Home Improvement Thread

Postby **mac5155** » Mon Feb 19, 2018 9:24 pm

Purchase a basin wrench.
This is perfect--thank you!

Not sure if serious.jpg

Postby **willeyeam** » Mon Feb 19, 2018 9:53 pm

This is probably a very beginner level question but whatever I don't have a ton of shame. My floodlights above my garage were motion sensor.. I hit the wrong switch one day turning my porch light on and turned the floodlights off. So turned them back on and now they're just on all the time if the switch is on. How tf do I turn them back to just being motion sensored? I remember my parents had an odd switch like this growing up and I never understood it

Postby **Willie Kool** » Mon Feb 19, 2018 10:13 pm

This is probably a very beginner level question but whatever I don't have a ton of shame. My floodlights above my garage were motion sensor.. I hit the wrong switch one day turning my porch light on and turned the floodlights off. So turned them back on and now they're just on all the time if the switch is on. How tf do I turn them back to just being motion sensored? I remember my parents had an odd switch like this growing up and I never understood it

Did you try turning it off, then turning it back on again?

No, seriously. If you haven't, try flipping the breaker.

Postby **willeyeam** » Mon Feb 19, 2018 10:18 pm

I knew the one at my parents you just had to flip the switch X amount of times and I think it would eventually be set to the right mode, so I did flip it on and off a few times, but just the switch.. I'll try the breaker, thanks

Postby **AuthorTony** » Mon Feb 19, 2018 10:26 pm

I knew the one at my parents you just had to flip the switch X amount of times and I think it would eventually be set to the right mode, so I did flip it on and off a few times, but just the switch.. I'll try the breaker, thanks

Did you trying turning it off for a few minutes, then back on? That's what I need to do for mine. If I just flip it off/on rapidly, it stays on.

Postby **willeyeam** » Mon Feb 19, 2018 10:30 pm

Hmm perhaps that's it. I'll try both of those and see what happens

Postby **mac5155** » Mon Feb 19, 2018 10:33 pm

There may be a setting on the light itself you have to adjust. Perhaps it was reset when you killed the power.

Postby **Ad@m** » Mon Feb 19, 2018 10:34 pm

Does the motion light fixture have a test switch on the bottom?

My light sensor has a slide switch on the bottom that reads: test - 4 min - 12 min.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Tue Feb 20, 2018 6:21 am

Purchase a basin wrench.
This is perfect--thank you!
Not sure if serious.jpg

Looking at the comments/reviews, this seems to be exactly what I need as it doesn't take up a lot of space getting it hooked up. Am I missing something?

Postby **NTP66** » Tue Feb 20, 2018 6:37 am

Purchase a basin wrench.
This is perfect--thank you!
Not sure if serious.jpg
Looking at the comments/reviews, this seems to be exactly what I need as it doesn't take up a lot of space getting it hooked up. Am I missing something?

No, a basin wrench is exactly what you need. It's the all-purpose-tighten-anything-in-a-cramped-space tool.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Tue Feb 20, 2018 6:38 am

OK thanks...that's what I thought too but mac got weird.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Tue Feb 20, 2018 8:09 am

Source of the post I've also noticed that there are times when it's like the lines are reversed, where I turn it to the hot side and cold water comes out and vice versa. I have to basically shake the thing to get it back in order.

This may be the thermostatic mixing valve. I've only ever changed one on a shower manifold, so I don't know what it would look like on a faucet sink. Most likely there are some o-rings or gaskets that may have worn away and need replaced. How old is your fixture?

Postby **mac5155** » Tue Feb 20, 2018 8:11 am

OK thanks...that's what I thought too but mac got weird.

I thought you were being sarcastic with the "thanks" post

Postby **NTP66** » Tue Feb 20, 2018 8:18 am

Source of the post I've also noticed that there are times when it's like the lines are reversed, where I turn it to the hot side and cold water comes out and vice versa. I have to basically shake the thing to get it back in order.
This may be the thermostatic mixing valve. I've only ever changed one on a shower manifold, so I don't know what it would look like on a faucet sink. Most likely there are some o-rings or gaskets that may have worn away and need replaced. How old is your fixture?

If the hot and cold are reversed, it's definitely the cartridge. Just remove it (they make special pullers at Lowes and HD). rotate it 180°, and reinstall. Problem solved.

Postby **NTP66** » Thu Feb 22, 2018 7:29 am

The ceiling fan in my MBR started to hum the other day, and I've ruled out the remote receiver. So, I have to either just deal with it or look for a new fan. I'm leaning towards the former because I can't find a fan that will work out as well, so far. Most of the ones I like use LED bulbs and have a max wattage of 14w, which is far too low in comparison. I'd be losing double the lumens by making a switch to one of these.

Also, I thought this was fake at first, but it's not:

That thing looks like it belongs on the back of a paddle boat.

Postby **Silentom** » Thu Feb 22, 2018 8:16 am

Aren't the LED bulbs 14w usage, but 100w equivalent?

Postby **NTP66** » Thu Feb 22, 2018 8:53 am

Most are equivalent to 75w, but some are equivalent to lower grade 100w bulbs. Philips makes the brightest 14w LED @ 1400 lumens, but it's poor quality. The tungsten halogen double-ended bulb in my current ceiling fan is 150w @ 2400 lumens.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Thu Feb 22, 2018 9:10 am

Source of the post The ceiling fan in my MBR started to hum the other day, and I've ruled out the remote receiver.

Either the bearings or the motor. It's only going to get worse. You could try to tighten up the blades or try balancing them out, as that's most likely the reason for the bad bearings/motor.

Postby **NTP66** » Thu Feb 22, 2018 9:13 am

Source of the post The ceiling fan in my MBR started to hum the other day, and I've ruled out the remote receiver.
Either the bearings or the motor. It's only going to get worse. You could try to tighten up the blades or try balancing them out, as that's most likely the reason for the bad bearings/motor.

Blades are tight, and they appear to be balanced (no wobble whatsoever at top speed). It's an enclosed motor, so I can't oil anything up like you can on certain fans. It's weird - this wasn't a progressive thing or anything. Just one day it started out of nowhere.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Thu Feb 22, 2018 9:24 am

How did you rule out the remote receiver? That was my next guess - a cold solder. But I'm not sure if you even have a board inside the fan, and whether a cold solder would give off the hum like it did on old tube TV's and computers.

It's things like this that would piss me off to no end. If I were you, I would be buying a new fan ASAP.

There's a small chance the bulbs or the fan are emitting EMI and doing something to the board. Good luck figuring that out though.

Postby **NTP66** » Thu Feb 22, 2018 9:28 am

How did you rule out the remote receiver? That was my next guess - a cold solder. But I'm not sure if you even have a board inside the fan, and whether a cold solder would give off the hum like it did on old tube TV's and computers.

It's things like this that would piss me off to no end. If I were you, I would be buying a new fan ASAP.

There's a small chance the bulbs or the fan are emitting EMI and doing something to the board. Good luck figuring that out though.

I actually replaced the original receiver a few months ago, but kept the old unit. I swapped the old unit back on, and the hum remained. I then simply wired the fan directly to the wall switch, bypassing the receiver - same hum. The reason I replaced the last receiver was because it wasn't always responding to the remotes. I've considered buying yet another receiver, in case my bypass test wasn't valid.

Edit: It's not the bearings, either, as the hum remains even if I hold the blades still for a few seconds.

Postby **mac5155** » Thu Feb 22, 2018 10:17 pm

Do you mean a motion-detecting light? Something like this?

https://www.amazon.com/All-Pro-MS185RW- ... B0002YPK9A

It looks like the lights and sensor can be angled for either wall or ceiling mounting.

Ordered this fixture. I'll report back how it works in a few months. Thx @Shyster

Postby **tifosi77** » Fri Feb 23, 2018 2:07 pm

Have painters at the house today. Complete exterior job; going for gray field and black accents, with the window trim vinyl staying white. Next up will be replacing the two exterior doors, the garage door, and light fixtures.

Postby **mac5155** » Fri Feb 23, 2018 3:43 pm

As a guy who painted his entire house this past weekend, I envy you being able to hire a painter. lol

Postby **NTP66** » Sat Feb 24, 2018 1:44 pm

Source of the post The ceiling fan in my MBR started to hum the other day, and I've ruled out the remote receiver.
Either the bearings or the motor. It's only going to get worse. You could try to tighten up the blades or try balancing them out, as that's most likely the reason for the bad bearings/motor.

I replaced the capacitor in the fan and voila, humming back to normal. That was a nice $10 fix.