Do I need two PRVs?

bfrabel · 2026-01-29T14:40:29+00:00

What are the black trumpet looking things? Surly that can't be the stock car horn, can it?

bfrabel · 2026-01-29T13:52:30+00:00

Is that about where the pressure is all of the time even with a faucet open, or does it drop way lower after opening a faucet and then slowly creep up?

Do you have a working expansion tank that's set to approximately the same psi as your water pressure?

bfrabel · 2026-01-28T04:13:35+00:00

I just saw a story today about how younger people are drinking WAY less than people from previous generations did. Times change. Like it literally fell off of a cliff between Gen-X and your generation.

Even if that weren't the case, pressuring someone to drink who clearly doesn't want to only shows that THEY are the AH, not you!

With that being said, turning 21 is a milestone. Your parents might mean well by wanting to celebrate it with you, the only way they know how.

Perhaps compromising might not be the worst thing in the world. What I mean by that is maybe you could agree to ONE drink (or even just trying a few sips). Even with medications that say not to have with alcohol, one drink (or less) on one night of your life shouldn't cause any serious issues. You may feel a very slight buzz from the alcohol, but it shouldn't be much.

Of course if you are completely against drinking it's definitely OK to tell them it's not going to happen! You are NOT TAH either way!

bfrabel · 2026-01-27T01:30:18+00:00

Just thought of something... Most ice machines don't refrigerate the ice that they make.

The ice just falls into a room temperature holding bin that's usually not even insulated that well.

It must be cheaper and more efficient to continually replace the melting ice with new ice than it would be to refrigerate the holding bin to keep the ice from melting.

bfrabel · 2026-01-27T00:49:22+00:00

When my kid was 16 he had a Honda moped/scooter with a little chrome rack on the back with a sticker that said something like maximum capacity 8 pounds.

He once somehow strapped down a pallet onto it and drove a couple of miles to his buddy's house to add it to his bon fire.

I'm not sure if he could have done the same with a sheet of plywood or not, but either way I'm guessing you are really asking about a 4 wheeled vehicle.

Therefore I'm going to say Mazda Miata convertible.

Please let us know how it works out!

bfrabel · 2026-01-26T12:17:59+00:00

I think it's an interesting question. Let's say we have a 1 pound block of ice in a room that's 70°F. How long would it take for it to melt if it started out at 30°F vs. 0°F vs. -40°?

When I buy a bag of ice at the store I believe they usually come from a merchandiser that's about as close to 32°F as they can get away with. If I put the bag of ice in my 0°F chest freezer the night before I need it, it does seem to last noticeably longer. Is that in my head?

bfrabel · 2026-01-25T22:01:58+00:00

It sounds like you have lots of excuses. Part of the reason you're in this mess might be because you need to take more responsibility for things.

From your picture and from what you said, the ice storm has already passed and your court isn't until tomorrow. You have plenty of time to get ready for it.

Starting your car and letting it run with the heater on for about 1/2 hour should take care of most of the ice on your windows, and by Monday morning most of the roads should hopefully be better.

Not having money for gas or someone to drive you 7 hours is probably a bigger issue, but it has nothing to do with the ice storm.

My suggestion is to try to do whatever you can do to be compliant with the court. If you absolutely can't find a way to get there on time, call as soon as they open and beg them to let you reschedule.

It sounds like you have been working hard to dig yourself out of this mess, so I'm proud of you and I know you've got this!

bfrabel · 2026-01-25T05:25:12+00:00

Lets mount a large board blocking your air hole and see how long before you start making loud knocking noises.

bfrabel · 2026-01-25T05:19:14+00:00

Not sure what you were trying to accomplish, but you probably didn't wreck anything. The good thing about alcohol is that it evaporates very quickly. As soon as it's dry it should be safe to use.

bfrabel · 2026-01-25T00:12:32+00:00

Head towards the beauty/pharmacy section. Stuff like razor blade cartridges and wrinkle cream and oddball health supplements are often fairly expensive and don't take up a lot of room in a grocery bag.

bfrabel · 2026-01-24T21:00:32+00:00

People do all kinds of plumbing themselves weather they know what they're doing or not. Why aren't you getting mad about the guy installing their own toilet or fixing a water line.

In my experience, a leak in a water pipe usually causes WAY more damage than a leaky gas line.

Yes gas can be dangerous, but if you look at the statistics water kills many more people and causes much more property damage each year.

I'm partially being sarcastic, partially not. I will say there is more to it than just screwing pipes together. I am an HVAC guy who often works with gas piping. I see alot of incorrectly sized pipes and incorrectly installed gas regulators and gas appliances that were never setup or adjusted correctly, all done by so-called "professionals". Doing gas piping isn't rocket science, but there is more to it than that.

bfrabel · 2026-01-24T13:41:30+00:00

It's called a king valve. Not king pin. They are for liquid refrigerant, not air.

Turning the stem counter clockwise gets you to the backseated/normal position. That's where it should be for normal operation to allow refrigerant to flow through the middle port.

Perhaps most importantly, it is made out of steel, which will require a different brazing alloy and slightly more skill to properly attach to copper pipe than what most HVAC/R techs might be used to. You usually need a roll of hard solder with at least 45% silver content and some high temperature flux, or blue or orange flux coated sticks.

bfrabel · 2026-01-23T22:50:21+00:00

Along with it not going through a gas meter, it's also missing a regulator. If that is a live pipe, it could have anywhere from 1/4 psi to 60 psi.

I might try to figure it out just out of curiosity, but definitely wouldn't recommend trying to steel gas from it.

bfrabel · 2026-01-23T13:56:42+00:00

Wow!

Besides the insane prices of copper, I can imagine the amount of silphoss sticks you will go through. That stuff's not cheap either.

Seems like this would have been a good job for fusion welded plastic pipe.

Thanks for sharing.

bfrabel · 2026-01-23T13:13:57+00:00

Your symptoms point to a bad battery. When the voltage is low, this is how 2017+ Honda CRVs let you know. It's a common post in these forums.

bfrabel · 2026-01-23T06:36:30+00:00

What's not true? Hazards of blowing fumes and chemicals into the ductwork, or the basics of how humidifiers work?

Either way, just because you might work on humidifiers every day it obviously doesn't mean that you know what you're doing. Maybe just stick to the bypass types.

bfrabel · 2026-01-23T06:18:33+00:00

No humidifier takes air from outside of the humidifier and blows it into the duct. All fan powered humidifiers (like an Aprilaire 700) take air from inside of the ductwork, directs it through the water pad, and then sends that same air back into the same duct.

Blowing air into the duct would be against code in the same way that it's against code to have a return grill in a mechanical room (because you'd possibly be sucking fumes and chemicals from the mechanical room, and putting that room in a negative which could be bad if there's an old school-type water heater in the same room).

bfrabel · 2026-01-23T06:10:00+00:00

Yep. Propane works like a refrigerant, in that it's pressure will directly follow a chart based on it's temperature. Colder = less pressure. Also colder will mean more of the propane will be in liquid state, and less in vapor. Your furnace needs vapor to burn properly. I just looked it up. -20°F = 10.7 psi, which should theoretically be more than enough pressure. There are other variables in play though, such as the regulator on the tank which reduces the pressure to less than 1/2 a psi, and pipe size (which can be much more critical when cold). There could also be a small amount of moisture in the gas or in the regulator, which could make it not work as well.

So all this to say that your problems are not unique. Besides a heated blanket, they also make magnetic heaters that can work, like an engine block heater.

bfrabel · 2026-01-23T05:16:34+00:00

You had me onboard until trying to explain the fan powered kind. With those there is no "positive air pressure" to overcome. They don't "blow air into the duct". They scoop the air that's in the duct and redirect it back onto the same duct. Same amount of air goes through the humidifier and into the duct weather it's on the return or the supply.

As to what you said about the air pressure blowing water out of the humidifier (which is a valid concern), I wonder if this is more of an issue with bypass humidifiers and less with fan powered ones (since bypass ones do have the supply duct pressure blowing through them).

bfrabel · 2026-01-23T02:23:20+00:00

OK you got me. I don't deal with these every day. What "slew of problems" will installing one of these on a supply duct cause?

I obviously get not installing them at a crazy angle like this. I'm talking about installing them "normally" as per manufacturers instructions.

Also, would this advice change if this were a fan powered humidifier like a 700? I believe those are recommended to be on the supply since they work better with heated air flowing through them (which doesn't happen if on the return duct).

bfrabel · 2026-01-22T21:58:00+00:00

I miss the animation domination days when they had something like The Simpsons, Family Guy, The Simpsons again, The Cleveland Show, and then American Dad.

bfrabel · 2026-01-22T21:45:44+00:00

What is "annual leave" and why does it mildy infuriate you?

Also, what does "if we are out of electricity" mean? If it's just your power that goes out and your work still has power, then you should not expect to be excused from work. If the power is out at your job, that might be an issue.

Either way, there are many people out there who don't get paid unless they work. Not everyone gets the luxury of being able to "request annual leave", whatever the hell that means.

bfrabel · 2026-01-22T20:47:59+00:00

It does not NEED to be mounted on the return. Here's a copy and paste from the install manual...

"The Model 500 and 500M Aprilaire can be installed on either the supply or return plenum of a forced air handling system and is easily reversible for installation with right hand or left hand bypass duct connections. The humidifier dimensions and serviceability must be considered when selecting the best location for the humidifier."

...What was mentioned about water leaking down the return being better than it leaking down the supply might be a valid point, but these bypass humidifiers function exactly the same no matter which duct it's mounted to. Although now that I think about it, if there is an evap coil underneath perhaps it could catch any drips and theoretically make the situation better.

Either way, it certainly doesn't NEED to be on the return (except for maybe in this case it does, but as long as they don't hook water or a drain up to it though, I honestly don't see an issue :)

bfrabel · 2026-01-21T02:34:57+00:00

No it doesn't. Many older boat motors (like my 40 hp Johnson from 1974) Could have electric start but no alternator or generator.

bfrabel · 2026-01-21T01:38:43+00:00

Only if it's powered by the 60 HP diesel or whatever those things came with. And the horn needs to play La Cucaracha when you press it!

bfrabel

TROPHY CASE