the joys of home ownership....

[majorcatfish]

got home this afternoon with no rain in sight decided to water the red crimson clover seeds that i spread for the wife. hooked up to hose bib on the side of the house turned it on what a weak output on the sprinkler.

so had the grand idea of hooking the hose at the pressure tank under the house, noticed that the pressure tank connector was wet, ok will deal with that sunday started to hook the hose up and bumped the pressure switch it fell off and all hell broke loss water spraying everywhere, looked like a drowned rat in a matter of seconds turned the power off.

well (^%%&)()()(##$ what a way to end the day.. drove down to lowes picked up a new pressure switch,brass pipe and a new pressure gauge. got home theres the dw we have no water....really

yup i know been at lowes.. dw how much is this going to set us back
44.75... cool

amazing how this little part can bring you into the stone age.

3rd one i have put on in 17 yrs being here, oh it gets better once turning the power back on and purging the lines noticed on the gauge its showing a slow pressure loss well crap will have to pull the pump and replace the check valve.. again 4th one.
thinking about buying one of each and just putting them in the pantry for back up..

yes........ the joys

 

[PennyJo]

well maybe the is the upside of us being city water
which actually isn't too bad where we are there about 700
residents full time and the city owns the water treatment plant

 

[digitS']

I recently came across a homeowner's lament re: hoses and valves.

Now, I know nothing but this is what he said, "If you have purchased any garden hose with ALUMINUM end fittings/couplers, you should be aware there is a warning (small print) on the BACK of the package label that cautions users to remove the hose from the faucet and any attachments a minimum of 3 times a year! You should remove the couplings from ANY Brass connections as often as you can think of it (even if every time you use it). If you do not, the aluminum WILL FUSE to any brass connection!"

I bought a hose in '15 and one this year with what must be aluminum fittings. I probably take hoses off more than 3 times/week on average, so this didn't look like a personal concern but he had big problems, apparently.

Steve

 

[PennyJo]

sure sound like it... we have limited hoses so do have them off and on
back and forth several times this year but think now we will make more
of a point show my BF this

 

[thistlebloom]

What a bummer Major. But on the bright side (there's always a bright side ) now you don't have to mess with it on Sunday. And also, look how much money you saved by being such an expert fixer guy. Oh, and you got your water back on a lot faster than if you had to wait for a repairman.

See how wonderful that experience turned out to be?

 

[baymule]

Yeah, put spare parts on the shelf, save that trip to town.

 

[Nyboy]

You seems to be able to fix anything, my grandfather was the same. When something breaks I have to find a honest repairman and of course it always happens nights or weekends.

 

[Nyboy]

Funny because I will be doing a small plumping job myself today. We had a surprise inspection this week. I need to put a back flow valve on bathing tub. Man in plumping store felt I could do myself, now if I can only find white tape.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I recently came across a homeowner's lament re: hoses and valves.

Now, I know nothing but this is what he said, "If you have purchased any garden hose with ALUMINUM end fittings/couplers, you should be aware there is a warning (small print) on the BACK of the package label that cautions users to remove the hose from the faucet and any attachments a minimum of 3 times a year! You should remove the couplings from ANY Brass connections as often as you can think of it (even if every time you use it). If you do not, the aluminum WILL FUSE to any brass connection!"

I bought a hose in '15 and one this year with what must be aluminum fittings. I probably take hoses off more than 3 times/week on average, so this didn't look like a personal concern but he had big problems, apparently.

Steve

Thanks Steve. I got a couple of hoses with aluminum fittings and never saw the warning. Dissimilar metals will do that, it's called cathodic action due to a difference in electrochemical activity of the metals. We used that principle to keep the steel platforms from rusting away underwater offshore in salt water. When I string hoses together to reach far away I put a valve, often brass, near the end of the string so I don't have to walk all the way back to the spigot to turn the water on or off. During dry weather I sometimes leave those hose strings together for weeks, it's something I'll have to pay attention to.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Alex, you probably already know this but pay attention to that arrow on the side of that valve. The arrow shows the direction of normal water flow. If you put it on backward you'll know because no water will come out. I saw that more than once in the oil patch. People that were supposed to be professionals would sometimes put them on backwards on pipelines.