Replacing a Back Yard Faucet

 We have had to replace the exterior faucet in the back yard on the East side of the house before.  This time, both the faucet and the hose is leaking.  The hose leads to a rotating hose reel, and that leaks.  So it seems we need to replace all of it.

 The first problem is the faucet itself.  This is called a Hose Bibb Valve.  We found a replacement unit at Home Depot for $8.53.

 There are two "standard" sizes.  The output is well-defined -- it is the size of a standard hose nozzle.  Even when hose diameters vary, the ends are the same size.  But the other end varies.  We need a 1/2 inch male end to screw into the pipe in the wall.

 Once we had the right size, the replacement was fairly easy.  Turn off the water at the street.  Use a big wrench to rotate the old faucet until it comes off.  Wrap Teflon tape around the new faucet and screw it in.

 But then we have the old hose reel.  We tried to take it apart and rebuild it with a new hose from the faucet to the hose reel, but that seemed difficult.  So we just replaced the entire thing.  After discussion, it seemed that the rotary nature of the hose reel was not really easy to use, so we picked a new hose hanger instead.

This gives us a fully functional, non-leaking, new hose system.

 

Replace Light Switch For Front Door

Back in 2016, we replaced the previous timer for the front door light with a model that tracked dusk and dawn, so we could have the front light come on at dusk (sun down) and go off at 11PM when we go to bed.  Now that switch has stopped working.  From the sound, it has a mechanical solenoid that flips the switch and that now requires too much force for the electronics to turn it on at the right time.  So it's back out to find a replacement.

We found one at Home Depot -- a Defiant Daylight Adjusting Indoor Digital Timer.

Replacing the previous one with the new one was time-consuming.  The new one requires a direct connection to the power supply, so an extra white (neutral) line.  

And there are a lot of wires behind the two switches.

But eventually, we got it installed.

 Then we had to program it.  The instructions do not do a very good job of explaining how to program when to turn it on and off, but again, eventually, it works out.