Chapter 12

William just smirked to himself and turned for his tool box and bag. Hmmm…Better get my meter and test light….might need a pipe wrench….probably need my pressure gauges…he thought as he loaded the bag. Just as he loaded the last item, Billy re-appeared. “Well Billy, looks like we’ve got some fixin’ to do”. “Great. What needs fixing Mr. Baker?” “Well, Mrs. Ann wants me to go over and take a look at your air conditioner and said something about a sink”. “Oh…OK. It has been getting hot in the house lately. And the sink in the kitchen drips and I think Mom said there is a leak in under the cabinet.” “Well, we best get moving if you’re gonna go fishing today.” Billy grinned as big as ever. “Let’s go then”.

Billy led the way and William followed right into the kitchen. “See that drip there, Mr. Baker?” Billy opened the cabinet and pulled all the cleaning stuff out for William. “Right there. See how it’s been dripping and stained the cabinet? Must not be much of a leak, but it is dripping some”. “OK Billy, that doesn’t look to be too much to fix. We better have a look at that A/C now. Billy, you ever do any fixing?” “Not really Mr. Baker. I don’t really know how most stuff works. Just never really had anyone to show me.” “Well, we can fix that too. OK, where is your thermostat and your fuse box?” Billy showed him the fuse box and then the thermostat after Mr. Baker told him the thermostat is the ‘A/C on/off thingy’. Mr. Baker took the time to explain the why every house had a ‘fuse box’, what a circuit was, hot, neutral and ground and why there were different sized fuses…..at least a quick course on it anyway. He took extra care to emphasize how to be safe with electricity when you had some work to be done with it. At the thermostat, he explained how a mercury switch worked and pulled the cover off to let him see it as Mr. Baker moved the control arm. “Huh. That’s pretty simple Mr. Baker”. “Nothing to it really. OK, let’s set it to cool and go out and take a look at the unit outside”. Mr. Baker could hear it kick on and assumed it was just probably low on Freon or maybe had a leak.

Once outside, Mr. Baker could see no one had touched it in quite a few years. “Hmmm, look here Billy, the coil is filthy. No wonder this thing is not working like it supposed to.” What does the coil do Mr. Baker?” “Hand me that screw driver and go get the garden hose and I’ll show you”. Billy handed him a flat screwdriver and Mr. Baker explained the difference between a Phillips and a Flat and Billy took off for the garden hose. Mr. Baker removed the housing and exposed the coils showing all the dirt and leaf bits and explained how the Freon flowed through the unit and was cooled by the fan unit. Then he took the hose and sprayed it out. “Billy, this needs to be done at least once a year. I do mine twice just to make sure it’s operating efficiently as possible. Once in the spring when I see the first flowers and then again in the peak of the summer around the 1st of August because it’s usually gotten dusty by then and the pollen from the Spring would have built back up and made the dust stick to it. You need to make sure and do this for your Mom from now on. It’s one of the ways you can help your Mom out.” “Yes sir, I’ll take care of it from now on”. They finished the cleaning and Mr. Baker hooked up his gauges, explaining the theory of high side and low side and what the unit should be doing. “Well, there must not be a leak, something else is wrong. I still haven’t heard the compressor kick on”. “What’s the compressor?” Mr. Baker pointed it out again and explained what it does. “We better see if it’s getting power first. When your trying to fix stuff, it’s always easiest to start with the simple things and work up from there Billy”. Mr. Baker grabbed his meter and started connecting it here and there. He didn’t explain what he was doing though, other than to tell Billy that this was not something he should try because you had to be sure of what you were doing or that electricity would bite him like a Rattle Snake except the electricity wouldn’t let go right away.. Billy nodded and thought about that. He didn’t like snakes. “Yep, that’s the problem right there. The capacitor is bad. OK, you go into the house and turn the breaker I showed you off and we’ll get this fixed. Billy did as asked then came back out. “Billy, remember, always double check when working with electricity and I like to check 3 times. Mr. Baker reached over and threw the power switched mounted to the wall then showed Billy how to check for current with his meter. “That wall mounted box there kills the power to this unit…..or at least it’s supposed to if it was hooked up right. That’s the trouble, you can never be sure that someone else has done it the right way, so don’t trust your life on whether or not they did”. Mr. Baker threw the switch again and re-tested. Still no current. “This one was installed properly, but I’ve seen them where they weren’t. You see the trouble is that somebody may have done a repair down the road and bypassed that box and put current straight to the unit”. He turned the switch off again and removed the capacitor and explained how it worked and why it wouldn’t let the compressor come on. “OK, we know what’s wrong here, let’s get to that sink next.” The sink turned out to be a bad washer on the on the valve. The drain had just worked loose and only took ½ a turn with the pipe wrench. Mr. Baker explained every step of the way. “OK Billy, let’s run to the hardware store and get the things we need and we’ll be in business.”

Billy had never ridden in a truck as big as this. He felt like an over the road trucker and grinned the whole way there just listening to that Power Stroke chug the hills. Barely, he managed to resist the urge to ask Mr. Baker to honk the air horn. They walked in to the hardware store and the 3 guys behind the counter greeted Mr. Baker like a long lost cousin. Billy didn’t understand how they seemed to know him so well. “Who’s this fella with you Billy, your Grandson?” “Oh no, this is my next door neighbor, Billy Brannon”. “Well hey there Little Bill, nice to meet you”. Yep, Billy really liked this new nickname for sure now. Billy managed a smile and shook the man’s hand. Another guy slid a container of candy over to him and winked at him to let him know it was OK to swipe a few. Billy took a seat on the stool and started fishing out the good stuff. Mr. Baker showed the man what he needed and the third guy went to get the things for Mr. Baker from this aisle and that and brought it back. “I sure do appreciate it Tim”. Billy noticed Mr. Baker put 2 brand new 20 dollar bills on the counter and took his change. “No problem Billy, we’re just happy to see you out and about. The wife and I have been praying for you”. Billy winced a little. Mr. Baker did too. Billy hadn’t even thought about Mr. Baker’s appointment all day. “Thanks Tim. Ann and I appreciate it. I’ll see you guys soon.” “You be sure and bring your helper back with you when you come.” “You keep giving him candy and I won’t be able to get over here with out him.”

Mr. Baker and Billy drove back home, but didn’t say much. That was just fine with Mr. Baker. “This kid just knows when to be quiet”, Mr. Baker thought to himself. Back at the house, they installed the capacitor first and put the power back to the unit and it worked like new. The sink only took another 15 minutes and Billy could already feel the house getting cooler. “Well, that will do it for the day Billy. It’s 4 O’clock now. That gives you plenty of time to get back to that lake and catch me a story or two. Why don’t we gather up the tools and lock up the house and you take off. I better get back and check on Ann and probably ought to rest up for tomorrow. “Yes sir, I’m going to try those solid body tubes you showed me and I’ll be sure to come over as soon as you get back tell you all about it.” “Remember now, you promised.” “Yes sir.”

________________________________________