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Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Fixing our cloth dryer, total cost under $20

Wife called yesterday and said " Dryer is not working, it stopped in the middle of drying cycle and nothing is moving now, no lights inside the drum either."  I ask her to make sure the circuit breaker on the outer wall is not tripped, and it wasn't.  I did some research online (this is a Maytag model HYE3657AYW purchased in 7/2004) before headed home and most online posts indicated the thermal fuse that monitors the temperature of the heater is the most likely culprit.  Lint accumulated over time blocking the exhaust vent and causing heat blockage.  Clothes will take longer to dry.

When I got home, I pulled the dryer out, and clean around it, there were lots of lint and dirt accumulate around it.  I was looking for a panel in the back where I can remove and look for the thermal fuse.  Instead, the back of the dryer is all one piece, no panel to remove.  I noticed there is some kind of hinge on the back of the dryer.  I thought to myself, it can't be this easy.  I came  around the front of the dryer and lifted the top cover.  One loud popping sound and top of the dryer opens revealing the drum and the heating element behind it.




From reading the posts online, there were two thermal fuses in the dryer, a thermal fuse and a hi-limit thermal fuse.  If one is tripped, both should be replaced.  A simple continuity test with a multimeter will tell if the fuse is bad.


This is the Hi-Limit Thermostat (Electric model) 53-0771



Thermal Fuse 53-1182 (Electric model)



I just ordered an oem replacement part from ebay for around $17 (Thermal fuse kit LA-1053) and should arrive hopefully by this weekend.

10/6/2012

The part arrived this afternoon in the mail.  Installed both thermostat in about 15 min.  Also clean up the lint around the lint filter.  All is well now.  Total cost $18.43




Now the clothes take half the time to dry, lesson learned, clean up the lint filter area and periodically checking the flexible pipe behind the dryer.



January 2024

Some 12 years after weekly faithful service from this Maytag dryer, The driving belt circled the drum had had it.  Read on here




Monday, September 10, 2012

Mazda B2200 Automatic Transmission Fluid Change

Started working on replacing the transmission fluid around 10 am, by the time I was done it was almost 1 pm.  I had to stop by the part store to pick up a scraper to remove the old gasket stuck on the pan. The fluid was still in good condition, I did see very small amount of white cloudy fluid on the bottom of the transmission pan(not sure what cause it?), however there wasn't much of anything (metal shaving) else there.  

The transmission filter seem to be in good shape, but I replaced it anyway since I have the part.  In the service manual it didn't mention about replacing the filter.

I was careful when removing the screws holding the transmission filter, but very strangely, (the screw circled) after removed, I can't put the screw back on, it seemed the thread inside had mysteriously disappeared.  After tighten all the other screws, i manage to get the screw to catch something inside (very loosely).

View after removing the fluid pan
I filled with 3.75 qt of Valvoline MaxLife Dexron III and it was already at full.  I got the turck at 243K, now it is at 291K, the fluid change was long overdue.  Next week I will tackle the differential fluid, should be a much easier task.






B2200 transmission oil pan


Pan gasket and transmission filter


Thursday, July 12, 2012

Switching Internet Services to Comcast

After years of DSL service from the phone company (Frontier), I am sick of the slow internet service.  Their maximum reliable speed deliverable to my home is around 4Mb/s. Living in a rural area meaning not having competitions on the phone service, translation sub par and below standard choices and services.  I think for the same amount of money ($60) I can get faster and hopefully better service else where.

Since my contract is due this month, I look up other options.  There were Clear Wire and Comcast.  I've heard that Clear would throttle back speed when reach certain limit. Signals from radio towers might be affected when indoor.  So I decided to go with Comcast and their service.

Order their installation online and schedule an installation appointment two weeks away, meanwhile I ordered a Motorola SB6121 cable modem from Amazon ($86) so I don't have to pay for their $7 monthly rental fee.  Should arrive just in time before the cable guy show up next weekend.

Stay tune.

7/18/2012 my Motorola surfboard sb6121 arrived in the mail







7/21/2012
The technician showed up 1/2 hr early, after looking inside to see where he need to install a new cable, he started working on the outside first.  He first connect the service to the house by connecting the junction box across the house.  Since I also have dish service he had to replace my service box to accommodate addition cables.  He replaced both ground wirings since it was weather in the sun and cover had become brittle. I also learned that the dish service and the cable service can not share the same grounding wire so two grounding wires must be installed.  This guy is sort of a perfectionist, he line up all wiring vertically and make sure the junction box is perfectly square (not bad).






After working in 95 degree heat for about 45 min, we moved inside the house.  It was much easier indoor.  Routing the wiring along the closet walls and through sheet rock into the junction box on the other side of the wall.  He custom drill a second hole on top of the covering plate so both dish and cable service come out of the same cover plate.

After connection the cable and power up the modem, it went through a series of downloading and resetting.  I was told the modem is updating the software and firmware.  It took over 15 min for the technician to connect to the Comcast call center and call in my modem info.  Then setting up a username and password.

Here is my speedtest.net speed result.  Wow !!  Finally broadband speed.  At $30/mo for 1st 6 mo. and $45/mo for 2nd 6 mo.  It's well worth it.


And the best part, I just fired my phone company.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Toshiba Satellite L755-S5175

After 10 years of faithful service from my old Dell laptop (Inspiron 8200), I can see it is having trouble keeping up with all the programs and functions.  It still works just not as quick as I like.  I remember spending around $2000 for the Dell laptop in 2003.  It had a Pentium4 running at 1.8Ghz, I had upgraded the memory to 2Gb with a 100 Gb drive.  It came with a cd drive in the fix bay with a removable DVD drive and battery, weights about a ton.


After looking around, I settle for a Toshiba Satellite L755-S5175 from Costco for $600 + tax.  It came with a second generation Intel  Core i5 processors and 8 Gb of RAM 640 GB drive 3 usb ports and HDMI output and DVD drive.





When I first bought it home and starting it up, it automatically download couple updates.  Then I noticed the battery was indicated charging but the level was staying at 0% and not increasing.  After did some online search, I found this is a common problem for Toshiba laptops and there were several remedies online for it.  I went ahead and got all the updates from System update and removed all cords and battery then press the power button for 30 seconds.  Plug everything back in and it is now charging !!  You Live and Learn....

Since I don't really do any processor intensive computing, the Core i5 speed felt about the same as my wife's 1st gen i3 processor.  So not much difference there.


Sunday, May 13, 2012

New Yokohama YK 580 on Honda Fit


5/12/12 Arriving at 11am for my appointment, was greeted at the parking lot as we got out of the car (very impressive).  Told him I had an appointment for tire change, and led inside to a write up area.  After checking I was informed the tires I ordered were sold to another customer, but they are willing to offer me upgraded tires for the same price as my original.

They are offering a set of Yokohama YK580 for $300, a discount over $100 off their web pricing.  I had did some research before coming in and knew the Yokohama's tread life at 580 is substantially higher than my original choice (but at $105/tire + other charges I opted for the cheaper choice), BTW these tires were made in the USA. I gladly accepted the offer.  My out the door price remained at $401.






While waiting for the tire change at the waiting area, we were standing next to the window watching them changing tires on several cars. The workers are working in teams of two, from dismounting tires, removing, mounting, balancing, they work flawless together getting the tire change in about 10 minutes.

The professionalism of the worker there were second to none, everything I can see is very businesslike and serious.  I really enjoy watching their attitude towards work, don't usually see that anymore.  This is my second time coming in for a set of new tires, and will come back again.  In case you are wondering it is the America's tire in Turlock CA.

Back to the tires, on the way home they seem a bit louder than the Michelin's I had, but I will let my wife be the judge of it. Current mileage approx 163600.

Impression after two weeks

U

With about 1000 miles on the tires we noticed the tires handles a little slower than the Michelin Exalto A/S we had before.  But the road noise is less than the Michelin.  We encounter softer bumps on car when the tires hitting the potholes and cracks on the freeway.  The slower handling is not a big deal, after all we are not driving a sport car. Over all these are very good tires for the money.  Will be taking a trip to LA this memorial day weekend, and we are expecting a comfortable ride down I-5.


Update 7/26/12


We had these tires for over two month and almost 5000 mi now, they seem to hold up quite well, no uneven wears and ride quality is very good.  I check the tire pressure every week, they seem to lose about 1 psi of pressure every two week.  I have been topping up off on the air every 4 weeks from 31 to 33 psi.  So remember to check them at least every month.  We will take the car in for re-balance and rotation next week.




Update 8/17/2013

Had a flat tire on the freeway today.  I kept driving until I was able to find a clear spot to change to the spare, in doing so the side wall was damaged.  Luckily I purchase tire replacement warranty and was able to get a new replacement that same day from America's Tire.  Total cost was $15 for the warranty on the new tire.  Mileage was 1966XX. 



Update 2/1/2015

Almost one and a half years had passed since my last update.  I have been doing tire rotations every 7-9000 miles at America's Tire at Turlock CA at no charge.  Current mileage is 244XXX.  Tire are wearing close to the indicator line.  As of now I have put on 81K on these tires ( 3 of them ).  They had pretty live up to the expectation as 85000 mile tires.  Most of our driving are freeway at cruising speed 70 -73, without much drama.  Almost time to look for another set of tires.

This is the third set of tires we been through.  OEM was Dunlop SP31 which last about 61000 mi. Second set was Michelin's Pilot Exalto A/S which last 102000 miles. At out of the door price of $550, my per mile cost would be at $0.0055.  With Estimate mileage of 85000 for the Yokohama, my cost would be $0.0049/mi.


Groves in the center of the tire are wearing down


Almost at the wear bar indicator

This was the replacement tire which had about 50000 mi


6/13/2015


Made an appoint with America's Tire in Union City CA online for 8 am. Arriving right at 8 am, although we were on time, the shop was already in business, with 4 out of 5 bays already filled with cars for services. 

Upon checking in with great service as we have come to expect from this tire shop chain.  Our mileage was 255178. which make this set of Yokohama YK580 last us 91578 miles.  This is a 60,000 mi rated tires. We definitely got our money worth on this set of tires.

Our out of door price was $599 which includes a certificate for free replacement for 3 years.. We also received a rebate for $60 visa gift card for which we need to sent in.

Over all a good experiences, This is the fourth set of tires for our 07 Honda Fit, 


Saturday, May 12, 2012

Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S on Honda Fit

When the original equipped tire Dunlop SP31 (which last 61000 miles) wore out on wife's Honda Fit, we replaced them with the Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S from Costco.  Total price was around $530 for a set of 195-55R15.  This was back in 2008.




Now May 2012 the set of Michelin had worn down to its wear marks. Current mileage is 163500, which means this set of Michelin had last over 100,000 miles.

This extraordinary mileage is achieved through mostly highway mileage and easy driving style, also tire pressure were checked and kept at 33psi every few weeks and tire rotations were done every 7-8000 miles.




The tires were very well made and responsive to the steering.  Tire noise was very quite when new and progressive louder as mileage accumulated, but still within acceptable noise level.  





At $5.15 per 1000 mi, I think that's a pretty good average.  I am going with a less expensive set next.  Hoping to prove my theory that cheaper doesn't always mean inferior. Getting a set of Falken Ziex ZE-512 from Discount tires.  I had a set for my Miata and they seemed to work pretty well.  At about $400 I am hoping to get at least 75 - 80,000 mi out of them.


Monday, April 30, 2012

Autumn Blaze Maple

When we bought our house in 2004 there was a willow tree in the front yard that provided the shade to our western facing windows. It was however disease infected and we had to cut it down within a year.  For a few years, we were without a tree in our front yard.  In 2008 I finally got off my butt and went to a local nursery and pick out a tree for the front yard.  I choose a Autumn Blaze Maple for its fast growing, disease tolerant.and fall colors.


April 2008 




Now Fast forward to April 2012. Estimate at 18 - 20 feet, that's about 3 feet per year. 




Sunday, January 8, 2012

Old photos from the past (part 2)



I was so thrilled when I found these pictures over the Christmas holiday.  Most of them have some kind of water damages from years back.  The outer edges of the images are blurred and can't really make out some of the peopleThe time period are from autumn 1976 to summer 1977.


65_11_3白雞


65_11_3白雞_2

65_11_3白雞_3

新竹古奇峰_4

新竹古奇峰_5

66_2_10

66_2_10新公園

66_2_10新公園_2

66_2_10新公園_3



See the resemblance even after 34 yrs.

66_2_10植物園

66_2_10歷史博物館
During my visit back in Taiwan in 1989




中山國小三十二屆六年九班

中山國小三十二屆六年九班_2

中山國小三十二屆六年九班_3

中山國小三十二屆六年九班_4

中山國小三十二屆六年九班_5

中山國小三十二屆六年九班_6

中山國小三十二屆六年九班_7

中山國小三十二屆六年九班_8

中山國小三十二屆六年九班_9

中山國小三十二屆六年九班_10

中山國小三十二屆六年九班_11

If the descriptions are wrong, let me know.