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pete f
02-07-2005, 09:29 PM
A novel by Pete f.
I have had water in one place or another, at one time up to 3 places, for the last month or so. I think I have a dry floor now.
It started simply with a minute leak in a T under the bulkhead feeding the washer spigots. I had gooped this T a couple years ago, it held pretty good. My plumber had just finished my new mat and I had a credit coming. I did not have time to mess with this small job, and being schedule 80 pipe, could not readily buy the material, he agreed to fix it for the amount I had coming back. I had to shut the water down for about 1/2 day and that nite for the pipe to cure out. The next day I noticed a bulge in the washer hose that was next to that tap so I replaced the hose, turned the water back on and thought life was good.
For the net couple days I saw a very small amount of water on the floor. I figure it is new customers using Dexter washers. About the third day I notice water around my old Milnor. It would leak slightly out the front door from time to time, I do nothing. About a week into this, the water is still coming from somewhere near the T repair. i check and check, can;'t see any leak. I run my hands on all the hose, and one comes up wet on the backside. It is the hose I had replaced..! It was leaking. I replace it. Over at the Milnor seems more water around it, but has been busy.. now seems their is water on the floor in the hot water heater room. I check it out, can;t find any leak. I dry everything, put a cam in. Day or two later there is major water around the Milnor. I run it, water is communing from somewhere I can;t see. I decide to junk the washer and buy a new one. Back in then hot water room more water on the floor, the heater is out. I am worry some leak inside the heater puts the pilot out. Clean, relite, come back the next day. seems OK. A day or two later I see lots of water in the room, I happen to look outside and see the over flow tube has water gushing out of it. It is next to the wall of the heater room,. I figure this is where the water is come from. I don;t know what to do, it is spitting hot water out as fast as it can. I shut the timer down, it shuts down the gas. As the water cools down the rate of flow out the overflow lessons. I figure the t-stat is bad, and when it heats up the safety valve blows open. I can run without hot water for a few days until I get it fixed or new heators.... I call a guy, he checks it out, says the safety valve itself is bad, he will get one in a few days. The floor is dry the nite before he checks the heater, as I have the thing shut down. . He fire it back up, says it will run at a lower temp no problem, and gets the valve changed out 2 days later. My cleaning lady says she sees water in the office, which is next to the heater room the day before. I am wondering now. I go the day after the heater is fixed and see some water in the heater room again. Now I am wondering if it is coming up from the floor drain. I check the lint trap, it seems OK, no apparent cloggage. The cam never worked because the light in the heater room goes on and off for hours at a time, so the cam is not so good in the dark. I had it aimed at the drain for a few days, I see difference but no overflows..I am getting tired of water, and take Friday off. Sat eve we go to refill changers and walk into a small flood. Water everywhere inside the mat. We sweep/mop it all out. As I am pushing water out the door in the heater room I watch the floor drain, it sort of lets the water go back in. I notice their was some big wash customers. I am convinced my problem now is the drain line after the lint trap. Sunday I gear up, take all my drain cleaner tools and stuff and snake the line. At that time the lint trap is full, by full I mean up to the tops of the block, and it should be about 1 foot lower, and water is in the office again. The snake goes in and within a minute I hit something, the water drains fast. I pull the snake, it has a crunched beer can attached to it. I think I have fixed it.I clean up, mop up go home and have a big cigar. I get a call the next day, the water heater not on. Oh crap. what now. I go over, and it is the timer. It is set at 3am and is now 12:30 Pm, so I change it and the heater fires up.
I think to myself, what a pain, this reminds me of store #3 when I bought it, there was water only the floor for 2 months. Just when you think you have solved the leak another pops up at the same time or you had 2 or 3 leaks going at once. I am tired of water, thinking of selling my boat now.:)

MichaelCa
02-08-2005, 04:15 AM
Hilarious, Pete ...a rip-roaring tale of woe , but fer heavensakes don't sell the boat!

ya gotta love this business, - otherwise you'll hate it

laun_dry_good
12-26-2007, 04:19 AM
A novel by Pete f.
I have had water in one place or another, at one time up to 3 places, for the last month or so. I think I have a dry floor now.
It started simply with a minute leak in a T under the bulkhead feeding the washer spigots. I had gooped this T a couple years ago, it held pretty good. My plumber had just finished my new mat and I had a credit coming. I did not have time to mess with this small job, and being schedule 80 pipe, could not readily buy the material, he agreed to fix it for the amount I had coming back. I had to shut the water down for about 1/2 day and that nite for the pipe to cure out. The next day I noticed a bulge in the washer hose that was next to that tap so I replaced the hose, turned the water back on and thought life was good.
For the net couple days I saw a very small amount of water on the floor. I figure it is new customers using Dexter washers. About the third day I notice water around my old Milnor. It would leak slightly out the front door from time to time, I do nothing. About a week into this, the water is still coming from somewhere near the T repair. i check and check, can;'t see any leak. I run my hands on all the hose, and one comes up wet on the backside. It is the hose I had replaced..! It was leaking. I replace it. Over at the Milnor seems more water around it, but has been busy.. now seems their is water on the floor in the hot water heater room. I check it out, can;t find any leak. I dry everything, put a cam in. Day or two later there is major water around the Milnor. I run it, water is communing from somewhere I can;t see. I decide to junk the washer and buy a new one. Back in then hot water room more water on the floor, the heater is out. I am worry some leak inside the heater puts the pilot out. Clean, relite, come back the next day. seems OK. A day or two later I see lots of water in the room, I happen to look outside and see the over flow tube has water gushing out of it. It is next to the wall of the heater room,. I figure this is where the water is come from. I don;t know what to do, it is spitting hot water out as fast as it can. I shut the timer down, it shuts down the gas. As the water cools down the rate of flow out the overflow lessons. I figure the t-stat is bad, and when it heats up the safety valve blows open. I can run without hot water for a few days until I get it fixed or new heators.... I call a guy, he checks it out, says the safety valve itself is bad, he will get one in a few days. The floor is dry the nite before he checks the heater, as I have the thing shut down. . He fire it back up, says it will run at a lower temp no problem, and gets the valve changed out 2 days later. My cleaning lady says she sees water in the office, which is next to the heater room the day before. I am wondering now. I go the day after the heater is fixed and see some water in the heater room again. Now I am wondering if it is coming up from the floor drain. I check the lint trap, it seems OK, no apparent cloggage. The cam never worked because the light in the heater room goes on and off for hours at a time, so the cam is not so good in the dark. I had it aimed at the drain for a few days, I see difference but no overflows..I am getting tired of water, and take Friday off. Sat eve we go to refill changers and walk into a small flood. Water everywhere inside the mat. We sweep/mop it all out. As I am pushing water out the door in the heater room I watch the floor drain, it sort of lets the water go back in. I notice their was some big wash customers. I am convinced my problem now is the drain line after the lint trap. Sunday I gear up, take all my drain cleaner tools and stuff and snake the line. At that time the lint trap is full, by full I mean up to the tops of the block, and it should be about 1 foot lower, and water is in the office again. The snake goes in and within a minute I hit something, the water drains fast. I pull the snake, it has a crunched beer can attached to it. I think I have fixed it.I clean up, mop up go home and have a big cigar. I get a call the next day, the water heater not on. Oh crap. what now. I go over, and it is the timer. It is set at 3am and is now 12:30 Pm, so I change it and the heater fires up.
I think to myself, what a pain, this reminds me of store #3 when I bought it, there was water only the floor for 2 months. Just when you think you have solved the leak another pops up at the same time or you had 2 or 3 leaks going at once. I am tired of water, thinking of selling my boat now.:)

During searching past articles, I found your store...
your store sooths me a little since I know I am not the ONLY operator who has water flood problem....
By the way,
How much impact this water flood problem on the business? I mean customer can understand and can torelate it? or they not come again?
I know definately this problem is no good for business, but now I know sometimes(maybe a few times per year) can be happend some laundromats...not only ME...
but just wondering how customer see this wet floor situation?

Thanks

CENTEX
12-26-2007, 08:21 PM
An amazing tale of woe. Been there done that. I can't believe you remained so calm. I freak when I see water. I have arrived at one of my mats when the lint tank filled up to find an inch of water in the whole mat. People were doing laundry like they did not know it wasn't suppose to be like that and people were still walking in!! What a business. Hope dryer hell doesn't come back again too>>>>>>

fishmanz
12-27-2007, 10:56 AM
I came in this morning and found my water heater room flooded. This somtimes happens when the drain at the back door is blocked with leaves. I clean it up, dry it out and go in my office. I look an hour later and the floor is wet again. It turned out that my blow off valve was bad on one of the water heaters. I replaced it just now for $16. Got my fingers crossed now.

saltima
12-27-2007, 05:40 PM
I'm new so I have to ask, how the beer can got in the line in the first place? Is that possible?

pete f
12-27-2007, 08:35 PM
I'm new so I have to ask, how the beer can got in the line in the first place? Is that possible?

you are quite the reader, I thought this thread was long gone. And observent. The beer can was ( I assume ) put into the sewer line thru a clean out that was in the back of the mat. The cover to it was not very secure, guess someone wanted to f up the system. Did you read where I fished a set of false teeth out of a toilet that did not flush right a few months ago? I had to pull it to get to the bottom trap to find the problem, What a pain. Email me sometime, Tampa is not that far away.carver29@excite.com
pete

saltima
12-27-2007, 11:08 PM
Pete, who else do you know with the log in of "saltima"? LOL As for the toilet story, well, that may be a little TMI for now. Maybe only after a day of drinking.

I have to say that this forum is almost the how to or how not to of laundramat history. It's almost year end so I'll continue reading the threads searched in through taxes.

I wondered how you Holiday weekend was going.

pete f
12-28-2007, 08:35 PM
Pete, who else do you know with the log in of "saltima"? LOL As for the toilet story, well, that may be a little TMI for now. Maybe only after a day of drinking.

I have to say that this forum is almost the how to or how not to of Laundromat history. It's almost year end so I'll continue reading the threads searched in through taxes.

I wondered how you Holiday weekend was going.

H Seth
I was never good at word problems. Where do you find time to read back so far?
At your laundromat go to the lint trap out back, step a couple feet forward, then look to the right, you will see the "unsecured sewer clean-out" I mentioned. That is where the beer can went into the system.
My holiday is fine, Anne left Christmas day to meet up with Jane, they are off to China for awhile, so peace and quiet between the laundromat calls. We bought a new house near the mat you own so I guess we sold the wrong one. We do not move in for some time, they have to build it first. Maybe I can be on call for you! Thanks for the Christmas card, and wish I you and your beautiful bride the best of 2008!

and the toilet story, what can you do? How could the guy report them lost? and would you want them back? I felt bad tossing them in trash after retrieving them, I know the false teeth are expensive, I just kept hoping they did not belong to the guy who opens for me every day...

saltima
01-01-2008, 11:22 AM
What? You mean you were talking about our mat in this water world tale? I will check today.

Thanks for the New Year wishes. Sounds like yours in 08 will be good also.

New home? Not the one being built right on 46th? It's modern design will be out of place with the area. I see your role as consultant/advisor. Can't imagine anything less than that but thanks for offer. Have thought about adding a few more machines. Of course, one T900 Dexter and another 35lb Maytag beside the current one but wonder if the place itself could handle the extra capacity in electric, water, drain. Would two larger machines make a difference?

Well, back to more research. This forum should be turned into a store owners manual or employee handbook. Good stuff.