Jim Katen

May 22, 2020

6 hours ago, AdamJ2112 said:

Is there any big concern using flexible piping if I can't place it directly over the shower?

The less, the better. Just use the flex to get to the rigid.

Don't forget fireblocking at that soffit. (It would have been easier to pre-rock that area.)

May 20, 2020

If the bathroom were on an upper level and had a long skylight well, that might be a problem, but a 9-inch difference in ceiling height isn't going to make a scrap of difference here. In a bathroom that size you could put it anywhere on the ceiling or high on the wall and it would work fine. If you put it over the shower, I believe that Panasonic requires it's circuit to be GFCI protected.

Be sure to buy and install Panasonic's Condensation Sensor Plus controller (humidistat) or install a good timer, like Tom suggested. Running the fan for a good 20 minutes after a shower will make much more of a difference than a small difference in placement.

May 13, 2020

7 hours ago, Rayne said:

Square D QO main panel, my question is the only double pole breaker is 30 amp and so where is the main disconnect, and whats the amp rating on the panel. I see at the top of the panel it says the panel is rated for 100 amps so why would there not be a 100 amp disconnect? The only 240v circuit in the home is to the dryer everything else is gas. Is it possible they didn't install a main service disconnect because you could shut every circuit off with with 6 throws, which technically you couldn't because two of those are tandem breakers and I would think a tandem breaker would be two throws, any help would be much appreicated, thanks!

That's a main-lug panel. In the trade it would be called an MLO (main lug only) panel. If you were to open it up and look inside, you'd probably see a schematic that said something like "listed for use as service equipment when using not more than 6 main breakers." *If* it's the service panel for a building and *if* it had 6 or fewer breakers, then it wouldn't need a main breaker. The tandems count as two breakers unless they have a handle-tie installed. My guess is that the panel was originally installed with 6 breakers and someone installed the tandems later - they don't match anyway.

The upside down breakers (the ones that are "off" in the "up" position, mean that the panel must predate 1984.

The fact that the breakers are oddly arranged and that there's a strange outline of a cutout to the left of the upper breaker makes me wonder if this cover actually goes with the panel behind it.

We could tell a lot more if you had a picture of the panel with its cover removed.

May 13, 2020

Out here, they've got to be above the snow. Wouldn't that be the case in the friggin midwest?

May 11, 2020

Off topic:

I find it interesting that none of the spellcheck programs seems to be up to date with this stuff. Per the AP Stylebook the term "coronavirus" is not capitalized, but COVID-19 is all caps.

Because I knew you'd want to know.

May 11, 2020

4 hours ago, Jim Baird said:

A gas fired water heater stands in a house's utility room that holds about 60% of the 50 cf per 1K BTU needed to meet code.

The room does have a central HVAC supply duct.

Does that supply duct negate the room as "confined space"?

Not per the IRC.

The City of Portland used to have a citywide exception that allowed a supply duct to serve as a combustion air opening if it was big enough to do so when the HVAC blower was not running. The upshot is that the duct is never big enough. (It makes no sense to have a huge supply duct going to a small utility room - and a large utility room wouldn't need the added combustion air in the first place.)

May 11, 2020

Without defining "showing" it's meaningless. As I understand the common meaning of "showing," it has nothing to do with an inspection.

Also, it's impossible for anyone to attest to items 5 & 6 with honesty. Which means that pretty much everyone who signs it is a liar.

I find such agreements despicable, but if I were to have one, I'd have my lawyer write something that basically says, "the undersigned parties agree to hold each other harmless with regard to COVID-19." (I'm sure that the lawyer would drag it out into several paragraphs, but I would insist that it not contain any impossible clauses.)

May 11, 2020

They frequently don't work. It's a bit of an epidemic around here.

May 10, 2020

Use your laser thermometer to take the temperature of the floor.

Turn up the thermostat and confirm that the display shows that it's trying to heat.

Come back an hour later and scan the floor with your thermometer again. Or if you have an IR camera, just take a picture of the floor - it'll light up like a christmas tree.

You could also do it with an ammeter in the panel if you can find the circuit that's feeding the heater.

On the thermostats that I see, the "test" button tests the GFCI feature.

May 7, 2020

42 minutes ago, Jim Baird said:

Anyone here seen such use?

Occasionally. I've even see EPS foam panels used for that purpose. Though most of the GWB is paperless nowadays - like Densglass.

I don't like it because I'm in earthquake country and our buildings need all the shear they can get.

May 5, 2020

10 hours ago, Erby said:

I've got a friend who has the space for the Ruth Stout method of growing potatoes. Gets a bumper crop every year.

Potatoes, tomatoes, squash, beans, etc all love the Ruth Stout method. I'll never go back to the black plastic with those things.

10 hours ago, Erby said:

I don't know about that "too much work" thing. About every three years, I get another load of compost to throw in there and till into the rest of the soil. That's about the only real work.

Yeah, but my garden is about 60x60. When the beds are due for amendments, we're talking literally tons of stuff. I'd order two or three dump truck's worth of whatever looked good that year. Plus, just laying out the plastic got to be kind of old. Walking out there and shaking hay over everything is pretty close to no work. Heck, if Ruth could do it in her '90s I can do it indefinitely. I don't even own a tiller anymore and I haven't *turned* anything into the soil in years. I just keep dumping hay on top.

10 hours ago, Erby said:

The only idea I have for you is to go back to what worked in the past. Of course mine is only a small 10 x 20 bed.

Yeah. I might try going back to the plastic for one bed for the warm weather stuff. I'm also considering building a little cold frame over a bed and lining all round it with rocks as heat sinks. I saw one odd-looking garden where the owner "Mulched" with small flat jet-black rocks that he got from who-knows-where. He layered them on the ground like fish scales. I have not the time, patience, or back muscles for that one.

May 5, 2020

I used black plastic for a couple of decades in my garden, and it worked very well. It allowed me to grow watermelons, okra, and great peppers, which none of my neighbors could do with traditional garden beds. I'd build up the beds with tons of manure, compost, fertilizer, etc, cover them with black plastic and let them run for 5 seasons or so, after which time the plastic would start to deteriorate and the soil would be used up. Then I'd repeat the process. A few years ago, I decided that it was too much work and switched to the Ruth Stout method of mulching with lots & lots of hay. (Google Ruth Stout) This works fine, but it doesn't warm the soil the same way that the plastic did and my warm-weather plants really don't like our low nighttime temperatures. In my garden, the temperature can be 90-degrees plus during the day and in the 40s at night. This plays hell with warm-weather crops. Watermelons are nearly impossible and the peppers are ok, but I can just see them chattering their teeth every morning.

Any ideas for me?

May 4, 2020

A clothes washer is equal to 3 fixture units.

A 2" pipe is good for up to 4 fixture units.

So, no.

May 4, 2020

It's worth trying on one. If it doesn't work, you haven't lost much. If it does work, you can go into business fixing these all over the country.

May 4, 2020

The single-opening combustion air method does not apply to direct vent appliances. Those have their own dedicated combustion air pipes. The two are not comparable. As soon as you make an second indoor opening in the pipe, as was done in Jerry's original picture, that appliance is no longer set up in a "direct vent" configuration. Now the room needs to have adequate combustion air - generally much more than you'd need if you direct-vented the appliances.

May 3, 2020

Then I'd just charge them my hourly rate. Pick a rate that seems like it's worth your time and charge them that much.

We can't tell you specific number here. That might be viewed as price fixing.

May 3, 2020

At that point, why not just fill it with high-density spray foam?

May 3, 2020

If it were a 60,000 btu/hr furnace and a 40,000 btu/hr water heater, that'd be a total of 100,000 btu/hr.

The single-opening combustion air method requires an opening with a cross-sectional area of 1 square inch for every 3,000 btu/hr of all the appliances in the space. That would be 33.3 inches.

Schedule 40 pvc pipe has an interior diameter of just a shade above 3". So (1.5 x 1.5)x(pi) is about 7".

So if you had another 4 of those pipes, it'd be fine.

May 3, 2020

Do they just want you to take the pictures or do they want you to analyse the results as well?

On the one hand, you're just a technician with a tool. ($)

On the other hand, you're a consultant. ($$$)

May 2, 2020

What's the BTU/hr input rating of the furnace?

April 23, 2020

Is there a relay after the control valve? Was it receiving a signal?

April 23, 2020

On 4/20/2020 at 11:38 AM, enfd240 said:

If replacements are not available, any thoughts on digging out the rotted wood through the end openings and filling with something in it't place? (wood putty?)

Try using architectural epoxy. Go here: http://www.smithandcompany.org/products.html

Dig out as much rot as you can, soak everything else with Smith & Company's "Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer," then, after a day, fill everything with their "Fill-it Epoxy Filler."

Lots of companies out there make epoxies for architectural work, but Smith & Company's are the best. I've been using their stuff for close to 30 years now.

April 17, 2020

13 hours ago, Les said:

My mother's brother's cousin's uncle told me that Mike Holmes told him a little water is not all bad.

That's only Canadian water.

It's metric.

April 17, 2020

7 hours ago, Litster said:

Thank you for your response. I am learning that my landlord did not have one in place to begin with so now taking dimensions for approx location? The furnace is filthy. I believe this to be the reason for our initial problem which was loss of heat in the vents. Any other advice would be appreciated. Apparently tenants responsibility to replace filters so I want to have any knowledge I can to improve this situation.

The cleanliness of the furnace and the state of the filters will have nothing whatsoever to do with loss of heat at the registers. A clogged filter will, in fact, slow the air flow and *increase* the temperature of the conditioned air.

Your furnace needs to be serviced. Get a pro to do that. He or she can then show you the location of the filter and how to change it.

By the way, I hope you're not blaming your landlord for the dirty condition of the outside of the furnace. The landlord didn't do that; tenants did.

April 16, 2020

There are no acceptable levels because there' are no unacceptable levels. Plus, the levels change minute by minute anyway. It's a snipe hunt.

It's not about the mold. It's about the water.

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