked. It's 6 years old, so it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities that it needs replacing. I managed to limp it to Walmart and bought a Jumper box, hoping I could make it to an auto parts store to buy an alternator. The truck said no, so I had to get it towed home.

I charged the battery on a slow 2A trickle for a couple of hours and it started up right away. If it's dead tomorrow, all I can think of is the battery is completely whacked or the alternator is, but I have never had an alternator die while driving, never even heard of that. It was fine for the hour or so before that, then the alternator dies and coincidentally, the battery has no juice at all? Never had that happen.

 

[Spicoli43]

Agero roadside assistance texted me twice yesterday... Did the tow truck get there, Y or N? Is the job complete? Y or N?

Y to both, figured no big deal...

Since then they have called me 19 times so far, including twice in the middle of the night because they don't own a Globe or have functioning brain cells. Do you like my G rated explanation of that? I think I like it, because it's different in my head.

I didn't listen to most of the messages, but the basic message was "If you still need roadside assistance, give us a call"... Well, NO S, SHERLOCK! Thanks for that reminder at 0200, couldn't figure that one out on my own!

After I'm woken, I don't sleep. I chatted with Progressive and they were useless. Apparently Agero is the provider for most Insurance companies. That's swell. They don't hire Americans either, oh no communicado en ingles senor!

 

[Snoonyb]

"no communicado en ingles senor!" is that NIGERIAN?

 

[Ron Van]

Ron, please explain how this vacuum breaker is installed. I too have a constant drip I'd like to fix.

Most municipalities require a backflow preventer but you need an Atmospheric Vacuum Breaker (AVB)

"An AVB is a non-testable mechanical backflow preventer with a gravity opening poppet air opening, designed to admit atmosphere into the downstream sides of the unit under a no flow condition to prevent back-siphonage."

The AVB type is also sometimes called a vacuum breaker, however, I have found that some backflow preventers are called vacuum breakers that don't vent the downstream side to the atmosphere. This is because the breaker may be in an area that you don't want to get wet.

What I want is for the device to open with little to no pressure and let the water drain out of the shower head so it doesn't drip.

In a bath tub type shower, the diverter valve opens when not pressurized and allows the water to drain through the tub spout. In a dedicated shower, like I'm talking about, there is no tub spout.

I looked back in my Amazon order history (Amazon has online shopping down to a science), and found that I bought the following Vacuum Breaker in January of 2020. That would be when we lived in our old house in California.




The literature says this:
Vacuum Breakers are required by many municipal governments to protect the drinking water from being contaminated by water from swimming pools, lavatory sinks, bath tubs, or toilets. It is an atmospheric-type back flow preventer. The seating and unseating of the diaphragm are accomplished by the presence or absense of water pressure, when the unit is open to the atmosphere. It is normal for the vacuum breaker to emit a small amount of water:

a) During the opening and closing of the shower control valve.
b) When used with a massage action, may emit water when changing spray selection.
c) When used with a push button shower, water may emit out of the unit when the shower is placed in the off position.

It is normal for the vacuum breaker to drain when it is placed lower than the hand shower, and the water is shut off.

The unit screws on to the water supply where your hose is connected now and then you screw your hose onto the breaker. It's inline with your hand held shower head.

 

[Ron Van]

Ruby likes the matte black but the chrome vacuum breaker is half the price.

Speaking of black, Ruby decided we should paint the dining room area before we have visitors starting in about 8 days. This included painting the black crown molding white which is very difficult! Since the crown in the dining area flows in to the TV room, I had to do that too. I tried primer and the best paint Sherwin Williams makes (Infinity) to cover the black and discovered the primer was no help in covering the black. Two coats of the Shewin Williams is the best and fastest approach.

 

[Ron Van]

.Since then they have called me 19 times so far, including twice in the middle of the night because they don't own a Globe or have functioning brain cells. Do you like my G rated explanation of that? I think I like it, because it's different in my head.

That’s unreal! That’s a good reason to turn your ringer off at night!

 

[68bucks]

Had a weird voltage problem today in my truck... Just driving along and the radio volume cut down like I had turned it down myself. Then the whole truck started tripping out, chugging along... I barely made it to a parking lot and it was zapped. When I turned the key, I got the clicking like it was the starter, but then got a jump and it started fine.

Then I had another jump from roadside assistance and the battery is whacked. It's 6 years old, so it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities that it needs replacing. I managed to limp it to Walmart and bought a Jumper box, hoping I could make it to an auto parts store to buy an alternator. The truck said no, so I had to get it towed home.

I charged the battery on a slow 2A trickle for a couple of hours and it started up right away. If it's dead tomorrow, all I can think of is the battery is completely whacked or the alternator is, but I have never had an alternator die while driving, never even heard of that. It was fine for the hour or so before that, then the alternator dies and coincidentally, the battery has no juice at all? Never had that happen.

My guess is the battery but I believe the voltage regulator is built into the alternator on most vehicles these days. Could be that. Do you have a battery load tester? That should tell you if it's the battery.

 

[Spicoli43]

My guess is the battery but I believe the voltage regulator is built into the alternator on most vehicles these days. Could be that. Do you have a battery load tester? That should tell you if it's the battery.

I don't have a load tester, but I did my own load test by leaving the headlights on for a few minutes, taking the voltage before and after, which was the same. Yesterday, the best reading I got when the truck was off was 12.79V, so it doesn't appear to be the battery and the fun part will be going to town to see if it's the alternator or regulator.

 

[Snoonyb]

So, start it up, use the same meter to check the alt. output, and just because the voltage is nearly the same, doesn't mean the battery has the depth to last.

 

[zannej]

Sorry I didn't reply for awhile. Hope everyone is doing well.
Spicoli, I hope you can sort out the issues with your truck. Ugh, I would have been furious getting that many phone calls.
Ron, the shower looks awesome! What material is the crown moulding? I really like it. I also really like the moulding directly under the window. Is it a type of crown moulding as well? Did the vacuum breaker go just under the drop ell or did it connect at the end of the hose? Love the china cabinet you have. Looks similar to one we have in the front room.

On the battery backup supplies, I went with a Cyberpower one that was highly rated. The reason for not just replacing the battery on my current one is because a couple of the outlets have burned out on my current one. A cat puked down the back and it had a lot of saliva/water that got between the plug & the outlet and caused a short. Smoke literally came out of the unit when anything was plugged in to the top two outlets and there were sort of electrical crackling noises. I will put a cover over the back side of the new backup to protect it from cat vomit. The new unit also does not have any vents in the top for cats to puke in.

AC has been working well. I've been binge-watching Star Trek and Star Wars stuff and watching a lot of Youtube videos. Still too warm to be productive and I've been very tired. I need to get up and do more exercise.

Mom had a foot doctor appointment yesterday. The doctor must be accustomed to half-deaf patients because she speaks VERY loudly. LOL. It was Mom's 2nd visit. First visit Mom complained that she only used regular clippers to trim her toenails but this time she brought out an industrial dremel type tool. Not sure why the doctor doesn't wear eye protection though. I had to shield my eyes a few times. LOL. Mom was happier this time- especially since this one didn't make her bleed. Her previous doctor an hour away almost always caused bleeding when using the clippers or dremel. She prescribed some sort of oral anti-fungal medication to try to kill the toe fungus. Mom tried stuff in the past and it didn't work, but she's going to give it a try for a month. If it makes her feel sick or affects her liver then she won't take it for the 2nd month. She's only supposed to take it for 2 months. She hasn't been letting me put the anti-fungal cream stuff on her toes. I used to do it every night and wash her feet. I need to get a stool for it though bc my back doesn't cooperate with the bending down (I do it when she's lying in bed with her feet up).

I've been setting 2 alarms per day so I take my vitamins and medicine close to the same time every day. Morning is vitamins & allergy meds. Evening is other meds & the 2nd dose of two vitamins (Glucosomine and a multivitamin). Also been doing ankle rotations, toe stretches (so I don't end up with hammer toes like Mom) and shoulder stretches/exercises.

The kitties like their new makeshift water fountain that I made with a fish tank filter. Senator Snugglebum drank from it for a minute and a half straight earlier. Probably fueling up to go spray things outside. Boo has been letting me know when the food is slightly low & when he wants canned food. He and Itsy take turns waking me up. Rupert has been my constant cuddle buddy.

I'm planning to use a calendar to start marking daily tasks and pick certain days for certain tasks and try to get myself on some sort of schedule so I can get more done. I already had to haul out a bunch of trash. I've given up on expecting my brother to do anything to help with the cleaning. I've had to scrub out the microwave 3x this week bc he spilled stuff & didn't wipe it up.

Have to go into town to pick up more groceries and Mom's RX. As an aside, I found some mushrooms in wine sauce from Bird's Eye skillets. Cooks easily and I mixed it in with the shepherd's pie and mom liked it. I just hope my brother doesn't find it and think he can use it without asking. He's been really bad bout that lately. Eating everything in sight and leaving the empty containers in the freezer/fridge or wherever they were. Doesn't help that Mom can't make up her mind on stuff and says she doesn't want something anymore only to change her mind and say she does want it. She always decides she wants it after he eats ALL of it.

 

[Ron Van]

Had a weird voltage problem today in my truck... Just driving along and the radio volume cut down like I had turned it down myself. Then the whole truck started tripping out, chugging along... I barely made it to a parking lot and it was zapped. When I turned the key, I got the clicking like it was the starter, but then got a jump and it started fine.

Then I had another jump from roadside assistance and the battery is whacked. It's 6 years old, so it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities that it needs replacing. I managed to limp it to Walmart and bought a Jumper box, hoping I could make it to an auto parts store to buy an alternator. The truck said no, so I had to get it towed home.

I charged the battery on a slow 2A trickle for a couple of hours and it started up right away. If it's dead tomorrow, all I can think of is the battery is completely whacked or the alternator is, but I have never had an alternator die while driving, never even heard of that. It was fine for the hour or so before that, then the alternator dies and coincidentally, the battery has no juice at all? Never had that happen.

I had a problem in our 2010 Ford F53 motorhome that it quit like you describe but what happened was an isolation relay failed and the alternator wasn't connected to the chassis battery any more. Once the battery voltage dropped below a certain point, the engine electronics shut down. The first thing I noticed was the instrument lights flickered and then within seconds the engine quit. I had just enough time to move over to the far right lane and then coasted to a safe spot on the shoulder of I-80 during rush hour traffic between Sacramento and Davis. The CHP pulled up behind me and I told him what happened. He said I should get it fixed and left.

Sounds like an alternator problem to me. It's easy to check. With the engine running, there should be 14.5 vdc at the battery. with the engine off, the battery voltage will drop to 12.5-13 volts (approximately). Since you said, you have 12.7 volts....the alternator is not putting out what it should.

 

[havasu]

Headed to spend the night at the Magic Castle hotel and having dinner and a few shows tonight in the Magic Castle. We're sleeping 50' from where Janis Joplin died, all in Hollywood, Ca. Yes, I brought two guns and a flashlight.

 

[Snoonyb]

Headed to spend the night at the Magic Castle hotel and having dinner and a few shows tonight in the Magic Castle. We're sleeping 50' from where Janis Joplin died, all in Hollywood, Ca. Yes, I brought two guns and a flashlight.

In case any of Karen bass's entrepreneurial homeless show up?

 

[Spicoli43]

I had a problem in our 2010 Ford F53 motorhome that it quit like you describe but what happened was an isolation relay failed and the alternator wasn't connected to the chassis battery any more. Once the battery voltage dropped below a certain point, the engine electronics shut down. The first thing I noticed was the instrument lights flickered and then within seconds the engine quit. I had just enough time to move over to the far right lane and then coasted to a safe spot on the shoulder of I-80 during rush hour traffic between Sacramento and Davis. The CHP pulled up behind me and I told him what happened. He said I should get it fixed and left.

Sounds like an alternator problem to me. It's easy to check. With the engine running, there should be 14.5 vdc at the battery. with the engine off, the battery voltage will drop to 12.5-13 volts (approximately). Since you said, you have 12.7 volts....the alternator is not putting out what it should.

The Alternator is kerfunked. I had the battery light on from the get go this morning, so I went to Autozone to have the battery tested. It's fine, their machine said it just needed to be charged.

So, an Alternator and a Belt and I was on my way to Costco because I wanted to see how far I could get. (And I had a jumper box in case)... I was tempted to get a battery there for the fun of it since it's 6 years old, but I'll wait until just before it starts snowing.

The Battery lasted right until I poked the front of the Truck right up against my garage and it's deader than a doorknob. It drove fine, no shaking, but the last 5 miles I couldn't roll up the window... Good thing is the Alternator is a real simple change. My Mitsubishi required the tire to be removed, a belt or two, two hours of radio edits flying out of my mouth... The F150 is just the blower box and then I have access.

 

[shan2themax]

Exciting things are happening around here. The siding is done, as well as soffits and fascia, gutters and down spouts in the next 2 weeks. Thursday someone is coming to give me an estimate for a new garage door. I am not going to post pictures until it is all completed, but it is beautiful and has in fact brought me to tears already. Here's a sneak peek of the front porch light I bought last year and now it's installed on and looks beautiful. I need to paint my front door and new back door also, as well as the front porch and steps.

 

[Ron Van]

Headed to spend the night at the Magic Castle hotel and having dinner and a few shows tonight in the Magic Castle. We're sleeping 50' from where Janis Joplin died, all in Hollywood, Ca. Yes, I brought two guns and a flashlight.

Awesome! I got to go to the Magic Castle club a long time ago…probably 1979 or so. It was awesome. My ex-Father-In-Law got us in.

 

[Ron Van]

Exciting things are happening around here. The siding is done, as well as soffits and fascia, gutters and down spouts in the next 2 weeks. Thursday someone is coming to give me an estimate for a new garage door. I am not going to post pictures until it is all completed, but it is beautiful and has in fact brought me to tears already. Here's a sneak peek of the front porch light I bought last year and now it's installed on and looks beautiful. I need to paint my front door and new back door also, as well as the front porch and steps.

Wow! How exciting! I can't wait to see the final product!!

 

[Ron Van]

The Alternator is kerfunked. I had the battery light on from the get go this morning, so I went to Autozone to have the battery tested. It's fine, their machine said it just needed to be charged.

So, an Alternator and a Belt and I was on my way to Costco because I wanted to see how far I could get. (And I had a jumper box in case)... I was tempted to get a battery there for the fun of it since it's 6 years old, but I'll wait until just before it starts snowing.

The Battery lasted right until I poked the front of the Truck right up against my garage and it's deader than a doorknob. It drove fine, no shaking, but the last 5 miles I couldn't roll up the window... Good thing is the Alternator is a real simple change. My Mitsubishi required the tire to be removed, a belt or two, two hours of radio edits flying out of my mouth... The F150 is just the blower box and then I have access.

I'm glad you got it figured out!

 

[Spicoli43]

I'm glad you got it figured out!

Yeah, well that was fun. The alternator itself of course is just a few bolts and the wiring, which took 10 minutes. The belt was a different story. There is barely any room, I even considered removing and flushing the radiator just to get the belt on! That was probably a good hour and a half bending my wrists like they aren't supposed to and scraping my arms up... Of course there was the obligatory dropping of the tools into the pan so I had to remove that...

It's all good though, I assume the alternator was 20 years old, real good that it didn't happen when it was -40 with wind!

Shan, looking forward to pics!