Tag Archives: Preference


Which Garage Door Opener is of Highest Quality?

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Often a shopper asks which garage door opener worksbest.

The answer is, it depends!

If someone asked you which pizza topping you like best, or what hand soap you prefer to use, you would be able to answer without giving it a second thought. There are purchases we make so often that we quickly develop a knowledge and preference for which is best for us. But it’s not very often you find yourself needing a new garage door opener. It’s a once in a lifetime purchase, maybe twice if you move to a new home.

 
There are three styles of garage door openers to look at, and each is built for a type of lifestyle. Only you candetermine.

What’s the Best Garage Door Opener?
Don’t panic, this short summary will aid you inlooking at the facts about each.

1. Chain Drives - The most common and often the least expensive, chain drives use a metal chain to run.Unfortunately the tradeoff is a noisey motor.

So the question is, do you worry about noise? If your garage is detached or you want to know what time yourchildren are coming home at night this might be a good option. But if you’d rather nonoise, say because there are bedrooms above the garage, the chain drive might not be for you.

Summary: Most affordable but loudest.Good idea if you have a not attachedgarage or don’t care about noise.

2. Belt Drives - Touted as being the best of the three openers. Belt drives run on a rubber belt and are asreliable as chain drives but are virtually silent! connected garage or don’t want loud noise,consider selecting this one}.Belt drives are more expensive than chain drives so it’s acompromise between noise and money. Precision Garage Door highly recommends these. 

Summary: Practically silent but costs more. Best if you have an attached garage or don’t like noise.

3. Screw Drives - These use a lifting device that runs along a threaded steel rod. Not recommended because they don’t like drastic temperature changes, so if you live in a region with hot summers and cold winters you should consider another option. Screw drives are moderately priced but noisy and slow moving
Summary: Best if you live in a region with constant climate. Noisy and slow moving.

Are They Really That Noisy/Quite? How often do they require garage door repair?
You can read these openers all you want, but you really need tolisten to them for yourself. You can try to find friends who have each of these.

Motorists Fit Into Two Categories As Far As Oil Changes Go

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There are folks who care about their engine maintenance and oil changes and there are people who don’t have the first clue or concern about their engine maintenance.

I have a problem with this second group and here’s why…

Years ago I decided to be debt free.  It took about a decade to achieve but now myself and my family do not owe one penny to anyone… and yes the house is paid off too.  I am relatively young to have achieved this and it did mean sacrifice when you compare me to my peers.

One of the main things I did to achieve my goal was to refrain from purchasing a brand new car or truck, as appealing as it seemed at times.   Automobiles are depreciating assets.   Some things do go up in value as time goes by and others go down.  Cars go down in value and have expenses to boot. 

My preference is to buy a car at about half of its new car price.  At this point the major loss of its value has already happened and the vehicle still has everything I need and want in a car.   Naturally, I’ll be apprehensive about its previous maintenance.  Was it a lease?  Was it a rental?  The one thing I might lose some sleep over is whether or not the engine was properly cared for…did the oil get changed regularly?

It’s great to encounter those people who are of the mindset  that whether or not they plan on keeping their vehicle, they’re going to take good care of it, change the oil on time and check the fluids regularly. The opposite end of the spectrum has folks with the mentality that they are trading it in anyway… no need for an oil change period “I’m not keeping it so who cares”.

The latter group is the one the world of used cars can do without.  Yeah, all I need to do is ask to see the maintenance records, but what if the deal of the century is sitting there and there are no maintenance records?  That purchase could be a liability.  This is when frustration takes over and you want to wake everyone up and tell them to change their motor oil when they’re supposed to!

Which oil is right for you?  Find out with the best motor oil review. .

Need to Know Solvent Cement Standards

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DEFINITION: Often called Pipe Glue, or PVC Glue, the product is actually a Solvent Cement, consisting of sol­vents that melt the surface portion of the conduit & fitting, and PVC resins that serve as a filler between these parts . When applied properly, the sol­vents evaporate or “flash off” leaving a single mass of conduit, fitting and resin forming a sealed joint.

BODY: All solvent cements are characterized by body referring to the mix of solvent and resin. The bigger the pipe or conduit, the more resin is needed to make a good seal . NEMA has recently adopted the ASTM­D2564 standard, which was universally used in all other industries using PVC pipe. Now that standards have been set for the body of the cement viscosity, we feel it is important this is made clear to Electrical Inspectors and the Industry. We feel the Industry has suffered be­cause inferior products with no real standards have saturated the market. Although some manufacturers have displayed that they are ASTM-D2564 compliant, they fail to label their cans as to what specifications they meet. Thus the user, using Regular Bodied Ce­ments (Good through either 2” or 4” Schedule 40) will not know the difference when using it on 6” or Schedule 80. We have adopted the ASTM Standard for all of our Solvent Cements. Medium Bodied Cements have more resin than Light or Regular Bodied Products. We Do not suggest the Standard Bodied Products for applications on Schedule 80 Conduits.

CLEAR OR GRAY?: The resins used determine the product tint . Originally most resins were gray, so many people developed a preference thru use. Clear or gray cements perform the same . Gray resin is more expensive than clear, therefore gray cements are higher in price.

LO-VOC ‘GREEN’: Lo-VOC PVC Cements „Green‟ Cements and Primers are environmentally safe. These Cements and Primers produce low levels of Volatile Organic Com­pounds (VOC). VOC‟s are unhealthful when breathed or ingested and reduce air quality. Required as of 2009 In California, Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey. They meet Environmental State & District Rules.

ASTM D-2564: The Electrical Industry has adopted this standard, to give us a bench mark to equate products. It states minimum performance criteria for all bod­ies of cements. All of our cements have achieved the upper levels of ASTM D-2564. We are certified by NSF.

SHELF LIFE: Most Solvent Cements have a rated shelf life of 1-2 years. Most have no shelf life guarantee . All United Elchem Cements have a full 3-Year shelf life from Manufacturer date . Each can and carton has the date on the bottom indicating the date of manufacture. The first number is the year followed by a letter month code (IE: C=March). To the best of our knowledge, the manufacturers of conduit do not make their own PVC Cements, and it goes thru multiple warehouses . We will give you fresh product all of the time .

COLD WEATHER: Most product complaints on PVC cements occur during cold weather. Most commonly, the complaint is the joint will not set up , and the pipe & fitting fail to bond . Solvents in General Duty Cements are designed to evaporate and allow the joint to set up down to 400F. (the colder the weather – the slower the set up ). High humidity also slows the cure process. POLAR-WELD Cold Weather Cement Uses a unique solvent that will continue to flash down to 00. This solvent is more expensive ; therefore cements rated for cold climates do cost more.

WET WEATHER APPLICATIONS: As little as 2% moisture in a can of PVC Cement can cause it to become lumpy and ruin the product. Applying conventional Cements to wet pipe, or in heavy rain means the joint will not bond . PLUMB-TITE Wet Application Cements will work in these conditions when nothing else will work. It’s unique solvents make this a more costly product than General Duty Cements.

PRIMERS: All PVC Cements work better when Primed . The Solvents in a Primer pre-soften the PVC making a more bondable connection . Primers should still be wet when PVC Cements are applied. Most Electrical Conduit Joints are made without the use of a Primer .