It’s kinda pathetic that the real highlight of my day today (being Wednesday) was something completely random that I noticed on my way home from work and just happened to fit into my life in a particular way that I don’t think it could possibly fit for anyone else.
It started out as a dumpster dive…
I left work a little early today, mostly because we’d been meeting about things most of the day and I really didn’t want to start anything new. Besides, we just put out a release, so it’s that debriefing and pseudo-relaxing period of time that always comes after an update goes out. So anyway, I leave the office building and walk across the alley/parking lot to my pickup, just like any other day. I get in the vehicle and start leaving the parking lot. The only difference here is that during my walk I noticed there were large boxes in the one dumpster, which is unusual for a Wednesday.
Now, before I get any further, I should provide some background information. The office building in which I work is right next door to an Ace Hardware store. That store happens to be in the midst of a renovation, so they have a demolition dumpster on site in the parking lot (next to the regular dumpster). To leave the parking lot legally (the alley is also a one-way alley), one must drive past these dumpsters. So, because of the unusual nature of Wednesday full dumpster(s), I drive by a little slower to see what would’ve been in these boxen. Keep in mind again that I need to drive by these as I leave, so it’s not like it was a special trip or anything.
Anyway, right on top is a big ComfortAire dehumidifier box, with the dehumidifier inside… Now, I knew that this Ace Hardware carried the same model dehumidifier that I’ve got, because I borrowed an owner’s manual last summer to copy some tech support numbers so that I could see about replacement parts (see next paragraph).
It just so happens to be the exact model that I’ve got here at home, which happens to be broken. It died on me last spring when the fan motor went out on it (the compressor was still running, but it wasn’t effective because the blower couldn’t bring air through the unit). It just so happens to be that two weeks ago I finally called the technical support numbers I’d copied down from the owner’s manual I’d copied from that very Ace store to see if I could get a replacement fan and motor. As it turns out, they don’t sell internal parts to end consumers, so I was referred to an authorized service center (which happens to be in Alexandria, not that big a deal) to see about repair. Bah humbug…and I figured I’d call them up sometime to see if they could estimate what it’d cost to fix.
Keep in mind that I’d taken the unit apart once before to verify that the fan was dead…so I knew exactly what portion of the unit wasn’t working properly.
So anyway, being the inquisitive type that I am, I backed up my pickup and parked again. I know most of the Ace employees and owner, so I had to get the story on why there was a dehumidifier in the box in the dumpster. The gal that I found didn’t know why they’d thrown it, but when I explained that mine wasn’t working anymore, she encouraged me to take it to see if I could use it for parts.
I happily did so, figuring that I’d be a lucky dude if I happened to get a working dehumidifier out of spare parts and better yet, for free. So I dug the unit out of the dumpster, put it in the back of my pickup, and hoped that the fan was still functioning on it. I would find out when I got home.
So, I got home and changed clothes, then unloaded the unit from my pickup and brought it down to the basement. I immediately plugged it in and turned it on. Gloriously, I heard the fan kick on and could feel it moving air! This was FANTASTIC! I didn’t hear the compressor kick on, though, so I wasn’t sure what exactly might be up with the unit. I noticed when I got it home that it had been taken apart at least once before, so I then knew why it’d been discarded (it was likely used for parts for someone else).
I grabbed a screwdriver or two and went to town. I got it taken apart and removed the fan and motor mount. I might add that it’s pretty much down to a bare frame by the time you get that far — you have to take absolutely everything apart to get to this area. Upon taking it apart, I noticed that it didn’t appear to have any missing parts (aside from the rear shield screws (which is how I noticed it’d been opened before)), so I plugged it in (kids, don’t try this at home when you’ve dismantled an appliance and have it wide open and plugged in/turned on) and discovered what was wrong. The compressor was shot on the unit.
So this is really why it was dumped. Since it’s not worth trying to replace the compressor/sealed system on that model, it was just thrown out. But, my compressor was working fine — I just needed the fan.
Anyway, I got the fan out, then opened up my dehumidifier and plugged in the fan motor (to make sure it wasn’t the electrical relay that was not functioning). Sure enough, with the replacement fan, it kicked on right away and was just like brand new.
I was ecstatic!
So I replaced the fan motor and put it all back together. I turned it on for a while and let it run (before I put the outer covers back on to make sure it was working properly) while I re-assembled the other unit. It was doing its job, so when the time comes to start running it, I’m sure it will work (for at least a little while).
I’m going to keep the parts unit for a bit as well, since I can still cannibalize the other electrical and control units in case mine goes out for some reason. The sealed system itself is worthless, so it’ll never be used as a dehumidifier again, but I’ll have a few free spare parts for the future. And if I get another year or two out of it, I can say I got my money’s worth!
So that old adage about ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ is really true. I am going to go share the story with the folks at Ace tomorrow.
Who’d have thought that being just a little bit observant would pay off like that?! I don’t have to go buy another $180 dehumidifier, nor do I have to pay someone at a service center to fix a $180 dehumidifier.
I’m so stoked! Go me!
Alright, so now that I’ve shared that bit of wisdom, I’m moving on to another topic. Over the last few days, I have been looking at digital camcorders to buy. I wanted to buy one around Christmas, but the deal I was looking at expired before I actually went to buy it. So I waited for a while and decided to use some tax refund money towards a more expensive and higher-end model. The reason for higher-end (and more expensive) is mostly because I cannot buy the model I’d been looking at around Christmas. So, I found one that was on sale ($60 instant rebate) and had the features I was looking for. I more or less decided on a model a few days ago (Monday), but decided to actually buy it now (before the $60 rebate went away) last night before I made another mistake. 🙂
So this morning I placed the order, along with a few miscellaneous computer parts I’d been waiting to get (when I could bundle it with some other things to save on shipping). And once again, I’ll say that I absolutely LOVE NewEgg.
I placed my order at 10:10 this morning (CDT), and as of 6:30 this evening (CDT), all of my items are on a UPS truck somewhere in various parts of the country (all of the items shipped from different warehouses throughout the US). The camera itself is scheduled to be delivered on Monday. I love NewEgg! For $9.95, I got four items shipped from four different warehouses in the US, with guaranteed 3-day service (the slowest/cheapest shipping method offered). It doesn’t get much better than that.
It’ll be fun to play around with that once it comes. I’m looking forward to it.
Anyway, I’m going to wrap up this post and then do a photo blog entry…so until next time (in a few minutes)…
–MZ