Building a stick frame house in the woods in 90 days

[pclausen]

As for your generator woes, you should get a Generac Tech out to figure out the fuel delivery problem.

I don't think its a fuel delivery issue. Once I get it started, it will run fine indefinitely, including pulling my 4ton HP without breaking a sweat or hesitating when the compressor comes on and off.

I think the issue has to do with the governor adjustment, which I know is off since we had to redo the bosses where it mounts since the other engine had been modified to allow a regular gas carb to be mounted to it. However, to adjust it requires a 15kw dummy load. If I get a Generac Tech out, I'd need to make sure he has one, or he would just be wasting his time.

I'm inclined to just put my 8kw one back in service. It should be able to pull my HP in stage 1 no problem, and then sell the 15kw one. I really want to switch to a inverter based diesel generator, but those are hard to come by on this side of the pond.

 

[FairfaxStu]

I'm inclined to just put my 8kw one back in service. It should be able to pull my HP in stage 1 no problem, and then sell the 15kw one.

Good luck selling a generator that won't start as anything other than parts only. Seems like you would be better off to get it fixed, use it for a bit, and then sell it in working condition.
-Stu

 

[pacerron]

Peter
When the rewired your mom's HVAC did they find a freon leak as well?
Ron

 

[FairfaxStu]

Peter:

A good company that services generators will have a mobile load that they can bring by. I remember several years back when the generator at the building I was working in was rebuilt. It took them about 2 weeks and, at the end, they brought in a large truck with a load tester to verify the operation of and tune the generator. The load was capable of testing this generator which serviced the entire 10 story building. I imagine it was 500 KVA or better. So, in a nutshell, there are companies out there that can do this - it is just a matter of finding them.
-Stu

 

[pclausen]

The saga continues. The guy that originally installed the HVAC system came back today and ran a 8 conductor wire to the outdoor unit and got it wired correctly. What he had done before, was to short the YO and Y2 wires together at the outdoor unit, thinking that would be easier that replacing the 5 conductor thermostat wire rather than replacing it with the proper 8 conductor one. He then installed the humidifier and quickly tested that the unit was cooling and left.

Well, I then programmed the Nest thermostat for 2 stage heating and cooling and the added humidifier. I then noticed that when the Nest was not calling for cool, the air handler was not running, but the outdoor unit kept running and the pressure relief valve would keep coming on and off. I then removed the Nest from it's base, the the behavior continued. I then shut off both the air handler and outdoor unit at the breaker panel. After a few minutes, I turned the outdoor unit breaker back on, and the compressor started running right away, the Nest still not being on its base.

So my conclusion is that by him shorting YO and Y2 together originally, he blew the controller board in the outdoor unit... So everything is powered down for the night. We are having another company come in tomorrow to look over the install and determine what it will take to get everything working properly. The level of incompetence here just boggles the mind.

Oh, did I mention that the guy that that here today dropped the Nest face place on the tile floor and cracked the glass? He never even mentioned it before he left. I'll be picking up a new unit tomorrow and subtract the cost (and that of the service visit by a competent HVAC outfit) from the balance owed the builder.

 

[pclausen]

Peter
When the rewired your mom's HVAC did they find a freon leak as well?
Ron

Not so far. He said he did recheck the charge and it was unchanged since the install, but with these guys, who knows...

 

[pacerron]

Not so far. He said he did recheck the charge and it was unchanged since the install, but with these guys, who knows...

You might discuss the potential damage to the system that may not show up for a year or more with the "competent HVAC outfit"
It will probably be hard to prove later on, but they can tell you what to expect. The manufacturer may not cover the equipment replacement, since it was not installed properly.

 

[FairfaxStu]

Woah, hold onto your hats, folks. Peter is about to get pissed off because even he has reached his limit. I don't blame you one bit Peter. When you have to tell your contactrors how to do their own jobs, it is absurd. Go get them my friend!
-Stu

 

[pclausen]

So the other heating and cooling outfit came out Friday and quickly diagnosed the problem. A short or other malfunction in the Nest base plate, that caused heat and cooling to be called for at the same time. This took place even with the Nest pulled from the base plate. He manually wired it for cool stage 1 and stage 2, and it worked exactly as it should.

The other thing he found was the the original guy had not upgraded the transformer in the air handler to a 75VA unit, which is supposed to be done when you're driving a Clean Effects whole house air cleaner, so he got one of those on order for me.

I picked up another Nest from Lowe's and got it wired up, and sure enough, everything is now working like it should. We have been dealing with that other HVAC company for going on 20 years, so needles to say, they will be the ones servicing mom's HVAC system going forward...

Yesterday I got all the logs on the high side of the house cut up and ready to haul to the mill.

Also took a few exterior pics. DirecTV and Exede dishes.

Front stone work just about done.

Today I got the rest of the burn piles going, and then started hauling in dirt to level along the fence line. Unfortunately my old GMC buckled when I started backing up with the first load.

I was able to scoop out most of the dirt the bucket on the tractor, and then dump the bed to get the rest out. The tire really did a number on the inner and outer fender.

Got the front end up on blocks.

Snapped the lower ball joint.

So I had to drive the rest of the dirt one yard at a time from my place.

 

[pacerron]

Peter,
We are thankful that the ball joint didn't snap just as you were turning left into RRL. That could have been a rollover

I hope you will post pictures when the gate is installed and after your mom gets her backyard flower containers all arranged it would be neat if
you would take an isometric view of the back showing the garage side and the back.

If you would take 2 images using the cha-cha method that would make a great 3D picture pair that could be viewed on the computer monitor
in full color without using any glasses.

Almost time for the supermoon to appear tonight at 9:30, if it isn't too cloudy. I got some good shots at 50X optical last night at about 11:30 pm
but as you know the moon is biggest when it first comes up.

Ron