Thursday, July 31, 2014

Generating Problems

Let's go back to this past Sunday... 

I bought our 4000 watt generator at Harbor Freight for $299 plus a 1-year Extended Service Plan (plus a $25 wheel kit). It came to a horrific total of $409 but large payments I'm sadly getting used to. But, it's necessary to get the truck up and running so if it gets me closer to making money, it's what I have to do!

Sunday was the day of truth- the first day when we would test our power and plumbing and see what happened.




This baby weighed (what I thought was a whopping) 196 lbs empty. Lifting it into the truck was extremely hard but doable, even alone because I'm a beast but whatever. 


I have no pictures from Sunday because it was a terribly annoying letdown of a day. We got the generator powered up (I had to figure out how to put the engine oil in and fill it with gas along with the starting procedure) and turned on the breakers in the truck only to discover not all of our outlets work, most importantly the one that powers the water heater. 

... ugh... 

It was hot at the storage place where we've got the truck parked which made our experience even more extremely miserable. Just the thought of having to drive our truck back to Auburn and to the guy who supposedly "fixed" our electrical and plumbing was exhausting and infuriating. Early morning traffic heading down to Auburn could take over double the time.

Oh, and it did. It took us 1.5 hours to drive what should have taken 35 minutes.

We drove the truck down there on Tuesday while banging our heads against our steering wheels for him to troubleshoot and figure out why the hell everything wasn't working for the 5K we paid him to make everything.... work

It took him about two hours to redistribute the electrical load in the truck and then we were left with a measly 10 amps of power to spare (and not even our coffeemaker or microwave hooked up).... even though we told him everything we wanted to power on the truck and he assured us that a 3000 watt generator would do the job. So now he told us that 4000 watts isn't powerful enough. Grr.  

He checked to make sure the water came out of the faucets, they worked and then we said goodbye to him and even though he's a nice guy, I really don't want to see him again. Like, ever again.

After resigning ourselves to the fact we needed to get another generator, we then had to deal with the fact we couldn't return it full of fuel and engine oil. We had to buy a siphon and siphon everything out... which took me a good while.


And then stupid crap happens to me like this. The gas spout somehow broke apart and is now living at the bottom of the can. Because, that's our luck. 






Then we took the generator back to Harbor Freight opened, barely used, but free of oil or fuel. With my extended service plan I bought they allowed me to return it with no restock fee and upgrade it to a 8000 watt generator. We also bought an ATV ramp on sale for $45 that should help get the generator up into the truck.

Our new generator has been dubbed The Monster because that's what she is. She clocks in at 236 lbs while empty. She's a beast. Maybe I should call her The Generager?

Anyway, we got her to the truck and I put the wheel kit on, fueled and oiled her up just like the last generator. I'm becoming a pro at this. 

I worked in the only shade provided to me- between the truck and the storage place fence. It worked.


She came on and worked very well, everything came on. But, one thing came on too much. Our water heater was dribbling water all over the floor. We realized that the two connectors on the top weren't closed very well allowing water to freely flow out onto the floor. Also, our hand washing sink's drainage pipe is cut too long and doesn't match up to the rest of the plumbing well. 

So... there's always something else to fix. 

But, at least those things aren't deal breakers and we will be able to open on time.

BUT STILL! I feel like I should get some of that 5K back that I paid my truck builder. :(

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