The Exhausted Exhaust Pipe

Do you know what your exhaust pipe is for?

Well, in the most basic sense, the exhaust pipe that you find in your vehicle is a tube that actually guides any exhaust or waste gases away from your car’s engine. It is very essential for if the waste gases simply accumulate in your car’s engine, you and your passengers can actually suffer from poisoning of these gases and it could be very lethal.

Exhaust pipes are not just any tubes or pipes. They have been designed with precise computations and with accurate designs so as to guide these harmful gases away from the engine. You can see that the exhaust pipe is part of your vehicle’s exhaust system and it connects to the exhaust manifold of your vehicle. So as to lessen any engine noise, there is a muffler as part of it. The harmful emissions are even lessened in toxicity with the assistance of a catalytic converter.

You may not notice your exhaust pipe as you may take much attention to other parts of your vehicle like your paint, windows, or tires but your exhaust pipe can really get rusty and old. Now, when this happens, you just may find out one day that it could fall off and start a ruckus by being dragged on the road. Now that would be something that you may not want to have.

If you are faced with this kind of situation, you should try to check if it is attached very thinly, then you should try to break if off. Keep in mind that before you do touch your car’s exhaust pipe, make sure that it is cool enough to touch or you might just get burnt in the process. On the other hand, if you cannot break it off, look around for a wire coat hanger or a mechanic’s wire. Wrap this around one end of the hanging pipe and then fasten the other end to the underside of your car. This should keep it in place right up until you bring your car to the muffler shop.

Carefully selected Volvo S90 parts and XC90 parts are included in Volvo Parts and Used Volvo Parts collection of Volvo parts.

As a former news correspondent for an auto-related websites, Kevin has gathered extensive knowledge and experience in the automotive industry. This 34 year old father of three from Pennsylvania is a genuine car lover.

 

Christmas Craft: Bead and Pipe Cleaner Ornaments

Christmas ornaments made from ordinary pipe cleaners and inexpensive acrylic beads are very pretty and easy to make. They look quite impressive yet are easy enough for small children to make. This is one Christmas craft idea to use again and again. Older people will enjoy making this Christmas craft, too, which can be varied to make a number of different sparkling ornaments for your Christmas tree.

To make the bead and pipe cleaner ornaments, you need common pipe cleaners in desired colours and acrylic beads. Two types of beads are particularly effective when strung on pipe cleaners. One type are called sunburst beads, but are also known as paddlewheel beads, snowflake beads, or starburst beads. These beads have six faceted paddles spaced equally around a centre that contains the hole for stringing. When several of these sunburst beads are strung consecutively, they fit against each other in an interlocking pattern.

The other type of bead that is also effective for this Christmas craft is called the tri bead or propeller bead. It has three rounded bumps arranged around the stringing hole. Like the sunburst beads, the tri beads interlock when strung consecutively. For the most sparkly and attractive Christmas ornaments, get tri beads and/or sunburst beads in translucent colours of red, green, and clear. The tri beads can also be found in metallic gold and silver which can be used in this Christmas craft as well.

Pipe cleaners can be found in silver and gold tinsel as well as chenille of all colours. For the Christmas craft, the best colours to use are the metallic and Christmas colours. The beads cover the pipe cleaners, but the ends will need to be twisted together and made into hangers, so they show.

Anyone, even small children, can string these beads on pipe cleaners. Bend up the end of the pipe cleaner so the beads don't fall off. The pipe cleaner works like a needle, making a needle unnecessary. For best results, show the children how to alternate colours when stringing, or start a pattern of three colours. When the beads are strung on the pipe cleaners, they can be bent into different Christmas shapes. For instance, string red and clear beads alternately, then bend down one end of the pipe cleaner for a candy cane shape. Or alternate red and green beads and form a circle for a wreath. Use red pipe cleaner to form a small bow to decorate the wreath. Form a hanger for the Christmas craft or simply slip the circle over a branch of the tree.

If you experiment with clear beads and silver pipe cleaners, you can make some beautiful snowflake or star ornaments. Snowflake designs can be twisted of silver pipe cleaner only, without the beads for a simple but pretty decoration.

Bead and pipe cleaner ornaments are a Christmas craft you will find yourself using every year. Children and their parents will both appreciate this simple yet pretty Christmas craft.

Paul is Head of Training for a major UK Charitable Organisation. He owns one of the UK's Leading Information Providers PK eBooks (http://www.pk-ebooks.co.uk) and has recently launched http://www.profitable-crafts.co.uk

 

Repairing a Frozen Pipe

In just a matter of a months winter will be upon us. Besides bundling up from the cold and shoveling snow, homeowners sometimes have to deal with the additional task of fixing frozen pipes.

Prevention is the Best Medicine

The best way to deal with frozen pipes is to prevent them in the first place. If you have the luxury of participating and/or overseeing the building of your home, make sure the plumber does not run any plumbing supply lines in the outside walls of the home. Even if he indicates he will wrap them in insulation, do not accept this compromise. I have seen even insulated pipes in outside walls freeze.

If, however, you have an existing home and there are plumbing supply lines running on the outside walls that you have access to, then insulate these pipes with pipe insulation. It is better than nothing.

How to Fix a Frozen Pipe

If in the event you do find yourself with a frozen pipe, then I recommend the following:

• Close the supply line valve and open the faucet at the end of the pipe.

• Examine the entire length of pipe looking for cracks, breaks or holes, particularly focusing on the suspect cold areas, e.g. crawl spaces and outside walls.

Thaw Out the Damaged Pipe

• Once the crack, break or hole has been identified, use a hair dryer to heat up the surrounding pipe area to get the water flowing again through the pipe. Check the faucet regularly to see when the water begins to flow again. Once the water begins to flow it is time to move on to the repairing phase.

Note: The amount of water flowing out of the faucet will be limited as the supply line valve was shut off.

Repairing the Damage Supply Line

• Once the damaged pipe area has been thawed out, using a hack saw or pipe cutter, remove a section of pipe that includes the broken section.

• Replace this section of pipe. Use a propane torch, solder and flux to sweat the new joints.

• If you are not comfortable cutting and replacing the damaged pipe, pending the size of the crack or break you could simply wrap duct tape or electrical tape around the affected area for a temporary fix. However, a plumber should be brought in as soon as possible to fix the leak permanently.

• Once the pipe has been repaired, turn the supply line valve back on, run the faucet and check the repaired site for any leaks.

• Finally, apply some pipe insulation and/or electrical pipe-heating wire around the repaired area to prevent the problem from occurring again.

http://www.homeadditionplus.com
http://www.homeaddition.blogspot.com

Over the past 20+ years Mr. Donovan has been involved with building homes and additions to homes. His projects have included: building a vacation home, building additions and garages on to existing homes, and finishing unfinished homes. Mr. Donovan's formal education and profession have been as an Electrical Engineer and Marketing Manager.

Plumbing - U-Trap Pipe Replacement

A few weeks ago, our family noticed water coming out of the cabinets around the kitchen and bathroom sinks. With a little inspection, we discovered the same problem in each case was at fault. The U-trap pipe was leaking due to being worn out from years of use. The pipe as its name suggests is U-shaped.

The importance of the U-trap other than keeping your floor dry and getting rid of water is that because some water is in the bottom of the pipe at all times, this helps prevent sewer gases from entering your home and harming you or your loved ones.

After diagnosing the problem, the next step is to go to the hardware store and get a replacement. Other than a flashlight (no matches or open fire source!), you will need a pipe wrench(only if you can't use your fingers to remove the nuts holding the pipe) and replacement pipe (either metal or PVC). You should check the pipe to see if you can remove it without a wrench, thus saving you some money if you don't need one, providing there is not one in the toolkit already. A word about pipe wrenches: You know that number they give such as 18"? That refers to the handle length AND the full opened width of the wrench jaws. Confusing, huh? Just be sure you pay for what you need.

After getting what you need from the store, unscrew the collars or nuts around the pipe, gently move it a bit to see if it moves, then pull out of position, and insert the new pipe and appropriate hardware. See that it is secure. Turn on the water. Check for leaks. If you have anymore problems with leaks from the same source, recheck all pipe connections for the U-pipe and P-pipe. The P-pipe is the one that leads from the U-trap pipe into the wallpipe connection, which, as the name suggests is the pipe leading into the wall and from there the sewer.

C. O. IRBY, III
bingle42@yahoo.com
I learned home improvement by doing it myself, but since I'm still learning I would be glad to hear from you any tips you have. I live in a 50+ year old house.