Your recent repair? 2013 - 2020

[pb4uski]

That is a nice looking stove. Looks like soapstone. Hope it works well. Modern stoves are bit hard to get going. Cheap trick is to leve the door cracked open a bit until a good draft is established, then close it fully.....

We have soapstone on our woodstove similar to Hermit's.... I love it... while it take a while to heat it retains heat well overnight. Our woodstove has a separate ash tray below the firebox and I just open that to get a good draft going or if it has burned down some and I feed it and need to get it going good again.

 

[6miths]

Just replaced three casement window operators. Had two out of comission but lost one on a window I actually use fairly often so it was time! I have been thinking of replacing the windows but they seem to be in good shape. 26 years old. Not too bad I am thinking.

 

[Hermit]

We have soapstone on our woodstove similar to Hermit's.... I love it... while it take a while to heat it retains heat well overnight. Our woodstove has a separate ash tray below the firebox and I just open that to get a good draft going or if it has burned down some and I feed it and need to get it going good again.

Mine will have an outside air draw. I'm going to have foam sprayed on the exterior walls so the place should be pretty air tight. This week I am finishing up preparation for concrete in the basement and the front and back deck piers. Next week putting parge on the Styrofoam outside and then the hearth. Oh, and my DD is getting married in about a month. She keeps finding little things for me to do/make in my "spare" time!

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Our outdoor backyard tap had frozen and broken the pipe inside the wall, but the break was after the shutoff part so no leakage.

Sounds like you could use a frostproof outdoor faucet. How To Install A Frost Proof Outdoor Faucet | The Family Handyman

 

[Sunset]

Sounds like you could use a frostproof outdoor faucet. How To Install A Frost Proof Outdoor Faucet | The Family Handyman

It was, but the hose was left on it so water didn't drain out when it was shut off.
I used a frostproof one for the replacement.

 

[cat wrangler]

Moen Kitchen Faucet Repair ~

12 year old Moen faucet developed a drip from the hot water side as well as a leak near the pull-out sprayer. I visited the Moen website and reviewed their trouble-shooting section. Then sent an email to them using their contact form, was even able to attach a copy of the original receipt. The faucet has a limited lifetime warranty, and they have sent parts at no charge. DH (who is retired) has added this to his to-do list.

 

[ls99]

Replaced oil pressure transducer on my recently new to me 2006 GMC pickup. That sucker is waay in the back behing intak e manifold and down low among some sonnectors and wires. Good to to have slim hands, Still got a little bruised.

Satisfaction in seeing actual oil pressure instead of needle pegged at 80 psi.

 

[aja8888]

Onan 4 KW RV Generator rebuild

My friend's generator froze up in his RV and we pulled it out last week. It's a 25 year old Onan 4 KW unit and the rotor bearing is shot. Since a new unit is in the $4500 range, I decide to help him pull it apart and repair it. Actually, I am doing the work as he has very little mechanical ability, but buys a great lunch!

It's in my garage now and I am in the process of tearing it down to get at the ball bearing that disintegrated and seized up the gen set. Believe it or not, I found a Onan service manual online for the unit. Here are a few pictures of today's work:






Tomorrow we have to lift the unit and place it on end for us to get the bolts off the rotor/stator housing and then lift the housing off which will expose the rotor shaft. The shaft has the bearing pressed on to it and I will have to pull it off. Then, to find a new bearing since I have no part number listing and the service manual has none. I can mic the OD and shaft ID and figure out what will work.

It's a worthwhile job and gives us old dogs something to do rather than complain about the heat.

 

[Sunset]

My friend's generator froze up in his RV and we pulled it out last week. It's a 25 year old Onan 4 KW unit and the rotor bearing is shot. Since a new unit is in the $4500 range, I decide to help him pull it apart and repair it. Actually, I am doing the work as he has very little mechanical ability, but buys a great lunch!

It's in my garage now and I am in the process of tearing it down to get at the ball bearing that disintegrated and seized up the gen set. Believe it or not, I found a Onan service manual online for the unit. Here are a few pictures of today's work:
...........................

You are a VERY good friend, as that looks like a big job.
This also means the RV is 25 years old as well ?

 

[EastWest Gal]

My dish disposal just died so I'll be calling the plumber today

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

Did you mean garbage disposal? They are super durable appliances. Ours stopped running. We shone a flashlight in the unit and found a piece of plastic between the blade and the metal wall of the unit. It took some work but we got it out and the garbage disposal functioned 100% after that. I hope I didn't respond too late to help.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[Walt34]

Actually, I am doing the work as he has very little mechanical ability, but buys a great lunch!

I understand - "Will work for food"!

When I was helping a friend build a Pitts Special he would always insist on paying for lunch. That's me 10+ years ago sitting in the fuselage making engine noises and standing in front of the finished product.

 

[ERD50]

My friend's generator froze up in his RV and we pulled it out last week. It's a 25 year old Onan 4 KW unit and the rotor bearing is shot. Since a new unit is in the $4500 range, I decide to help him pull it apart and repair it. Actually, I am doing the work as he has very little mechanical ability, but buys a great lunch! ...

It's a worthwhile job and gives us old dogs something to do rather than complain about the heat.

You are a VERY good friend, as that looks like a big job.
This also means the RV is 25 years old as well ?

Yes, keep us updated - very interesting project! Good Luck!

What drives it? Must take ~ 6-8 HP to produce 4 KW (5.36 HP before efficiencies are accounted for)?

-ERD50

 

[NW-Bound]

Wow, rebuilding that generator is a big job. I'd rather work on my PCs and fix Windoze problems.

My class C also has a 4 kW Onan generator, though a newer model. The 4kW size is pretty much standard for class C motorhomes. Mine has a 304cc single-piston engine.

Class A gas motorhomes usually have a 5.5-kW generator.

PS. The generator I have would cost $3K new. Its weight is 150 lbs.

PPS. Onan may still have the original bearing to sell.

 

[aja8888]

You are a VERY good friend, as that looks like a big job.
This also means the RV is 25 years old as well ?

Yes, a 25 year old RV we have been working on all year.

Wow, rebuilding that generator is a big job. I'd rather work on my PCs and fix Windoze problems.

My class C also has a 4 kW Onan generator, though a newer model. The 4kW size is pretty much standard for class C motorhomes. Mine has a 304cc single-piston engine.

Class A gas motorhomes usually have a 5.5-kW generator.

PS. The generator I have would cost $3K new. Its weight is 150 lbs.

PPS. Onan may still have the original bearing to sell.

Yep, that's the replacement he didn't want to buy.

 

[aja8888]

Yes, keep us updated - very interesting project! Good Luck!

What drives it? Must take ~ 6-8 HP to produce 4 KW (5.36 HP before efficiencies are accounted for)?

-ERD50

It's driven by a two cylinder (opposed) gasoline engine for compactness.

 

[aja8888]

I understand - "Will work for food"!

When I was helping a friend build a Pitts Special he would always insist on paying for lunch. That's me 10+ years ago sitting in the fuselage making engine noises and standing in front of the finished product.

Wow! Walt, that's some Pitts!

And I do work for food!

 

[aja8888]

Here's the RV that the generator belongs to:

 

[samclem]

My friend's generator froze up in his RV and we pulled it out last week. It's a 25 year old Onan 4 KW unit and the rotor bearing is shot. Since a new unit is in the $4500 range, I decide to help him pull it apart and repair it.

Why do people replace these rather than buy two Honda 2KW inverter units? They cost about $1K each, so it would be less than 1/2 the price, Honda quality, quiet, they can be linked together to function (electrically) as single 4KW unit, and if one crumped out while camping you'd still have 2KW available to run just about anything except the AC.
Maybe the RV packaging/space requirements or intricacies of hooking up the fuel/cables/routing the exhaust, etc make the Onan unit the easier replacement?

 

[aja8888]

Why do people replace these rather than buy two Honda 2KW inverter units? They cost about $1K each, so it would be less than 1/2 the price, Honda quality, quiet, they can be linked together to function (electrically) as single 4KW unit, and if one crumped out while camping you'd still have 2KW available to run just about anything except the AC.
Maybe the RV packaging/space requirements or intricacies of hooking up the fuel/cables/routing the exhaust, etc make the Onan unit the easier replacement?

Not an expert here, but Onan has been making RV generators for decades and probably owned the market. These units are nicely built and fit into a small space. Maybe others here can comment on other gen set units besides Onan (which is now Cummins).

http://power.cummins.com/rv

 

[NW-Bound]

The common AC in the RV burns only 1.5kW when running, but when starting it easily draws 3X that, or 4.5kW. The Onan 4kW can start the AC, but I can hear the RPM drops momentarily.

It is tempting to use the popular Honda 2 kW portable generator, or a pair of them, to run the AC. Alas, many have tried and find out that it does not work. The inverter generator is rated at 2kW peak, and a pair of them is just a bit short.

On the other hand, people have paired up the larger Honda EU3000, which is rated at 3 kW surge and 2.6 kW continuous, to successfully run the RV AC. However, a pair of this larger Honda generator costs $2300 x 2 = $4600, hence not competitive with the Onan.

An advantage of the Onan is the electric start, which is available with the EU3000 but not its smaller brother. Mounting a pair of the EU3000 in the same bay as the original Onan is not really feasible when one considers the fuel piping, the exhaust arrangement, and the air circulation for cooling.

 

[NW-Bound]

It's driven by a two cylinder (opposed) gasoline engine for compactness.

Onan has changed the design in the new one. Mine uses a single 304cc cylinder. The old design as you said uses two cylinders.

Another difference is that the old design runs at 1,800 rpm, while mine runs at 3,600 rpm. I would expect the old design to be more quiet.

 

[NW-Bound]

Another way to provide the surge requirement of a starting AC is with the use of a "boosting" inverter/charger to assist a smaller generator. It allows the use of a generator like the Honda 2000, which can provide the continuous power but lacks the oomph to start up the AC compressor.

A boosting inverter/charger has the smart to sense that the generator voltage is drooping, and will draw from the battery bank to assist. When the load requirement drops, the inverter/charger will draw power to replenish the batteries. Such a boosting inverter/charger with 3 kW capability costs around $1800, hence quite cost-competitive.

By the way, the technology now allows electronically controlled variable-speed motors to be used in AC. Many residential split-systems have such a compressor. I understand that these are very popular overseas, partly because they are grid-friendly and do not tax the system with their surge current requirement like our antiquated AC's.

I have been waiting to see one such modern AC made for RVs.

 

[samclem]

Another way to provide the surge requirement of a starting AC is with the use of a "boosting" inverter/charger to assist a smaller generator. It allows the use of a generator like the Honda 2000, which can provide the continuous power but lacks the oomph to start up the AC compressor.

Another option is to add a "hard start" capacitor kit to the AC if it lacks one (a surprising number of RV AC units don't have the kit installed). They can drastically reduce the starting load that the AC puts on to the generator.

 

[NW-Bound]

The hard-start cap helps, but does not alleviate the surge load enough for a pair of EU2000 generators. This is as reported by many RV'ers on the Web.

We now have modern electronics everywhere, but the induction motor is still with us, and hard to get rid of. The alternative exists, but its cost is still the dominant detracting factor.

PS. A lot of different results is reported on the Web. One RV'er was able to run the AC with a [-]pair of[/-] single EU2000 using the hard-start capacitor, but had to take the generator out of "eco" mode when at 7,000 ft altitude. The eco mode runs the generator at a lower speed when there is no load, and its stepping on the throttle when the AC kicks in is not fast enough to prevent voltage drooping.

 

[samclem]

The hard-start cap helps, but does not alleviate the surge load enough for a pair of EU2000 generators. This is as reported by many RV'ers on the Web.

Yes, though obviously it depends on the particular situation. I know of a case where a 5K BTU window unit (cools a small trailer well) with a "hard start" capacitor kit started and ran just fine using a 800W generator. Without the hard-start kit the small generator just couldn't get the AC started.