Well it's good to be back in the civilized world. The power came back on last Wed night, we were starting to get jack of camping in our house, boiling cuppa's on the camp stove & eating raw toast
Had to go out to friends places for showers as we are on tank water, no power means no pressure pump.
We sent our son & the hard drive to Melb. for the week & just got them both back.
Mind you I’m not complaining, we were living in paradise compared to many.
Decided to pick up a cheap generator last Sunday as the rumours were up to 2 weeks to get power back on. Pulled it out of the box threw some fuel in as I was eager to get the fridge & freezer connected. Started it up but it stalled within a few seconds, Hmmm must be cold, pulled the cord again, brrrm, then stopped again. Tried to start it again but the pull cord wouldn't work, bugger, must have got tangled, out with the tools.
Turns out nothing wrong with the pull cord, it was just a seized motor
Bloody thing had no oil, the "put oil in" warning was in the middle of the instruction book, I felt like a real dickhead, you'd reckon someone like me would have thought to check but my mind was so pre-occupied I just didn't think about it.
Another trip back to Melb. to swap it, just said, something wrong with this mate, it won't start, & was given another
Later on I read the book some more & it was supposed to have come with a bottle of oil in the box which neither of them had. I imagine they may have had quite a few returned all with the same mysterious problem.
As I suspected the cheap genny wouldn’t look at the pumps. Luckily we were lent a good one to run the pumps a few days later, at least we could refill the storage tank from the dam. Always new I should get a good generator for these times but 2 grand for a good one is 2 grand I could spend on a bike or tools, in hindsight though I should have made the genny a priority.
Sorry to hear about your mate Tim, & to any one else that lost a friend.
Bunkers in the backyard would be good, but away from the house, I heard of some that perished in a cellar, where I assume the heat & lack of oxygen weren’t hospitable.
I have thought this a few times over the years, even after 4robs saga, but still haven’t done it. When you back up your files next try making another back up to store somewhere else for safe keeping, parents place or someone else you can trust to store it.
