Archive for September, 2007

Swimming Pool Cleaners – Polaris 360 Pressure Relief Valve

On the Polaris 360 there is a pressure relief valve right where the water feed line connects to the swimming pool filter water supply. The pressure relief valve is there to let excessive pressure out before it gets to the Polaris 360 itself. My pressure regulator opens up at fifteen pounds or more to keep from over pressuring the Polaris 360.

I have found that the excessive pressure going to the Polaris 360 is caused when the pressure going into the pool filter increases. Since the Polaris 360 is powered by the same pump that runs the pool filter so some of the water that is supposed to go into the filter is diverted into the Polaris 360 instead. as the filter gets clogged and needs to be washed, in the case of a cartridge filter, or backwashed, in the case of a sand filter, the water cannot get through the filter so the pressure increases and the excess pressure is shunted to the Polaris 360. Once the pressure increases above fifteen pounds the pressure relief valve opens up into the swimming pool.

As long as the pressure relief valve spring and assembly are intact it should be easy to prevent the excess pressure just by backwashing or cleaning the filter.

Swimming Pool Cleaners

Keep your Polaris 360 swimming pool cleaner in top working order by fixing parts that break as they happen before they cause stress on other parts leading to other problems. I have had my Polaris 360 in my swimming pool now for over four years and it is still going strong because I always keep it in good repair.

You have to keep a check on the belts and wheel bearings because they take a beating sitting in the chlorinated swimming pool water for extended periods. As far as parts for the Polaris 360 I have had to replace the drive belts once so far, and that isn't really too bad since the Polaris 360 gets quite a work out carrying a full bag load of debris around the bottom of the pool for hours before I get a chance to empty it. When the belt starts to go bed you can tell because the unit will want to always go in circles and be unable to go forward for very long. The belt slips on the spline due to it being stretched and unable to grip like it is supposed to.

Another problem to be aware of as your Polaris 360 gets a year or two old is the wheel bearings will begin to wear out. They are miniature race type bearings with plastic as the races to prevent rust. Eventually the races wear out and allow the balls to fall out and the wheel will not spin much at all. It is a good idea to check the Polaris for bad bearings occasionally since leaving a bad bearing for long will ruin the drive belt.

Garage Door Opener Problems – Door Won’t Open

As a proud owner of a Craftsman garage door opener, model number: 139.53985, I had the experience of the door not moving when I pressed the remote control. I have had this particular garage door opener for around five years and it gets a lot of use, so I can't complain.

I decided that I would first try to fix the door opener before I replaced it because it looked like a real challenge to modify a new one to fit where this one is since my garage door was an odd size.

First I went up and removed all of the power going to the opener then I took off the cover and found that the worm gear had just worn out so the teeth weren't touching the teeth of the other gear any longer. There is a Sears store nearby so I took off the old gears by removing the gear rack and then the motor. The bad gear was attached directly to the motor so I had to take the motor off far enough to slide the bad gear off. Once I had the both gears off I took them to the Sears store where they matched them up with a new set of gears, all for around $35.00, a lot cheaper that a new garage door opener, and easier to fix too.

I replaced the new gears in the reverse order of what I took the old ones out and carefully pieced the unit back together. You have to watch and make sure that you put all of the washers back where they go because most of them are thrust washers and are needed to take up the pressure of the gear pushing against them to provide the energy to move the door up. If the worm gear is allowed to hit the metal frame directly it will wear out quickly, so make sure the washers get put back in correctly.

Once the unit is all back together you still need to set-up the door opening and closing distance and pressure. Just raise the door up and down once so you can determine where it needs to go and make the necessary adjustments until the door goes where you want it to.

If done correctly the garage door opener should last you many more years.

Toilet Tank Crack And Leaking

Ok, so you just moved into your "new" house and learned that the people who owned the house before you added a bathroom on to the children's bedroom themselves and when they put the toilet in they set it too far from the wall so now the toilet tank has no support behind it causing it to flex when someone sits on the toilet bowl.

Sometimes you have to place a support behind the toilet tank to support it if it tends to move when someone sits on the bowl. If the tank moves it is possible that the gasket that goes between the tank and the bowl is too fat preventing the tank from resting on the toilet bowl itself. The toilet tank if installed correctly should sit perfectly on the toilet bowl and not move when it is touched. If it moves too much the bolts that hold the tank to the toilet will cause the tank to crack underneath since the tank was never meant to withstand that type of stress. There are only two bolts holding the tank to the toilet and they were only meant to hold it in place.

If you find that you have a toilet that gets a lot of pushing around, either from someone sitting on it hard or holding onto it for balance you may need to support the tank from behind. You will need to put a board or two by four, whatever takes up the space, between the wall and the toilet tank. That way the tank won't be able to move around and break. It would look better if you could take the tank off completely and install the board but if you cannot do that having the wood show on the sides can be covered up so it doesn't stand out too much.

Toyota Corolla-Buzzing Noise Coming From Under Hood

On my 1995 Toyota Corolla there was a persistent buzzing noise coming from, what I had thought to be, under the hood. It turned out to be coming from the front bumper cover because it had separated from the material underneath it as it aged. As a result the bumper cover was vibrating when the engine was idling giving the impression that the noise was coming from the engine itself. The noise doesn't show up all of the time, it seems to be worse in cold weather when the plastic is less flexible.

To help reduce the vibrating I stuffed some landscaping material that is used to prevent weed growth under the openings around the underside of the bumper. The reason I used landscaping cloth is because it was the best choice that I could think of that could take the weather and it doesn't hold water so there wouldn't be a sopping wet cloth or something under the bumper possibly setting up to cause more problems.

So if you have a noise coming from under your hood and you just can't put your finger on the source, check your bumper. Just lift up on it some and see if the noise goes away.

Bob Crane is the author of http://www.americanwrenches.com - a site that helps many find tools they need for their projects.

Toyota Corolla Timing Belt Replacement

At around sixty thousand miles I had to change the timing belt on my 1995 Toyota Corolla. Nothing went wrong with the old belt it was just time to change it based on the recommendations in the owners manual. The first thing that I did was prepare to do the work by going to Toyota and getting original equipment manufacturer replacements. I got a new timing belt and a new idler/tensioner pulley.

In preparing the car to do the work I jacked up the front and of the car around ten inches and put jack stands underneath for support. Then I removed the right front tire and the plastic shroud between the tire and the engine. Removing the shroud allowed me to access the lower pulley and remove it. I was also able to loosen the alternator belt through the opening.

To the left of the timing belt cover is a motor mount that had to be detached to allow space to slide off the old timing belt and slide on the new one. To prepare the motor mount I put a floor jack with a block of wood on top of the lift place under the oil pan and brought the jack right up to the pan. Then I loosened the motor mount and raised the floor jack around one inch, that allowed enough room to slide the old belt off and slide the new one on.

Before putting on the new timing belt I replaced the idle/tensioner pulley with the new one and then installed the new belt keeping the alignment of the sprockets in check.

When reinstalling the plastic cover over the lower sprocket, the one right behind the harmonic balancer pulley, be careful that it seats correctly, it fits in an irregular pattern and can appear to be seated fully, but really be sticking out to where it will rub on the harmonic balancer when the engine is running and wear a hole in the plastic cover exposing the timing belt to the elements.

Reassemble everything in reverse order and it should be good to go. Once the engine has warmed up it will be a good idea to check the valve clearances, I had found a couple the were out of tolerance on my Corolla.

Bob Crane is the author of http://www.americanwrenches.com - a site that helps many find tools they need for their projects.

Computer Mouse Problems

Computer mouse repair for the type of mouse with the rolling ball can be made fairly easy. If you have a mouse that is becoming difficult to roll or sounding gravelly as you roll it you just may need to clean it. Just by rolling around your computer mouse pad the mouse roller picks up a lot of dust over time and causes the performance of the mouse to decrease.

To fix the problem just remove the screw from under the mouse and slide the cover off. With the cover off you should be able to see the two shafts the ball rolls on to move the cursor around the screen. the mouse is designed to roll with a smooth ball on two smooth shafts and when either one of them becomes dirty the mouse will drag. Just get a can of the compressed air used to clean out computer equipment and blow most of the dust balls free, the dust that remains will need to be plucked out with a pair of plastic tweezers. Be sure to remove all of the dust and dirt before reassembling. Reassemble the mouse and give it a try, it should be good to go.

Toilet Bolts-Spinning Without Tightening

A problem with the bolts that hold the toilet bowl to the floor is that sometimes they work themselves loose if they weren't tightened properly after the toilet bowl was installed. When you first install a new toilet you have what is called a wax gasket that goes between the toilet bowl and the floor. The gasket is really made of wax so it needs to compress fully before the floor bolts on the toilet will stay tight. If you tighten the bolts and someone sits on the toilet and compresses the wax gasket further than it had been originally the bolts will appear to come loose. It is not the bolts coming loose, but instead it is the toilet sinking into the wax gasket and ending up lower that it had been before so the bolts will stick up and no longer be tight. Just re-tighten the bolts and that should correct the problem, but only if the toilet has compressed the wax gasket fully so it cannot sink to the floor any more.

If you have a problem where the bolts have been loose for quite a while they may not be so easy to turn, in that case you will need to spray them with WD-40 and hold them lightly at the bottom with a pair of needle nose pliers with tape or some sort of cushion on the ends so you don't damage the threads of the nut while you screw the nut up to the pliers, then move the pliers to the top of the bolt and continue tightening until the nut just makes contact with the porcelain of the toilet. Then put the decorative cover back over the bolt.

Toyota Matrix Tires-Michelin Are The Best!

My 2003 Toyota Matrix is on its third set of tires after only fifty two thousand miles and so far I have found that the Michelin tires are wearing the best. The Michelin's are also giving the best gas mileage, around 32 miles per gallon, so far. Before the Michelin tires we used Continentals, that came with the car and they seemed to cup around the inner edges soon after we got the car. After rotating the Continentals several times we replaced them with Goodyear tires. The Goodyear tires were fine, except the tire place put one on backwards so it was rotating the wrong way. I brought the Matrix back to the tire dealer to have the tire turned around the right way and they said that the direction of rotation did not matter it was only for looks. Well, I left the tire alone as they suggested and that was the only tire that cupped so bad it had to be replaced, so if you get new tires make sure they are mounted the right way before you leave the tire store. The Goodyear tires, so far, are the only ones that I have seem where the direction of rotation is indicated on the tire itself.

In a nutshell: Buy Michelin for your Matrix and you won't be sorry.

Bob Crane is the author of http://www.americanwrenches.com - a site that helps many find tools they need for their projects.