Lowe's and Behold
For the last week or so, I have had pneumonia. The germane definition for this piece is: Pneumonia (noo-MONE-ya): An infection that occurs when fluid and cells collect in the lung (from: http://www.smcancercenter.com/resource/p.shtml). I have been having spasms of coughing, but am otherwise fine.
Last night around 9:00 PM, Marian told me that there was some water collecting around the big water pressure tank we have in the basement. We’re on a well. There is a 150-gallon tank in the basement that is not only a reserve of water, but also creates the water pressure to move it through the house. When I went downstairs, I saw that the pressure gauge on the side of the tank was wildly fluctuating between 40 psi and 60 psi which was turning the well pump on, off, on, off…a good way to burn out the pump.
This on, off, on, off condition is caused by the tank being waterlogged…too much water in the tank and not enough air. Thus, there is no way to get any constant air pressure since water has filled the tank and there is no air to compress. The only way to cure this is to turn off the pump, use an air compressor, and drive all the water out of the tank getting it back to almost all air. Then, you can turn the pump on again and fill the tank and compress the air so you are back in business. I have done this before. It’s a pain and take a long time.
I turned the pump off at the breaker box, went out to the barn, and got our air compressor. Marian went into the living room to sit by our grandchildren, who were asleep in there and who might be awakened by the noise of the air compressor. So, I turned on a faucet in a laundry utility sink, plugged the compressor in, and held same kind of tool you use to fill a car tire to the valve on the tank. Things went along fine for about 15 minutes. Then the hose blew off my air compressor. This is one of those you buy to inflate car tires. It’s a self-contained unit and there is no way to take it apart and do something simple like reattach the hose. It was now 9:35.
I called the local Lowe’s number and found out they are open to 10:00. Woo hoo. So, off to Lowe’s I go. It’s literally five minutes from the house. The place was empty. But, thank goodness, there was someone in the power tools section. And he knew compressors. He asked a lot of good questions. I did not want to get one like I had, but, rather, a more commercial model that would be more sturdy and have more capacity than the rinky-dink one I had. He recommended what I should get. Purchase in hand, I headed home.
I have grown to adopt the theory that you really need tools that are well suited to a job. If you want a weed eater, get one from a store that sells to landscapers and not from Lowe’s. If you want good power tools, a store like Lowe’s handles DeWalt and other commercial grade stuff. And they have good air compressors.
It still took time (about an hour) to completely flush the tank of its water, but the difference in air pressure from the new machine as compared to the old one was gigantic. And I now own an air staple gun which I was assured would be wonderful for installing quarter-round. Now if I could only figure out such an efficient way to get rid of my pneumonia.
Last night around 9:00 PM, Marian told me that there was some water collecting around the big water pressure tank we have in the basement. We’re on a well. There is a 150-gallon tank in the basement that is not only a reserve of water, but also creates the water pressure to move it through the house. When I went downstairs, I saw that the pressure gauge on the side of the tank was wildly fluctuating between 40 psi and 60 psi which was turning the well pump on, off, on, off…a good way to burn out the pump.
This on, off, on, off condition is caused by the tank being waterlogged…too much water in the tank and not enough air. Thus, there is no way to get any constant air pressure since water has filled the tank and there is no air to compress. The only way to cure this is to turn off the pump, use an air compressor, and drive all the water out of the tank getting it back to almost all air. Then, you can turn the pump on again and fill the tank and compress the air so you are back in business. I have done this before. It’s a pain and take a long time.
I turned the pump off at the breaker box, went out to the barn, and got our air compressor. Marian went into the living room to sit by our grandchildren, who were asleep in there and who might be awakened by the noise of the air compressor. So, I turned on a faucet in a laundry utility sink, plugged the compressor in, and held same kind of tool you use to fill a car tire to the valve on the tank. Things went along fine for about 15 minutes. Then the hose blew off my air compressor. This is one of those you buy to inflate car tires. It’s a self-contained unit and there is no way to take it apart and do something simple like reattach the hose. It was now 9:35.
I called the local Lowe’s number and found out they are open to 10:00. Woo hoo. So, off to Lowe’s I go. It’s literally five minutes from the house. The place was empty. But, thank goodness, there was someone in the power tools section. And he knew compressors. He asked a lot of good questions. I did not want to get one like I had, but, rather, a more commercial model that would be more sturdy and have more capacity than the rinky-dink one I had. He recommended what I should get. Purchase in hand, I headed home.
I have grown to adopt the theory that you really need tools that are well suited to a job. If you want a weed eater, get one from a store that sells to landscapers and not from Lowe’s. If you want good power tools, a store like Lowe’s handles DeWalt and other commercial grade stuff. And they have good air compressors.
It still took time (about an hour) to completely flush the tank of its water, but the difference in air pressure from the new machine as compared to the old one was gigantic. And I now own an air staple gun which I was assured would be wonderful for installing quarter-round. Now if I could only figure out such an efficient way to get rid of my pneumonia.
posted by Bud Hirsch at 3:56 PM
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