I keep forgetting the sink works. Went to boil some water for dish washing this morning, and reached for the water bottle.
It’s been less than a week, and prior to that I went over two months without running water so certain things have gone wanting – like scrubbing porcelain. Much easier when water comes out of the faucet and you don’t have to haul every pint. So I spent some time with the, um, facilities today. Good news: Unlike the last time I lost water for a while, the toilet valve didn’t pack it in this time – though it did give me a most disconcerting rattling moan the first time I pressurized the pipes. Bad news:
A seal must have dried out and shrunk or something, but I’m getting a trickle from the sink faucet. Just a seep, really, but it’s already laying down a layer of calcium on my nice cast iron sink. I need to replace the damned thing or it’ll start forming stalagmites.
Also, and speaking of calcium…
I spent a whole gallon of cleaning vinegar and three hours’ time today trying to clean the scale out of my Real Flush Toilet and this is how far I got. Monday I can get one of those scraping stones, but that’s not going to cut it alone. I’m going to get more vinegar, empty the bowl of water and then see if straight vinegar will do it. Or at least that’s the only thing I can think of…
If you still have the bottle of CLR i sent you, try dumping that in and letting it work for a half a day or so.
Maybe weI should send you a DC motor for you to build a small wind generator??
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CNbg1ByWMBg/XIpkUNxo68I/AAAAAAAAfbs/pYGsqPnN-tUzi2R0k832qFPiQKaOtd_FQCLcBGAs/s1600/Lib6.jpg
😀 First time I saw that picture I thought, “I hope that’s false perspective and the chopper isn’t directly over that blade, or there’s a clutch on the generator or something, or that chopper is about to get swatted out of the sky when the weight shifts…”
https://plumbingtoday.biz/blog/how-to-remove-hard-white-mineral-deposits-from-faucets-showerheads
Vinegar will work, of course, but stronger acids are more “effective”. The stronger the acid, however, the more careful you need to be. You obviously would not want to spill full strength muriatic acid on yourself or Laddie. Hopefully…
}:-]
When we lived off grid, we put up a small wind generator because CO has plenty of wind. It didn’t do us any good because the wind in this part of the country swirls and changes direction all the time. The wind gen spent all it’s time twisting and turning trying to get facing into the wind. When it did, the wind direction shifted and it was another dance to find the new direction. I have no idea if that would be a problem for Joel.
No, no wind generator. Hardly anybody uses them these days: You have to raise them so high above the ground clutter that they become lightning attractors, and sometimes the wind blows hard enough to tear them apart. And of course sometimes it doesn’t blow at all. I know of a few still in service here and there but in general it’s best to depend on solar and enough batteries to let your power draw take the nighttime hit.
for rust and calcium, this stuff WORKS.
https://smile.amazon.com/BARR-ESX20005-22OZ-Stain-Remover/dp/B01B801C9S/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=goof+off+rust+aid&qid=1552692969&s=gateway&sr=8-2
See if you can get some at the hardware store.
Having said that, it can kill the bugs in your septic system, so flush with LOTS of water afterwards.
One thing that might help is to attach a toilet brush to your power drill and let the drill do the scrubbing. Here’s a couple of examples. One thing, if you are using anything caustic be careful about splash back. Vinegar or acid in the eyes is never fun.
https://www.todayshomeowner.com/video/homemade-scrub-brush-drill-cleaning-attachment/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z9fDeC_uh0
And of course, for your faucet, HD/Lowes is your answer. They almost certainly have the repair parts for your faucet. As I don’t need to tell you, your well water is probably doing bad things to it.
I’ve tried soaking and scrubbing with CLR and pickling vinegar and neither did anything to remove the stains. Haven’t tried a power brush. Will look on commercial sites. If I find anything will post the name. Think about your plumbing pipes and connections before using mineral removal products. It’s cheaper to replace a toilet or a sink than the pipes connected to it.
Although if you flush the work area enthusiastically after you are done, the pipes won’t be a problem, Zelda. His hands will melt from the acid before the PVC that Joel uses for his drain plumbing does. Things might be different for those with cast iron drain pipes, but those would be so internally caked with stuff from over the years that the acid would never actually get to the metal.
I’d like to suggest a little CLR, used sparingly. it’ll cut down your labor and not hurt your septic system.