©2008-
SavingsNut.com™ – The Best Site On The Internet For Money Saving Tips & Frugal Living Ideas
“A Detailed Guide of Money Saving Advice & Budgeting Know-
“The best resource on the Internet to teach both young and old how to reduce everyday household expenses. Simply the best.” TSN
Also Visit
Thanks for Visiting
HVAC/ELECTRICAL/PLUMBING -
Electrical (continued)
3. If you have an electric garage door opener that stops working, or the garage door will not go all the way down, or reverses direction before it closes, try the following before calling an expensive technician:
a. If the electric garage door opener just stops working (i.e., the motor does not
run at all) after trying both the remote opener and the button mounted on the wall,
check the following. First, look to see if there is a little cut-
b. If , when the garage door is closing, it starts to close but then reverses check the following. Make sure there is nothing impeding the garage door tracks on either side of the garage door that guide the door to the floor. Next, make sure there is not something on the floor at the base of the garage door that is blocking the safety sensors. If the area is clear, look at the lenses on the safety sensors mounted at the base of each of the garage door side rails, and clean them off with a cue tip or something else. If that does not work, check to see if the wires to each sensor are still connected and did not get knocked off. Finally, make sure the sensors are aligned properly so that they point at each other across the opening of the garage, so the signal is not interrupted.
The average homeowner can actually do a lot of the normal plumbing repairs by themselves, and save considerably versus calling a plumber. Consider the following:
1. Most homeowners never bother to find out where the main shut off valve is for the water supply to their house. If you ever have a supply pipe burst or develop a large leak you will be looking for the main valve very quickly. So find it now when things are dry. Quick access to the valve may just save you a lot of money and heartache some day.
2. A common problem is clogged drains. Most of the time these are easily fixed.
a. If you do not have a good plunger make sure you get one. Almost any clog in a toilet can be fixed with a good plunger, some persistence and perhaps some patience in letting the problem sit a little while between plunging attempts.
b. Often, clogs in sink drains are addressed by pouring some Draino down the drain and hoping for the best. This may work sometimes, but is often a temporary fix and does not totally remove the source of the problem. Since most of these clogs are in the pipes under the sink, try removing the “goose neck” under the sink and cleaning it out. This is easily done by just unscrewing the coupling where the pipes join. At most, a larger wrench is required to grab the coupling. These joints are made to unscrew and be detached and then screwed back together again, without any leaks. It is easy. Just put a bucket under the pipe when detaching to catch any water. Once the pipe is cleaned out you should have “clear sailing” well into the future.
c. Garbage disposals often get clogged. Most often, the clog is in the drain pipe under the sink that is attached to the garbage disposal. As noted above, just take this pipe apart and clean it out. They are made to be taken apart and it is easy to do. Put a bucket under your work to catch water.
d. Sometimes, garbage disposals get stuck and will not turn. Go under your sink, and under the base of the garbage disposal unit in the center will be a hole where an Allen wrench (a hexagonal wrench) will fit. Your garbage disposal may have come with an Allen wrench for this purpose. Put the Allen wrench in the hole and turn it with force until the garbage disposal frees up.
3. Another source of plumbing problems is toilets that run continuously or that do not flush properly.
a. If your toilet runs continuously, water may be leaking out of the “flapper” at the bottom of the toilet tank. Take the top off of the tank and see if the flapper is all the way down. The chain that holds the flapper may be stuck or kinked, or be adjusted too short, and is keeping the flapper from sealing. Or, the flapper may have deteriorated from a long period of use and needs to be replaced. Any home improvement store will have inexpensive replacement flappers that are easy to install.
b. Your toilet may also run continuously because the tank continues to overfill, causing water to run down the overfill pipe in the tank. If this is the case, and you have the type of system that has a ball floating on the surface of the tank water, bend the metal rod that holds the ball down somewhat to force the ball down. This will cause the water fill valve to shut off quicker and stop the tank from overfilling. If no ball is present, the adjustment will be either a screw adjustment on the top of the water valve mechanism, or a slide adjustment on the side. Make the adjustment to stop excessive filling of the tank.
c. It is also possible that the actual water valve mechanism is defective and needs to be replaced. These are available at any home improvement store, are inexpensive and are relatively easy to install. Just follow the instructions and you should be done in less than an hour.
Next Page
