Tag: rubber

DIY Light Up Cable Protector

written and updated 3/04/23

What: Outdoor rubber cord and cable protector ramp that lights up

Why: To charge a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) from a 120-Volt outlet by running an extension cord over a sidewalk. This is for very infrequent use (emergency charging in the event of poor memory or inclement weather). Not only is it a ramp which lowers the chance of tripping, but when placed at night, having it pulse-shine increases visibility. Couple it with a spotlight or porch lighting, should be plenty of indication of a hazard.

Supplies: Cable protector ramp, utility knife, razor scraper, battery powered/cuttable/outdoor-rated LED strip with light modes, double sided sticker dots, pliers (optional), paint scraper (optional), Shop Vacuum

Cost: 2-Channel Cable Protector Ramp ($54.19) + LED Strip ($11.99) + Double-Sided Stickers ($5.99) = $72.17

Time: 1 – 2 hours

Process

  • Gather Supplies (the rubber ramp, itself, is extremely smelly, so would recommend a few days of off gas unless storing in a shed our outside)

  • Test fit, measure, and mark
Permanent marker

  • Start cutting. Use of razor blades are the best for cutting through thick rubber. Make sure to use safety glasses and gloves. Be careful!
Cut wedges

  • After removing pieces in increments, use the razor scraper to clean up the bottom.

  • Test fit again. In this case, the battery case still doesn’t fit, so now to widen the side.
Doesn’t fit with the cord in there, too

  • Use pliers, the paint scraper, blades all together to remove the rubber

twist, pull, whatever it takes
levering
There it is!

  • Yay! It fits now!
This is a 10-gauge extension cord

  • At first, I thought I’d need to drill holes to make the light more visible, but I wasted time doing that because it works perfectly without the holes!

  • Sticky dots now, to hold the LED lights in place. I am aware that the LED lights have an adhesive, too, but for ease of removal/replacement I opted for the sticky dots
They were so annoying to stick, I needed something metal and thin to help me place them

  • Test time!
No porch lights

  • Yay!! It works! I was really, really nervous about it out there all night long, but it worked really well, and nothing bad happened according to the cameras I had trained on it. I also had the porch lights on, but without the lights, it looked really great, too. You can’t tell in these photos, but I left the mode on a fade in and out. Granted, this was winter, and there are typically very few people wandering around in the cold, dark, but I’m glad to see that in a pinch, the option is there to charge my EV overnight.

DIY: Toilet Fill Valve Seal Repair

updated 8/7/2022

What: Kohler Highline Classic K-11499-0 (bought and installed May 2017) toilet fill valve (Fluidmaster Universal 400A OE part – came with toilet) issues

Problem: Months of slow-filling toilet along with a loud squeal noise when float raises with water level. It finally quit filling altogether.

When: August 2022

Supplies: 242 Toilet Replacement Seal, a cup

Cost: Around $4 and gas

Time: 10 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Process

1. Turn off the water supply (bathroom got a nice cleaning after this)

2. Grab the fill valve cap and twist left to unseat it (you might have to grab the stem of the whole valve to prevent the entire valve from spinning. Here’s a video)

Grasp
Twist
It’s off!

3. Now to unhook the cap from the float. Give it a nice, careful tug, being aware that it is plastic.

Connected
Not connected

4. Examine the fill valve seal for debris. Remove it carefully and inspect underneath for debris. Clean it out. In my case, there was debris underneath that was causing a blockage and therefore no water. It must have been there for a while and then finally occluded the opening.

Seal on
Seal off

5. Similarly, inspect the cap-less top of the fill valve for debris.

Looks clear to me! But just in case…

6. Now that everything is off, let’s go ahead and flush the fill valve itself. Apparently, over the years pieces of Teflon tape, or minerals or other debris can accumulate in the valve. Fluidmaster sets the lifespan of a fill valve at around 7 years (mine is about 5 years old). SO, grab a cup and place it upside-down over the fill valve.

7. Turn on the water supply and flush for about 10-15 seconds (according to Fluidmaster)

8. At this point, you would replace everything and test it out. It was no longer filling slowly after the debris was removed, so BOOM, solved. BUT…the float mechanism no longer worked…as in, the fill valve kept filling without stopping. Oh, great. I busted it somehow. Removed everything again and found that the original seal looked kind of chewed up around the float pin.

9. Turned the water supply back off, and ran out to the store to grab a 242 Toilet Fill Valve Seal (and other stuff just in case, so I wouldn’t have to run out again, but didn’t need them in the end)

Spankin’ new
Instructions aren’t super useful

10. Had remove it all again and here is an image of the old seal. If you look at the center, you can see how rough it looks where I tried to push it in with my fingernails and probably from general wear and tear

11. Here’s a side by side of the old seal and the new one

This side will face away from the cap
This side (with the nipple) will face the cap

12. Slide the seal onto the cap

New!
Shiny!

13. Now to reassemble it all. Line up the cap assembly with the float assembly stem groove and snap it in

*snap*

14. Place the now-attached cap back on the valve. Remember that you have to turn right to replace it, so place the cap accordingly so that none of the parts interfere with each other

*Let’s twist again! Like we did last summer!*

15. Twist it to the right and, YAY, it’s back on!

Reassembled!

16. MOMENT OF TRUTH. Turn on the water supply. You should immediately hear the water filling up. Now lift up on the float mechanism. If the tank quits filling, you are DONE, and it is REPAIRED! GREAT JOB!

Lift up on the float and BOOM! Hallelujah!