A few days of warmer weather has encouraged more activity!
Engine Servicing
This week’s project was to service Wrens-Nest’s engine anticipating some cruising might be possible after the end of next month. I purchased oil & filters and the job was completed in a few hours. Last year I purchased an electric oil removal pump from Lidl which worked slowly but surely to suck the warm oil out via the dipstick tube.
Encouraged by this I decided to use the pump to remove sediment from the bottom of the fuel tank as it said on the box it was suitable for diesel too. Unfortunately the pump stopped working after pumping a couple of litres out.
I took the pump back and exchanged it for another which worked for all of 30 seconds.
Being of an inquisitive nature I dismantled the unit to find the pump had seized up due (I imagine) to there being little lubrication properties in diesel fuel, and this in turn had blown an internal fuse.
Another visit to Lidl secured a refund but I had to continue the process with a hand pump whilst another pump was sourced from eBay.
[Edit] Our dear friend & neighbour, Leigh has reminded me that a disaster befell me whilst doing this.
The diesel filler cap slipped out of my fingers and descended to the depths of the waters, so a complete shiny new filler was purchased and fitted (with a retaining chain for the cap) More paint to touch up!
More Woodwork
The wicker basket wherein our logs are stored was looking the worse for wear and decent replacements were upwards of £50
So I decided to knock up a storage box out of odd bits of decking and a sign one of my colleagues at Banbury College made me from a piece of salvaged hardwood some years ago.
Little Visitors
A clear out of junk from the top boxes revealed what looked like a lot of wood-shavings which I hadn’t put there. It was, in fact, the remains of some barbecue lighters which a mouse had requisitioned to make a nest, so a thorough clean and hoover out was in order, but no meeces were found!