Electrical Shortage
All the weather services were predicting dangerous weather last evening, even the possibility of tornadoes. So it was that I decided to watch the weather report on the local television station in Winston-Salem. Then, following the evening news, they would flash information about the weather at the bottom of the screen. I would listen for the ominous sound and take a peek when I heard it.
The warnings changed from yellow to red and, eventually, came to included Alleghany County. That's when the electrical power went out without warning. No flickering of lights. Just here now and gone the next instant. I sat in the dark, certain service would return in a few moments. After all, we had no rain, no wind. Not even a breeze. But, it didn't.
Stumbling around in the dark of a moonless night, I found a flashlight and, with it, two oil lamps for light.
OK, the UPS had kept my laptop going and I could use that to keep an eye on the weather. Alas, when the power failed it took the Internet connection with it. Strange, because the switch that the telephone company provides on the side of the house is powered by its own UPS and that was working. And, the telephone was working. No, the connection was broken somewhere along the line and I could do nothing about it.
As I sat there by lamplight, trying to determine what to do next, it struck me. "Dummy, you have a 7kW electrical generator sitting outside that did NOT come on when the power went out!"
I went outside to inspect the machine and, sure enough, it would not start. So, I found the user's manual and read the troubleshooting section ... of an electrical generator ... by lamplight.
None of the remedies worked. Then, just as I was closing the lid, I noticed that I could look right through the rubber bellow that connects the engine to the air-and-propane-fuel intake. Yup, the mice had eaten a hole in it.
With this gaping hole in the bellow, the engine was sucking in mostly air, making the air-fuel mixture much too lean in fuel to crank.
What to do in the dead of night with bad weather all around me?
Duck tape to the rescue once again!
The engine turned over twice and ... zroom! ... it was off and running.
And, of course, the storm never passed us here in Air Bellows. The power came on again about 5:00 this morning and the Internet connection returned with it. And, throughout the whole time I came to realize, the only thing that worked unfailing was the oil lamp, a device that has been in use for thousands of years.
This morning I checked the owner's manual to determine if the bellows might still be under warranty. The age wasn't an issue. The failure was not due to collision, theft, vandalism, riot or war, nuclear holocaust, fire, freezing, lightening, earthquake, windstorm, hail, volcanic eruption, water or flood, tornado or hurricane. Nope. But warranty coverage is also excluded by "Damage related to rodent and/or insect infestation."
Darned rats.
The warnings changed from yellow to red and, eventually, came to included Alleghany County. That's when the electrical power went out without warning. No flickering of lights. Just here now and gone the next instant. I sat in the dark, certain service would return in a few moments. After all, we had no rain, no wind. Not even a breeze. But, it didn't.
Stumbling around in the dark of a moonless night, I found a flashlight and, with it, two oil lamps for light.
OK, the UPS had kept my laptop going and I could use that to keep an eye on the weather. Alas, when the power failed it took the Internet connection with it. Strange, because the switch that the telephone company provides on the side of the house is powered by its own UPS and that was working. And, the telephone was working. No, the connection was broken somewhere along the line and I could do nothing about it.
As I sat there by lamplight, trying to determine what to do next, it struck me. "Dummy, you have a 7kW electrical generator sitting outside that did NOT come on when the power went out!"
I went outside to inspect the machine and, sure enough, it would not start. So, I found the user's manual and read the troubleshooting section ... of an electrical generator ... by lamplight.
None of the remedies worked. Then, just as I was closing the lid, I noticed that I could look right through the rubber bellow that connects the engine to the air-and-propane-fuel intake. Yup, the mice had eaten a hole in it.
With this gaping hole in the bellow, the engine was sucking in mostly air, making the air-fuel mixture much too lean in fuel to crank.
What to do in the dead of night with bad weather all around me?
Duck tape to the rescue once again!
The engine turned over twice and ... zroom! ... it was off and running.
And, of course, the storm never passed us here in Air Bellows. The power came on again about 5:00 this morning and the Internet connection returned with it. And, throughout the whole time I came to realize, the only thing that worked unfailing was the oil lamp, a device that has been in use for thousands of years.
This morning I checked the owner's manual to determine if the bellows might still be under warranty. The age wasn't an issue. The failure was not due to collision, theft, vandalism, riot or war, nuclear holocaust, fire, freezing, lightening, earthquake, windstorm, hail, volcanic eruption, water or flood, tornado or hurricane. Nope. But warranty coverage is also excluded by "Damage related to rodent and/or insect infestation."
Darned rats.
HA! Good Story!
ReplyDelete"Throughout the whole time, the only thing that worked unfailing was the oil lamp, a device that is thousands of years old."
So were the rats.