And you know I’m getting ready.

For reasons I’ll explain in due course I plan more writing about this latest roller coaster experience of living out in the boonies in an aging doublewide. But today I want to focus on something almost entirely positive.

Before we bought this place I’d never heard of Toyostove or Toyotomi manufacturing. I had heard of Monitor heaters and knew they were very popular, but knew nothing about them. Our doublewide came equipped with a Toyostove “Laser 73.” I know, dumb name, but the Japanese are renowned for naming products oddly.

The previous owners left virtually zero fuel in the large external tank, so my first task (remember we moved in February) was to find out what fuel it burned and how to get some delivered. The writing on the side of the stove said it burned kerosene, but didn’t specify a grade. Wonderful. I searched for fuel delivery in the Medford area and found two companies. I called in the order I found them online. The first didn’t answer nor have voicemail. Great. The second picked right up. “Hi, i’m new at this… i have a Toyostove oil heater…” “you need stove oil, #1 red diesel. We can get that to you for $3.79/gallon, minimum 250 gallons.”

Jesus Christ… that’s $947.50!

“Uh, um… ok… sure… when can you get out here?”

A couple days later the tank was filled, my wallet emptied, and our home was warm. Very warm. As it turns out this odd little heating appliance proved flippin’ awesome. It was nearly silent and pumped out incredible volumes of heat. The cabinet stayed cool to the touch, the thermostat worked perfectly, and it was fun watching the flame in the combustion chamber through the little spyglass. I later learned these heaters are very efficient, at least 93% and can go as high as 98%. To date, despite record-setting below zero days, we’ve consumed less than half a tank of fuel.

The only downside was I noticed there was a very slow fuel leak somewhere in the guts of the device. The leakage was very small, but diesel fuel stinks;  a tiny bit was noticeable. I put “fix heater fuel leak” on my todo list.

Today, with the weather abruptly changing from triple-digit sweltering days to 40 degree nights, I decided it was time to revisit the heater repair.

Online searching eventually led me to this site, which helped me decide the leak must be at the fuel strainer cover which could easily have become loose.

I turned the top screw. It tightened down a little. I turned the bottom screw a fraction, it became instantly loose and fuel oil gushed out.

Suddenly I was in a Marx Brothers movie… jumping up I knocked a bunch of stuff over and fell back down, tried to get to my feet and tripped on the cat, i stumbled to the door and tripped again getting my outdoor slippers on, i ran down the deck steps and sent chickens flying and squawking in all directions, crashed around the corner of the house where the tank sits and closed the knife valve on the fuel tank.

Back inside I mopped up the spilled diesel and realized I was screwed. The threads on the lower screw holding the gasket and cover were stripped, probably by some jerk hired to “service” the heater, and clearly wouldn’t hold. Fortunately I realized the lower screw wasn’t a dead-end… I could buy a small bolt and nut and not rely on the threads at all. Off to the hardware store!

Turns out my idea worked perfectly. The cover is back in place, held securely by a new stainless (the original screws were brass) screw on top and a bolt /nut combo on the bottom. I put four cotton pads Annette uses for skin stuff under the potential leak spots (based on the “pizza box test” suggested by the Car Talk guys), reassembled the cabinet… and now we wait to see if my fix holds.

Bottom line: this is what passes for a win now. By attempting a “simple” fix, “hey let’s tighten that screw!” I basically hit a booby trap that could have, and may yet still, put my main source of heat out of commission until I can find a replacement part. Sure, I was able to devise a workaround this time, but that’s what makes this a win: a workaround this time.