I woke up this morning and the house was colder than usual. It seemed that way yesterday too. It hasn't really been noticeable since we have been experiencing springlike weather here in Beautiful Dunwoody. My dafodils and hyacinths are starting to peek up out of the ground. Poor suckers. Soon the cold weather will return. Bam! You suckers are done.
I looked at the thermostat and the display told me Lo Bat. No problem. I'll just replace the batteries.
Turn cool/off/heat switch to off. Check.
Replace batteries. Check.
Turn switch back to on. Check.
If no display hit reset switch. Check.
If it still doesn't work, check fuse. Check.
Fuse good. I must have some bad batteries.
I went to the mall to do my Tuesday walk. Not as many babes as before Christmas. I stopped at the drugstore on the way home to get toothpaste and batteries. Got home. Repeat procedure.
Turn cool/off/heat switch to off. Check.
Replace batteries. Check.
Turn switch back to on. Check.
If no display hit reset switch. Check.
If it still doesn't work, check fuse. Check.
Fuse good. Now what?
Now remember, I was, up until October 29, a highly trained, highly motivated and highly paid IT professional so a crummy little thermostat shouldn't be beyond me. Plus, I was an electronics technician in the Navy, and for part of my career at TCIDNN (The Company I Dare Not Name, but will very soon) I was in hardware. It would be a lot easier for me if the thermostat was at eye level. I'm doing this from my wheelchair.
I pulled the batteries back out and checked the contacts. Maybe there is not a good connection. Aha! I see the problem. The left contact has snapped in two. I have two choices:
1. I could go to the hardware store and find something suitable to use as a contact, remove the old contact and solder the new one on to the circuit board.
2. Use ordinary household materials to fix the problem.
Howza 'bout option number 2. Get sone aluminum foil and fold it up into a small little square. Wedge it between the battery and the contact. Voila! Success! My four years in the Navy and my hardware years at TCIDNN have paid off and just in time as we have some cold weather coming in later this week.
Sorry, dafodils and hyancinths.
Adapt. Improvise. Be creative. If you can't fix it with duct tape, aluminum foil or baling wire, just buy a new one.
Posted by: Acidman on January 11, 2005 05:18 PMDon't forget pop rivets, either.
That reminds me. I need to buy a new rivet gun.
Posted by: Ralph Gizzip on January 11, 2005 07:30 PMSuch ingenuity! Very nice...
Posted by: Sheilah on January 11, 2005 09:44 PMWow, who knew the GOC was an urban engineer? :)
Posted by: Alli on January 11, 2005 10:40 PMI have an old pick up that has a floppy circuit board looking thingy in the dash that has flat copper wires to route signals from around the vehicle to the idiot lights, meters and gauges. My gas gauge quit working, so I fixed that with neatly folded aluminum foil contacts. Been over 7 years and it still works.
Posted by: Chris Van Dis on January 12, 2005 12:17 PMIf the sprouts that have started to 'sprung' up here in the north can survive the remainder of winter with an inch of extra mulch...so can your precious/precocious plants!
Buy Mulch!
Save a Pansy!
Using copper pennies to replace blown fuses and installing aluminum wiring are great improvisions.
Posted by: Woody on January 12, 2005 04:28 PMBetter watch those copper pennies replacing fuses!
The fuse is there for a reason; to smoke and OPEN the circuit if something is wrong. Fuses prevent, as far as it is possible to do so, electrical house fires.
Replacing a battery contact (battery voltage = 3 volts max) with a piece of aluminum foil, until (or if) you ever actually replace the thermostat is something COMPLETELY different!
Glad my house isn't attached to your house, Woody...
I lost clients because I refused to allow aluminum wiring on jobs I designed. I am glad I did.
Posted by: Walter E. Wallis, P.E. on January 13, 2005 01:42 PM