new (to me) inverter score - Page 11

 

If that's where the bears get their water I'm surprised they didn't come
down and let you know.  I have birds here that will come and get me if the
dog's water dish is empty.  The birds can be quite assertive so I wouldn't
want to piss off any bears ;-)

Anthony mentioned video cameras.  I have an infrared camera from Harbor
Freight that only cost about $30.  It's weatherproof and comes with a fairly
long wire (phone wire) but I'm not sure just how long you can make that wire
without losing signal.

I'm surprised you have that much trouble with the air in your lines with 2"
pipe.  When I had a temporary elevated tank with 1/2" tubing coming down it
was difficult to get the air out but I would have thought that the 2" pipe
would fill up with water and get the air out if it just sets for a while.

 

Yeah I haven't seen that bear for a while -- but I bet he visits this
summer when it gets hot.


hmm.. thats an idea.  What kind of power does it take?  Naturally there
isn't any power up there.  Maybe i'll have a look on harbor freight


Its just when the pond runs dry and it sucks up air.  I have a source I
can fill the pipe with water and then when I turn on the flow to the
generator at the bottom of the hill it just shoots a lot .. you know when
you're moving air out of a pipe you'll get those surges of air followed
by water that seriously blast.

I just need a valve (yet another freaking 16 dollar valve) on a T before
the generator so I don't fire the air through the jets.  It just takes a
min or two to get the air out, but the force is amazing -- rattles my
little shed !!

I was just amazed at the power of that air in a 2 inch line.. never done
gravity feed with such a large line before.

 

The one I have uses a small AC/DC transformer/power supply rated at 7.5 VDC
at 300 mA so that would be about 2.25 watts but it says 6 watts on it.  If I
recall correctly you are charging 6 volt batteries in series so you might be
able to power it with 6 volts directly and forget the transformer and save
that elusive 3.75 watts of wasted power.  It is powered at the user end so
no need to worry about power at the pond.  It has RCA jacks that just plug
into your VCR, TV, or whatever.  I'll try powering it with a 6 volt deep
cycle battery sometime today and let you know how it works.  The hard part
will be finding the right plug to stick into it.  BTW it does have sound too
(but only Mono).  You might be able to make some interesting nature videos.
I'll look for the instructions but I'm not real hopeful of finding them.
Maybe someone at Harbor Fright can tell you what the maximum wire length is.
I found a color camera (mine is B/W) in an ad and their sale price WAS $32
(ended April 7) and the llot # is 91851/95914 and it says Bunker Hill
Security.

The wire it came with looks like it's probably at least 50' long (still all
coiled up).  It has the typical phone jacks and plugs so adding an extension
would be very simple.  It has six infrared LEDs to illuminate the camera's
view but they have a range of only a few feet, but probably enough to
illuminate some kind of depth marker in the pond.

I had mine outside for a few years mounted to my RV TV antenna so I could
rotate it and look around outside and it has held up just fine.


I know what you mean.  With my water pressure at about 42 psi that air is
getting compressed too.

 

That would only be true if the pipe slope never goes the wrong way, to create
air traps.

 

later that day....

OK, it works fine with a 6 volt battery (the first plug I grabbed fit!)
except there is some buzzing that sounds like 60 cycle hum.  Maybe the
camera was just too close to the TV and I was getting feedback.  It's
raining so my phone line is gonna go out.... cya