Temporary Car Radiator Fix using Steel Filled Epoxy during CNY

I discovered there was a few hairline cracks on my car's radiator top during the eve of Chinese New Year. All the mechanics in my hometown are already closed that time. When I called up a few mechanics, most of them told me that they will only open for business on the 8th day of CNY and the car radiator workshop would open on the 10th day. Therefore, if I don't get something done, I would not be able to drive back to KL or use my car during that time. Waiting in my hometown till the 10th day would be a no no, because I need to get back to KL earlier than that.

Luckilly, the hypermarkets are still open for business and I found steel filled epoxy that can be used to temporarily repair radiators in a DIY shop there. I mixed the epoxy with the hardener and patched up the leaks on my radiator. After that, I managed to drive back to KL and the radiator only lost around 0.5 litre of water. LOL!

How to Repair Your Whistling Kettle - Step By Step Guide

It would be a waste to throw away a good stainless steel kettle just because the whisle is not working. Actually replacement parts for the whistle are sold by some vendors but finding a matching one is a real headache.

One of the reed (tiny metal plate that vibrate creating sound, often made from brass) of my whistling kettle broke when my wife tried to clean the reed chamber. Steam would rush through this large cavity and there would not be any whistling sound when the water boils. Actually I did not know that the reed was broken before opening up the whistle assembly. After repairing it, my kettle works fine again, like when it was new!

Step One - Open the screws that hold the reed chamber and top handle of the cover. Remove reed plates from the reed chamber. This whistling kettle has two reed plates and each plate has two reeds. It is made from brass but sometime you can find stainless steel, plastics or aluminium ones. This reed works just like the reed in your good old harmonica. When air rushes through the tiny gap, the vibration would create a whistling sound.

Step Two - For my case one of the reed was broken, so all the steam would take the easy way out through this large gap. Therefore, there was no whistling sound whenever the water boils. I used a metal sticker (the ones that are used to patch pots) to cover up this cavity. Then I pushed the other reed back in place to reduce the gap to enhance the whistling sound intensity.

Step Three - Fix the reed plates back into the plastic chamber which is actually the top holder. Screw back the plastic top holder on the kettle cover. Fill the whistling kettle with water and test it out.

The video below shows my repaired whistling kettle in action! he he he, just like a new whistling kettle! LOL!

How to Open(Release) Jammed and Change Circular Bedroom Lock Sets

A) To open (release) jammed Circular (Knob) Lock

This type of commonly used circular lock get jammed up rather often. In order to release the jammed lock, hold on to the center piece and turn the knob. The fingers holding the center locking piece must not move when you are turning the knob. The locking center should pop up to its' original position after this procedure.


B) Step By Step Procedure to change Circular (knob) locksets


First you will have to remove the old circular lockset. Use a nail or tool provided with the lockset to deoress the knob (lever) catch hole and slide (pull) the knob off the spindle.

This is how the lockset looks like after you remove the knob (lever)

Remove the two screws that hold the lockset to the door.

Pull out the other end of the knob.

Remove the screws that hold the latch unit to the door frame. Then pull out the latch unit.

The old lockset is completely removed from the door.

To install the new lock. use a nail to depress the knob catch hold and slide the knob out from the spindle.

Put the latch unit into the side cavity. Push the lockset into the round cavity of the door. Make sure that the lock housing engages with the latch prongs and the retractor interlocks with the latch bar. This is to ensure that the latch would move in or out  of the box strike whenever the knob is turned.

Depress the knob catch hole with a nail or tool provided with the lockset. Slide in the knob into the spindle. Install rose by snapping it in place or for some circular locks models, you just need to turn it clockwise until it touch the door. Your circular lockset is ready for use!

Give me two male nipples please!

Imagine walking into a shop and asking for 2 male nipples! I am still laughing at this incident at the hardware shop. No, I don’t need new ‘nipples’. Mine are still intact! Ha ha ha! Actually in engineering or more specific in piping, male nipples refer to treaded connectors which are supposed to be screwed into female adaptors which in this case happens to be located on the filter cover. It might sound a little bit obscene but this is how the terms that are used whenever we refer to piping parts. After a busy father’s day repairing the toilet tank, installing new water faucet (tap) and installing a new shower, I had to repair the water filter. As most of you know, I like to repair things around my house and I bought these nipples for the water filter so that I can connect to the inlet and outlet pipes which are ½ inch in size. The nipples two fitted perfectly…..no more leaky connections! Piping nipples also come in different shapes and sizes! LOL!

A Busy Father’s Day Weekend – A Father’s Job Never ends....

My Father's Day weekend started with a family outing to KL Metropolitan Park in Kepong. We brought some food there and had a small picnic. My eldest son skates and practised boomerang throwing at the field, whereas my little toddler had a whale of time playing at the playground and my daughter tested out her 2 wheels portable skates.

Then we went over to eat chicken rice at Fook Loong Chicken rice stall at Jalan Burung Pucung, Taman Bukit Maluri, Kepong. My wife and I had chicken rice while my daughter ordered the yong tau foo and my son had the wantan mee. The chicken rice is nice and the roast pork is very crunchy. No wonder there is a long queue of crowd around the stall. The yong tau foo and wantan mee so so only. When we reached home, I realised that I still have the whole pumpkin that my ex-neighbour gave me. It was harvested from her mother’s vegetable plot. So, I made two Steamed Pumpkin Cake with it. I gave one to my neighbour. Then, my bathroom tap broke and I have to replace them. The renovation contractor installed the tap too close to the wall so there was no way for me to turn the tap to remove it. Therefore, I have to cut away the pvc pipe and replace one section with a flexible tubing. Time to get some stuff from the hardware shop, luckily they are open. It was a major job because I have to remove the whole sink from the bracket to install the tap. However, I managed to finish installing the new tap! My wife had a hard time keeping my curious toddler away from my working tools.

Tada, my new tap!

Since I already have all my tools out, I installed the long overdue key holder that my eldest son made in school on the wall in my house.

Then, the story that I just heard from my fellow insurance agent about his customer’s son who died after a sink fell on him struck my mind. I decided to check all my sinks and toilet flush tank brackets. Most of them had some rust and are falling apart. So, I had to visit the hardware shop again to get some new brackets. I had to replace the brackets at two of my bathrooms.

After finishing replacing the toilet brackets, my shower heater went ‘KO’, there is no hot water coming out from the shower. I called my electrician but he was too busy at his shop, so I have to dismantle the shower unit by myself and sent it to his shop. Then, my wife received a call from my electrician that the Euro Uno shower unit cannot be repaired. It is time for us to get a new one, so my wife and I rushed to the electrical appliance shop to buy a new unit. We bought a Joven shower unit with built in pump for RM399, a good offer price. It was a Sunday, so we could not get any electrician to install the unit for us. My wife was looking at me and grinning away; awwwww, I have to install it! I would rather have the electrician install the unit for us but then, the kids need to take their morning shower the next day before school. I have to get the unit up and running on Sunday itself! So, I got my tools out and started to install the new unit. First I have finished all the pipe work before starting with the electrical work. I have to replace the main inlet cables because the wires that my former electrician used were not of the right size. Luckily, I have some main power cable in my storeroom. It took me some time to finish installing the new Joven shower unit. I do not have the right size flexible tubing at that time so I have to make do with the hose from the old shower. The following day, I bought the right length flexible hose and power socket blanks to cover the hole on the wall.

Old shower unit

New Joven shower unit

See the pink long temporary tubing and the new short metal reinforced tubing I used?

We do not have time to fix dinner and my wife had to keep my little active toddler away from my tools. I have done a good job on home improvement and it was Father’s day; therefore my wife ‘belanja’ (treat) me to dinner at Mei Gai Yuan.

The dinner cost RM64 (medium serving). My charge to install the shower unit! Ha ha ha! Although the dishes are of medium serving we were struggling to finish them because my family are small eaters! A hectic but memorable day indeed! LOL!

Installing Ikea Three Layers Shoe Cabinet

The shoe cabinet still wrapped in plastic. My favourite tool, the powerdrill! Installing the first section. All done, the shoe cabinet mounted on the wall!

I have been spending too much time in Ikea and home improvement lately. There are still lots of stuff to do but then work kept me away from doing all these. My daughter has lots of shoes and all the shoe racks in my house are filled up to the brim. So, it is time to get a new shoe rack or maybe a shoe cabinet, something that is practical and can keep all the shoes neatly. I found this three sections shoe cabinet in Ikea. It is made from industrial strength plastics and can be installed vertically or horizontally. Since it is made from plastic and light, the installation process was a breeze. I just need to get my measurement on the wall that I am going to install it right. I mounted it on the wall so that it will get in the way. I managed to get everything installed and cleaned up within one hour! Now, Maggi mee time, to reward myself! Ha ha ha!

Replacing Conventional Fluorescent Lamp with Energy Savings Bulb

I have been slowly replacing the conventional fluorescent lamps in my house with energy saving bulbs whenever the former failed to work. The conventional fluorescent lamp require a ballast which generates a lot of heat to work, thus will consume more energy and they also tends to make the surrounding ceiling paints to turn black. It also requires a starter device to light up therefore there is a time lag in response between lighting up and when we press the switch. However with energy savings fluorescent bulbs, the response in lighting up is immediate whenever we clicked the switch because a starter is not required. It also generates less heat compared to conventional fluorescent lamps. The only disadvantage, like all fluorescent lamps, they contain a trace of mercury which is hazardous to our environment if not disposed of properly. But then if we use less electricity, then the power plants would need less resource like coal or gas for power generation, which in turn would cause less environmental damage! New energy savings bulb holder and socket. See how the heat generated by conventional flourescent lamp darken the paintwork on the ceiling and also its' casing.

I checked for any live wires using a test pen before starting work, or else I won't be here writing this post! LOL!

Jeng, jeng,jeng, mission accomplished......let there be light!