generator ?

[rabbitearbandicoot]

I have a generator - 15 years old but not used very much -  Honda motor. I haven't started it in 5 years but with the expected cyclone conditions and power outs, I thought I may at least be able to keep the fridge/freezer going so as not to lose food again.

Can't start it! Checked Oil levels, filled with petrol, checked plug, put new air filter in - tried starting with choke, without choke, 1/2 choke etc - nothing. It turns over but not firing. Yes, I have the power switch on and the fuel switch on.

Any suggestions from the small engine experts?

TIA

[the*scarlet*pimpernel]

And al ways run the fuel out of items you are not going to use for some time

Yep, that's what Wilks and I said too.   Same goes for any small motors like your mowers or motorbikes. Turn the fuel tap off and let the motor run until it runs out of fuel. 

Hope Ozzie makes it.

[rabbitearbandicoot]

---

@the_hawk* wrote:

If the pin you have lost is just the pivit for the float and not the actual neadle valve just make one from a pop rivit shanft or nail.

And a couple of valuable lessons learnt.

always work on and over a clear surface with a cloth so parts dont bounce when dropped.

And al ways run the fuel out of items you are not going to use for some time

Good luck up there

---

Yes it's the pivot for the float. I was working on the floor because it was so heavy to lift up on the bench. I was SO careful as I was taking it apart - put every piece in the lid of my screwdriver set - all in their own little sections. They are all there - but this little pin? Nowhere to be found. I could have bought a new carby - ONLY $230.

With the ozzie dead, can't even have a chit otherwise we'll have turds floating past.

[rabbitearbandicoot]

---

@the*scarlet*pimpernel wrote:

And al ways run the fuel out of items you are not going to use for some time

Yep, that's what Wilks and I said too.   Same goes for any small motors like your mowers or motorbikes. Turn the fuel tap off and let the motor run until it runs out of fuel. 

Hope Ozzie makes it.

---

when I see Dr Who, I'll get him to take me back and make sure I do the right think.

By the way, has anyone got Noah's phone number?

[rabbitearbandicoot]

While we are on the subject of TV - does anyone how long they reckon it's going to rain on Sunshine Coast?

Our TVs are all on the side with no power, and so is the driver for the TV aerial. I could unplug it all and use the extension lead, but the TV unit is one of those old HUGE furniture ones and can't move it to get to the power points or the aerial power lead..

[the*scarlet*pimpernel]

---

@rabbitearbandicoot wrote:

---

@the*scarlet*pimpernel wrote:

And al ways run the fuel out of items you are not going to use for some time

Yep, that's what Wilks and I said too.   Same goes for any small motors like your mowers or motorbikes. Turn the fuel tap off and let the motor run until it runs out of fuel. 

Hope Ozzie makes it.

---

when I see Dr Who, I'll get him to take me back and make sure I do the right think.

By the way, has anyone got Noah's phone number?

---

oops, sorry. I didn't mean to sound like I was rubbing your nose in it.  I was just trying to impart some wisdom to everyone out there that owns a mower, gennie, pump or motorbike. My brother has a mower shop and the the majority of stuff he fixes is due to gummed up carbies and stale fuel. I have a trail bike that is very finnicky. If it hasn't been started for a few weeks I have to drain the fuel out of the carby before it will start. They just don't make fuel like they used to (something to do with the lack of lead I think)

[rabbitearbandicoot]

no worries. I am going off line now as I only have one extension cord and I'm going to try to get the TV going.

[rabbitearbandicoot]

well, rain stopped, SAS came and pumped most of the water out of the back yard, Ozzie man came - only minor damage to a plug - power is back - I'm almost tempted to say 'all is well' but I won't because then something else will go wrong.

Still haven't fixed the generator.

[vicr3000]

A very good article re Power lines in Cyclone Country.

But before that, it is interesting to see/read how prepared, un prepared people are for these types of activities.

I acknowledge that a Cyclone hasn't hit this far down for 20 - 30 years and IMHO, the Gov't meetings and activities

were a bit late in coming (Friday afternoon) but interesting all the same what you can learn.

Anyway, a good article.

Cyclone Marcia helps bury the debate on power lines

Tropical cyclone Marcia highlighted the problems of ageing power infrastructure. Photo: Reuters

I have a doctor mate in Yeppoon.

After spending Sunday working pro bono at the hospital, stitching up cylone-induced cuts in the heat, he had a spray he needed to get off his chest.

This is what he told me.

Forty years after Cyclone Tracy, we still have electricity on poles in cyclone country. The aftermath of the big blow has been much worse than the actual cyclone, thanks primarily to power lines being down all over a region that's home to some 100,000 people.

Without power, mobile phones couldn't be charged. Petrol pumps don't work. Food rots.

Relying on generators, the hospital didn't have enough power to run air-conditioning. On top of the cuts, people were presenting with chest pains and some were beginning to show signs of heat exhaustion. The floors were slippery with moisture.

We put water and NBNs underground, but not the considerably more dangerous power lines like the ones that continue to be down around Yeppoon 48 hours after Marcia cruised through.

Granted, some of the lessons from Tracy have been learned. The new houses, built under stricter building codes, were fine – the odd tree not standing notwithstanding. After all, the wind was "only" 150 kmh. It was, unsurprisingly, the old houses that provided disaster fodder for the cameras.

But power still ran on poles and the lines were down all over the place in numbers that meant speedy repair was impossible.

"They talk about gold-plating electricity," said my friend. "I wish they'd just copper-plate it underground."

It's another reason, he said, for getting off the grid.

The solar panels on his house came through the storm undamaged, despite being in an exposed position.

If mains power is unreliable in cyclone country, why bother to have it?

And if more people leave the grid, it will become more expensive to maintain for those remaining. And that in turn will mean it won't be maintained as well.

"Queenslanders are mad. We should be selling the poles and wires while there's still someone silly enough to buy them. It's a shrinking market," my friend said.

It had been a long, very hot day. He had someone bringing generators from Mackay so he could open his surgery on the morrow to look after his patients. He'd like power underground in places that are likely to cop a cyclone.

He's a good man, my friend, so I told him he'd gone soft, wanting air-conditioning. Probably part of what's gone wrong with the Reds. Harden up, son. You only had a kerosene lamp when you were growing up, didn't you?

"Oh well," he said. The dogs are doing well out of it - they've scored all the meat in the freezers.

[vicr3000]

Question if anyone cares to answer.

How did they work out this to be a Cat 5 Cyclone when the data (two types of wind speed, Pressure level etc)

seems to read a Cat 3 cyclone.

[serendipityricho]

Rabbit--dont take this hard -but you are a menace with anything

mechanical or electrical--just your past history .lol.

I noticed earlier in this thread you have purchased ..a little red racer..

You have mentioned getting a project car to "do up"

Why am i scared............................................................Richo.