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13 Aug 2018

5 Maintenance Tips for Common Household Appliances

Did your household appliance just whirl, sputter, and boom give up on you? No matter how hard you stare it down, you know that it is not coming back to life. It’s farewell time for this device and a welcome party for another to replace it. But, hang on, what about the bucks?

New appliances can shoot a hole in your budget with their pricey tags. Most of all, the ninja attack on your budget strikes as a bolt from the blue, unknown and unforeseen. Most homeowners invest between $173 and $379 on their kitchen appliances. On top of that, the share of kitchen gadgets chips in 10% of the total cost of a kitchen remodeling project.

If you’re lucky, you may still resuscitate your appliance. Home Adviser points out that the average repair cost is $201 in the US. That’s the average though. The repair cost can spike to anywhere near $350, or it could cost $50 on the low end.

However, you wouldn’t have to meet these expenses if you took some appliance maintenance measures. Let’s walk you through some of the best maintenance tips for common household appliances. These will not only help you save money but also boost the efficiency of the gadget.

1. Clean the refrigerator’s coils and gasket

Let’s begin with your fridge, which is your lifeline in the summers. A vital trick to extend its life is to clean it. You need to focus on two areas namely the gasket and coils. Firstly, clean the gasket periodically. The gasket is the plastic seal that runs between the fridge and its doors.

This plastic seal is responsible for conserving the cool air inside the refrigerator. It also helps save energy. Wipe the gaskets thoroughly to maintain its elasticity. Once you remove all the residue, coat the sticking layer with Vaseline. Be sure to use only a thin film of the lubricant.

Secondly, dirty fridge coils can restrict the appliance’s airflow, encouraging it to overheat. Dirt or dust on the coils can also result in a breakdown of the device. Service experts claim that almost half of their repair calls occur due to dirty coils. Start by removing your fridge’s front grille. Next, clean the coils with the help of a handheld vacuum.

Other tips for maintaining the health of your refrigerator include:

Clean your fridge completely at least once or twice in a year
Don’t put hot dishes directly in your fridge

2. Clean the oven with the correct cleaner

Following in the footsteps of a refrigerator, ovens also don’t work well without a proper seal. In fact, a non-sticky gasket can result in the loss of close to 20% of the oven’s heat. In this regard, it is best to keep the seal clean.

However, you should inspect the seal from time to time to learn of its condition. If you notice that the gasket is not doing its job despite cleaning it properly, it’s time to replace it. It is budget-friendly to spend on a new seal than on a new oven.

What’s more is that cleaning the overall oven is essential. Most of us go wrong in selecting the cleaner, which can lead to damage. The ideal cleaner depends on the type of oven that you use. It’s best to inquire about this when you first purchase it.

Generally, vinegar or warm water is a good choice. Some pro cleaning tips for your range or oven include:

Use soft cloths for cleaning
Don’t use overly harsh chemicals for cleaning
Apply the cleaner on the cloth before using it on the oven’s surface
Don’t spray around the knobs as that can lead to a short

I have a pretty good way to clean you microwave also. I use vinegar, but steam from water also works.

3. Don’t over under load the washing machine

In most cases, we think that we can save some time by loading some extra laundry in the machine. However, overloading a dryer or washer can culminate in damage to its moving parts such as belts, motors, and more.

Some of these repairs can be so expensive that you would want to change the machine altogether. This does not mean that you choose to add only small loads to your laundry partner. Small loads can exert strain on the drive components of the appliance.

Small loads are also the recipe for energy and water wastage. Thus, the best call is to add a moderate load in your washer as well as dryer. Some other maintenance tips entail:

Don’t put heavy objects on the washing machine
Check all the pockets before putting clothes in the washer
Use washing machine detergents instead of hand-washing detergents

4. Clean the dishwasher’s filter

Often a food-filled filter is a culprit behind a failing dishwasher. You need to pull out the lower rack to fix this. Then, remove the filter cover in the dishwasher and use a vacuum to clean the screen.

It is helpful to read the manual for correctly spotting the filter. Secondly, a clean gasket can be a problem here as well. Clean it regularly with water and soap for maintaining a watertight seal.

Lastly, don’t excessively pre-wash the dishes. Washed dishes are wet and a little soapy. This can cause the appliance to overseed and overflow. It can also leak on your kitchen floor. Hence, avoid over-washing the dishes in advance.

More dishwasher care tips include:

Position dishes upside down only
Clean the fat residues before loading them in a dishwasher
Remove any stickers from your utensils to prevent the filter from clogging

5. Clean the lint trap in the dryer

We have already discussed that it is best not to overload the clothing dryer. Apart from this tip, clean the lint trap in the dryer. You need to do this after every load. Chances are that you already do it. But, if you don’t, it is high time that you start doing so to add years to the dryer’s life.

Besides, go to the back of your house and clean the air exits. This is crucial to ensure that the vent is not clogged with lint. Don’t add dry or almost-dry sheets to your dryer. This can increase the chemical residue on the sensors in a dryer, leading to excess strain. These moisture sensors stop the dryer from over-drying clothes.

However, if chemical residue collects on them, the dryer can get damaged in the long haul. It is wise to clean the moisture sensor occasionally. Some other maintenance tricks include:

Remove the lint trap yearly and wash it
Don’t slam the appliance’s door
Use a vacuum to clean any stray lint on the floor and wall behind the dryer

Take home message

Despite these tips, you can still find yourself in a repair situation that may lead you to Dial an Appliance Man Edmonton. However, it is a better alternative than getting a new piece that can derail your budget for the month. It is best to follow these appliance maintenance tips though. Just a little care can go a long way in extending the performance and life of your everyday household appliances.

8 Aug 2018

5 Ways to Make a Snare Trap (For Small Game)

Whether you are in a survival situation or catching food while you camp, knowing how to make a snare trap can go a long way in helping you out. Fortunately, there isn’t just one snare trap – there are many different kinds that help in different situations.

having the right tools tools will make buiklding snares easier, but it is really your knowledge on living off the land that drives success, below are 5 ways to make a snare trap that will help you catch small game.

1. Simple Snare Trap

To create this trap, you will need two sticks or a stick in a “Y” shape that you can stick into the ground. You may need to sharpen these sticks a bit so that they sink into the ground easier. If you are using two sticks, stick them into the ground about 2 to 3 inches apart from one another.

Then, you will need 3 smaller sticks. Two of these sticks will go horizontally on each side of the two sticks you placed in the ground. These will be used to keep the third smaller stick, or trigger, in place upright between them. From the trigger, you will have a length of string or wire leading to the engine of your trap. On the end of your string hanging from the trigger, tie this length into a noose.

As a final step, you will want to build a small ramp by leaning two larger sticks against the part of your trap you already built and use smaller sticks horizontally to create a semi-flat surface. Your noose, or snare loop, will go on top of this. Remember to camouflage it for the best results.

2. Trigger Snare

For the trigger snare, you will need two pegs, some wire and/or rope to make a leader line and noose loops, and a bent sapling to use as an engine. The two pegs should be able to hook onto each other so that both stand vertically. If you don’t have pegs, you can create them from a pair of thick sticks. Just like the last snare trap we looked at, one of these pegs or sticks must be sharp enough on the opposite end that it hooks onto the other one to stick into the ground securely.

You should use your rope to attach the top of the hook to your engine – the bent sapling. Then, you will want to attach the noose to the bottom end of the top stick that makes up the hook.

3. Squirrel Pole

This next snare is perfect if you are trying to snare squirrels. After all, squirrels are fast animals and it can take a little extra working to make sure you catch one in your trap. With a little work, though, this snare can be perfect for catching the small animals.

For the main portion of this snare, you will need a straight branch or tree of about 10 to 12 feet that you will lean against a standing tree at about a 45-degree angle. Next, you will need some wire to create the actual snare portion of the trap with. Each section of wire you use will be around 10 to 12 inches long.

When you create each noose, you will want to position it upward, so it would catch each squirrel as it ran down the branch. This is why you must use wire for this trap, any type of rope won’t be able to stick up to catch the squirrels. You can put as many of these as you want on the branch, in theory, but you won’t want any too close to the ends.

To catch a squirrel’s head, you won’t want the nooses to be right against the branch either. Instead, position them about an inch above it.

I have shared squirrel poles before, this is a pretty simple way to get a little extra food.

4. Snare for Fishing

If you are more interested in catching fish with your snare, that can be arranged as well. The easiest way to do this is to simply modify the trigger snare we went over earlier.

Getting started, you will follow all the same basic steps as you did creating the trigger snare. Instead of creating a noose, though, you will use a baited hook in line attached to the snare the same way the noose was. This will, naturally, extend into the water to bait fish.

Once the fish bites the bait, the snare will trigger, pulling the fish out of the water. You should be sure that you clear the area of anything that will accidentally trigger the trap. Since you are catching fish, you don’t need to worry about camouflaging the majority of the trap like other options on this list since your game won’t see it until it’s too late.

5. Drowning Snare

A drowning snare is a rather simple trap that, as the name suggests, kills the game it catches by drowning. This is great because it keeps the game you catch away from other animals and it keeps it out of the sun.

Creating this trap is pretty easy. All you need is a few sticks, a snare line, and a rock. Of course, you will need to do this near water deep enough to drown the game and a steep enough bank for the trap to work.

To start, you will want to tie the snare line to both the rock and the float stick. Make sure to add a noose as part of the actual trap. Then, prop the rock up with your second stick so that it will fall if any game runs through the snare. When the snare is triggered, the rock will plummet into the water, drowning the game. The float that you tied to the rock will signal where in the water your game is when you come back later.

23 Jul 2018

5 Electrical Problems to Keep an Eye out for When Buying an Old Home

If you are considering buying an old house, then you need to think about the electrical problems that you may be purchasing. Modern Americans as used to using reliable electricity. However, many homes constructed a long time ago had less reliable electricity. If you are considering buying an old home, inspect it for the common electrical issues found in older homes.

Insubstantial Power

If you turn on an electrical appliance and notice that the lights dim, then chances are that the home has insubstantial power. From 1990 to 2008, the average person in the world used 10 percent more electricity. This problem with your electrical service often requires installing a new system based on current codes.

Old Wiring

Pests can eat wiring. Old wiring may just wear out over time. These problems can often cause home fires. In fact, fire departments responded to an average of 45,000 electrical structural fires per year annually. These fires claim an average of 420 people’s lives each year. Knob and tube wiring installed in homes before 1930 can be a particular problem and can cause many safety concerns.

Dead Outlets

Older homes often do not have enough electrical outlets, and those that are present can be dead. Outdated circuit boxes are often the root of the problem. The boxes in older homes may not meet current code. Many cities require the main breakers outside the home. Some older homes have them inside closets. A licensed electrician must move the box. Otherwise the utility will not turn on the power

Do-it-yourself Projects

Previous owners may have tried to save money by making repairs to the electrical system on their own. This can cause nightmares that will make electricians wonder how the house is still standing. Do not complicate the matter by trying to make repairs on your own. Call a professional to come to figure out what needs to be fixed. This is the most cost-effective way to save the system. While these problems can be found throughout the house, they are often more common around the junction box. Often times, if the house was added onto during different periods, you may find that the electrical system was not upgraded to keep up with the additions.

Loose Connections

Loose connections are one of the most common electrical problems found in old homes. When loose connections are present, the electrical current cannot flow through the system correctly. Therefore, the wires may spark and catch insulation or other nearby flammables on fire. Additionally, loose connections can cause appliances to overheat. Electronics plugged into a plug with a loose connector can be damaged beyond repair.

If you are still interested in buying an old house, then think about getting an electrical inspection done before proceeding with the sale. At a minimum, this will allow you to know what problems you are inheriting with the purchase of the house. If you decide to proceed, then you need to consider hiring an electrician to do any electrical repairs needed to the home.

21 Jul 2018

How to Make a Roof Top, Pressurized, Solar Heated Shower: H2OT

I saw this over design for a solar heated shower at instructables, and though, man I have to make this.

I am not going to go line for line from the instructable, you can visit it at the link above, but this guy has a genus solution to a problem I have dealt with a lot in my camping experiences.

Speaking of camping experiences, my wife had to drive my truck the other day and realized just what I was talking about when I complain how hot it gets inside my old beater (the windows are inoperative and the AC doesn’t work). She and I then decided its time to retire the truck from daily driving.

I happened to found a old ford windstar that she reluctantly agreed to let me look into. If everything goes well I should get it next week.

The idea is that since it does not have the passenger seats I can turn it into a microcamper that we can use to go camping on the weekends as well as let me have some cheap car to drive back and forth to work.

With all the miles I have to commute back and forth to the prison and the Academy, it just doesn’t make since to buy an expensive car just to run up the miles. Dave Ramsey would approve…

With having this as a camper, having a build in solar heater that was pressurized would be and awesome addition – plus, this instructable looked to be pretty inexpensive to boot.

Just so you know, the main reason I am posting this, besides the fact that I think it is AWESOME, is so I can easily go back and find this later.

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17 Jul 2018

DIY Plumbing: How to Take Care of Faucets and Fixtures

This guest post shows how to take care of your faucets and fixtures, mostly by cleaning, but it has a few other DIY tips that are helpful also.

You have faucets and fixtures in places like your kitchen and bathrooms. You might even have them in your laundry room too. As with most components of your home, these items will require some regular maintenance. This is especially true when it comes to keeping them clean. The following are some tips on how to keep your faucets and fixtures in good working order.

Lemon and Vinegar

When it comes to cleaning chrome faucets and fixtures, vinegar has always been a safe and powerful way to clean up lime deposits. Soaking the fixtures in vinegar for an hour can erode lime and restore the shine to your chrome components. If you want a better smell, however, lemon is a good natural cleaner too. Lemon is also great for eliminating water stains and soap scum build-up around your faucet and fixtures. If you are using brass fixtures, you will be more limited in your choices of cleaners. Often, distilled water is best in these cases.

Clean in the Hard to Reach Places Too

To keep sink and tub fixtures moving like they are brand-new, you must take extra special care to get into crevices and underneath tight mountings where rust and mineral deposits can accumulate. In these situations, using a toothbrush or dental floss to work in and out of hard to reach places can truly get the gunk out. Certain areas will be more difficult, but you can eliminate the problem with persistence.

Clearing Drains

While it may be relatively easy to work out problems with your fixture and faucet. Cleaning out a troublesome drain can sometimes be a more daunting task. If you are not sure the best way to proceed, then you may want to work with a company like Ez Flow Plumbing and draw from their years of expertise in clearing drainage systems. If a clog is creating a drainage nightmare, it may require tools you do not possess to get far enough into a drain to handle the situation.

Your faucets and fixtures are important components for your tubs and sinks that should last for a long time. If you take care of these components, they will function like new until you decide you want to change them out for something more modern. Additionally, keeping your faucet and fixtures in good working order will help to prevent unnecessary rust and damage to these parts as well.

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