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Tuesday, October 26, 2021

All Pumped Up...

 One of the projects that's been hanging around here for a while has been problems with the water pump. About a year or two back, it started to leak. As luck would have it, it happened right after I had surgery (All Fools Day 4/1/19). So there I was, crawling under the stairs trying to stop the leak when I was supposed to be taking it easy. Anyway, got the parts I needed, had to replace the entire float assembly, not just the leaky fitting, and then the pump wouldn't start/stop properly. So after replacing the pressure switch and assorted fittings, it seemed to be working again, but after awhile, it wouldn't. It'd either stop too soon or not at all. So it became a constant battle, adjusting the pressure switch every few days. Andy had a simpler solution, she'd just give it kick. So this summer we called a plumber. He called back a few weeks after we left a message and said he was too busy to come out here, but after I described the problem, he suggested just replacing the pump. Unfortunately, the pump he recommended was out of stock, so had to wait a couple of months to get one. Then when I got it home, saw that it'd be a real chore to connect, as all the fittings were different, requiring major changes to the copper piping, and also needed to do rewiring. So asked around and found another plumber who said he'd be available "in a few weeks." 

So first off, I had to do the wiring to connect the new pump. These are the tools it took just to change a switch to an electric socket and hook up a new light under the stairs. And Andy wonders why I have so many tools.

With the wiring done, it was time for the plumber, and as luck would have it, he was ready a week earlier than he said.

So here's the high tech, new age pump, all set up and ready to go. My main contribution was to build the "step stool" that the pump is sitting on. Took a shower tonight and it was pretty sweet, not having to worry about the pump randomly turning on/off the whole time. 


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