Month: July 2013

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Generator Exhaust Repair

L and I went into Assiniboia today to try to find some flexible steel tubing to fix my generator exhaust. I also wanted to buy a 20lb propane tank that was on sale at Peavey Mart and L wanted to have a nice meal out.

Charles suggested we try the farm supply places for the tubing. John Deere had nothing. We went to Young’s Equipment where one of my neighbours works and he sent us to NAPA.

NAPA had exactly what we needed. YAY! L thought we were so lucky that I should ask if they might have an air filter, too. YES! We couldn’t believe it!

Feeling jubilant, we went to Peavey Mart and then across the street to the Co-Op to fill the propane tank. There, L and I both had the same notion that the sales discount hadn’t been applied to the tank. It hadn’t. We went back and it turns out the sale wasn’t till Friday. The cashier didn’t bat an eyelash and refunded me the $4 and tax knowing that that was cheaper than loser a customer. Smart girl.

We then went to Nash’s, a Greek restaurant, and had a good lunch. L had ‘New York cut’ steak and I had the chicken pita with homemade tzatziki sauce. We shared baklava for dessert. It was all very yummy and I would like to go back one evening to try their dinner menu.

It was about 3:00 when we got in and L had almost no difficulty in getting the flexible tubing in. And that’s when the flexible tubing on the other side of the muffler gave. CRAP. L looked at the bit and hemmed and hawed and considered MacGyvering it until I could get to an exhaust repair shop. Finally, he decided that the best course of action was to go back to NAPA and get more pipe and more clamps. So we did.

He’s under the rig now getting this new section in.

I can't believe we found a new air filter! The other one was just about black.

I can’t believe we found a new air filter! The other one was just about black.

This is what we replaced.

This is what we replaced.

Shiny new pipe before the muffler.

Shiny new pipe before the muffler.

This section after the muffler snapped while L was working on the other side.

This section after the muffler snapped while L was working on the other side.

Now, I know what y’all are wondering, how expensive has my generator repair been?

Oil: about $4 for a quart of it (a few weeks ago)

NAPA gave us a ‘preferred customer discount’ after L asked for a senior’s discount, so I am putting the full price in brackets after the price paid:

Flex tubing: $3.41/ft ($4.39) x 3 = $10.23
Clamps: $2.10 ($2.26) x 2 = $4.20
U-Bolts (they were out of clamps on the second trip): $1.46 ($1.46) x 2 = $2.92
Air filter: $7.05 ($15.46!!!)

Total before tax at NAPA: $25.86 ($26.84 with tax).

So counting the oil, I’m at just over $30.

The spark plug is good and there is absolutely no reason to replace it.

The only other issue is that the choke isn’t working automatically. I have to manually close it to start the genny and then release the catch so that it will open. Not a biggie.

L suggests that I run the genny regularly until the winter. If I have no issues with it, then I should look at having the brushes replaced. But he doesn’t want me to spend that money now since the genny has sat so long as it would suck for the motor to throw a rod or whatever a month down the road. Smart man.

Oh, and there is the issue of it not starting from the button in the kitchen, which is an electrical and possible electronic issue. I am not going to worry about that at this time since I don’t have an automatic transfer switch. Therefore, I have to go outside anyway to plug the shore power cable into the genny from the inverter or vice versa.

I am going to continue leaving the cable plugged into the inverter as being the default plug in condition. The genny will just be for charging or giving me a boost in grey weather. I look forward to seeing what its gas consumption is compared to the engine.

I’m still reeling from disbelief that my generator is working.

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Ever Wonder What a Miracle Sounds Like?

A miracle sounds something like this:

It took L about 10 minutes to get my generator going. He:

-removed the fuel line and blew in it to see if air was getting through (yes);

-sucked on the line till he got a mouthful of gasoline (the things this guy does for me);

-put in 25L of fuel to make sure I was well above the quarter tank mark;

-removed the cover from around the brushes (which I as not able to remove) and manually rotated the brushes to a clean spot that was not all gummed up;

– primed the carburetor by spraying fuel directly into it.

So this tells me that when I first noticed the genny wasn’t working in the spring of 2009, all I would have had to do was suck on the fuel line. The brushes were spinning back then and I knew to prime the carb and was doing so. *sighs*

But all is not copacetic as the exhaust pipe is missing a section. We are going to hit up the farm equipment suppliers tomorrow to see if we can find a replacement piece of flexible metal exhaust hose. We can then give the genny a good bit of exercise. I need to find a replacement air filter in the nearish future. When we meet up again in January, he will replace the spark plug.

I ran my AC for 10 minutes today and even nuked something in the microwave! COOL! 😀

We had a lovely day. He made a breakfast of pancakes with fresh blueberries in them and real maple syrup (what a treat for someone who’s been almost carb free for a while!). We went out in the morning and looked at the petroglyphs, then went to Willow Bunch for the fuel and to check out the thrift store. I came out with a few sweaters and a pink colander that matches my kitchen. 🙂

We had a late lunch of VERY expensive pizza at Willow Bunch’s Stagecoach restaurant (the toppings and sauce were 10/10 and the crust was a 4 or 5/10, but neither of us have had pizza in eons, so it hit the spot!). We came in, got the genny going, then I took him over to meet C&C. We came home to gab and then C&C came by a little while later for a longer chat.

Tomorrow should be pretty full with a trip to Assiniboia for parts and fixing the exhaust pipe, but things will get a little more sedate as I need to get some work done.

Having a guest arrive with their own house ROCKS. It really is very little hassle and disruption to the routine!

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Look What Just Blew In From Kansas!

My friend L, whom I met at the beach last winter, arrived today after spending a month in Flin Flon, MB!

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He’ll be here about a week. We’re used to each other’s routine so, really, he could stay for a month. He got set up while I finished my day’s work, then we caught up over shots of tequila.

We both planned meals so between the two of us, we have enough to get us through the apocalypse! I promised I’d make a shrimp boil for his arrival night, so that’s what I did. Boy was it good, even with frozen Safeway shrimp! I added lemons and apple cider vinegar to the spices and that made a big difference. L contributed his homemade seafood sauce (MUCH tastier than the commercial stuff and very horseradishy) as well as a loaf of rye bread.

As we were gorging ourselves on the shrimp, sitting under his awning enjoying the Haven’s natural setting (like being in a campground minus all the neighbours on top of you), L mused that he has no idea what rich folks do that’s so great because, damn, this really is the good life. I couldn’t agree more!

After dinner, I took him for a walk around the hamlet and showed him the sights, of which there were surprisingly many.

If tomorrow is quiet for transcription, we’ll head out and explore the environs, including the petroglyphs. Willow Bunch and Assiniboia have museums we want to check out, as does this very hamlet. Apparently, the post master is the person who can give me the scoop on how to access the church.

It’s so good to have company and I can’t wait to introduce L to my friends here!

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A Good Day For Laundry

Today is quite sunny and windy, a perfect day for doing lots of laundry since it can dry so quickly. I started with the bed sheets and then did a couple of loads of tops and undies.

As I suspected, my clothesline doesn’t hold much, only about two Wonderwash loads of clothes or one of bedsheets.

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The clothesline has a tendency to fall over the minute a slight breeze hits it. I tried to stake it into the ground, but only got bent tent pegs for my trouble. So I decided to try bricks and they are doing a fine job of keeping my clothesline upright in all this wind!

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Here’s the antenna in the truck. The wind keeps turning the pole today and I have to keep running outside to correct it and try to get it to stop moving. I am not annoyed. I just can’t be bothered to ‘properly’ install the antenna when I plan to put a building in that part of the yard soonish.

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While the current load on the line is drying, I am soaking my dish cloths and towels in a mild bleach and very hot water solution before washing them.

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I really like having hot water accessible from an exterior tap! This is yet another feature of my RV that I have yet to take for granted. I don’t think I’d be so keen on doing my laundry outside if I had to traipse into the kitchen to get hot water.

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Internet Disbelief

My internet connection really does work CONSISTENTLY now!

I have been online all morning catching up on so many little tasks that needed a fast, steady connection. I uploaded about 1GB worth of pictures in the blink of an eye. I had a couple of Youtube videos to watch; no problem. Getting through all the spam comments on the blog? Easy. And Netflix? No problem there; movies stream seamlessly.

I have sooooo many blog posts to write, dating back to the RV seminar, and the plan is to write them up and schedule them to post at a regular interval.

It sucks that it took a third of the summer to get to this point, but I’m back in business!