Episode #28 An OCC Update + Year In Review Our Country Cottage a Narrative

In this episode I will get you more up to date with the goings on at OCC and an OCC Year In Review, remembering some of what happened last year.


So on with Episode 28 OCC update.


As usual I left the last episode with some unanswered questions. Once again our trusty generator was not so trusty, refusing to start.





Three days before my next visit we had a major snow dump in the city. I think I shoveled the walk 3 maybe 4 times that day. It just kept coming. The next day, taking my life into my own hands, and on summer tires, I ventured out onto snow clogged streets in an attempt to get a new battery for the generator. Two positive things were in play, 1- the generator supplier had just got a new shipment of batteries and 2- they had moved closer to where I lived in the city. Even though they were closer it was a sketchy trip but a new battery was acquired.


My main country vehicle was now in the shop, undergoing major surgery for the foreseeable future, so I was going to use our other vehicle which was good but not as solid as my main one and it was running summer tires. I keep its snow tires at OCC and figured all I had to do was get in to OCC and put on the snowies and the return trip would be no problem


Giving a couple of days for them to get the roads cleared, up by OCC, I loaded up our vehicle with all the snow emergency stuff I had, traction mats, shovels, tow ropes, come-along, kitty litter, snow shoes and on and on.. and off I went. Oh yeah, I had the new generator battery too.


As I got closer to Our Country Cottage it became clear there wasn’t anywhere near the amount of snow we had got in the city. I didn’t need any of the emergency stuff I had packed at all. Sort of like when you carry an umbrella it doesn’t rain. But better to have it and not need it than, need it and not have it.


Arriving at OCC I didn’t even need to clear the drive, just drove straight in. On my last visit I had turned the boiler off so the batteries would not be drained. With the days getting shorter, not much sun, and that pesky gen not starting I though it was the prudent thing to do. I hadn’t accounted for the sudden season change we just had.


Now, with winter coming early in the city and temps dropping all over I was genuinely concerned that OCC might have frozen. A quick check inside OCC revealed the batteries fully charged and no frozen toilets. The living room was at 12 C just on the power of the sun. I turned the boiler on.


Outside I checked to see if the gen would start. Nope, it had not magically fixed itself while I was away. A quick battery swap and she fired to life with little effort.


The solar control panel showed the gen charging at 5.2 KW but with no load at all and the inverter light was off. I guess with the OCC batteries fully charged the gen was just supplying power to the boiler, etc. Hadn’t seen that mode before.


After about ten minutes or so, I put the gen into Auto at the generator and it stopped right away. Then, at the solar control panel, I pressed manual start and the gen started right up, so I put it in Auto and the solar control unit shut it down with the usual cool down routine. And with no internal fan fail errors, all seemed to be working normally.


Snow tires were put on the vehicle ready for the next big snow dump here, or in the city.


Before I left I checked that the boiler was heating where it was supposed to be heating and, again, all looked normal.


I took the opportunity to drop the defective battery off at the generator supply shop on the way home. It might still be under warranty. Rrright.


Two weeks pass and I am back to check on things. What little snow there was, was just about gone. Good thing I had the snow tires on. Looks like the generator had run a couple of times since my last visit. A good sign. The propane was just under a half.


It was over a month till my next visit, this time with my main country