Working on the generator

[Emcemv]

Spent a day over the weekend finally replacing the last of my 1987 vintage coolant hoses, this time it was the generators turn.  I spent almost an hour trying to get one of them off (wire reinforced), they were welded on to the pipes after 28 years.  The generator is a 10.5KW Universal Atomic and it looks like it was a marine unit, it has water cooled exhaust. Nice and quiet! I have now replaced all the wiring, belts, filters and hoses on the Gen.

Replaced the air filter on the bus engine also, just because it was old (2007), not really dirty. I read the horror posts about the filter disintegrating and getting sucked into the engine...this one has an expanded metal cage on the inside and outside of the element.

Now all I need is tires and we can be ready for some fall trips, planning on Newport RI in Sept and a trip to SC in November.  Trying to talk the wife into Arcadia...we will see if I am successful!

Bruce

[Oonrahnjay]

Spent a day over the weekend finally replacing the last of my 1987 vintage coolant hoses, this time it was the generators turn.  I spent almost an hour trying to get one of them off (wire reinforced), they were welded on to the pipes after 28 years.  ...Bruce 

     Bruce, I'm sure you know this but it might be good to put it out there for less-experienced people -- it's easy to damage a metal pipe or connector if a piece of coolant hose is really stuck to it.  You can get a lot of leverage on a hose if you just pull it and twist it trying to get it off.  The best way is (as Bruce described) is to cut the hose off near where the clamp was positioned (after you remove the clamp, of course)  and then take a razor knife and slice the stub of the hose radially along the fitting, then peel the hose off.  Many of the metal tube fittings are soldered or brazed on, and if you overstress that connection, it's easy to cause cracks and leaks.  And generally, to get to the damage and fix it is a PITA -- and expensive.

     Just a note ...   BH  NC USA

[Emcemv]

Bruce, thanks for the words of wisdom.....your method is the one I usually use and it works great.  In this case, I was having trouble with an old hose that was in a real bad spot, and it was a wire reinforced one, it was a real PITA! Normally once you slit the hose a bit, you can snip the wires with some cutters but I could not get the cutters on this one so I ended up doing the wiggle twist and pull method and sprayed it with WD-40. It finally let go but it was a challenge.  If anyone has any magic way to get these off I Would love to know.  Well, it's just a coolant hose, got it done! On to the next project - tires!