My Blog Reflection
It takes half your life before you discover life is a do-it-yourself project.
Napoleon Hill
Wednesday April 16, 2025
Upon returning home from Florida we found that one or more squirrels have taken up residence in our attic. I spent two weeks trying to find a company to deal with them. I finally found one and they sent out an inspector today. ($129.00 for the inspection.) He was here for two hours and found multiple ways critters of all kind can get in our attic. He prepared an estimate to get rid of the squirrels and to critter-proof the house. The amount of the estimate floored us but what choice do we have? Climbing on our steep roof is something this old do-it-yourselfer can't handle anymore. They will set traps next week and start working on blocking the various areas of possible entrance by any type of critter, including wasps, with metal and steel mesh. This expense, along with the cost of tree removal at the house and at the lake lot, have not made for a good time to own real estate.
Thursday April 17, 2025
Yesterday, after daughter Alexa helped me install the house batteries, I started the generator in Homer. After a few tries it started up but was not putting out as much voltage as I would like. It hovered around 115 - 117 volts. At this lower voltage when the A/C kicked on the compressor and blower did not get up to speed like they should. The A/C unit in Homer is very old and pulls a lot of amps. I would like the generator to have a resting voltage of around 122 volts and then it can rev up when a load is put on it.
I let the generator run for a while without a load. Generators need to run. This one hasn't been started since last August. After it warmed up I tweaked the idle speed a little to increase the resting RPM. With this it idled nicely and put out 121 -122 volts. As good as I can get it. I then let it run for about forty-five minutes with the A/C on and it stayed close to this voltage. The initial low voltage may have been due to not being run for almost a year and condensation forming on the stator rings in the generator. I need to run it more.
The generator oil and filter need to be changed so I ordered a genuine Onan oil filter through Amazon. It will be here tomorrow. These old generators run on straight 30 weight oil and do not like synthetic. I will purchase four quarts and change the oil and filter as soon as the weather allows. (Lots of rain coming the next couple of days.) I will also check the air filter to see its condition as well.
The generator slides out to make it easier to service. I really don't remember how the generator slide locked in when we bought Homer. Apparently it was not to my liking because soon after he was purchased I made two T-handle/locks that screw into bolts on the frame to keep the generator locked in place. Getting Homer home a few weeks ago I found that one of the T-handle/locks I had made years ago had vibrated out and was gone. I have no idea how long ago that happened. I needed to make a new T-handle/lock to replace the missing one before hitting the road.
With some scrap metal and a little welding I fashioned a new one to replace the missing one. I don't want either T-handle/lock to vibrate out again. Apparently lock washers and hand tightening them was not enough. I need a "retainer" on each lock to keep them in place. The "retainer" I came up with, after a lot of trial and error, required that I revamp the original T-handle/lock configuration a little. Here is a picture of the handle parts painted a bright color so they do not get misplaced when taken out to service the generator.
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Here is a picture of the T-handle/locks installed with the retainers in front to keep them from coming out again. These retainers are a little crude but it is all I could come up with. I'll keep an eye on the T-handle/locks and retainers from now on.
When we purchased Homer the hour meter did not work. I purchased a new one to keep track of hours for oil changes, etc. A couple of times over the years I have found the wire came off the hour meter. As a result I have no idea how many hours are on this generator. I tightened the wire connection once again and will keep an eye on it to make sure it continues to work.
Monday April 21, 2025
The Onan oil filter arrived and I purchased four quarts of oil for an oil change. Draining the oil is simple. Getting the oil filter off is not. If you look at the following picture you can see that the black round oil filter only sicks out about a quarter of an inch from the green shield. The oil filter wrenches I have will not grip on such a small area.
I had to take the shield around the oil filter off to have enough room to get a wrench on the oil filter. Three bolts hold the shield on. The bottom bolt was missing. When I went to put the shield back on I could see why. There is virtually no room to thread the short bolt in at a 90 degree angle. After multiple attempts with multiple tools I did get a new bolt installed. For the next filter change I need to find an oil filter wrench which will work without having to take the shield off. Taking it off made a half hour project into a two hour project.
Tuesday April 22, 2025This morning I scheduled Homer for an oil change and for work on a brake issue on May 5th. In the meantime I have a couple of little items I want to fix while he is here at the house.
The exterminator arrived this morning. He installed traps on the roof at the place where Kelly saw a squirrel go in and where he found that it had chewed a hole to enter. I just assumed the traps would be set up in the attic. He said they rarely have to do that. This surprised me. He said the traps are placed so that the critter has to go through the trap to get in or out. No bait is used. He set up a camera to monitor any activity and asked us to keep an eye on them as well. Today he also started working on closing up some of the many other places were critters may enter the attic. This work drove the price up considerably. We have no choice. The joys of home ownership!
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