7.23.2022

Jim spent all morning and into the afternoon cleaning up his workshop from all the AC adventures lately.  He had so many different tools, welders, and equipment out that he needed to get sorted.  In addition, he had to spend time both on the computer and in the shop, readying various products to be returned.  He has already ordered a new vacuum pump and connections - they will come in early next week.

This afternoon, he headed back out to get all the tubing in good shape.  He wrapped it with the special tape...

Then he wire tied it to the channel.  It all looks so perfect!

Time to get ready for church!

High 89/Low 62.4

 

7.22.2022

 It was definitely an up and down kind of day.  Jim did multiple pressure tests of both lines and both were still good.  Here he's showing Mom the set up...

Getting all the lines in shape...

Jim was waiting for the new meter to come, which it did this afternoon.  The last major step in this process is to vacuum out the lines.  Jim worked all afternoon and had issues with getting things to work on the bench, let alone trying to take things outside and try them.  In fact, it now appears that the pump may be defective and may have been what caused the first meter to fail.  So while some things were very positive, unfortunately, the rest wasn't so great.  Jim will recoup as always and figure out his next steps.

Onto happier news - US News & World Report just released their 2022 ranking of the healthiest communities in the US.  Saratoga County was ranked 60th in the US, which is in the top 2%, and came in 1st in the State of NY.  Just another reason to love living here!

High 86.9/Low 65.4

7.21.2022

Mom and I went shopping this morning - but Jim was very busy working on the air conditioning system.

He first had to torque all the connections - that was an issue because he couldn't get his tools in proper position to get the correct torque.  He had to take things apart in order to get them done.

Before lunch, Jim met up with a guy for a Craigslist tool sale - he always meets at a public place so it's safe.  Nice to get things out of here that we don't need!

This afternoon, he started working on the pressure testing.  He has special solution to test for leaks at the braised connections as well as to the compressor and those were all good.  He hooked up the meter and ran the first test (obviously I'm making all that sound easy when it was anything but!).  He did our line first and kept it under pressure for at least 20 minutes and it held - yay!

When he tested the line for Mom's room, it didn't hold.  Very depressing - all of the braised connections were good on that line as well so he thought it must be something in the split unit on the wall.  But then he took it off and redid all the connection and found a valve stem (similar to on tires) that he worked around and then the pressure was dead on - whew!

Another long, stressful day working on all this but I'm SO incredibly proud of Jim for all the work he has put into this.  This was all brand new territory for him and he feels under pressure to get it working which makes it even more stressful.  He's my hero!  

High 85.5/Low 69.9

 

7.20.2021

Jim got some of his ordered AC parts and pieces yesterday and the right size braising rings came in today, so Jim was able to devote some time and energy to this project.

He had to order a new gauge for the nitrogen tank to measure pressure...

As he braises these tubes, he has to push nitrogen through them at the same time - it's quite the set up...

Working on other lines...

This requires lots of tanks and equipment!

One of the tubes has to be braised up in t he air behind the truss and wood rack - yikes!

Setting up to do some work outside...

All lines are braised now!  Poor Jim had a long, stressful day - hopefully he can test the lines tomorrow, but he's certainly earned a shower and wine time!

We've been extremely lucky with our weather here, especially since so many have had horrible heat over the past month.  But it's our turn this week, as we hit our first 90° day today.

High 90.9/Low 67.6

7.19.2022

 Jim did some work in the shop this morning and then headed outside.  He finished putting in all the fasteners on the fascia board and tweaked a couple other things on the rafters.

Then he made some jigs to hold up the sheathing for the roof...

Putting them into place...

He tried to push the sheathing up like he normally does but on this slope, there just wasn't enough room to get a good place to stand...

So out came the ever-handy Bobcat!  Jim brought the piece up to a point where he could then go up on the roof and drag it up...

Moving it in place...

He got all ready to nail it down and then there was a hole in his air hose.  Seems to be the way things are going lately!

Thankfully, he had another part that he was able to fix it...

Nailing the sheathing...

Putting up the next piece...

For the last piece on this first row, he used the Bobcat again...

Putting it in place...

Fastening it down...

Jim stopped after the first row - he had to clean up and then attend to a couple other things.  The all-day rain yesterday, even though it was light, caused a few bumps in the driveway from run off, so Jim used the Bobcat to get that all flattened.  Then he cut some grass before calling it a day.

It was a warm day but there was a wonderful breeze - Mom and I sat in the shade and watched Jim.  Unfortunately, there was no shade for him, but the breeze sure helped.

High 85.5/Low 65.4

7.18.2022

 No pictures today - we had light rain all day so Jim worked in the shop, cleaning up and organizing and going through some of his AC tools and equipment.

He also had to sharpen his chain saw blade - he just knicked the tip of a nail cutting off one of the posts which pretty much ruins the blade instantly.

High 73.1/Low 67.8 - light rain

7.17.2022

Jim had ordered some special brazing rings to use for the plumbing lines - they came in a day early and we were happy about that.  Until we realized they sent the wrong size.  So now we will be figuring out that issue and hoping we can get replacements quickly.  Frustrating.

Jim worked on the electric for the AC today.  When he went to hook it up to the compressor, he realized that his old wire cable had one wire that was the wrong size - they have changed code.  So he had to take out all the wiring from the box to the compressor and remake the bundle.  Then start all over again to wire it up.  But it's now finished - the breaker box is done, the shut off box is wired, and the compressor is wired.  All that remains for the electric work is to wire the individual rooms - but that will come later.

Outside, Jim put up this giant girt underneath the rafters - I helped hold up one end until he got it fastened and then he took over...

Fastening it to each of the rafters...

Next was the fascia board...

End-of-the-day picture...

It's National Ice Cream Day - did you have yours?  This is in the freezer waiting for us to enjoy tonight after dinner!

High 86/Low 63