Friday February 3, 2023 Guerneville CA.
Rainy
It was raining a bit this morning as I got it going. But it soon stopped so I went out to take care of the chickens. I feed them and opened the gates to let them out to graze around the yard.
New generator setup
It seemed like a good day to get the new generator going, but first I needed to put a 50 amp plug on an old cable I got from Tom.
That black thing laying on the ground by our new blue generator is the old cable I need to put a 50 amp plug on.
Plan B
I needed to remove the old plug that was on the cable. I tried to just take it off but the old cable was so stiff I couldn’t get it to come apart, so I switched to plan B.
I got the hacksaw out and just cut the wire off at the plug.
A problem
I started to cut the outer wire part off and discovered the old wire’s insulation was too brittle from age and was cracking off the copper wires which wasn’t good. I could get this to work, but it would be shaky, so I abandoned that idea and went online and ordered up a 50 amp RV cable that included plugs. I only need the male plug so can cut the female plug off to hook the wire into the circuit breaker panel when I get the new cable in a about a week.
Brittle insolation cracking up.
New generator setup
I put that aside and put oil in the new generator and gassed it up. I also hooked up the battery charger that came with the unit to top the battery off and let it charge for a bit before trying to start it up. Of course I had to look at the manual several times to get it all right.
When I tried to gas it up, my brother’s gas can had one of the new child and spill proof spouts on the gas can that I couldn’t figure out how to make it work to get any gas out of the can. Remember the spout is child proof so how could an older guy get any gas out of it.
I asked my brother about it since it’s his gas can and he just said he puts another gas can spout on it to get the gas out. We put the other gas can spout on to get the gas into the generator.
Back to the manual to see how to start the generator up. It can be started three different ways. I choose the electric start, pushing the start button, instead of manual or wireless. It started right up once it got gas. I turned it off for now as I don’t have a plug for it yet.
But at least I know it works
The gas spout
I went on YouTube to find out how to make the gas can spout work as it seems most everyone is having a problem with these newer things. I found you just have to press the green thing down after you press the child proof lever down which was on wrong anyway.
After much messing around with the child proof lever, I decided to dump the child proof lever, so now all you have to do is press the green thing down and hold it there which is how it works anyway.
The child proof lever is not really needed as no child has enough power to press the green thing down anyway as it’s hard enough for an adult to press it down and hold it.
That was pretty much my day, even though I didn’t get everything done. I at least got what I could done to eventually get it all fixed up.
Nice day.
Child proof is my sign I won’t be able to open something.
I enjoyed your comment on the blog, Bob, and then had to go find your blog. Fun reading.
Loved that cryptic comment about the thunder mugs, Bob, never heard that one before. Looking you up, I discovered your blog and laughed out loud at the most recent post I read. Fixing stuff, dealing with stuff, you sound just like Mo when we are home on the property. Fun reading.
I am laughing. There is nothing like child-proofed stuff. Always makes me want to holler for a child to come open it, close it, or otherwise get it going for me.
I hate those new gas cans. I did the same thing … switched spouts. Now I don’t have to push ANYTHING down! I mean really … as a kid, I don’t remember ANYONE wanting to drink the gasoline or even get close to the container. Maybe it’s how kids are raised. Nowadays you have to lock up the laundry detergent.