Difficult Household Tasks

[Hemi-Cuda]

Finding a thermostat that will work with what I've discoverd is our ass backwards condo. Old one broke and it's a mercury one, the hot water heat kicks on when the mercury isn't touching any wires and the circuit is open, and the heat stops when the mercury completes the circuit between two wires. I've tried 3 different thermostats now and they all work opposite of that, turning the heat on when the circuit is complete. The old thermostat is from some company I've never heard of and Google can't even find anything, and the condo management company has been no help either. I have no clue where to go from here

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by tkflames

You will find that if you push down sufficiently hard that you have a very light edge and that a straight cut off looks much more professional than a tapered uneven edge.

Cool. I will try that. Have to recaulk between the kitchen counter and wall soon.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Finding a thermostat that will work with what I've discoverd is our ass backwards condo. Old one broke and it's a mercury one, the hot water heat kicks on when the mercury isn't touching any wires and the circuit is open, and the heat stops when the mercury completes the circuit between two wires. I've tried 3 different thermostats now and they all work opposite of that, turning the heat on when the circuit is complete. The old thermostat is from some company I've never heard of and Google can't even find anything, and the condo management company has been no help either. I have no clue where to go from here

I've never seen any 'stat that works this way you sure that's the correct mode of operation? Wouldn't be too hard to make a reverse type circuit.

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Finding a thermostat that will work with what I've discoverd is our ass backwards condo. Old one broke and it's a mercury one, the hot water heat kicks on when the mercury isn't touching any wires and the circuit is open, and the heat stops when the mercury completes the circuit between two wires. I've tried 3 different thermostats now and they all work opposite of that, turning the heat on when the circuit is complete. The old thermostat is from some company I've never heard of and Google can't even find anything, and the condo management company has been no help either. I have no clue where to go from here

What you're describing is called a reverse acting thermostat. They are common line voltage (120v, 240v and single phase 208v) and occasionally control voltage (24v) thermostats, and they have a basic operation.

Think of this type of thermostat "calling" for heat when the temperature is too low. Mercury is not touching anything when the heat is low, "calling" for heat. It drops out once the set point is reached and the mercury completes the circuit.

When you buy one, you'll have to know the voltage supplied to the baseboards (ones above) and specifically ask for reverse acting.

It might also be worth contacting the condo board about it, I'm assuming the hot water is common to multiple tenants.

[Northendzone]

I have tried a lot of the caulking tips mentioned above. Two things I think make this a difficult job for me - this is a stand up master shower, with a tray unit on the floor, so at times I am forced to squat or lie in a spot that makes it difficult to maneuver.

I was also looking at my caulking gun, and the part that applies the pressure has a series of ratchets on there, which may lead to a uneven bead, where you get a glob, then it slows down, then a glob and a slow down etc.....

It also does not help the process that I approach it from a negative mindspace. Today I bought some goo gone, some hopefully I can clean up some of the excess, to try and salvage the job a little bit.

[photon]

I figured out a few years ago my problem with caulking was that I was using too much; cutting off the tip too far and/or going too slow.

I started using less and now I can do it pretty well.

Toilets in general cause me trouble, I can never seem to do anything without it resulting in a leak that I can't fix. Especially if I remove the tank.

And hanging doors. I can literally take out the pins, set the door aside, and put it back on 10 minutes later and something will be wrong with it.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

I have tried a lot of the caulking tips mentioned above. Two things I think make this a difficult job for me - this is a stand up master shower, with a tray unit on the floor, so at times I am forced to squat or lie in a spot that makes it difficult to maneuver.

I was also looking at my caulking gun, and the part that applies the pressure has a series of ratchets on there, which may lead to a uneven bead, where you get a glob, then it slows down, then a glob and a slow down etc.....

It also does not help the process that I approach it from a negative mindspace. Today I bought some goo gone, some hopefully I can clean up some of the excess, to try and salvage the job a little bit.

I've used a cheap gun like that for years, and just recently acquired a better one. Amazing the difference it makes. The cheap ones are garbage, and the better ones only cost a little more.



Last year building my garage I bought one of the big ones, it was the cheapest one. What a piece of garbage. After 30 minutes I took it back, and the better one made a world of difference.


Don't cheap out on your caulk dispenser, people!

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

What you're describing is called a reverse acting thermostat. They are common line voltage (120v, 240v and single phase 208v) and occasionally control voltage (24v) thermostats, and they have a basic operation.

Think of this type of thermostat "calling" for heat when the temperature is too low. Mercury is not touching anything when the heat is low, "calling" for heat. It drops out once the set point is reached and the mercury completes the circuit.

When you buy one, you'll have to know the voltage supplied to the baseboards (ones above) and specifically ask for reverse acting.

It might also be worth contacting the condo board about it, I'm assuming the hot water is common to multiple tenants.

Thanks, I finally found one that should hopefully work from a local Calgary shop with decent prices

https://www.amresupply.com/part/1E56...FREE-NO-NC-24V

I have learned more about thermostats in the past couple of weeks than I ever thought I would have to

[V]

Difficult Household Tasks?

Installing baseboard less than a year and a half after the new flooring goes in.

Putting my tools away when I’m done a job.

Actually completely finishing a project.

Keeping my shop organized.

[Fuzz]

Step one of starting a new project is spending half a day cleaning up the shop from the previous project that you finished 8 months earlier.

[TorqueDog]

We have to redo the tile shower in both our master and our basement (gym) bathrooms. So tile, grout, and caulk the edges. I suspect the gym shower could use just a recaulking, but the master definitely needs to be a rip and replace. The fun part (picking out the new tiling) is offset and then some by how much it's going to cost.

[zamler]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

snip

The more you know.

On caulking it's something that takes a lot of experience to get good at.