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YouTube Channel: A Soul Lost In Time
I began my home repair this morning...
after my morning coffee.
The below screen door damper was what the easy initial repair was.
It took but a few minutes to fix...
but as it was caused by my carelessness...
it was a minor irritation...
as this is the fourth one I had to replace since moving here
(I will explain).
This damper automatically limits the range through which the front screen door may open...
as well as auto closing the door.
However...
if I don't ensure the screen door fully latches upon closing...
the wind will suddenly force the screen door open with enough force to bend the
limiting rod...ruining the whole unit.
(It usually does automatically...but during periods of higher winds...
it won't fully latch automatically as the door is being held slightly
ajar by the wind pressure...so as to not fully close and latch).
I sometimes forget that my hearing is not what it used to be...
and I sometimes cannot tell by ear if the latch had engaged.
Yes...
it is but a few minute fix...
and the unit is inexpensive...
but when it is the result of one's own carelessness...
it is a source of minor irritation.
However...
the main problem I am trying to diagnose and repair has to do with the 3rd floor (loft)...
Infrared Sauna.
I love this two seat infrared sauna
(sometimes I feel like using the IR sauna...
and sometimes I feel like using the 1st floor steam sauna...
both are different experiences).
Last week I took a book I was interested in reading while
just enjoying sitting in the IR sauna
(I can't read in the steam sauna...
for obvious reasons).
I had placed on the exterior and interior lights...
put on the built in CD player and selected my music...
and I then hit the switch to power up all of the infrared heaters inside...
and then...
all power went off just in the IR sauna
(which is strange because I had done the same thing many times before without incident).
My first thought was that I had tripped a circuit breaker in the downstairs house
circuit breaker panel.
I checked...
but no circuit breakers were in need of reset.
I then checked the actual outlet for power behind the Sauna.
No...
it had power
(I had tested it with a wall light).
I had then gotten a ladder and removed the top panel of the sauna
so I could access all of the electrical wiring and circuit boards.
I located the fuse...
and attempted to reset it...
but this didn't work.
So...
I knew I would need a multimeter to test the circuits.
It had arrived a couple of days ago...
and I began the whole diagnostic process by lighting up the area so I could see everything
in the electrical bay atop the sauna.
I opened up the blinds on the third deck door...
I turned on the overhead lights...
and I climbed up with the multimeter
(I first fully opened the ladder...
it wasn't fully opened in the below photo).
I had unplugged the unit when it first went out...
but I double checked anyway, before going up.
I realized that to easily access the fuse...
I would have to unscrew the whole electrical box.
While the right side of the box's screw came out easily...
the bottom screw simply would not come out
(I was stripping the screw head...
oh, I so hate cheap screws :)
So...
I just lifted the box on the right top...
supported it underneath enough so I could take out the fuse and reset button component.
I first tested if the circuit was open by using the multimeter
to send a small electrical charge through the unit.
While it can determine if the circuit is open or closed...
it cannot determine how much current actually flows through the fuse
(making it actually functionable).
So...
I went live by plugging in the sauna...
and I had found current flowed through the fuse, as determined
by a small indicator light being lit on the relay or transformer unit...
but again, it only told me that some current was flowing...
not the actual amount.
I then switched the multimeter to read the actual voltage flow through the fuse
(sometimes the fuse will internally melt just enough to not allow
it to carry the full load...but with just enough left to carry small amounts of current).
It was only allowing a very small amount of voltage through...
which indicates a failure of the fuse itself
(it should have tripped the circuit...
and so...
the reset should have worked).
As the fuse is but a $5.00 part...
I ordered two off of Amazon...
both of which should arrive early next week.
Hopefully...
the fix for the sauna will be easily done in a few days.
If not...
I will be in for a long and tedious search for the problem.
Now...
I am not highly trained...
in anything.
I just know the very basics of electrical components
from high school.
I had taken a class on electricity...
I forgot the actual name of the course...
but it combined the knowledge of the nature of electricity...
and the basic practical knowledge of how to manipulate it
through resistors, capacitors, potentiometers...etc...
and how to combine them to achieve results by actually getting separate components...
and soldering them to a circuit board
(we used low voltage battery operated units for safety...
and that is where I first learned how to use a multimeter).
Anyway...
school in the very early 70s when I was in middle school...
and then in high school...
had certain mandatory classes for males.
I had taken wood shop...
as well as metal shop...
in both...
middle...
and high school.
They started with tool safety...
and we eventually operated industrial sized equipment designed
to make almost anything a household would need...
from furniture to outdoor wood or metal structures.
I also learned how to weld...
using acetylene/oxygen torches...
as well as arc welding.
Some guys were very talented...
and had made beautiful pieces of furniture...
or car engine hoists...etc.
I was not one of the talented ones though :)
But...
I learned enough to stumble through basic house repairs :)
My only hope is that the sauna problem is just this simple fix.
I am going to be very frustrated if it is something which will be very difficult to repair
(I don't know if individual components beyond the very basics are easily available).
The IR sauna in the loft.
It is ideally located for simultaneous views outside the third deck door...
as well as through the front cathedral windows...
as well as from the bed.
So...
in a few days...
I will know whether the sauna fix will be a quick and easy one...
or if I am in store for a very frustrating time :)
And if so...
I will be playing mellow music as I attempt to fix the sauna...
to keep me from getting too frustrated :)
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