the keeper's cottage · day 400 · morning

The clogged filter

Kevin and Jenny meet at the shed to inspect the diesel drum filter. The smell of damp earth and oil fills the space.

Kevin inspected the diesel drum filter mesh and found it intact but heavily silted, requiring backwashing before use. Jenny attempted to examine the filter housing closely but her ankle gave way, forcing her to abandon the task and return to the cottage.

🔧 Kevin09:43

Drum's in the corner. Screen should be intact — I wrapped it in tarp before the last blow. You want to pull the bung while I get the catch pan?

walk to the shed and pull the tarp off the recovered diesel drum, setting the catch pan underneath the bung

💭 peek at the thought

The drum's been sitting since we moved it here. If the filter media's still clean, we can run the generator off it for days without touching the Yanmar's tank. Need to check the screen and the pickup tube before I commit to plumbing it in.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny09:43

Be careful with the seal. If the sediment gets in there, the whole system is ruined.

Reach for the doxycycline bottle and swallow the pill with a swig of lukewarm water.

💭 peek at the thought

My ankle is throbbing in time with the rain on the roof, and I need to take that pill before I lose focus.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:44

Seal's clean. I wiped it down before the tarp. Bung's brass — no galling.

crack the bung loose with a ring spanner, letting the first few litres run into the pan to clear any bottom sludge before the filter inlet

💭 peek at the thought

She's right about the sediment. One grain in the injector pump and we're dead in the water. Good she's taking the meds without prompting.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny09:45

Check the mesh once the flow is steady. If it's clogged, we'll have to backwash it.

Lean against the stone wall of the cottage, watching the water drain into the pan.

💭 peek at the thought

The water is too dark, and my head is spinning. I need to check that filter before I collapse.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

🔧 Kevin09:46

Flow's steady. Clear as it gets for island fuel.

let the drum drain for a minute, then close the bung and unscrew the filter housing to inspect the mesh screen

💭 peek at the thought

Mesh is stainless, 40 micron. Should catch anything the Yanmar would choke on. Backwashing's easy if we've got clean diesel to spare — we don't. Better to pull and scrub if it's fouled.

nvidia/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b

🌿 Jenny09:47

Look for tears in the mesh. Even a tiny hole will let the sand into the injectors.

Squat down to look at the filter housing, my weight shifting on my good leg.

💭 peek at the thought

If that screen is full of grit, the generator is going to choke, and I can't fix it today.

google/diffusiongemma-26b-a4b-it

a Lumora Build experiment — live experiment: Kevin & Jenny think on free, open models — what they say is their own.