Arts and crafts: Refrigerator Repair

My new (2 years old, just outside of warrantee) LG refrigerator stopped making ice. It started making a rattling noise that got louder, then stopped and error code IFE showed on the front panel. The internet suggested that there may be ice buildup behind the white panel in the freezer section (pictured below) and that manually defrosting would cure the problem. So I tried that. I removed the lower freezer drawer and the plastic trays to give myself room to work. then removed the icemaker (2 screws and 1 wiring harness plug) and then the whole white panel popps out. The lower edge of the panel is secured with three plastic tabs along the lower edge so you need to pull it out top first. Then you can access the evaporator coils and defrost them with a hair dryer, heat gun (on low setting), or just let it melt.

It turns out though, that was not my problem. There was no ice buildup in my freezer. In my case, the fan motor that sends cold air to the ice makers (one in the freezer and one in the door), had eaten itself. The noise was the motor internal parts grinding away it’s last life. See next two pictures for gory motor internals. Shield your monitors from eyes of children.

The motor in question normally resides in the module indicated by my finger. A simple phillips head screwdriver is all you need to take it out. In fact, that is the only tool you need for this entire project.

There is a closeup of the existing motor below. No problem. Part number is easily readable. The problems start when I try to get a new one. It seems that part number does not exist. Neither the LG service website nor any internet resource could discover it. They weren’t on backorder or out of stock, they simply did not exist. So, I did some hunting around and discovered a very similar motor part with the last three numbers 313 instead of 304. Same size, same color, same wires, same plug, same spindle length and diameter, same volts and amps. The only difference is the new one has a shorter wiring harness by about 5 inches. As it turns out, that was not an issue. The shorter wires were still long enough to accomplish the job. After waitinig the appropriate amount of time from Amazon, the repair took me 10 minutes and the machine was back into full ice making mode.

Total part cost $42 with free shipping.

Amazon has been inundated by sketchy suppliers in recent years. I was able to find 4 different vendors for this part. All from China with random character vendor names because all the real word names were taken. Since the original part was also from China, I figured that was low risk. Then I noticed that three out of four vendors used the same misspelling on their ad. See the word after “Refrigerator” in the ads below. So they were likely all the same coumpany, doing business on Amazon by spamming them with alternative company names.

Note, the ad at the top cannot even be bothered to provide the correct measurements. The one at the bottom and the one at the top are the exact same item but somehow the ads say they have different dimentions.

VP Pick for Trump

Who should Donald Trump select as his VP pick?

Tulsi Gabbard.

A VP pick should be someone who brings something to the table (unless you are the Democrats where they just select sock puppets to hold office while the real power is exercised by unknown, unelected people in back rooms). Tulsi as a former Democrat brings with her teh impression that Trump is not a radical party hack, but someone who legitimately seeks highly qualified people. This will appeal to independents.

The establishment Republicans, where Trump got his cabinet picks last time have shown themselves to be absolutely less than totally loyal to the voters. There is no reason at all for Trump to go back to that well.

Runner up, either Ron DeSantis or Ted Cruz. Either one of those people are much more valuable where they are now. They should only run as the VP if they are laying the groundwork for their own campaigns in 2028.

If Trump just wants to troll Democrats, he should pick RFK, Jr, then fire him right after the election. Of course, RFK would never accept because, contrary to what the legacy media is reporting, RFK’s campaign is bought and paid for by Democratic party donors in the hopes that they think there are a bunch of Republicans who are desparate to vote for anyone but Trump, but still can’t stomach voting for a senile old coot who is the nominal head of the lunatic party. RFK is getting lots of media coverage grilling congressional witnesses in left-wing media, which proves my point that his support is Left wing. Plus the democrats have a long history of funding their opponents so that it looks like they really “won” a hard fought battle. For example, we know very clearly that Bernie Sanders and Jeb Bush’s campaign were funded by the Hillary campaign.

Without doubt, Tulsi is a democrat. She has been for a long time (all her life). But she isn’t the lunatic kind of Democrat. She has openly criticized the biden administration for their war mongering. She cares about the environment and civil rights the same way that most Republicans also care about it. Real care, not lunatic caring.

Let’s be frank. If Trump gets elected, he is instantly a lame duck for four years, with a cabinet, half his own party’s elected members, and a deep state that will be undermining him again from day one. And there is no Trump junior on the bench to take his place in 2028. We only get 4 years of Trump, followed by someone not as good.

Water quality

So… you all read my last post about sludge in the water heater.    Now I’m looking at my water treatment device, which is supposed to remove iron.  It came with the house so I’m not sure what it’s for.  I decided to test the water and follow the science.  I drew two samples.  One before the treatment and one downstream.  I bought some test strips from amazon.  The results were odd so I tested both samples twice.  I have 125 test strips in the bottle so no harm.

Treated water has no difference from untreated water.  Plus, untreated water has zero iron.  Looks like I just saved myself $1,000 on a new treatment device or softener.  Hardness is near zero.  Taste and smell test is  indistinguishable from costco bottled water. 

Next:  test the creek.  For that, I’ll need to test for microbes too.

2022 Toyota 4Runner TRD Off Road Premium (ORP) Review

LOVE IT. 

Of course, I am a 4runner fan for over 20 years now, so that isn’t a really big surprise. I did want to follow up with a few notes that i have observed now that I have teh new one (5th Gen) compared to my previous one (4th Gen).

1. The old one had a V-8. This one has a V-6. The V-8 was smoother in all acceleration modes and just seemed “matched” with teh transmission better. The shifting was smoother at all highway speeds. Gas mileage is the same so I don’t know why they switched it out. On a positive side, the V-6 has a timing chain that will never need replacing whereas the V-8 had a belt that needed replacement every 100K miles. The downside of that, is the whole kit for timing belt replacement included seals, Water pump, thermostat, and various idler wheels and bearings. None of those will get replaced now unless they start mouthing off. Even the coolant is likely to never need replacement.
2. The 4th gen has a HVAC system where the operator set a desired temperature and then the car would figure out if more cool or more warm was needed to maintain that temperature. So, I could set it once and forget it forever. 5th gen retrograded back to the simpler warmer/cooler knob that requires frequent adjustment throughout the trip.
3. 5th gen has leather interior but that is because the ORP trim level is a higher trim level than previous SR5 trim. 
4. Safety features. 5th gen is loaded with all the safety features that have been added to cars for the past 20 years. collision avoidance radar linked to cruise control, auto darkening mirrors, side mirror lane warnings lights.
5. 5th gen rear seats can lean back for more comfort for the rear seat people. 4th gen were set at a specific place.
6. 5th gen hill-holder is less “holdy” than 4th gen. I suspect the V-8 just had a little more power at idle deliverd to the trans to hold the vehicle on an incline. 
7. 5th gen had an actual manual shifter for the 4WD functions. The older 4th gen selector knob was perfectly reliable, it is just a noticable difference because the console real estate needs to make room for the transfer case shifter.
8. Infotainment center. The 5th Gen, like all modern vehicles feels the need to include a data display tablet in the vehicle. I like that this one links to my phone through android Auto so I can use my phone nav app instead of the toyota app and it displays on the car monitor, and I can tuck away my phone and ignore it.

I know the rest of you are thinking, “Dude, you just reviewed a vehicle that has been out for over 10 years. Thanks for this timely information!”

Stinky house = Stinky people

The Fabreeze commercials are sending an unintended message. Black people stink. This commercial in particular I am seeing a lot on Hulu.

It likely is just intended as a normal odor control ad, but when linked to the trend of replacing everyone on video with black, inter-racial and gay people, you get this. The clear message here is that Black people leave their stink on everything they touch. 

I have to tell you, my house has never smelled bad enough to me that I felt I needed constant air “freshening” or the need to spray every fabric surface. Nor did I ever imagine needing a microchip to control the distribution of the fragrance.

Orange Head

This guy comes around often too. He’s a regular customer at the suet block. Sometimes he likes to pick up seeds off the railing. To do that, he turns his head sideways and grabs the seeds in the side of his beak.

The little one

A few pairs of these are still hanging around too.

Another woodpecker

Arts and crafts: water heater maintenance.

My water stinks. Its been getting worse over the past 5 years. I have been adding a touch of laundry bleach now and then but that doesn’t last and has its own problems.

The internet says the solution is to replace the anode with an aluminum one. If that’s all it takes, why does the factory keep putting in magnesium ones? Well, I tried that and it did not make any noticable improvement.

So now im trying the more expensive money back guaranteed expensive solution.

Electrified titanium rod. Easy in and out, though never as easy as it should be. The socket hole is deep and there isn’t much room. The manufacturer didnt do us any favors either by making his product a different sized socket than the standard 1 and 1%16th inches (27mm). It’s supposed to last 20 years so I can just swap it into my next water heater too.

While I’m squirreling around with the hot water off I decide to drain the tank.

But nothing comes out. The plastic valve is clogged. Why do they (AO smith) even use plastic drain valves? Anyway, I replaced the drain with a brass ball valve. These don’t get stuck. And the ball valve hasca much larger orifice to let out debris and gunk. And if this water heater fails, I can put that valve on the next one. When the plastic valve is removed a bunch of foul gunk came out. Ugh. That’s my drinking water.

While I have it empty, I decide to raise it off the floor about 6 inches. This makes working on the drain easier since the floor won’t be in the way of the hose. And you can tell I put an extension pipe on the new valve so it isn’t a Pita to attach a drain hose.

Pecker bird came by to admire my work

Since I moved the heater up, I also took care of rerouting some Pex lines.

Cost of aluminum anode: $40

Cost of electric titanium anode: $129

Cost of valves and brass: $45

All things Trump

1. All of the prosecutions and attempted prosecutions against Trump are malicious and politically motivated. All of them. ALL. Democrats hate his guts and will do anything to punish him, even if they have to make up crimes to accuse him of. It is absurd to make the claim that “no one is above the law” and then go out and prosecute Trump for make-believe crimes, as well as using civil suits with Trump-hating judges and juries to get ridiculous monetary penalties for what should have been criminal statutes. A real civil suit would need to prove actual damages not just expect lottery-level winnings.
2. On the issue of immunity. This is not a new topic. Courts have already weighted in on this over the past couple of centuries. The rules of simple. A president is not immune from prosecution for any CRIMES he may commit while in office. He is immune from prosecution for his official acts as president. This is an important distinction. As President, any president has a wide lattitude of what may be considered as “official acts”. The opposition party has no say in determining what may or may not full into that basket.
3. Can a president order a SEAL team to assassinate his rival? Let’s ask Barack Obama that question since that is what he did when he ordered drone strikes onh American citizens in Iraq. The fact that those guys were not political rivals for the office of President of the USA doesn’t change the fact that Obama ordered a government agency to whack them and they were US citizens, and Obama also took credit for killing “whoever may have just had the bad luck to be standing too close” too. More importantly, the current predisent is using the FBI to politically assassinate Trump and Obama used them to spy on Trump, his political rival. Why isn’t the news media curious about that? The answer is that “journalists” are democratic party activists first and they would never ask a question to diminish the Democratic party candidate’s chances in the next election.
4. A really don’t care about abortion. I have been listening to every possible argument that can be made on this issue since I was a child. You cannot say “my body my choice” when it comes to babies, but “take the jab or be locked up” when it comes to COVID vax. I agree that in utero concieved items are indeed human and worthy of protecting their lives. I also believe that the parents are their custodians and exercise those rights on their behalf. Not the state. Thus, a woman may kill her unborn child. Or even her 5 year old child. It hardly matters if it is through negligence or intent. The state used to have a vested interest in protecting children. They gave up that prerogative when they permitted abortion as a legalized practice at any stage of development They further gave up that prerogative when they allowed unrestricted immigration from other countries, deriving the native population of their lives, liberties, and properties for teh benefit of the foreigners. You want to kill your chirlden? Go ahead. Just don’t come crying to me when you die alone and childless.