Coffee 3-17-2012

Happy Saint Patrick's' day! While I'm all for celebrating Irish culture, there will be no green coffee! Green icing on the donuts will be the extent of breakfast festivities. At noon we can tap a keg of green beer for those that wish to imbibe. Until then let's get something done.... Spring cleaning, swap snow tires, go to a maple syrup house. Find something to do & get 'er done!

Once again the weatherman sticks his foot in his mouth. Last week they said cloud & cold & it was brilliant sunshine and 60. This week they said mostly sunny & nice & it's been drizzly and chills.

In high school I use to play the game of chess. Yesterday I played against the computer for the first time ever. Set to "normal", it kicked my butt! I set it to "easy" and got the same results. Good grief. I set it to beginner & I finally won on the third try. So, with not much to lose, I set it to "master" or "expert", whatever the toughest level was called, and finally I took over! LOL I won two in a row. It was funny. During the first games the computer made it's move within a second or two. On "Master" it would think for up to ten minutes. Maybe the time delay was good to me.

OK, Hug the ones you love and I hope you all have a smooth weekend.

Good morning. Green icing on the donuts, OK; green beer, not so much. Maybe I’ll have a Guinness later on, dark brown.

The weather man is calling for a pretty nice weekend. The Keystoker thinks it is summer and these warm temperatures are easy on the wallet. My star magnolia is blooming and the stone fruit trees’ buds are swollen, about to burst. My fear is that this is much to early and could potentially be disastrous for those who grow peaches and nectarines for a living.

Today’s work will be limited. My wife wants to take me out for my birthday so that takes up much of the afternoon, tomorrow I hope to play lumberjack for a bit and see what else gets done then its back to the grind for Monday.

Have a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day, drink in moderation, be careful, and if you’re not careful name him after me.

Good morning all,

It's chilly and foggy here, the NG kicked on for the first time since the stove was shut down. That's a sad sound indeed. Not much else going on around here. I'm off to Bee Class - there's one more week and then a couple of weeks to set everything up before the bees arrive. I'm kind of bummed because everything is starting to bloom and I don't have any bees yet. That's a wasted opportunity for increased honey production. Oh well it is what it is.

Got to run, take care, have a great weekend, Lisa

Great day to be alive!!! Sun is out, 28 degrees....gonna take off the long johns!!! Canada Geese have been flying north for 3 weeks now. I heard it was because of all the political hot air down-country. Snow is pretty much gone, unfortunately there is no melt-off this year. Could be a problem down the road.....

Coffee in hand, DVC500 is out, but Ooohhhhh, not a good morning for us.
Looks like we lost our well pump.
Yesterdy, I had discovered that one leg of the 240v had been arcing at the Pressure Switch Tension Clamp so bad, it burned clean thru Tension Clamp, and the 10ga copper wire had also burned thru. So.... the pump had only been running on one leg, or 120v, for who knows how long.
Symptoms were, over the past few months: The Water Pressure would noticably drop, while showering or washing dishes, to the point where it would seem like it only had 5 PSI. Wait a minute, wait a minute.... NOW the pump kicks in and back to 40 PSI. Not full pressure, but ok.
Now for the past 4 days, the Water Pressure would drop off, completely to zero. Wait 5 minutes, now back to 40 PSI water pressure again.
I replaced the pressure switch and new gauge yesterday. Added a new manual ON/OFF switch too, as the old switch and switch box had corroded to the point the previous owner just cut it out of the loop and left it on the ground.
Still have the same symtoms. SO I believe one phase of the pump moter fried, and the other phase is struggling to turn the pump and maintain the pressure. Its struggling so hard it is tripping the Heat overload relay on the pump. It must take it 5 minutes to cool down, then the pump pushes the water pressure slowly back up to 40 PSI.
The Pressure switch is not turning off the pump motor, since it never gets to 60 PSI. Its the thermo relay on the pump motor that is doing all the controlling right now.

Time for a new pump Can anyone recommend a good brand? I heard the Lowes brand is garbage. I was just there and ALL the water pump supplies are, you guessed it, MADEINCHINA.

I got my eyes on a 1 HP Red Lion 240v 2-wire, 13 GPM Deep well pump. Its around $500, but it might be worth it. 3 year warrenty. It can push a head of close to 300', but should last alot longer in a 150' deep well. Oh yeah, I don't have a clue as to how deep this well is. It is not marked in the usual places. Could be 120' or it could be 300'. I'll find that out when I pull the old pump.

I decided to treat myself to an Irish coffee this morning...yum. 40 degrees and foggy on the shores of Lake Champlain this morning. Windows are cracked open and we are enjoying the fresh air. The 2000 lbs of 170 degree steel & water in the basement is keep the old house warm and dry from corner to corner.

009to090 wrote: Can anyone recommend a good brand?

Grundfos. We replaced many well pumps at the farm over the years, and after many Meyers and Gould pumps we called someone different. He recommended a Grundfos pump, and said that is all he installs in commercial applications. Not only did it outperform all the others, it is still in the well.

http://www.pexuniverse.com/grundfos-dee ... ubmersible

Can you ask someone around you what there well depth is? you might be looking at a big job or a nice short pull.

009to090 wrote:Time for a new pump Can anyone recommend a good brand? I heard the Lowes brand is garbage. I was just there and ALL the water pump supplies are, you guessed it, MADEINCHINA.

My well driller installed a 12 gpm Aermotor. I have never had any issues with it. It has been in for about 15 years. I think they are American made, I don’t know how they compare to others but I’ll tell you my dealer was not bashful about charging me an arm and a leg for it.

I like Gould pumps. They cost a bit more but you get what you pay for. On the other hand, I know Grundfos builds a good product so I wouldn't be afraid to try one of them. I wouldn't buy the pump until I knew how far down the old pump is. It takes a different pump to pump up 100 feet compared to 400 feet.

Just back from gathering the last sap for the year--not a great one-- got to boil & jug this evening & that'll be it for 2012 season. Marathon Maple Fest next week-end. Real big doings for our little closest big Town. I picked up a Ford 8N tractor last week & finally got her running yesterday--purrs like a kitten--hydraulics & PTO work great. She hasn't been touched for 8 yrs & is kept indoors. Tires are decent. Gotta grease & pack bearings ( thanx Rob) & get her to her new home--gotta extend my lean-10 for the old girl. Will post pix at some point. Have a good week-end all. Thanx for the coffee Freddy. As for never fail pumps--here ya go.

Good Morning,All ! I get gun-shy of recommending anything anymore due to the dumbdown of having a good-named product,cheapening the crap out of it,and then selling the garbage under the once respected name. Seems like the trendy Corporate/Chinese/Mexican thing to do these days. I can say that I haven't had Grundfoos pull any fast ones like that,lately. Hey,how 'bout a pump for this coffee ? Good Stuff ! Enjoy it,Gang !

Back in '04 I got absolutely porked on a well pump install. The damn thing failed on a January morning - 5° outside. The wife & I melted snow on the stove & poured it over each other in order to take showers. After a couple days of that ... and a stack of dishes going to the roof, I had to bite the bullet & call someone. I was working 60 hours a week at the time, outdoors, so my patience level with the cold was at an all-time low. Boy did I get screwed for that!!

Guy came & charged me $1,400 for the new pump, line, & wiring. AND charges me travel time! Then he goes in my basement, lets the air out of my tank, and screws with my pressure settings so that the new pump was kicking on & off every 6 ounces of water!! When I got home from work, it's a good thing those guys were gone because I'd have knocked all their teeth out! I fixed all the settings, then had to let the thing run for about 2 hours to flush all the mud that was being pumped out of the lines. Unbelievable!! This is reason #1 why I do EVERYTHING myself. Can't trust anybody these days. I called the guy 4 times - never returned my calls. He's lucky I was working so much or I'd have paid him a visit he wouldn't have enjoyed very much ....

To top it all off, I have no idea what brand pump is in my well. But in '08 I upgraded the tank to one at least double the size of the old one, and installed a new pressure switch, backflow preventer, gauge, & a safety device that I never knew existed until then (hi pressure blow off valve). Now the pump cycles 1/3rd as often as it used to. Pump just turned 8, so it's doing the job. Knowing the clown that installed it, it was probably used ... and made in china.

Thanks for that link Chris - I just bookmarked it. My pump should be failing any day now ....

Just got back from taking the wife to the doctors. Tonsilitis. Yep, she still has 'em. It keeps her quiet now, cuz it hurts when she talks .

Rob R. wrote:Grundfos. http://www.pexuniverse.com/grundfos-dee ... ubmersible

Yeah Rob, I like Grundfos. I didn't know Pex Universe sold 'em. With a Grundfos pump, I can downgrade to a 3/4 HP model, and it will still deliver 7GPM with a 500ft head. Well built! ALL stainless steel. EVERYTHING. Its $600.00 instead of the $500 I was looking at for the Red Lion brand, but its built much better.
Thanks for the link!
Yeah, Smitty, for the price you paid, I bet you got a pump with chinese characters on the side of it. Save that Grundfos link in your Favorites.
I'll let you know how this install goes.
We have a rarity of a well. In this area, everyone has an Augered well, about 2' in diameter, and usually less than 100ft deep. In 2005, the previous owner had a drilled deep well put in, with a 8" steel casing. Thats why I think it is over 100' deep. By the shoddy workmanship done at the pressure tank and switch, I want to get that pump out of there and correctly install the new one myself.
I'll pick up a new well seal and all the fittings this week. The old pump prolly doesnt even have a Torque arrestor. I hope its not a iron riser, I hate pulling 200' of iron pipe. It'll be black Polyethylene pipe when it goes back in. I also believe in installing a Poly safety rope attached to the pump. For us "Do-it-your-selfers" its near impossible to pull a pump once it fell off the pipe.

More to follow...

Update on 8N runnin good & tires are holdin air good--Time to get her home next week. I need to find a back blade & 4' bush-hog & I'll be set.

009to090 wrote:I'll pick up a new well seal and all the fittings this week. The old pump prolly doesnt even have a Torque arrestor. I hope its not a iron riser, I hate pulling 200' of iron pipe. It'll be black Polyethylene pipe when it goes back in. I also believe in installing a Poly safety rope attached to the pump. For us "Do-it-your-selfers" its near impossible to pull a pump once it fell off the pipe.
More to follow...

I like installing a pair of heavy poly ropes so that they can be tied to a drum winch when pulling the pump. Makes it easier to fan out the poly pipe when you have limited help. You can stop and rest as needed easily with a winch.