Parsimony and the Art of Generator Maintenance





Honda generator

  Behold my expensive ($950) generator for the tornado-caused outage. Of course, I still owe for it. Yes, it is a Honda, the only one available. I would have preferred a cheaper one. But, parsimony took a backseat to practicality this time.

I purchased this on April 29, 2011. The manual that came with it details maintenance. A gas additive to preserve the gas from getting gunky is recommended if the generator is to be store with gas in it for longer than 30 days. Okay, I got the Stabil in it 75 days after storage. Good enough? I hope so.

The oil must be changed after 100 hours of use. The Honda generator was in use almost exactly 100 hours. Today, my friend Charlie changed the oil for me. He drained it properly, saving it in an old, cut-off milk jug. We took the oil to Auto Zone for them to recycle.

Here is the problem, getting the oil back into the generator. The fill hole was about 1/2 inch in diameter. And, he wanted a funnel. The only funnel near that size was a kitchen funnel. He saw me hesitate. "You have to remember you will never use this in the kitchen again. Just put it in the basement." I have three funnels in the kitchen other than my canning funnels. One is cherry pink, so pretty, and Tupperware. I am quite sure I did not pay for it. But, it is a good funnel. The other has an opening a little more less than one-quarter inch. This one would be so frustrating to Charlie, even to hold! The other, I cannot find it.

Can you see the small and oddly-angled opening below for the oil? Oh, he has it propped up so he could get to it.
                                                                                                                                                                                      
I rummaged under the sink.

My usual funnel, either a coke bottle with the bottom cut out or a milk jug with the bottom cut out was not going to work! Aha! A Dawn bottle might save the day.

Dawn bottle aka oil dispenser worked. He just poured oil in the Dawn bottle and squirted it into the little fill hole. Voila! He commented that the Dawn bottle was perfect for what he had to do. As you may can see. the hole for the oil to go into is on an angle.



See the tiny hole in the Dawn top? Perfect!


See the tiny hole in the Dawn top?


Parsimony pays off. I always save Dawn  bottles for application of anything non-food that must be applied in a small stream. Today, I did not have to replace and pay for my pretty cherry pink Tupperware funnel replacement because I had saved an item that my friends throw away. Now, a Dawn bottle will be put in the trunk with all my other car emergency paraphernalia.

Now, I do not save all bottles, even Dawn, for that matter. But, I do have a good assortment of items that would otherwise be thrown in the trash. I use a small bottle of Original Dawn every 9 months or so. My present bottle will be finished tonight, so the empty, when washed and dried will go under the sink for another use later.

Your turn
Do you save things that people think you should throw out? Do they always come in handy?