Search results

I have a 3 lamp fixture which used T-5 (the thin ones) tubes in a ceiling fixture. It has been very unreliable. I had the first on for 6 months and the lamps started to fail. Sometimes it would light 1 tube, or 2 and sometimes all 3 would light and 1 or 2 would go out after 30 minutes or an...

I know that plumbers putty is normally used to set the drain basket in place. My question is why is RTV (Silicone) not used in this application? Thanks

As I am sure everyone is aware, GE has announced a new HWH based on a heat pump design claiming 2 or 3X the efficiency of a resistance based heater. So far so good, EXCEPT for the fact that the unit is sucking the heat out of the ambient air. While this might be fine if the heater is in a...

Hello all, Heavy snow has come to the Washington area and my heat pump is icing up heavily. My question; should I set the system to use the Aux electric heat exclusively for the duration of the storm or can I allow the compressor to continue running even though the coils are heavily iced up...

My cousin is installing a new boiler (high efficiency) in his house and will need to change out his old HW tank heater at the same time. The fuel is natural gas. I suggested that he use an indirect heater (such an an Amtrol) for the domestic HW. Any downside to this approach? The boiler...

Since there is no gas piping forum, I hope this one is OK. I know that natural gas is normally piped with Black Iron pipe (not sure why). Is it permissible to use soft copper tube to pipe Propane for a gas cooktop? Thanks

I have a situation in an old house where some ungrounded outlets have worn out and need to be replaced. Running a ground or new feed wire is not an option. What is the protocol here? Are old style 2 blade outlets still available for replacement purposes. I suspect that installing a 3 prong...

I was recently in a museum in Toronto Canada (a mansion, actually) and ran across the toilet shown in the picture. My question is, can anyone ID it? Look at the various odd fittings, what are the functions? Thanks, John Freitag

:) This is a followup post to a post I made a few weeks ago about a toilet which was not clearing solid waste. Essentially the waste would spin around in the bowl and not exit. It took 3 or 4 flushes to clear at times. I carefully observed the flush and spotted an object at the "Blow hole"...

Hello all, I have a townhouse with 4 toilets on 3 levels. 3 of the 4 toilets flush just fine. One in a first floor powderroom has problems. It takes 3 or 4 flushes to remove solid waste. The water volume seems sufficient but the waste simply spins around i the neck of the toilet and refuses...