Post A Photo, A Real Photo

[Amish Heart]

I'm doing an elderberry dehydrator experiment.
The berries are too small to fit in my dehydrator, they'll fall through the cracks in the trays. So I used butcher paper to make mats that fit in the bottom of the trays... I only made 2 mats because I wasn't sure if there would be enough airflow through the dehydrator for this to work. Dropped berries in last night and this morning when I checked I was pleasantly surprised! The berries seem to be drying nicely.

I have the square type dehydrator with the shelves. So when doing elderberries, I put them on a glass pie pan and put a few pans in at a time.
They do dry nicely

 

[RJ2019]

Another Rando pic.... this is Apollo, he lives on my kitchen counter in a 1/2gal Mason jar.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

On the way home at sunset the other day. It looked better in person than this photo gives it credit for.
Two more miles down, after the end of the blacktop, is Answered Prayers Farm. Home.

 

[Michele My Belle]

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On the way home at sunset the other day. It looked better in person than this photo gives it credit for.
Two more miles down, after the end of the blacktop, is Answered Prayers Farm. Home.

There's also Answered Prayers Horse Farms in Milton & Ocala.
I used to work with NARHA Handicapped Riders Association, Equine Therapy, 600 locations.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

There's also Answered Prayers Horse Farms in Milton & Ocala.
I used to work with NARHA Handicapped Riders Association, Equine Therapy, 600 locations.

My avatar is my wife’s mare, a rescue.
We had two others, both rescues, but they passed away and are buried out in our tiny orchard.

 

[zannej]

My new PEX cinch tool. It's the reason I was able to get water working again without needing help. I don't trust myself to try to use the clamp ones because I'm sure I'll mis-align the tool or the rings or both. So I use the cinch ones. Advertising claims its the "industry's first" powered cinch tool. It's a bit bulky for my hands but it has rubberized grip so it doesn't slip around and the trigger is in a good spot. I can hit it with my thumb or with fingers. It can be operated one-handed.

 

[RJ2019]

My new PEX cinch tool. It's the reason I was able to get water working again without needing help. I don't trust myself to try to use the clamp ones because I'm sure I'll mis-align the tool or the rings or both. So I use the cinch ones. Advertising claims its the "industry's first" powered cinch tool. It's a bit bulky for my hands but it has rubberized grip so it doesn't slip around and the trigger is in a good spot. I can hit it with my thumb or with fingers. It can be operated one-handed.
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Is that a pex b tool? Pretty cool.

 

[OldSchool]

My new PEX cinch tool. It's the reason I was able to get water working again without needing help. I don't trust myself to try to use the clamp ones because I'm sure I'll mis-align the tool or the rings or both. So I use the cinch ones. Advertising claims its the "industry's first" powered cinch tool. It's a bit bulky for my hands but it has rubberized grip so it doesn't slip around and the trigger is in a good spot. I can hit it with my thumb or with fingers. It can be operated one-handed.
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Nice! For home upgrades.... on my list is replacing all old water pipes with PEX.

Is that a pex b tool? Pretty cool.

Wish I knew the differences between line and fitting types. I'll have to research before I start the project, but from what I've checked on already, the prices are great. I have this thing about drinking water from plastic bottles or water lines, but I filter all my drinking already.

 

[zannej]

PEX-A goes on expansion fittings. Usually made by a company called Uponor IIRC. It uses PEX A barb fittings and requires a special tool that is inserted into the PEX, a button is pressed, and the part inside stretches the pipe. You then have a finite period of time to slip the expanded pipe over the fitting before it rebounds to close to original shape/size. I'm not sure whether or not an additional fitting is slipped over to hold it in place. I just did a google search and apparently there is a manual tool for the expansion. also, I believe it does require sleeves to be slipped over the joint after expansion to hold it in place.
The second option is a band that has an bit sticking out that gets squished and thus tightens the ring around the pipe and fitting. It's easy to get the tab into the tool and not have to worry about mis-aligning so much.
Manual tool

Electric tool

PEX-A sleeve

Some people swear by PEX-A and think it is better than PEX-B. I personally like PEX-B. It uses PEX-B barb fittings or push-connect fittings. The latter should only be used in accessible places that you can check for leaks. The barb fittings require the use of a ring to secure the pipe to the fitting. There are two types. One is what I call the wedding band. You have to put the tool over the entire ring and the tool will squish the ring in from all sides to make it clamp down. You have to make sure you have the tool lined up properly to do it right. Well, you have to make sure both tools are lined up properly, but to me its easier to do that with the 2nd version. It fits into the slot easily and then you either us manual cinchers or the electric one.
PEX-B clamp ring

PEX-B Cinch/Pinch ring

Clamp, cutter, and removal tool with a small gauge

Additionally, there is something called a Go/No-Go Gauge that is used to check to see if the PEX-B rings are on properly. The gauge says what size the ring should be and you slide the appropriate divot over the ring. If it goes over it is secured properly. If not, it needs to be redone.

Thank you for coming to my online TED talk.

Editing to add that when searching for the fittings you need to make sure you are getting the right ones for the type of pipe as the barb fittings for PEX-A and PEX-B are different.