In this Episode of The Handyguys Podcast we announce the winner of our toolkit contest and discuss some innovative products from Magnogrip, CarMD and PermaFLOW.

Winner

Congrats Andrew. Your toolkit is in the mail. We had a lot of awesome entries so it was difficult to pick our winner. You can read Andrews winning entry here. This duct tape Tie idea put him over the top and it is much cheaper then a Brooks Brothers classic tie. We are going to produce a future podcast that reviews all the great “valid” duct tape submissions. Thanks to True Value for picking up the tab on the toolkit!

Innovative Products

We often get requests to review products on the show. We only want to discuss stuff we think brings value to the listeners of the show without all the unneeded junk. We turn away many product pushers. If we do receive a product to review and it turns out to be junk we absolutely will not discuss it in a positive light during the show.  In fact we try not to even receive products that look like a waste of time.  However, this year we picked three items to discuss. You can decide if they make appropriate Christmas gifts for the Handyguy in your life.

Magnogrip

Magnogrip makes toolbelts, belt clips, wrist bands and other products with magnets built in. Why magnets? When you are working on a project and you have lots of little parts such as screws, nuts, and bolts, you can stick them to the magnets to prevent you from losing them.  Instead of having to continually dig through pockets, they will be handy for when you need them!

Check them out in the Handyguys Amazon Store

• Carpenters tool belt
• Builders tool belt
• Wrist band

CarMD

The Handyguys haven’t talked much about car maintenance. There is only so much information we can cram into our brains. When we look at car problems we want to make diagnosis as easy as possible. When CarMD asked us to check out their diagnostic computer we were intrigued. This product is extremely easy to use.

What does it do? It plugs into your 1996 or newer vehicle and reads the vehicles on-board computer. The computer in your vehicle stores information about what those idiot lights on the dashboard represent. There are a lot of devices on the market to read your computer. Some vehicles you can actually go through a process where your vehicle can blink a series of lights on your dash to tell you what the trouble is. An old reader Brian has gives you a cryptic code you need to look up in a book.

The CarMD plugs in, reads the computer then connects to your home computer, or laptop, via a supplied USB cable. This connection will then synchronize your vehicles details with the CarMD website. On the website you can see details of your vehicle, what may be wrong, etc. You can also then pull up safety recall information or purchase Technical Service Bulletins. You can buy these directly from CarMD.

PermaFLOW

The PermaFLOW is a clear plastic P-Trap for under your sinks and includes a knob to push away any clogs.  We were a little skeptical about this product at first but it works as advertised. If you are handy you may ask yourself why not just disconnect the trap or snake a clog. Well, not everyone is handy. Install something like this for someone who has a p-trap that clogs often and cant, or doesn’t want to, go to the trouble of unclogging the drain themselves. No more harsh chemical drain cleaners if the clog is in the trap. The clear plastic makes it easy to figure where the problem is too. You can pick one of these up at The Handyguys Store.

Disclosure

A Handyguys listener recommends a show on preparing your home for the winter.  The Handyguys respond!

First of all, thanks to Mike for sending in a request for this show.  He provided a lot of great ideas and insights.  We will discuss many of his suggestions in this show.

Before discussing winter prep, the Handyguys answer a user question regarding hot water heaters:

Hey Guys,

I recently went down into my basement and there was water all over the floor from my hot water heater.

There is no visible leaking still going on and it is still producing hot water. Do I need a new hot water heater?

The things I do know is that my tank does not have an expansion tank. My ‘overflow tube’ or ‘TandP valve’, is directed down to the floor, but should be directed outside?…I remember the inspector saying something about this not being configured right, but didn’t think it was that big of a concern.

A couple days before the leak occurred I have turned the temperature down to ‘Vacation’ because we were not going to be home for the weekend. When we got home I change the temp back to hot. Could this of caused some kind of pressure change, which in turn caused the leak through the overflow tube?

Let me know if you have any ideas!

Thanks, Devyn

How do you prepare your house for the winter?  Well, if you are in the south, you may not need to do anything.  But if you live in a northerly climate, you should check out this podcast.

Here is a list of items that Mike sent us.  The Handyguys discuss this list and more in the podcast.

• Installing storm windows and doors
• Installing clear plastic on inside of windows or use Seal and Peel caulk
• Turn off your outside water and drain hoses to avoid freezing
• Check furnace and replace furnace filter
• Clear gutters of leaves and debris to avoid ice damming
• Caulk any outside holes where exhaust pipes come through the siding
• Winterize lawn mower, change oil, sharpen blade, remove battery so it doesn’t freeze
• Check floor drain in garage so ice and snow can melt and drain away
• Put patio furniture away and if made of wood it’s a good time to seal them so they are ready for spring.

Other Ideas:

• Energy saving and insulation (see our next podcast on energy saving ideas)
• remove fuel from lawn mowers and trimmers
• Snow blower preparation