Had a nice quiet morning while the clouds cleared out slowly during the day. Too wet and a bit damp and chilly to ride, so we had a leisurely morning, until I decided to break out my new tire inflator and pump up the trailer tires. I’ve already sent one of these back, so I’m hoping for better results with this one. Sorry to say, it was just as bad. I managed to pump one tire up ten pounds, then turned it off after the requisite 10 minutes and let it rest while I reconfigured the horses electric fence. I waited until everyone left before spreading out, but the area where the horses have been in over the weekend is starting to be overgrazed so I extended them along woods a bit. They escaped at one point and ate a bunch of nice clover, but with the help of a local guy named John, who walks his German Shepherd Sam here every day, we got the fence out and the horses back in. Then I went back to the tires. No sooner than I started pumping the second tire than the inflator’s air hose popped off. Really?? This thing is supposed to be rated up to 250 psi, but the hose falls off at 110? Unfortunately, I lost even MORE air out of my tire, so now instead of being ten pounds down I’m almost twenty. Grrr! Knowing I wouldn’t likely get a refund, and I don’t have time to wait for them to send me another one (as if I’d want one anyone, piece of crap) I decided to throw caution to the wind and try to fix it myself. I took it apart, and after several attempts, managed to get a small hose clamp on it well enough so that it didn’t leak. I put it back together, then plugged in the electrical cord, and it started smoking from where I plugged it in. I stopped it and took it apart again, only to discover one of the wires was practically broken off. I tried to solder it, and managed to improve it, but it didn’t hold. Then I tried to put a screw in it, which sort of worked, but when I plugged it in and turned it on, it was smoking again, and I could smell burning. Shut it off and that was it, $30 down the drain. Now I have no choice but to find something locally, which isn’t too easy, since I need something that will EASILY pump my tires to 123 psi (they’re BIG tires!), and those are usually big and heavy and expensive, all things I’ve been trying to avoid, but as the saying goes, you get what you pay for! And this piece of junk wasn’t even worth the price I paid for it! Anyway, that killed most of the afternoon, and finally Hubby and I settled down for another evening of Dish recordings, since our cell phone signal is still so intermittent up here. Okay for phone calls, but data, not so much. A small price to pay for this beautiful, and now quiet once again, park campground!
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