Greetings and Salutations!
Been out of pocket AGAIN! So Solly About that…
Gretchen’s parents A/C was playing the “I’m Working” then “I’m not Working!” thing for the past week or so. I finally got a case of the Ass ‘cos you just can not allow old folks to swelter and die in that sort of heat…
Her Mom didn’t want to ‘bother us’…
Jeez…
So I spent a couple of vaykay days to head up and evaluate and work on the AC…
Been a minute since I had to work in that kind of heat.
Soaked to the bone. 97 degrees, which is OK… it’s the fucking humidity at 110% that gets me…
Even worse was/is the AC?
The parts are woefully obsolete.
An older Carrier model that had E-1 Error codes which means the thermostat and Board(s) are bad. And to ‘add to the fun? It has a full 8 strand wire that ALL the wires are connected to -something- that was ‘important’.
None of them matched up to what “Industry Standards” should be or currently are FFS.
Vg?
V+?
OAT?
What. The. Fuck…
That’s the board the thermostat goes to, and THEN goes to another control board inside:
And the wires to that board were a soup-sandwich of extreme fuck-ed-uppedness. A tangled web of “What drunken asshole installed this shytte?!?” sort of moment.
Even worser than worse?
Finding a replacement thermostat? Specifically a “Carrier EDGE” w/Boards? Some of the parts houses had them going for $300 plus, which was a budgetary no-go. So I went down and got a off the rack Honeywell at Ace Hardware for $50. I even had a coupon…
The Honeywell, while fine for NEW ACs, unfortunately does not support the 8 strand bullshit that Carrier has. I mean I was sure I could “Obamarig” it… I learned via a LOT of YouTube Vids, due to my previous Iraqi HVAC experience, and it took me a few days to unfuck what wire was what, as they do not correspond to the “regular” red = ‘hot’ black = ground and on and on…
No no.
I had to UnMonkeyFuck ALL the wires.
THEN to add to my misery, I had to figure out which ‘parts’ were noncritical to getting the Air Flowing again. My research showed that there’s a Two Stage Heater, a flex-dehumidifier and an air quality sensor… ALL (as far as I’m fucking concerned) is extraneous bullshit that can be I hoped bypassed.
I wasn’t a very happy camper Day #3 into this, especially in light of one of the videos specifically talking about this exact model, the actual Carrier HVAC Tech stated that IF you fucked up and did the wrong wire to the wrong circuit, you might cook the whole thing… which meant being like an EOD Tech in making sure I didn’t fuck up.
So I painstakingly hit Reddit, Goolag, all my resources. I still have no fucking clue what the OAT setting is… I know it’s the Outside Air Sensor, but in never discussed if it was a ‘critical need’…
In the end, I puzzled it out.
3 Full Days.
No AC.
I lost a lot of water weight…
Now…
It’s on, and it’s running like crazy. To the point the interior of the house is now like a meat locker as I set it initially to 72 degrees. Mom however due to the Pre-Dementia has forgotten already how to turn it down/up to the normal 76… I told her until I get back up there, to put on a sweater if she gets cold. Better that it’s running and working, that she should NOT to fuck with it anymore at this point.
Let Running ACs Run Aye?
I had to bypass a lot of shit to get it this far, redo a lot of the wires, and relabel everything, plus make note ‘cos I know Dad is going to want it eventually brought back up to factory specs…
I am so not going to be a dick and tell him the repair is probably going to outlast him unfortunately. Love the Hell out of the Old Man, but he is pretty OCD about ‘factory/OEM’ parts…
Which leads me to yesterday:
I caught a “happy break” for once. This in that yesterday, I found a “New/Old Stock” exact replacement Carrier Thermostat KIT! It comes with the Board(s) as well!!! I have been checking eBay Diligently, and this was a new listing… like put up a hour before I found it. $70 w/$6 for Priority Mail.
The mail said it’ll be here tomorrow as the place I bought it from is literally down the road in Oldsmar. I didn’t notice that or I would have DM’d dude and asked if I could come and pick it up.
Once I get it, I’ll take one more day to go and redo the whole thing with the New/Ols Stock which looks good. Still has the clear plastic protective coatings on everything, and all the parts are present. If it works? Yay Me. If not? I’ll put the Honeywell back in, and call it good.
I’ll figure out the fucking heat when the season changes and not one minute before. I’ve already done my fill of this shit.
Other Updates:
We got some pics from the BabyDaddy who still seems to be on the straight and narrow. We’ve been in a LOT of contact since the arrest of DC as it affects everyone involved. She’s definitely becoming a lil Redneck Girl…
No idea where I’m going to come up with the $$$ for a Battery Powered 4 Wheeler, but I’ll come up with something. We’re planning on going to her B-Day in October.
And she still loves watching the fishies according to BD.
That was her checking out the Aquarium when we were still fighting for her. Maybe someday we’ll get some long visitations… BD and his kin have finally come around in that the poison that DC had spread was bullshit…
Especially in light of what we found out.
I called it right down the line… the guy she was with was done with her, and told her to pack her shit and GTFO of his house. She did her “usual” which is to go and play the victim, call the cops, and try to get the ‘bad man’ arrested and hemmed up. She did it to me 2x times, did it to Gretchen once, by convincing the LezboDyke Deputy that GRETCHEN was the aggressor, despite ALL witnesses contrary to that, and the time(s) that she hemmed up the BabyDaddy using the same exact M.O.
This time, the guy in question was ready
Had the recording going on his phone that showed her punching herself in the face, busting her lip. When the cops showed up, and it all came out, yep…
That’s all she wrote there.
She called everyone here and no one is willing to help
All them bridges..
I think I’ll end this on this rather appropriate song:
Friends all tried to warn me
But I held my head up high
All the time they warned me
But I only passed them by
They all tried to tell me
But I guess I didn’t care
I turned my back and
Left them standing there
All the burning bridges that have fallen after me
All the lonely feelings and the burning memories
Everyone I left behind each time I closed the door
Burning bridges lost forevermore
Joey tried to help me find a job
A while ago
When I finally got it I didn’t want to go
The party Mary gave for me
When I just walked away
Now there’s nothing left for me to say
All the burning bridges that have fallen after me
All the lonely feelings and the burning memories
Everyone I left behind each time I closed the door
Burning bridges lost forevermore
Years have passed and I keep thinking
What a fool I’ve been
I look back into the past and
Think of way back then
I know that I lost everything I thought I that could win
I guess I should have listened to my friends
All the burning bridges that have fallen after me
All the lonely feelings and the burning memories
Everyone I left behind each time I closed the door
Burning bridges lost forevermore
Burning bridges lost forevermore….
Can’t say we didn’t try…
Kind of a bummer…
But a Wise Man once told me: “You cannot save one who does not wish to be saved.”
More Later
Big Country
I put a small window unit in the great rm for 2 days this summer when it went up to 87 deegrees
floor ah duh- BTDT
the die-off will be really something to smell down in the deep souf
too hot most days unless you’re out on the Atlantic Ocean…
had to wear a coat yesterday while out cutting dead standing ash for winter heat, with a high around 55. today warmed up to 69 with lots of sun. i burn around a full cord a month starting any day now till around May
My BIL’s place up near Gettysburg has lots of ash – and most of it is standing dead from ash borers. Makes awesome firewood, and it’s pre-aged! He’s got about 16 full cords of it cut, split, and stacked – and I can have as much of it as I’d like – I just have to go get it. Oh – and help with splitting the other lord only knows how many rounds that are stacked and waiting. Plus helping him fell and stack some of the still standing dead ash. It’s a little work, but it’s good wood for heating with and as long as it’s cheaper to for gas to go get it than pay for delivered wood, I’ll never get firewood any other way. Probably won’t have to fire up the woodstove here for another month or so, but it’s good to have 3 to 4 cords here, and as much as I care to get.
That was REALLY nice of you to help out the In-laws like that. In Florida, AC is a necessity not a luxury especially if you are older and have health problems.
That is why we found an HONEST (many AC companies are damn crooks) AC repair guy that my wife went to school with and we have a maintenance contract with him and he comes out every 6 months to do preventive maintenance and give me a heads up if any parts need to be replaced any time soon.
I also recommend in your preps beside a generator and fuel if you live in Florida to have a portable AC unit that will cool 1 room in the house in an emergency like a hurricane, power outage or if the main AC unit conks out.
Regarding DC, it’s nice that karma is finally biting her in the ass and that justice might actually happen for all of the lives she has harmed.
I feel for those 2 little girls growing up apart with no mother thanks to her and her bullshit. I pray she goes to jail, runs her damn mouth every day and the other inmates kick her ass on a regular basis.
Whites settled Florida without A/C. Wasn’t all that long ago that A/C was a rarity out there. It’s nice (very nice) and yet also a crutch. Without it, your body adapts to the heat…it’s still miserable, but less miserable than having to adapt to it every damned day. Our bodies get so confused going from 100F to 65F and back again.
Before AC, most of Florida’s population was on the coasts where it is often 10 degrees cooler than inland due to ocean breezes. Inland Florida was lightly populated until AC came along.
In 1950, the population here was 2.7 million. By 1960, with some air conditioning, the population increased to 4.9 million. In the ’70s more homes had “central air” and the population grew to about 19 million today.
I know there were tough people back in the old days but they were few. Where I live in Florida it is normally 95 degrees EVERY day in the Summer with 90% humidity. That’s a dangerous 140 degree heat index that will kill or injure most folks. Most of Florida away from the coasts isn’t really habitable without AC.
That’s why Joel Skousen in his book Strategic Relocation lists Florida as one of the WORST states to be in during a disaster. Besides the heat, you have a HUGE population especially in South Florida with basically I95, the Turnpike and I75 as the only ways out. As seen during hurricane evacuations these become hopelessly clogged. Also such a high population needs regular supplies from other parts of the country for food and necessities which during a crisis will stop.
Florida is really bad if SHTF.
Oh it’ll definitely be awful there-completely agree.
But it’s been inhabited for millenia, and for centuries by Whites.
Hell, look at the tropics around the world. People thrive there in primitive conditions.
I grew up in Mississippi in the 60s and 70s with no AC and only an attic fan. My GGPa’s shack in the sticks had no AC and no running water, just a well and an outhouse. You can do without a lot of conveniences if you have to.
I’m fortunate these Days that Son #2 is a HVAC repairman and does our seasonal maintenance for us.
I can relate to this. I helped my youngest brother out with a repair, he has a goofass Carrier system with a control board in the outside condensing unit (because that’s a great idea for longevity in the heat and humidity here) much like you had to work on. Was my first exposures to such shitfuckery, and I cussed it thoroughly. Finally got it working, but was not happy about it.
Meanwhile my ~20 year old central air condensing unit died in early July (compresser seized). I’ve managed to get by since then on two portables (one I was given that just needed a cord) at opposite ends of the house, and running the furnace blower for recirc 24/7.
Have been on the hunt for a good used 2.5 ton condensor (that’s what the A coil is sized at) since this is an R-22 setup and I’m not getting buttfucked with the cost of upgrading to one of the newer units and requisite refrigerant. Especially since I have 27 pounds of a 30 pound pig of R-22 left here.
Just found one on Craigslist the other day finally, so am arranging to go get that this week, then will be pulling the old one and installing the new (used) one. Will set me back $200 plus the value of the R-22 I’ll use to charge it. Good news is I have all the tools and stuff needed to braze the line set, pull a hard vacuum and charge it.
The portables have done remarkably well the last couple of months, kept the place at no more than 74° inside even on 100° days. Could get it down to 72° when outside temps stayed under 90, and that’s good enough for me to sleep at night.
I keep a whole complement of various start and run capacitors on hand. Have made some nice side money replacing those on a hot as hell day when somebody’s A/C suddenly went out.
BRD: HMU At my BCE187th @ Protonmail dot com. Got some folks who want to connect
BC, you lead an interesting life. You’re a good man taking care of family and friends the way you do.
schvetty balz and swamp ass are brutal on the ol’ folks!
I went through the same thing with my oldest. Dating niggers. Acting like trash. Wound up kicking her out of the house to prevent her from poisoning my other kids. (Who have turned out well) . Every now and then she will reach out to me. “You’re the only dad I ever had”. Blah blah blah. Then the demands for money start. I told her that I don’t want her in my life bad enough to have to pay for it. I have tried in the past. Putting up deposit money for houses that she wound up getting kicked out of for not paying rent. Paying for schooling that she never attended. It makes my heart ache. But sometimes all you can do is walk away. She’s in her late 40’s and still hasn’t learned a thing.
Maaaaaate. That pic of you looking like a mildly unhappy chappie….well done rescuing the file, that camera must have melted. Do not want to see you on a bad day. Personnel did the light infantry a solid, not only because a walking continent like you is only light compared to planet Neptune, but also because you seem to be an epic schitt-magnet. Thankfully, you seem to have been blessed with a miracle shovel to dig your way clear again every single time, but I’m kind of glad you’re an ocean away. Let me know if you come to central Teutonia, I’ll leave the key under the mat and swim to Kergeulen, you can have my beer. Make me a Flammenwerfer or drei.
More power to ya, fixing an AC unity is way out of my wheelhouse. I am not exactly Mr. Fix-It but fortunately I am married to Mrs. Fix-It.
I feel for ya. I have that same Carrier model we got through a home warranty coverage with our current house. Seems home warranty covers lowest price or whatever is sitting in the scrapyard. Pure shit how Carrier mixed up wiring that doesnt match up and had the balls to put their name on it. The noob HVAC guys can never get it to work right because they assume the wiring order is proper and the supervisors always have to come out to re-repair it according to the last supervisor’s repair notes. Open to suggestions for new units that don’t suck.
BCE
Are they in Duke.Energy system. Because they have a program likely others do as well, they for $16 a month added to the electric bill, gives a warranty on HVAC systems, rub is there is a wait period.
But they cover the system, and if it dies will kick in up to 5k to replace it.
Hope.this helps
“I know Dad is going to want it eventually brought back up to factory specs …”
Ah, yeah, Dad should go look at what it costs to top it up with refrigerant first.
Even R134a is getting pricey, and since Joe Baizuo the used car salesman in “charge” of America helped make R410a into a rare commodity, now R410a in tank quantities is like buying a new mobile phone, which you can’t even do yourself without having an HVAC repair business (or you’re connected to black markets).
So it’ll be a good time for him to get acquainted with Things Aren’t What They Used To Be and that if it breaks again, it’s very likely he’s in for buying a whole new HVAC system because of this politically planned obsolescence.
Of course, there’s not much wrong with these refrigerants after R22 except that politically planned obsolescence makes a lot of money for the companies that produce the refrigerants as well as the systems that use them, and of course updates are conveniently incompatible.
But you’ve been a huge champ for sweating through this instead of doing what may be inevitable anyway, which is that they will need an HVAC system that they can continue to recharge and maintain.
Know what we don’t hear Donald Trump talking about with all of his political sausage making?
Rolling back the ecotard circus campaigns so that old stuff can continue to be maintained.
That’s way more critical to America’s survival than lurid visions of new tech dreamcore or “building back better”.
Make America Fix Its Own Shit Again! 🙂
Adde parvo parvum magnus acervus erit … — Ovid
Amen! You got that (the whole ‘rolling back teh stoopid!’) in one…
People have NO FUCKING CLUE how life could be easier, cheaper and more mellow if they juuuuust eliminated some of the moast worthless laws/regulations on the books…
And unless I’m reading that 2D barcode wrong, that thing says:
PTP-NRH01-B,S3422M172936X
and its manufacture date was during the later half of 2017.
(29th week of 2017? December (M) 2017? Don’t know Carrier’s date coding scheme.)
But the SMT on it, the present day looking fireproof resistors, all of it tends to confirm.
This HVAC board isn’t even that old!
I’ll follow up in the AM… good looking out!
Right, one more, then I have my own maintenance crap to deal with later, also in the sweltering bog …
Usually a thermostat with way too many wires required drives a separate heat pump and heater unit, meaning that the AC and heat have separate control systems which is what all that wiring is for.
So before calling it a victory, make sure the heat works, preferably when Mom & Dad are out of the house and don’t have to sweat through the test.
I did a replacement like this many years ago and everything worked great during the summer.
Turns out that the old mercury switch thermostat was wired in a way where the heat/cool switch was doing other duties somehow, and when I rewired with a digital thermostat, something got lost in translation.
It’s OK, it only got down to 8 C in the house before I fixed it, no biggie. 🙂