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Official Pit Home Improvement/DIY thread

ImTheCaptain said:
awesome, thanks. i was thinking it might be kind of crappy but that was the one i was considering
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Check the airflow requirements of your tools. I have this same compressor and wanted to use an air chisel on a job last year, but the compressor wasn't going to be able to keep up since the flow is kind of low, so instead I had to the do the job the hard way (BFH and punch).

Other than that job though, I've had no issues with the compressor.
 
I probably shouldn't own a home with my lack of knowledge, but is there a safe way to tell whether a smoke detector is hard wired? I'm getting a very annoying low battery chirp once a minute and need to replace the batteries ASAP. I've watched plenty of tutorials and they all make it look pretty simple, but I cannot find any way to unscrew the detector or detach it. This makes me think it's not hard wired and I just need to rip it off the wall, but I'd like to be sure before I try so I don't get fried.
 
WFfb115 said:
I probably shouldn't own a home with my lack of knowledge, but is there a safe way to tell whether a smoke detector is hard wired? I'm getting a very annoying low battery chirp once a minute and need to replace the batteries ASAP. I've watched plenty of tutorials and they all make it look pretty simple, but I cannot find any way to unscrew the detector or detach it. This makes me think it's not hard wired and I just need to rip it off the wall, but I'd like to be sure before I try so I don't get fried.
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There should be a battery door or the exterior unit should unscrew from the base. If you don't see an obvious door, just try to unscrew the housing.
 
ImTheCaptain said:
Anyone have any recs for a smaller compressor for the garage? I'll be using it mostly to fill tires and impact wrench on the cars/mowers/etc. If i can rig it up for my workbench i may get some other tools.
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Be very, very, very careful with gas powered air compressors (like the Porter Cable one noted above) in garages. Carbon Monoxide is not your friend, and a gas powered compressor makes CO. From what you said you want to do, I would get an electric powered one. If you only have access to 120 volt electricity, you are limited as to Horse Power of the compressor. If you have 220 volt electricity available, your options are greater.

Campbell Hausfeld makes popular compressors. I have a little (2 gal) C-H that I use for car tires. its real easy to carry around, but usually won't do more than one car before needing a refill.

Oil free compressors are much noisier than oiled ones. But you have to balance that with the chore of changing and filling the oil.

Bottom line: I would get as big an ELECTRIC oil compressor as you can fit into your space.

And did I mention, stay away from running gas compressors indoors, even in a garage, unless you are just ready to die for a Darwin Award.
 
WFfb115 said:
I probably shouldn't own a home with my lack of knowledge, but is there a safe way to tell whether a smoke detector is hard wired? I'm getting a very annoying low battery chirp once a minute and need to replace the batteries ASAP. I've watched plenty of tutorials and they all make it look pretty simple, but I cannot find any way to unscrew the detector or detach it. This makes me think it's not hard wired and I just need to rip it off the wall, but I'd like to be sure before I try so I don't get fried.
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If you are getting low battery chirp, it is highly, highly unlikely that you have a hard wired smoke detector.

Some smoke detector manufacturers combine the worst of opening hazardous substance containers with the difficulty of child proof pill bottles. But without providing decent directions.

Many times the whole external housing (outer cover) of the detector comes off, at least partly. Some have a hinge on one side and some arcane latch on the other. Some have a "squeeze to release" place or places. Some its push up and turn....Look very carefully at yours, use a flashlight to see if there are opening instructions very obscurely written somewhere on your detector.

The screws holding the detector to the ceiling or wall are probably inside the outer cover, so you don't see them until you get the cover off. Most manufacturers recommend annual or twice yearly battery replacement. However, there are now new smoke detectors with 10 year lithium batteries that don't ever get replaced. When the batteries go, the whole unit is replaced.

If you don't figure out how to open your unit, you probably could pry it loose from the ceiling using a flat pry bar or claw hammer. It probably is attached with a few screws in plastic anchors through the drywall. They will pull out with enough effort. After all, they were chosen during install to hold the pound or so of a smoke detector, not resist all attempts to remove.

Good luck!
 
Living in a condo has stifled my ability to tinker. Can't wait for August. Gotta get me a yard and a SHOP.
 
Deaconblue said:
If you are getting low battery chirp, it is highly, highly unlikely that you have a hard wired smoke detector.
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All of our smoke detectors are hard-wired, though we still get the low battery chirp from time to time and have to replace the batteries.
 
Thanks all! There was a very difficult to find hinge at the top of the detector that I could not see or find from my short stature. My friend's husband ripped it out of the wall and we unhinged it from there.
 
Anybody have to reterminate any wiring inside a dryer?

I'm replacing the heating element in our dryer, and when I went to remove one of the wires attached to the 2 prongs, the outside part of the metal clip broke off. The wiring is still intact, and it looks like I just need to replace that clip on the end. I'm having a fozzie of a bear of a problem trying to find the part to fix it, short of replacing everything. Anyone have an suggestions?
 
DeacOnCapeCod said:
I'm replacing the heating element in our dryer, and when I went to remove one of the wires attached to the 2 prongs, the outside part of the metal clip broke off. The wiring is still intact, and it looks like I just need to replace that clip on the end. I'm having a fozzie of a bear of a problem trying to find the part to fix it, short of replacing everything. Anyone have an suggestions?
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Welcome to the wonderful world of do-it-yourself repairs, where non of the parts you need, and should be made are actually available.

If you try the advice mentioned above, be very careful that the metal clip isn't doing something in addition to holding the wire. Make sure that the wire and screw will fit without touching anything it isn't supposed to touch. If electric things touch that aren't supposed to touch, there could be lightning bolts and blown circuit breakers.
 
ImTheCaptain said:
awesome, thanks. i was thinking it might be kind of crappy but that was the one i was considering
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I have the same one and wouldn't hesitate to buy the same thing again. Mine is electric; didn't know they made it as a gas powered unit.
 
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AMCDeac said:
I have the same one and wouldn't hesitate to buy the same thing again. Mine is electric; didn't know they made it as a gas powered unit.
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Until Blue posted that comment, I didnt either. Mine is also electric, and I assumed they all were. I just went to HD's website and found a pic. Didnt even notice is said the unit was gas powered.
 
I think I mentioned this before, but we decided to build a new bed based upon this design, modified to a king.

http://www.ana-white.com/2011/09/farmhouse-storage-bed-storage-drawers

So far things have been going well. We dropped maybe $400 total in lumber, with the most difficult find being 4x4's that were not treated. We finally found some fir posts that were untreated, but cost around $35 apiece. Oh well, the price you pay to not breathe in chemicals. We started Monday after work, and are almost ready to put the pieces together. We decided to paint the bed rather that stain, because we are using fir, spruce, pine, and maple on different places. I'll post some final pics, but I'm pretty stoked to have a bonafide bed again. We've been sleeping on a mattress on the floor for a couple months now.
 
20140218_142319.jpg
 
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