Ya Gotta Love The Internet

I know I do.
Besides looking for boobs like a preponderance of my foreign visitors do, I use the internet for all kinds of things.

Just today it saved me a buttload of money and misery.

As today is my one day off this week, there have been a few Honey Do's piling up all at once.
Of course I find this out a little at a time.
The garage door quit working so I hear, the shower faucet went from leaking occasionally to a full time drip of hot water and the Big One, the dryer quit getting hot.

Time for some triage here.

The garage door opener I ain't overly concerned with but turned out to be the quickest fix, the faucet dripping is annoying and costing me money but the fucking dryer not working is unacceptable.

The garage door turned out to be something blocking the beam and when whoever was out there was fumbling around with the buttons,they flipped a switch that locks it out.
I cleared the shit out of the way then found the switch but it still wouldn't work.
Checked the plug and it was OK.
I unplugged it and plugged it back in and it started working.

Fucking thing must have been made by Microsoft, gotta reboot the sonofabitch.

I tackled the dryer next and this is where the internet shined like a bazillion candle power spotlight into the void of my ignorance about those fucking things.

For one thing, it's got 240 fucking volts running into the back of it and that is something you don't just go poking around in like a dumbass.

It'll get ya crispy and very dead.

I have never been much of an electrician but I have to work around 480 volt shit at work and it puckers my asshole up so tight you couldn't pound a needle up my ass with a sledge hammer.

I had 480 flash in my face one time while I was standing on a damn 2X12 thirty feet over a river under an electric crane.
It not only sounded like a stick of dynamite went off in my face, it blinded the fuck out of me and there was no where to go except down.

I managed not to shit my pants and stay on that damn board but let me tell you, that is something that you will NEVER, forget.

So with that in mind, I started hitting The Google looking for stuff about Maytag dryers not getting hot.
Within seconds I found a Youtube covering that very subject with detailed diagnostic procedures that were very heavily sprinkled with safety reminders about unplugging it when doing certain tests.

Perfect.

I have a very good friend who knows these things inside and out but he has been as busy as I have and I hated to call him when I haven't even talked to him in over a month.

I watched almost the whole twenty minute video to get an idea of where to look and what to check.

So I gets my trusty Multi Meter out along with some screw drivers and sockets and tear into the thing.

First thing, unplug the damn thing and check for power.
That's good.

After I figured out how to get the front of the damn thing off, something the video didn't bother to show, it only took me about two minutes to find a burned up thermostat.

At this point I did call my buddy and asked him if he knew where to get parts locally and to shoot the shit for a bit.
He said he probably had a box full of them but they were miles away in storage.
Don't bother, they can't be that hard to find.
He gave me a couple of locations to get one but they were both over in Portland.

I hate going to Portland unless I absolutely have to.

Back to the internet.

Again within minutes, I found a place within fifteen minutes from here.
I calls 'em up and gives 'em the info.
They don't have one, it will be Thursday if they put the order in Monday.

Thanks but no.
Next.
Called another outfit just a bit farther out.

My kind of people.
No, they don't have a new one either but if I bring it down they will match it up with a used one for ten bucks instead of the thirty five the other outfit wanted.
Of course they close in a half hour.

I scooted on over, they matched it up and I was out of there in five minutes.
Came home, put it all back together and it worked!

Miracles never cease.

On to the shower faucet.

That took a while.
I had to shut the breakers off for the water heater, turn the incoming water off and then go out front and turn the water to the whole house off at the meter.

You do have one of these, yes?

Then I had to figure out how to take the fucker apart.
It has one of those damn cartridges in it with a fucking clip that holds it all together.

You know, a Jesus Clip.

The kind that when you drop it and it falls inside the wall forever, you yell JESUS CHRIST!!

Because you know you are truly fucked at that point.

I managed to snake that thing out with a special clip holding tool I have had for twenty years and guard with my life.

It's kind of like these except it has a thin brass tube with a spring steel hook inside that you push a button down with your thumb to extend.

After I finally pried the cartridge out, it was another mad dash to the plumbing store before they closed. Long story short, that was another successful repair.

Now I am going to kick my feet up for a bit before I go put all the damn tools away I had to drag out.

I don't know exactly how much money I just saved by not having to call 3 different repair guy's out here but I can guarantee you that it would have been enough to go buy a new dryer.

Not bad for about five hours of messing around and on top of that I learned a few things.

I just love the internet.