According to the forecast the next sighting of the sun has been pushed back to Tuesday, which is not good news. Ian’s batteries are suffering and I’ve turned off his pressure pump and refrigerator. There’s something wrong there, probably in the settings: It’s not charging the batteries right, even though it did for quite a while. Pity: I could use a shower.
Yesterday it started raining hard around 2:30 and didn’t stop all the rest of the day. According to the rain gauge, which I don’t trust, we got a hair less than an inch of rain which is a lot for one day here. All the snow is gone and the mud is deep.
This morning’s walkie greeted me with this…
Fog. Yuck. No wonder my stump and joints hurt.
On the way home I could smell woodsmoke coming from the cabin, still way out of sight. That’s rare but I’ve been burning a lot of juniper lately to take the load off my supply of pallet- and lumber-based firewood. I put up a lot of juniper last autumn. Got home, stirred up the coals and threw a couple of 2X4 chunks on the stove…
Even the pine ones burn hotter – and a lot cleaner – than juniper. Days like this are kind of a pain, now that the bedroom heater isn’t working. On a normal winter day I burn the woodstove to take the chill off, then let the sun coming through the big south window do the rest. Shirtsleeve temperatures by noon, with a nice bonus that the bedroom reading chair…
…is always in a nice comfy zone. But depending on the woodstove alone, during an overcast spell, is feast or famine. The cabin is too small to need a constant fire and anyway the stove is too small to sustain one without tending it every 20 minutes or so. So it’s build a fire, let it heat up the cabin and then go out, wait for it to get cold again, then build another fire. Or, once you’re sick of doing that, just put on your coat. It’s not like it’s really all that cold right now. 15 years ago I wouldn’t have considered wasting fuel on weather that won’t even freeze water but these bones are getting old. I turn 70 next month and anyway it ain’t the years, it’s the mileage and the collision damage.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to my book.
About that heater: if there is only one wire coming from the thermocouple, and that wire is good, check that the thermocouple mounting tab is clean and tight under the screw. It may be using the ground as a second wire.
If there are two wires that are good, the thermocouple is bad and needs to be replaced.
My 2 cents worth.
Is that unit a Coleman?
boynsea
I don’t understand why you seem to be giving up on your beloved furnace. Start by buying a new thermocouple.
First: there is a high probability that a new thermocouple will fix it.
but:
Second: It’s a great idea to have a spare thermocouple for in any case.
No, it’s an Empire. I keep meaning to figure out the model, the number must be there somewhere. Then I can go online and find where to buy parts. I’m not convinced that the problem is with the thermocouple but it might be, they’re not expensive and it would be best to have a spare or two in any case.
Why did the front end loader sink? Is there a story there?
Regarding the propane heater. I think that one of those Chinesium diesel heaters would probably work wonders, so long as it is vented through the chimney to the outdoors.
https://www.amazon.com/maXpeedingrods-Diesel-Heater-Super-Running/dp/B0C3GYXVV4/?th=1
Is it weird that I’ve never heard of those? Don’t want one inside my house though.
I wouldn’t want the Chinese version either.
The Finish version would be my first choice. I know they sell their marine heaters at a couple of the boating supply houses on the east coast, but everything marine is twice as expensive.
There are similar things sold to the trucking industry…
These are likely to be expensive, if you can find one stateside, but Wallas has a good reputation. Europeans are less price sensitive on some things that are expected to last. (You can buy a circular saw at your local big box store for under $50. The German company Festool sells a circular saw for $750.)
https://wallas.fi/product/26-cc/
Interesting that you didn’t start collecting social security at 65.
Is the payout much more for waiting an extra 5 years?
It’s somewhat more. I forget the exact numbers. It was rather wisely pointed out to me some years ago that sooner or later I won’t be able to live here on my own anymore, and since SS will be my only income I should plan on maxing it out. Right now I can live on very little but it may not always be so.
From my brief search yesterday. Full retirement age is 67, for 100% benefits (but can collect at 65 for less).
Waiting until 70 provides 125% benefits.