April 14-15, 2017 - First trip of the year!

Post date: Apr 15, 2017 7:44:21 PM

First MRO trip of the year. The road had several washouts and the river is deeper than normal, but the road is passable.

The power was on, no flooding or leaking pipes. The computers were on and we recorded over 80 GB of perimeter camera images. 

The second water catchment tank was full and the pump was struggling. We cut in to the outflow pipe where it exits the tank.There was no outflow on the pump side, but there was a strong gravity flow on the tank side. We lifted the pump out of the tank, inspected, and found nothing wrong with it. Put it back in and the pump started and pumped properly once re-primed. Possible reasons:

• • Pump could not push the water in the tank higher, and the water was backflowing through the pump

    • Attempted to remedy by adding a drain outlet on the side of the tank at the same level as the inlet

    • The water level was close to the level of the drain but not quite there. Measured to 74" or about 8400 gal (*see note below about water)

    • This is still a useful component to the system because the pump does not have to fight the water level in the tank and the tank will be flushed every winter.

  • There is a clog in the line between the tank and the pump

    • We can fix this by adding a cleanout valve to the tank end of the pipe and purging the pipe with the air compressor

    Parts needed for next time:

• • 1" Poly crimp rings

  • 1" poly fittings

    • Straight connectors (good for repairs)

    • Will work on a list this weekend

  • Garden hose drill pump or similar to remove tank debris

Repaired hot water pipe in bathroom wall, added drain faucets, found another leak higher up in the wall. 

• • Need to cap hot water pipe before hot water tank (3/4" copper pipe cap).

Replaced kitchen faucet. Re-installed the 3/8" ? faucet with larger lines for pumping. Keep an eye on this repair, it may leak. We left it with water in the tube to test the connections.

• • Need to make a pump mounting block for under the cabinet.

Doug and Tristan worked on software. 

• • Get status update from them.

Dome paddle south button does not work, need to repair.

Groceries: Plenty of plates & utensils, coffee, gas for bbq,  ketchup and mustard in the fridge, and standard pantry items.

Water: Refilled inside tank till it blew out the gunk in the plastic tube used for measuring. We should cap that with something. =) Measured outside tank at 74", about 20" from highest measurement, but visually tank is almost full. Seems unlikely that there is so much more room in there--less sure if gallon measurements are accurate.