Gina's Observatory Build - Abbreviated - Finishing Touches and Improvements

[Gina]

I've now cut another hole overlapping the first and smaller diameter and I can now get the pump down onto the gravel at the bottom of the hole   Now I need to find a piece of old water pipe to extend the plastic pipe I got for the pump.  I know I have some but it's raining more heavily now

[Gina]

Heavy rain this evening so I shall probably find a few inches of water under the obsy tomorrow morning and be able to test the bilge pump.  The weather forecast is quite good for tomorrow so I expect to get the pump installed and ready to go   I'll take some photos tomorrow if I can remember

[Tinker1947]

Have you any idea whet level you water table sits at.....

[Gina]

After heavy rain it's just below the surface   Or running through the grass!  Other times it's certainly below the bottom of the hole next to the pier base where I'm placing the pump.

[Gina]

I now have the bilge pump in place with its outlet connected by a short length of plastic pipe and longer metal pipe to the outside just over the ridge   Putting my arm down through the hole I moved a stone near the pier base lowering the hole by another inch and reaching the current water level (following heavy rain last night).  Then I placed the pump in the hole.  Just need to do the wiring now.

[Gina]

A few photos as promised   First shows pipe from under obsy extending out over the ridge.  I plan to shorten this and maybe bend it downwards at the end.  The others show the holes and the pump in position.

[Gina]

Pretty much finished   Fed some 3 core cable through from the warm room to the pump area and connected up to the 3 wires from the pump with strip connector.  The bigger floorboard disc is simply screwed to the noggin which got in the way.  The second is supported by a strip of wood from the first disc to the floorboards the other side.  The connector strip was screwed to this strip of wood to keep it out of the wet.

1. Connector on support strip
2. Large disc screwed to noggin and support strip for small disc
3. Wood strip screwed to main floorboard and small disc screwed onto it
4. Floor tile replaced

[Tinker1947]

The rain this weekend will test it...

[TCWORLD]

I'd probably have put that join inside a watertight coupler - like this, otherwise you run the risk of the contacts corroding (or worse) if it is that wet under there which could cause problems down the line. I had to extend the cable to a pump for a fountain, and those couplers work wonders.

[Gina]

The rain this weekend will test it...

Should do

[Gina]

I'd probably have put that join inside a watertight coupler - like this, otherwise you run the risk of the contacts corroding (or worse) if it is that wet under there which could cause problems down the line. I had to extend the cable to a pump for a fountain, and those couplers work wonders.

I've got one of those but they only work well with two cables having an outer circular covering.  There are 3 separate wires from the pump   What I might do later is to join the individual wires from the pump and the cable and cover with heat shrink tubing.

[TCWORLD]

Yeah, the fountain had a similar issue, I used about 5 layers of varying sizes of heat shrink to seal around the wires and that worked a treat. As it is sat out directly exposed to the weather I also put a small amount of caulking inside the first layer before shrinking to ensure a good seal.

[Gina]

Modified outlet pipe.

[Gina]

Finished off another ROR wheel this evening   Thinkk that's three now.

[Gina]

And the 4th one turned   Next fine day I hope to fit the new wheels and the angle runners and check what spacers I shall require.

[Gina]

The rain is here!  I think I could do with something to tell me when the pump is running - ATM I can't tell when I'm indoors keeping dry!  Maybe in addition, a webcam to watch the underneath for water level...

[Gina]

I've run some bell wire from the pump connection to the house where I can add a 12v bulb.  I have connected the negative wire from the pump to the negative terminal of my Maplin bench supply that I use to power the mount and the float switch wire to the PSU positive.  The other side of the switch connects to the pump and a separate wire coming from the pump positive into the warm room.  This is connected to the other bell wire so that the bulb will be across the pump motor and come on when the pump does.

[Gina]

The bilge pump has had a good test!!  The heavy rain this morning on top of the saturated ground gave the pump plenty of input   Just been out to the obsy in a short break in the rain and found the pump slurping away.  Slight mod needed - the water in the outlet pipe flows back when the pump stops and fills up the puddle enough to activate the switch, the pump comes back on and ejects the water until the level is low enough to switch off then the process repeats.  I've switched the supply off ATM and plan to see if I can sort something out this afternoon if the weather improves as forecast.

[Gina]

It's stopped raining!!   I've been out and had a look.  Two possibilities - reduce the amount of water retained in the outlet pipe or make a simple non-return flap valve to stop the water going back to the pump.  The former is more likely to be effective and may be easier - the pipe would need a "dog-leg" - bend at the pump to take the pipe upwards and then another at the top to connect to a slightly downward running pipe going outside.

[Gina]

Fixed it   Between showers   Not quite what I had intended but the outlet goes up to the metal pipe which now just pokes out over the top of the ridge.  The water still runs back a bit but not enough to start the pump up.  With the gradually collecting water, the pump starts and runs very briefly - a second or so - and spouts about a yard long lump of water out of the outlet pipe, then stops and some water runs back.  This repeats every few minutes.  That water comes out at quite a velocity - it lands a couple of feet into the next field   Anyway, the pump is certainly clearing the flooding away from under the obsy.  When I left the pump off for an hour or so while I had lunch, the water rose a good couple of inches over quite a large area.

[Tinker1947]

So its appears to be sorted.....

[Gina]

Yes

[Gina]

The pump is still working and no doubt will continue with all the rain that's forecast.  More tonight and tomorrow and what the Met Office classify as "Extreme" for tomorrow night!    Not just heavy or very heavy but EXTREME!      Thankfully my observatory has deep concrete foundations that go down into the clay layer below the soil.  And the bungalow is on a nice solid concrete slab   We have a flood defence trench in the paddock above the sheds which so far has saved flooding from the sheds since it was dug.  No, not by me, by a farmer friend with a ditch digger!

[Gina]

The frequency of pump action has now gone down from once every 2 minutes to once every 3 minutes   Yes, it's stopped raining ATM..................

[Gina]

Well, having taken care of the torrential rain flooding the obsy foundations, I now have more work to do due to the storm force winds   The wind has starting pulling the rubber roofing off the roof (opening part)    As soon as the weather permits I shall have to put a strip of wood along the eastern edge of the roof to hold the rubber down and screw it firmly to the roof frame!  I have already moved all telescopes, cameras and the laptop indoors and covered the mount with a dustbin bag.  It seems the weather shows no sign of improving for several weeks at least   All actual astromony is closed down for the foreseeable future :(

Meanwhile, storm damage repairs are needed on the rest of the property   The sun lounge (?) is not worth repairing until this dreadful weather improves - I keep putting a roof panel back and securing it only to get it removed again in the next storm!!  Not much point anyyway really as half the wall panels have been blown out or in   I shall have to make a new roof for the post box and a new name sign - I currently have it roughly painted on a piece of polyurethane foam tied with bailing twine to the gate!

ATM the storm is raging with horizontal rain, there are things outside rattling and banging and the lights keep dimming.  We haven't lost power here as yet but other parts of the region have I hear.  Don't think I shall get much sleep tonight