Pepino Season

Got a little toasty today.  Pepino kept up for the most part - chilling the ambient air down over 25°.  Temperature inside the hut got up to 88°.  97,109,70,0,C

Pepino Season

Nice toasty day today...time to put the Pepino Swamp Cooler back into service.  Still works like a charm.  Thermometer readings before and after I turned it on - top number is outside ambient temperature...bottom number is temperature of air coming into the house through Pepino.  FYI - it's called Pepino because that is Spanish for cucumber...as in "cool as a cucumber".  84,98,51,0,C

timer

Got some bug bites overnight...was dreaming about the conenose beetle when I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep... at 5 AM! Went outside to pee and heard the clomp...clomp...clomp of Benita coming in for an early breakfast. Decided to just stay up and start an early morning. Was so close to setting a first course of blocks with the rising sun when I started getting hungry. Skipped starting real work in lieu of a GrubShack breakfast. Came home stuffed then laid down to catch my breath - woke up an hour later and the temp had zoomed to 101.

A hot mid day and chance of thunderstorms tonight prompted me to head down to Study Butte for some refrigerant. Home at the Field Lab by 2PM and plugged in the soldering iron. Took about and hour and a half to lay all the parts out then fix them on the circuit board. Haven't lost my touch. Dug up some parts to wire it up and put it to some testing on the Pepino pump. Good news is it works just right. Now I just have to tweak the potentiometers to dial in the best on and off times to circulate the right amount of water to give me the lowest temperature out of the unit. A couple of thunderstorm zoomed right north of me with just a few drops on my dry lot.

Made a new friend late tonight... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcQRrb7pbzg

Danger, Will Robinson!

Benita's photo of the day - deciding to try the shade of my shower this morning. Not to worry folks....the propane tank was going inside but now it will be outside. Not because of the inherent danger of placing it inside because I don't think it is a problem for an intermittent use system. I have run my heater for two winters with the 20 pounder sittin right under the unit. Have I been lucky so far?....no, just smart about my connections. So anyway...the cook top is moving outside to the porch because I noticed when I heated my coffee water this morning even on the low setting, the inside temp went up 2 degrees - which this time of year is not good. So now the porch will be the summer kitchen but I will haul it inside ( tank and all for the winter months ).

Spent most of the day inside tweaking the swamp cooler flow. Broke the 80 degree mark today with a high of only 79.5 inside! Managed the flow rate by mechanical means for now until I find just the right 12volt timer switch for the pump. Also built a temporary vent for my exit air window. Decided that letting that air blow out at belly level would only keep my knees cool so I rigged a box from one of my solar panels to channel the hotter air from the ceiling down and out the belly level open window. Hit a high in the sun of 118+ today. The white thermometer shows the inside temp on top and the temp inside the swamp cooler in the middle and the inside humidity on the bottom. The lower unit is my weather station. The center of the unit shows the outdoor temp at 111.9 at 7% humidity and the indoor temp of 78.3 with 42% humidity at 3:15PM this afternoon. Nothing like seeing the numbers to know what's working...

Pepino Swamp Cooler

Spent 3 hours online this morning delving into my G9 snafu. Couldn't find a viable DIY solution but discovered that the camera is still under warranty. Decided to send it in for repair and cleaning. Took another hour to dig up my proof of purchase, box the sickly camera up, and print out the repair authorization and the UPS label. Headed to the Grub Shack and hung out there for 2 hours as the heat of the day began to build. Caught Uncle Jerry (UPS) as he pulled into the Ranch Supply Store around noon. Told him "I got a box for you this time"...he replied with "well that's awfully thoughtful of you". Took a look at my label and said it will go out on a plane tonight. I love great service.

The swamp cooler was on the afternoon schedule. Cut a new chunk of 4" thick cardboard padding I bought last year to try out. It is the same material they use in industrial size green house evaporative coolers. Cobbled together the parts from last year and fired it up for some afternoon cooling. Only problem I see is that I need a bit more water flow what with the new evaporative media. Also need to upgrade some of the plumbing and the water tanks for the system to make it more efficient and purdy....but at least it still works!

Had a problem with my refrigerator today as well. The compressor was tripping out the inverter and not starting up. Did some brain surgery on the guts of the machine and found a doo-dad not where it was supposed to be. Not that it really matters...but I don't know what it does but now that it is in place, the fridge makes cold again. Ended the day by moving my winter ice box inside. Bought my first block of ice since November last year just to chill down some brewskies and see how it works out as a chest style fridge.

Photo of the day from yesterday. First sign of a yellow headed black bird this year at the Field Lab. Got this shot just before the camera locked up on me.