Day 1392

We got up about 8:30, did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  Then I spent some time cleaning out my hearing aids.  They were pretty gummed up with ear wax.  I also tried to fix the screen door lock I'd made.  It interferes with the door connection.  I determined that I'll need a new outside knob that's smaller.

After that I started on installing the surge protector.  I unscrewed the hot water heater cabinet and measured how much wire I'd need.  Then I went out to the shed and cut it.  The process was a pain in the ass due to how thick and unwieldy they individual wires were.  This is a major theme for today.

After I prepared the new input wire I turned the power off to the trailer.  Then I removed the outside power plug.  I disconnected the trailer wire from the connector and connected it to the new input wire.  Then I installed the connector back in the trailer.  I also positioned the protector in the cabinet and drilled the mounting holes.

From there things got hard.  Connecting the trailer wire to the box was a real pain in the ass.  There was barely enough room to fit the wires and current detectors in the box.  I spent over an hour trying to bend the damn wires so the detectors would fit and they would go into the terminals.

Connecting the input wires to the protector wasn't any easier.  Again it was really difficult to bend the wires to fit them in the connectors.  In addition I had to work with the box halfway in the cabinet.  I needed Ellen to hold the box while I struggled with the wires.  Even the ground wire gave me problems.  It must have been another hour to do this connection.

By then it was mid afternoon and hot in the trailer.  I was dripping in sweat.  I decided to test everything before I buttoned it up.  My first good luck of the day - it worked fine.  The trouble wasn't over though.  The box cover used 6 screws.  They were small and went into recessed holes.  With the box now in the cabinet screwing them in wasn't easy.

The final task was attaching the box.  Having already drilled the holes made this easier.  It still was hard to reach all the way to the back of the cabinet to attach it.  It turns out I could only attach 3 of the 4 screws.  I'd positioning the strain reliefs so they didn't interfere with the holes.  Unfortunately when I was forcing the box into position one of them shifted and blocked a hole.  So the box is held in by three screws.  That's good enough.

I'll install the display later once I order a panel front for it.  I turned the power back on and things seem to be working well.  It was 4:00.  I ate a left over half sandwich and then took a shower.  I was drenched in sweat.

After that I watched TV for awhile.  I might have napped.  At 6 we went to Woodburn to buy bananas.  I also got some small pizza's for dinner.

After dinner it was TV and looking for the panel front.