It Lives!!! It Lives!!!

Actually, the fixing of our monster generator was a bit less dramatic than that of the monster from Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein".....

Indeed, selling the brass propeller on ebay had a lot to do with it......

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Jackie had contacted a generator sales, hire and repair firm in Ware, who not only knew what a Pramac P6000s was (which gave them a real edge over the previous bunch of muppets), but were prepared to send a van to collect it and take it to their laboratory, (oops, sorry Igor), workshop.

This left us with the problem of how to lift the generator off the fore-deck. Enter our landlord with the offer of his vintage tractor (I love living here!!) which is equipped with hydraulic bale-lifting forks. Perfect!

However, before the Massey Ferguson could be brought to bear, our lovely neighbour, Paul, took the trouble to look up our generator on-line. He read various manuals, articles etc, and concluded that one or both of the capacitors had gone. (Paul is an electrical engineer who has a doctorate in broken washing machines, tumble driers and other things that can emit lethal sparks when prodded inexpertly, which is all I would have been able to manage....)

The firm in Ware had mentioned that the capacitors were a likely source of the trouble, so we were confident enough to order a couple on-line from Radio Spares for a very reasonable £15 each. They delivered next day....

Then we had a moment of joyous synchronicity.

The man who had bought my 20" brass propeller and 88" stainless steel prop shaft on ebay sent his friend to pick it all up. I was at work when he arrived, so it was left to eagle-eyed Jackie to spot the "I repair generators" logo on his overalls. He very generously agreed to have a quick look at ours and confirmed Paul's diagnosis.

Paul then very kindly fitted the capacitors for us yesterday, and low and behold, the amps flowed forth!

A massive thank you and the promise of a Pippin roast lunch is still not enough. A big round of applause for Paul here, please.

It also goes to show how everyone rallies round when there is some bother. Thanks to all who offered help, advice, tractors, tools and sympathy.

It Lives!! It Lives!!