One more update on the Pool Pump

 Apparently it gets hot in there...

So we need to figure something else out.

Update on the Pool Pump...

Pool pump overheating issues.  I didn't realize how hot an electric motor gets.  The fan that was installed in the pump broke, Nick tried to glue it, but it didn't hold up. So he 3d printed one, then another (center hole was too big, tried to print an adapter, but that didn't work at all...), then another.  The issue is that they get too hot and deform.

His current design is pretty tight on the shaft.  I had to heat it up to get it on.  Maybe it will work, not sure.  It ran for 2 hours last night.  Time will tell.

Septic fun

 Jen and Nick and probably Maddie too, noticed that the toilet in the basement was slow to flush and there had been some water coming up from the drain in the basement.  I might have noticed that the alarm light on the septic had been on for some time as well, but busy you know...

Anyway, went and out and found this when I took the cover off.

So that ain't right...  Made some calls Thursday, and Friday morning Mike's Septic called me back and said they could have someone out in the evening.  Of course it was my work golf outing, but I said I could be there.  Maddie had to take a driveway shower, but luckily we have hot/cold water at the faucet in the garage.

Fortunately, they didn't arrive till 5pm, which worked well for my schedule.  Matt and Matt were very nice and were able to replace the pump and also fix a baffle on the outlet of the first tank.  Or course they charged me an arm and a leg for it.  Especially $500 to replace the baffle which was less than 5 minutes of work.  But no one wants to jump into a septic tank, I get it.

I talked with an older septic guy, who couldn't come out, Thursday night and he helped me verify the problem was with the pump and not the switch.  There is a plug on the back of the switch plug, if you plug that directly in it will run the pump and take the switch out the equation.  Unfortunately, the pump was triggering the breaker each time I plugged it in.

Good times...

Update on the Ice Maker...

 So about 4 months after we installed and had been using the Ice Maker it went out...  It wasn't pushing the ice out anymore.  Turns out the issue is pretty common, Nick took it apart and found this:

You can see the screw has broken on the cylinder...  That piece turns and pushed the slushy water through and up and out the holes at the top of the mechanism.

Here you can see the cooling camber and the cap with the holes that the ice comes out.

Fortunately, we were able to get a refund for the machine through Amazon, but it took awhile as I originally contacted the seller directly.  They offered a replacement unit, but it didn't have the water line input which I wanted.  So they sent me back to Amazon.

Once we had the refund, I order a very similar looking one, which we have been using since June 12th...  We will see if this one has a bit more life.

Pool Pump issues and fix!

 A couple weeks ago the pump on our pool went out.  From the symptoms, humming noise, I thought it might be the starting capacitor, so I looked at it and it was bulgy...  So I ordered some replacements and tried that.  No good.

Luckily out friends (thanks Klimpke's!) have a similar pump and didn't put their pool up this year so we were able to borrow theirs while we worked on this.  It is a bit smaller though, so we didn't want to run it too much.

After the capacitor didn't work I found a video where the bearings had gone bad and the guy was able to replace them.  So I put Nick on the task of taking it apart and I ordered the bearings 😊

We had to order a bearing puller as well, which worked on 1 side, but the other side was falling apart, so I ended up using the demel to get it off.  Then he was able to put it back together.  On the first try the plastic fan fell apart (it was already partially broken) so he had to take it back apart and use plastic cement to fix it.  Then put it back together, and Success!

So we saved probably $200, and kept it out of the landfill, win win!

Another Flat Tire!

We had a busy Monday planned, Jen was getting her braces on, everyone (but me) had dentist appointments.  It was 6:50 in the morning and as we pulled up the driveway we noticed the tire was flat.

Not sure when it happened or how even, we jumped in my car and went on our way.  When we got back in the afternoon and got the tire off Maddie found the leak.  Nothing obvious.

Luckily Toyota was able to patch it the next day and it has been OK for a week now.

 

New Radon Fan after 10 years

 The radon fan in the garage has always generated a low hum, but lately it had been getting quite bad.

So I picked up a new one and installed it today.  It is amazing quiet!  I can't remember if the old one was ever this quiet, but it hasn't been in a long time.