Tinkering

[NoxApex(N/A)]

Me tinkering with the mower I totally stripped down and rebuilt.

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Nice!
Actually I quite need a new one.
I'm wondering if it'd be worth the while to get a used one, maybe pull it apart, clean it up, and make some repairs instead of just buying a whole new one? What do you think?

 

[okidoke]

Nice!
Actually I quite need a new one.
I'm wondering if it'd be worth the while to get a used one, maybe pull it apart, clean it up, and make some repairs instead of just buying a whole new one? What do you think?

If you've got the skills, which are easy to learn from tutorials, absolutely. I had a to buy a few little new parts, but it was waaaaaay cheaper than buying a new one. You just have to source the parts you need, which could be tricky depending on the model you get. I also found a lawn mower forum which was good to get info from. Keeps you busy anyway. And gives you some satisfaction, and you learn lots. I have been servicing my other mower on my own ever since due to what I learned, and even a mate's mower.

 

[NoxApex(N/A)]

If you've got the skills, which are easy to learn from tutorials, absolutely. I had a to buy a few little new parts, but it was waaaaaay cheaper than buying a new one. You just have to source the parts you need, which could be tricky depending on the model you get. I also found a lawn mower forum which was good to get info from. Keeps you busy anyway. And gives you some satisfaction, and you learn lots. I have been servicing my other mower on my own ever since due to what I learned, and even a mate's mower.

Cool! Thanks.

 

[okidoke]

So my wife said her computer desk wasn't big enough, so I added extra bench space either side. Just made it from scraps I had. Only had to buy some little brackets. Simple but effective, and inexpensive.

 

[Walnut]

I am a technician at work and it drives me nuts how no one wants to take something apart and clean it anymore. Nine out of ten times you just need to clean it out and it will probably be as good as new again.

The company doesn’t want me to repair the existing equipment because there is more profit in selling brand new equipment. I really enjoy fixing existing equipment. It helps me understand whats going on and overall become a better tech. I love the challenge. It makes us all dumber when we throw it out and replace it with new. I always pull it apart and try to repair first.

At home I’m the same. Pull it apart and clean it usually works. Although I admit I have my fair share of dead part carcasses that I couldn’t figure out how to reassemble.

 

[okidoke]

I am a technician at work and it drives me nuts how no one wants to take something apart and clean it anymore. Nine out of ten times you just need to clean it out and it will probably be as good as new again.

The company doesn’t want me to repair the existing equipment because there is more profit in selling brand new equipment. I really enjoy fixing existing equipment. It helps me understand whats going on and overall become a better tech. I love the challenge. It makes us all dumber when we throw it out and replace it with new. I always pull it apart and try to repair first.

At home I’m the same. Pull it apart and clean it usually works. Although I admit I have my fair share of dead part carcasses that I couldn’t figure out how to reassemble.

Good for you. I get annoyed that my kids and wife don’t even empty the vacuum bag or clean up the power head of THEIR hair! I blow out my computer of dust every six months, I clean out filters in various things around the house, and other things that just need a little clean to keep them going strong. People are so obvious.

 

[okidoke]

I know this sounds weird, but I often feel that I don't even belong on this planet, that I'm not of this world. I put on my noise cancelling headphones and took to pulling apart these pallets that were free for the taking at a nearby house construction. As I listened to my music, I came to notice that the barest of breaths of air lightly rustled the leaves, that not a sound save for my hammer use and the serenity of David Darling’s music. I felt like at any moment a celestial being was going to materialise before me and say, “You can come home now Oki. You have atoned enough here.”

 

[okidoke]

I forgot to take a "before" shot, but I have an older photo (1st one) showing what I'm talking about. I'm redoing a little pond feature that I gave up on some time ago when I didn't know much about keeping ponds clear of algae and keeping the water clean. So now I've removed all the potted plants (2nd photo) and will scoop out all the dirt to reveal a bathtub that I will turn back into a nice pond hopefully. I'll make a bog filter for it as well, like I did for the fernery water feature (3rd photo).

 

[okidoke]

Revealed the old tub today. It’s still water tight and perfectly level.

 

[okidoke]

Put together the bog filter I'll be using with the above bathtub pond. Once all the sealant and glue is dry I can fill it with the rocks that will attract the necessary bacteria to filter the water.

 

[okidoke]

Leveled up the base for the filter before lining the pond and completing the filter. I noticed a minor imperfection in the filter, which I'll have to fix up, but not a big problem. Got the solar pump today, but it was too late in the day to test it, so we'll see maybe tomorrow.

 

[okidoke]

Just have to add a plant to the top of the bog filter and a couple fish.

View attachment WhatsApp Video 2024-01-08 at 6.19.53 PM.mp4

 

[okidoke]

I had a leak. I isolated it to the outlet seal. I redesigned the outlet pipe and put plenty of sealant at the hole. Letting it dry this sunny day before I refill it with the rocks and water.

 

[okidoke]

All sorted. Just have to add fish soon.

 

[okidoke]

Aaaargh, this is infuriating me. I'm still losing water, somehow. It's been hot lately so I was advised on a forum that it could be evaporation, but a test I did with a bucket of water, a test I did OVERNIGHT, pretty much proves that it's not evaporation. So, now what? I know this is a minor life frustration compared to many of the issues people on this forum deal with, but to me, it's just another stupid challenge in my life that causes me grief for no rational reason. Everything always has to be harder than it needs to be for me. I'm going to see if it totally empties, and then, if it does.........do a shite load of work to replace the liner. Aaaaaargh.

I think the bath underneath must have a crack in it that I wasn’t aware of and then I must’ve somehow put a hole in the liner. So, I’ll have to buy a new liner, but I’ll put some protective barrier down before I add my gravel substrate. It’s not so much the time of redoing work, but the added cost of fixing fvck ups.

 

[Walnut]

@okidoke Did you add the fish yet? Did you try and shut the pump off and see which container is losing water? This project is interesting. Thanks for telling is about it.

 

[okidoke]

@okidoke Did you add the fish yet? Did you try and shut the pump off and see which container is losing water? This project is interesting. Thanks for telling is about it.

No fish yet. The pump doesn’t work without sunlight and yet the bath dropped a couple inches over night. I even disconnected the pump from the filter. The filter kept its level. I did another check overnight and from the level it stopped at yesterday, it hasn’t dropped one bit. So, that tells me that there is a crack in the side wall of the bathtub about halfway up, but the liner must be compromised somewhere as well. I would’ve preferred to see it drained out more, as I’d expect the crack in the bath to be on the bottom as well as the liner tear, but I guess the situation t just has to be more confusing than it needs to be. I can only think that a new liner, carefully installed, will fix the issue. If not, I’m going to bury the whole fvcking thing again.

 

[okidoke]

It's so bizarre. I pulled back the liner today and filled the bath. It hasn't lost any water all day, even with it being pretty warm today. So, whether the liner has been compromised or not, it doesn't matter because the bath's integrity is sound. So where did the water of overnight? The pump wasn't running, so it couldn't have pumped it out somewhere. I put clamping and wiring onto tubing joints today just to make sure of any leaks there. The only thing left I can think of is that I had a piece of carpet draped at the end of the bath into the water to allow little critters to crawl out if they fell in, which possibly could've been sucking the water out, but there was no pooling of water at the end of the carpet outside the bath, unless it was just evaporating from the carpet itself, which would've been a heck of a lot of evaporation. I'm totally perplexed. Anyway, the bath is full. I have an electric pump running now to see what will happen overnight. I swear this thing is more complicated to solve than the Apollo 11 dilemma.

 

[TropicalStarfish]

It's so bizarre. I pulled back the liner today and filled the bath. It hasn't lost any water all day, even with it being pretty warm today. So, whether the liner has been compromised or not, it doesn't matter because the bath's integrity is sound. So where did the water of overnight? The pump wasn't running, so it couldn't have pumped it out somewhere. I put clamping and wiring onto tubing joints today just to make sure of any leaks there. The only thing left I can think of is that I had a piece of carpet draped at the end of the bath into the water to allow little critters to crawl out if they fell in, which possibly could've been sucking the water out, but there was no pooling of water at the end of the carpet outside the bath, unless it was just evaporating from the carpet itself, which would've been a heck of a lot of evaporation. I'm totally perplexed. Anyway, the bath is full. I have an electric pump running now to see what will happen overnight. I swear this thing is more complicated to solve than the Apollo 11 dilemma.

Could a mammalian creature of some sort taken a hefty drink?

 

[okidoke]

Could a mammalian creature of some sort taken a hefty drink?

We do get kangaroos in the yard but not in this area. I did consider that lol