I tried RTV on some door foam gasket on my motorhome last fall. The doors do not seal as well as they should after wifey totaled it. The RTV peeled off this summer. I had even used brake cleaner and acetone to clean the foam hoping to ensure that the RTV would stick to it.
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I used magnetic mount laser levels already 30 years ago. Then I made some adapters that would were a machined cup with thick flange that mounted under the C/V shaft nut. The flange created a mounting surface that was moved outward so that the wheel rim did not interfere with the level.
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You can buy a tool that screws in place of the spark plug that the piston bears against. It’s nice that it is rigid and doesn’t compress under load. They are used for removing the flywheel and the clutch. I bought one a couple years ago along with a clutch removal tool that has 3 short pins that protrude from the side. The pair were $10 on ebay. Piston Stop Flywheel Clutch Removal Tool For Stihl Husqvarna Poulan Jonsere 14mm | eBay There are of course 4 pin tools for clutches also. I hated spending the money on a special tool but it sure was nice having the correct tools.
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Please Ron, don’t use piston stops 
They can do more harm than good…
I’ve seen bent con rods, holes in piston top, and crankshafts “turned”.
Just a word of warning… 
Edit: and i forgot, never ever use piston stops where plug is slanted!
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Thank you for the warning.
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Trying to get the greenhouse set up for the fall and winter. When I built my rocket mass heater in there I made the duct run in the bed too long and being a six inch system it just doesn’t draw real well. Should have been an 8 inch system. I have been using a duct fan to boost the draw. I’m getting about two years out of a 35 dollar fan and have been through two of them. They are actually only pulling maybe 80F heat through them but there is some smoke on start up. I don’t know if that’s shortening the life span or if that’s all you can expect out of a cheap fan. I’m considering coating the motor with Plasti-dip in case it’s a matter of something corrosive in the exhaust that’s killing the motors. Would encasing a little motor like that do it any harm or keep it from working?
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Do you think it would work to put the fan on the side blowing into the exhaust on an 45 degree angle (like on a sewage Y where one pipe is straight) to ”pull” the smoke?
That would probably save your fan a bit longer (if it works).
Here’s a pic:
In metal of course
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I have been kicking that idea around for a while Johan and I have a fan from a old wood stove that would work. Now that I have a decent welder that will weld sheet metal I’ll probably get it a try but I still want the duct fan for a back up. I’m planning on growing quite a bit in totes on that RMH heat bed and I don’t want it to freeze. I think they are projecting a cold winter this year, not that they are ever right, Too busy to do anything but tend to the garden right now. Having trouble keeping up. I’ll be canning tomatoes tonight and the dehydrator has been running steady for the past week.
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Finally getting used to looking at old snaggle tooth to get through these video’s. It took some effort. Here is a good one. I have heard people rave about Pri-G as a fuel stabilizer and I’ve heard people say it’s a waste of money. No one carries it in this area. I’ll have to see if I can get it on Amazon. If you don’t want to watch the video he finds out it works and will even revitalize skunky gas that will curl your nose hair.
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Tom,
Found the manufacturer, and they have a list of “online” dealers. This first link is a marine store in St. Clair Shores, MI.
PRI-G GASOLINE ADDITIVE (mikesmarine.com)
This next one is the manufacturer:
Home - PRI Products
Look under “Retail Consumer” dropdown menu “Online Dealers”.
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I’ve had really good luck with this. Star Tron Enzyme Fuel Treatment Gas Additive Small Engine
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Chickcanic Sez everything but Ethanol Shield is useless Al. The Taryl guy did a video comparing different brands of stabilizers as well. I think SteveU posted it probably back in this thread a ways. I don’t know why someone can’t just list the primary chemicals used for all these additives. I’ll bet they are mostly the same. I’ll try any of them and hope I’m not being BS’ed because stored gasoline is really the weak link in prepping.
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I just know what’s been working for me the last 3-4 years. I had no luck with stabil red, a little better with stabil marine, Since I been using star tron I have no issues starting chainsaws, string trimmers, lawn mowers. I was having to take the top off of the carb in my 48 f-1, and clean the snot out of the fuel bowls when it sat for more than a few weeks. Now it can sit all winter, and starts right up in the spring.
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A few vears ago i put up a trick i found on line for freeing up seized bolts ect it was a 50/50 mixture of ATF & Acetone i used it on a seized up inverter generator that had been sat for a year after last being run on charcoal , it took 3 days soaking in the cylinder and then a little encouragement and it freed right up and ran good again.
Well a month ago i had a diesel engine generator that had been running daily on veggie oil for nearly 2 months without issue stopped the engine on the Monday night and on Tues morning would not entertain starting no matter what i did , i did a compression test and it was pretty low for a diesel around 90 psi so i backed off piston from TDC and loaded some ATF Acetone mix and left it 24 hours and tested again now up too 180 psi better but still would not fire up repeated and left for 3 days went back and tried again this time it had a psi of 160 going backwards not good and so it was time to remove cylinder head ,considering its been run by me on veggie oil for a few months it came off looking almost shiny in parts and this i think was due to the ATF Acetone mix that had cleaned and loosened the carbon , the piston had an even thin coat of carbon all over and so feeling the piston in the cylinder was pretty snug and not sloppy at all and so i backed off the piston a little and filled with atf & acetone left it and came back a little while later and it had all gone, so it looks like the rings have stuck so over a few days i loaded the cylinder with straight oil for a day (stayed in cylinder did not go past the rings ) and then some petrol and then acetone,atf mix again all disappeared past the rings after around 12 hours.
So the next day i got a old Makita reciprocating/saber saw that was stripped down to just the bar that goes in and out i placed a rubber pad on top of the piston and gave it a few cycles of the hammer effect around the piston making sure that only the last few mm of travel would hit the piston and refilled with ATF / Acetone mix , that was 2 days ago and its still holding it real good at all positions of the piston in the cylinder so as i thought it might it seems the vibration has managed to free off the stuck rings from the piston.
.
Next few days i will hone the cylinder and replace the head and test compression and then see if it will fire up .
Fingers crossed for a way to save a full strip down. Dave
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Been thinking about that. Charcoal doesn’t rot like wood or varnish like gasoline… Seems to me a really serious prepper would go with charcoal. Of course propane might do it for him too.
Rindert
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Mainly concerned with chain saw fuel Rindert. Generators are adapted to petrol, propane or WG. Saw mill will be on wood gas soon. Just need to work on the log splitter and my small engine need are covered. Chain saw is definitely the most important and the least adaptable.
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Bowsaws run on belly fat Tom. Hard to beat.
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It pains me to say it as I dearly love my 2 stroke smoke, but from a prepper standpoint the use case for an electric chainsaw is compelling. I’m not going out falling timber and bucking logs with it, but it would have a roll to fill for sure
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I do have a battery saw Marcus and it’s real nice for cutting limbs and stuff on the saw buck but it’s never going to cut my 8-10 cords of firewood I go through each year. I need a gas saw or a much smaller house. Still batting the idea of a saw with a propane bottle hanging out of the top of it though. Probably never get to it. It’s about number 25 on the to-do list. Maybe a back pack propane tank with a hose running to the saw.
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If you don’t mind trailing a hose, an extension cord should be okay. Woodgas or solar to feed the cord. Decent corded saws are still pretty inexpensive. My vote goes to JO, though. We have several bow saws and a lot of blades, files, and whetstones.
If the time comes that we switch to the bow saws, you’re right, a smaller house will be needed. We’ve given a little thought to closing off some rooms to make heating easier. I also have a hard time passing up down comforters at the thrift store. This was not an issue in Southern California, but there were plenty of other issues to make up for it.
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