Memory Leak

The open road: 2010 summer trip day 4

Day 4: Ouray, CO to Pagosa Springs, CO — 498 Miles

The sunrise broke fairly late down in the bottom of the valley that Ouray, CO, sits in. The night before, I’d seen several places that looked hopeful for breakfast, and indeed they held true to their promise.

Over breakfast, I consulted the maps and GPS and called my buddy, Clint, to discuss plans for my arrival in Plano. Clint had already made arrangements for my arrival the next day, yet, my planned route called for 1300+ miles of mostly 2-lane roads between here and there. My previous slackardly days and road repair delays were starting to catch up with my plans to take the long winding roads to Texas. A bit of ciphering, and I figure it’s doable, with a slight modification.

Little did I realize, 500 miles and 10 hours later, I’d only be 64 miles (as the crow files) away from my starting point!

Continue reading The open road: 2010 summer trip day 4

GE Frontload Washer Door Gasket Replacement

After ~5 years of reliable service from our GE Adora front loading washer, the first repair it needed was to replace the torn door gasket. Upon finding a pool of water under the washer, I was rather miffed that the rubber would fail so catastrophically. However, upon opening the bottom panel, I found the remnants a Parker pen sitting underneath the washer drum — it probably found its way into the door seal during the spin cycle and ripped a huge hole after being wedged into it.

Some searching around revealed it was a fairly expensive repair to have done, but the gasket could be acquired for under $100. The GE part number for my washer was WH08X10036 and I got it shipped from Amazon for $92.

You’ll need the following tools to do the job:

#2 Phillips and straight-slot screw drivers
7 mm nut driver or socket (optional)
13 mm wrench (socket, ideally)
A fresh supply of patience

The replacement wasn’t all that hard and took me 2 hours start to finish, including taking all of the pictures! A motivated, mechanically inclined person could probably finish in under an hour. The most difficult aspect of the job is being able to stretch the new seal over the wash drum.

(1)
Unplug the washer from the wall socket. This is more than just a safety precaution since we’ll be disconnecting the wiring to the control panel.

(2)
Remove the lower front panel (not pictured). There are 3 screws clearly visible from the front on the bottom.

(3)
Behind the control panel, remove the three screws holding the molding onto the rear of the control panel. There are two snaps that require it to be gingerly lifted off to avoid breaking them.

Remove the three screws holding faceplate molding.

Nikon D200, ISO 400, ƒ/2.8, 1/125sec, 24mm focal L.

(4)
Remove the screws on the top, rear of the machine that hold the top cover on.

Remove the three screws on the rear holding the top cover on.

Nikon D200, ISO 400, ƒ/2.8, 1/250sec, 31mm focal L.

(5)
With the screws off, slide the top cover back about 1-2 inches, and it will easily lift of.

Slide the top-cover back and then lift it off.

Nikon D200, ISO 800, ƒ/2.8, 1/125sec, 24mm focal L.

(6)
Depress the tab to remove the soap tray. Probably a good time to clean out all the soap scum build up while you have it out.

Remove the soap tray.

Nikon D200, ISO 800, ƒ/2.8, 1/40sec, 24mm focal L.

(7)
Remove the screw hiding behind the soap tray.

Remove the screw behind the soap tray.

Nikon D200, ISO 800, ƒ/2.8, 1/45sec, 24mm focal L.

(8)
Remove the four screws holding the control panel.

Remove the four screws holding the control panel on.

Nikon D200, ISO 800, ƒ/4.5, 1/125sec, 24mm focal L.

(9)
Now the control panel can be removed. Note that there are a couple of tabs that would benefit from not being forced off.

With all 5 control panel screws removed, lift the tabs to remove the panel.

Nikon D200, ISO 800, ƒ/2.8, 1/250sec, 34mm focal L.

(10)
Carefully disconnect all of the connector harnesses and take note of where the connections go. It is quite likely yours will not look exactly like mine does. Also, be careful not to touch the electronic components as they are static sensitive.

Alternately, you could get creative and loosely tie the control panel up so that you can get behind it without stressing the wires.

Note the correct placement of all the connectors.

Nikon D200, ISO 1600, ƒ/2.8, 1/90sec, 24mm focal L.

(11)
Remove the door latch screws.

Remove the three screws holding the door latch.

Nikon D200, ISO 800, ƒ/2.8, 1/20sec, 35mm focal L.

(12)
Open the door and hook a screw driver under the wire retaining ring around the door seal. Pull this off being careful not to kink the wire.

Remove the wire ring holding gasket to the door panel.

Nikon D200, ISO 800, ƒ/2.8, 1/20sec, 32mm focal L.

(13)
Prepare to remove the door panel by removing the gasket from the panel and pushing the door latch out of the way. There’s no need to disconnect the door latch wires.

Free the gasket and door latch from the door panel.

Nikon D200, ISO 800, ƒ/2.8, 1/10sec, 32mm focal L.

(14)
Remove the four screws at the corners of the door panel.

Remove the door panel screws.

Nikon D200, ISO 800, ƒ/2.8, 1/10sec, 24mm focal L.

(15)
With the screws removed, the door panel is still resting securely on the hooks shown below. Lift the panel off the hooks and set it aside, door and all. There is no need to remove the door from the panel.

Lift the door panel off the hooks.

Nikon D200, ISO 800, ƒ/2.8, 1/30sec, 24mm focal L.

(16)
Remove the lower concrete weight. A real pro wouldn’t bother with this step, but, I assure you it’s worth it to remove the lower concrete weight from the drum. It’ll save you much frustration when trying to install the new seal.

Remove the lower concrete weight.

Nikon D200, ISO 800, ƒ/2.8, 1/10sec, 26mm focal L.

(17)
Finally, unscrew the wire band holding the gasket onto the drum and remove the gasket. Be very gentle with the soap tube attached to the gasket in the upper left. The soap tube is a fairly flimsy plastic, and could easily break if it is yanked on too hard.

Remove the wire ring holding the gasket onto the drum.

Nikon D200, ISO 800, ƒ/2.8, 1/10sec, 26mm focal L.

(18)
The drain holes in the bottom of my wash drum were totally clogged with soap scum and lint. This is a good time to clean those up to minimize water puddling in the gasket. Also, make sure that the outer gasket ring of the drum is free of soap scum so the new gasket can seal around it.

Good time to clean things up.

Nikon D200, ISO 1250, ƒ/2.8, 1/20sec, 38mm focal L.

It was interesting to note that the new gasket has an added feature to stop clothes from riding around the outer lip of the drum.

Note the new feature.

Nikon D200, ISO 800, ƒ/2.8, 1/15sec, 24mm focal L.

(19)
When putting the new gasket on, take note that it has alignment marks that should match up to the drum. The lower triangle on the drum will be inside of the gasket when it is installed. Use the notch at the top.

I don’t know of any good trick to install the gasket. It probably took me ~45 minutes of trial and error to get it stretched out and installed correctly. The winning technique that finally worked for me was:

Do not insert the soap tube or door sprayer into the gasket until the end.
Don’t bother with the wire band until the gasket is fully stretched over the washer drum. It only gets in the way and adds to the frustration.
Avoid using any tools on the gasket (pliers or pry bars). It would be fairly easy to tear it.
I started from the top and worked it down and around. If you are having trouble with it popping off the top once you start working toward the bottom, that probably means it wasn’t really seated at the top to begin with. There’s not a lot of room and no easy way to get pressure in the right spot to insure it’s seated.
Pulling from the outside and pushing from the inside will get it to yield. An extra pair of hands would be very beneficial to keep it from popping off the other side, but, I managed it by myself.

Alignment marks.

Nikon D200, ISO 800, ƒ/2.8, 1/30sec, 27mm focal L.

(20)
The door sprayer is easiest to insert by pulling it off the tubing and then removing the retaining washer from the fitting. Push the nozzle through from the bottom of the gasket, taking note that it’s pointed at the door, and then push the plastic washer onto the fitting, and then the hose onto the fitting.

Insert the door sprayer.

Nikon D200, ISO 1600, ƒ/2.8, 1/10sec, 40mm focal L.

(21)
When reinstalling the concrete weight, note that the bolts have a long flat edge that should be pushed into the slot.

Note the correct orientation of the weight bolts

Nikon D200, ISO 1600, ƒ/2.8, 1/13sec, 40mm focal L.

The rest of the install procedure is the reverse of the disassembly.

I left the lower, front panel off for the first load to make sure it easy to check for leaks. None found!

Best of luck for those attempting to tackle the job!

Carbon dioxide usage for brewing

I was wondering how long the CO2 tank should last when used for both carbonating and serving the beer. The carbonation consumption is not insignificant.

Assume:

1 keg is 5 gallons
Carbonating to 2.2 volumes
Dispensing at 40°F
Dispensing at 12 PSI

There’s 0.134 cu ft/gallon. Thus, 5 gallon is 0.67 cu ft.

2.2 “volumes” means there is 2.2*0.67 = 1.47 cu ft of CO2 that is dissolved in the beer.

12 PSI is the same as 1.82 atmospheres. Thus after dispensing all the beer, the empty keg has 1.22 cu ft of CO2 in it.

CO2 has a specific volume of ~8.2 cu ft/lb at 1.0 atmosphere and 40°F. Thus, 2.69 cu ft is 0.33 lbs of C02 used per 5-gallon keg.

So, assuming no leaks (yeah right!), the 15 lb bottle should be good for about 45 kegs.

Double Chocolate Nibbed Stout

I needed a nice holiday brew to get me into the new year. Thus, I venture into uncharted territory at the Flight Path Brewery — a chocolate milk stout. The recipe is adapted from this, but, it’s a bit light on the grain bill, and I have a trick up my sleeve that I think will add an interesting kick: cocoa nibs and whole vanilla been in the secondary. It’s a grand experiment, so, time will tell how it’s going to balance out.

Ingredients for 5 gallon batch:

8.75# RAHR 2-row
1.3# 60L crystal malt
1.0# chocolate malt
0.25# black patent malt
0.75# lactose (1 min)
0.5# cocoa powder (0 min)
1.5 oz Mt Hood Hops , 4.1% (60 min)
.25 oz Kent Goldings, 7.2% (30 min)

Batch #14 notes:

Mashed @155-156˚F
Boiled 90 minutes
Only collected about 4.5 gal — left about 0.5 gallon of that plugged up the siphon
OG: 1.075
Rehydrated S-04 yeast and pitched 11/28/2010
Racked to secondary 12/9 with 2 oz of cocoa nibs
FG: 1.029 – 6.1%
32 IBU
Tasting notes: It’s dark in color — black, almost, with a hing of cream color. It pours out of the tap with very fine bubbles, sorta-of like it was on nitrogen. Aroma has distinct chocolate notes, toasty notes, and a hint of burnt sugar, almost smokey caramel note. Tastes of toasted chocolate nibs, with a bit of creaminess in the finish. The chocolate is not in-your-face candy bar chocolate — there’s no overt sweetness. It’s subdued by the toasted flavor that is either coming from the nibs, or likely the black patent. Admittedly, the first taste is almost overpowering, but, the palette warms quickly and by the third drink you either love it or hate.

Kona Firerock Pale Ale clone

Brewed this up today.

Batch #13, brewed 11/07/2010:

Subbed RAHR 2 row instead of Maris Otter pale malt
2.2# Munich instead of 2.0
0.6# Cara-pils instead of 0.5
Used Centennial instead of the Mt. Hood for the aromatics.
Cascades were only 5% vs the 7.8% called for. Didn’t have extra to increase with.
7G mash water. Strike of 168˚F. Mashed at ~155˚F. Sparged with 9G.
Dumped onto WLP029 Kolsh yeast from the Oktoberfest altbier.
Collected 10.5G into primary at 1.067, for an efficiency of 87%!
Dry hopped with 0.5oz Mt hood and 0.25oz Centennial (per 5 gallon) for 6 days
Finished at 1.021, for 6.0% ABV
29 IBU
Kegged 11/25.

The open road: 2010 summer trip day 3

If you are just finding this, go here to start at the beginning.

Day 3: Tropic, UT to Ouray, CO — 528 Miles

[click to go to an interactive map]

Continue reading The open road: 2010 summer trip day 3

The open road: 2010 summer trip day 2

If you are just finding this, go here to start at the beginning.

Day 2: Tonopah, NV to Tropic, UT — 406 Miles

[click to go to an interactive map]

Last year I passed through Tonopah around breakfast time and found a very limited few choices. The motel clerk recommended the restaurant at the Ramada and it was indeed better than the Banc Club. The Ramada was practically like a mining museum with all sorts of equipment stashed throughout for decor. I had a few burdensome quarters that I intended to lighten from pockets on the way through the casino, but not a single one armed bandit accepted quarters. Very few actually had any vestige of an arm for which to pick your pocket with.

And yet, one of them somehow managed to lighten my wallet of a dollar bill — guess that’s why they don’t take coins any more…

Continue reading The open road: 2010 summer trip day 2

The open road: 2010 Summer trip day 1

And so begins the tale of what turned into a 7K mile motorcycle adventure on my trusty 2008 BMW F800ST. The “final” destination is Oshkosh, WI to catch the big airshow that happens each year around the end of July. Some of you may be thinking this all sounds so familiar, but, with an extra week, 40% more miles, better roads, more solo time, more destinations, and … Let’s just say turned into a much different trip for me than the prior year’s adventure.

For quick navigation, jump to day:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7, 8, 9 & 10, 11 & 12, 13, 14, 15, 22.

The route — a little teaser of what’s to come ….

[click to go to an interactive map]

Continue reading The open road: 2010 Summer trip day 1

Oktoberfest Altbier

For the Gemini Crickets annual action, I donated a batch of home brew beer to be auctioned off. The winning bidder, Bill, was very excited since he’d been wanting to learn about brewing. He chose to do an Oktoberfest which is a lager and not within my capabilities since I don’t have a proper temperature controlled cold storage to do the lagering in. But, I found a recipe that uses a Kölsch ale yeast that leaves a very clean finish approaching that of a lager yeast when fermented on the cooler side of ale temperatures (60-65˙F).

Recipe used for 10G batch:

10# German Vienna malt
10# German Pilsner malt
4# German Munich malt
1# Caramunich malt
1# Caravienne malt
White Labs WLP029 German Kölsch
Mash at 154˙F for 90 minutes
Boil for 90 minutes
2 oz Tettang for 60 min
1 oz Hallertau@3.8% for 30 min
1 oz Hallertau@3.8% for 15 min

Batch #12 brewed on 10/9/2010:

8.0G of water and 26# of grain is the absolute limit of my 10G mash tun.
Struggled to maintain 154˙F and probably averaged 152˙F
Pitched with 3 bottles of yeast since I didn’t get to the store in time to do a starter
Subbed Liberty@4.3% for the Tettang
Collected 11.0 G into primary at 1.065, for a real efficiency of 74% — Not shabby!
Pitched in the late afternoon on 10/9 and temp was about 72˚F . Cooled it through the night down to ~63˙F.
Most of the fermentation was between 64-68˚F, with a brief excursion above 70˚. On 11/5, moved buckets into fridge to chill prior to kegging.
One bucket finished at 1.021, and the other at 1.017 — quite a bit higher than the original. Not doing a starter was probably a mistake. After blending, that’s about a 6.1% ABV.
~23.7 IBU

Linus meets the Great Pumpkin

The Great Pumpkin does exist. It doesn’t distribute toys; instead it makes a nice fall beer to get us to the holidays. I always look forward to Buffalo Bill’s pumpkin beer, but, I’m not trying to make a clone of it. Instead, I mostly followed this recipe, and some advice from here, as well.

I have fresh of the vine sugar-pie pumpkins in the garden, so, there’s no reason to use canned pumpkin here.

Batch #11 — 10G batch:

14.5# 2-row RAHR
2# 40L Crystal
1.4# 75L Crystal
1.7# Belgian Biscuit malt
0.7# flaked/rolled wheat
8.1# of roasted pumpkin flesh
~1.3# rice hulls (overkill)
0.5 oz Goldings (4.1%) , and ~1.45 oz Saaz (4%) — 60 minutes — just using what I had on hand.
2 tablets Whirfloc (10 min)
0.5 oz fresh grated ginger
1 tsp ground clove
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp allspice
2 tsp ground cinamon
All spices added for 5 minutes of boil. All teaspoons were “rounded” (heaped)

Method:

Three 5# pumpkins were halved and scooped of seeds/guts and then baked (face up) in a 350˙F convection oven for 1 hour.
Once cooled, they were de-skinned and smooshed thoroughly, heated to 158˙F (mash temp) mixed with rice hulls, and then put into the mash with the grain bill.
Mashed for 1 hour at ~158˙F
Didn’t have any problems with the sparge. Will probably reduce the rice hulls next time.
There was a massive chill break coming out of the chiller.
Half the batch was pitched onto a Safeale S-05 yeast cake
The other half was pitched with S-04 yeast (9/6)
OG: 1.057
FG: 1.020 after 5 days in primary and 8 days in secondary for both the S-04 and S-05 which makes 4.8%. Pretty high attenuation, but, it doesn’t taste like there is excessive sugars left. Went ahead and kegged it.
~17 IBU

NIKON D200, ISO 500, ƒ/2.8, 1/30sec, 24mm focal L.

After roasting in the oven

NIKON D200, ISO 500, ƒ/2.8, 1/30sec, 24mm focal L.

Smooshed and ready to add into the mash with the grain.

NIKON D200, ISO 500, ƒ/2.8, 1/30sec, 24mm focal L.

The limit of what my 10G mash/lauter tun can handle

NIKON D200, ISO 500, ƒ/2.8, 1/30sec, 24mm focal L.

Setup for sparging (rinsing the converted sugars from the grain)

NIKON D200, ISO 500, ƒ/4.5, 1/50sec, 24mm focal L.

Memory Leak

The open road: 2010 summer trip day 4

GE Frontload Washer Door Gasket Replacement

Carbon dioxide usage for brewing

Double Chocolate Nibbed Stout

Kona Firerock Pale Ale clone

The open road: 2010 summer trip day 3

The open road: 2010 summer trip day 2

The open road: 2010 Summer trip day 1

Oktoberfest Altbier

Linus meets the Great Pumpkin

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