James Hudson

Jul

2011

How to Repair Just About Any Stripped Screw Holes

Who hasn’t crossed paths with a stripped screw hole? You go to tighten the screw and it just turns in the hole but no righty tighty and maybe too much lefty loosey. A quick trick here is to fill the hole with a sliver or two of wood, plastic, matchsticks (minus the heads, so you don’t start a fire) , toothpicks, or even a rolled up bit of paper. This will give the screw something to bite on and help it to grab into the hole. You can either cut off or roll up appropriately guestimated sizes and amount of wood slivers or use rolled up paper and insert it into the hole then anchor your screw in the modified hole.

Now I wouldn’t recommend this repair for fixing planes, trains, or automobiles, but it works just fine on light duty applications such as cabinet pulls or interior door jambs. It can also work in some instances where the proper screw was lost you can use the wood and a smaller sized screw to anchor into the old hole. You may need to use a washer if your screw head is a different size. If you are concerned about longevity of the repair you might add a bit of wood glue to your inserted tree mixture and let it dry, if need be, and then screw in the screw.

Most screws are all about plane leverage. The screw threads grab into the material anchoring into the weaker spaces between material particles forcing the remaining weaker particles closer together thereby making them denser, more concentrated, and better to anchor to. The correct screw is particularly engineered at the proper angles and thread size for the material it is designed to anchor to for optimum holding power. Some materials including some types of wood need to be pre drilled to avoid splitting of the material.Each material is different in it’s density and tensile strength. Wooden matchsticks, toothpicks, and rolled up bits of strong paper are very flexible and still strong enough to fill voids, this is why they work well for this application, making them anchor into the existing subtances and create holding power.

This same effect works well in reverse the same plane leverage helps the screw to be easily turned out and removed for repairs or modifications. If you had to take apart something where this repair was done you may need to repeat the insert of some material if it had not been glued in.

~~~ Stay Strong ~~~
~~~ Kung Fu Maintenance ~~~~~~~

Jun

2011

How to Land a Maintenance Job : Getting Hired

Jackson Five Photo by J.H.K.

The Links to Getting Hired

1) ~ ~ Be sober. Almost all companies these days require candidates to pass a drug and alcohol test. Many companies use a hair follicle test that shows substances used in the past ninety days.

2)~ ~ Be knowledgeable. Gaining good job knowledge will help boost your confidence during interviews. Job knowledge will help to increase your earning potential. You can gain job knowledge in many different ways: reading books (Kung Fu Maintenance will give you a good head start), experience, classes, schooling, training, the internet (youtube, google etc….) Job knowledge will also help you to pass tests that most companies give candidates.

3)~ ~ Learn a bit about each company you are applying for. What are their core values? mission statement? Etc… Most of this info can be found thru a simple google search of the company. When you find common ground with the companies that you truly want to work for you will be happier working towards the same goals of your companions.

4)~ ~ Use a simple one page resume that highlights your job knowledge and experience. Using a cover letter that utilizes the information you learned about the company in the previous step can help open a door of opportunity.

5)~ ~ Be easily contactable. Using a cell number on your resume and carrying your cell phone with you is much better than a land line so that you don’t miss any calls and so you are available faster. Return calls promptly if you do miss one. Also put an email address that sounds professional and that you check regularly. If your email name is not professional sounding make a new one. there are multiple free email services such as gmail, rocketmail, hotmail etc…

6)~ ~ Network. Check with friends and relatives about available jobs. Another good way is to talk to maintenance techs or office personnel at apartments, hotels, and such. Often they get referral bonuses for referring people to their companies that get hired on. They often have front line access to job postings within their companies and can often coach you a bit on the requirements and particulars of their company, also should you get hired on you will both have a friend in the business. It’s good to know people.

7)~ ~ Dress nicely for interviews. You don’t have to be in suit and tie (unless that is appropriate to the job you are applying for) but you don’t want to show up in flip flops and a tank top either. Put your best foot forward. Understand that maintenance is a service job and people choose whether to live, rent, shop, at places based on many factors one of them being staff appearance and impression. Employers want to hire people that their customers will be comfortable with.

8)~ ~ Ask at least one good question during an interview. It may seem silly but asking a well placed question can be even better than a well placed answer. It shows a strong sense of engagement and facilitates teamwork.

Please bookmark this page (Ctrl-D) so you can find it easily in the future. It is always good to have a go to list of links for jobs. Also please send it to anyone you know that is searching for employment. I intend to continually update this list and see it grow little by little so please come back to experience further improvements and successes. Also if you know of any job sites or sources you think should be on this list please submit them as a comment or response or email them to me for consideration at feedback@ kungfumaintenance.com

The Following is a list of top notch job sites for maintenance as well as other jobs.

ApartmentJobs.com formerly known as PMJobs.com

Government-ish Type Jobs

America’s Job Bank

Top Notch Apartment, Hotel, and Hospital Companies Job Posts

ConAm

The Lewis Company

Less Excellent but Still Sometimes Leads to Jobs Sites

Craigslist

The Penny Saver

One more thing, When they ask who referred you, just tell them James H. Klovach sent you.

~~~~ Get Hired ~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~ Kung Fu Maintenance ~~~~~~~~~~~

May

2011

KFM Reasonings to Choose Dupont ISCEON R-438A Over R-410A

While R410A air conditioning puts out more cooling BTU’s it often uses more electrical energy in the short and/or long run.

R410A equipment often has a higher amp draw requiring wiring upgrades, larger breakers, larger wires, larger electrical whips, and fuses etc…

Often evaporator coils and line sets need to be replaced to accommodate the higher pressures that R410a uses.

ISCEON® MO99™ (alternatively called R-438A) retrofit has far less of an environmental impact.

R-22 system does not need to be flushed when retro fitting to ISCEON MO99. For R-410A retrofit, system must be flushed and oil changed.

For ISCEON MO99 retrofit, oil does not need to be replaced. R-410A uses a different oil type (poe (polyester) oil) that will not mix right with R-22’s oil type (mineral oil) and so oil must be changed.

ISCEON MO99 can be used with existing R-22 condensors and evaporators as long as Schrader valves and or seals are replaced. (ISCEON MO99 refrigerant causes seals that have been using R-22 to shrink.) R-410A uses higher pressures and should not be used with R-22 compressors so whole condensers are usually replaced, seals and all.

ISCEON M099 has a lower operating temperature at the compressor and is slightly easier on the compressor the heart of the air condition system.
Both R410A and ISCEON MO99 are not going to be phased out thru the Montreal Protocol like R-22 in 2020.

ISCEON M099 does not damage the ozone layer. (At least not like cows do! Or R-22)

Of course all of this is debatable and that should be interesting so let’s get at it. If you have some ideas why you think R-410A (or another refrigerant) is the way to go I would love to hear them. Alternatively, if you have any more points about the benefits of ISCEON MO99 (R438A) that would be cool. Share your experiences here on The KFM Blog as a response. If I think they are worthy I will post them as long as things are kept clean. Fair Enough?

~~~ Keep it Cool ~ Keep It Real ~~~

~~~~~~~~~~ Kung Fu Maintenance ~~~~~

May

2011

Defending Power Tool Battery Lives

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I have killed a lot of power tool batteries over the years and I wanted to try to spare you the same experience. In each instance what I did wrong was over use the tool so that it was overheated and kept pushing the battery to finish a job even though the battery was clearly low on power. What I have learned is that it is good to use your batteries till they are low on power and then recharge them in order to get good charging cycles. But what you don’t want to do is drive the battery into the ground when it is low on power. It can be frustrating if you are trying to finish up a job and your batteries run low. It is always good to have a backup battery for these instances, or even a back up tool.

More Power To You!

~~~~Kung Fu Maintenance~~~~