Thursday, March 28, 2013

Restless Night, Abrupt Morning

My employer is doing a major renovation to our Machine Shop; walls torn down, floor space expanded with reinforced floors for some new, heavier machines.  A midst the resulting chaos, many pieces of equipment are in very temporary locations (with even more temporary hook-ups).  One of those pieces of equipment is a water blaster that we use for cleaning parts.

Since the usual access to water has been removed, we've hooked up a temporary water access to an outside  faucet, complete with garden hose.  Recent daytime temps left us complacent about properly leaving our setup ready for the overnight dip back to freezing temps and it dipped to the mid-20's.  Added to that were other complications that made simply pulling everything inside difficult.

As a result, I worried about it all night, concerned that at the very least, the hose would be frozen solid (split?) for today's necessary parts cleaning.  Worse than that was my concern about a frozen spigot and possible breakage.  So all of that made for poorer sleeping than was necessary.

Mrs. Coop gets up weekday mornings before I do; her Morning Procedures a great deal more extensive than mine.  Even with my slowed down simple preparations, I have to drag my feet to avoid leaving each morning without my commuting partner.

I almost always hear the shower running, allowing me a graceful lift from my slumber.......

"Coop, there's no water......"  was how we started out this morning.  I struggled to focus on who's water issues I was planning contingencies for all night.  Up and on with the grubbies, checking breakers, listening and watching for a leak anywhere.

By the time I got to the front door with my coat on, I had two ideas, one of them far more probable than the other.  I checked the easy one first, relieved and frustrated to find that the problem lie elsewhere.  With flashlight in hand, it was out in the paddock where the horses no longer play to our fountain waterer.  Sure enough, even before I got there, the sound of cascading water was evident.

In the 100 yards to the basement to turn everything off, then back out to the paddock for a closer inspection (since I was up so early, I had time for inspections).  I've been inside the unit enough times to grab the correct couple of tools to give me access.  Once the water was no longer flowing, it looked pretty obvious and at least was encouraging that the problem was up and out of the ground rather than down, deep below.

I HAD to go to work today to deal with my 'real' water problem and asked Peg if she was willing or able to go along or if she wanted to stay home and let me head up on my own.  She hadn't brought her laptop home.  We both jumped in the car and headed to the city, luckily for our indoor felines, their water bowl had been filled last night.

I will admit that I did not shower this morning.  I won't confirm or deny whether Mrs. Coop did.  She was a little grumpy on the commute this morning though.

Can you find the problem?


Mrs. Coop is bathing in luxury as I Post this.......



12 comments:

  1. Coop:

    shucks, only a hairline crack. a few wraps of duct tape should do it

    Glad you got it all repaired.

    I am glad to find a machinist. I need something made but don't know how to describe what I want. I need a swiveling camera mount

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast

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    1. Bob,
      Believe you me, I wished a bit of duct tape would do it. Our water is hard and full of iron, both traits are hard on things. Of course winter was hard on this valve.

      Machinist? Are you looking for something you can't find? Starting with a top of an existing tripod might be a good idea, then go from there.

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  2. hose clamps... super glue... Ta DA :o)

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    1. Mr. A,
      Ta Da'ing is always where I try to start but this time, I didn't dwell very long on that idea. Luckily everything came apart easily....I expected much worse. 24" pipe wrenches can cause fear to be felt by reluctant pipes, even rusty ones!

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  3. I hate the sound of running water where I know it shouldn't be ... lucky for me... (I was in NYC when the bath plumbing sprung a leak)... again, lucky for me, my son has become quite handy with plumbing and had things repaired before I got home. I could not have survived as a pioneer - my world comes to a halt without running water. (Bob is my kind of repair man - duct tape!)

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    1. Karen, isn't that something?? We absolutely love a babbling brook, gentle or even not-so lapping on a beach.....but let that water sound be in our basement's finished space or on the kitchen floor and our first reaction is to flee.

      If your son is available in an on-call basis, I might consider airfare.

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  4. That is not the first gate valve I have seen split. I hope it is not the last, but I doubt that.

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    1. Mark, the fitting was supposed to be protected well enough from the cold; I'd been watching on and off over the winter though I will admit that lately weeks turned into months. It was my fault and it should not have happened.

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  5. I can feel the cold and the effort. Reminds me of losing power for days in the winter. Ugh. I hope you have a nice sleepy weekend.

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    1. There were and are so many things like this on the farm and here at our little homestead we don't rely on the facilities like real farmers do. I remember days that seemed uncomplete if things didn't break in the most demanding locations and weather.

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  6. Damn that is a rude awakening. Not what you wanted to wake up to.

    At least it wasn't worse. No pipes broke in the house.

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    1. Rude was certainly how it felt though not intended and you're right, water inside would have been worse. There's something about that outside vulnerability that keeps us alive??

      I mentioned our water problem to a Russian friend and her short story was ....
      "when you feel this way, buy a goat...keep the goat....then get rid of the goat. At that point you will feel VERY good!!!

      Wise words from Galyna and a lesson to us all :)

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