Highly skilled mechanical engineers to the rescue

[xiphias]

Doing laundry today, I heard the sound of water spilling onto the floor. This did not make me happy, so I ran into the bathroom where our washing machine is kept, and saw water spilling out of the bucket pump.

See, we put our washer in our bathroom, in our second-floor apartment (first floor for you Brits out there). And where we put it, there wasn’t enough room to get a gravity drain into the sewer line, the way that one likes to. So we had to install a “bucket pump.” This is a bucket that sits on the floor, and the waste water from the washing machine goes into the bucket through one pipe, and then there’s a pump in the bucket, and it pumps the water up and out of a second pipe , and that moves the waste water up and over to the sewer outflow pipe.

It works pretty well.

Except it wasn’t.

So I turned off the washing machine, and called around to plumbers. Who are mostly busy dealing with frozen pipes. So I left a bunch of messages with answering services.

One of the plumbers called me back. He said that, for a non-emergency like this (and it IS a non-emergency -- I can’t wash clothes, but I’ve got water in the kitchen, the toilet works, the shower works, and so forth), they couldn’t get to me before Tuesday. But . . . had I tried kicking the thing?

“What?”

“Kick it. Bucket pumps tend to be very durable. But they have a float switch which tells them to turn on the pump when the water fills up, and that gets stuck sometimes. So, try kicking it, and if that doesn’t work, go ahead and call me back and we’ll set up an appointment.”

So I kicked it.

Now it works.

Yay, mechanical engineering! And percussive maintenance!

Comments

[learnedax.livejournal.com]

Wait, so you had to kick the bucket? That's hardcore.

[banshee99.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I performed something like this a few weeks ago AND today!

My keyboard started acting possessed - it was capitalizing everything even though caps lock was off, highlighting everything no matter how much I tried to click in screen to break it, and then upon restarting my computer, would not work. It wasn't registering any keystrokes. I fiddled with all the wires. I restarted AGAIN. So, finally, I picked it up and slammed it down with as much force as I could. (Luckily, it was early morning and I was alone.) Voila! Worked like a charm. The one time it has happened since, slamming it down has also resolved the problem. (It's really a bandage because I have no clue what's causing it, still.)

And then I've been having issues with my monitor. I turn it on when I get into work. It comes up bright and clear. After seconds, the screen starts turning sickly green, then dark green and fades to black. I turn the monitor off, turn it back on, and we repeat the same process for any number of times. I've noticed that sometimes leaving it on and letting it stay black for a while will make it resolve itself - but not every time. So, this morning, after I clocked in while racing the doomed green, I took my monitor in my hands and shook the thing up and down (while still resting on my desk) and it became completely clear and bright. It still flickers purple throughout the day, but now I've figured out that violence solves this problem, too!

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

We used to have a television that did the same thing as your monitor. Yours is a CRT-style monitor and not one of the newfangled flatscreens, right? I suspect that one of the magnets that pulls the cathode ray around is loose. So whacking it works. :)

[navrins]

Regarding the keyboard - try just banging on the shift keys. I used to have a keyboard where the Ctrl key used to get stuck just like that; banging on it once or twice usually got it unstuck. Probably easier on the keyboard than banging the whole thing. (Maybe not as much fun, though.)

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

um, that's cool. but, um, wasn't the rescuer a plumber rather than a highly skilled mechanical engineer? I mean, if you'd called *me* and I knew the answer, then I would have been a highly skilled mechanical engineer to the rescue.

(Alas, as just a highly skilled mechanical engineer, nobody pays *me* big bucks to fix their toilet. Ah, wait, but then I don't have to fix their toilet...)

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

In what way is a plumber not an engineer?

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

It also feels like I have stepped on a sore point for you. If so, I am sorry.

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

no, just caught me at a snarky moment. I was looking excitedly for a mechanical engineer story when I saw your post title, and found a plumber story instead. (My confidence with plumbing did go up after the mechanical engineering job I did for a while that involved building robots that were powered by hydraulics and ordering the right fittings and hoses... if I hook up the dishwasher wrong it just spills water, rather than hydraulic oil!)

but I'm glad they came to your rescue, in any case!

[deerdancer22.livejournal.com]

I love your stories! Happy New Year1