Above 1200 Sq/FT The Lone Beech Garage (60x46x16)

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Has your electrician made it over to look at the breaker issue? Pretty odd that it's tripping like that.

Nice idea waxing the planer & jointer beds, I'll have to remember that one.

C_F,

I sent him a text and he indicated that it might be a bad breaker. I decided to acquire a new one and see if that changes anything. It is in transit from an online vendor.

The GFCI Circuit Breaker worked fine for over a year. It is powering outlets that I have used sporadically during that time. It never gave me any trouble until recently and I'm not powering anything when it trips.

After monitoring it and having it trip a couple of times after hours have passed, I've left it tripped until I can get a new breaker installed. If the new one starts behaving the same way, I'll call the electrician back.

I can't take credit for the waxing idea - that came from the internet. It has helped a lot!

Best regards,

Scott

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Tuesday - August 15, 2017


The author of the plans I am using for the Miter Saw Station didn't give much detail when it came to producing the "optional" drawers. The "half moon" cutouts that serve as drawer pulls had the depth & width measurements but no information on how he produced those cutouts.

I had been thinking of various templets & such to guide a router bit. I was leaning real hard towards using a piece of PVC pipe or a Pipe Cap to act as a guide for a router bit but I was still trying to figure out how I would hold the pipe in place as I used the router.

...then I remembered.






I had acquired a 4-1/2 inch hole saw about a year ago. I was going to use it for a project I hadn't gotten around to yet. This was the answer!






With the "half moon" holes cut, I set up my stacked dado set for a 1/4-inch dado. I set the fence so the hole produced by the dado would not be seen from the front of the drawer.






I had some 1/4-inch plywood to use for the drawer bottoms. I cut that to fit about 1/4-inch into the dado.






Still plenty of clean-up work to do on these drawers - as well as some polyurethane - but we're getting there.

Oh... that's not blood on the drawer (this time), it's paint from the hole saw.


Scott

 

[donnie]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Great Job on the work bench and drawers. They look great, will look even better when you polyurethane it.
Good looking wood working shop.

How is the "storm shelter" doing with water leakage?

 

[AZpilot]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Oh... that's not blood on the drawer (this time), it's paint from the hole saw.

That is what I tell myself as well.

Looking great. I envy your shop space. You are using a solid thought process leaving that breaker tripped. Crossover from aviation no doubt. Check twice before touching those wires.

 

[gilr]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

If you know which outlets are fed from the breaker, check each outlet box and make sure the bare ground isn't touching the neutral (white) wire., even slightly. I had the same symptom on the outlet circuit in our hangar. Turned out one of the outlets had the ground wire barely touching the neutral screw. Caused the GFCI to trip even with nothing drawing power on the circuit. Worth checking to be sure.

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Great Job on the work bench and drawers. They look great, will look even better when you polyurethane it.
Good looking wood working shop.

How is the "storm shelter" doing with water leakage?

donnie,

Thank you so much for the kind words!

The "shelter" hasn't had any water coming in for some time. This despite one of the wetter summers in history for this part of the world.

Taking the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" philosophy, I'll continue to monitor the situation. It could be that the fill around the ventilation duct has settled to the point it has sealed things up. If water did come in after a prolonged good hard rain, I'll start looking at ways to remedy the situation.

Best regards,

Scott

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

That is what I tell myself as well.

Looking great. I envy your shop space. You are using a solid thought process leaving that breaker tripped. Crossover from aviation no doubt. Check twice before touching those wires.

If you know which outlets are fed from the breaker, check each outlet box and make sure the bare ground isn't touching the neutral (white) wire., even slightly. I had the same symptom on the outlet circuit in our hangar. Turned out one of the outlets had the ground wire barely touching the neutral screw. Caused the GFCI to trip even with nothing drawing power on the circuit. Worth checking to be sure.

Gentlemen,

Thanks so much for your thoughts on the electrical issue! The new GFCI circuit breaker has arrived but I probably won't mess with it for a couple of weeks.

I've got the old breaker tripped open and I'm going to be backpacking in Montana soon. I'd rather deal with it when I get back than slap the new breaker in and/or start troubleshooting without having time to do that properly and then leave.

Ha!

Best regards,

Scitt

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Thursday - August 17, 2017


Got out to the LBG's Woodshop today and did a little more work on the drawers.

I spent a little bit of time cleaning up the "Half-Moon" drawer openings with the oscillating spindle sander. That got rid of the blood-like red paint. Ha!






Then I glued up the two drawers. It's like watching paint dry - not much to say about it.

It will probably be September before I'm able to continue sanding and getting some polyurethane on the drawers. I will be out of town until then.

Scott

 

[shortykorte]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Man, do red paint means no stories for the grandkids on how Grandpa had to wrestle the miter saw and won.
Safe travels, enjoy the truly big sky.


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[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Man, no red paint means no stories for the grandkids on how Grandpa had to wrestle the miter saw and won.
Safe travels, enjoy the truly big sky.

shortykorte,

On Delta 1748 to Kalispell as I write this - what an age we live in.

As to red paint and tall tales...

Boredom is the goal in the shop, in the airplane & in the backcountry. Ha!

Best regards,

Scott

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Thursday - September 7, 2017


It's been a while since I've had time to post updates. A little backfilling will be done to catch up.






I started my 4-day backpack just south of the Canadian border on August 21st. This was the day of the eclipse and, even though it would only reach 85% of totality in northwest Montana, I had my eclipse glasses with me and observed the phenomenon safely. The weather was magnificent and was forecast to be the same for the duration of my trek.

Six miles from the trailhead I reached my first campsite. That's when I discovered (see above picture) that my 9-year old hiking boots were failing. I considered the 20+ miles in front of me and decided to retrace the 6 miles back to the trailhead the next day. I returned to Georgia a couple of days early.

Of what possible relevance is this to the readers of the Garage Journal? All will be revealed at the end of today's posts. Ha!






The last weekend in August I traveled to the Lone Beech Melon Farm in southwestern Indiana to visit my dad and assist - as best as I could - with the settling of my mother's estate.

While there I stepped out and took a few pictures of the Lone Beech itself. As reported earlier, it had lost a large limb and had stretched the BLEEP out of the telephone line that fed dad's house. He didn't have phone service for about a week.

The pictures show the scar of the previous limb that fell off in the 90's as well as the evidence of the latest loss.

I had asked dad to take some pictures of the limb on the ground and he did so. Unfortunately he only has a film camera ( Remember film? Remember Kodak? ) and he hasn't finished that roll of film yet so I don't have pictures of the immediate aftermath.






Dad has acquired a 2003 Chrysler Town & Country to use when he returns to Florida this winter. The rear of it is visible in this photograph. We drove it quite a bit during my 4-days at the Lone Beech Melon Farm and, while doing so, we noticed a "rubbing" noise under the vehicle.

We pulled the minivan into the gray building in the picture. Dad also has a "tornado shelter" in this building. Ha!
I got under the Town & Country and looked around. I'm pretty sure that the Stabilizer Bar Bushings are worn.

The good news is that this is a repair that doesn't require immediate action.



Continued in next post...

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Continued...




I returned to Georgia and started looking for shop manuals for a 2003 Chrysler Town & Country. An eBay auction provided a set of 6 manuals that were in good condition.






I am usually amazed when I try to buy parts for an automobile. It is not unusual for there to be more than one option for the same part. Same with these Stabilizer Bar Bushings as there were two possible part numbers.

I THINK these are the right ones as the difference seemed to center on whether the vehicle is a Front Wheel Drive or an All Wheel Drive model. Dad's vehicle is a front wheel drive so I got part number 0474 3024 AE.

So the issue is whether to wait until dad & I drive this vehicle to Florida in about a month to attempt a repair. I have all my tools here in Georgia and I'd be happier trying to do this in the LBG.

BUT... what if I've got the wrong part or some other landmine presents itself? Then dad would be stuck in Georgia until I could resolve the issue. Since he would arrive at my place on a weekend getting a different part or any other service wouldn't happen quick. This wouldn't be a problem for me but I don't want to delay his arrival in Florida...

Still chewing on this.






Yesterday I filled a gap in the LBG's "Things I Need To Do" list. A local business that sells & services fire extinguishers posted an ad on Craigslist for Fire Extinguishers. At a certain point I believe it is economically easier for a commercial entity to just replace rather than service their fire extinguishers. I believe they are still perfectly suitable for private use so I grabbed 5 of these 10-pound ABC units.

I plan to place one by each man door and one in the Tornado Shelter.


Continued in next post...

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Continued...


Today I actually did a little maintenance in the LBG.





My son has gotten his degree in Computer Science at Georgia Tech so the 2002 Corolla he has been using to get to school will soon be replaced by a nicer vehicle. He still is driving up to Atlanta for interviews for the next few weeks so I put the vehicle up on the lift, loaded a Van Morrison CD into the music box, and did a quick tire rotation.

As noted in earlier posts, this vehicle will serve as the equivalent of a Medical School Cadaver shortly after it is no longer needed to drive back and forth to Atlanta by my son. I hope to tear down the engine and fix an oil consumption problem that afflicts this engine series.

No matter how that turns out, I'm going to learn some stuff in the process. Ha!






Speaking of learning things.

My Delta 17-950L Drill Press was a Craigslist acquisition some time ago. I recently noticed that this machine's table wasn't secure as it was able to rotate if minor force was applied on an edge.

This rotation is controlled by a hex socket bolt (white arrow). The Drill Press's manual notes that a 14mm hex wrench is supplied to tighten that bolt. That wrench wasn't in the tub of small parts that accompanied this tool when I bought it.

I goofed around on the internet looking for a suitable tool to tighten this bolt. I finally settled on a middle quality Blackhawk 14mm socket to fill this need. It was available on Amazon as an Add-On item so that's how I acquired it. It arrived today and I happily went out to the LBG to secure the Drill Press Table.

Unfortunately it appears that the Owner's Manual is incorrect. The 14mm hex didn't fit the bolt's hex socket. The hole was too small for 14mm.

I grabbed an inside caliper and discovered that the bolt's hex seems to be 12mm.

Nice.

I've ordered a 12mm hex socket.






Lately the regulator on the 30 gallon Air Compressor I acquired in 1999 has been leaking. I'm in the process of acquiring a replacement regulator for that. Yes I have a large, stationary air compressor but it hasn't been plumbed yet.

Remember the hiking boot at the start of all this? I'm running into this issue a lot at this point in my life. All the "stuff" I acquired 10 to 20 or so years ago is starting to fall apart. Every time I turn around I'm repairing/replacing something that has served me well for many years but has recently gotten tired.

I suppose this is one of the many burdens of getting to be an old guy. Ha!


Scott

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Saturday - September 9, 2017


Today I tried - in between some preparations for Hurricane Irma - to get a couple of things done in the LBG.






I ran over to Lowes and got some Tapcon screws and a 3/16 SDS Plus bit. I mounted the bit into my hammer drill in preparation to secure a Fire Extinguisher Mounting Hook in the Tornado Shelter.






This was accomplished without incident.






Two more Fire Extinguishers were mounted near the entrance to the Woodshop and also near the north wall Man Door. Quite a bit of time was spent locating/reviewing pictures taken during construction to give me an idea of where I could find a stud to mount the "hook".

The remaining two Fire Extinguishers are in two Fire Extinguisher Cabinets that I acquired some time ago (Post 1268). These are sitting on the floor near the east Man Door and the south Man Door. The cabinets need to be cleaned up a bit so I don't want to mount them to the wall until that has been done.






With what's left of Hurricane Irma forecast to arrive in about 48 hours, I remembered the bit of water infiltration I've had under the center bay Garage Door. The solution the garage door installers had tried was to caulk on the outside of the door between the sill weather stripping and the garage door itself. This had been partially successful as the amount of infiltration has been reduced quite a bit.

Some time ago I had noticed that the application of the caulking had been inconsistent and there were a couple of gaps in the seal. Irma motivated me to address this today. I brought the bottoms of the doors up to a comfortable working height and applied silicone caulking as needed to get a seal between the door and the weather stripping.

I would not be surprised if we loose power for a while early next week. Quite a bit of today's time was spent checking on the status of my generator and laying in a supply of gasoline. Tomorrow I will be doing an operational check on my chain saw.


Scott

 

[shortykorte]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

My brother lives in Conyers and that was going to be our evac location. Looking at storm track and possible power age looks like Georgia will be in same boat.


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[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

My brother lives in Conyers and that was going to be our evac location. Looking at storm track and possible power age looks like Georgia will be in same boat.

shortykorte,

Irma should be knocking on your door shortly; be safe.

We've had a couple of rough patches since we built our place in 1992.

In 1994 Tropical Storm Alberto dumped about 18 inches on us in 48 hours. That was unpleasant. It was even worse to the south of us - they got more rain and they're downstream of us.

In 1995 Hurricane Opal really did a number on the power distribution system in Georgia. I hope our Utility learned something from that as they were clueless as to who had power and who didn't during that event. The cul-de-sac next to ours had power restored after about 48 hours. I tried to get the crew to come over to our street and fix ours but they had orders to go somewhere else.

Let me remind everyone that we are located within the city limits of a city of about 35,000 people.

Two days later, after 4 days with no power, our neighbor's daughter-in-law (a native southern girl) was fed up with not being able to flush the toilet (we're on wells here). She went on an expanding square search; found a utility crew; grabbed one of them by the ear and dragged him to our neighborhood. The rest of the crew followed meekly and we got our power back on in short order.

Scott

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Sunday - September 10, 2017


In preparation for the arrival of what's left of Hurricane Irma, today I was moving some stuff from the basement of the house to the LBG. The rationale for this is taking advantage of higher ground should the rain be worse than forecast causing some water infiltration through the basement garage door. I don't expect a problem but, due to my experience with Tropical Storm Alberto 23 years ago, I tend to twitch a bit when heavy rain is forecast.






One of the items moved to the LBG was a blanket chest project I hope to finish in the near future. I'm pretty close to getting it done but "life" has kept me from getting it across the finish line. Now that I'll be looking at it in the Woodshop, maybe I'll get motivated to complete it sooner.






After today's hurricane prep was finished I went out to the mailbox and retrieved the 12mm Hex Bit Socket that was delivered from Amazon today.






Despite the Owner's Manual documentation indicating a 14mm Hex Bit was correct, the 12mm fit perfectly and I was able to secure the Drill Press table perpendicular to the quill.

Hopefully Coweta-Fayette Electric Membership Cooperative (our electrical utility) will keep the lights on for the next few days and I'll be able to get some stuff done in the shop.


Scott

 

[AZpilot]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Hey Scott,

Keep your powder dry. You might need to go get that Southern Girl again. But I hope not. My wife is a Missouri girl with a Portuguese heritage. Heaven help the people that are not helpful. I have a rain issue in my garage in Arizona. I know, but we do get rain here. I laid one of those door seals 3 inches behind the door to a low spot and it goes out the front door.

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Hey Scott,

Keep your powder dry. You might need to go get that Southern Girl again. But I hope not. My wife is a Missouri girl with a Portuguese heritage. Heaven help the people that are not helpful. I have a rain issue in my garage in Arizona. I know, but we do get rain here. I laid one of those door seals 3 inches behind the door to a low spot and it goes out the front door.

Thanks for the encouragement! I feel very bad for those in Florida and pray they weathered the night OK.

I went to bed a little after midnight last evening. I stepped outside just to see what the weather was doing prior to heading for the bedroom and it was just starting to sprinkle.

This morning there is 6-tenths of an inch in the gauge and the rain is falling steadily. The Weather-Guessers are saying this afternoon is when we will get our strongest winds - they are saying gusts to 50 mph here. There is a bit of a breeze at the moment but the air is barely moving. It is cool with a temperature of 57 degrees.

I'll be checking the status of the LBG often during the day. IT is the untested building - my house has been through a few storms. I'm most concerned about the 5-foot roof overhang that protects the exterior stairs on the east side. I suspect that is the area at greatest risk.

Best regards,

Scott

 

[Motoman1100]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Man the place is looking great! It's fun to see how much you love the place.

Hope the winds don't cause any problems. We have everything put away here and so far nothing but a little rain.

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Man the place is looking great! It's fun to see how much you love the place.

Hope the winds don't cause any problems. We have everything put away here and so far nothing but a little rain.

Alan,

Thanks!

...yeah, I'm enjoying the place. A lot!
Imagine how much fun I'd be having if I knew what I was doing - Ha!

We lost power here a bit under 3 hours ago. As I write this we've had about 3 inches of rain since midnight.






About an hour after the power went out I decided to set up the generator. I was hoping initially that it might just be a minor glitch and power would return shortly. When that didn't happen... well, I expect that it might be a while before we're back on the grid.






I've got a 25 foot cord that runs from the generator, under the garage door, and to a receptacle in the house garage. That feeds a transfer switch in the basement with a few "essential" circuits powered.

Most everything that is powered is in the kitchen... fridge, microwave some lights and electrical outlets. We moved the wireless router into the kitchen so we've got internet (at the moment). Of course the big item on the "essential circuit" list is the well pump.

Now the bad news... when I preflighted the generator late last week, it would only run if the choke was left engaged. Obviously the carb probably has some "old fuel varnish" internally that will need to be dealt with after this episode is history. I would have attempted to do a carb overhaul had I had more time to do so. Since it was working - probably not able to develop full output but working - I decided to go to war with the weapons I had available.

So far; so good.






When I got my jury rigged internet working, I was surprised to learn via an email that the Postal Service had delivered the replacement regulator for my portable air compressor. I really wasn't expecting it until later in the week at the earliest.

If we get power back on soon, perhaps I can get that installed.


Best regards,

Scott

 

[shortykorte]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

A guess I need to check my carb. It too only would run with choke on. When the generator is hooked up, is it out in the rain?


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[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

A guess I need to check my carb. It too only would run with choke on. When the generator is hooked up, is it out in the rain?

shortykorte,

Was delighted to see your post this morning! I will visit your thread to see how yesterday went for you.

The location of the generator is a tradeoff between racket & CO2 in the garage and sitting in the rain. I tried to position it under the eve of the house with the power hookup facing towards the house and away from the wind.

What kind of engine do you have on your generator? Mine is a Honda GX390 and there are YouTube videos on how to clean the carb. When I googled "...will not run unless choke is on" I got a lot of hits for generators. The solutions didn't always point directly to the carb (usually a fuel problem of some sort though) but I'd say 90% of them did.

I think it makes sense as this is a machine that sits around a lot without being used. I bought mine in 2005 and this was the longest it has been producing electricity since I got it. We were without power for about 4 hours and the generator was running for about 3 of that. When I shut it down the gas tank was about 3/4 full so the advertised 10 hours on a tank of gas looks pretty good.

Oddly, as I write this at 10:00 am this morning, the power just went out again. It is dead calm here. Total rain received was about 5-1/4 inches. Lots of tree litter but no trees fell on my property yesterday.

Just hooked up the generator again. That drill went faster today than yesterday. Ha!


Best regards,

Scott

 

[gilr]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

One thing I found that helps with my portable generator is to shut off the fuel while it is running, and let the engine run till it shuts off due to fuel starvation. It has always restarted just fine, even a year later. I also add Stabil to the fuel supply, especially with Ethanol based fuel. I now have a source of ethanol free fuel we buy for our plane with a Rotax engine so, I use that for the generator now and it runs better on it.

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

One thing I found that helps with my portable generator is to shut off the fuel while it is running, and let the engine run till it shuts off due to fuel starvation. It has always restarted just fine, even a year later. I also add Stabil to the fuel supply, especially with Ethanol based fuel. I now have a source of ethanol free fuel we buy for our plane with a Rotax engine so, I use that for the generator now and it runs better on it.

gilr,

I too shut down my generator by shutting the fuel off while it is running. I haven't used a gas stabilizer though.

Do you have a product that you would recommend?

Power was off for another 3 hours today - not a big deal just a bit surprising since Irma had pretty much blown over by then. Hopefully that will be it for a while and I can attend to some generator maintenance in the next week or so.

Best regards,

Scott

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Tuesday - September 12, 2017

When the power came back on in the early afternoon, I decided to get the 30-gallon portable air compressor's regulator swapped out.






The old regulator came off without too much fuss. I had to remove the fittings and the gauge from the old regulator to be used on the new one. The gauge and disconnect fitting were fine but the 1/4 to 1/4 ****** looked pretty sketchy. I ran down to the hardware store and got a replacement.

Edit: I just found a exploded parts diagram for my compressor on the internet. It describes the 1/4 to 1/4 ****** as "steel". I chose a brass one for my replacement. Should that material change - steel to brass - matter one way or the other?

Now note the second picture...

Placing the regulator knob on the side and the gauge up, air comes from the air compressor on the left and exits on the right. The new Norgren R46-200-RNLA regulator that I purchased was specified to be a "Left to Right" regulator. I assumed that it would fit on my compressor the same as my old one.






So much for assumptions. On the new regulator the knob has to be on the opposite side due to the flow of the air (indicated by an arrow on the regulator). Not a big deal except there is some interference between the new regulator's knob and the power cord. I'll have to come up with some sort of a bracket/retainer to keep the power cord clear of the new regulator's knob.

The new regulator does work properly so that's a plus over the old one. Ha!

EDIT: The exploded diagram for my compressor - noted above - had a part number for the regulator. An internet search indicates that this regulator is a "right to left" regulator. Does anyone know what the reference point is on the regulator that allows one to label "left" and "right"? I chose the regulator knob as the reference with the gauge pointed up. Apparently that isn't the right reference point.


The other news to report is that the caulking I did to the Garage Door Sill Weather-stripping seems to have done the trick. Absolutely no water infiltrated the garage doors during Irma's wind driven rain.


Scott

 

[shortykorte]

The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

I have an EM5000 Honda generator but not sure what motor number. I'll check your search. Running the generator out of gas definitely has helped the last few times I've used it. Definitely need to use the stabilizer or the marine gas.


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[AZpilot]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

gilr,

I too shut down my generator by shutting the fuel off while it is running. I haven't used a gas stabilizer though.

Power was off for another 3 hours today - not a big deal just a bit surprising since Irma had pretty much blown over by then. Hopefully that will be it for a while and I can attend to some generator maintenance. in the next week or so.

Best regards,

Scott

They don't call it a grid for nothing!

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Saturday - September 16, 2017




Got the generator [ Coleman Powermate PM0647000 ] into the LBG today to see if I could do a little work on the carburetor.





The best approach to this problem seems to be to get the air cleaner out of the way first. Six flange nuts are removed with an 8mm socket.






Once the 6 flange nuts are removed, there is a 10mm flange nut on the back of the air filter housing that needs to be removed (White Arrow). Returning to the front, two 10mm flange nuts secure the air filter housing to the carburetor. With the carburetor fasteners removed, the air filter housing can be pulled down off a rubber hose (White Arrow) and then the housing is free.

At about this point in the project I noticed a fuel filter (Black Arrow at top of picture 2). It would probably be a good idea to remove and replace this item during this procedure. The Internet indicates that this is PowerMate Part Number 0051102SRV. It looks like there is a Lawnmower Shop in Palmetto, GA - about 10 miles away - that should provide parts and service for my generator. Unfortunately it was 6:00 pm today (Saturday) when I got to this point so it will be Monday before I can call about a new fuel filter.

The last picture shows the Choke Linkage out of the way.






A 14mm socket removed the carburetor bowl from the rest of the carb.

It's hard for the camera to show it in all its glory but there's quite a bit of "varnish" in the bottom of this bowl.






The arrow shows the location of the main jet & emulsion tube that I will be removing for cleaning.





Continued in next post...

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Continued...



An appropriately sized flat blade screwdriver engages a slot in the main jet and it is screwed out. The top of the emulsion tube is reached via the choke opening. A couple of taps on the top of the emulsion tube with a pick causes it to drop out the same way the main jet came out.






The Main Jet and the Emulsion Tube. Both had carburetor cleaner squirted through them under pressure.






The carburetor bowl was given many good sprays of carburetor cleaner. Then all these items were placed in a container with enough carburetor cleaner to cover the areas that needed soaking. I'll check and see how things look tomorrow.


Scott

 

[Bob Heine]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Scott, I used Berryman's Chem-Dip Carburetor & Parts Cleaner to clean up a very clogged Sata spray gun and was very impressed. When I had the same problem as you on my generator carburetor, I soaked the metal parts in the stuff and they came out looking like new. As a side benefit, the cleaner doesn't stink the place up like the Gunk we used decades ago.

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Scott, I used Berryman's Chem-Dip Carburetor & Parts Cleaner to clean up a very clogged Sata spray gun and was very impressed. When I had the same problem as you on my generator carburetor, I soaked the metal parts in the stuff and they came out looking like new. As a side benefit, the cleaner doesn't stink the place up like the Gunk we used decades ago.

Bob,

Thanks for that information!

I was looking for something like that at the AutoZone store I got my Carb Cleaner at but if it was there I didn't see it.

Where would I find something like this product?

Best regards,

Scott

 

[Bob Heine]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Bob,

Thanks for that information!

I was looking for something like that at the AutoZone store I got my Carb Cleaner at but if it was there I didn't see it.

Where would I find something like this product?

Best regards,

Scott

Scott,
I couldn't find the gallon can of cleaner at any of the auto supply stores (not enough cars with carburetors I guess). Amazon was my source ($28) but Walmart sells it for less ($19) with free pickup at the store (I haven't had perfect results ordering from Walmart).

I found some before and after shots of the spray gun. If it can remove catalyzed paint this well, that varnish doesn't stand a chance.

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Scott,
I couldn't find the gallon can of cleaner at any of the auto supply stores (not enough cars with carburetors I guess). Amazon was my source ($28) but Walmart sells it for less ($19) with free pickup at the store (I haven't had perfect results ordering from Walmart).

I found some before and after shots of the spray gun. If it can remove catalyzed paint this well, that varnish doesn't stand a chance.

Bob,

Thanks! I would never have guessed that WalMart would carry something like this when an Auto Parts/Supply store did not.

Great job on the spray gun!

Best regards,

Scott

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Sunday - September 17, 2017


Thanks to Bob Heine, I checked the inventory of WalMart stores within a fairly small radius around my home and discovered that the Newnan, GA store had the product on their shelves.

After a root canal, my next favorite thing is to go to a Walmart on a Sunday afternoon. I considered waiting until tomorrow to fetch the Chem-Dip but a check of the calendar suggested that Monday's plate was already full. I held my nose and drove 10 miles to retrieve the pail of chemicals.






I had allowed the carburetor parts I had removed yesterday to steep in the Carb Cleaner overnight. With my newly purchased Berryman's on the work bench I invoked the US Navy's moto of "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing" and put the parts that had soaked overnight into the strainer.






I had attempted to pull the carburetor off the Honda engine yesterday but it didn't seem interested in leaving the position it had been in for the last 12 years. I had reviewed a YouTube video last night and decided to apply a very small amount of leverage on the rear of the carburetor today. That did it.






I removed the float and squirted some carb cleaner into some of the locations indicated by a YouTube video. One remaining area to be cleaned out is the Pilot Jet (Black Arrow) but access to it is blocked by the Throttle Stop Screw (White Arrow). I don't know how important the Throttle Stop Screw is on an engine that's running a generator but I decided to put a little bit of white model paint on the Throttle Stop Screw's threads to indicate its position prior to removal. I hope this paint will allow me to locate this screw's correct position with some accuracy when reassemble everything.

I sat the carburetor aside for the night to let the paint dry. I hope to finish cleaning the carb tomorrow and then get it reassembled and reinstalled on the engine.


Scott

 

[drivesitfar]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

SB: i'm really happy to hear that you and the family and the Lone Beech Garage held up to Irma's wrath. GEESH i bet i watched 20 hours of coverage on CNN and a few other channels watching that hurricane.

i'll be watching the Toyota's engine transformation and since that's not my specialty i'll be mostly an observer so best of luck.

i'm not sure if you can use NON ETHANOL gas in your generator so you'll have to ask others or find the answer yourself. one thing i can tell you is i've accumulated so many small engine tools the last 30 or so years that it's really hard to drain or burn out all the gas in them prior to them sitting all winter so I started using Non Ethanol gas maybe 3 years ago now. in fact I had a friend pick me up 10 gallons of it and he put in some Amsoil product to stabilize it and i just used some of that same gas in my Honda Weedwacker and it didn't miss a beat. he moved and was a distributor so not sure where to buy it, but i'd highly recommend it.

let me know if you find out an answer if you can use Non ethanol in your generator cause I sold my generator from lack of use just about the time i bot this type of gas.

cheers

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

SB: i'm really happy to hear that you and the family and the Lone Beech Garage held up to Irma's wrath. GEESH i bet i watched 20 hours of coverage on CNN and a few other channels watching that hurricane.

i'll be watching the Toyota's engine transformation and since that's not my specialty i'll be mostly an observer so best of luck.

i'm not sure if you can use NON ETHANOL gas in your generator so you'll have to ask others or find the answer yourself. one thing i can tell you is i've accumulated so many small engine tools the last 30 or so years that it's really hard to drain or burn out all the gas in them prior to them sitting all winter so I started using Non Ethanol gas maybe 3 years ago now. in fact I had a friend pick me up 10 gallons of it and he put in some Amsoil product to stabilize it and i just used some of that same gas in my Honda Weedwacker and it didn't miss a beat. he moved and was a distributor so not sure where to buy it, but i'd highly recommend it.

let me know if you find out an answer if you can use Non ethanol in your generator cause I sold my generator from lack of use just about the time i bot this type of gas.

cheers

DrivesItFar,

I don't even want to pretend that Irma in North Georgia was the same gal that visited Florida. By the time she got here she still was a little spunky but most of the fight was out of her by that point.

I had to chuckle a bit about your comment on the Toyota engine. Right now I'm fighting the carburetor from my generator engine and, at the moment, the judges are indicating that the carburetor is ahead in the punches landed count. If I can't put a small engine carburetor back together, how will I ever deal with the Corolla's engine?

Regarding the ethanol in the gasoline... Supposedly this engine - which was built about 9 years after ethanol was enthusiastically introduced into our fuel supply - can deal with up to 10% ethanol gasoline. So I think I'm OK on that.

I did recently, just for giggles, do a little searching on the interweb and discovered that there are quite a few places near me where I can - for a price - purchase gasoline without ethanol.

Gas stabilizer is something I need to look into though. Ha!


Best regards,

Scott

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Tuesday - September 19, 2017


Last evening I had a few minutes to remove the Pilot Jet from the GX390's carburetor.







I gave the Pilot Jet's (arrow in last picture) interior a good hosing of Carburetor Cleaner and then set everything aside to dry out for the night.






This afternoon I returned to the LBG intending to reassemble the carburetor and reinstall it on the generator. Initially, this did not go well. It's hard to see but the picture above shows the Pilot Jet not quite seated in its hole.

I could not, no matter how much pressure I applied to the top of it, get the Pilot Jet to seat completely. It would go almost all the way in but it would stop short of being completely seated in the hole. I fought this for quite a while and then I came back to the house to do a little internet research on this issue. I could not find another situation like this no matter how I phrased the Google query.

This is when I responded to DrivesItFar's post and expressed concern on taking on something more challenging than a small engine's carburetor.





I returned to the LBG and, once again, examined the Pilot Jet. Previously I had been looking for something at the bottom that might be causing trouble. Now I looked closely at the area towards the top of the Pilot Jet.

If you look again at the last of the three pictures at the very top of this post, the arrow points to the Pilot Jet. At the place that arrow points there is also some residue. It looked insignificant but I decided to soak the Pilot Jet for 10 minutes in the bowl of carburetor cleaner. I also gave the upper area of the Pilot Jet hole a good spray of carb cleaner.

I then took a wooden toothpick and rubbed around inside the top of the hole as well as around the top of the Pilot Jet. The idea was to completely remove any residue that might be present.

When I finished doing this housekeeping I tried fitting the Pilot Jet into its hole. With a minor amount of force it became completely seated in the hole! The Idle Stop Screw (arrow) that could not be reinstalled prior to this because the Pilot Jet wasn't seated could now be installed.

Amazing!

I find it hard to believe that the cleaning that I did fixed this but I wasn't about to pull the Pilot Jet out again. It was where it was supposed to be and I left it in there!






With that obstacle behind me I inserted the Emulsion Tube and the Main Jet into their old home.



Continued in next post...

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Continued...




I screwed the main jet into position...






...reinstalled the float and the carburetor bowl.






There was a bit of gasket residue on the carburetor flange. I squirted it with some carb cleaner and used a wooden toothpick to remove the material.






The carburetor was now returned to the generator and the fun of hooking up all the rods & springs took place.






The rest is pretty much the reverse of disassembly but I did decide not to fight the rubber hose to get the carburetor flange nut back on. I used a thin-nose vise-grip pliers to pinch the hose so as to have easy access to torque down the flange nut that had been a bit of a pain to remove during the disassembly.

So the generator is back together. I REALLY wanted to try starting it to see if this had been a successful piece of maintenance but I've decided to wait until after I replace the fuel filter. I hope to have the new filter by Thursday afternoon.


Scott

 

[sbosecker]

Re: The Lone Beech Garage Build Thread (60x46)

Sunday - September 24, 2017


The Generator is still sitting in the LBG waiting for the Fuel Filter. I called Saw & Mower Sales & Service in Palmetto, GA on Thursday afternoon to follow up on my order. The gentleman that answered the phone put me on hold for 30 seconds and then returned to the line.

"It's on backorder", he said, "should be in early next week."
"We'll give you a call when it comes in."

Fine, I'll do some other stuff.

So I've done other stuff for the past couple of days but today I shoehorned some shop activity in between some social events.






On the 30 gallon air compressor - that I recently replaced the regulator on - I continued to hear air leaking from the machine. I had thought the old regulator was making this noise solo but it turns out there was a duet of hissing. The tank's drain **** was leaking air also.

Replacing the drain **** allowed me to use a feature of the Lone Beech Garage; the "Tornado Shelter".
Positioning the Air Compressor over an opening in the grates gave me a little more convenient access to the drain ****.






The replacement valve (6D913) that I obtained via eBay was delivered on Saturday after the Post Office gave it a tour of our fair city in a delivery vehicle on Friday. The valve has about 5 feet of cable that one can tug on to open the valve and release the trapped condensate.

After the installation was complete I turned on the air compressor. When the pump turned off there was total silence - no hissing. I pulled the cable and the valve spit out a bit of water along with a rush of air. It appears to be working as advertised.






I had also acquired - via eBay - a couple of 5-inch pieces of 3/4-inch diameter aluminum rod. I cut one of these in half.






I then chucked the rod into the 3-jaw chuck of my Craigslist acquired 7x12 minilathe. Although I had purchased this machine some time ago because it close and cheap, it had sat in the basement awaiting the right time for me to actually try it out.

Today was the day.






I didn't have a lot of time to play with it before I had to go to a dinner engagement but I managed to face the end of the rod and turn off a few thousands of aluminum.

Fun stuff!


Scott