Category Archives: House

Kenmore Coldspot 106.57032601 – Ice dispenser hinge broken

+1 to the power of the Internet. It delivered when our refrigerator ice dispenser broke last weekend.

After some searching, I found this forum and decided to post. Not even an hour later I had the right manufacturer repair part thanks to Jake over at the appliance blog forums. Not to mention the price was reasonable with better shipping options after comparing to buying the part from Sears Parts Direct.

The manufacturer’s directions that came with this part had the worst pictures imaginable. However I’m sure having some pictures was better than nothing. The directions show they were written or printed in October of 2005. What follows is my repair log that can supplement those directions (though use at your own risk).

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Winter is Coming – Zenith Zoysia in Falls River Community

The grass is finally turning brown.  Here it is in transition.  Will follow up once it is fully dormant.

6 Weeks – Zenith Zoysia in Falls River Community

Freshly cut and surviving 100+ degree heat for a week.  Watered twice during the week.

3 Weeks – Zenith Zoysia in Falls River Community

Here is the sidewalk strip after two weeks of watering and its first mow at the end of the third week…

Looks pretty good.  We’ll see how this winter fairs.  If it goes well we’ll replace the whole front with Zenith Zoysiagrass.

1 Week – Zenith Zoysia in Falls River Community

Now that the Falls River Community HOA has approved Zoysiagrass for our lawns, we jumped on it for our sidewalk strip.

Week 1 of Zenith Zoysia from Super Sod at the Raleigh Farmer’s Market.

Elemental Designs A2-300 Subwoofer Unboxing

My Elemental Designs A2-300 subwoofer showed up earlier in the month.  I reviewed it on their website but didn’t think I did it justice.  After setting the subwoofer in an initial placement I reran Audyssey.  After verifying crossovers/settings I started up Serenity.  The opening scene made the wife came running in to see what was up (plus she likes that movie)  🙂  Initial impressions are very good.   I still have tweaking to do, but does that ever finish?

The A2-300 was ordered on January 24 2010 and showed up March 9 2010.  It could have been 2 weeks sooner.  My order took a little longer than normal because during production eD changed the roundover appearance from 0.5 to 0.75 on the cabinet.  I was interested in the new style after seeing the forum post photos.   In my order I also had requested that both the spiked and hourglass feet be included due to flooring/placement concerns.  Either way the feet are sturdy.

See the unboxing gallery after the jump.

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Operation LiftMaster

One of my LiftMaster garage door openers (1/2HP, Model 1205A, MFT 1999) stopped working after 10 years.  Upon first glance, I saw white dust had accumulated in the Up/Down travel adjustment holes. Upon removing the casing, the nylon drive gears had failed (the drive gear that turns the sprocket had stripped).

This past weekend I fixed the opener in about three hours and I highly recommend the: Liftmaster Gear and Sprocket Assembly Kit Part Number 41C4220A.

I also bought Sears Craftsman Liftmaster Garage Door Opener Gear Kit – Part #41A2817 as well because my house has two LiftMaster openers.  But I found the sprocket solution to be better in this case as I could just drop it in.  I now have the extra stripped sprocket which I can use with the extra part kit to replace the stripped gear and reuse it on my second opener when and if that fails.

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300 Gallon Rain Water Collector

A summer project is complete!   Just in time as we are under water restrictions due to a drought.

Installed under my front porch is a 300 gallon rainwater collector and is modeled after my Dad’s rain barrel.  The main difference between ours is the pump is not hooked up to a pressure sensor.  Rumor has it that the pumps used do better when there is a continuous flow of water through them (even though restricted) in order to keep them cool.   We will see how each approach lasts over time.

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