2007-12-16

We have never tested the car in cold weather with the new filter system. So today I went and got the car from the garage and took a ride to my apartment in Edsbyn. It is about -10 degrees C in the air. The system ran without problems. I covered the cooler with a blanket to stop it from freezing. It worked fine on the cooling pipes, but the water froze in the condensate collectors instead. The collector canisters are quite big so it’s possible to travel far distances before emptying.

The engine didn’t start when it had cooled down. The battery was too week, so I had to buy a new one. You have to crank a wood gas engine for a longer time than a gasoline engine when starting, so the batteries and starter motors often get worn out quicker.

I got the engine running with some help from a neighbour and could go back to Furudal again. It was a beautiful sky.

While I was driving, I thought about how difficult it must have been during WWII when they didn’t have gasoline at all. The winters were cold and they had 6 Volts batteries even in the trucks.

A veteran that I talked to told me how he solved the problem. He used to empty the truck on engine oil when he came home in the evening. He brought the oil inside in a bucket and early next morning he heated it on his fire stow. He then poured it back to the engine. In that way the oil got thinner and the engine got warmer and easier to start.

/Johan