In this video episode of The Handyguys Podcast Handyguy Paul replaces the water tank on his GE Side By Side refrigerator. His tank was leaking so he found the part and replaced it. This repair will be similar for many different makes and models of refrigerators.

Does a 5 minute fan take 5 minutes to install? The Handyguys find out. Watch this video to see if Handyguy Brian can beat the clock while installing a Hunter 5 minute fan.

We picked up the ceiling fan and everything needed to install it at our local True Value.

We were one of the bloggers selected by True Value to work on the DIY Squad. We have been compensated for our time commitment to the program as well as our writing about our experience. We have also been compensated for the materials needed for our DIY project. However, our opinions are entirely our own and we have not been paid to publish positive comments.

The Spooky Abandoned Railroad Tunnel

The Handyguys took a day off to discover a long lost Railroad tunnel. The big reason that few people have found the tunnel is due to the rough terrain. Brian and Paul fight through the thickets and make it to the tunnel. We had a lot of fun on our day off!

In this video episode of The Handyguys Podcast we showcase some of the features of a freestanding Ipe deck such as lighting, hidden fasteners, Ipe plugs and aluminum balusters.

Some of the things show in this video are

• Ipe Deck completed construction
• Use of beam and joist flashing
• Use of low voltage lighting with concealed wire
• Using a boulder for a landing
• Use of hidden Ipe fasteners
• Use of Ipe Plugs

In this video episode of The Handyguys Podcast we show you some aeration, hauling, bagging and other attachments that can add significant value and utility to your lawn tractor.

We put some John Deere attachments & accessories through a workout in this video:

Aerator

The key thing in using this aerator is to have weight on it. It also helps if your ground is moist.

Bagger

The Deere bagger does a great job picking up the clippings. It’s a little awkward to put on the first time so have a helper. Once you do it a few times it will become much easier.

Cart

We have used the Deere cart for hauling firewood, branches, tools, lumber and many other things. It works well, is lightweight and it wont rust.

Bumper

We put on a bumper on one of our evaluation tractors. The bumper protects the front of the tractor.

Sun Shade

If you are doing a lot of mowing and want to keep the sun off consider a sun shade

Cover

If you are going to store your tractor outside you should cover it. Yeah a tarp will do but a fitted cover will less likely blow away and it looks good.

John Deere has provided The Handyguys the products used in this evaluation. However, the opinions of The Handyguys are entirely our own and we have not been paid to make positive comments.

In this video episode of The Handyguys we discuss some common tractor and mower maintenance for your John Deere.

We discuss changing oil, checking air filters, the location of spark plugs, grease points and fuel filters.

John Deere sells a Home maintenance kit specifically for your tractor. It contains most of the items you will want for DIY maintenance of your tractor. One thing the kit does NOT contain is a grease gun and grease. This Grease Gun from Amazon is similar to the one used by The Handyguys in the video and works nicely. .

John Deere has provided The Handyguys the products used in this evaluation. However, the opinions of The Handyguys are entirely our own and we have not been paid to make positive comments.

In this video we give or viewers a brief overview of the controls of the LA115 lawn tractor from John Deere.

Controls Overview

This video is a follow-up to our audio show Episode #118 – Controls, Maintenance and Cutting Techniques of a John Deere LA115 Lawn Tractor. Many of the controls are identical to other models from the 100 series.

Feel free to comment on this video if you have any specific questions about any of the controls.

Making a Sandwich?

Handyguy Paul decided to play a trick on Brian and demonstrate how a true handyguy prepares his lunch!

In this video The Handyguys demonstrate the potential dangers of a nail gun’s power by taking it to a gun range and shooting a target at about 25 yards.

Please do not try this at home, or anywhere, ever.

It took a bit of practice, some fenagling with the right combination of nail guns, pressure settings, trajectory, choice of nails and other factors but we made the shot! Yeah, we were at the range for a while.

The target is a ‘clay pigeon’ held in front of a paper target with some thumbtacks. The backboard of the target was made of deteriorated strand board which enabled the flying nail to easily penetrate from 25 yards. We will not tell you what pressures we used. We wont tell you how we tricked out the nail gun to fire through the air.

For those of you looking at the video closely you may wonder about the black mark on the paper target after the hit. That was just black dust from the breaking clay target.

This isn’t a typical Handyguys TV video. We did this for fun. Please do not try to reproduce our results. We took many safety precautions including eye and ear protection and used a private facility set up for target practice.

We would LOVE your comments or feedback on this. Pass it around to your friends.

Thanks for watching!

The Handyguys look at some subtle differences between two models of Sawzalls and discuss when you would want each.

Milwaukee Tools sent The Handyguys a press release describing two new Sawzalls. At first glance the specifications seemed the same.

The only difference is the “Stroke Length”. What is the benefit of a longer stroke? When would you prefer a shorter stroke? In this video The Handyguys actually do a test to see the differences in making a cut with each version. We were surprised at how noticeable the differences are!

The shorter 3/4” stroke length is ideal for better control in tight areas, while the longer 1-1/8”stroke length delivers more aggressive cuts for heavy demolition. Both saws do an awesome job cutting through wood embedded with nails (a common thing in demolition). See them in action, along with a much older Sawzall for comparison.

Our longtime fans may recall we did a similar “test” a while back where we compared a corded Milwaukee Sawzall to Makita Cordless reciprocating saw. We used an almost identical methodology in this video.

We hope you find this information useful when shopping for a reciprocation saw. Thanks for checking it out.

If you like the video go ahead and subscribe. If you have iTunes you can get our videos right on your computer the moment they are live. The RSS subscriptions are for a variety of readers and video players. And, of course, feel free to subscribe to our audio shows while you are at it.

Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation has provided The Handyguys the products used in this evaluation. However, the opinions of The Handyguys are entirely our own and we have not been paid to make positive comments.

In this video The Handyguys discuss installing a wall sconce to add ambiance lighting, that wont glare on the screen, to a basement home theater.

Glare is the issue, planning is the answer

When you are considering lighting for your home, whether it be for a home theater, television viewing area, home office, kitchen or other places, it is important to consider placement of lighting so it will not cause glare. When Brian finished his basement he included a home theater. (It’s really not that grand, more a movie watching area) The lighting Brian originally installed were some recessed can lights. Once the wide-screen TV was acquired, the surround sound set-up and the furniture placement finalized, it became apparent that light from the recessed cans would cause glare on the TV screen.

The solution became to install some wall sconces. Brian was lucky to find Rejuvenation Lighting out of Portland, OR. Rejuvenation has a large selection of wall sconces. Even better, they had lights that had an old-time movie theater look.

Installation

We wont cover fishing wire in this video, that will be sometime later this year maybe.

1. Locate box location, trace fixture box, cut hole for box
2. Shut off power
3. Test that the power is off
4. Pull wires into hole and then into box – half inch of the Romex sheath should be inside the box
5. Install box in cutout
6. Connect fixture wires to house wiring – white to white, black to black, ground to ground. If your fixture doesn’t have a ground wire, the Romex ground should be connected to the fixture bar ground screw.
7. Mount the fixture according to the directions that came with it

That’s it, in a nutshell, if you have any questions about installing a light or any other questions for The Handyguys feel free to contact us.

In this video The Handyguys show you how to sharpen and balance a mower blade. Three different sharpening techniques are shown.

Sharpening

Three different sharpening techniques are shown

• Using a file
• Using a sander
• Using a grinder

We didn’t discuss using things like a dremel attachment or purpose built tools for sharpening.

Blade Balancing

When you sharpen it is also important that you “balance” your blade. If the blade is not balanced it can shorten the life of your mower and even be unsafe. We show you a very simple technique for balancing the blade in the video.

PS – Sorry the shop is sooo messy

The Handyguys discuss fixing a Whirpool Gold refrigerator. The issue was the unit would not run when the light bulb was installed. Many people have reported various issues such as:

• Display on the control panel stops working
• Lights not working (even with new bulbs)
• Electrical noise or buzzing sound from behind
• Flickering lights
• No cooling

The problem was a burnt contact on the circuit board. In this video we show you how to replace the control board.

Handyguy Paul’s Dishwasher not cleaning  - He takes apart his Dishwasher to clean out the basin.

The Handyguys planned to tackle two issues in this episode. They began with Paul’s Dishwasher not cleaning problems and hoped to talk about the Handyguy’s electrical toolkit. However, the dishwasher took up the entire episode and the electrical toolkit discussion got pushed back to another show (ok… we sometimes record these episodes out-of-order so the electrical toolkit discussion was published with episode #70).

So what is the problem with Paul’s dishwasher not cleaning that is worth talking so long about? Well, no one likes an expensive dishwasher that has problems doing the one thing it is supposed to do. Cleaning Dishes! Due to the Dishwasher not cleaning Handyguy Paul’s wife was not happy. Upon removing glasses from the dishwasher each morning, she was finding them covered in a cloudy white film. Typically this is due to hard water and is prevented with a rinse aid product. In this situation, rinse aid was not addressing the problem.

To make matters worse, the dishes on the top rack were also not being cleaned very well. In fact, it appeared that the upper spray arm above the top rack was not spraying much of any water onto the dishes.

So what was the solution to the white haze (or is it etching?) on the glasses? And how do you fix these problems. You can find the answer by listening to our podcast or watching our little video. Or how about both? Check it out.

In addition, the Handyguys discuss other common dishwasher problems.

The Handyguys are taking this week off from our regular podcast to do some independence day celebrating. I hope our non-US fans will understand. So, instead of a podcast The Handyguys decided to play with some new video equipment.

The Handyguys try out a ZTR and a Lawn Tractor style mower to determine the pros and cons of each. This video will give you a preview of what we cover in our next podcast. Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss the show.

The recorded podcast, episode 71, will be online at 5PM Eastern Time on July 9th. All comments on the video are encouraged.