Three months ago, I told about our original kitchen stove and attempt to buy a new one on Mercado Libre. That experience was so ridiculous that I abandoned the idea for a while. Yesterday I looked online again, found one I liked, asked if they actually had it (yes), ordered. Their confirmation included instructions on picking it up, which I didn’t want to do. So I sent an email yesterday evening after office hours with no expectation of a reply, but pretty quickly got a reply with delivery cost (USD 17). I replied saying yes please, here’s my delivery and contact info. This morning found a message from the seller from 8:00 last night: OK, we’ll deliver it tomorrow afternoon.
At 3:40 this afternoon, a phone call from the driver; he’s in El Pinar and will be here in 20 minutes. I try to explain how to get here, but he doesn’t seem particularly interested. Though easy to find, our house somehow eludes many delivery people, so I tell him I’ll stand out in front. Couple minutes before 4:00, I stand at the end of the driveway, and almost immediately a little nondescript truck appears from the opposite direction I expect, but no matter. Driver gives me a thumbs-up, I reply, very pleasant guy unloads the stove and delivers it to our kitchen on a hand truck. Beautiful!
It would be lovely to say I just connected gas and electric and ¡ta! But no. I decided to replace the plastic gas tubing, so rode a few blocks on my bike to the closest ferretería for that. Then discovered that the gas line nipple on the stove was slightly smaller than that of the garafa (13 kg propane tank), and the previous stove. The screw clamp wouldn’t tighten enough to seal it. Dug around in my collection of plumbing detritus, and found a clamp marginally smaller that, fully opened, barely fit over the tubing. Slathered a little silicon adhesive on the nipple por las dudas (just in case: “for the doubts”) and plugged in the electric …
… oh shit. The electric cord has a Shuko plug. I don’t have an adaptor, and don’t want to replace the plug because of warranty concerns. Oh but wait! Digging around in my electrical detritus, I find an Argentine Shuko socket to match our house installations! Find appropriate circuit breaker, pull out components, only to discover that the plastic frame that holds the plugs is broken beyond hope. Go to the nearby electrical shop, ask for a 3-socket frame plus one Shuko socket (which takes up two) and a filler cap, and the kid brings out a complete unit with one Shuko socket. Brilliant!
Presently, I have gas and electric up and running – uh, no. There’s no gas. Thinking the gas tank is low, I change it. Then, thinking my repair of the switch pin of the regulator (involving a small rusty nail) didn’t cut the muster, I replace it with one from our defunct barbecue grill – which, having being exposed to the weather for a while, exudes rusty water and doesn’t work any better. Ack! Now past 6:00 PM, I race to the hardware store again to buy a new regulator. Happily, they’re open until 6:30.
New regulator installed, nada.
Then the “D’oh!” moment. What if you had the on/off positions of the little cryptic plastic garafa-regulator switch reversed in your mind?
TL;DR (LOL): time to take dinner out of the oven.
Funny that you should mention mercadolibre. I have had an account for several years, but about two years ago it said my password was invalid, even though Google Chrome had saved it for posterity. I clicked the link that says I forgot my password, and it responds that my email address does not have an account. I have tried to get around this dozens of times to no avail.
I had to create a second account a while back (I have a half dozen email accounts, sometimes useful) when they wouldn’t accept my credit card. I thought I’d been cut off because of an issue with a merchant. But that account worked fine with the stove. Have you tried creating a “new” account with your email address? It may have expunged your account, though I’ve never heard of any web site ever doing that.
Great looking stove. Glad you got it. TL;DR (LOL):???? Next walk.
TL:DR = Too Long (or Lazy); Didn’t Read
LOL because that’s usually at the beginning of an article, not after you’ve read it.
That’s a nice looking stove. I’m kinda thinkin’ that we need to go propane for our cooktop and water heater.
Emboldened by this success, I’m planning to replace our electric calefón (what they call a hot water tank here, ironic because that term actually refers to a demand hot water heater) with a … yeah, demand hot water heater. Disadvantage will be lugging a 60-pound “supergas” garrafa upstairs every month or so, and possibly having to install a (expensive, because Uruguay) supplemental demand pressure pump. But no doubt it will take a significant chunk off our electric bill.
The smaller kitchen stove and existing hot water tank will go the casita, making it livable for a guest arriving in November.