ADQ73214408 (Filter assembly, air)
AGF80300705 (Filter replacement cartridge, water)
(the latter aka LT1000P/PC/PCS)
This week I’ve learned a few things about the above-noted air filter and water-filter cartridge in the refrigerator in our new-to-us house:
- the specifications for them
- the method for replacing them
- the indicators and default schedule for replacing them
- the local suppliers of them
- the seductiveness of generic options, given the cost of factory-authorized replacements, drat them
Other learnings:
- how to unstick a stuck-on-auto-cycle dishwasher
- how to check the filter and dust bag for a new-to-me-brand of central vacuum system
- how to reset a tankless-water-heater boiler whose fail-safe heat sensor is seriously (but only intermittently) unhappy, likely (but not yet certainly) due to a sluggish pump
- how to add water-softener salt to a water-softening system after the previous owner had let it run out, and the correct procedure for re-starting the system, including how long to wait between those two activities
It’s a good thing I’m so technically inclined, yes? Well, it’s a good thing a diligent previous owner-emeritus, as it were, kept the manuals for every appliance and installed system in two neatly labelled/tabbed binders. And it’s an exceedingly good thing that YouTube exists.
When thinking about this move, I knew I was going to have to find a new doctor, dentist, pharmacist, and hair cutter. Navigate a new province’s bureaucracy, and learn my way around a sort-of-familiar but largely new-to-me city. But one aspect of this move that I had not considered was the need to learn–kind of all at once–the operation of, basic maintenance tasks for, odd noises made by, and reliable/accessible suppliers (products and services) for an entirely new-to-me suite of appliances and systems (security, water-softening, HVAC [heating, ventilating, air-conditioning], and that’s just so far). Surprise!
When I was born,
I was so surprised
I didn’t talk for a year and a half.
– Gracie Allen
I can’t claim that what I have to learn in a new house in a new city is on a par with a new baby’s learning curve, but it’s steep enough that taking the year-and-a-half perspective makes me feel better. Of course the specific competencies matter, but maybe the most-important thing I’ve learned in the first month is that if I tackle one or two bricks in the wall-of-the-unknown every week, I can make progress without overloading my learning circuits or my tolerance for feeling out of my depth.
I have not learned why the water filter has two ID/part numbers. If you happen to know, please keep it to yourself: My brain, she is full.
I pity your brain! Appliances, kitchen and otherwise, are a special kind of mystery/torture/challenge. We think we can fix/operate/optimize, but our thinking cells too often are not quite attuned to the manufacturer’s. A year-and-a-half is a good estimate.
Judith – Yeah, these days I find my brain is attuned to fewer and fewer developers of anything! I’d like to claim that I have a plan based on criticality (of any sort) but it’s more like doing stuff as I think of it. Oh well. Good enough, probably.
What was that matrix? What you don’t know you don’t know, what you know you know, what you know you don’t know, what you don’t know you know? Something like that. As you say, it’s the don’t know you don’t know category that always catches me up. And yes, thank heavens for Search with Google lens and YouTube instructions! Carry on!
Lorna – It turns out there are a few versions on it: one with the four stages of competence, presented either as a matrix or a pyramid, and also the Rumsfeld Matrix, with our awareness of knowing (or lack thereof) on one axis, and things known (or not) on the other axis. Donald Rumsfeld popularized this version by talking about Known Knowns and Known Unknowns and so on.
The learning curve is dark and steep, but you have miles to go before you sleep. Soldier bravely on!
Tom
Tom – 🙂 Yessir!
My guess is that you won’t need most of that information but, if you do, you will know where to look for it. The future is bright!
Laurna – I hope you’re right – on both counts! 🙂
Isabel – you have proven yet again the old adage, “When in doubt, read the directions.” Congrats!!
After just doing a Google search I can also make a good guess as to why your water filter cartridge has two different ID/part numbers, but I will keep it to myself as you request.
John – 🙂 Good man.