Topics from the Ignorance Base that received an answer.
Question raised 2006-03-06: Where is this coin from?
Answer supplied by David Robinson on 2006-05-08: The coin is a Pakistani 1 Rupee.
Question raised 2006-06-01: What is causing these bushes to turn brown, and what should I do about it?
Bush #1, on the left side of the steps, appeared to be healthy as of May 6, but now (June 1) looks like the picture on the left below. Bush #2, on the right side of the steps, is getting a bit brown around the edges as if it is thinking about doing the same thing (other picture). Bush #3 (not shown), which is farther away, has no brown on it.
Answer supplied by Jane MacLeish, 2006-06-04: Spider mites. You can spray insecticide, or not. (I was seeing spider mites in the house and thinking, gee, that's odd, but I didn't connect the dots.)
Question raised 2006-03-06: If they can put a man on the moon, why can't they make a digital camera such that the effective focal length of SLR lenses is the same as it was with 35 mm film cameras?
Answer supplied by T. Perry, 2006-10-18: There are some digital cameras that do that. In the digital world they are called "full frame" cameras. Canon has been offering them since 2002:
(Pricey! OK, Nikon, get your act together.... As of 2006-10-20, the most expensive Nikon D-SLR in the B&H catalog, the D2Xs, still shows a focal length multiplier of 1.5.)
Added 2007-07-29
When you connect a steel water heater to copper pipes, the natural course of events is for electrolysis to occur, corroding the water heater until it fails, spewing hot water everywhere and flooding your basement when you least expect it.
To delay the inevitable, water heaters come with a theoretically replaceable aluminum or magnesium anode rod (see Figure 1). For as long as the anode rod lasts, it will corrode instead of the steel. But once it's gone, if not replaced, the water heater's days are numbered (see Figure 2, rust beginning around the cold water intake).
Having seen one water heater fail spectacularly, I'm rather keen to avoid a repeat performance. So I've got the replacement anode rod, all ready to install, and... I can't get the old one out.
I have applied enough pressure with a breaker bar to drag both the water heater and the person holding it down around the basement, and the anode rod does not budge. Not at all. Not even a tenth of a millimeter. It's like solid rock. Alternatives involving a hammer or impact wrench seem like bad ideas given that the lining of the water heater is made of GLASS.
"Call a plumber" didn't work. The one I called didn't know what an anode rod is.
So, has anyone in the entire history of the world ever succeeded in replacing an anode rod without destroying the water heater in the process? How the heck is it done?
Glenn Calvert, 2008-01-02: Never had trouble getting them out; would try acidic penetrating fluid overnight, Sears impact tool (a.k.a. Craftsman Impact Driver). Don't think the glass breaking is a serious risk.
John Deckert, 2008-02-17: Try a cold chisel and a hammer. A cold chisel is a sturdy chisel used to cut through metal. Apply it to a corner of the bolt so as to dig in and turn it.
Nathan Johnson, 2008-04-23: Penetrating fluid might take a week; other things to try (1) heat, (2) ask the manufacturer what to do. (Now there's an idea...)
I'm getting around to trying this again... Really I am...
2008-07-07: I e-mailed the manufacturer, and this is what they said:
There is no risk of cracking or breaking the lining or tank by using an impact wrench. This is how they are installed on the assembly line during manufacture. Make sure you use a 1 1/16″ six point socket to keep from rounding out the head of the anode. If all else fails, you can use an anode rod with a nipple attached on the end and insert it into the hot outlet.
So this time I will use THE FORCE and the tank is not allowed to break.
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2008-07-13: This is the first time in my life that I have been defeated by a mere bolt. Previously I have injured myself in the process but ultimately prevailed. This time, the bolt won. My first choice, and the one that seemed to deliver the most torque to the bolt, was swinging a heavy hammer at the end of a 25″ breaker bar while praying that it doesn't snap in my face. That caused the water heater to jump around, straining at the pipes connected to it, and caused my wife to run downstairs to report that the house was shaking pretty badly, but it did not loosen the anode. My second choice, based on the theory that the flexing of the breaker bar was wasting energy, was to do the same maneuver using a shorter but tougher wrench. That was noisier but it seemed to deliver less torque. Lastly, I went out and bought a 200 ft-lb impact driver and tried that, but it seemed to do nothing at all. Perhaps I was using it wrong, but it looked to be too small for the job. It came with Phillips screw bits. Uh, yeah. Unless I'm going to rent an air compressor and some major serious impact wrench, that leaves penetrating fluid, cold chisel, and black magic. I'm doubtful that penetrating fluid would penetrate the thread sealant that's on there. It soaks through rust well enough, but teflon? At least I still have hot water... for now. Also, I might have a simple answer to that philosophical question about what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object. Now I find out there is a tool called a torque multiplier that could be useful. But what I really need is something that would attach to the water heater somehow and hydraulically drive out the bolt. Immobilizing the water heater is more than half the challenge, and that problem would go away if the torque were being applied by something that was already attached to it. 2008-07-17: OK, it's done. After passing over several dubious plumbers who dodged my question about anodes and insisted that I had to pay them to come out and "diagnose the problem," I finally found one who knew what an anode was and had replaced them before. First he tried a wrench. He grabbed hold of the gas pipe in an attempt to immobilize the water heater, gave a mighty heave... and everything moved except the anode. The gas connection suffered considerable stress but didn't seem to spring a leak. So then he said, "let me get my breaker bar," and returned with a 4-foot length of heavy pipe which he fitted to the end of the wrench. After two more mighty heaves that failed to shift the anode, he said he was worried that the copper pipes would break loose if he kept at it. He then went back to his workshop to retool and came back with—you guessed it—a big air compressor and an impact wrench. It took a few minutes to build up pressure, then 10-20 seconds of high-powered hammering, but at last the accursed anode broke loose and came out. The plumber said that every other anode he had replaced had come out with just a wrench. When the old anode came out, it looked to be in surprisingly good condition, blackened but mostly intact. However, each time I picked it up, another piece crumbled off in chunks, leaving only the core. |
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