Curb Appeal

Jeff, You're right it is very thin, and expensive. I got about 275 sq. ft. out of the first gallon that I used on a patio as a demo for the HOA. I used a 2 ga. pump-up for that and I still overapplied a little. I think if I can get a fan tip I can get a little better coverage and go a little quicker. My favorite choice right now is a Dobbins 15 gal. 12 volt sprayer. I'm not sure of the GPM but I think it's 1.8. Harbor Freight has them for $99 & I'm going to check them out in the next couple of days. That would mean I would have to spend about $100 on 200' of hose and a battery (unless I can hook it up to my PW battery without draining it). Any good places to buy a tip and some hose? Thanks,

It's also aggregate so that wouldn't work in my situation. And you CAN put too much of this stuff down. If it's overapplied, it forms a white haze that doesn't go away for a few weeks. Good idea though.

No, the music downloads at Wal-Mart are not illegal. They usually run $0.88 per song. They may have some kind of monthly subscription rate also. Good luck finding Alice. It might be difficult since it's never been released on DVD. The only way for you to get it would be for someone to record all of the old re-runs onto their PVR (usually in Xvid or Divx format) from cable or satellite and upload them to one of the filesharing communities or to a newsgroup. You would then have to download them, convert them to DVD format, and then burn them to a blank DVD. Encoding or re-encoding video takes some serious computing power as well, or lacking that, a LOT of time.

The only difference between movies/music/software and cars, money, etc... is that when you buy the movie/music/software. you are not buying the physical thing. You are buying the right to use the 1s and 0s that compose that movie/music/software. I'll refer back to my original analogy. If you subscribe to cable and pay for the right to view a program or movie and then record it and watch it again, is that stealing? Or maybe the new Video on Demand services would be a closer analogy. If you request a movie that is offered by your cable company as part of your monthy subscription and then record it and watch it again, is that stealing? Don't get me wrong, I'm not begrudging the movie industry, or anyone else, of making all of the profit they can by whatever means they devise. If they can make $200 million profit on each and every movie (I have no idea what the real world numbers are), then I say more power to them. That's just more capital to use for making more higher budget movies. In my case, they've made their money selling the movie to the video store. If any one is being cheated out of profit, then I guess it would be they, not the movie studios (though it's difficult to see how). If the movies store chooses to allow me to check out 180 movies per month (6 movies/day x 30 days), for the same price as renting 4 movies, does it really make a difference if I check out 180 different movies or the same 18 movies 10 times, or any other combination? That is their right under the agreement that they have with the movies studios. One final point, I don't think that my sitting in this grey area is draining the movies studios of profit. A bigger problem is the blatant copying and selling of the movie by individuals and companies overseas. There are companies with manufacturing faciilities whose sole reason for being in business is to copy and sell pirated movies at almost the capacity of the legitimate distributors and manufacturers. The same goes for music and software. As the saying goes, there is only one legitimate copy of Windows in China...:)

Lance, I just had the same situation. The rig I just bought had milky white oil in it. At first I thought That it was water but I read on a forum post (not sure if it eas here or soewhere else) that putting detergent oil in the pump can turn it milky white. I bought some Shell ND oil and drained and filled my pump. I just went out and brought the open quart into the house. After pouring it int a glass under the light, it is indeed almost completely clear. It has a very slight brown tone to it but you can only see that after a good amount is poured into the glass. As it comes out of the jug, it looks completely clear. I've run the pump for a total of about 20-30 min after changing the oil and it is still clear on the dipstick and through the sightglass. What did the suspect oil look like when you drained it? I'm not sure about the difference in appearance between used detergent oil and water in the oil but since mine is still clear after running I'm led to believe that detergent oil was the cause of my milky white pump oil. I'm also not sure about the long term damage of using detergent oil for any amount of time, much less a couple of months. Keep us posted...

Remember when buying a movie on video tape would set you back $80-$100. Back then most people didn't even have the capability to make copies. The record and music companies will price their product at whatever price point the market will bear and still make them a profit, a nice one at that. If it costs me $0.15 to copy a DVD, imagine what it costs per DVD churning them out by the millions from a factory. There has been a trend in the last couple of years, at least on the CD side of things, of prices falling. That's because the record companies are trying to make it more attractive for you to buy the CD instead of illegally downloading it. Notice all of the online music sellers that have popped up where you can DL a song for as little as $.50 or pay a monthly fee for unlimited DLs. In the years to come, I see both movies and music moving to this business model. It's cheaper for them and cheaper for the consumer. If I could buy and DL a movie for 1 or 2 bucks I wouldn't hesitate at all. Think about it, it costs what $100 million or so to make a decent movie? Most if not all of that and more is made through box office sales. The DVD market is just gravy after that. How many more movies would you buy if you could get them for under $5? How many more people that normally don't buy movies would buy them at that price? Just something to think about...

No, no flames here. You are right, downloading movies is stealing. I don't download that much, just documentaries that aren't out on DVD or foreign movies that do not get released in the States. As for copying rented movies, I'm not sure. In the strictest sense of the word, it probably would be considered stealing. But think about this. If you record a movie or program from cable on your DVD recorder or PVR and then burn it to DVD, is that stealing? You've paid for the service through you cable but now you have the movie to watch as many times as you wish. Just insert video store for cable company in the above senario and it seems to me that they're pretty similar. Just my .02

Movies that you rent or buy usually come on a dual layer DVD. That is, There are two layers of data on the DVD for a total of 9.4GB of data. You can buy dual layer blank discs for your burner but right now they are too expensive and you have to have a dual layer DVD burner on your computer, which some people do not have. Therefore, you have to "shrik" the movie to fit onto a 4.7GB single layer blank DVD. I use a program called DVD Shrink. It is very easy to use and it does everything that you need. It is a free program and you can get it here from the creator: http://www.dvdshrink.org/what.html I won't go into details about how to use it here, but you can visit this site for all of your questions about DVD burning. Do a search for DVD Shrink and you will find illustrated guides on how to use the program. http://www.videohelp.com/ Hope this helps

Google the word TORRENTS and you will find out more than you ever wanted to know about FREE downloading of movies. The sites that you are referring to are usually just newsgroup server companies that keep the binary files for an extended period of time and offer you software to facilitate downloading. I used to be a member of Netflix but they got too expensive. I also used to be a member of Blockbuster's monthly rental program ($24.99/month = unlimited rentals). Currently I'm a member of Hollywood Video's MVP program. $14.99/month gets me as many movies as I want each month (up to 3 out at a time). I usually get at least 3 movies each day, sometimes 6 or 9. And in case you're wondering, Yes I copy almost all of the movies I have rented. Right now I have almost 1000 titles. Joel

I see a bald pate in my future but I'd like to put it off as long as possible. Yeah, my wrap is off too. The only thing I have to worry about is the powdercoat on the frame, and my eyebrows... Thanks a ton everybody. I can't wait to get it back together and start washing!!

Right, mine is vertical. Sorry I should have mentioned. After tearing this on e completely down, I can see the advantages of a horizontal coil. It would be much easier to work on. As for checking my flame, let me see if I get this correct. After installing my new nozzle, I can run the burner without the coil and the mist of diesel should ignite, right? Then I can see if the fuel pressure or air band needs to be adjusted? Are there any precautions that I should take before lighting this up? I would like to keep all of my facial hair. thanks,

Russ, I've pulled the coil and am going to clean it today. I also am replacing the fuel nozzle. It was squirting fuel not misting it. There was no insulation wrapped around the coil but the disc at the bottom around the burner was SOAKED with diesel fuel. There was also rust flakes everywhere. I've cleaned everything up and am replacing the insulation, fuel nozzle, fuel filter, burner gasket, giving it a tune up via a kit, and running some soot remover through it. Does it sound like I've covered everything? You mentioned "front and back discs". Could you clarify that? What are the front and back discs? All the smoke I've seen come out of this was white. Thanks,

Hi all, I just bought a used Landa rig this weekend, my first hot setup. Thanks, Jeff! The manual has some suggestions for maintenance but it does not spell out how to go about doing some of the things. Specifically, I'd like to clean the coils and check the fuel nozzle and electrodes as well as some other things. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I can go, online or otherwise, to find some procedures on how to do some of this stuff? I'm very mechanically inclined and am not afraid to tackle anything but I don't like to go in blind and try to figure it out from scratch. Thanks,

Thanks Celeste, I'm going to his place tomorrow to pick his brain and get some parts. Just thought I'd see what everybody else has to say on the subject. You can bet I'll be there in Feb. I live about 30 seconds away from Hooters! BTW, I bought a Landa MVP4-3500 with a Honda 13HP, General EZ4040, and a Beckett 12V burner. I also got a Landa WaterJet 24" surface cleaner. If anyone has any tips, things to watch out for, known quirks, etc.. that they think I should be aware of, please feel free to let me know. Thanks,

Alan, It seems that we are in the same boat, sort of. Hope you don't mind if I tag along on this thread. I just bought a used Landa rig and I'm trying to figure out why it's smoking. When I turn the burner on, if I'm shooting water, everything's pretty much OK. Just a little smoke but continuous. When I stop washing, white smoke comes billowing out of the top of the burner and around the bottom of the coil unit where it meets the deck of my skid. Even after I shut off the machine, wisps of white smoke still come out of the burner for hours. I shut it off at about 10am this morning and as of 4pm I can still see faint wisps of white smoke curling around the coils. I'm thinking that I need to replace the fuel solenoid, at least as a first step. Too much fuel in the burner and it's not being burned, right? Speaking of fuel solenoids, do I need to replace the whole thing, wires and all or can I just replace the coil part? It's a 12V burner if that has any bearing. Mine definately has a diesel smell. Thanks,

I have the opportunity to get a Rahsco RK-23 for around $2000. It is obviosly used and has about 1000 hrs. on it. He has all of the maintenance records on it and he says it runs like a champ. One thing though. It's been sitting for 9 months full of anti-freeze to prevent rust and freezing. I know Delco sells Rahsco made rigs. They're up th the RK-43 as their popular model now but I can't find any info on the web about this washer. Has anyone here ever owned or used one of these? It has an 18hp Vanguard and a General TS-2021 pump (5.6 GPM). This would be my first hot water system. Thanks...