[louisbear]

I bought a battery powered Echo lawn mower about six years ago. Last summer, one day when I went to mow the lawn there was no power. The batteries were charged, so I checked the safety switch on the handle, cleaned all connections and put it back together. Still nothing. So after calling nearest service centre in Halifax and discovering that I would need to drive 45 minutes to deliver it with no guarantee of a fix I decided to take matters into my own hands. I went to Can. Tire and bought a set of security bolt keys for around twenty bucks and went home and proceeded to trouble shoot the lawnmower from motor to main switch in the handle. My final effort was to take the main switch on the handle with the throttle levers on it all apart as I had nothing to loose at this point. Everything looked good so I reassembled it and low and behold it came to life! So now I own a set of security wenches to add to my tool caddy.

 

[louisbear]

One rule I learned over the years is if you own it, you drive it, especially when it comes to machinery like outboard motor boats, snow machines, and 4 wheel drive trucks and ATVs. It is amazing how you can drive a boat over a structure in a lake in the morning without knowing it was there and on the way back in the afternoon travelling on the same approximate route, hit the prop and Skag or worse crack the low gear housing. Now we are talking money! So if you are driving the boat you can only blame yourself.

 

[louisbear]

Well the lever that controls the drain plug in the bathroom sink came apart. A fellow needs arms as long as a gorilla to reassemble that Mickey Mouse set up. I finished the job and now I am thinking , if we can send a solar powered “rover” to Mars we should be able to come up with a better system to plug a sink. Yes, I know, the rubber plug on the end of the chain was the best thing since sliced bread but apparently it does not match the decor! I guess if you’re willing to spent the money …..

 

[louisbear]

Here is another thing I figured out …. Our dish washer started to whistle when operating. I cleaned out the filter and all the holes in the lower and upper spinning arms. It did not make any difference. Well if you compare the cost of buying parts for a ten year old dish washer and getting a repair man to your home you’re better off just buying a new machine. However before spending that kind of money, I googled dishwasher repair and checked all the boxes and concluded that we might of had a build up of fat and stuff in the small orifice of the drain check valve and not some bearing or other parts worn out. Before hauling it out of the cabinet I ran three refresh cleaning pods in the machine back to back and no more whistling. Now we prerinse all our dishes, That was over two years ago and no more whistling to this day..

 

[louisbear]

Yes, today appliances have a short life span compared to 20 or 30 years ago. The cost of parts and a service call can be scary especially if you’re talking about repairing a lower end model. Apple Inc for example stop making parts for their products after 6 years I believe. They want you to buy a new one.
It’s crazy. Go to the land fill these days and over in one corner is “White mountain” old white metal bodies from stoves, washers, hot water tanks, washer and driers etc.

 

[louisbear]

I hate them honestly. I had some nice charcoal/sandstone antique rubber tiles that I put down in the kitchen in Calgary that are ideal for kitchen, bathroom or basement. Got them from home depot years ago, peel and stick seam, and they were awesome! Tough, not cold on the feet, not slippery for the dog and looked sharp!

Tile is hard on the back, especially while working in the kitchen. Oh yes, and drop a water glass on the floor and you will be picking up glass shards for a month of Sundays. Oh, I know you can buy a matt to place in front of your sink, especially designed to relieve back stress . Well that’s all good until you forget it’s there and catch the edge of your shoe on it while making a move towards the dishwasher and spin out off control, grasping at anything on the smooth counter top, smashing your waist into the edge of the counter, then bouncing off the recycling bin at the end of the counter and hitting the floor with a thumb, knocking the wind out of yourself. The next day, my waist and ribs were a facsimile of giant grape gum ball from one of the old fashioned gum ball machines. That Matt became a flying carpet straight out the patio door. Needless to say the floor is bare tile once again.