My central air conditioner broke !

Last week my central air conditioner just stopped working. You could hear the house fan come on, but nothing cool came out. I went outside and noticed that the 5 ton York air conditioning unit was making only a slight humming noise. Not good , considering my family quickly began to panic.
I quickly went to the phone and began calling authorized service contractors. After about an hour, it became apparent that it was going to cost me $175 plus parts plus labor. Frankly I didn't have that kind of money for a repair. I was also afraid they were going to come out, go through the motions, and then tell me I needed a new one. So, I thought long and hard and remembered that a friend of mine was in the business (HVAC). I gave him a call and this is what he told me to do.
First, turn off the house circuit breaker. Then go outside and pull out the outside circuit breaker located next to the unit on the house. This will insure that there is no power going to the unit. Next you want to see if there is any ice on the unit, this could be thermostat or condenser related. No ice on mine. Now we check to see if it is the fan motor. Take a long screwdriver and put it through the grate on top now try to turn the fan using the screwdriver. If it won't turn, then your fan motor is shot. Mine turned. Next we want to check the solenoid. To do this locate the service panel on the unit. It has labels and model #'s and easily comes off with a screwdriver or a small wrench. I removed the panel and immediately noticed what looked like a small grey soda can. It had a crack in it and was leaking grease. Success!!! I had found the problem at no cost.
Now how to fix it? Just unplug it , bring it to your nearby HVAC parts store and buy a replacement. It only cost $35 dollars! Now plug it in and reattach the service panel. Replace the outside circuit breaker. Flip the inside breaker back on. Now, hold your breath and turn on the A/C. IT WORKED. I saved hundreds of dollars and felt pretty good about myself. I was also lucky it wasn't one of the more expensive options. Hope this helps some of you.

Wax Paper for Spring Cleaning

You know when you really...and I mean really...clean your kitchen and you try to clean the tops of you cabinets. The grime up ther could rival a sandblaster!! Well someone gave me the best tip ever and I will pass it along to you. When your cabinet top if finally clean roll out a long sheet of wax paper and lay it down on top of the cabinet, curl side down. It lays flat and it is the exact width of the cabinet. No one can see it!! Then when you clean the next time, you just carefully take it off...it will be very grungy...and throw it away. Lay down new wax paper and your good to go! Could you find a better way to spend the mere 2.99$ that it costs for the wax paper!!!


Remember that for your spring cleaning

Easy Bathroom Lighting Remodels

My house is 10 years old...not very old. However, the builder installed inexpensive 3 bulb Broadway lighting fixtures in the bathrooms. They look like a really big make-up mirror. After a while, they began to look pretty outdated. So a couple of weeks ago, I went at my local do-it-yourself retailer in search of a possible inexpensive solution. I found beautiful Victorian fixture with glass shades, but it was so nice I didn't think I could afford it. I checked and it was on sale for just $25!! So I grabbed a couple, got home, and realized I had never installed a light fixture before.

Now I must figure out how to get the old fixture off and the new fixture on. I called a couple of electricians , but they were a bit pricey. There were directions in the box, but they were kind specific to the wiring. Finally I called my Dad, who is an electrical engineer. He said he could walk me through it on the phone. Here is what he told me.

1. First you must remove the old fixture. Get a flashlight and then turn off the power to the light , by flipping the circuit breaker for it. Next you have to locate the 2 or 3 screw caps on the fixture. They are small ,round and have a serrated outer pattern. They are also the same color as the light so that they will blend in. You simply unscrew these caps. You usually need some pliers to initially loosen them.


2. Next pull the light fixture away from the wall , so that the wiring is exposed. You will see 3 wires. A red one, a white one and a black or exposed ground wire. These are connected to your light with plastic wire caps and maybe some black electrical tape. Unscrew them and remove your old light fixture.Save the wire caps and dispose of the old light as you would like.


3. Now for the new light. You must attach the base plate to the wall. This should be in your directions. If everything lines up you can just use your old screws and put it right up. If not, put the plate up on the wall where you want it and color in the installation holes with pencil.


4. You need to install those grey screw holders that came with your new light. Simply drill a small hole into the pencil markings. I didn't have a drill that I could find so I just poked a small hole into the drywall with a very skinny screwdriver. Now push your grey screw holders into the holes so they are snug . Next take the wires coming out of the wall and run it through the larger hole in the plate and screw the plate to the wall.


5. Go get your new light fixture. Attach to red the red, white to white , and ground to ground by twisting the wires together. Then, screw a wire cap onto the exposed twisted wires. I also wrapped a little electrical tape around the wire caps and wire for good measure. You should also put some of the exposed ground wire under the top of one of the screws you put into the wall and re-tighten the screw.


6. Next attach your fixture to its base using the screw caps in the box that match your light. Tighten them up and put on the shades , if you have them. Now put the power back on, and flip the light switch. Voila! you have a new room.

That took about an hour and a half. Not too bad for my first time. It took me a couple of weeks, but I found some inexpensive replacements for my exterior porch lights. They had become pitted over the years. I replaced them with some nice black enamel weather proof porch lanterns. Because I could do it myself, I did not have to spend the money to bring in an electrician to install them. I wouldn't have been able to afford them otherwise. It is amazing what a new light fixture can do for your home. I hope this helps someone else.
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Organizing youth sports equipment

Do your kids play youth football ? I have one in high school and he has a locker at school for all of the equipment. I have another that plays Pop Warner football and his "locker" is my dining room floor and hallway. I got SO tired of looking at all the pads and uniforms and cleats every day that I found a good inexpensive solution to it all. I went to my local Homegoods store and I bought one of those collapsible canvas hampers. They are very sturdy but can fold up flat when you don't need them. Well let me tell you that for $14.99 this hamper perfectly fits all of the equipment he uses. The shoulder pads fit like a glove when you slide them in vertically and the other stuff just fits right in there. Best of all I keep it in the mud room so when the stuff come out of the wash i just put it right in there and it is all in one place for the next night. I even found one the same color as the wall so it kind of disappears into the wall. When football season is over and all of the equipment is returned, I just put it away until lacrosse season starts!!