Thread: Great Gadgets That Save The Day !!

Originally Posted by 71L

The P-38 Can Opener or the Walther P-38 pistol? or the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter plane?

Of the 3 I can do without everything but the can opener!, have had one hanging on my neck or on a keychain now for 45 years, the planes hard to carry , and I carry a much better weapon, but good point. As to the can opener it's really a multi tool of the simplest form, but so many uses. Tc

Hey there,,,

Here's a bump for this thread.

About 2 months ago I bought this Ryobi hand pump at Home Depot. I put extra power Lithium 18 volt battery on it.

Last night the temperature plummeted to 69* degrees; I took off to dinner & saw my "low tire" light was on. Worried I had hit a nail, but the temperature drop caused my tires to drop 6 pounds in each. I broke out the hand pump & took care of business.

The reviews rate it as good, but slow & the gauge is off about 5 pounds under, so I double checked the pressure with another gauge.
Its a nice little gadget to have around.

Here's another day saver.

Do you have to dry your clothes twice?
Run extra time on clothing that should not take as long?

It's probably not your dryer. Its more than likely the vent tube that is causing the problem. I may be clogged severely down the path it takes to the outside or the path to the outside is simply too far away for a residential dryer to push the wet hot air out.

Our building has a design flaw & it took me 3 dryers in 14 years to find out the problem. Our exit vent for the dryer is too far from the dryer., so the wet air just returns back into the dryer.

This simple solution cuts my drying time in half , even on a load of heavy towels.

Made it from stuff at Home Depot.

A short pipe coming from the back of the dryer and ending in a Homer Bucket sitting on the washer next to it. 90% of the lint is captured by the water in the bucket & the air escapes through the filtered holes in the top of the bucket.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Here's another day saver.

Do you have to dry your clothes twice?
Run extra time on clothing that should not take as long?

It's probably not your dryer. Its more than likely the vent tube that is causing the problem. I may be clogged severely down the path it takes to the outside or the path to the outside is simply too far away for a residential dryer to push the wet hot air out.

Our building has a design flaw & it took me 3 dryers in 14 years to find out the problem. Our exit vent for the dryer is too far from the dryer., so the wet air just returns back into the dryer.

This simple solution cuts my drying time in half , even on a load of heavy towels.

Made it from stuff at Home Depot.

A short pipe coming from the back of the dryer and ending in a Homer Bucket sitting on the washer next to it. 90% of the lint is captured by the water in the bucket & the air escapes through the filtered holes in the top of the bucket.

The black material -- foam of some sort?

Great way to "adapt and overcome"! But I see a flaw in that design as well: heat. A lot of the reason dryers vent to outside the house is because of that hot, wet air. Having the heat produced stay in the house must really increase the workload on your A/C unit.

My spit-balling solution would be to route it to a window, like you would with a "portable air conditioner". Those exhaust the heat in much the same way as a clothes dryer.

Am I still making sense? It's bedtime.

I am a firm believer in dual purposing John,next time you throw dogs and burgers on the grill,you can steam your buns on the bucket.

Originally Posted by Wirm

I am a firm believer in dual purposing John,next time you throw dogs and burgers on the grill,you can steam your buns on the bucket.

Awful hard to sit on it with the hose in the middle!

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Originally Posted by Crawler

Great way to "adapt and overcome"! But I see a flaw in that design as well: heat. A lot of the reason dryers vent to outside the house is because of that hot, wet air. Having the heat produced stay in the house must really increase the workload on your A/C unit.

My spit-balling solution would be to route it to a window, like you would with a "portable air conditioner". Those exhaust the heat in much the same way as a clothes dryer.

Am I still making sense? It's bedtime.

The air exiting the top of the bucket is slightly warm at best, remember its being pushed into water. My dryer is in the hallway & about 8 feet from the AC & the controls that monitor the temperature. The dryer does not effect the AC at all.

If the dryer was close to a window, then a tube out the window would be an option, but then that would have to be an option that would require setting up each time you dry & being present during the process. If you leave a window cracked open down here , eventually someone will enter.

Originally Posted by 1oldDago

The black material -- foam of some sort?

Yes, from Wal Mart . It's sold by the sheet & you cut it with scissors. A pack is under $3.00 & lasts over 6 months.

The only pain is, after 6 loads of drying, you have to remove the bucket lid & vacuum the lint off that doesn't get caught by the water. Empty the water in the bucket every other week.