Beat The Drum And Hold The Phone, The Sun Came Out Today

FINALLY.

My solar thermal domestic hot water system is up and running. One of the panels was damaged, so we couldn't install it on the roof late last year. The company I purchased the system from sent me a replacement part. They told me that I had to squish the sides together before installing the part. So, I built this clamp to hold the sides together.
I put the top 2x4 piece on after I finished the repair just in case.

The contractor started Monday morning and after a couple false starts, managed to get the panel up on the roof. The plumber then finished up.

After filling it up with distilled water, we had just enough sun to test the system and it worked well. Then I had to wait and wait and wait as we had rain Tuesday and Wednesday.

Finally, the sun came out today and we had solar heated water. The water from the street comes in around 60 degrees and after the sun came out the water topped out at about 130 degrees.

Table Saw

During construction, I borrowed my Brother-In-Law's table saw. It was so handy and versatile, I really hated to return it. This past week, as I was preparing to fix the solar thermal panel, I tried using my circular saw to cut a 2x4 in half. It couldn't get through the board. I had to finish up with a handsaw. So, I went out to Lowes, bought a new blade, then attempted to take the old blade off. It had been torqued way too tight and wouldn't budge. OUCH. It was an impossible task. I ended up buying some penetrating stuff that's supposed to loosen the bolt up. Who knows if it will work.

Meanwhile, I needed something to cut up a 2x4. So I bought a Skil Table Saw at Lowes (we have Lowes Gift cards from B'Days and Christmas)