Refresh the NexGrill

 The grill at the cabin was falling apart, the left burner wasn't attached anymore and the coverers were rusting though, also the grills were rusting and flaking off. I was able to pick up a new set of most of it on Amazon for ~$70, which seemed like a good deal, since the outside wasn't rusting too bad, and a new one cost $400. That and it sucks to throw those things out every 10 years. So we will see how long it last now, next time will probably have to replace the whole thing.

Zippy (Sonic) leaking oil

 Even though we had pretty good luck replacing the head gasket, zippy was still leaking oil. We thought we had narrowed it down to the oil cooler, so we went back in to replace that. We eventually go it out, but it took some doing, since we were trying to avoid taking out the turbo. Then we found that the stub that fits into the block was broken off, so we had to get a tool to get it out of the engine block!

We got the new one in, but had to wiggle the turbo quite a bit and it was difficult to slide it in. So it is still leaking oil, and the turbo seems to be acting up now, so that wasn't the best outcome...

Our last plan if to take out the turbo and oil cooler and make sure they are seated well and the gasket isn't bunched up. We have some new coolant and oil lines for the turbo as well that we might install if there is any doubt there. Finally we will inspect the turbo and make sure it is still working. 🤞

Replace the cabin Furnace

 In January we went to the cabin to do some cross country skiing and ice fishing. The day that we left we noticed that at some point the old furnace how had a bit of a blow back, and fried the wiring. 

So that was scary! I had been wanted to replace it for awhile, since it was 60% efficient. So I had been watching facebook, and even went to talk to the folks at Appliance Depot, I thought I could get a new 80% furnace for $7-800, but the quote came back at $1300 (plus the conversion kit), so I went back to facebook.

I was able to find a 2012 Rheem that should meet the need for $200. I found a LP conversion kit on eBay for $35 (vs $100 normally).

Last weekend we go the old one out and the new one into position.

I talked to a friend at work and AI, and figured out that I need a 4" chimney liner for the vent, so I ordered that and will work on that the next time we are up. I have the manometer from the garage furnace project, so I should be able to get the right gas pressure at the value. The electric was pretty easy, the existing conduit even worked.

It is a lot smaller, so we were able to move the wood burner over and put the new furnace in between 2 support posts in the basement, so we get some room back as well.

Treadmill Repair

 

The treadmill (NordicTrack C2255) rear roller was scrapping against the side of the frame.

In the bottom picture you can see the plastic insert was sliding out of the roller. The reason is that the same black plastic insert rim had worn off on the other side and had pushed into the roller. I didn't see a way to fix the plastic part, but a new roller was $90 at treadmill doctor.

So I ordered that and replaced it, it has been working well for Jen for a run or 2 so far. Also, the new one has a metal insert (which goes around the bearing) instead of the plastic one so that should be a problem again...

I last fixed the treadmill in 2012, which is pretty amazing.  I think we got it in 2006. Jen uses it pretty much every day in the winter.

Parking Pad

 Now that we have a 3rd vehicle to park, we thought it would be nice to have an out of the way spot to park it.  It was getting late in the year, but we were able to get it in before the snow flew.

I did it in 2 pours, the first one is further back and was a relearning of how to do the stamping, so it is good it is further back.  The front one turned out pretty well.

I had planned to re-pour the garage apron this year, but didn't get to it, but this is a start at least.  I want to build a lean to over the pad as well, so the pine tree doesn't drop sap on zippy.

Leaking P-trap

 The metal nut on the p-trap cracked when Mom leaned on the sink when she spent the night.  Or it might have been cracked before, because the cabinet seemed a bit warped.  I was able to find another but at HD, but it was a real pain to put back together and it really needed to be torqued.

Fix up the old 4 wheeler

We have had a 4 wheeler at the cabin since I started coming up, but we only really used it for pulling out the dock.  Maddie went to a friends cabin and rode around on her 4 wheelers and had fun, so we thought it would be fun to get a little more use out of ours.

But it isn't much fun to go by yourself, so we wanted to fix the older one that Joanne had in her garage at home.  It was in pretty bad shape, but the Nick cleaned it up, then tried to clean up the carb.  But it would only run with starter fluid, so we ordered a new carb and he put it in and it has been running pretty well since.