Back Online

In the throws of all my piddling this weekend I took the time to rebuild the solar pump box and get it back online .

This box is the life line of the rain water harvest system. It is powered by 12 volt batteries that are recharged by the sun. Those batteries power a on demand 45 psi pump.
The rain water is pumped into the solar bath house and through the sprinkler system in the gardens. Plus it is used to water the animals.
With something so important you would think I would have taken better care of it.
First, a dog tore up the solar panel and second I did not drain the pump and it froze and busted the housing.

Being negligent in my work has cost me.  I can't point to anyone else but me on this one.

 The good thing is the pump housing only cost $17 compared to a complete new unit at $100 so I lucked out on that one.
This picture is in the side of the box that holds the pump.
In the top right corner is the busted piece I had to replace.  

 

 
   I did have to buy a new 7 watt solar panel and it works great.
While I was taking the old one to the trash I decided to try and fix it. I guess I am hard headed enough not to except that it was trash.With some good old Southern engineering I fixed the panel and hooked it back up. Now I have 13 watts total recharging the batteries.   

A quick update on the Bio Sand Filter,
I have it up and running. It produced 25 gallons yesterday for the green house. I don't want to drink it just yet,at least not until I get the water tested.

I know it ain't much but that's all I got for now.

In Case You Were Wondering, It works

Just in case you were wondering, the new rain water reuse system has been completed and is in use. Yesterday was the first time I switched everything over to 100% rain water that was collected in the 3000 gallon harvesting system.


All the electrical worked, the battery was charged from the solar panel and the pump came on with a flick of the switch. The system pressured up for the first time as I held my breath. I just knew a pipe would burst or a fitting would start leaking because usually that's what always happens. After a few seconds the lines reached the desired pressure and the pump shut off.

"Holy Crap! It's working." I called out to the wife.

"That's great honey" she said back in that voice every man knows that really means, "I am responding, but I am not listening."

"Go ahead, water something" I said excited to see the new system put to use.

"Yea, that's real nice" she said not turning around and still working in the garden with her cute little sun hat on.

"I'm going to run down to the bar for a while babe, see ya later" I said to see if that would get her attention.

"What, What's going on?" Now suddenly aware I was in the same yard.

"Oh, nothing, hey I got the water system running do you want to use it"

"Oh, wow, you bet, that's great" Now she was all smiles.

I still have to do some final clean up and add the other batteries but never the less, this is the finished product.
   

I was worried this little pump would not meet the demand but it does a great job.

 The battery is plugged into the outlet to energize the switch over at the bath house. The extra plug will serve as an extra for when I need to plug in some low voltage lighting or anything else I can think of.

I can add several more little panels as the system grows and gets bigger.










Thank y'all for stopping by.

Whoa There Big Fella

I don't know what happen, but I went from overdrive to first gear in one week.
This weekend I absolutely did nothing to write home about. It seemed like everything was in slow motion when I was trying to do it.

My Boppy

Saturday morning I did get the chance to do a little fishing. Of course I was out fished by my daughters like always but never the less I went. Boppy, my middle girl, caught the biggest and Wee, my youngest, tied with Boppy on how many. I came in last place with catching only one.
It's okay, at least I went. I could have sat out there all day and it didn't matter if I got a bite or not as long as I was with them.
The rest of the day I spent with the girls just being there.



Sunday, today, was a different story. I got up chomping at the bits to get something done.
I tried, but the harder I worked the less was getting done so I just slowed down and went at a nice slow pace.

After getting some odds and ends done I decided to turn my focus on the Rain Water Solar System. I mounted the solar panel on the housing box and plumbed in the "on demand pump". I also went ahead and wired in all the DC electrical stuff to go with it.
Everything runs off a switch. Flip that switch over at the bath house and the pump comes on to 45 psi and shuts off. Every time you turn the water on either in the bathhouse or the gardens the pump kicks back on.

The one thing I should have done was plumbed in two union fittings so when the pump has to be replaced it will not be such an ordeal to do it. I just got antsy and went with what I had.

I plan to add two more solar panels and two more batteries in the future.

This is just a quick set up to see if everything was wired right. The leads from the battery (Not shown here) plug into the outlet, energizing the switch to turn the pump on.
Very simple design I thought of here.


If you have not been reading, all this is for the rain water harvesting system. This will pump the water out of the two 1500 gallon tanks and into the gardens and bath house.
Oh, I almost forgot. The Verde River Citizens Alliance is using my Rain Water Harvesting System design for their Back Yard Garden Expo. I am pretty excited about that.  

I got bored today and decided to also go ahead and start on the Solar Laundry Room.
I got the floor completed and now I am thinking on how exactly I am going to do this.
My question is, do I want to try and run everything off of DC solar power or run everything like the old days where it was all manual labor. I have not figured it out yet.  

New RainWater System Items

Even though I am a junk collector and reuse everything I can, I still have to get new items from time to time. I have come to realize there is no possible way to be one hundred percent self sustainable or self reliant no matter how hard you try. There will always be something to buy you cannot make yourself.

For example, to complete the new and improved rainwater harvesting system I had to buy a new pump and solar panel. "Had to" really? Well no, I am sure I could have done without them and kept my old inadequate system, or just used a bucket for that matter.
Don't fret, the old equipment will be reused on another project.
The idea is to deliver enough GPM and PSI into the bathhouse so as to have all the comforts of home, plus to run more than one sprinkler head at a time while watering the gardens. The old system is not capable of handling anything of the sorts. 

This new system will up my GPM from one to three and charge the batteries a little quicker every day instead of topping them off every other day. It will up the pressure from 30 to 45 PSI, Plus it will give the option to switch from DC to AC power if needed with a added power supply.

Extra plugs are being added for options to run more DC powered devices if and when needed. This new system will have the capability to expand so it can accommodate the extra amp draw when new items are added on.



This lightweight, portable charger uses amorphous solar technology to charge any 12 Volt rechargeable battery, anywhere. Solar panel works in sunny or cloudy conditions, delivering up to 6 Watts and 0.4Ah for each hour of sunlight. Included blocking diode prevents power loss overnight. Panel features rugged aluminum frame and tempered glass for durability. Includes panel, clamps and 12 feet of wire. 12.5in.L x 12.5in.W x 0.5in.H.





Flow (GPH) 180

Volts 12

Max. PSI 45

Suction Port (in.) 1/2

Discharge Port (in.) 1/2

Self-Priming Yes

Valves Viton

Diaphragm Santoprene

Dimensions L x W x H (in.) 8 3/4 x 5 x 4 1/2

Manufacturer Warranty 12 months limited parts / No labor

Ship Weight 6.0 lbs

Item# 52063

Above are the descriptions Northern Tool had. The solar panel is a 6 watt panel that will charge the batteries in one day. The calculations on the new system says this is the minimum I can use for my needs. I will be pulling seven amps about 45 minutes to an hour a day. Another 6 watt panel can be wired in when more charging power is needed. The cost for one 15 watt panel is a more than two-6 watt panels by about forty bucks.
I will not be using deep cycled batteries at first because the ones I am using are just fine for now. It is not in the budget to buy two, $120.00 dollar batteries right now. A normal car battery will only last about a year because they are not designed for this type of use. When they start to go bad I will replace one at a time if I can. 

I have the box that will house the electrical and pump equipment cut out and ready for assembly. I will post about how I am going to put it all together and hook it all up soon.
I have some other pressing things I need to attend to this weekend so I will not be able to post. Tomorrow will be my last post until Sunday night.  

Disclaimer - This may come off as rude, but here you go. So if you get offended easily I would not read on.
For those who know all about this stuff and want to criticize this small system here, keep in mind this is only for the rainwater system to power the bathhouse and to water the gardens with the ability to expand if needed. I do not have seventy five thousand laying around to build a solar tracking system for the whole house, One step at a time my friend. I have done my research diligently on this and I know it would have been easier many other ways. These items fit into my small budget so I do not need all the "You should haves". If you do not like this system then hit the donate button and I will build the system to your specs that you bought.
On the other hand, if you do have some pointers, I am willing to listen and learn. I am not an expert on solar equipment being this is only my second time messing with it.        

       

Rain Water Harvest System With A First Flush

The couple of days I got home before dark I was able to do some work on the rain water harvesting system.

Even though I had one in place, it was a make shift system and I was loosing many, many gallons of water every time it rained.
Plus I did not have a "First Flush" system in place to catch the contaminates before it dumped into the tanks.

What contaminates you ask, after all it's clean rain water right?

My house like most is an asphalt shingled roof and every time it rains some of the particles from the shingles wash off into the gutter making their way to the bottom of the storage tanks.
Plus there is the dirt and dust that collects on the roof from the normal everyday wind. We also live in a farming community way out in the boondocks where they still spray the fields with airplanes. Even though they are careful, I am sure some of the chemicals still settle on the roof tops of our houses.

 That is where the First Flush system helps out. It will collect around the first five to seven gallons of rain water and then bypass the flush system leaving the bad water in the pipe and dumping the clean water into the tank. The lingering heavier particles will still be able to fall to the bottom even during the bypass stage.
This system will reduce the build up of foreign matter in the tanks and increase the quality of the water.  

 The bypass is made up of 3" pipe, two 2"X3" adapters, a 3" clean out, a 2" sweeping "T" and an empty water bottle. This picture shows the bottle being placed in the bottom of the pipe then clean out cap is screwed back on finger tight.

When the water fills the pipe, the bottle floats and when it reaches the 2"X3" reducer, it clogs the hole and the water is bypassed into the tank. After the water is bypassed any left over heavy particles will hit the bottle and still sink to the bottom of the pipe.

After the rain has ended, all I have to do is unscrew the clean out cap on the bottom and drain the pipe.

Even though every rain water harvesting system should have a first flush, it will not collect 100% of everything. This water will be filtered enough to put on the gardens and to be used for the animals, but for the bathhouse I still want it to be filtered a little more.
Before it goes into the bathhouse, the water will be filtered using a hot tub filter.

Just wanted to share this. I thought somebody might need it in the future.