Our garage door opener stopped working the other day. When it was lifting it would hesitate and then the unit started smoking! As soon as I unplugged it, the smoke stopped. I noticed that the member that's attached to the garage header was loose and twisted. After I tightened up the lag bolts and tried the opener again, the motor worked but it would hesitate and start to smoke again and then stop when I unplugged the unit. After an easy cover removal, and another exercise of turning on the opener, the white smoke was clearly coming out of this round device that was held by a simple collar. No real fire danger as I would not let it smoke for more than a second or two. So, it was not the motor burning up or any wiring burning..........it was the: Motor Starting Capacitor! The motor starting capacitor is a tubular thing with four wires connected with spade plugs. I ordered one online, got it in three days, plugged it in and it worked! I almost, (frivolous me) bought a new opener, which would have fixed the problem, as well. The capacitor was $18.00. Door opener $200. Apparently, motors that have to start under a heavy load, like a garage door, need these capacitors. My door was operating under an extra heavy load because of the twisted and loose structural member tied to the door header.
Consequently it burned up the capacitor before it would make the motor do it. I'd forgotten what a pain it was to lift my own garage door and the pain was in my back.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Friday, September 7, 2007
tools -- additional basics
Okay, so we've gone through a couple of projects and it's apparent that there are a few more tools that may not be absolutely necessary, but that sure would be nice. Either that, or they are the advanced version of the tools you have in your portable toolbox. These are the things that catch our eye while we are shopping for something else and make a lot of sense, so they go in the cart. They are not whimsical purchases though; even if you only use them once in a while they're totally worth it.
Heavy Duty Level 24 - 48 inches, aluminum
Carpenter's Square
Chalk Line
Large Crowbar
Drilling Hammer
Cold Chisel for metal
Masonry Chisel for stone
Bolt Cutter saves a lot of hacksawing
Pipe Cutters one for PVC, one for metal
Coping Saw
Block Plane
Surform Shaver (like a plane but uses a serrated face to cut away material)
Hole Saw(see interior door handles)
Masonry Drill Bits
Metal Shears (or tinsnips)
Studfinder
Kneepads (good ones are expensive, but boy you'll be happy)
Telescoping Ladder
Bench Vise (hope you have a workbench to attach it to)
Misc Clamps
Heavy Duty Level 24 - 48 inches, aluminum
Carpenter's Square
Chalk Line
Large Crowbar
Drilling Hammer
Cold Chisel for metal
Masonry Chisel for stone
Bolt Cutter saves a lot of hacksawing
Pipe Cutters one for PVC, one for metal
Coping Saw
Block Plane
Surform Shaver (like a plane but uses a serrated face to cut away material)
Hole Saw(see interior door handles)
Masonry Drill Bits
Metal Shears (or tinsnips)
Studfinder
Kneepads (good ones are expensive, but boy you'll be happy)
Telescoping Ladder
Bench Vise (hope you have a workbench to attach it to)
Misc Clamps
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
tree house! phase one
Yes, we have had a fantasy for a while about a tree house. It just takes a lot of careful consideration, planning, and safety concern, so I have never had time for it. However, this summer I did have quite a bit of time on my hands, and the boys are old enough now to really appreciate what goes into this kind of construction and enjoy it when it’s done, so off to Home Depot I went.
I must say I was also influenced by the fact that my Dad gave me the book The Dangerous Book for Boys as a Father’s Day gift, which of course is really a gift for his grandsons because we can read about and do all the stuff in the book together. Click here to check it out at Amazon; makes a great gift for the boys in your life, grown-up or not.
Anyway, The Dangerous Book for Boys has one method for constructing a tree house; I have researched many many more online and synthesized a plan that works for our tree. Our tree is massive, solid, and will not be hurt in the slightest by any of the bolts we put in it. I am, however, keeping all the damage to the tree spaced at least 12 inches from each other to avoid compartmentalization (described here, along with other possible tree damage). I used a plan that will not require supports in the ground around the tree; the plans I saw online using that strategy seemed... well, to be cheating, really. They’re basically play structures somewhat attached to a tree, and didn’t really strike me as fulfilling the spirit of a classic tree house. My structure is about 12 feet up and solid as a rock. I weigh a bit over 200 pounds, and the boys and I can go up there together with zero fear. Our tree is a good foundation, though; your situation may involve a smaller tree or hanging a platform between more than one tree. There are many, many ideas out there -- I recommend you read between 6 and 10 plans before you settle on a strategy.
So, how did I do it? I thought at first that I would put up four main supports, parallel on two sides, perpendicular to the other two sides (see illustration A; please forgive my hand-drawn diagrams).
Turns out our tree is nowhere near circular enough, plus it flares wider right at the height I wanted to put my supports, so it would be difficult to bolt the supports to the tree and keep the top edges level. So, I went a little higher in the tree to the main crotch. It splits into two main trunks and has one other major branch at that level. I rested a 2" x 8" beam across the top of that branch and up against the (vertically) flattest part of the two trunks, right next to the crotch, and put a 1/2" x 7" bolt in the trunk opposite the branch (see illustration B). 
This was the ideal spot for this support due to the shape of the tree, based on much experimentation with the beam I wanted to use.
I also thought I would then lay floor supports perpendicular to this main support, going through the crotch and on the outside of the two trunks, secured to the main support and bolted to the tree. I miscalculated slightly and had to add a 2" x 4" to the top edge of my original support, but then I got an ideal fit with the natural features of the tree to help with the floor support (see illustration C; the crossbeams are actually level, not like in my lame drawing!).
I hung 2" x 4" supports in between the three main floor supports with Simpson Strong-Tie joist hangers and was almost ready to put a floor on top. The supports were all cantilevered in place and held up to my weight pretty well, but to finish it off and for peace of mind I put a 2" x 8" structural support under the deck at a 45 degree angle, held into a notch in the center beam of the floor with another joist hanger and by a bolt into the tree. I also added a couple of hurricane straps in strategic places to hold the structure down to the branches it's resting on. The picture below is a shot of the structure right before I put the floor on. I also added some diagonal supports at both ends between the main beam and the floor supports; the final floor is kind of hexagonal.
It would have been nice to put a solid plank floor on it, but 5/8" plywood is way cheaper! I used two layers and secured it with deck screws at 4-inch intervals to keep it from warping. I just laid rectangular pieces on top of my odd final shape and trimmed it by marking the edge of the beams below with a chalk line and trimming it with a circular saw. Next step is to waterproof it to protect it further. I will also put up some rails for safety while we plan for eventual walls and a roof. That's Phase 2 -- might be next year before we get around to it, but fall and winter are pretty mild here, so I might take it on before too long!
I must say I was also influenced by the fact that my Dad gave me the book The Dangerous Book for Boys as a Father’s Day gift, which of course is really a gift for his grandsons because we can read about and do all the stuff in the book together. Click here to check it out at Amazon; makes a great gift for the boys in your life, grown-up or not.
Anyway, The Dangerous Book for Boys has one method for constructing a tree house; I have researched many many more online and synthesized a plan that works for our tree. Our tree is massive, solid, and will not be hurt in the slightest by any of the bolts we put in it. I am, however, keeping all the damage to the tree spaced at least 12 inches from each other to avoid compartmentalization (described here, along with other possible tree damage). I used a plan that will not require supports in the ground around the tree; the plans I saw online using that strategy seemed... well, to be cheating, really. They’re basically play structures somewhat attached to a tree, and didn’t really strike me as fulfilling the spirit of a classic tree house. My structure is about 12 feet up and solid as a rock. I weigh a bit over 200 pounds, and the boys and I can go up there together with zero fear. Our tree is a good foundation, though; your situation may involve a smaller tree or hanging a platform between more than one tree. There are many, many ideas out there -- I recommend you read between 6 and 10 plans before you settle on a strategy.
So, how did I do it? I thought at first that I would put up four main supports, parallel on two sides, perpendicular to the other two sides (see illustration A; please forgive my hand-drawn diagrams).
Turns out our tree is nowhere near circular enough, plus it flares wider right at the height I wanted to put my supports, so it would be difficult to bolt the supports to the tree and keep the top edges level. So, I went a little higher in the tree to the main crotch. It splits into two main trunks and has one other major branch at that level. I rested a 2" x 8" beam across the top of that branch and up against the (vertically) flattest part of the two trunks, right next to the crotch, and put a 1/2" x 7" bolt in the trunk opposite the branch (see illustration B). 
This was the ideal spot for this support due to the shape of the tree, based on much experimentation with the beam I wanted to use.I also thought I would then lay floor supports perpendicular to this main support, going through the crotch and on the outside of the two trunks, secured to the main support and bolted to the tree. I miscalculated slightly and had to add a 2" x 4" to the top edge of my original support, but then I got an ideal fit with the natural features of the tree to help with the floor support (see illustration C; the crossbeams are actually level, not like in my lame drawing!).
I hung 2" x 4" supports in between the three main floor supports with Simpson Strong-Tie joist hangers and was almost ready to put a floor on top. The supports were all cantilevered in place and held up to my weight pretty well, but to finish it off and for peace of mind I put a 2" x 8" structural support under the deck at a 45 degree angle, held into a notch in the center beam of the floor with another joist hanger and by a bolt into the tree. I also added a couple of hurricane straps in strategic places to hold the structure down to the branches it's resting on. The picture below is a shot of the structure right before I put the floor on. I also added some diagonal supports at both ends between the main beam and the floor supports; the final floor is kind of hexagonal.
It would have been nice to put a solid plank floor on it, but 5/8" plywood is way cheaper! I used two layers and secured it with deck screws at 4-inch intervals to keep it from warping. I just laid rectangular pieces on top of my odd final shape and trimmed it by marking the edge of the beams below with a chalk line and trimming it with a circular saw. Next step is to waterproof it to protect it further. I will also put up some rails for safety while we plan for eventual walls and a roof. That's Phase 2 -- might be next year before we get around to it, but fall and winter are pretty mild here, so I might take it on before too long!
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