Sunday, January 18, 2009

Foiled again

Dang!! I was so hoping for a good time lapse of the ISS fly by tonight - thought the light would be just right but alas, it looked good but not good to shoot....I will catch it when all is right. Started off the day 13 hours ago by tilting town wind turbine #4. I took a shortcut when I first rigged the swivel portion of the mount and I paid the price - it kept binding and wouldn't react to the wind direction very well. Took about an hour and a half to do the modification and tilt it back up. Of course I forgot to shut off the kill switch so I blew the fuse as I was disconnecting the turbine - had to replace it with a new one. Wind picked up just as I secured the guy wires. Swivels on a whisper now.

Project 2 of the day took awhile to get going. Had to search for my propane torch - I knew I had seen in recently but had to dig through both shipping containers for over an hour before I found it. Finally by 1:30 I was ready to assemble the thermosyphon for my new solar hot water heater. Of course being ready meant it was ok to take a break so I went to lunch at Chk&Kthy's along with our friend Craig - plus I really needed a break because looking for something I can't find drives me CRAZY.

I often thought it would be a good idea (but never did it) to set up a video camera in my old Brooklyn studio when I was working on a project. That way, if I misplaced something - all I would have to do is review the tape to see where I put it. Perhaps a live web cam ( not on the list for this year ) will help me out in the future. 3 to 5 was the afternoon work shift and I finished cutting and sweating all the pieces for the SHWH. With my plumbing experience backing me up, I got it together just as planned. It is 3/4" copper - the thin (cheaper) stuff, type M. The coil is 16" x 48". Will start on the frame tomorrow after I do laundry.

Special note #1: While looking for my soldering torch - I came across the photo that was meant to go with my very first blog post back in August last year. That's me at the piano in forth grade, wearing my little league uniform (multi-tasking even at 10 years old). Our team was J A Jones - sponsored by the construction company my dad worked for. Go back to post #1 and check it out if you like.

Special note #2....the dog food I bought for Chef Betty yesterday was for her dogs, NOT her breakfast sandwiches! Thanks Julianne for asking me to clarify that.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Looks a lot better than our stretch of polypipe, the thin wall will help with a better heat transfer.
Having solar hot water in the winter sure is nice!