Posted on 02/02/2024 5:54:25 AM PST by Paul R.
Faucets: Has anyone modified a modern faucet for higher flow? Cell Phone Battery: A possible fix for not taking a charge.
I'll ask about the faucet first. Has anyone modified one of these new fangled / EPA limited flow rate kitchen faucet for higher flow rate? These damm things are just too slow, especially off a well system where you only have 40-45 psi water pressure to begin with, and that's after the pump just ran. At best you get close to 1/2 gallon per minute. Heck, us old types don't have a full minute to wait around while filling a big pot (etc.) with water for any of a number of things. We recently had our Delta kitchen faucet go bad and I replaced it with a Tuscany "Marianna" faucet. We really like the big high arc (those big pots and pans get under it easier) but the flow stinks. Looking at the faucet "exploded" diagram, it's really difficult to tell where the biggest restriction is. If it's at the diverter, not much can be done, that I can see. Ditto the lines that run horizontally from the hot and cold feeds to the stem / diverter. The stem above the diverter seems to hold an unusually large amount of water, so I'm guessing the ID is largish and not a factor. Taking the aerator off doesn't change the flow rate much. (I tested it.) Maybe I'm "hosed"? (Pun intended.)
As for the cell phone battery, after several years of use, the battery was not charging well, or holding charge well. (It may be that it charged to full voltage, as it would charge to "100%" fairly quickly per the charge indicator on the phone, but, holding the charge or using it for calls was a different matter. Not so good!) One day after it ran low it began to not even want to charge much at all. I have several chargers, and none did better. I purchased a replacement battery and to my dismay it was worse. After several hours of charging with the phone off, booting the phone up it would get fully turned on, but showed low battery level -- and then shut down within a few seconds!
At that point I thought maybe something in the phone itself such as the charge regulater was toast. But... I recalled an old trick from Ni-Cad battery days: "Zap" the battery with a charged capacitor. This seemed pretty darn dicey with a lithium battery, but, I have a 4x in parallel 18650 battery bank pulled from a laptop supply (back when laptops had pretty bulky battery packs!) So... my cell phone's original battery was still out: Put on eye protection, work in area with no flammables nearby. Clip leads to the old battery pack, and gingerly contact + and - on the cell phone battery for a second. I observed no spark, no bulging, no heating of the source or destination (cell phone battery). Hmmm... Try it for 2 seconds. Same result. 5 seconds. Same result. 4 x 5 second contacts with 10 seconds break between contacts. Ditto. Was the cell phone battery a hair warmer, or was that because I was holding on to it? Hmmm... Repeat the 4x sequence again. Same result. So, I reinstalled the old battery into the phone, leaving the battery cover off, and, voila, it seems to be charging normally, maybe a bit slow, but definitely taking charge according to the battery level indicator. I give it a couple hours - gee, it's up to 40% says the indicator. I badly needed to make a brief call and send a couple texts, so I did so. No problem. Go back to charging, leave it on charge overnight, I wake up to 100% charge on the phone this morning. I'll be damned. I'd also "zapped" the replacement battery (same procedure) before I retired to bed last night. Swap it in -- now IT seems to be taking a charge. That was only a little while ago, so it's only up to 27%. But I did just now compose and send a couple brief texts, and the phone didn't crash.
I'll be darned. Sometimes (sometimes!) a car (lead acid) battery will respond to "reconditioning"" to squeeze a bit more life out of it. And there were those NiCads I mentioned. That seemed to work maybe 50% of the time, if a battery was not too far gone or allowed to set a long time.
I've NOT yet used the cell phone with either battery pack, for an extended period, much less see if the charge will hold up with light to no conversations / texting for at least a day. So, this experiment is "in progress". But at least it appears I can keep the cell phone on long enough to receive security code texts and such, which was my biggest concern, as I'll have multiple need to do that in the next few days.
Run diswasher on the short/quick cycle Maytag is the least bad
Get a Koeler high end toilets flush beautifuly
the refrigerator repair man changed the 15 fuses to 20 and so far on year 12
This was a problem with my free cellphone that ATT gave me when they introduced 5G. Look at your phone from the side after trying to charge it- If it is noticeably swollen where the battery is, you might be overcharging it. That solved my problems with the battery.
Maybe the cartels can sneak in regular flow faucets and toilets. I hate all this low flow stuff.
[I am sure it was the previous homeowner that did this because there were multiple things he did that were absolutely wrong when it came to repairs around the house.]
My parents old house, built in the 90s, had 5 sinks. None of the handles turn the same. Some rotate inward for on, some outward. Some both clockwise, some both counter-clockwise. Bugged the crap out of me when I visited. When my house was built, the way the key went into the lock was not consistent. Even between the dead bolt and latch knob. One would take the key flat side up, the other flat down. One key went in sideways. I had to go back and turn them all the same way. Sometimes contractors aren’t worth their pay rate.
“Get a Koeler high end toilets flush beautifuly”
I’m partial to Toto toilets. I swear you could flush a watermelon whole in those things.
Ours was built in 1963...when we moved in, it had bright red shag carpeting, an turquoise kitchen appliances!
Yes. It would have been nice, but I have trouble even getting a plumber to unclog a drain, which I only resort to after I have spent a couple unsuccessful hours with a snake.
I have to take what I get, and in my nanny state, any plumber I can get is probably concerned with Code Nazis breathing down their necks.
You must live in a strange place.
Well, gee. You must be lucky to live somewhere great. Good for you.
“”””Yes. It would have been nice, but I have trouble even getting a plumber to unclog a drain, which I only resort to after I have spent a couple unsuccessful hours with a snake.
I have to take what I get, and in my nanny state, any plumber I can get is probably concerned with Code Nazis breathing down their necks.””””
I just don’t know where that could be and you haven’t said.
I was working on the stove top to replace a burner on a glass top electric stove. It is separate from dual wall oven.
So, I went down in the basement and flipped the breaker labeled range. The wall oven went dead. Range still worked. No biggie, just labeled wrong in the box.
So, I actually decided to just discount the wires in the junction box attached to the joist in the basement.
What I found in the junction box was BURN'T WIRES. Where the copper wires that came from the stove connected to the ALUMINUM 10 gauge wires going to the breaker box.
The problem is that you can NOT just twist copper Romex wire together with Aluminum wires. Over time it will cause corrosion. Which will eventually lead to sparking and FIRE.
They make special connectors that you are supposed to use when connecting Aluminum to Copper. Whoever hooked up the electric range top did not use them. So, I assume the previous owner did it because ANY electrician knows this. THIS IS THE REASON WHY THESE TYPE OF CONNECTIONS NEED TO BE MADE IN A STEEL JUNCTION BOX. That junction box kept my house from burning down.
I discovered this the week prior to Christmas 2023. I have lived there for almost 13 years.
MOST faucets have a “DIVERTER SCREEN on the end.
REMOVE IT.
DOG is “PRIOR TO LOADING DISHWASHER TOOL”.
IF aerator is ‘bad’ it MAY be full of local water chemicals—such as calcium
REMOVE-—Put into small container—maybe even a measuring cup-—fill with WHITE vinegar-—let stand overnight.
Brush off debris with old toothbrush.
Aerator is open again.
WHAT happened to “RIGHT TIGHTY-—LEFTY LOOSIE”???
WHAT happened to “RIGHTY TIGHTY-—LEFTY LOOSIE”???
Good dog!!
Last I saw-—ALUMINUM WIRING WAS BANNED FROM HOMES IN 1976.
Flow rate to the garden hoses, the washer, and bathtub is fine. I’ve even checked flow going into the faucet (I disconnected it and clamped o a section of 1” garden hose to the feed pipe. A gallon jug filled in under 15 seconds with the gauge at the well reading 45 psi. )
If I can spend $5, or even $20 on some sort of faucet mod, that’s a lot cheaper than a “bigger” well pump. I believe the present pump is 1 hp (shallow well pump). (And in any event, flow is set by what’s coming from the tank, not the pump directly, most of the time.)
I “could” set the pressure switch higher, and in fact ran it up to 55 lbs. today — it actually didn’t make a lot of difference. 40 lbs. is usually what’s recommended for home well systems, and I’ve been running 45 lbs.
What seems like 1000 years ago I took a fluid mechanics engineering class, and I very vaguely remember discussion of “mechanically” regulating flow rate over a range of pressures with restrictors. So, something like that probably happens to a considerable degree in these faucets. The “how” I don’t recall - that was almost 50 years ago...
Yeah, I’ve modified a shower head restrictor by opening it up. It seemed to function as a washer too, so I just carved it out a bit. :-)
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