Yet More Home Appliance Follies! (Microwave Edition)

This time, it is microwaves!

I noted before that our house was remodeled 18 years ago before we bought it, so all the appliances are about 18 years old.  So far we have replaced:

• Ice Machine
• HVAC System
• Washing Machine
• Dryer
• Garage Door Opener

That leaves the kitchen appliances (I repaired the refrigerator with a used control panel, so it might go a few more years), and the hot water heater.

The kitchen microwave died about three months ago at least.  Mark is not a microwave cook and we use it mostly to heat water or reheat beverages.  So it was not missed much when it died.  We thought (briefly) of replacing all the kitchen appliances at once, but the cost was pretty staggering and, oddly enough, the stores seemed less-than-interested in selling them to us (some sort of reverse psychology gag, no doubt).  So we took a pass.

A recently widowed friend of ours lamented that his microwave was broken as well.  So we decided to go to Home Depot and buy two of the cheapest microwaves possible (GE, $198) and install them in both houses.  We got a stainless steel one for his house, a white one for ours.

An older "associate" in the appliance department told us at first that nothing was in stock and we would have to have them delivered (??).  And all the guys working in the appliance department were old - older than I am, and I'm 64!  What's up with that?  Why pushing for home delivery?  He didn't want to take them down from the racks?  They want to sell installation services?  What?

I pointed out that they have them in the racks and they were a "cash and carry" item and he demurred, roping in a second and third senior citizen to work the vertical lift to get them down.  The second fellow was quite knowledgeable about appliances, I'll give him that!  We were talking about the trend toward stainless-steel appliances (and how white is now a "special order" color!).  The irony is, kitchen appliances were once referred to (and still are, in some circles) as "white goods" because of their color, but obviously that ship has sailed.

"Stainless" steel appliances today are made with low-grade stainless steel that would rust like a Tesla if not for the clearcoat paint applied to them.  That is how they get away with using cheap steel, but also how they can claim the appliances are "fingerprint" proof.  The original, high-quality bare stainless appliances would leave fingerprints (much like a DeLorean) which you would constantly have to remove with Windex.  The fellow warned that if you scrub a "stainless" appliance with any kind of abrasive cleaner or scrubbie, it would remove the clearcoat and the thing will look like hell and start to rust.

Maybe Mr. Musk should have spent some time at the Home Depot appliance department before they came out with the childishly named "cybertruck."  Of course, clearcoat does yellow over time, particularly in the sun.

Anyway, he got the two boxes down, and $400 later we are out the door.  Prices on under-cabinet microwaves are all over the place.  In 1992 or thereabouts, we paid the staggering sum of $500 for one (special order!) as they were a "new" thing at the time and expensive. That would be over $1100 in today's money.  The least we paid was $99 when remodeling the condo - it was cheaper than an old-fashioned vent hood (you know, the kind with scalloped edges!) which was a staggering $139.  So we've installed a few over the years.  And given inflation, $198 is pretty reasonable.

At the lake house, the previous owners had a microwave shelf installed in the cabinets, and an inexpensive $79 tabletop microwave sat there.  That really is the cheapest way to go, and if it dies, well, with $79 and ten minutes of your time, you are back in business.  We never saw a need to change it, either.  In fact, an under-cabinet job there would have required we replace the cabinet over the stove, as it would have left less than 10" of cooking height.  Sometimes it is best to leave well enough alone and kitchen remodeling returns only 50 cents on the dollar - if that - in terms of immediate resale value (after a few years, this drops to zero).

Anyway, we went to our friend's house and took out the old microwave and put in the new one, which took about two hours.  The new bottom bracket (rail) was almost identical to the old one and it wasn't too hard to find studs to screw it into.  Of course, the upper mounts (through the bottom of the cabinet) were completely different (figures) so we had to drill new holes for the plug and mounting bolts.

Speaking of which, that $500 microwave in 1992 had a totally different mounting system.  Instead of a lower rail, it had a large plate (like a split-system) and did not physically attach to the cabinet above. Instead, insanely long captive bolts extended through the microwave itself and were screwed in from the front, into the mounting plate.   The new technique, using a lower "rail" and bolts extending through the upper cabinet, is much cheaper to make, I think.  But you have to make sure your cabinets are properly attached to the wall, or the whole thing will fall down.

As we are replacing an existing installation, it was a lot easier, of course.  And once we had the lower rail installed and the upper holes drilled, it was a matter of wrestling the machine in place and then securing the two upper screws.  Pro tip: Put an old blanket or towels on your stove, lest you scratch or damage it (as one installer did, repairing our old microwave) if you rest the microwave on the stove.

Yes, over the years, our old microwave has needed service.  Within a year, under warranty, the magnatron was replaced (essentially the guts of the machine).  Later on, they replaced the control panel when it began starting the microwave by itself, which was scary.  Membrane-switch appliances!  You have to treat them gently.  Well, now it is going in the trash and I have an extra control panel (they sent two) still new-in-the-box.  Sadly, it only fits an 18-year-old microwave.  Maybe I can sell it on eBay.

I also had to repair the handle - twice - using superglue and baking soda (The Marty Matchbox Makeover Method).  So after 18 years, this microwave was ready for the trash.

Speaking of which, how do I dispose of the old machine?  We put our friend's old machine in his rolly-bin. It will be interesting to see if they garbage man takes it.  I guess we could do the same as well.  Old appliances are difficult trash to get rid of!  I guess that is why so many people prefer delivery and installation and "remove your old appliance" as well!

Coming up next: Yet another split system!  And readers said I would be bored in retirement.  I wish!

More Appliance Follies

Split-system A/C units, like toaster ovens, might get disgustingly dirty before they actually wear out.

Now that the split-system A/C unit is running in the studio, I decided to attack the one in the garage that is eight years old and recently started throwing an "E1" error code.  Documentation that came with the unit is scant - the only thing it says it to "call for service" if you get an error code.

The unit has had it share of small problems.  The display (for temperature setting) is missing a leg on the LED display, so "72" and looks like "73" sort of.  Also the small stepper motor that moves the distribution vane back and forth (and neatly closes up when shut off) died and the vane stays in one position.

The good news about that is a whole new display board is only $25 and an easy, one-screw installation.  The stepper motor is only $6.95.  So some parts are available - from Midea - and cheap, too!

But the main control boards (inside and out) are like $150 each or "NLA", along with something called a "reactor" which is NLA.  A new unit (like the one I just bought for the studio) can be had for about $700 delivered.  So it obviously isn't worth "throwing parts" at an eight-year-old unit, even if I expected a longer lifespan out of this unit.

I could  not find the exact service manual for the MCHS-12AVH1 unit, although Midea has some manuals for similar units (there are hundreds of variations, based on capacity, voltage, country of use, refrigerant, etc.).  This unit is 110V, 15A, R-410a, 12,000 BTU.  It is similar to the one I installed in Mark's studio except that unit is rated for 20A (obviously less efficient).

I find the diagnostic page for a similar unit and the process for diagnosing an E1 code is as follows:

The diagnostic involves throwing parts - expensive parts - at the unit.

As you can see, the problem is either in the wiring, or the inside and outside PCBs are faulty.  I presume the wiring is OK (although I will run a jumper wire around and see if that fixes the problem - I have plenty of control wire left over from the previous install).   But I doubt it - wires don't just decide to disconnect themselves.  The other two "solutions" are to replace the indoor or outdoor control units.  (I am not getting the +/- 25V on the signal wire).

I suspect it is the outside control board, as the inside unit seems to work OK in fan-only mode.  The outside unit made a frightening "pop" noise when I turned on the power.  The inside control board is NLA anyway.  Do I replace the outside control board and hope I didn't throw $150 away?  Or just buy anew.

I noticed there was detritus on my workbench under the unit.  It looked like mouse poop.  Were mice living in the unit?  That would explain a lot - but where would they be living?  Turns out, they weren't.  It was just eight years of debris accumulating inside the unit.  I had cleaned the filters regularly and flushed the condensate pan periodicaly with hot water and soap.  But the fan - a long cylindrical deal - was covered with what appeared to be black fur - mildew and dirt, I guess.

I tried cleaning it off with a soft brush and black dots of filth rained down on me.  I then tried a spray bottle with soap solution. with similar results.  Finally, out of frustration, I used a garden hose - after laying down some old towels to catch the water and debris..  Little black dots of filth rained down on me, yet again.

Here is a picture of the first round of black plague (I had to stop to vacuum this up, several times):

Ugh, this is worse than a toaster oven!  Little black chunks of debris everywhere!

I suspect the problem is related to the fact it is in the garage and exposed to a lot of dust and debris, as well as hot, humid air, whenever the garage door is opened.  The unit in Mark's studio, with all that clay dust and glaze, will no doubt have similar problems - the window units not only had rusted out, but their guts were filled with dried-on clay dust, which I discovered only after taking them apart.

I finally got all the detritus cleaned out of the fan, cleaned the drain pan and coils, and flushed out the condensate line.  It was pretty bad.  And do to all of this, I had to remove the vane and diffusers, as well as the entire cover (which has eight snaps and as many screws) to expose the "guts" of the unit.  It didn't solve the problem, of course, but illustrated to me that these things need to be cleaned regularly - like a toaster oven - or they get gross.  Legionnaires' disease anyone?

But speaking of toaster ovens, I took the thing apart (again) and removed the rotary switch which I then disassembled.  The main power contact wasn't making contact and had signs of being overheated.  Poor design or defective switch?  But I was able to pull a part number off it and found the same switch online - although with a different shaft (the shafts appear to be interchangeable).  It was only $13 by China Post, so we should see it by August.

If that unit can be repaired, we'd have four toaster ovens! (someone died and left us theirs - the heirs were going to throw it out it was so gross, but Dollar Tree oven cleaner to the rescue!).

Yes, it is possible to fix things, provided you (a) have the skills, (b) have the tools, and (c) have a source of inexpensive replacement parts.  Usually one or all three are deal-killers.  There is always (d) your time is not as valuable as the cost of replacing the unit.  Don't forget (e) - bothering to fix an end-of-life product.

Spending time repairing a $59 toaster oven is sort of pointless, but if I do it, it will be for the experience, not to save money.  Spending time and money repairing an air conditioner that has most of its life behind it, is probably pointless too.  But I'll check the wiring before I throw it away.  I already checked the charge level (OK) so that is not the problem.

Toaster ovens should last more than eight months, though.  Air conditioners should last longer than eight years!  Should, anyway.

FWIW.

UPDATE: I disconnected the control wiring from the outdoor unit to the indoor unit and ran a jumper wire in its place. I had so much wire left over from the previous install that I was able to run it through the doorway. The same thing happened, the E1 error occurred.

So I believe the outside control board is bad. I disassembled the outside unit and it was filled with filth and the control board looks like it's fried. I ended up just buying a new unit to replace the whole thing. I also bought the wall bracket to keep the outside unit off the ground.

A friend of mine is installing a split-system unit in his garage and asked if I would do it for him. I explained to him that it was a difficult process and he withdrew the suggestion.

His local HVAC guy wants $1,500 to do the entire install (not including the cost of the unit itself which was about $1,000) which, from my perspective, is pretty cheap given that their hourly rate is over $100 an hour and it can take the whole day to install one of these, especially if you have to drill holes through brick walls.

He plans on using a wall mount and also building a small roof over the top of the unit to keep the rain out. Of course, you have to follow the instructions in the manual to make sure the roof is far enough away from the unit to insure proper air circulation.

On our conventional air conditioning system, we put a diverter on the roof to keep the rainwater from rushing into the unit. One of the technicians also suggested putting a fine chicken wire over the top to keep the pine needles out. I noticed in Florida people have plastic covers look like garbage can lids, that are attached with a tether. When the fan turns on, it blows the cover up allowing air to go through and then when the fan shuts off the cover flops down keeping debris and dirt out of the unit.

Some people report replacing their air conditioners here by the ocean every 5 years or so which seems kind of extreme to me. I notice our unit which is 5 years old is already showing signs of rust on the fan motor. I periodically remove the top and fan and vacuum out the inside of the unit. The next time I do that I'm going to give the motor a coat of black paint.

Small Appliance Follies (And Right to Repair?)

When small appliances break, they are often not worth fixing!

When I was a kid, they had articles in Popular Mechanix and even the Boy Scout Manual on how to fix your toaster.  Back then, toasters were pretty simple appliances and only made.... toast.  The heating elements, as they aged, would break, and it was possible to disassemble a toaster and crimp the broken heating element back together.  Of course, if the heating element was so old and brittle that it was breaking, chances are, the repair would only be temporary in nature, as it would break at another point shortly.  Such is the nature of repairs, which is why it is smart to think hard before trying to repair something near the end of its design life.

On the other hand, a new appliance should last more than a few months, which is why we have warranties.  Last June, before we went away for the summer, we bought a new toaster oven.  This is likely the fourth or fifth one we have bought - they do not live long.  Not only do they break down, they get disgustingly dirty, as baked-on grease and nonsense becomes impossible to remove.  Even using oven cleaner doesn't do much, after a while (and indeed, can cause more problems than it solves).

I wrote before about infant mortality in machinery and appliances.  In electrical gear, this is particularly a problem.  You put in a new light bulb, turn it on, and poof! it blows out right away.  In any batch of product, there are bound to be a few bad apples that fail early.  The rest will run for their design life until they fail late.  Responsible manufacturers use "burn-in" to cull the herd of the bad boys who would have failed early.

The term is confusing as nothing is "burning" during burn-in.  Instead, the product is simply run for a number of minutes, hours, or days (depending on the product and how much the manufacturer can afford).  Out of say, 100 products, maybe five will fail.  The reliability of the remaining 95 units is that much higher.  So you ship out the units that "passed" burn-in and have fewer complaints and warranty repairs from customers.

Of course, burn-in costs money, as you have to take up space in your factory with burn-in stations and people to plug the product in and monitor them.  In a factory making thousands of product a day, this simply is not feasible.  So to cut costs, many modern factories simply test the unit for functionality - if that - and then ship it.  The consumer becomes the burn-in tester or Beta tester as they call it in the software world.

Our toaster oven, Black and Decker model TO3217SS was pretty neat.  It had an "air fry" mode that cooked almost microwave fast.  We liked it, until about two weeks ago when it started acting up - not turning on sometimes, unless you played with the main switch.  Then finally, it stopped turning on at all.

There are three knobs on the toaster oven.  The top knob selects between toaster modes and oven modes and also sets temperature (in oven mode).  The bottom two knobs are timers, one for oven mode and the other for toaster mode.  Most toaster ovens have one knob to select mode, a second knob to select temperature, and a third knob for the timer.  So this is a somewhat unusual arrangement compared to other toaster ovens.

So, I look in  my four ring-binders of appliance manuals and I can't find one for the toaster oven - this is not like me.  Fortunately, I could download the user manual from Black and Decker or from Manuals.lib (the latter presenting a confusing "abridged" version as well).  By the way, Black and Decker is just a brand name these days (at least for some products), owned by something called "Spectrum Brands" the successor to "Ray-O-Vac" which is an ancient name for a battery company that only Boomers would remember.  Everything is made overseas.  Guess where?

Turns out, there is a two-year warranty on the toaster oven, as listed in the back of the service manual, so I log on to their site and start a warranty claim.  They want a copy of the original receipt.  No problem.  As a near-boomer, I keep paper receipts and throw them in a big cardboard box and when the box is full, I tape it shut and store it.  After seven years or so, I burn the box in the fireplace.

So I dig through the box and find it.  Actually, I already knew which layer of receipts to look in, as Quickbooks told me I bought it at Walmart on June 22, 2023.  Yes, it is handy to log these things!  So after 15 minutes of digging, I find the receipt, scan it in and upload it.

Turns out we only paid $59 (exactly) for the unit, which is below MSRP.  I get a response back from Spectrum Home Appliances (via Brand Protect Plus) the next business day.  They agree the unit is under warranty, but want a photo of the plug cut off with the date code which is stamped on one of the prongs of the power plug. That, and they want a check (OK, boomer!) for $7.50 for shipping and handling.  So I cut the plug off and take a photo and mail off a check to the company and they send another e-mail saying they will ship me a new unit.

By the way, I realized that the switch will probably last longer if we don't switch between modes with either timer "on."  When you switch a "live" switch, it will arc, which can leave a deposit of oxide on the contacts which can act as an insulator.  Better to select "mode" and then activate the timer, although that just moves the point of arc-ing to the timer switch.  Sadly, with the price of copper these days, so many switches now use aluminum contacts and aluminum oxide is an excellent insulator.  Switches don't last as long, as a result.

Of course, a lot of people would just say "forgetaboutit!" and buy another toaster oven.  Who saves receipts, except cranky old retired gay men?  Who has the time and energy to jump through these hoops and pay $7.50 for a $59 toaster?  Ditto.  They count on most people not being willing to take the effort and time to do this.  And if the toaster failed early-on, most people would put it back in the box and take it back to Walmart.

But of course, being a (retired) Electrical Engineer, I had to take apart the old toaster oven to see what was what. 32 small screws later, it is laid open for me to examine.  The main rotary switch is not showing continuity in any position, while the timer switches are.  The switch seems to come apart, but I have not examined it in that detail.

The devil in me thinks, "Cutting off the plug?  No big deal!  I have several replacement plugs in my box 'o electrical stuff!  Why not put a new plug on it, repair the switch and have two toaster ovens!"  All I need to do is find a replacement switch, right?

Uh, yea.  Nothing is repairable anymore and parts - other than cooking racks and pans - are not available, it seems, anywhere.  I can't even find a parts diagram or parts list so I can search by part name.  Even the cooking racks and pans are priced such that, for a $59 toaster oven, they are not worthwhile buying.  Unless I could find a switch for ten bucks or less, the deal is off.

Sadly, this is the norm with so much of our technology today.  Things are so cheaply made as to be disposable.  Technology becomes outdated so quickly there is little point in making something last a long time or be repairable as it will be outmoded so quickly, or repair labor costs will exceed the value of the item.

With our split-system A/C unit, for example, the labor cost (at over $100 an hour!) to install one can easily exceed the cost of the unit itself.  We have cheap labor overseas, not so much here in the USA.  Time was, the "mending man" could fix things, but then again, he wasn't driving a $100,000 pickup truck or had expectations of doing so.

No, nothing is made to last anymore, and in a way this is a good thing.  We don't keep things around for very long, but constantly upgrade to "new! New! NEW!" every few years.  Even when they don't break, we end up getting a new toaster oven every five years or so - they just get gross after a few years.

Maybe that is why Toshiba went bankrupt - not because of their nuclear power plant deal with Westinghouse, but because they over-built their laptops so they would never break.

I guess I am officially an old boomer!

I Swore I'd Never Install Another Split System A/C!

They're quiet, they're efficient, they're a pain-in-the-ass to install!

I wrote before how I tested a split system A/C unit back in the 1980s when I worked for a large air conditioning company.  They offered us a license to sell them under our own brand name, but we turned them down.  As one executive put it, "Americans want window units!"

And there is a certain logic to that.  A simple window unit A/C system can cost only a few hundred dollars and can be installed in an afternoon, if not in fact, under an hour.  They are ugly and block a window, and the seal around the window leaves a lot to be desired.  But they are cheap and easy to install.

A split system, on the other hand, can cost about $1000 (although I paid a lot less than that for my grey-market Hitachi systems in New York, that ran on R-22 as I recall).  Installation is another thing, though.  Expect to pay as much to install as you would for the system.  I've had HVAC techs quote me $5000 just to install one system, and in some cases, that might be justified, particularly if you are on a second storey.

It ain't easy.  Mounting the inside wall unit seems easy - "you hang it like a picture!" people crow.  True that, but you have to make sure the mounting bracket is screwed into studs, or the whole thing will fall off.  Sort of like mounting a microwave under-cabinet.

But that's the "easy" part.  You have to have a hole going out through the wall for the refrigerant lines, the condensate line, and the electrical connection.  For a wood-framed house, maybe this is not such an issue, other than when you hang the bracket, you have to make sure the "hole" isn't going through a stud. Fortunately, they give you a large cardboard template to work with.

In other cases, it may not be so easy.  The units I put in the basement of our lake house required that I drill through nearly 10" of hard solid concrete. I bought an impact drill and two bits and basically wore all three completely out by the time I was done.

By the way, did I mention that everything is metric?  They kindly stamped "US ONLY" on the wall bracket next to the holes that were on 16" centers, which is pretty standard spacing for US wall studs.  This will come into play later on.

So you get the inside mounted and feed the pipes, cable, and hose through the wall.  Some kits come with a sleeve to put through the hole - and even an escutcheon.  Make sure the hole angles down so the condensate will drain out.  This latest unit had no sleeve, so I put a 2-1/2" piece of PVC pipe through the wall, cut it flush, and caulked it in place.  Maybe this will keep the termites at bay.

Yes, termites - a horrific discovery that delayed the project by a week.  We had the studio and house treated and traps installed.  We'll see where that goes.  Termites are a way of life in the South.  We have them in our historic Goodyear Cottage which is rented by the Arts Association.  Our historic preservationist wasn't too worried about them - "they are a slow-moving hazard" he said.  And I guess they have a lot to deal with.  We regularly go through their dumpster for scrap lumber and other choice things and recently we saw a set of beams from another historical cottage, riddled with termite holes. So it ain't just us!

Now for the outside part.  You need to run electric - 110V or preferably 220V.  I had a 20A 110V line installed for the window unit, so I drilled through the back of the box and through the outside wall and ran the power to a disconnect box.  You need to have a disconnect so you can work on the unit without being electrocuted.  Most electrical codes require this.

The company I bought the unit from (Alpine) offers these things (disconnect box, refrigerant lines, electrical cord, condensate line, outdoor mounting bracket) a la carte.  Turns out, the unit comes with a condensate line, so now I have two.  But figure two or three trips to Lowe's to get other bits and bobs to finish the project.

In New York, I poured  concrete slab for one outside unit and built a small wooden deck for two others (using scrap deck boards).  My garage unit is bolted to the concrete sidewalk.  A neighbor asked me to install a unit for him (and later, a second unit) which I am loathe to do as working on other people's stuff is stressful.  But he had bought wall-mounting brackets which appeared flimsy until you tighten up all the bolts.  It held my weight which is far more than the weight of the unit.

The bracket just "hangs" from the wall with lag screws.  It did support my weight which is 3x the weight of the unit, though.

Ground mounting is problematic as leaves and debris accumulate in the unit. My friend had a "professional" install a unit for him and they left it on the ground, unbolted.  When I found it, it was half-buried in dirt and debris and no doubt not long for this world.

So wall-mounting is really the way to go.

But again, metric.  The screw holes were on approximately 18" centers so I had to drill holes at the 16" mark for the lag screws.  The mounting holes for the condensing unit were "off" as well and I had to drill two holes for the 1/2" head quarter-twenty bolts that hold the condensing unit to the bracket.  No doubt vinyl siding is not popular in Japan, so I had to use rubber blocks between the uprights (which I lad-screwed in as well) to make up for the gap from the vinyl.  Oh yea, I had to space out the top bracket with some plastic blocks to clear the vinyl siding further down.

The bracket, by the way, comes with a bubble-level built-in, so you can easily level the top bracket when installing.  The "arms" have adjustable pads to level in-and-out.

You realize you are working with a technology not designed with American building codes in mind.  Hooking up the electric is like working on a car, not a house.  The electric enclosures are tiny and hard to work with if you have big hands.  It is like wrestling a pig in a phone booth!

The main power goes to the condensing unit outside and then a "control cable" feeds power inside to the evaporator, running the fan and electronic controls.  And yes, they all have remote controls, even the one I tested back in 1982.

Now the hard part - refrigerant lines.  I cut mine to fit, but others don't and I don't suggest that.  Some units come with "precharged lines" that have fittings that pop open when you connect them.  Some claim this causes a loss of efficiency, as there is a restriction in the line. If you don't cut the lines to length, what do you do with the excess? Some neighbors coil this up and even put it on a hose holder (!).  Problem is, there is oil in the refrigerant and it accumulates in these loops and can starve the compressor (at worst) or just decrease efficiency (at best).

So you have to cut the lines and flare them (be sure to put the flare nut on the line before flaring! - I've done that more than I care to admit) and carefully flare the copper.  In traditional American HVAC, compression fittings like this are not favored - we silver-solder lines for a permanent leak-tite seal.  Flare fittings?  For amateurs!  But it is the norm for split systems.

I broke down and bought a new pipe cutter and a new flaring tool (trip to Lowe's #3) as my old tools were worn and making bad cuts and bad flares.  You don't put pipe dope or tape on flare fittings of any kind - the compression is what seals it.  But in my friend's install,the provided a small disc to put on the male fitting to seal, and lately, they offer this goop to put on the fittings.  I used it, but not sure if it helped or not.

For a change, there were no leaks in the system when I pumped it down.  Yes, you need a vacuum pump and manifold gauge set (or at least one gauge, as there is generally no high-side tap on these things).  I pumped it down and it held vacuum, so I opened the low side valve and... promptly pumped out most of the refrigerant!

Damn!

Leak-checking is a two-stage process. If the system holds vacuum, that is a good sign.  Once evacuated, open up the low-side valve (the condenser is precharged with refrigerant) and let some gas into the system and use a soap solution to check for bubbles.  Make sure the manifold is disconnected or the valves are firmly shut, or that precious refrigerant will back-flow through your vacuum pump!  Duh.

If you do this for a living, you get used to doing it. If you do one every five years, you forget and make mistakes.  Professionals also have a big tank of R-410a in their truck.  I had to order it.  Funny thing, but you can even buy "illegal" refrigerants online if you represent yourself as EPA certified.  So I recharged the thing and it works perfectly.  Supposedly, R410a is being phased out soon.  Oh, well.

I used ordinary plastic gutter downspout (with the back cut out) to cover the refrigerant and condensate lines.  Note the hole where the window unit used to be.

The units in New York I had evacuated and charged by a local HVAC tech, as I didn't own a vacuum pump.  I think he charged less than $300 to do all three, which was cheaper than me buying a vacuum pump and manifold gauge set.

Oddly enough, the present unit ran with a very low charge, it just didn't cool.  Most units will shut down if the charge is too low (or too high) and generate an error code.  I guess it wasn't that far off.  32 ounces later, it runs like a champ.

All that being said, I am not sure I want to do another one, even if I am getting the hang of it after seven installs.

The end result, though, was worth it.  No noise, no vibration (even with a wall-mount!) - just quiet, steady cooling (and heating, it is a heat pump).  Plus, no puddle of water inside some window unit to act as a termite drinking fountain.

All I have left to do is remove a second window unit (also rusted through).  Hopefully the termites haven't made a home there, as well!

Plagiarism is Only an Academic Crime

Attributing ideas to others is required in Academia, but not elsewhere.

A recent article online describes the trials and tribulations of a Harvard professor that is being accused of falsifying data, and now, plagiarism. I am not sure what the former is about, as the "science" involved seems to be one of these soft sciences, such as surveys and the like, which are hard to quantify in any event.

But the plagiarism accusation is interesting and perhaps is an example of "piling on" against a woman professor.  If you haven't been paying attention lately, Harvard has been the ground-zero for attacks by the far-right.  Alumni are withholding donations and professors and administrators being sacked for being too "woke."  And in some instances, maybe these removals or resignations are justified, maybe not. All I can see is the school being put under a microscope by the far-right for any evidence of infection by the "woke" virus.

And I think this latest Academic bru-ha-ha is an example of this.  A professor is accused of "plagiarism" for paraphrasing things that, in themselves, are not really ideas.  As one expert quoted in the article, the whole point of citation of references is to allow other academics to see what the original quote meant and in what context - otherwise, people could use a quote in a context completely the opposite as intended by the author.  Sort of what so-called modern "Christians" do with Bible verses.

The thing about plagiarism is that so long as you attribute an idea or quote, you are not plagiarizing. But whether an a quote or paraphrase rises to the level of an idea attributable to another author is a good question. For example, the article uses this example of a paraphrasing that they claim is plagiarized:

Even though the capital of Italy is Rome, Milan is the center of fashion and design.

One of the city’s noblest areas is the “fashion quadrilateral” comprising four streets: Via Monte Napoleone, Via Manzoni, Via della Spiga and Corso Venezia.

Supposedly, the professor "copied" this "idea" in her book without attribution. Now, if this was a PhD dissertation, then plagiarism is a real issue.  But the description of these four streets comprising the fashion district wasn't published for peer review, but rather in a book sold in bookstores.  Granted, the professor could have merely added a footnote along the lines of [1] Azureazure.com article (2014) and avoided any claims of plagiarism.  But on the other hand, is a mere description of the fashion district an "idea" that is being promulgated by another author?  Maybe she should have changed the order in which she listed the streets!

The problem with this sort of nonsense is that you can use online tools to scan any article, book, or paper and look for identical or similar text online. You can "find" plagiarism where there really is none.  Taking a passage from another source and paraphrasing it, particularly when it is not expressing anything really original, or in this case, merely descriptive, isn't really an academic crime - and certainly not a real one.

For example, suppose I said, "Washington, DC is the Capitol of the United States, but the fashion capitol is really New York City, particularly the Garment district in Mid-town Manhattan..."?  No doubt, if  you searched online, you would find a similar sentence expressed elsewhere in the billions of articles published over the ages.  I am not expressing an original idea, thought, or thesis, merely describing a location.  Is that a crime?

Maybe in the ivory tower of Academia, but not under the law.  Yes, Copyright protects the expressions of an idea, but not an idea itself.  So you can paraphrase something someone else said, and it is likely not to be infringement.  Similarly, while attribution may insulate you from accusations of plagiarism, it is no defense to Copyright infringement.

That being said, short phrases or slogans are not really deemed Copyrightable. It is hard to claim Copyright to a slogan on a T-shirt, but you might be able to claim it as a Trademark - if you use it in commerce.  So if you sell T-shirts that say "Just Do It!" you likely will get a letter from my friends at Nike, as they claim that as a Trademark for their goods.  But Copyright?  Less so - unless you want to go down the road of the "artistic" merit of the font selection and layout as being an artistic expression.

Under Copyright law, there is a thing known as "fair use" and one of the exceptions in particular, is for educational purposes.  You cannot lay claim to an idea, or claim that no one can quote you without violating your Copyright, if they are critiquing your quote for educational purposes. If that were the case, well, no one could every contradict you. Of course, the "fair use" doctrine is a defense to an infringement claim - someone can still sue you and bury you in legal fees, if they are particularly vindictive.

Speaking of which, the whole nub of this thing is a $25M lawsuit filed by the professor against Harvard and a blog called "Data Colada" which claims to debunk falsified and exaggerated data in the psychology field, particularly when dealing with statistical data.  You know how I feel about surveys and statistics.  Apparently, one of the professor's assistants contacted that blog with evidence that some data may have been altered.  They, in turn, contacted Harvard, and four of the papers were withdrawn from publication and the professor placed on administrative leave.

Is Data Colada a group of truth-seekers or a "Republican police" engaged in a "Witch hunt" as alleged by some other psychologists.  Beats me, although this sort of smacks of Project Veritas kind of vibes.  It just seems odd to me that so many at Harvard are under attack these days.  Maybe these are justified attacks, maybe not.  But in most cases, it seems, they are against left-leaning professors and administrators.  And no doubt the Harvard Business School has a lot of conservative donors.

Demonizing and eventually exterminating the intelligentsia was a tactic of both Hitler and Stalin.  It worries me that we seem to be demonizing education in general, as of late.  Granted, there is a lot of leftist claptrap being promoted on campus these days.  And a lot of "social science" is anything but science.  Those on the right complain that young people are being indoctrinated into leftist thinking.  But of course, what they want is a chance to indoctrinate people into rightest thinking. Yea, they have Fox News, but that only works on the over-60 set.  They want to snag the youth of America.

So one wonders, is this an isolated incident, or part of some scheme to discredit left-leaning academics - and by extension, create a chilling effect in Academia so that other professors will temper their language and instruction, lest they be next on the tenure chopping block.

I don't know.  But it seems these claims of "plagiarism" are a bit of piling-on in this case.