snow day

[tom osselton]

Where the H did summer go! This is what we got on monday and are still getting flurries. The snow was heavy enough on the leaves to snap branches taking out power lines we lost ours for 1-1/2 hours it's suppose to be in the 20's by weeks end though.

[DavidA]

Similar thing is happening in the UK.

we have had night temperatures in my area (West Yorkshire) of 2 C on a couple of occasions in late August. That is supposed to be high summer for us.

Winds coming down from Norway.

'The North wind doth blow,  and we shall have snow...'

Doesn't look good for the coming winter.

Dave.

[John Rudd]

currently basking in high 70's here in Reno and enjoying the racing....
Sunny and warm...

[vtsteam]

I'm not ready for that! 

[Will_D]

Err mmmm, Its about 18C in Dublin, .IE today!

Snow whats that!

[Brass_Machine]

*sigh*

Last winter was terrible. Going to order the rebuild kit for my snow blowers carb...

[Eugene]

I got sun burned yesterday at Lake Vyrnwy supping cold white wine and eating a crab salad; we were sitting just about where the pic was taken from. Wales is renowned for it's clement and equable climate. Probably. 



Eug
 

[75Plus]

*sigh*

Last winter was terrible. Going to order the rebuild kit for my snow blowers carb...

Eric, does your snow blower have a shut of in the gas line? Mine did not and I had to overhaul the carb every year due to deposits from the evaorating gasoline. I add a shut off and have had zero carb problems in the last five years. You have to remember to shut the gas off and run the carb dry before storage though. Found that out when I tried to start my generator during a power outage.

Joe

[Chuck in E. TN]

Eric, does your snow blower have a shut of in the gas line? Mine did not and I had to overhaul the carb every year due to deposits from the evaorating gasoline. I add a shut off and have had zero carb problems in the last five years. You have to remember to shut the gas off and run the carb dry before storage though. Found that out when I tried to start my generator during a power outage.

Joe

I did that to my 20 year old lawn tractor for the same reason. I have to remember to not only shut the fuel off and run the carb dry, but to remember to turn the ignition off when it runs out of gas! I wish I had a dollar for every time I've gone to the shed to get the tractor out only to find the battery is flat...
Chuck

[Fergus OMore]

Wales is renowned for its clement and equable climate. Probably. 


Eug

Our recollections of Wales were  my father setting fire to a horse in WW1 and one of my RAF Squadron who was on the Abominable Snowman Expedition with Eric Shipton.

Apart from being probably conceived in the Principality, that's it.

Snow- well that is the stuff that comes as a surprise to the English each year. For the Scots and we hardier breed of people who speak - Viking, we get snow in October sufficient to ski on and even kill hardy shepherds. Last November we had had  Fools' Snow and then enough to last from Armistice Day in the Cairngorms-- and it is still there.

I've just come back from Austria and for the 17th year running, we have had snow coming out of the rain in August.

As the Irish say 'Quelle Surprise'

Norman

[Brass_Machine]

Joe & Chuck...

Great idea. I will implement this when I rebuild the carb!

Eugene,

Wow that's nice!

Eric

[DavidA]

....Our recollections of Wales were  my father setting fire to a horse in WW1 ..

For someone who must be about 100 year old you don't do too bad.

Dave.

[vtsteam]

Just found that not only the carb on my snow blower, but the tank itself rusted at the fuel sump and outlet, so running out the carb before shutting down isn't even enough these days with ethanol mixed in the fuel. The tank should be emptied also.

Not so easy with a generator that you just fueled during a power outage which ended shortly after fueling. That can result in a couple gallons of partly used gas to find a use for. Also, it means fueling before starting in an emergency -- not something to look forward to at night with below zero temps, or if there are spills in the process, with the enforced wait after. Steel is no longer a good tank material.

Some small engine tanks are now plastic, and one lawnmower tank I have is die-cast alloy. But the snow-blower was steel, and now ruined after 3 years of light use. Not easy to replace because the tank is built-in as a unit with the carb. And the carb is worked into the plastic dash panel structurally, with a built in primer bulb and choke lever -- it's all one unit. The primer bulb itself is cracked from the ethanol. Consumer engineering is in a sad state.

[Joules]

 vtsteam,
              it will have to have a 2ltr pop bottle tank like all the best third world engineers use.

[vtsteam]

Wish it were that simple Joules, I have plenty of substitute tanks. But the carb is damaged as well and is part of the dash panel, not a separate unit. Used to be everything was a separate component -- tank, carb, panel. Then you could work on or replace individual components.

Hard to explain here but, for instance I can't remove the choke lever through the slot in the dash because it seems to have been plastic welded to a permanent lever on the carb. Plastic moulding and snap together locks in inaccessible places, plastic manifolds and carb parts integral with the dash, and no obvious means of removal are making this frustrating enough that I'm thinking of re-motoring altogether with a more standard "old fashioned" small motor. I have a brand new Harbor Freight 6 hp horizontal shaft Honda clone on hand. If it fits it might make more sense to just replace the whole damn thing. Unfortunately I have to work outdoors in the snow to do it.

[Spurry]

For engines that are used intermittently I have had good results (so far) with the Briggs & Stratton additive. A friend went on an engine course last week and was told that the B&S stuff will prevent problems, even when the ethanol content is upped next year in the UK fuel.
Pete