We have a very old-fashioned kitchen exhaust fan. It's a hole...and it usually has a fan mounted in the hole, but in this picture, it's just a hole. The fan's on/off "switch" is controlled by that dangling metal ball chain which also opens and closes a spring-loaded door.
Like I said, old-fashioned.
This picture with the fan removed and the door open begs the questions: Why did we remove the fan? And what's with the pot o' beans?
I'm so glad you asked.
Just a few nights ago, while making dinner, DBF tried to turn on the fan but the spring-loaded door was stuck. Spinning fan + closed door = bad. So I tried to un-stick the door by gently tapping on it with a long-handled spoon...to no avail.
"I know how to fix this," came DBF's voice from the next room. He came back with the broom.
I should tell you that he had just gotten home from an 11 hour day, so he wasn't at his best. I should also tell you that while part of me knew this wouldn't end well, a much louder part of me was screaming, "I'm hungry!"
You see where this is going, right?
DBF successfully knocked the door loose with the broom handle. But he also popped the ball chain out of the connector, leaving us with a hole in the house we had no way to close.
**sigh**
Sometime after dinner...obviously neither of us was going to get much done on an empty stomach...we figured we should try to at least close the opening since it was 45 degrees outside. Fortunately once we removed the grate and the fan, it was simple enough to reach through the hole and pull the door shut.
Unfortunately, when we took the whole thing apart, we realized that the fan wasn't actually black metal, it was just black because it had 50 years of kitchen ick on it.All together now... EEEEWWWWWWW.
Time to break out the big guns.
Krud Kutter. It works. Seriously.
Tools we used to fix this ick:
- Krud Kutter. It works. Seriously.
- Hammer. If you leave something in one place for 50 years, moving it is going to take some convincing.
- Flat head screwdriver. Apparently DBF would rather use a real screwdriver than my pocket knife.
- Bent-nosed pliers. Sure I bought these for jewelry-making, but pliers are pliers and when working in small spaces trying to pinch that little ball chain connector shut, these will certainly get the job done.
- Pocket knife. I'm totally cool with using my pocket knife's screwdriver when the knife is closer than the toolkit.
- Tongue and groove Channellocks. While we had it apart, DBF tried to adjust the switch to make it a little less finicky...he gets points for trying.
As for the pot o' beans, DBF made Boston Baked Beans from SCRATCH.
That's right people, not all baked beans come from a can. Who knew?
Yay for a cookin' DBF! p.s. I suddenly feel like my household has been lacking in the Krud Kutter department. That's serious stuff.
ReplyDeleteAahh didn't he break this the first time when we looked at the house?
ReplyDeleteDid that krud stuff really clean that fan stuff that well?
Yes, the fan broke when we looked at the house. Of course, it was the previous owner who "fixed" it, so we're not at all surprised that it broke again.
ReplyDeleteI cleaned the fan and grate with Krud Kutter, steel wool, and a small scrub brush for the hearder-to-reach parts of the fan and grate. DBF cleaned the opening with the Krud Kutter and paper towels. It really, really works.
It's now part of my "cleaning arsenal"...which I suppose I need to post and share with ya'll.