YOU WANT TO HEAR A GOOD ONE?

WMno57

JUGHNE said:

Mine has guide ears cast into the handle for the hook to travel thru.

Also is there a lower toothed jaw missing?

The very first Ridgids from the mid 1920s did not have lower guide ears. I think I see a lower guide ear behind the statue's pinkie finger. The heel jaw may be missing on the statue. There is another dating characteristic on the statue's wrench that says 1960s or later.

JUGHNE

Or he got the shirt in England.....you know they drive on the wrong side of the road.

JUGHNE

You're right, I can barely make it out, it says Made in China?

JUGHNE

Actually mine does not have the reinforced ribs on the handle, just the smooth tapper.

EdTheHeaterMan

FYI.

here is a 1927 Photo of the "NEW" Ridgid Pipe Wrench

Not much different than the one in the Statue of a 1940s Oil Worker. It even has the iconic lifetime warranty sticker on it

WMno57

That's a type 2 Ed. The type 1 wrench did not have lower guide jaws cast into the handle. Also on the type 1 the hook jaw has a pin or wire through the tail end of the hook jaw. WWII should be a type 4. The Statue has a type 6 or 7 from the 1960s or later.
If the Antiques Road Show ever needs someone to appraise a pipe wrench, I'm available for a nominal fee.

EdTheHeaterMan

On another discussion, we were talking about an old time "trick of the trade" to stop somethjing called "Tank Hum"
https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/192965/copper-oil-supply-lines-what-are-those-loops
Thought I would share it here and let others look at some of those other. good old stories and maybe add some of their own.

EdTheHeaterMan said:

I remember the first time I added a loop to a oil tank in 1974 or 1975. The old model J pump had a small plastic air cushion wafer in the pump to reduce the gear set hum from traveling back to the tank which acted as an amplifier. Of course, while doing oil burner tune ups, we would always remove the 8 bolt cover and either clean or replace the strainer. Once in a while, you would find one of those wafers in the clean-out Jiffy-Juice bucket when you were done. OOPS, oh well... too late now! and off the the next call. Most of the time there was no problem anyway.

But the office got a call from a customer about this strange noise coming from the tank. The records show that I just completed the tune up the week before. The service manager took me aside and explained "Tank HUM" and how to fix it with a coil of copper tubing. It stops the harmonic path of the vibration from the pump the the tank.

I was given the task of returning to fix my screw up the next day. When I arrived, I explained the problem to the customer and how it can just crop up after years of quiet operation. But that when I found out yesterday, I was going back to fix it. I thought about it all night and what could possibly cause this noise, and looked it up in my old trade school textbook. That is where the old timers found out about the coil of tubing would fix it.

I added a 2 loop coil at the tank with a flare union and Viola! The noise was gone. Two days later that customer called the office to thank me for the extra effort I made on his behalf. The boss keeps all those complement and complaint cards on all the employees.

Every time there is an employee review, those cards come out. Once I knew this, every time a customer would complement me on a job well done... I would tell them, "you really think so? You know, My Uncle Frank was having a particularly bad day when I left to shop this morning. If you would just call the girls that answer the phones in the office, and tell them what you just told me, that would make his day!" I had the record for complements from customers. My stack of complaint cards was about 1-1/2" tall while the complement stack was over 6" tall. Uncle Frank said I was the only service tech in the company that had more complements than complaints. Go Figure!!

We didn't have social media back in the day, but it never hurts to ask for a good review today, I like the "Boss is having a bad day" approach, it gives the customer a little more incentive!

Mr Ed.

EBEBRATT-Ed

the threaded shank on the top jaw looks too long

EdTheHeaterMan

Just got a private message and helped someone with thermostat wiring. Also programing the auto-changeover feature, which I recommend against. I thought it was for his own home, but it turns out that it was for his daughter's home. I found out from this last message:

DaveM 5:10PM
I agree with you 100% that’s what I do in my home we are both old school however this is in my daughters home and told them the same thing as you suggested. They have a new baby and want to get the morning chill out of the house this time of year. I told them they can be lazy and control it from the app I guess we’ll never understand these millennials

I replies as follows:

EdTheHeaterMan 10:03PM
LOL. Ok set it up for auto changeover and tell them to watch the electric bill.

I remember the first month after I installed central air conditioning in my home. We were in heaven. Then the electric bill showed up!!! My wife said that we needed to do something about the air conditioning.
I went from 70° to 73° right away. Two days later, I put the air conditioner on 74°. another two days passed and 75°. This continued every other day until my daughter, then 8 years old, asked me if there was something wrong with the air conditioner. By that time the thermostat was set at 79°. I explained what I was doing to everyone in the home. So we decided that since there were no complaints at 78°, that was going to be our homes normal summer temperature. 67° for our oil heat winter temperature and 78 was our summer time temperature. We still did the OFF in April, May, September and October. The electric bill and the oil usage was reasonable with those temperatures.

After they have the Auto Changeover for at least one energy bill cycle, then you can tell them my story. When they pay the bills, they can set the temperature where ever they want it.

I also went to my , then 23 years old, daughter's first home for a surprise visit with my wife. It was a 2 hour drive. Upon arrival, my wife and I went thru the house and opened several windows, went to the thermostat and turned it up to 80°, opened a dozen kitchen cabinets, I left the toilet seat up, we opened the refrigerator and just look at it for about 5 minutes, then we went out the front door and left it open. We got in our can and went home.

After we were on the road for ten minutes we got a call from her, I answered on speaker (hands free) and was so happy to hear from her. It has been so long since I heard from her. We wanted to know how the new house thing was going. We actually talked like we didn't see her for a couple of weeks. Finally she asked, what is the deal? I said we were returning the favor of all those years living with her. Perhaps she could invite us for a visit some day, now that you are all moved in and all

Hope you liked this story!

EBEBRATT-Ed

I always ran the cooling at my house at 76 and if the equipment is sized right and the humidity control is good it is fine.

Problem is when I worked on commercial stuff the systems were usually designed for 75-76 degrees and you go on calls and find all the stats set below 70.

JUGHNE

And the green buzz word was to get a "Programmable Tstat" so we can conserve run time.

Today all of these I see are set to "Permanent Hold" and cranked down to 68 for AC.

I always set the minimum and maximum temps between 68-70 on AC and up to 78 for heating.

People are sure there is an equipment problem if the tstat will not go beyond these settings.

One father of the bride was really upset that the 5000 sq ft church, all masonry construction, that the building would only cool down to 68. Wedding was maybe 1 hour long.
I reminded him that until 20 years ago there was no AC here and everyone survived.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Depending on the humidity level if you set an AC much below 70 your likely to get a frozen evep.

EdTheHeaterMan

JUGHNE said:

And the green buzz word was to get a "Programmable Tstat" so we can conserve run time.

Today all of these I see are set to "Permanent Hold" and cranked down to 68 for AC.

I always set the minimum and maximum temps between 68-70 on AC and up to 78 for heating.

People are sure there is an equipment problem if the tstat will not go beyond these settings.

One father of the bride was really upset that the 5000 sq ft church, all masonry construction, that the building would only cool down to 68. Wedding was maybe 1 hour long.
I reminded him that until 20 years ago there was no AC here and everyone survived.

Not counting the person in the casket during funerals @JUGHNE .

PC7060

JUGHNE said:

One father of the bride was really upset that the 5000 sq ft church, all masonry construction, that the building would only cool down to 68. Wedding was maybe 1 hour long. I reminded him that until 20 years ago there was no AC here and everyone survived.

@JUGHNE - I had a similar thought when reading a recent article about HVAC unit being unable to keep up with increasing heatloads in NE.  Much of the article rightly focused on need for increased air sealing and insulation but also mentioned how some house may not be able to cool below 80.  

I kept thinking 80F would have been a luxury in our old 1880s Victorian house in Nebraska.  My parents finally got AC in the 1980s after all of the kids left. Guess they could finally afford it once they didn’t have to feed us! 

Can only imagine how the people during the dust bowl years must have suffered. 

JUGHNE

In 1936, near Clarks Nebraska, the temp hit 115 in July.

My wife's grandmother delivered a baby (at home of course) and continued to cook on the wood burning stove, feed everyone, do the laundry, IRON? clothes with a flat iron heated on the stove top and nurse the baby. Of course wearing the clothes of the day.

They all survived and she lived to nearly 90. Tough lady and smart.

The only concession was that her husband moved their bed downstairs from the second floor.

EdTheHeaterMan

It took me too long to find this story I told a few years back. I wanted to attache it to a post earlier today. When I finally found it, I said to myself: "SELF, Put this someplace you can find it easier for later" So here it is:

A story about a series of seminars I attended before @DanHolohan Seminars.

Bell and Gossett offered a 1 Day Seminar and it was taught by a man named Joe Flash and it was $125.00 in 1979. That was a small fortune for a guy like me back then. The Supply House owner that gave me my first open charge account, talked me into attending. Joe was a white haired gentleman with an interesting and engaging style of teaching. I remember it was very informative for the first 2 hours and I learned a lot, up and until the coffee break. After the coffee break was new information that was over my head, and I thought the day was a waste of time. (but I did not ask for my money back Dan)

A year goes by and the Supply Company owner, His name was Andy, said i should attend again. I said I didn't get much out of it and turned him down. Andy was persistent and so I bucked up another $125.00 and went downtown to the same hotel conference room an sat thru the class again. It was the same exact class and the first two hours was a nice review of what I has learned last year. After the coffee break, I sat for the second 2 hours and boy did I learn a lot. WOW! was I glad I spent that $125.00. But after lunch the last four hours was over my head. But now I knew the formula! Get another year experience applying my new knowledge and take the course again.

1981 the course was offered for $150.00 and I signed up as soon as it was advertised. I marked my calendar and when the date arrived I was eager to review and learn. I was sitting there for the first two hours and reviewed all the info. After the coffee break the second two hours were also a great review and I lemented to myself at how I used that knowledge over the past year. Then after the lunch break, those next 2 hours were packed with new info that i understood and was pleased to be a member of that class. Boy oh boy, I'm getting to be a real knowledgeable service technician. Knowledge is power and that power makes me more valuable to my customers! My business was growing and all in the world was good.

1982 brought me a beautiful baby girl and a profitable business. I asked Andy about the B&G course. Sadly the very informative Instructor, Joe Flash has passed away. The course was no longer available. They tried it a few times and the class flopped without Joe. I never got to learn that last two hours of that great course. I'll never understand how to use millinches to properly size a whatchamacallit. I still have that binder on the shelf with all the booklets and the chart with the millinches and the Famous B&G System Syzer in a pouch with 3 holes to fit in the binder.

Then @DanHolohan offered his seminars a few years later. Thank goodness for that.

Yours Truly,
Mr. Ed

DanHolohan

Thanks, Ed!

EdTheHeaterMan

Had to put this one out there for everyone to sing along

🎵 They asked me how I knew
The wi-ring was askew 🎵
🎵 I of course replied
when a transformer dies
smoke gets in your eyes. 🎵

Get the all new Fast acting Non-patented
SMOKE KEEPER

Disclamer: I do not really sell that device. You can get the necessary components at your local auto parts store.

EdTheHeaterMan

I had to add this for your amusement.

My Son-In-Law and I have an interesting relationship. I think it started when he invited me to out to dinner, so many years ago, to ask me for my only daughter's hand in marriage. I sprung a 10 page questionnaire on him that included things like a Financial statement request, Medical Record Access Authorization form, and criminal record history information. I told him "get back to me when you fill this out." The kid was a nervous wreck and I scared him with that nonsense.

So several Christmases ago I was given this Special 11 x 17 framed Award from my favorite son-in-law.



Last month I earned this recognition from @Erin Holohan Haskell


Can my life get any more awesome?

DanHolohan

I don’t see how. 

EdTheHeaterMan

I just kind'a went a little off topic on a post about zone valves. This particular post was about reversing the flow thru a system when a new boiler was installed. So I replied several times as to why that might not be a good idea while others may have discounted that as being any kind of a problem. And I understand their point. It probably doesn't usually matter that much. But when he posted that a particular job had Whoosh noise, thumping, and the like. I had to tell the Parable of the Haunted Boiler

Sean **** said:

@Jamie Hall except it is 100% relevant because our customers are hearing sounds they've never heard before. Thuds, whooshes, different expansion noises. 

If you are hearing noises, then you should check the direction of the arrows on all the components. All pumps and most zone valves, check valves. and some air elimination devices have arrows that indicate what the designed water flow direction is.

A TACO or Amtrol air scoop will not remove as much air if the water flowing thru it is going the opposite direction of the arrow. Many zone valves close against the incoming water flow. When the water flows backwards the water flow will slam the door shut rather than mildly closing. And I had a very interesting experience with installing a zone pump backwards. (I didn't do it but I came across one)

To paraphrase a quote from @RayWohlfarth . The Case of the Haunted Boiler

It was a 4 zone split level with a Weil McLain CG boiler in the basement. Each zone had its own circulator pump. I happened upon this residence in Linwood NJ to do maintenance on the AC and the Boiler. After completing the gas boiler tune up in April (it was never properly maintained and was really dirty with some build up in the chimney base and the burners were ⅓ filled with rust. The client mentioned that sometimes the boiler made moaning noises. I checked everything and could not make the noises happen.

The following October the noses happened but every time I arrived I could not duplicate the noises. I just joked that it must be haunted because it was October. There were no noises for several months and around Christmas break. (oops Winter break the customer was Jewish) the noises returned. Then stopped after the break. This went on for 2 years until I actually heard the noise when I was there for a leaking relief valve in the winter months.

It turns out the Winter break was when his son was home from college and that is when a rarely used basement zone was used quite frequently.

Can you see what the problem is from this illustration?

Neither could I.

Click on the Spoiler for the answer

As it turns out, the original installer did not like the location of the wire connection box on the pump so he rotated the motor on the housing 180° to get the wires where he wanted them. But when a pump failed the replacement pump came out of the box and was just put on the system without rotating the motor body from the housing. It looked right and the repairman did not check the arrow on the replacement pump, and the wires connected just fine. So the pump was installed in the wrong direction. If I would have stood on the other side of the boiler, this would have been more obvious.



Zoom in to see the arrow on the pump housing? “One of these things is not like the other” If more than one zone was operating then there would be no moaning. But if the only zone that was operating was the reverse flow zone, then the heated water would leave the boiler at the bottom and the return water would enter at the top. As the return water was at least 15° cooler and the limit aquastat was feeling the return water temperature at the top, the boiler temperature would go much higher than the limit temperature. That’s because the limit was not in the hottest water when only the reverse zone operator. That is when the moaning would start as the boiler temperature approached boiling point at the lower pressure inlet of the pump.


A simple reverse of the pump makes the difference.


Moral of this story, always check the arrows

EdTheHeaterMan

@Mustangman replied to a post I made about how to sell a commercial boiler job. Here is what he said:

EDtheheaterman.. you make a great point with presentation. If you get in front of the money people, and impress them that you are doing more and doing it right..you may not have to be low bidder. I am old and have a story for about everything. This one is kind of funny.

I had bid a church job and took my son, who worked for me along to show him how I do it. We get there and they were interviewing another contractor ahead of me...to present what he was offering. The thing to remember... this is a church. We can hear everything being said. So the guy starts off telling them about his boiler of choice. He said.. and I quote " Yes our boilers are made in Indiana buy a faith based boiler company. I started laughing... throwing in that its made by a faith based company at an interview with church people is almost unbelievable. I couldn't believe it.

The next question was " how much money will we save next year by switching boilers. The guy blurts out... 30 to 40 percent. I couldn't believe he said that. Anyhow, I am up next and my son and I went in. I talked a little about the Weil McLain boiler I was going to use. did not throw in the faith based boiler company.

So they asked me about savings. I said " I can't tell you if you will save any fuel dollars next season" They all looked at me like I was nuts. I went on to say that I can't tell you if you will save a dime over last year because we can't predict the weather and how hard of a winter we will have. If the winter is mild with fewer heating degree days, you will experience lower fuel costs. If we have a winter that is very cold...the fuel costs will be much higher. They looked at me with their heads tilted sideways like my German Shepherd does when she hears high pitched noises.

I could tell they " They got it" and maybe the other guy was full of crap. Finally, I had included a Tekmar outdoor re-set and they wanted to know about that. I said its cruise control for your boiler. By knowing how cold it is, your boiler may not have to run up to 180.... All of a sudden, my son chimes in... He says this control is about synergy and everything working together to efficiently heat your church. Synergy is a catch word and he jumped on it.

It ends up we got the job. The joke is, they went with the devils boiler. The job went great and everyone, except the contractor pushing faith based boilers, was happy with the end result.

As contractors, its amazing what you run into.
Steve

I likes his story enough to repost it here. Thanks Steve. Basically, I will always have Faith in you

EdTheHeaterMan

I like good stories. Wow This one has earned my highest award. You have made it the the "You Want To Here A Good One" page.

Mustangman said:

I am a firm believer of using life stories as a learning tool. I know the jobs I made a mistake on, I never make that mistake again. I also believe life is a series of experiences, all of which have a lesson to be learned attached to them. I would love to hear about the life experiences you all have had, and what the lesson may be. One of the hardest lessons I learned is also really gross.

This incident happened in my younger days when I thought I was a real hot shot plumber / heat guy. My boss gives me some blue prints for an expansion of a dentist office. All the work was to be done in this 3' wood framed crawl space that had suspended ceilings below that. It was a hard job to pipe as you needed all these services shoved into a tiny box. ( Air, water, vacuum etc ) so the dentist hand piece would work.
We were kicking A$$. We had a majority of the work done in a few days. Considering you literally had to crawl over joist and it seemed like the dental chairs were a mile away.

The last service we had to connect to was vacuum. We had to cut into 2" PVC for tees to be installed in the vacuum line. It was anchored to the joist above. So.. my helper starts to cut the 2" PVC. All the sudden, 1/2 way thru the pipe snaps off and all this spit, water, blood and hunks of teeth falls directly on my helpers face and neck. I didn't notice the big sag in the line. Jim, my guy starts throwing up, then I didn't know sympathy barfing is a thing... It is. The smell ... omg it was horrible. There were 2 guys throwing up in a crawl space which has that suspended ceiling. What really sucked is the long ways to crawl to
get out. Words can't describe this experience.

This story really isn't over. We had to contact the office people, new ceiling tile. Without a doubt, this is the worst one I had. The lessons... yeah plural

Steve Noviello