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18 July, 2014

Catching Up

Well, here we are a good month and a half into the rainy season, and for the most part, as dry as it is during the dry season. Don't know if that's something related to global climatic changes or just a quirk with the local weather.

Speaking of water. We finally got our new tank for the reverse osmosis (RO) system. Hooray! No more toting 5-gallon bottles of water up a flight of stairs. That is a chore that I guarantee is never going to get easier, especially as you (or me, in this case) keep getting older. Of course toting a crate of Belikin upstairs is no joy either. Just that the reward for doing so is much more pleasant once the bottles are cooled down.
New Reverse Osmosis Tank
The tank for the RO is much smaller than the old one. The old one was a 14-gallon tank. I thought when we initially set up the system that I was really going to need the larger size, having nothing to relate it to.
Size Comparison
It soon became apparent that the smaller size was more than adequate. About the only time I would have needed the larger one would have been if I was filling 5-gallon bottles. As it is, we generally only use the 1-liter bottles.

Breakages to report... Well, I guess not breakage - it's already broken. It's a 'repairage', if that's a word. My Shop Vac has been out of commission for some time. I had given it to Cecil to fix, which he did. Then I promptly broke it when I tested the motor and gave it back to Cecil.

Cecil managed to fix it again. So, the motor works fine. The problem is the blower connected to the motor. It's made out of soft aluminum and has two steel flanges (I guess that's what they're called) on either side to provide strength during operation to withstand the torque generated when the motor starts up and runs.
Shop Vac Blower With Flange
Both of those have separated from the blower, allowing the blower to freewheel. I'm going to try some JB Weld today to see if I can glue those two items back to the blower.
J-B Weld Steel Epoxy
It appears they were originally press-fit together.
Blower Showing Flange Removed
There's another flange that fits on the other side of the blower. Gluing these to the blower is my project for this morning. Stay tuned.

Aints and more aints are driving everyone down here crazy. That's ants to the uninitiated. It seems the little buggers are trying to move into our homes to escape the rains which are sure to come... Maybe. Anyway, we've been waging war with them.

The treatment du jour is some stuff we've tried before and it sort of worked. Terro Ant Bait. It came before in these little plastic tray thingies that you cut a hole in it and the aint was supposed to go inside and suck up the juice then leave.
Terro Ant Baits
I think the aints here got wise to the deal and wouldn't have anything to do with the tray. But, Terro, came out with some new stuff. It's called Terro Ant Killer. I don't know if it's the same formulation or not, but it comes in a handy squeeze bottle.
Terro Ant Killer
You put three or four drops on a piece of cardboard (supplied as part of the kit) and place it where the aints can get to it easily. They love the stuff. We've been refilling the stations three and four, or more, times a day and it really does get rid of them. We've been using it so much, that we've taken to replacing the cardboard stations with beer bottle caps - tidier and easier to pick up and place.

Thank God we have a pool - That's our A/C. We're in it every day, and almost all day too. We're averaging mid-nineties temp and humidity. We use machetes to cut a path through the air just to walk.

The car made its pilgrimage up to Rick's again. Only for a day this time. A drive shaft bearing or something like that had gone out and was grinding its way to oblivion. Rick was able to fix it and got it back to me by early afternoon the following day.

I think that's it for this installment. I've got some dishes to do, then to the workshop and tackle the J-B Weld thing. See you later.

6 comments:

JRinSC said...

So how'd the J&B do? I use that stuff quite often and it works pretty well if I give it time to set properly (I just love 30 second Super Glue).

BTW - how is your finger - the one you tried to wring off?

Julian

Dave Rider said...

Hi Julian,

I think it worked well. I checked it yesterday afternoon, late and it seems to have bonded fine.
Now, this morning I have to get in there with a jeweler's file and clean the epoxy that oozed out into the grooves of the blower - where there shouldn't be any ooze or anything else.
And to top it off, Carlos came by yesterday with four matching retainers that he managed to find in Chetumal for me. Things are looking very positive for the Shop Vac.
Hopefully, I'll be able to reassemble it and give it a go. Keep your fingers crossed.
Speaking of fingers, the mangled digit has healed up just fine. Can't even tell where I damaged it.

Cheers,
dave

Anonymous said...

Hi Guys,

JB Weld Marine did wonders on a ding in the oil pan from the Monkey River Road. Took about 5 hours to set up.

I ran into an old friend of yours in Belize City, Dave. Dr. Hoy says hello. He removed a cataract in my left eye and "I can see clearly now" too. The photos in your blog entry on the surgery convinced me I would have this done in Belize rather than going back to the States.

Take care,

Dennis

Dave Rider said...

Hi Dennis,

Thanks for a nice comment.

J-B Weld did the trick for my Shop Vac. I glued the steel bits to the impeller (what I was calling the blower) and let it cure overnight.

Yesterday morning, I found one of my little hobby files and cleaned up the glue that had oozed out so the impeller would fit over the shaft and over a couple of tiny knobby things on the shaft.

Next I took one of the new retainers that Carlos got for me over in Chetumal, pressed it on and tried it out - carefully. It worked almost like new.

A quick job of reassembling the whole thing and I was finally able to finish cleaning my workbench, and the tool shelving, and drawers.

It doesn't work quite as good as new, but still, it manages to suck up all the debris, so I'm happy. Plus, it was a whole lot cheaper than buying a new Shop Vac down here - if I could even find one.

Dr. Hoy is pretty cool. Getting my cataract taken care of by him was a very enjoyable experience (for a surgical kind of experience anyway). I'm glad it worked out for you too. It also helped a friend of mine over in Orchid Bay to make the decision to have his cataract taken care of by Dr. Hoy. He's a happy camper as well.

It's so nice to be able to see again with both eyes. I'm probably going to have to have my left eye done in a few years. So, more business for Dr. Hoy.

Thanks again.

Cheers,
Dave

JRinSC said...

Hey Dave! Check out Google Earth. They have just updated pics over Belize and your house is now completely portrayed - right down to the awning over the pool. Still no boat in the slip...

Data says it is extant 8/16/13 so it seems it took them a while to place it in the system.

Julian

Dave Rider said...

Hi Julian,

Unfortunately, that view has been up for a few months now. I don't know why it takes them a year or so to post a new view for down here when they can do weekly and daily updates up north. Still, it's better now than the once every three to five years we waited before down here. Guess that's what happens when you're at the edge of the universe.

Cheers,
Dave