Why Jobs Take Way To Freaking Long Sometimes - (Jim, You were wrong.)

Jul 08, 2023 Last reply: 3 years ago 2 Replies

If the AC is out in the house... well I have to fix that first. I could tough out everything, but the disappoint of the other half.



I was wrong. I couldn't tough it out. Yesterday I was finishing up a couple custom molds (deburr, press in pins, etc) so I could get them shipped. By the time I set the packages in the drop box it was late in the afternoon, but not so late I couldn't get a good start on the next project. I sat down at my desk, turned to face the jobs board, and thought, "It sure feels warm in here." I glanced over at the thermostat and noted it was 93F'ing degrees in my office. I walked outside to see if I could trouble shoot it really quick, and I was just about able to kick the circuit breaker off and on to hear the contactor kick on. No fan. No compressor and holy bejeebers its was way to F'ing hot to stand in the sun working on the air conditioning. I don't know what the temperature was, but the heat factor on the concrete next to that big metal building was, "Hey stupid. Get out of the F'ing Sun." I headed back to the house for a cold beer and called it a day.



This morning I started trouble shooting. I quickly found a blown control fuse in the air handler, and after that the air handler would kick on as would the fan in the condensing unit.



I thought it was fixed so I headed inside, but after 20 minutes it still felt hot in the office. It was a hot 93F on the thermostat when I looked. Time to break out the heat gun. The vents were kicking out 90+ degree air. A few years ago I had a wire come loose and had the system pumping out hot air (heat pump default on condition is heat), so I checked all the control wiring. Nope. All good. Alright time to power it all down again. Dual run cap was bad on the compressor side. No place to buy one on a Saturday, so I called a buddy who does AC work. He was out on a service call, but promised me a heads up call when he got home. He has a five gallon bucket full of new caps in his truck. I helped him with an alarm issue a few months back and he absolutely refused to let me pay for the replacement cap.



I popped over to the import store to burn up my 25% coupon, and finally headed home. About two o'clock (maybe 2:30) I pointed the heat gun at the vent and read from 59-64F degrees coming out. I glanced at the thermostat and it still read 93F'ing degrees, but atleast now it was a cool 93 degrees instead of a hot 93 degrees. I just sat at my desk for the next hour as the temperature slowly dropped below sweltering trying to get motivated to do... anything.


I HATE when that happens. You start out the day with a task you've been thinking about for a week and you've got the plans all in your head how you're gonna do it and something else sucks you down a rabbit hole that let's you get done with it just in time to not have enough time to do the original project - - - - - - and there ya sit. Too much time to do nothing and not enough time to do something.

By the time I wrapped it up I had a couple scissors lifts. One white wheel, and one foam filled semi all terrain. Made for some cash when I sold them. Kind wish I still had one for the lights in the shop. They were a wash financially due to the high cost of batteries, but I always had one when I needed it. Some times of year here all the rentals are rented.

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