A couple of days ago we were given a petrol lawnmower via Freecycle. Freecycle is a great organisation set up to help keep unwanted but useful items out of landfill. Anyway, the mower was working when I got it, but somehow in the transportation something must have jiggled it, because when I started it at home, it ran for about one minute, and then stopped.
It turned out that the wire from the coil to the spark plug had literally snapped off right near the sparkplug. On closer inspection the copper wire had turned green and become brittle, and broke.
I went to a lawnmower dealer in Ibstock but they did not sell mowers with this type of connection to the sparkplug, however, one of the mechanics was really helpful and gave me a hint on how to fix it. Basically, cut the wire down until it was back to being copper again, then reconnect it to the metal connector that touches the spark plug. When I got back I followed the mechanic's instructions, and found that I was not the first person to "mackle" this mower. It was not a proper connector at all, someone had screwed a screw down the core of the wire to act as the connection with the spark plug, and this had reacted with the copper and made it green. So I just cut the wire down, and put a new screw in. Easy.
The mower started and ran well.
There is something satisfying about tinkering with engines and making them work.
All I need now is a new blade, a sharp one. The mower make is more common in Australia than here, good job I have relations there... ;-)
4 comments:
If it is a cylinder mower, the thing to do is get it sharpened. There are places around which will do this for around £10 I believe.
If it is a rotary mower, it is easier still. Anyone with a grinding wheel can sharpen those, or you can yourself if you are prepared to sacrifice a whole sharpening stone to the mower!
Dan, can I ask a question? What is with the punctuation at the end of that last sentence. I'm seeing it more and more often and have assumed it is accidental or has something to do with texting because you won't find it in'Mind the Stop' or Eats shoots and leaves. Genuinely interested.
Oh, and those parts are cheap (equivalent of a fiver for two new blades + bolts).
Aah. In the case of the "..." this is a device used when quoting people to indicate that, while your quote ends, the person being quoted continued. I use it here to inferr that more might be said (e.g. it is a hint to someone, response expected, in this case you in fact).
The :-) is a smiley face. : eyes - nose ) mouth.
They come in a variety of formats:
:-)
:)
:o)
<:)
:-D
:D
G:-)
:-S
:-(
:-C
etc.
But my personal favourite...
:-{>
...looks like Sigment Freud, or Bob Symes if you prefer.
Of course you knew all this, I am just being dry with a psychologist like deadpan (like the one in The Mask who wrote a book about masks). Pretending I am doing you a favour but knowing deep down you know all along. It's humour you see.
Tee Hee.
In fact, the "..." is far more versatile than my earlier silly explanation.
While true that it is used at the end of quotes to show the words continue beyond the end of the quoted part, they are also used mid quote, to show that a portion of the original text has been ommited. They are also used with multi paragraph quotes to show that the next paragraph continues from the previous.
These indicators allow the reader to see where information has been ommited, so they can look up the original quote for themselves. It allows the quoter to be able to abbreviate the original source without losing meaning, but can equally be used to ommit information from the original source that might obscure or twist meaning. But at least the reader knows where to look when doing their own checking of sources.
Failure to use "..." appropriately could be to misquote someone and all the consequences that entails.
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