Question:

My brother is remarkably cool and calm about it even while being dismayed. I’m glad he doesn’t have the hair-trigger temper he had as a kid. I’m glad he’s more of a grown-up than I, even though he’s 2-1/2 years younger.  He just shook off my attempt at an apology, and he will be back tomorrow or the next day to take care of the mirror problem.

I’d be awfully grateful if I could borrow your brother once he’s finished at your house… got a <ahem! couple of odd jobs that need doing round here too. Anyone know where that ASAPM jet has gotten to? (end of blog entry) A relatively minor home repair, and I decide I’m a horrible failure as a human being. Sheesh.

<panto mode Oh no you’re not! </panto mode {{{Deirdre}}} Anyway, here’s sympathy and empathy and all the good -pathies,

And from me too! {{{Arthur}}} Vashti — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

2) On a similar note, I recently noticed that my air conditioner was dripping condensation into the window sill, instead of outside like it’s supposed to. The inside of the wooden window sill gets damp and has also developed a little mold. I’ve examined the situation, but don’t see anything I can do other than use the AC sparingly (which is difficult in a city experiencing heat waves in a home that’s like a brick oven). So, one more moisture related wall issue that is stressing me out.

Assuming this is a window unit, the condensation is supposed to run through a small channel to the outside.  That channel often gets blocked with dirt and you have your problem.  I don’t know how handy you are, but if you can remove the unit and take it outside where there is a hose and a nozzle, remove the front and using the hardest stream of water clean out the bottom real good, hopefully it will open the blockage. I’ve also removed the unit from it’s metal "box" and then can give it a good cleaning on the end that sticks outside also.  There may be leaves and all kinds of junk in there.  When finished, sit it level and pour some water in the front to see if it finds its way out the proper route.   If not, keep spraying, trying to find that little channel and get it cleaned out.  Let it dry for a day before using it just to be safe in case you got water in the electrical controls. Tono — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

Thanks to everyone for your replies and suggestions. Sorry for not replying to everyone individually, but I’m just feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment. I did check the AC several times. It is tilted properly, but sits in old and deep window sill and I can’t seem to locate where it drains the condensation. Chances are this has been happening all this summer, and the last, but I simply didn’t notice it until a few days ago. The only solution I’ve been able to come up with is using the AC sparingly (I set the temperature a bit higher and try to use only the fan on cooler nights). The room is now in the low 80s F instead of the upper 70s (tolerable if I don’t do much). The sill and wall have not entirely dried, but a notable improvement moisture-wise. Regarding the roof, the house does not have an attic. It’s a century-old, small, two story town house with flat black tar roof (i.e., the brick oven analogy). The roof can only be accessed with a 25-foot ladder and, even if I had such a ladder, I would have trouble with the height right now. I have been trying to phone that agency for help with these home issues, but I keep getting a recording that simply says their message box is full. Seems like the demand is much higher than what they are able to provide. I’ll just have to keep trying and hope I can get through one day soon. The situation is very frustrating. After paying for roof work and a decent AC last year, I’m still getting stressed out over rain and summer heat. Anxiety-wise, this provokes "loss of control" issues. I related a lot to last night’s episode of Monk. Without spoiling the plot, he seemed to be getting over some major fundamental issues when, suddenly, an unexpected stressor stirs everything up again. (moan) Oh well. I’ll just have to try not to get too worked up and gradually try to address the problems as best I can. Many thanks to everyone for your support. Very Best Wishes, Arthur — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

This reply is from Dawn Problems like these may not seem a big deal to most people, but they stress me out to the point where I feel paralyzed (extremely bad cognitive dysfunction). Oh well, I just felt like venting a bit. Very Best Wishes, Arthur

Arthur, I am so sorry that you are having such a rough time!  I know exactly what you mean, because I am exactly the same way.  It’s the little things that kill, isn’t it?  Any little repair that needs done, or problem that arises with the house, car, etc, freaks me out to the point where I just withdraw and can’t think.  I can handle BIG things, like major crises (what IS the plural of crisis?), but those little things get me every single time.  I am under almost constant stress because my home is not as clean as it used to be because I have an eight year old daughter who loves to make messes.  I’m working on loosening up, but it’s been eight years now and I still freak out, so I don’t have much hope for myself . So I’m with you.  Those problems seem like a big deal to me, and I totally understand your reaction to them.  It’s somewhat of a relief to know I’m not the only one, but I wish no one else had to suffer like this. ((((((((((((((Arthur))))))))))))))) Dawn ~*~"It’s the crazy ones that have all the good pills"~*~   ~~Kim Cattrall — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

Hi Arthur, So sorry you’re dealing with crappy things like this. I know exactly what you’re talking about. The small things that would mildly annoy most people make us feel so crazy. The ‘normies’ set about doing what needs to be done, and we become paralyzed and overwhelmed. Money being tight always adds to my apoplexy.  My brother offered to do a little repair for us to save us money, and, well… here’s a little something from my blog entry of yesterday (I"m too freakin’ lazy to type it again, so I’m copying and pasting <LOL) : StupidStupidSTUPID!! I did something stupid. As a consequence, my brother is having to do a lot of unnecessary work and deal with a huge broken mirror. What I should have done, had I been in focus: tell him the only thing we needed for the bathroom lights to work is replacing the dimmer switch. Instead I was not at all in a state of mindfulness when Mom told him we needed new light fixtures in the bathroom. He went to Lowe’s – twice – to get everything he needed. He was in the process of attaching the fixture to the wires that came out of the wall from behind the large mirror over the sink when he saw he needed just an inch more wire, so he pulled up on it and cracked the mirror. The a–hole who installed the mirror didn’t just use the little clip things and bottom brackets – he glued the f-cker to the wall.  I suspect the a–hole in question is named R____ M______, the muscle-brained former owner of this condo. I base this assumption on the evidence of other stupid installations and remodeling that we know he did.  Like cutting a door between the master bedroom and the garage. I suspect on nights he couldn’t sleep he slipped out to his red ‘vette and had unnatural relations with it. But none of that is what matters now. What matters is my absence of mindfulness when a key decision was made. Just a simple switch replacement and none of this would have happened. I took a pill because once I realized my role in this mayhem the anxiety attack swooped in and bit me in the ass. I’m rapidly slipping into an abnormally quiet state. My brother is remarkably cool and calm about it even while being dismayed. I’m glad he doesn’t have the hair-trigger temper he had as a kid. I’m glad he’s more of a grown-up than I, even though he’s 2-1/2 years younger.  He just shook off my attempt at an apology, and he will be back tomorrow or the next day to take care of the mirror problem. (end of blog entry) A relatively minor home repair, and I decide I’m a horrible failure as a human being. Sheesh. Anyway, here’s sympathy and empathy and all the good -pathies, Deirdre – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve been getting very stressed out lately. Many of us know how anxiety disorders can make us more vulnerable to environmental stressors. It’s not just being more sensitive to any kind of environmental stress, but the complications that come with elevated anxiety such as obsessing and cognitive dysfunction. Below are my current major examples. 1) There is a small leak in the back of my house which never seems to get fixed by the roofing contractors. It doesn’t seem major, but bad enough to start some mold which I’m now fighting. Every time there is any significant rain, my stomach gets in knots, my brain turns to clay and I breakdown to the point where I can only lay down on the couch like a zombie. With so much rain lately, and it being Hurricane season, this has been a major stressor. 2) On a similar note, I recently noticed that my air conditioner was dripping condensation into the window sill, instead of outside like it’s supposed to. The inside of the wooden window sill gets damp and has also developed a little mold. I’ve examined the situation, but don’t see anything I can do other than use the AC sparingly (which is difficult in a city experiencing heat waves in a home that’s like a brick oven). So, one more moisture related wall issue that is stressing me out. Money is tight, so I can’t simply hire contractors every time such things happen. I did hear about a city program providing roof and window services for elderly and, I think, disabled people. I managed to jot down the phone number and plan to give them a call. Problems like these may not seem a big deal to most people, but they stress me out to the point where I feel paralyzed (extremely bad cognitive dysfunction). Oh well, I just felt like venting a bit. Very Best Wishes, Arthur

– The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve been getting very stressed out lately. Many of us know how anxiety disorders can make us more vulnerable to environmental stressors. It’s not just being more sensitive to any kind of environmental stress, but the complications that come with elevated anxiety such as obsessing and cognitive dysfunction. Below are my current major examples. 1) There is a small leak in the back of my house which never seems to get fixed by the roofing contractors. It doesn’t seem major, but bad enough to start some mold which I’m now fighting. Every time there is any significant rain, my stomach gets in knots, my brain turns to clay and I breakdown to the point where I can only lay down on the couch like a zombie. With so much rain lately, and it being Hurricane season, this has been a major stressor. 2) On a similar note, I recently noticed that my air conditioner was dripping condensation into the window sill, instead of outside like it’s supposed to. The inside of the wooden window sill gets damp and has also developed a little mold. I’ve examined the situation, but don’t see anything I can do other than use the AC sparingly (which is difficult in a city experiencing heat waves in a home that’s like a brick oven). So, one more moisture related wall issue that is stressing me out. Money is tight, so I can’t simply hire contractors every time such things happen. I did hear about a city program providing roof and window services for elderly and, I think, disabled people. I managed to jot down the phone number and plan to give them a call. Problems like these may not seem a big deal to most people, but they stress me out to the point where I feel paralyzed (extremely bad cognitive dysfunction). Oh well, I just felt like venting a bit. Very Best Wishes, Arthur

Hello Arthur,boy can I relate !  This ,in itself, small things can become a mountain filled with anxiety – stress and in the end ‘breakdown to the point where I can only lay down on the couch like a zombie’ And even lying there your mind is a runaway train. *Doing* something like getting that phone number is a good thing An action instead of feeling paralyzed I do hope thay can help you out. Otherwise an anouncement in a local paper or on the internet can give you some technical support. You might be surprise how many people are willing to help Much love from Anna — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve been getting very stressed out lately. Many of us know how anxiety disorders can make us more vulnerable to environmental stressors. It’s not just being more sensitive to any kind of environmental stress, but the complications that come with elevated anxiety such as obsessing and cognitive dysfunction. Below are my current major examples. 1) There is a small leak in the back of my house which never seems to get fixed by the roofing contractors. It doesn’t seem major, but bad enough to start some mold which I’m now fighting. Every time there is any significant rain, my stomach gets in knots, my brain turns to clay and I breakdown to the point where I can only lay down on the couch like a zombie. With so much rain lately, and it being Hurricane season, this has been a major stressor. 2) On a similar note, I recently noticed that my air conditioner was dripping condensation into the window sill, instead of outside like it’s supposed to. The inside of the wooden window sill gets damp and has also developed a little mold. I’ve examined the situation, but don’t see anything I can do other than use the AC sparingly (which is difficult in a city experiencing heat waves in a home that’s like a brick oven). So, one more moisture related wall issue that is stressing me out. Money is tight, so I can’t simply hire contractors every time such things happen. I did hear about a city program providing roof and window services for elderly and, I think, disabled people. I managed to jot down the phone number and plan to give them a call. Problems like these may not seem a big deal to most people, but they stress me out to the point where I feel paralyzed (extremely bad cognitive dysfunction). Oh well, I just felt like venting a bit. Very Best Wishes, Arthur

Hi Arthur, I don’t have the answers for you but wanted to say "Hello" I hope that bought a small smile to your face! Caz — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve been getting very stressed out lately. Many of us know how anxiety disorders can make us more vulnerable to environmental stressors. It’s not just being more sensitive to any kind of environmental stress, but the complications that come with elevated anxiety such as obsessing and cognitive dysfunction. Below are my current major examples. 1) There is a small leak in the back of my house which never seems to get fixed by the roofing contractors. It doesn’t seem major, but bad enough to start some mold which I’m now fighting. Every time there is any significant rain, my stomach gets in knots, my brain turns to clay and I breakdown to the point where I can only lay down on the couch like a zombie. With so much rain lately, and it being Hurricane season, this has been a major stressor.

Is it possible that you or someone else could get into the attic (assuming that you have one) to trace the route that the water could be following to get to where it makes itself obvious? Water can travel a long distance along a beam and it would take a keen eye to follow the track. 2) On a similar note, I recently noticed that my air conditioner was dripping condensation into the window sill, instead of outside like it’s supposed to. The inside of the wooden window sill gets damp and has also developed a little mold. I’ve examined the situation, but don’t see anything I can do other than use the AC sparingly (which is difficult in a city experiencing heat waves in a home that’s like a brick oven). So, one more moisture related wall issue that is stressing me out.

If the airconditioner is installed at the correct angle and water is still coming onto the sill, I suspect that the drain for the airconditioner might be plugged. The window unit that we had would tend to do this also if the air filter wasn’t clean…I think that it was icing up and melting where it shouldn’t. Money is tight, so I can’t simply hire contractors every time such things happen. I did hear about a city program providing roof and window services for elderly and, I think, disabled people. I managed to jot down the phone number and plan to give them a call.

Give them a call right away in case they have a waiting list. You wouldn’t want to wait any longer than you have to. Problems like these may not seem a big deal to most people, but they stress me out to the point where I feel paralyzed (extremely bad cognitive dysfunction).

They would be a very big deal to me! I empathize with how you feel. Oh well, I just felt like venting a bit. Very Best Wishes, Arthur

(((((Arthur))))) — Ron P Home Page:  http://fp.kwic.com/~rwebb Just remember….if the world didn’t suck, we’d all fall off. — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

<Gently snipped ::2) On a similar note, I recently noticed ::that my air conditioner was dripping ::condensation into the window sill, instead ::of outside like it’s supposed to. The inside ::of the wooden window sill gets damp and has ::also developed a little mold. I’ve examined ::the situation, but don’t see anything I can ::do other than use the AC sparingly (which ::is difficult in a city experiencing heat ::waves in a home that’s like a brick oven). ::So, one more moisture related wall issue ::that is stressing me out. I had this happen too a few years ago! You may need to tilt your AC slightly back. ~*~Water leaks out the front of the unit It is normal for water to collect in the lower base of an air conditioner. See the section entitled: "There is water sloshing around inside." If water leaks out the front it is usually because the unit is tilted forward in the window frame. All air conditioners should be installed so they tilt slightly back to allow for proper removal of the condensation collected.~*~ http://www.repairclinic.com/0088_16_1.asp#Level1_9 You can apply some vinegar to your window sill. It should get rid of the mold without having to use bleach. ::I did hear about a city program providing ::roof and window services for elderly and, ::I think, disabled people. I managed to jot ::down the phone number and plan to give them ::a call. I hope this works out for you. If it doesn`t, maybe you could barter services with a repairmen or contractor. I know you real good at web design, etc. ::Problems like these may not seem a big deal ::to most people, but they stress me out to ::the point where I feel paralyzed (extremely ::bad cognitive dysfunction). I hear you and also understand what you are going through. I`m glad you reached out to us here. I hope things start getting better for you soon! Just think, those lovely crisp Autumn days are just around the corner. (((((Arthur))))) Jackie ~*~"It’s the crazy ones that have all the good pills"~*~   ~~Kim Cattrall — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

Oh Arthur, so sorry all this is happening.  I know how you feel.  I’ve been experiencing very high anxiety for over a month now.  Sending you calm vibes.  {{{{{Arthur}}}}} Love, Di

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ve been getting very stressed out lately. Many of us know how anxiety disorders can make us more vulnerable to environmental stressors. It’s not just being more sensitive to any kind of environmental stress, but the complications that come with elevated anxiety such as obsessing and cognitive dysfunction. Below are my current major examples. 1) There is a small leak in the back of my house which never seems to get fixed by the roofing contractors. It doesn’t seem major, but bad enough to start some mold which I’m now fighting. Every time there is any significant rain, my stomach gets in knots, my brain turns to clay and I breakdown to the point where I can only lay down on the couch like a zombie. With so much rain lately, and it being Hurricane season, this has been a major stressor. 2) On a similar note, I recently noticed that my air conditioner was dripping condensation into the window sill, instead of outside like it’s supposed to. The inside of the wooden window sill gets damp and has also developed a little mold. I’ve examined the situation, but don’t see anything I can do other than use the AC sparingly (which is difficult in a city experiencing heat waves in a home that’s like a brick oven). So, one more moisture related wall issue that is stressing me out. Money is tight, so I can’t simply hire contractors every time such things happen. I did hear about a city program providing roof and window services for elderly and, I think, disabled people. I managed to jot down the phone number and plan to give them a call. Problems like these may not seem a big deal to most people, but they stress me out to the point where I feel paralyzed (extremely bad cognitive dysfunction). Oh well, I just felt like venting a bit. Very Best Wishes, Arthur

– The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

I’ve been getting very stressed out lately. Many of us know how anxiety disorders can make us more vulnerable to environmental stressors. It’s not just being more sensitive to any kind of environmental stress, but the complications that come with elevated anxiety such as obsessing and cognitive dysfunction. Below are my current major examples. 1) There is a small leak in the back of my house which never seems to get fixed by the roofing contractors. It doesn’t seem major, but bad enough to start some mold which I’m now fighting. Every time there is any significant rain, my stomach gets in knots, my brain turns to clay and I breakdown to the point where I can only lay down on the couch like a zombie. With so much rain lately, and it being Hurricane season, this has been a major stressor. 2) On a similar note, I recently noticed that my air conditioner was dripping condensation into the window sill, instead of outside like it’s supposed to. The inside of the wooden window sill gets damp and has also developed a little mold. I’ve examined the situation, but don’t see anything I can do other than use the AC sparingly (which is difficult in a city experiencing heat waves in a home that’s like a brick oven). So, one more moisture related wall issue that is stressing me out. Money is tight, so I can’t simply hire contractors every time such things happen. I did hear about a city program providing roof and window services for elderly and, I think, disabled people. I managed to jot down the phone number and plan to give them a call. Problems like these may not seem a big deal to most people, but they stress me out to the point where I feel paralyzed (extremely bad cognitive dysfunction). Oh well, I just felt like venting a bit. Very Best Wishes, Arthur — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

Question:

http://www.sunmt.org/bushsenegal.html

lawks, a visit from imperial rome. nice pic of dubyius caesar on the link – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – — "the biggest mistake is to allow patriotism to prevail over humanism"

Response:

X-No-Archive: yes

i will simply allow myself to assume that you didn’t read that article that *i didn’t wrote…

Senegal – Bush brings his own lunch, dogs, cars, 700 agents, tree cutters, reporters and soda pop More than 1,500 persons have been arrested and put in jail between Thursday and Monday. Hopefully they will be released now that the Big Man is gone The US Army’s planes flying day and night over Dakar. The noise they make is so loud that one hardly sleeps at night About 700 security people from the US for Bush’s security in Senegal, with their dogs, and their cars. Senegalese security forces were not allowed to come near the US president All trees in places where Bush will pass have been cut. Some of them have more than 100 years All roads going down town (where hospitals, businesses, schools are located) were closed from Monday night to Tuesday at 3 PM. This means that we could not go to our offices or schools. Sick people were also obliged to stay at home. National exams for high schools that started on Monday are postponed until Wednesday. Bush’s visit to the Goree Island is another story. As you may know Goree is a small Island facing Dakar where from the 15th to the 19th century, the African slaves to be shipped to America were parked in special houses called slave houses. One of these houses has become a Museum to remind humanity about this dark period and has been visited by kings, queens, presidents. Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, and before them, Nelson Mandela, the Pope, and many other distinguished guests or ordinary tourists visited it without bothering the islanders. But for "security reasons" this time, the local population was chased out of their houses from 5 to 12 AM. They were forced by the American security to leave their houses and leave everything open, including their wardrobes to be searched by special dogs brought from the US. The ferry that links the island to Dakar was stopped and offices and businesses closed for the day. According to an economist who was interviewed by a private radio, Senegal that is a very poor country has lost huge amount of money in this visit, because workers have been prevented from walking out of their homes. In addition to us being prevented to go out, other humiliating things happened also. Bush did not want to be with Senegalese or use our things. He brought his own armchairs, and of course his own cars, and meals and drinks. He came with his own journalists and ours were forbidden inside the airport and in place he was visiting. Our president was not allowed to make a speech. Only Bush spoke when he was in Goree. He spoke about slavery. It seems that he needs the vote of the African American to be elected in the next elections, and wanted to please them. That’s why he visited Goree. Several protest marches against American politics have been organized yesterday and even when Bush was here, but we think he does not care. We have the feeling that everything has been done to convince us that we are nothing, and that America can behave the way it wants, everywhere, even in our country. Believe me friends, it is a terrible feeling. But according to a Ugandan friend of mine, I should not complain because it Uganda one of the country he is going to visit, Bush does not intend to go out of the airport. He will receive the Ugandan President in the airport lounge. Nevertheless, I think I am lucky, because I have such wonderful American friends. But there are now thousands of Senegalese who believe that for all Americans the world is their territory. http://www.sunmt.org/bushsenegal.html – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – your feelings about someone and/or else actions in convincing does not make them abusive.  I can’t see how that adds up. And a country cannot behave in any way – individuals do that – but I do notice here – again – you are seeing America as one entity to hate and not individual citizens.  I don’t think much about France – I’ve never been to France and I have no plans of going to France any time soon. So I can see the frustration level of  folks here who have engaged in arguments with you.  What you are putting forth is flawed on its face – which is probably one reason why you are getting the reception you are. Or you could be trolling for that reception.  Who knows/ sorry, i have been called to have a look at the new pet door, there were nights we had to sleep with the door open and *that was a big stress on me.. what i wanted to show you is for example that comment: "We have the feeling that everything has been done to convince us that we are nothing, and that America can behave the way it wants, everywhere, even in our country." so, abusive??? phoenix — "the biggest mistake is to allow patriotism to prevail over humanism" No, you malignant little twit, not abusive. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/20/national/20REFU.html?pagewanted=2&th July 20, 2003 U.S. a Place of Miracles for Somali Refugees By RACHEL L. SWARNS UCSON – The white wooden door swung open and the dazed African villagers stepped into their new home. It was a modest apartment with secondhand furniture and a stove in need of repairs. But to Osman Yarrow, his wife and five children, refugees from Somalia’s civil war, it seemed like a place of miracles. Clean water coursed out of gleaming faucets, an astonishing luxury for a rural family who had spent more than a decade in mud huts without indoor plumbing. "Red for hot," Mr. Yarrow repeated wonderingly as he held his fingers in the steady stream. "Blue for cold." There were flush toilets instead of pit latrines and beds instead of straw mats. But what Mr. Yarrow treasured most on his first day in his American home was a sense of security. In Somalia, he witnessed the execution of his father and son by marauding militias. In Kenya, his family huddled in bleak refugee camps while bullets sang in the night. Here, he listened to the squeals of his children and the hum of a contraption called an air conditioner. "We will sleep without hearing gunshots," he said. "We’re finally living in a safe place." Mr. Yarrow, 40, represents the changing face of America’s refugees. Since May, more than 200 members of his tribe, the Somali Bantu, have been flown to 22 cities across the United States, the first wave of one of the government’s largest recent refugee resettlement efforts. By the end of next year, officials plan to resettle nearly 13,000 Bantu, who were enslaved and persecuted for generations in Somalia until civil war scattered them to desolate and violent refugee camps in Kenya in the early 1990’s. Over the past decade, State Department officials have increasingly shifted their focus toward Africa as wars there have displaced millions of people. The end of the cold war has resulted in a sharp decline in refugees from the former Soviet Union and Vietnam. Africans are among those filling the gap. State Department statistics show that Africans made up 3 percent of the refugees resettled in the United States in the 1990 fiscal year. By 2001, that figure was nearly 30 percent. The pace of refugee resettlement has slowed sharply since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Thousands of refugees are awaiting security clearance because they are fleeing countries like Somalia and Sudan, which have been accused of sheltering terrorists. Even so, State Department officials say they hope to resettle more than 1,000 Somali Bantu by Sept. 30. Families have arrived in Houston, Salt Lake City, Nashville, St. Louis, Rochester, Concord, N.H., and other cities like Tucson, where the cost of living is relatively low and entry-level jobs are available. For the Bantu, it is a journey in both space and in time. They are members of a tribe that was forcibly transported to Somalia from Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania by Arab slave traders two centuries ago. In Somalia, they were often denied access to education and jobs. Today, they are mostly illiterate and almost untouched by Western life. As refugees, they farmed, cooked, cleaned and labored in backbreaking construction jobs in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. But most had never flipped a light switch, operated a stove, opened a bank account or flown in an airplane. Members of the tribe began the long process of adapting to a new culture earlier this year when the International Organization for Migration began familiarizing them with English, American culture and modern appliances while they waited in the Kakuma camp in Kenya. Mr. Yarrow and his family stepped off Delta Flight 3912 here this month, carrying little more than their dreams. They plunged into a sea of white faces in the airport, past the shops selling Cheez-Its and leopard-print umbrellas and the passersby who gawked at the colorful Somali dresses of Mr. Yarrow’s wife and daughters. They were welcomed by officials from the

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Response:

sorry, i have been called to have a look at the new pet door, there were nights we had to sleep with the door open and *that was a big stress on me.. what i wanted to show you is for example that comment: "We have the feeling that everything has been done to convince us that we are nothing, and that America can behave the way it wants, everywhere, even in our country." so, abusive??? phoenix — "the biggest mistake is to allow patriotism to prevail over humanism" – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – No, you malignant little twit, not abusive. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/20/national/20REFU.html?pagewanted=2&th July 20, 2003 U.S. a Place of Miracles for Somali Refugees By RACHEL L. SWARNS UCSON

Question:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – We have a Tempstar SmartComfort air conditioner that is relatively recent. We bought the house last July. We also added a whole house humidifier (aprilaire 700) installed by a licensed technician. The furnace and generally, the part that is inside home are working fine. The air is forced around the house when I turn the A/C on. However, that air is not cold but warm. The outside unit is powered by 220 volts and is on a 50 amp double breaker. I went outside with a flashlight as it is dark right now. The outside unit was not doing anything. There was an extra fuse block on the outside wall supplementing the inside circuit breaker. When I pulled the fuse block out (it says WADSWORTH (AFAIK) and has two copper bars), it appeared that the path along the copper bars was available for electric current, however it definitely has signs of past overheating or possibly even arcing. It was dark and kinda hard to tell.

Its even harder for us to tell…. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I did not stick a multimeter there to measure the voltage because of darkness but it will be the first thing for me to do tomorrow. I am generally handy woth tools such as scredrivers, pliers, multimetrers, TDR cable testers/reflectometers and oscilloscopes. I would like someone to give me some ideas as to what to check and what usually goes wrong. Also, am I correct in saying that the A/C unit that is outside is remotely switched by the furnace or thermostat. If so, how can I detect a signal that switches the A/C unit on to check that such signal is given. I do not want to call a technician first because I am afraid that I will get scammed unless I at least have some understanding. Thanks

See…now this bugs me for only one reason…you say its new….then…if you have a problem thats caused a meltdown, its called warranty…. And even if you repair the problem now…..whats causing it??? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – i

Response:

more findings now that it is daylight… There is indeed a control wire leading to the outside A/C unit from the furnace unit. There is a 28VAC signal on that wire. The fuse I mentioned originally (on the outside wall) has no resistance, so it conducts electricity. This is bad as far as I can tell, b/c the outside unit may be fried?

Could be, but since you said it did nothing, it may be something as simple as a bad relay or a broken/disconnected wire. Unless you feel up to tracing high and low voltages around inside the condenser’s guts, I’d say the next step is to call a tech. Ask your neighbors what company they use and like. On mine, when it ran low on freon, the compressor stopped, but the fan (outside) would run. On other makes, loss of coolant may shut down the whole thing, so that could be the problem. It’ll take an experienced tech about fifteen minutes to find out and it’s probably not something you have the equipment to test (or do anything about). It’s possible someone damaged a coolant pipe inside when they put in the humidifier – in that case, they should do something about fixing it. -Wm

Response:

I do not want to call a technician first because I am afraid that I will get scammed unless I at least have some understanding.

Call the contractor that installed it.  There should be a tag on the thermostat or the furnace saying who to call for service.  Installers generally are pretty reliable service techs.   There may be an extended warranty on the compressor, if that is what you need.  A new compressor will cost several hundred dollars.  If it was installed by a homeowner rather than a builder, the homeowner may have bought an extended warranty. It may be something as simple as a relay or starting capacitor.  When my AC quit, I called the outfit that installed it and they replaced the starting capacitor.  $14 parts and $80 labor, mostly because I am a 45 minute drive from their shop.  I think they said a new compressor would be about $800, plus labor. — http://home.teleport.com/~larryc

Response:

I do not want to call a technician first because I am afraid that I will get scammed unless I at least have some understanding. Call the contractor that installed it.  There should be a tag on the thermostat or the furnace saying who to call for service.  Installers generally are pretty reliable service techs.  

        Wrong.  Installers generally don’t know thing # 1 about service. There may be an extended warranty on the compressor, if that is what you need.  A new compressor will cost several hundred dollars.  If it was installed by a homeowner rather than a builder, the homeowner may have bought an extended warranty.

        Several hundred ?  Try $ 1,000. It may be something as simple as a relay or starting capacitor.  When my AC quit, I called the outfit that installed it and they replaced the starting capacitor.  $14 parts and $80 labor, mostly because I am a 45 minute drive from their shop.  I think they said a new compressor would be about $800, plus labor.

        Or it may be anything else, too.  Stop giving advice on AC, you’re not qualified.

Coming soon – PMTherm version 2.0  !!  http://pmilligan.net/pmtherm.htm Free superheat charts for 38 Ref’s online at http://pmilligan.net/pmtherm/ My personal site is at  http://www.pmilligan.net , featuring free HVAC, psychrometric, stock market, and other software http://helpthecritters.com/ is my domain for helping critters

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – We have a Tempstar SmartComfort air conditioner that is relatively recent. We bought the house last July. We also added a whole house humidifier (aprilaire 700) installed by a licensed technician. The furnace and generally, the part that is inside home are working fine. The air is forced around the house when I turn the A/C on. However, that air is not cold but warm. The outside unit is powered by 220 volts and is on a 50 amp double breaker. I went outside with a flashlight as it is dark right now. The outside unit was not doing anything. There was an extra fuse block on the outside wall supplementing the inside circuit breaker. When I pulled the fuse block out (it says WADSWORTH (AFAIK) and has two copper bars), it appeared that the path along the copper bars was available for electric current, however it definitely has signs of past overheating or possibly even arcing. It was dark and kinda hard to tell. Its even harder for us to tell…. I did not stick a multimeter there to measure the voltage because of darkness but it will be the first thing for me to do tomorrow. I am generally handy woth tools such as scredrivers, pliers, multimetrers, TDR cable testers/reflectometers and oscilloscopes. I would like someone to give me some ideas as to what to check and what usually goes wrong. Also, am I correct in saying that the A/C unit that is outside is remotely switched by the furnace or thermostat. If so, how can I detect a signal that switches the A/C unit on to check that such signal is given. I do not want to call a technician first because I am afraid that I will get scammed unless I at least have some understanding. Thanks See…now this bugs me for only one reason…you say its new….then…if you have a problem thats caused a meltdown, its called warranty…. And even if you repair the problem now…..whats causing it??? i

Scammed, schmammed. Thats bullshit. You’re being cheap and trying to save money. Admit it. Its a guess and only a guess but could it have anything to do with the fact that some hack in town tossed in an outdoor unit but didnt bother to replace the old melted, corroded, nasty outdoor disconnect or anything else to make this a trouble free install? Generally, a new/er install wont have copper pieces in a fused outdoor disconnect. Id be looking for someone to look over my system and start it off on Bubba

Response:

     Or it may be anything else, too.  Stop giving advice on AC, you’re not qualified.

   But you asswipes who are (qualified) won’t give the advice.  Loser.    In fact, your *entire* reason for being here is to plug your    bullshit listed in your .ig file, isn’t it, loser?    TP —    Character is doing the right thing when nobody’s looking.      There are too many people who think that the only thing    that’s right is to get by, and the only thing that’s    wrong is to get caught.       – Congressman J.C. Watts

Response:

() writes:    Or it may be anything else, too.  Stop giving advice on AC, you’re not qualified.

At least I try to be helpful.  If you have something to say, you should get to it. — http://home.teleport.com/~larryc

Response:

Hi Ig, It sounds like one of the outdoor fuses failed.  Go and turn off the breaker to the fuse box and simply check accross the fuse with your ohm meter set to continuity. If you get no continuity on one or both then change the fuses.  This is probably the problem.  As far as the arking goes, I’m guessing you are talking about on the end of the copper where it first touches the inside contact when it is pushed back into the plug.   This is normal.  What is not normal is if one of the copper bars is discolored, darkened compared to the other.  Then the whole plug will need replaced because of overheating of the copper it will continue to burn fuses. Anything else, come see me at, www.TalkHvac.com

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – We have a Tempstar SmartComfort air conditioner that is relatively recent. We bought the house last July. We also added a whole house humidifier (aprilaire 700) installed by a licensed technician. The furnace and generally, the part that is inside home are working fine. The air is forced around the house when I turn the A/C on. However, that air is not cold but warm. The outside unit is powered by 220 volts and is on a 50 amp double breaker. I went outside with a flashlight as it is dark right now. The outside unit was not doing anything. There was an extra fuse block on the outside wall supplementing the inside circuit breaker. When I pulled the fuse block out (it says WADSWORTH (AFAIK) and has two copper bars), it appeared that the path along the copper bars was available for electric current, however it definitely has signs of past overheating or possibly even arcing. It was dark and kinda hard to tell. I did not stick a multimeter there to measure the voltage because of darkness but it will be the first thing for me to do tomorrow. I am generally handy woth tools such as scredrivers, pliers, multimetrers, TDR cable testers/reflectometers and oscilloscopes. I would like someone to give me some ideas as to what to check and what usually goes wrong. Also, am I correct in saying that the A/C unit that is outside is remotely switched by the furnace or thermostat. If so, how can I detect a signal that switches the A/C unit on to check that such signal is given. I do not want to call a technician first because I am afraid that I will get scammed unless I at least have some understanding. Thanks i

Response:

     Or it may be anything else, too.  Stop giving advice on AC, you’re not qualified.   But you asswipes who are (qualified) won’t give the advice.  Loser.   In fact, your *entire* reason for being here is to plug your   bullshit listed in your .ig file, isn’t it, loser?   TP

And your reason for being here is you can’t get over being charged 80 bucks because you were to stupid to change your filter.  Get over it freak. Mike

Response:

What if I just clean up the one I currently have, with emery cloth or 600 grit sandpaper or some such?

   Worth a shot, but keep in mind that’s only been suggested as a    possible source of the problem.  Nothing guarantees either a new    box or a cleanup is the answer.  Oh yeah, same disclaimer still    applies:     Of course you should know before you undertake this job     that you must know exactly what you’re doing.  A mistake     working with AC can be dangerous or fatal.  

   TP —    Character is doing the right thing when nobody’s looking.      There are too many people who think that the only thing    that’s right is to get by, and the only thing that’s    wrong is to get caught.       – Congressman J.C. Watts

Response:

Um, I am pretty sure that I could do that myself. Any suggestions for a disconnect that would be suitable given current technology etc?     The Home Depot sells 3 or 4 different models, I bought a GE for     about 12 bucks.  Assuming that your 240VAC feed to the compressor     is protected by a circuit breaker, you don’t need a *fused*     disconnect box, just a simple one with a pullout that kills the     circuit.  Of course you should know before you undertake this job     that you must know exactly what you’re doing.  A mistake working     with AC can be dangerous or fatal.  

What if I just clean up the one I currently have, with emery cloth or 600 grit sandpaper or some such? ignoramus – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –     PS: Pay no attention to these jerks from the HVAC newsgroup, they     have a tremendous hard-on for homeowners asking questions.     TP

Response:

did not know that my outdoor disconnect may be unfit for service. Which disconnects are recommended? Depending on condition, a fused disconnect may be as good as the more modern breaker type.  They are more reliable protection than breakers, particularly in outdoor applications.

Yes, and what seems to have been overlooked during this entire thread is that many condensing units are UL listed to be protected *only* by fuses of specific size, *not* circuit breakers.   The label on the unit will spell it out. Jim

Response:

did not know that my outdoor disconnect may be unfit for service. Which disconnects are recommended?

Depending on condition, a fused disconnect may be as good as the more modern breaker type.  They are more reliable protection than breakers, particularly in outdoor applications.   Copper is the best material for outdoor electrical panels, but it does oxidize after years of service.  If you kill the power to the panel, take the contacts apart and buff them up with a little fine emery paper, then coat them with anti-oxidant and put it back together, the disconnect will probably be as good as new.  The anti-oxidant is conductive, so just use a thin film and don’t spread it anywhere but right on the contacts.   The anti-oxidant is required by code for any aluminum wiring, so you can pick it up pretty much anywhere that sells electrical parts. Don’t forget to kill the power at the main panel, or you will light up like a christmas tree. — http://home.teleport.com/~larryc

Response:

() writes:       Or it may be anything else, too.  Stop giving advice on AC, you’re not qualified. At least I try to be helpful.  If you have something to say, you should get to it. Quit crossposting. Get it?

So you don’t have anything to say either?  Why don’t you just quit posting until you come up with something? — http://home.teleport.com/~larryc

Response:

Thanks. Miraculously, it is working today. I am baffled. I feel that I am missing something. ignoramus

Assuming it’s not a loose wire that found it’s way back to its contact, it sounds like some kind of safety shutdown has reset. Could you have accidentally turned it on and off, then on again too quickly? You may have engaged a cut-out timer designed to protect the compressor. (And if you kept fiddling with the switch, you may have kept it from timing out.) -Wm

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – () writes:       Or it may be anything else, too.  Stop giving advice on AC, you’re not qualified. At least I try to be helpful.  If you have something to say, you should get to it. Quit crossposting. Get it? So you don’t have anything to say either?  Why don’t you just quit posting until you come up with something?

Whassamatter Larry? Boil bothering you again? Digging your ass in public is uncouth. Go to the Doctor already. Maybe he can fix that leaking mass under your nose while he’s at it.

Response:

Hey Paul: When are you going to unleash some of your Internet savvy and rid this group of this vermin Tommy Pedophile???

   Hey Oscar_lives:  Why don’t you put the world out of YOUR misery    and splatter your sick brains all over that wall behind you.  Do    it before your child molestation fantasies turn into reality and    you rape somebody’s kid when they leave them alone with you.    One click buddy, and I’ll be gone forever, and no preschoolers    will have their lives fucked up by your diseased mind.    Sleep tight, loser.    TP —    Character is doing the right thing when nobody’s looking.      There are too many people who think that the only thing    that’s right is to get by, and the only thing that’s    wrong is to get caught.       – Congressman J.C. Watts

Response:

Um, I am pretty sure that I could do that myself. Any suggestions for a disconnect that would be suitable given current technology etc?

   The Home Depot sells 3 or 4 different models, I bought a GE for    about 12 bucks.  Assuming that your 240VAC feed to the compressor    is protected by a circuit breaker, you don’t need a *fused*    disconnect box, just a simple one with a pullout that kills the    circuit.  Of course you should know before you undertake this job    that you must know exactly what you’re doing.  A mistake working    with AC can be dangerous or fatal.      PS: Pay no attention to these jerks from the HVAC newsgroup, they    have a tremendous hard-on for homeowners asking questions.    TP —    Character is doing the right thing when nobody’s looking.      There are too many people who think that the only thing    that’s right is to get by, and the only thing that’s    wrong is to get caught.       – Congressman J.C. Watts

Response:

I did…you didnt obviously read the rest of the post..

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –  First, understand this before reading the rest…  NO ONE in alt.hvac trusts the advice given by Johnny come lately Mark  G…hes given worse advice, and more wrong advice than Tom  Penderlertch..err.gast.. OK, give me your advice then. ignoramus  Hi Ig,  It sounds like one of the outdoor fuses failed.  Go and turn off the  breaker  to the fuse box and simply check accross the fuse with your ohm meter  set to  continuity. Looks like it has continuity.  As would be the case, since you stated it was running again….the fuses  used or HVAC-R are not of the resetting type…they are one time use.  Mark seems to think his crystal ball works over the internet..  If you get no continuity on one or both then change the fuses. This is  probably the problem.  As far as the arking goes, I’m guessing you are  talking about on the end of the copper where it first touches the  inside  contact when it is pushed back into the plug. No, what shows signs of arcing is one of the screws that holds the copper bar.  Not being able to see it from here…as no one can, it SOUNDS like the  electrician didnt tighten the lug down…  This is normal.  What is not  normal is if one of the copper bars is discolored, darkened compared to  the  other. That is the case actually.  Normally due to loose connections…this causes overheating. Then the whole plug will need replaced because of overheating of the  copper it will continue to burn fuses. Thanks. Should I replace it with a similar device? I heard suggestions here that use of copper was not a good idea.  If you have a breaker that is rated as it should be for the unit, listed on  the side of the unit as max overcurrent protection….just replace the  disconnect with a non fused type… ig  Anything else, come see me at,  www.TalkHvac.com message We have a Tempstar SmartComfort air conditioner that is relatively recent. We bought the house last July. We also added a whole house humidifier (aprilaire 700) installed by a licensed technician. The furnace and generally, the part that is inside home are working fine. The air is forced around the house when I turn the A/C on. However, that air is not cold but warm. The outside unit is powered by 220 volts and is on a 50 amp double breaker. I went outside with a flashlight as it is dark right now. The outside unit was not doing anything. There was an extra fuse block on the outside wall supplementing the inside circuit breaker. When I pulled the fuse block out (it says WADSWORTH (AFAIK) and has two copper bars), it appeared that the path along the copper bars was available for electric current, however it definitely has signs of past overheating or possibly even arcing. It was dark and kinda hard to tell. I did not stick a multimeter there to measure the voltage because of darkness but it will be the first thing for me to do tomorrow. I am generally handy woth tools such as scredrivers, pliers, multimetrers, TDR cable testers/reflectometers and oscilloscopes. I would like someone to give me some ideas as to what to check and what usually goes wrong. Also, am I correct in saying that the A/C unit that is outside is remotely switched by the furnace or thermostat. If so, how can I detect a signal that switches the A/C unit on to check that such signal is given. I do not want to call a technician first because I am afraid that I will get scammed unless I at least have some understanding. Thanks i

Response:

Hey Paul: When are you going to unleash some of your Internet savvy and rid this group of this vermin Tommy Pedophile???

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –      Or it may be anything else, too.  Stop giving advice on AC, you’re not qualified.    But you asswipes who are (qualified) won’t give the advice.  Loser.    In fact, your *entire* reason for being here is to plug your    bullshit listed in your .ig file, isn’t it, loser?    TP —    Character is doing the right thing when nobody’s looking.    There are too many people who think that the only thing    that’s right is to get by, and the only thing that’s    wrong is to get caught.       – Congressman J.C. Watts

Response:

Hey Paul: When are you going to unleash some of your Internet savvy and rid this group of this vermin Tommy Pedophile???

        I rid myself of him long ago – kill files work wonders.  The rest is up to others now, I gave up that role years ago.

Coming soon – PMTherm version 2.0  !!  http://pmilligan.net/pmtherm.htm Free superheat charts for 38 Ref’s online at http://pmilligan.net/pmtherm/ My personal site is at  http://www.pmilligan.net , featuring free HVAC, psychrometric, stock market, and other software http://helpthecritters.com/ is my domain for helping critters

Response:

First, understand this before reading the rest… NO ONE in alt.hvac trusts the advice given by Johnny come lately Mark G…hes given worse advice, and more wrong advice than Tom Penderlertch..err.gast..

 Hi Ig,  It sounds like one of the outdoor fuses failed.  Go and turn off the breaker  to the fuse box and simply check accross the fuse with your ohm meter set to  continuity. Looks like it has continuity.

As would be the case, since you stated it was running again….the fuses used or HVAC-R are not of the resetting type…they are one time use. Mark seems to think his crystal ball works over the internet..  If you get no continuity on one or both then change the fuses.  This is  probably the problem.  As far as the arking goes, I’m guessing you are  talking about on the end of the copper where it first touches the inside  contact when it is pushed back into the plug. No, what shows signs of arcing is one of the screws that holds the copper bar.

Not being able to see it from here…as no one can, it SOUNDS like the electrician didnt tighten the lug down…  This is normal.  What is not  normal is if one of the copper bars is discolored, darkened compared to the  other. That is the case actually.

Normally due to loose connections…this causes overheating. Then the whole plug will need replaced because of overheating of the  copper it will continue to burn fuses. Thanks. Should I replace it with a similar device? I heard suggestions here that use of copper was not a good idea.

If you have a breaker that is rated as it should be for the unit, listed on the side of the unit as max overcurrent protection….just replace the disconnect with a non fused type… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – ig  Anything else, come see me at,  www.TalkHvac.com We have a Tempstar SmartComfort air conditioner that is relatively recent. We bought the house last July. We also added a whole house humidifier (aprilaire 700) installed by a licensed technician. The furnace and generally, the part that is inside home are working fine. The air is forced around the house when I turn the A/C on. However, that air is not cold but warm. The outside unit is powered by 220 volts and is on a 50 amp double breaker. I went outside with a flashlight as it is dark right now. The outside unit was not doing anything. There was an extra fuse block on the outside wall supplementing the inside circuit breaker. When I pulled the fuse block out (it says WADSWORTH (AFAIK) and has two copper bars), it appeared that the path along the copper bars was available for electric current, however it definitely has signs of past overheating or possibly even arcing. It was dark and kinda hard to tell. I did not stick a multimeter there to measure the voltage because of darkness but it will be the first thing for me to do tomorrow. I am generally handy woth tools such as scredrivers, pliers, multimetrers, TDR cable testers/reflectometers and oscilloscopes. I would like someone to give me some ideas as to what to check and what usually goes wrong. Also, am I correct in saying that the A/C unit that is outside is remotely switched by the furnace or thermostat. If so, how can I detect a signal that switches the A/C unit on to check that such signal is given. I do not want to call a technician first because I am afraid that I will get scammed unless I at least have some understanding. Thanks i

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –  Scammed, schmammed. Thats bullshit. You’re being cheap and trying to  save money. Admit it. I admit it.  Its a guess and only a guess but could it have anything to do with the  fact that some hack in town tossed in an outdoor unit but didnt bother  to replace the old melted, corroded, nasty outdoor disconnect or  anything else to make this a trouble free install? Generally, a new/er  install wont have copper pieces in a fused outdoor disconnect.  Id be looking for someone to look over my system and start it off on  Bubba did not know that my outdoor disconnect may be unfit for service. Which disconnects are recommended? ignoramus

A fused UL listed disconnect would be nice. Disconnects can be gotten at your hardware stores or your home cheapos and the like. Bubba

Response:

() writes:       Or it may be anything else, too.  Stop giving advice on AC, you’re not qualified. At least I try to be helpful.  If you have something to say, you should get to it.

Quit crossposting. Get it?

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –  Scammed, schmammed. Thats bullshit. You’re being cheap and trying to  save money. Admit it. I admit it.  Its a guess and only a guess but could it have anything to do with the  fact that some hack in town tossed in an outdoor unit but didnt bother  to replace the old melted, corroded, nasty outdoor disconnect or  anything else to make this a trouble free install? Generally, a new/er  install wont have copper pieces in a fused outdoor disconnect.  Id be looking for someone to look over my system and start it off on  Bubba did not know that my outdoor disconnect may be unfit for service. Which disconnects are recommended?

one of the high quality disconnects sold and installed by your favorite *competent*, licensed, professionally trained HVAC technician. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – ignoramus

Response:

Question:

<<spliced story Meanwhile, I get more and  more used to this place, its subtle and not so subtle beauty, and look forward to the end of the rainy season when I can go fishing some more. The rivers are far too flooded now to hope to get a clear cast, and the ground is soaked everywhere so access is limited. However, the color ‘green’ was invented with this place in mind, and all the fruit trees and gardens are exploding with food and color. Flowers are everywhere, colors and smells are enough to make you sit down, and life goes on. Beautifully. riverman, lost in the depths of Congo.

I left TASOK in the Summer of 1990.  I can only imagine how life works today there.  I urge to visit the falls at Zongo as the sight of their size and massiveness truly puts Niagra to shame.  It is amazing to see a waterfall spill into a deep cavern that seems to be bottomless and so dark that it seems it be a cave with no echo. Is Mobutu’s palaca still outside the front gates of TASOK?  It always amazed me such a man could have so much, and his country have so little (in wealth that is).  He’d even go out of his way to build a statue of himself at a battlefield in Eastern Zaire (at the time) displaying himself as the hero and conqueror of evil.  Especially as he spares no expense putting the statues in gold and not some cheap brass or wood. At his main palace, he would cage live, exotic animals … tigers, lions, cheetahs, okapi and others would populate his "zoo".  I heard stories that he would feed them pieces of people who he had killed for betrayl.  As a kid, I believed those stories especially. Are you there now?  How is the school holding up?  I remember many days being spent there for school and sports.  Especially the wonderful faculty versus student softball games.

Response:

Yuk. I hate chikwang…tastes like wallpaper paste with pilipili!

Nah, you just haven’t eaten enough yet to get used to it. <g Yes, I usually drink Primus (makes me sound like a drunk in NYC sipping off of fuel bottles..) and Skol, which gives less of a hangover. I’ll look for Simba……

You might have to ask someone going to Lubumbashi to bring you some back specially.  Any of your students’ dads cargo pilots? So whats your connection with this place, John?

I lived in a village between Goma and Butembo, then a village south of Bukavu, then in Bukavu itself, for 5 years in the late 70s, early 80s. The last couple years, I was training PC volunteers and part of my job was to visit them at their posts to see how well the training served them, so I got to see a lot of the interior.  My trips to Kinshasa were usually on R&R (mostly midnight to seven, at the bars in the cit

Question:

Why when running venting down from a dryer do you need to create a short 3′-4′ rise with back to back 90’s before penetrating the floor?  Is this to prevent lint from accumulating? Also,  I have a pretty long run of straight but the dryer doesn’t seem to mind.  That is, I don’t feel it needs a booster fan inline. Also, Also, The 4" vent pipe is running perp to to the bottom of my joists in my casement.  I want to put a finished or drop ceiling in.  Anyone have any tips on dealing with accomodating a dryer vent? Thanks in advance –

Response:

The general rules of dryer venting are to use 4" smooth-wall metal pipe and as few elbows as possible.  The owners manual of most dryers has specs for length of run allowed and how much each elbow counts for in feet.  If you have a 20′ run and 3 elbows which the manual says equal 4′ each, you have an effective total run of 32′.  Every dryer is different.  Whirlpool makes one model specifically designed to go well over 100′ but there are some out there that huff and puff to get past 25′. The only right was to run the vent is between the joists before you cover it up.  You will need to plan access as well.  This may result in substantial re-routing of the vent.  Making holes in the joists if it has to run perp to them would weaken the floor beyond comprehension.  You might be stuck re-running the vent as it is after the ceiling is installed if you can’t reroute it. Check the manual – there’s lots of info there. Paul

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Why when running venting down from a dryer do you need to create a short 3′-4′ rise with back to back 90’s before penetrating the floor?  Is this to prevent lint from accumulating? Also,  I have a pretty long run of straight but the dryer doesn’t seem to mind.  That is, I don’t feel it needs a booster fan inline. Also, Also, The 4" vent pipe is running perp to to the bottom of my joists in my casement.  I want to put a finished or drop ceiling in.  Anyone have any tips on dealing with accomodating a dryer vent? Thanks in advance –

Response:

Why when running venting down from a dryer do you need to create a short 3′-4′ rise with back to back 90’s before penetrating the floor?

The dryer’s installation or owners manual should cover everything you need to do. I myself have never heard of such a requirement. Maybe you’re thinking or a dishwasher or washer drain hose? Also,  I have a pretty long run of straight but the dryer doesn’t seem to mind.  That is, I don’t feel it needs a booster fan inline.

As long as you think so. What is the maximum length that is recommended in the dryer’s installation or owners manual? Are you past it? You can read some different manufacturer’s recommendations at the following link. I would advise you to keep to not more than 80% of what is recommended under optimum situations. http://ng.appliance411.com/links/jump.cgi?ID=778 Also, Also, The 4" vent pipe is running perp to to the bottom of my joists in my casement.  I want to put a finished or drop ceiling in. Anyone have any tips on dealing with accomodating a dryer vent?

Whatever you do, make sure you keep it accessible for the future. Dan O. – Appliance411.com http://ng.Appliance411.com/?ref411=dryer+vent =

Question:

My 220v in-wall air conditioner use to work fine until the last year or so.  Now, when it is running and the compressor cycles on and off, it will once in a while pop the circuit breaker.  I changed around the breakers with other ones of the same rating on the panel, but somehow one of the always pops. It doesn’t matter what speed I keep the fan at.  And I think it works best if I set it to the coldest setting and clear the air-space in front of the vent so that the compressor does not have cycle as much. But eventually when the room cools down enough, one can’t avoid the compressor cycling on and off. Is there some home repair solution to this for someone who doesn’t have too much knowledge of air conditioning? There is talk of motor on its last leg, clean coils, hard start capacitor… But what does doing those things do? Thanks for any info.

Response:

My 220v in-wall air conditioner use to work fine until the last year or so.  Now, when it is running and the compressor cycles on and off, it will once in a while pop the circuit breaker.  I changed around the breakers with other ones of the same rating on the panel, but somehow one of the always pops.

It might not even be the AC unit or the breakers. You might be getting hit by lower line voltage due to more housing build up and electricity usage in your area. As the volts go down, the amps go up and eventually will pop your breaker during lots of usage. It doesn’t matter what speed I keep the fan at.  And I think it works best if I set it to the coldest setting and clear the air-space in front of the vent so that the compressor does not have cycle as much. But eventually when the room cools down enough, one can’t avoid the compressor cycling on and off.

Right. Well when the compressor cycles that’s when you will draw the most amps. <DIY querys snipped — Replace nospam with jetta to reply via e-mail

Response:

If its popping when the compressor has cycled off, and is starting back up, you might have something as simple as a bad cap…hard start kits on window units are not something you really want to do. IF thats the case, then, the compressor is about gone. It also might not even be the AC, so, to be sure, you need to have the amperage draw on the unit checked, and also take note if its happening at the same time everyday…if so, it might not even be something you can control from your home.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My 220v in-wall air conditioner use to work fine until the last year or so.  Now, when it is running and the compressor cycles on and off, it will once in a while pop the circuit breaker.  I changed around the breakers with other ones of the same rating on the panel, but somehow one of the always pops. It doesn’t matter what speed I keep the fan at.  And I think it works best if I set it to the coldest setting and clear the air-space in front of the vent so that the compressor does not have cycle as much. But eventually when the room cools down enough, one can’t avoid the compressor cycling on and off. Is there some home repair solution to this for someone who doesn’t have too much knowledge of air conditioning? There is talk of motor on its last leg, clean coils, hard start capacitor… But what does doing those things do? Thanks for any info.

Response:

Where is the cap located?  It is a in wall unit, is there a difference between that and window units?

Normally, just follow the wires from the compressor to the silver cap….its in there…one will go to it, and its not hard to miss…but make sure you have the power off, and you have discharged it….:) I get 130v AC into the house, so the 2 would be 260v, and 2 20amp breakers.  That should be more than enough for this 22000BTU unit which requires 230v/11amp.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – If its popping when the compressor has cycled off, and is starting back up, you might have something as simple as a bad cap…hard start kits on window units are not something you really want to do. IF thats the case, then, the compressor is about gone. It also might not even be the AC, so, to be sure, you need to have the amperage draw on the unit checked, and also take note if its happening at the same time everyday…if so, it might not even be something you can control from your home.

Response:

Where is the cap located?  It is a in wall unit, is there a difference between that and window units? Normally, just follow the wires from the compressor to the silver cap….its in there…one will go to it, and its not hard to miss…but make sure you have the power off, and you have discharged it….:)

I see something that looks like a capacitor (oval’ish thing about 6-8" tall) when looking through the side vents.  Who sells hard start kits or capacitors?  Plumbing/heating/AC shop? BTW, what is in a hard start kit?

Response:

Where is the cap located?  It is a in wall unit, is there a difference between that and window units? I get 130v AC into the house, so the 2 would be 260v, and 2 20amp breakers.  That should be more than enough for this 22000BTU unit which requires 230v/11amp. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – If its popping when the compressor has cycled off, and is starting back up, you might have something as simple as a bad cap…hard start kits on window units are not something you really want to do. IF thats the case, then, the compressor is about gone. It also might not even be the AC, so, to be sure, you need to have the amperage draw on the unit checked, and also take note if its happening at the same time everyday…if so, it might not even be something you can control from your home.

Response:

When the motor ‘tries’ to start, but can it is experiencing what is known as a locked rotor condition. Current draw in this condition is much higher. For example, the current draw on my 220v unit is 14.7 amps during operation. Locked rotor condition current is 75 Amps! In the spring when I first turn my AC on for the cooling season, the compressor has a hard time starting. It takes it 3 seconds or so. I can tell because it dims the house lights quite noticeably. This year it did not start within four seconds and the fuse in the outside box next to the unit blew. I replaced the fuse and retried. Luckily it started. After the first trying start it works perfectly all season. Start assist kit time! My unit is 25 years old. I wonder how much longer life the start assist kit will typically get out of them? John

Where is the cap located?  It is a in wall unit, is there a difference between that and window units? I get 130v AC into the house, so the 2 would be 260v, and 2 20amp breakers.  That should be more than enough for this 22000BTU unit which requires 230v/11amp.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – If its popping when the compressor has cycled off, and is starting back up, you might have something as simple as a bad cap…hard start kits on window units are not something you really want to do. IF thats the case, then, the compressor is about gone. It also might not even be the AC, so, to be sure, you need to have the amperage draw on the unit checked, and also take note if its happening at the same time everyday…if so, it might not even be something you can control from your home.

Response:

My unit is 25 years old. I wonder how much longer life the start assist kit will typically get out of them? John

Normally, it can decrease life is the units not set up for one…seriously.

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My 220v in-wall air conditioner use to work fine until the last year or so.  Now, when it is running and the compressor cycles on and off, it will once in a while pop the circuit breaker.  I changed around the breakers with other ones of the same rating on the panel, but somehow one of the always pops. It doesn’t matter what speed I keep the fan at.  And I think it works best if I set it to the coldest setting and clear the air-space in front of the vent so that the compressor does not have cycle as much. But eventually when the room cools down enough, one can’t avoid the compressor cycling on and off. Is there some home repair solution to this for someone who doesn’t have too much knowledge of air conditioning? There is talk of motor on its last leg, clean coils, hard start capacitor… But what does doing those things do? Thanks for any info.

I would start by thoroughly rinsing the condenser coil, which is the coil visible from outside. When this gets dirty the pressures sometimes don’t equalize fast enough to allow a normal startup of the compressor, especially if the off cycle is less than 3 minutes. A dirty condenser coil also causes the compressor to overheat, which aggravates the problem. Moreover short cycling in these units can be caused by a dirty filter or evaporator coil, which is the inside coil, because the thermostat element is situated in front of the coil. The low airflow will give the thermostat a false reading. Running the unit with continuous fan will also add to the problem during the off cycle, warming up the sensor sooner than with would take place when the fan cycles off with the compressor. Try cleaning the outside coil first, then take it from there. richard

Response:

Question:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Hi, I live alone in a two story with basement I am fixing up.  I like it to be very cool (less than 72 degree) when I sleep.  It can be 78 everywhere but the bedroom. I plan to cool the bedroom with a 6000btu room air conditioner. Consumer reports has a calculator that claims: 5900BTU * 527hours/yr * 7.633 = $23/year to operate. My utility bill currently goes from $200 to $300 during the heat of the summer.  Does anyone have any experience with room air conditioners?  Are these numbers realistic?  If so, I should save the money in the first year. Many thanks, Paul

It sounds as if you have central cooling, so on that assumption i will answer your question. Depending on the size of your room, and insulation, and if you close the bedroom door, the little room air conditioner will probably freeze you out of your bedroom. You should check to see what size air conditioner you need for your size room, if you want quite running time from your air conditioner. If your air conditioner is too small for your room, you will be sleeping with a lot of running noise, however lack of insulation and loose-fitting windows can do that too, therefore if you have poor insulation and loose-fitting windows, you are fine with your present choice. Manufacturers base their findings on your following the rules they set up for you, as in if you stand on your head, in a hermetically-sealed room, while using their air conditioner, all their quotes about all the electricity you will save will come true for you . . . someday . . . soooooooon . . . So to get the best results from your fantastic idea, would be to turn your central cooling down to about 85 (experiment) at night, and your little, room, air conditioner to about 69 (experiment) and sleep tight with wooly blankets and ear plugs (ear plugs if your insulation and windows arenot the best). Pamini Path: nntp.cts.com!galanthis.cts.com!newspeer.cts.com!newshub.sdsu.edu!west.cox.n et!cox.net!newsfeed1.earthlink.net!newsfeed.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas. earthlink.net!newsread2.prod.itd.earthlink.net.POSTED!47a67d2b!not-for-mail X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.77 [en] (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.home.repair Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Organization: =?iso-8859-1?Q?=A0?= Lines: 2 NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.165.57.178 This message was cancelled from within Mozilla. Path: nntp.cts.com!galanthis.cts.com!newspeer.cts.com!newshub.sdsu.edu!logbridge. uoregon.edu!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!193.174.75.178!news-fra1.dfn.de !news.man.poznan.pl!newsfeed.tpinternet.pl!news.tpi.pl!not-for-mail Newsgroups: alt.home.repair Organization: tp.internet – http://www.tpi.pl/ Lines: 1 NNTP-Posting-Host: pc134.tarnobrzeg.sdi.tpnet.pl Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 [en] (Win95; U) This message was cancelled from within Mozilla.

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Hi, I live alone in a two story with basement I am fixing up.  I like it to be very cool (less than 72 degree) when I sleep.  It can be 78 everywhere but the bedroom. I plan to cool the bedroom with a 6000btu room air conditioner. Consumer reports has a calculator that claims: 5900BTU * 527hours/yr * 7.633 = $23/year to operate. My utility bill currently goes from $200 to $300 during the heat of the summer.  Does anyone have any experience with room air conditioners?  Are these numbers realistic?  If so, I should save the money in the first year. Many thanks, Paul

It sounds as if you have central cooling, so on that assumption i will answer your question. Depending on the size of your room, and insulation, and if you close the bedroom door, the little room air conditioner will probably freeze you out of your bedroom. You should check to see what size air conditioner you need for your size room, if you want quite running time from your air conditioner. If your air conditioner is too small for your room, you will be sleeping with a lot of running noise, however lack of insulation and loose-fitting windows can do that too, therefore if you have poor insulation and loose-fitting windows, you are fine with your present choice. Manufacturers base their findings on your following the rules they set up for you, as in if you stand on your head, in a hermetically-sealed room, while using their air conditioner, all their quotes about all the electricity you will save will come true for you . . . someday . . . soooooooon . . . So to get the best results from your fantastic idea, would be to turn your central cooling down to about 85 (experiment) at night, and your little, room, air conditioner to about 69 (experiment) and sleep tight with wooly blankets and ear plugs (ear plugs if your insulation and windows arenot the best). Pamini Path: nntp.cts.com!galanthis.cts.com!newspeer.cts.com!newshub.sdsu.edu!west.cox.n et!cox.net!newsfeed1.earthlink.net!newsfeed.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas. earthlink.net!newsread2.prod.itd.earthlink.net.POSTED!47a67d2b!not-for-mail X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.77 [en] (Win98; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.home.repair Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Organization: =?iso-8859-1?Q?=A0?= Lines: 2 NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.165.57.178 This message was cancelled from within Mozilla.

Response:

Spamini is a moron and must be a dbird clone so report him for giving out bad advice.

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Response:

Pamini says, "Blah Blah Blah, I know nothing, but if I write alot I am special" Thanks for nothing.  Go back to your 900 numbers for positive response to your drivel.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – says… Hi, I live alone in a two story with basement I am fixing up.  I like it to be very cool (less than 72 degree) when I sleep.  It can be 78 everywhere but the bedroom. I plan to cool the bedroom with a 6000btu room air conditioner. Consumer reports has a calculator that claims: 5900BTU * 527hours/yr * 7.633 = $23/year to operate. My utility bill currently goes from $200 to $300 during the heat of the summer.  Does anyone have any experience with room air conditioners?  Are these numbers realistic?  If so, I should save the money in the first year. Many thanks, Paul It sounds as if you have central cooling, so on that assumption i will answer your question. Depending on the size of your room, and insulation, and if you close the bedroom door, the little room air conditioner will probably freeze you out of your bedroom. You should check to see what size air conditioner you need for your size room, if you want quite running time from your air conditioner. If your air conditioner is too small for your room, you will be sleeping with a lot of running noise, however lack of insulation and loose-fitting windows can do that too, therefore if you have poor insulation and loose-fitting windows, you are fine with your present choice. Manufacturers base their findings on your following the rules they set up for you, as in if you stand on your head, in a hermetically-sealed room, while using their air conditioner, all their quotes about all the electricity you will save will come true for you . . . someday . . . soooooooon . . . So to get the best results from your fantastic idea, would be to turn your central cooling down to about 85 (experiment) at night, and your little, room, air conditioner to about 69 (experiment) and sleep tight with wooly blankets and ear plugs (ear plugs if your insulation and windows arenot the best). Pamini

Response:

Hi, I live alone in a two story with basement I am fixing up.  I like it to be very cool (less than 72 degree) when I sleep.  It can be 78 everywhere but the bedroom. I plan to cool the bedroom with a 6000btu room air conditioner. Consumer reports has a calculator that claims: 5900BTU * 527hours/yr * 7.633 = $23/year to operate. My utility bill currently goes from $200 to $300 during the heat of the summer.  Does anyone have any experience with room air conditioners?  Are these numbers realistic?  If so, I should save the money in the first year.

Those numbers obviously ASSUME a lot. Depending upon a LOT the unit will draw from 1/2 to 1 kw in full operation. You cost of power will be on the order of $.10 per kwh. When operating flat out, it costs about $.10/hour (or slightly less) to operation.   This is $2.40 a day.     Adjust these number for your expected use but there your are. Having said that we found that we save a noticable about when I put a window unit in the room we use most often (the family room.)    It comes on well before the central unit and operates continuously until the middle of the night.   The main unit cycles on and off except in the very hottest weather. Before the main unit would be set to make the family room comfortable. This years better room models have efficiencies  (EERs) on the order of 10 up.    Central air units more than a few years old have EERs of 10 DOWN. So you save double: the unit is slight more efficient and you are only super-cooling the one important room and using th central to keep the rest of the house from becoming an oven. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Many thanks, Paul

Response:

Hi, I live alone in a two story with basement I am fixing up.  I like it to be very cool (less than 72 degree) when I sleep.  It can be 78 everywhere but the bedroom. I plan to cool the bedroom with a 6000btu room air conditioner. Consumer reports has a calculator that claims: 5900BTU * 527hours/yr * 7.633 = $23/year to operate. My utility bill currently goes from $200 to $300 during the heat of the summer.  Does anyone have any experience with room air conditioners?  Are these numbers realistic?  If so, I should save the money in the first year. Many thanks, Paul

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Hi, I live alone in a two story with basement I am fixing up.  I like it to be very cool (less than 72 degree) when I sleep.  It can be 78 everywhere but the bedroom. I plan to cool the bedroom with a 6000btu room air conditioner. Consumer reports has a calculator that claims: 5900BTU * 527hours/yr * 7.633 = $23/year to operate. My utility bill currently goes from $200 to $300 during the heat of the summer.  Does anyone have any experience with room air conditioners?  Are these numbers realistic?  If so, I should save the money in the first year. Many thanks, Paul

It sounds as if you have central cooling, so on that assumption i will answer your question. Depending on the size of your room, and insulation, and if you close the bedroom door, the little room air conditioner will probably freeze you out of your bedroom. You should check to see what size air conditioner you need for your size room, if you want quite running time from your air conditioner. If your air conditioner is too small for your room, you will be sleeping with a lot of running noise, however lack of insulation and loose-fitting windows can do that too, therefore if you have poor insulation and loose-fitting windows, you are fine with your present choice. Manufacturers base their findings on your following the rules they set up for you, as in if you stand on your head, in a hermetically-sealed room, while using their air conditioner, all their quotes about all the electricity you will save will come true for you . . . someday . . . soooooooon . . . So to get the best results from your fantastic idea, would be to turn your central cooling down to about 85 (experiment) at night, and your little, room, air conditioner to about 69 (experiment) and sleep tight with wooly blankets and ear plugs (ear plugs if your insulation and windows arenot the best). Pamini

Response:

Question:

Are there any tricks/suggestion on how might be able to check for leaks in the air ducts running from the fan unit in the attic to the ceiling outlets through out the house.        My air conditioner just doesn’t seem to be putting out a strong stream of air although the temperature seems ok.  There isn’t a lot of head space in attic where can stand up and walk around to check all the pipes(not sure that the correct word) that directs the air from the fan unit to the vents in the ceiling. Thank You

Response:

Since night vision scopes are getting so cheap, and they work on thermal variations, has anyone tried using one for an energy audit such as this? — Rex Burkheimer Parts Plus Marketing Director  WM Automotive Whse., Fort Worth TX

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Are there any tricks/suggestion on how might be able to check for leaks in the air ducts running from the fan unit in the attic to the ceiling outlets through out the house.        My air conditioner just doesn’t seem to be putting out a strong stream of air although the temperature seems ok.  There isn’t a lot of head space in attic where can stand up and walk around to check all the pipes(not sure that the correct word) that directs the air from the fan unit to the vents in the ceiling. Thank You

Response:

Are there any tricks/suggestion on how might be able to check for leaks in the air ducts running from the fan unit in the attic to the ceiling outlets through out the house.        My air conditioner just doesn’t seem to be putting out a strong stream of air although the temperature seems ok.  There isn’t a lot of head space in attic where can stand up and walk around to check all the pipes(not sure that the correct word) that directs the air from the fan unit to the vents in the ceiling. Thank You

Hi Jeff, Have you checked that the dampers in all of you registers are open to the fullest position and that the filter has been replaced with a new, clean filter? Those would be the two quickest checks, otherwise you may check (or have checked) to see if you air handler has a fan speed setting which can be increased for higher air flow. After that, I must defer to the experts.

Response:

Previously, jeff rowland wrote in alt.home.repair: Are there any tricks/suggestion on how might be able to check for leaks in the air ducts running from the fan unit in the attic to the ceiling outlets through out the house.        My air conditioner just doesn’t seem to be putting out a strong stream of air although the temperature seems ok.  There isn’t a lot of head space in attic where can stand up and walk around to check all the pipes(not sure that the correct word) that directs the air from the fan unit to the vents in the ceiling.

I’d advise contacting your local electrical utility to see if they perform low cost energy audits. See if they can do duct testing (aka pressure pan tests) and blower door tests to see where you’re house is leaking. If you need your ducts sealed it may cost extra or you may have to hire another contractor to do it. We built a new house that is very tight, but these tests still found some problems. For one, our recessed can fixtures were supposed to be Air-Loc, but the contractor never installed the gaskets so each one was leaking. A few $3.00 gaskets and they should tighten right up. Also, we found our casement window cranks were all leaking air. We’re still working with our window manufacturer to find out why – I think the gaskets were left off of these as well. Lastly, our attic access panels did not seal well. Some cheap weatherstrip fixed this. All the leaks add up. According to Juno (the manufacturer of our recessed cans) the fixtures we had without the gasket could leak an avg of 2.6 cfm, or more than a million cfm a year per fixture. In our house we had 26 fixtures, which really adds up. This should go to near-zero with the gaskets. We had to pay $200 for the test. In our case, the state of Oregon offers tax credits for some energy efficiency upgrades and testing, including duct sealing and blower door testing.

Response:

Since night vision scopes are getting so cheap, and they work on thermal variations, has anyone tried using one for an energy audit such as this?

The cheap night vision stuff either used an IR illuminator or is a Russian surplus "starlight" scope. They don’t responde to body level temperatures. You are thinking of the stuff with a cooled detector (like the FLIR equipment.)  MAYBE this will get down to the few $100 but it hasn’t yet. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – — Rex Burkheimer Parts Plus Marketing Director  WM Automotive Whse., Fort Worth TX Are there any tricks/suggestion on how might be able to check for leaks in the air ducts running from the fan unit in the attic to the ceiling outlets through out the house.        My air conditioner just doesn’t seem to be putting out a strong stream of air although the temperature seems ok.  There isn’t a lot of head space in attic where can stand up and walk around to check all the pipes(not sure that the correct word) that directs the air from the fan unit to the vents in the ceiling. Thank You

Response:

The pro’s pump nitrous oxide into the ducts and use a small Mapps torch at seams and transitions to check for leaks. Are there any tricks/suggestion on how might be able to check for leaks in the air ducts running from the fan unit in the attic to the ceiling outlets through out the house.

And you wonder why after testing in the attic, you have a bunch of people downstairs suffering from exposure to laughing gas?  Let’s hope that they don’t have a gas heater on with a leaky heat exchange unit, or someone is going to be paying a bundle for a new home. —    Justin Masters   (Systems Programmer)                   PH:  916 356-6735    Intel Corp. FM6-17                                      FAX: 916 377-2288

Response:

The pro’s pump nitrous oxide into the ducts and use a small Mapps torch at seams and transitions to check for leaks. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Are there any tricks/suggestion on how might be able to check for leaks in the air ducts running from the fan unit in the attic to the ceiling outlets through out the house.

Response:

Question:

We have been house hunting and have located a house we like very much. However, it has zone controlled heating and cooling and a heat pump, none of which I am familiar with. Can anyone give me any pros or cons on theses items? Thanks, DLB

Response:

Previously, DLB wrote in alt.home.repair: We have been house hunting and have located a house we like very much. However, it has zone controlled heating and cooling and a heat pump, none of which I am familiar with. Can anyone give me any pros or cons on theses items?

Pros:  - If properly designed, can increase comfort by providing flexible    amounts of heating/cooling to various zones of the house  - If properly designed, can increase energy efficiency by not    overheating or overcooling some zones to accomodate other zones Cons:  - They often aren’t properly designed  - They are more expensive to repair, and residential techs    often aren’t well trained on them FWIW, we have a zoned system and like it quite a bit.

Response:

Many houses have ONE zone — either the thermostat is "squawking for heat" and the furnace is running, or it is not and the furnace turns off.  That describes the two houses I shared with my parents and the first house my wife and I bought. In our second house we have an oil fired furnace which provides domestic hot water and heats water for two zones of hot water baseboard heating units [upstairs and downstairs].   The oil burner turns on and off based on the water temperature, not based on the air temperature at the thermostat. There are two thermostats which control the pumps which push hot water from the furnace into the baseboard units.  The pumps run when the thermostat detects an air temperature below the thermostat setting.  This allows different temperatures upstairs and downstairs. No problems found in thirteen years. A "heat pump" is a reversible air conditioner which moves heat from inside the house to outside or vice versa depending on whether you want the house warmer or colder than outdoors. It probably uses some sort of heat exchanger buried in the ground as the heat source / heat sink.  Heat pumps generally operate at a much lower cost than electric resistance heating units and a separate air conditioning system.  I have no experience with "whole house" heat pumps. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Previously, DLB wrote in alt.home.repair: We have been house hunting and have located a house we like very much. However, it has zone controlled heating and cooling and a heat pump, none of which I am familiar with. Can anyone give me any pros or cons on theses items?

Response:

Question:

The full refund on the book described below is NOT guaranteed

Who life? Mine or yours? If I were to outlive you, and then decided I didn’t like the book, who is going to pick up the ball on this?  :/ MK

Response:

Mark: The book is only guaranteed for your lifetime. My heirs have been instructed to refund after my passing. I am now 86 years of age, have plenty of money, so  "What, me worry?"                                    Dale – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The full refund on the book described below is NOT guaranteed Who life? Mine or yours? If I were to outlive you, and then decided I didn’t like the book, who is going to pick up the ball on this?  :/ MK

Response:

The full refund on the book described below is NOT guaranteed One of America