Repair/mechanic tricks and or tips?

[davidseaquist]

Hear is a couple of tricks some are for plumbing.
I found when I broke off a Zerk fitting nothing has worked better than the proper size extractor and a 4" crescent wrench. A 4" crescent wrench also works good for removing sheet metal Tex screws. If you are soldering copper pipe with water in it use a shop vac to suck the water out or an air hose to blow the water out. If you can not turn off the water all the way to solder open a valve below the work area or crack the union on the water meter valve. If you have a nail hole in your copper tubing cut the tubing on the nail hole and install a repair coupling. If you are trying to remove a 1 1/2" galvanized nipple to a drain and it is collapsing pound in a 1 1/4" nipple to keep it form collapsing and remove the nipple. If you are soldering copper pipe below grade and you cannot remove the water on a slab leak or water service. cut the pipe and install a tee on it's side with the tee turned down slightly the water and steam will go out while you solder than solder a male adaptor into the tee and screw in a plug and the job is done. When soldering have a dry rag to wipe the fitting when soldering a wet rag and a good spray bottle full of soapy water to wipe off the fitting cool it down and remove the flux so it does not corrode David

 

[diyDave]

Davidseaquist- a neat copper pipe soldering trick I learned from an old well guy around here is to ask your customer for a piece of white bread-tell them you are hungry, then chew off the crust in front of them, then wad up the bread into a little plug, and stuff the plug into the dripping side of the pipe. The water will cause the bread to swell, sealing it even tighter. When your repair is complete, turn the water on, it will eventually dissolve, and clear itself out like magic, and you don't have to do all that extra soldering!

 

[woodchuckie]

I had another occasion to mount my front tire which had come off the rim. I knew I had to get it to seal the first time. I couldn't drive any closer than 1/2 mile. I had to carry the air tank in along with other equipment for other problems.Down 400 feet and up 400 feet going in and out. (white eyed).
Anyway I cleaned the rim and tire the best I could and then squirted slime around the bead and seat of the tire and then put the air to it. As the pressure seated the tire ,little squirts of slime would come out like a volcano erupting. It kept the squirts for maybe a minute and I aired it up to spec with plenty of air still in the tank.

 

[Bedlam]

Woodchuckle,

I use the "yellow' slime sealer from wal mart all the time on rims that have had a rim leak. firts I clean the rim and then a small bead of it around the rim,
Yep first time the bead pops. Its all over the place, and it tastes yucky for sure.LOL

 

[BTDT]

Here is a neat trick posted by AV8R62, when I read it I knew that it should be added to all the rest here. Thanks for everyone's ideas and tips.

Here is what I did,
drain the oil
stick a small wire down the dipstick hole and out the oilpan drain hole
use a small punch and hammer and drive the tube thru
and it will slide down the wire and out the drain hole.


This was how he would get broken piece of dipstick tube out without having to remove pan.

 

[RobT]

My latest discovery: Save those plastic coffee cans.

They come in handy for storing bolts, nuts, etc., as well as for liquids.

-- They don't rust.
-- They have a little "flex" in them if you need to place them around frames, pipes, etc.
-- They stack pretty easily.

Keep the tips coming. They help us newbies out.
Thanks.
RobT

 

[patrick_g]

You can cut the tops out of gallon plastic milk jugs for easy to reach into containers for nails and screws and bolts and ...

They also make handy paint containers with handles (and berry picking containers.)

Sometimes it is as important to know how NOT to do something as it is to do it. That plus you might get a good chuckle out of this little slice of life true story...

I had an alternator failure on my Fix It Again Tony (FIAT) 124 station wagon. It needed new brushes a cheap and supposedly easy repair. I whipped it open and put in the new brushes and then tried to figure out how to put it together again with the springs shoving the brushes out into the way of reassembly.

I tried to tie the brushes back with string with bow knots. I tried to put the case together and at the last moment pull the strings to untie the knots and pull the strings out of the way. That was failed experiment number 1.

I next tried electrical tape employed to achieve the same desired effect as failed experiment number 1 which resulted in failed experiment number 2.

I got creative and took the parts into the kitchen (right, the wife was NOT AT HOME.) I shoved the brushes all the way back into their holders and wedged them there with toothpicks. So far so good. next I wet my fingers and dripped a few drops of watter between each brush and its holder. Next I put the assy into the freezer and had a cold drink and relaxed for a while than worked on other things. Later when I checked the water had frozen and when I removed the toothpicks the brushes were firmly held in place by the little chunks of ice. So far so good, again.

I reassembled the alternator and the brushes stayed out of the way. As I was reinstalling the alternator in the FIAT it warmed up and the brushes popped out to their normal position...... Eeeee Hawwww... success. It worked fine and all was good in my world except my curiosity which drove me to phone a mechanically savvy college buddy to inquire as to how the smart guys did it.

He says everyone else just straightens out paper clips and shoves them in the little holes the manufacturer supplied for the purpose of holding the brushes out of the way. I say what hole and he says wipe off the dirt and grease!

I did and sure enough, just as he said little holes right exactly where you could stick in a piece of wire or a straightened out paper clip to hold the brushes retracted.

Well DU UH!!!

He awarded me an A++ for creativity and a D- for not using the holes provided.

Pat (I never claimed to be a good mechanic)

 

[Soundguy]

Old plastic gas cans that are no good also make great tubs for parts washing.. or as a small tool box with a handle.

soundguy

 

[tallyho8]

Every time you buy a gate, but an extra gate post hinge or two. Use one to latch the gate open and one to latch it shut. They make simple, cheap, easy to use latches and also keep your gate posts from sagging, especially when kids stand on the gates.

 

[Soundguy]

Those wheel kits help too.

Soundguy