37F and cloudy @ 12:30, calling for a high of around 38F today with the possibility of a few snow flurries tonight.
Good day yesterday.
Watched some YouTubes with The Woman on water softeners and had discussion about that. Also did some research on new softeners. Think it demystified things a bit for Her.
Woman worked on getting some Christmas cards in the mail, took them down to the PO and dropped them off, also picked up some more stamps.
After She got back, She drove me up to the shop where I grabbed an old rag mop I use up there. Will use that to mop up any water from rinsing the vinegar I'm going to use treat the efflorescence on the concrete in the utility room.
After She dropped me off back down at the house, She headed down to the drug store to pick up a 'script She got from the doctor for her eye to treat a sty. Was going to get Her COVID booster but She hadn't made an appointment and the person who was administering the shots was busy with other people who had ... so no joy there.
When She got back She started working on the enchiladas. I assisted a little on that.
Got the corner section of those shelves on the south unscrewed from the section that runs on the east wall in the utility room. Then got the corner section completely taken apart and disassembled. Now have good access to entire south wall in that room.
Fed all the fishies.
Got nyjer feeder scrubbed out.
Took jig saw down to the basement.
Got measurement taken and one of the 2" foam board panels marked to trim.
Gave the water softener and pressure tank some love and worked on cleaning them up. Softener had a good amount of mineral deposits on it from the trickle leak, both had some mold/mildew on them. In the first picture below - which was well after I started - you can see some of what was on both of them:
Next picture shows where it was when I ended last night:
Still have some more to go on the backsides but it is progressing nicely.
Woman came down after putting away the leftovers from dinner and was suitably impressed with the results. Wanted to know what I had used to clean them off.
A scrub pad, plastic scraper that She had bought me for the aquariums (didn't work worth a crap for that), and
plain water.
She couldn't believe it.
Absolute heresy !!!
Asked maybe spending a few bucks to tune-up the old Fleck might not totally out of the question ?
And She agreed.
Looks like a new piston and seal/spacer kit will run about $115 ... but the stuffer tool/driver to install them is $94. So about $200 ... assuming nothing else is wrong.
Entire new valve head assembly (Fleck 5600) is about $400.
So some further research will have to be done and a decision made.
Softener does seem to soften the water fine, but I think we're probably going to get the water (softened and unsoftened) tested just to get an idea.
Also pulled the sediment/iron filter cartridge (the blue canister) while I was about it and swapped in an old one I had cleaned. The one I pulled out was totally cruddy ... just about black with rust and slime.
Spent 15 minutes or so hosing that off and was there still crud coming off it when I quit because my back was hurting. Will have another go at it today and see what else I can get off of it before I put it in a bucket with a solution of water and Iron Out to soak.
Woman worked on vacuuming up the corner where I had pulled out the shelves while I was doing that, think we quit a little after 23:00.
Agenda for today:
Probably see if I can't treat the efflorescence along that south wall and clean up the mess from that.
Will need to cut the HVAC condensate drain pipe to move it out of the way but it needs cut and shortened anyways, to bring it outside of where the stud wall will be.
See if I can free up the stop valves for the hot and cold water to kitchen sink and laundry room (they are locked up)
If I'm successful on that, probably see if I can free up the hose bibs in the laundry room.
Also need to check the pre charge on the water tank.
Happy Birthday to Rich !
Hope everyone is having a good Friday ...
