Bob's Favorite "Sport" -- Moving Rocks: Part One

Late October into Early November 2012; On Site at the Tennis Club --

Uncle Bob's real favorite sport is tennis. But, for the sake of this and a few future posts, Grumpy will resort to sarcasm by depicting the subject of moving rocks as his "favorite" sport. Bear with me, please; then perhaps you'll understand why.

Bare spot on lawn defines original resting place of BR

The "Big Rock" [hereinafter simply referred to as BR] will be the subject of this first story. This rock was the largest of the lot strewn over the side lawn at the Tennis Club. For reasons that only my brother might be able to define, this challenge was the first one to be addressed. BR started out in this place, at a relatively lower elevation than my designer brother desired its ultimate place in this one meter high rockery.

Moving 1000-lb rock with cleverness

Using ingenuity, mechanical advantage and brute force, it was slowly "coaxed" uphill to a location -- and orientation -- preparatory for the final "big grunt" that would position it into almost its final resting place.

BR in its next-to-final postion

The "big grunt" was implemented by "Super-Body" Fabio, on the short ends of a pair of tough Eucalyptus poles, while my wily brother took the "more challenging" [but definitely less strenuous!] long ends. Grumpy participated by lending his tried and true "Supervisory" experience -- grunting, urging and documentation photos -- to this final brute-force effort.

"Big Rock", neatly wedged into place using selected smaller rocks

After some nudging with a metal crow-bar, the BR was at last in its place, where it was neatly "tucked" with smaller rocks into its bed for future time immemorial. The physics of gravity had been overcome. But more "rocky" challenges will be forthcoming; stay tuned!

A Re-NEW-ed Kitchen Floor -- Mission Accomplished!

23 April 2012; Grumpy's Castle --

After "slaving" away on his hands and knees for several days, inhaling the revolting odor of Ammonia, Grumpy at last accomplished the engineering goal of removing the built-up wax (with embedded dirt) from the Armstrong vinyl flooring in his(now!) kitchen. Previously, Grumpy had undertaken a scientific investigation to determine what (if any!!) means would soften or dissolve the old waxy substance with the embedded dirt, to allow its removal from this otherwise good-looking kitchen floor. Here on the left is a "before" photo showing the darker color in the small recessed features of this faux-tile vinyl floor covering. The Ammonia Treatment appeared to be the most, if not the only, method.

By contrast, the "after" photo on the right shows the newly-cleaned floor, with the properly-applied Armstrong "Shinekeeper" finish applied. Notice particularly, the small, convex-shaped features, which were formerly "hiding places" for the combined dirt and wax that had built up over the years since Grumpy and the Grand Mother had had this flooring installed -- 25 years ago, or more?

Hopefully, now Grumpy can honestly say that a Peanut Butter and jelly sandwich, remaining on the floor no more than five seconds -- right-side up, of course -- is still good to eat.

Two Days of Fun with the Gang at Fort Bale -- Part 3

Thursday 21 April 2011; Clark County Country --

This morning the Grand Mother and Grumpy left our motel early to arrive at Fort Bale in time for breakfast. Breakfast comprised something delicious that the Swede called "Swedish Pancakes" and eggs -- lots of eggs (do you suppose this was some sort of promotional deal, or what!?). To put on the Swedish Pancakes, there was a sauteed combination of zucchini, onions and almond bits, and rhubarb sauce. Does that sound yummy or what!? (It definitely was, and this old German ate three of those Swedish delicacies even though it was "out of sight" vis a vis his diet.)

After breakfast, Grumpy was prevailed upon to "suggest" a design improvement for a "bottle rocket" design that Bee-Boo was intending to demonstrate in a couple of weeks. 

 

The basic design was modified to incorporate a "launch tube" (12" piece of 1/2" PVC pipe pointing straight up), with a 1/2" O-ring fitted into a groove around the lower part of the launch tube such that the friction between the O-ring and the neck of the 2-liter soda bottle would hold the bottle firmly in place until a certain air pressure was pumped into the interconnected PVC launch system and the empty volume inside the soda pop bottle.

The basic design used a threaded PVC fitting around which two or three layers of electrical tape was to be wound to provide friction to hold the bottle rocket until pressure, estimated to be around 30 psi had been pumped into the launch system. Upon "lift-off" from the basic design, the compressed air in the bottle would expel water from the bottle to "jet" the bottle to a height estimated at "about 30 feet".

Bee-Boo opined that the bottle should be filled about half full for maximum altitude. His goal was to exceed the 30-foot altitude professed for the basic design. "Stretch" (the Dad) appropriated his 12 volt electric-powered air pump for the first test. This device had dial pressure gauge incorporated at the outlet; this was a neat feature, allowing at least some engineering data to be taken on this first test launch.

Chief Rocket Project Engineer

Bee-Boo's modified design, with the 12 inch launch tube, prevented a large amount of water to be exhausted until the neck of the bottle cleared the top end of the launch tube. The theory behind this modification was that the bottle would be accelerated to some good velocity, primarily by the air pressure acting on the bottom of the bottle, until the neck cleared the launch tube, and then further accelerated by the expulsion of the water, "to reach unfathomable heights"! The first "dry run" was an outstanding success -- and anything but a dry run!! 

Upon applying power to the little air pump, Stretch and Bee-Boo both moved away some 10 or 15 feet. Grumpy, ever the curious engineer warily stepped up to the "safe" end of the launch system (about 3 feet from the vertical launch tube) where he could observe the pressure readings. When the pressure rose above about 5o psi, Grumpy "lost interest" in further pursuit of test data; he estimates that, when the pressure inside the PVC pipe and vacant part of the bottle finally overcame the friction holding the bottle on the launch tube, the pressure was probably 55-60 psi! Needless to say, the bottle took off like a cannon shot, straight up in the air, spewing water on the surrounding area -- including Grumpy who was standing 10 or more feet back by this time. No data were taken on the apogee of the bottle, but various estimates placed the altitude as "more than 600 feet above sea level"!

The smile on Bee-Boo's face was priceless as he returned from recovering the empty soda pop bottle from a tree 100 or more feet "down range" from the launch site. No, Grumpy stupidly did not think to take photos of the launch nor of the proud owner's big grin. It will just remain a Great Grandpa's happy memory of one very happy Great Grandson.

A New Fence

Grumpy's Castle; Early September 2010 --

Grumpy took advantage of Son-in-Law's extended period of unemployment by asking him to assist in constructing a decorative concrete wall to replace 20-25 feet of the deteriorating cedar panel fence that was built before the Grand Mother and Grumpy acquired this place in the mid-'60's. As it turned out, Adolfo was much more experienced and skilled in masonry than Grumpy could have imagined (he even had all of the professional tools!); instead of Adolfo assisting Grumpy, Grumpy was the "hod carrier" and Adolfo the "Master"! Grumpy was happy to work for such a skilled and good-natured boss -- although Adolfo "fired" Grumpy two or three times for gross mistakes (such as "accidentally" spraying the Master with the garden hose; dropping a decorative block in the dirt, thus delaying its timely setting in its place on the wall; and some other misdeed that neither of us can remember).

The first and most important task was clearing the debris from the line where the wall was to be installed and digging a shallow trench for the footing on which to stack the decorative blocks. Part of the area was "infested" with an old stand of tough bamboo. These had surprisingly not invaded Grumpy's yard (as the other neighbor's bamboo has been trying to do), but still presented a very challenging resistance to the removal of their roots and stalks where the footing was to go.

After the footing was poured, the decorative blocks were skillfully stacked by Adolfo, keeping the sides vertical and the tops level and perfectly aligned so the succeeding courses would also be level and aligned. The Master even allowed Grumpy to help place a few blocks and tap them gently into alignment. Grumpy really appreciated this opportunity to learn a little bit about another manual skill. It helped to develop a better appreciation for those who do this sort of work for a living.

Alternate courses of the decorative blocks were overlapped; Adolfo explained that this makes the wall much more substantial since there is not the weakness of a straight-line vertical mortar joint. Of course this meant that a few blocks had to be split. Grumpy was able to split one with both halves useable! Often, one of the halves will have a piece broken off so that it is incomplete and just wasted.

The end result of their labor is shown above. After consultation with the next door neighbor, the fence will continue for at least another 15-20 feet. But the next section(s) is not as critical, as the current cedar panel fence is quite sturdy in the remaining sections.

Grumpy designed a reusable form with which to produce the steel reinforced concrete posts located each 15-20 foot section of the new concrete fence. The "post" is poured after the blocks on either side have been placed and their mortar cured sufficiently. The form consists of two identical parts that are clamped to the opposite sides of the block fence over the gap in the blocks left for that purpose. The lumber used for the form has a distinct wood grain which is reproduced on the surface of the concrete post as can be seen in the photo on the right. So far it has been used on just one post, but there are at least two more on which it will eventually be used when the next several feet of fence are rebuilt.

Do-it-Yourself Upside-Down Planters

Grumpy's Castle; 26 July 2010 --

A while ago, Grumpy said that he would describe his design for a do-it-yourself upside-down planter. This post will be an attempt to do that, using easily obtained recycled materials. The reader may use his own imagination and ingenuity to modify the design to suit the materials he/she has available.

Main items needed:

Here are the primary pieces that are required: A five-gallon bucket & lid, preferably black so the heat of the sun can keep the roots warm; a sturdy plastic 4" planter pot, preferably having a rolled top; a 3/4" thick piece of porous, fairly rigid plastic foam.

Tools required: A compass with which to scribe a circle to guide cutting a round hole in the bottom of the five-gallon bucket; A sharp knife or Xacto knife with which to cut said round hole and also to cut a 1 1/4" hole in the bottom of the 4" planter pot as well as to trim the piece of porous plastic foam to fit snugly in the bottom of the 4" planter pot. A slit should be made to the approximate middle of the foam disk. If Grumpy could figure out how to reliably cut a hole in the bottom of a terracotta pot, that would be his ideal!

I prefer the plastic planter pots which have a rigid rounded rim (e.g. 4" 'Shuttle Pot', #SP433); this rim will support the weight of the tomato plant without being deformed and pulled through the 4" hole in the bottom of the five-gallon bucket.

I also have white five-gallon buckets; I plan to spray paint them with flat-black paint (the type that will adhere well to the polypropylene plastic of which the bucket is made). Other dark colors would work OK, just not quite as good as black however.

I anticipate that cutting the hole in the bottom of the bucket may be the most difficult job; the plastic buckets are fairly thick and it may be slow work to cut through the plastic as well as keeping the hole very closely round. If you have a sabre saw or Dremel tool that can cut on a 4" diameter  circle, that might be easier. At any rate, if you use a knife (as I probably will) or an Exacto knife, be careful not to slip and cut your fingers. Grumpy probably will ignore this precaution!

4" pot, with hole cut in bottom

The 1 1/4" hole in the bottom of the 4" pot need not be as precise; it is important to leave enough bottom material that will support the 3/4" thick porous plastic foam. The minimum size of this hole needs to accommodate your tomato seedling at the time you decide to replant it to the upside-down planter. It is important that this hole have no sharp corners or "nicks" in it; these imperfections will greatly weaken the ability of the remaining material to withstand the weight of the tomato plant as it grows to maturity. Think about how heavy your tomato plant will be by mid July and early August when it is loaded with luscious tomatoes -- the foam must not rupture the pot bottom and slip through the bottom of the 4" pot!!

Depending on the hooks on which you plan to hang your upside-down planters, you may need to remove the handle-piece typical on a five-gallon bucket. Keep in mind, though, that without that add-on handle piece, the small diameter wire bail that is left will be painful to your hands when the planter is full of soil -- and even more so when it is adequately moistened! I  initially put in only enough soil to cover the roots on the seedling I have just inserted; after hanging the planter, I then pour in more soil (and organic vegetable fertilizer, in layers) as needed to fill the planter to within 3-4 inches from the top.

Finally, after your planter is hung and filled with soil, the top should be placed over the opening. This is to prevent loss of moisture due to evaporation. Before placing the top on the bucket, cut a hole about 1 1/2 to 2" in diameter near the center of the top; this is the hole into which you will provide irrigation for your upside-down plants. Grumpy's preferred method is to drill a 1/8" hole in the center of the plastic lid from a 3 liter Ocean Spray juice bottle, then poke (with a large needle) a 1-2 mm pin hole in the side of the 3 liter bottle between the handle and the neck. The distance between the 1/8" hole in the lid and the 1-2mm pin hole in the side provides approximately the right amount of pressure difference, when the bottle is full of water and turned upside down into the hole in the 5-gallon lid, to provide about 1-2 drops of water per second. Ideally, 3 liters of water should last 2 days during the early season; during the hotter days of July and August, 3 liters per day may be advisable. If the 3 liter bottle is allowed to lean at approximately a 45 degree angle, the rate of drops can be adjusted by turning the 3 liter bottle slightly to the left or right (decreasing the vertical distance between the hole in the lid and the hole in the side).

Our 2010 Auto Trip; Part VI, Travel to the Black Hills, Day 10

Black Hills of South Dakota; 1 July 2010 --

After a "continental" breakfast in the H&H restaurant, courtesy of the RodeWay Inn, we headed North on SD-73 to Philip, the old High School stomping grounds of the Grand Mother and Grumpy. We never attended Philip High at the same time; Grumpy attended there his Senior year only, and Mother came there as a Junior the following year.

Highway 73 was receiving a fresh "chip coat" (fresh tar and then a thin layer of gravel chips on the soft tar) and we arrived just in time to drive on the surface that had not yet had the chips applied. So we had to hold our speed to "not more than 40 mph" the entire 15 or so miles to keep from splashing too much of the soft tar onto our car finish. A random look after we arrived in Philip indicated that we had succeeded!

We visited an old school friend of Mother's, enjoying a few cups of coffee and cinnamon rolls together. Then we drove around this 800+ town to see what had changed and what had remained the same.

We saw the old house where Mother lived while she finished High School.

Then we drove past the Catholic Church, situated at the bottom of the 69 steps that both Mother and I ascended to the old High School building on the hill. The road that used to climb that hill meandering away from the steps as it made its way up to ease the steepness, was no longer in use -- but its mark in the soil remained.
 

From that corner below the school, we could see the tips of the pine trees my mother had planted after she had the "earth house" built.

The earth house was built by excavating into the side of a native, flat-topped, grass and weed-covered hillside overlooking the city of Philip.
Into this excavation, which opened out toward the southeast, a reinforced concrete floor and three walls were constructed. Next, about half of the floor area was covered by a reinforced concrete roof; along the outer edge of this roof a vertical retaining wall was built. The remainder of the area over the floor was covered with rather conventional-looking roof -- the roof sloping down toward the front of the building at about the same angle as the natural slope of the hillside that it blended with. After completing the concrete structure, including the retaining wall, some of the excavated earth was filled back into the void above and the entire area re-seeded with Buffalo grass, and my mother planted several seedling Ponderosa pine and Cheyenne river Red Cedar trees. All of the trees on the hillside below and to either side of the house were planted by my Dad.

Some of the Ponderosa that my Dad planted are now over 30 feet tall and have completely obstructed a view of the house from the streets of the city below, as this photo that was taken from the street near the Court House shows. A sharp-eyed observer may detect the chimney peering out from between two Ponderosa pine trees at the upper left of center.

Auburn Avenue Bread [Variation on Sullivan Street Bread]

Having eyed with envy and hunger the homemade breads of, first James', and then BoPop's, Grumpy concluded that, if James and BoPop could make good bread, then he "could do that, too"! The taste of a loaf of James' bread sent home when Grumpy last visited Fort Straw, was the "last straw" (pardon the pun) and so with no trepidation at all, but to the great consternation of the Grand Mother, whose fears of a messy kitchen aftermath were soon realized, Grumpy forged ahead.

Instead of following the Sullivan Street recipe exactly, Grumpy ventured into some exotic variations, including the addition of some brown sugar and a cup or so of various nut meats. The Grand Mother and Grumpy both like the coarseness of the whole wheat bread with multiple nuts that we currently purchase at Safeway. And instead of mixing for only 30-60 seconds, Grumpy used a fancy serving fork to "pull" the dry ingredients together with the liquid for about 5 minutes, or until the dough achieved a definitely "stringy" appearance due to the gluten being "activated" by this vigorous working of the dough.

The results of this, Grumpy's third loaf, is shown in the photo. Notice the fine, even textured bubbles and the nut meats that were sliced as this first piece was cut from the main loaf. Grumpy brushed some Sesame seed oil on the top surface of this loaf when it came out of the oven. After tasting, Grumpy recommends "sticking" with Virgin Olive oil instead!

Heat Pump Report: First Season Finale

End of the 2008-2009 Heating Season --
Typically, Grumpy would turn on the heating system (formerly oil furnace) on 1 October and shut it off on 1 May -- if it hadn't already run out of fuel from the 500 gallon tank, that is. Some flexibility was permitted if an exceptionally cold spell occurred before the magical October date, or after the ultimate May date. In fact such was the case in Spring 2008, when the furnace remained on until the tank went dry on about the 15th of May. The Grand Mother wisely closed the kitchen door, when she got up at her usual early hour of 4:30 or 5 o'clock, and turned on the oven! She dared the Grumpy One to say a word about her method of achieving comfort.

Of course, Grumpy had long ago determined that his Bride's comfort was more important than an argument about the uneconomical method being used to provide that comfort. Besides, there was always that hope of another Lemon Meringue Pie!!

As an earlier post had complained, the cost of our regular July fuel tank fillup reinvigorated Grumpy's trade study for the most cost-efficient method of heating his Castle. As that earlier lament revealed, a Heat Pump was the way to go. The trade study predicted an annual cost savings (at July 2008 fuel oil price) such that the $8,000 initial cost of the Heat Pump would be paid off in about 4 years.

So now, on this the 12th day of May, the heating task has dwindled down to just a half-hour or so of operation to boost the "getting up" temperature to a "coziness"of 72 degrees. Then the system goes off for the next 23 1/2 hours. Thus Grumpy declares that the heating season is over for this year and proudly presents -- The results:

• $359.26 (greater amount of electrical energy consumed compared to previous year)
• $521.25 (fuel oil consumed @ July 2008 price per gallon)
• $2,119.55 (TOTAL savings using Heat Pump in lieu of oil furnace only)

Further to the benefit of the Heat Pump has been the fact that the Grump and Bride have had the thermostat set at 72 degrees this heating season instead of 69 or 70 like the previous year. One caveat: the Grand Mother insists that she doesn't feel as warm with the Heat Pump as she did when the oil furnace was running. Grumpy will not go so far as to say it is "all in her head" -- he senses the same thing! [It is a fact that the "hot air" coming out of the registers when the oil furnace is providing the heat is 20 to 30 degrees hotter than when the Heat Pump is providing the heat. The controlled room temperature, once it is warmed up, is exactly the same however.]

Use for Surplus Coveyor Belting

Somewhere in Clark County--

Many of you have been queried (begged, really!) about making use of the left-over conveyor belting that Grumpy bought from the Bar-B mill auction a couple years ago. The three rolls of the stuff that remained were much too heavy for Grumpy, or any two men like him, to lift or even roll! Using the trusty electric winch that the Grand Mother had given him many years ago, Grumpy succeeded in getting the half-ton rolls loaded into his utility trailer. The plan now was to find a willing consumer and get HIM (or her -- Amazon-type!!) to help unload them at the new owner's location.

The Amboy volunteered to make use of these white elephants! Grumpy was delighted and set about post-haste to ready the old Red Gas Guzzler ('86 Ford F-250HD) for the 167-mile trip down here to Clark County. Arriving early enough in this 70-degree day, Amboy and Grumpy were able to take advantage of the good weather (no rain in sight!) to unload two of the big, black conveyor belts and unroll them directly into desired locations: providing a grass/weed barrier between the lawn and Heidi's flower beds on three sides of the house.

Having a substantial length of the wide conveyor belting still remaining, the idea was conceived of providing a grass/weed barrier along the length of the clothesline! Amboy opined that a bonus benefit would be that his long pants would not touch weeds or grass. Note how the blue jeans on this line (hung by the Amboy himself) are laid over adjacent lines to prevent such interference.) Grumpy asked the obvious question:

"Why didn't you make the clothesline higher in the first place?"

"I didn't want the Short One to think I would always be the one to hang up the clothes!"

"Good thinking", Grumpy thought to himself.

A House Raising (And Lowering!)

Saturday Morn; King County, WA --

Recently, Grumpy had the pleasure of witnessing the "house raising" for a good and old friend, Jack Meeker. An earlier e-mail about a year ago, to close friends and relatives, showed the charred remains of this friend's house in which he, with his wife Elinor, raised two sons and lived there for nearly 50 years. Jack nearly lost his life in that fire.

But this post is about the new house that is taking the place of the old one that burned down! The new house was built, in two sections, in a factory located in Salem OR. Scheduled to be delivered and installed on the steel-reinforced foundation in mid-December, the shipping was delayed many days because of weather-related road conditions in and around Portland OR. The first ("back half") of the house was moved onto the foundation at a time when Grumpy was not able to be there. So the photos that I am showing here are of the placement of the second half (the "front half") of the building.

Each section of the house constructed on a steel girder frame, which is a permanent part of the structure. It is then moved from the factory site to the foundation site using a sextuple-tandem set of wheel & axle assemblies attached to that steel girder structure. The entire building section is lifted, using a 175-ton mobile crane, from its spot on the street to a temporary resting place that supports one end of the section on the edge of the foundation and the other (hitch) end on some wooden blocks. The wheel-axle assemblies and the towing frame are then removed from the steel-girder frame.

After the wheel-axle assemblies and towing frame are removed, the section is again hoisted in the air and rotated into alignment with the previously-placed "back half" section of the building. The crane had to lift this section high enough to clear the far end of the mobile crane so that the crane could be rotated far enough with the section in its grasp to clear a large cedar tree that is on the street edge of the property.

Finally, with the section aligned with the foundation and the "back half" of the house, it is lowered and pulled into firm contact with the mating section.

The 175-ton mobile crane is a wonder in itself. But the story about the crane will have to be in another post.

The Relay Logic Module

Someplace in South King County; October 2008 --

Late last summer, the Grand Mother and I finally decided to upgrade our home heating system with an air-to-air heat pump, using our existing oil-burning furnace as a supplemental heating source (necessary when our damp outside air gets lower than about 32 degr F.). One contractor gave us a reasonable bid, but was ultimately unable to satisfy Grumpy's requirement to exploit the full capabilities of the three-speed air-mover included in our existing furnace. Thus, the development of a single-module relay logic package was conceived.

Having the advantage of access to a family member who contracts to do various kinds of electrical wiring and module manufacturing, Grumpy undertook the design of the electrical schematic of the relay logic module (RLM) and depended on the skills of his trusty son-in-law, Chief Manufacturing Engineer, to figure out how to package it into a unit that would install in a small space (2.25" x 4.50" x 7.50") within the blower compartment.

The electric input signals (32 vac, nominal) into the RLM all emanate from an electronic interface unit provided as part of the heat pump installation. The outputs of the RLM are 120 vac power, controlling the three speeds of the air-blower (fan) and powering the oil-burner of the furnace.

The photo above shows the RLM as it was received from the manufacturer. Its overall dimension is about 2.00" x 3.00" x 4.25" -- well within the maximum specified dimensions of the space into which it had to be installed. The input signal wires are contained in a seven-wire (two spares) bundle 60" long, permanently attached to the RLM. This input signal cable had to be snaked through a 5/16" hole from the blower compartment, to the electronic interface unit mounted on the outside of the hot air bonnet. The manufacturer provided 24" lead wires with mating connectors attached to one end of each; these lead wires were of #14 gage stranded wire to provide the electrical power to the three different speed windings of the blower-motor and to the furnace burner. One of the lead wires provides 120 vac power into the RLM, which the relays then switch to the appropriate output lead wire.

The last photo shows the RLM sitting cozily in its final resting space; the wires on the right with the orange twist connectors, are the connections to the three speed windings for the blower-motor. The orange twist connector just left of center is the connection for the furnace burner. The mass of wires seen on the extreme right of the photo are mostly unused, being the remains of relay and power wires installed by the heat pump contractor; these will all be removed eventually. Grumpy also intends to use cable ties to "neatenify" the multiple wires that currently are wending their way loosely about the compartment.

The manufacturer and Grumpy are considering making a standardized version of the RLM for sale to Heating, Ventilation & Airconditioning contractors who might be faced with a challenge such as was met here. We are currently looking at improvements to the design, such as time delays (to prevent the blower from starting until the heat-exchanger has gained some heat -- the Grand Mother has already raised serious, potentially LMP-limiting objections to the cold blast of air she felt when the "heat" came on in the bathroom!) and provisions for alternative motor configurations, such as capacitor-run (versus capacitor-start) type single phase, multi-speed motors.

Custom Modification of Heat Pump Installation

Somewhere in King County, 25 September 2008: --

This is the tale of an old retired Mechanical Engineer, who was not completely happy with the installation of his new Heat Pump. The problem wasn't with the Heat Pump itself, but rather the way in which it was integrated with the existing oil furnace -- or should I say, NOT integrated with said furnace.

The story starts with the initial requirement that the Heat Pump (a very sophisticated, two-stage hummer) be installed to be compatible with the existing (50 year old) oil-burning furnace, exploiting the capabilities of that furnace's three-speed blower. The three-speed blower is an update that Grumpy had installed a few years back -- the original blower was a single speed. To make matters even worse, the schematics for the new three-speed blower motor were not available and the schematics on the blower door of the furnace were virtually unreadable.

To make matters very interesting, if not really worse, the problem of hooking up this three-speed blower with the fancy Heat Pump and even fancier electronic thermostat interface adapter unit, involved electrical wiring and relay logic. Now if it was just plain logic, Grumpy could have called in his philosophically-inclined logical Grandson Lief and the problem would have been solved in a trice. But, knowing he was on his own, Grumpy put his mechanically-inclined mind to work and after several trying hours and innumerable cups of the Grand Mother's coffee, he determined that he had found a solution. (Note: "a solution", not "the solution"; it is a well-known fact that if you ask two Mechanical Engineers to solve a problem, they will come up with at least four "known solutions", none of which either of them will give you a guarantee in writing that any of them will work.)

Grumpy took his "solution" to that famous local company known as BIC, Inc. Now this company's claim to fame is that they can fabricate anything made of electrical wires, complete with connectors on each end of each wire and loomed together to form an apparently fully-engineered end product. Typically, these products are custom-tailored to meet customer requirements. The company has customers who are lined up in a considerable backlog for these custom products.

After a hard negotiating session with the Chief Engineer of BIC, Inc., as well as its hard-nosed CFO, Grumpy was able to obtain a "promise to perform" in fabricating the product which is called, "Relay Logic Module" (RLM, for short). This module consists of four relays, one of which is a double-pole, double throw type. The function of the RLM will be to interface between the electronic thermostat interface unit and the oil-furnace with its three-speed blower, and to allow exploitation by the Heat Pump of the full capabilities of the three-speed blower.

The finished product is pictured here; it measures about 3"wide by 6.5" long and stands 2" high. This is well within Grumpy's stated maximum dimensions of 4.5" by 7.5" long and 2.75 " high. As soon as it is hooked up and the system is checked out, the Grand Mother and Grumpy will be able to enjoy the full capabilities of their sophisticated new two-stage Heat Pump with its ultra fancy automatic thermostat and the full capabilities of the three-speed blower!

Ah! Automatic heat in the Fall, Winter and Spring, and automatic cooling when ever necessary or desired!! No more of Grumpy's previous annual edict of "First of October, furnace ON; First of May, furnace OFF".

Don't the readers think Grumpy deserves a Lemon Meringue Pie for this? Huh?!

Vote here, vote now: (click on "Comments" and say "YES"!!)

Vote often.

Heat Pump Starts Operations

September 3, 2008:

Yesterday (September 2) marked the beginning of operation of the new heat pump. The installer (Kirtan) went to great pains (literally as well as figuratively!) to maximize the functional integration of the new heat pump with the existing oil furnace with its three-speed blower. I am disappointed that, at present, only a single speed of the blower is being utilized. I am hopeful that a review of the electronic control schematics will reveal a simple way by which more of the blower speeds can be automatically incorporated. Especially since the heat pump is a two-stage unit and a lower blower speed is best used with the lower stage function.

This morning at six a.m., we awoke to warm air coming from the heat registers. Now, at a quarter to ten, we are enjoying cool air! Ah, such conspicuous consumption!! But this will not last; Grumpy is determined that the Castle will be maintained at a comfortable temperature at all relevant times (like during breakfast, while First Wife is busy crafting delicacies such as her incomparable Lemon Meringue Pies (see current sample below!!), and at all other times when said Wife decides she would be more comfortable at a higher -- or lower -- temperature). The new thermostat, which communicates via three or four wires with a microprocessor-controlled unit mounted on the bonnet of the furnace, features an impressive array of touch-screen options allowing the resident to turn on the blower (for air circulation), turn the heat (or cooling) temperature up or down, etc. The control also allows an automatically-programmed schedule for each of four times during each of the seven days in a week. The program may be over-ridden by the Master of the Castle (also by Grumpy!) at any time; once over-ridden, the temperature is maintained until the next programmed event at which time it returns to the automatic program.

In the lower right hand area of the thermostat is displayed the outside air temperature -- looks like today will be a rather warm day! Hooray for the option to have air-conditioning!!

Heat Pump Trade Study and Conclusions

Monday & Tuesday, 25 & 26 August 2008:

The Grand Mother and Grumpy have been able to get by with just 500 gallons of fuel oil to keep the Castle at an arguably comfortable temperature during the "winter" months here in King County. Usually Grumpy has kept the furnace turned "OFF" until the first of October and then turns it back to "OFF" when the first of May rolls around the next Spring. This past heating season seemed to be longer and colder (where is Al Gore when you need him!?) so the furnace remained "ON" well past the first of May. But the morning of May 15th found the Grand Mother and Grumpy shivering in bed: no heat today! We were out of fuel!!

Now the Grand Mother is adept at circumventing the frugal (stingy!?) habits of the Master of the Castle, however, and on those mornings was usually found in the kitchen, leisurely reading the morning paper -- with the oven door wide open and the oven turned to "toasty warm". Grumpy knew better than to start an argument about how this was defeating the purpose of our conservative heating lifestyle. He is still visualizing Lemon Meringue Pies in his future.

When the Grand Mother and Grumpy arrived home in mid-July, we found a fuel delivery statement on the door. The total cost for 500 gallons of fuel oil: $2505!! A review of the heat pump trade study was mandated!

Grumpy has been enamored of heat pump technology since he studied Mechanical Engineering at the School of Mines in South Dakota. He realized that, by "extracting" the heat from ordinary outside air (or, even better, from a lake or from ground water!) the effectiveness of the energy used to operate the compressor of the heat pump would be multiplied many times (This multiplying factor is called Heating Specific Performance Factor -- HSPF. Indeed, modern air-to-air heat pumps produce more than nine times the heat energy available in the home compared to the electrical energy they expend.

Grumpy's updated trade study for the Castle revealed the following:
1) Total heat energy used during typical year (500 gallons of fuel oil @ 128,50 Btu/gal.) in 85% efficiency furnace: 54,591,250 Btu. Cost: $2500 per year (and probably going higher!).
2) Cost of electricity@$0.08/kwh to operated heat pump: $143 per year (assuming HSPF of 9.0). Cost of electricity to operate heat pump for 120% of "typical" year: $772 per year (assuming HSPF of 2.0).
3) Initial cost of heat pump installed: $8,000 (includes factory rebate and IRS energy credit).
4) Years to "break even": 3.76 years ("typical" heating year, assuming cost of capital @ 8% APR).
5) Years to "break even" @ 120% "typical" year: 5.46 years.

The conclusion to which the Grand Mother and Grumpy arrived was to have a four ton capacity heat pump installed (~49,000 Btu/hr.). Pictured at right is the main unit, with other needed parts stacked on the left. This installation should provide all of our heat requirements on all days except those when the outside air temperature is at or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit; then the oil furnace will "kick in" to supply the additional heat needed.

Grumpy wired a new 35 ampere, 240 volt AC circuit to an outside weather proof disconnect, shown next to the door above the main unit, and had cleared a "path" for the liquid refrigerant lines and system control wires to be run between the heat pump compressor (located on the lower-level patio) to the existing oil furnace where the condensor (heating)/evaporator (cooling) heat exchanger would be mounted inside the existing (or modified) hot air bonnet.

Six HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) contractors were contacted to bid on the project. Ultimately only one put in a reasonable bid (two or three quickly concluded that their proposed units could not be fit inside the bonnet on the existing oil furnace (a definite "must" to validate the trade study); one of the contractors, [name withheld to protect the guilty!], bid a choice of adding a gas- or oil-burning furnace in order to "fit" their 3-ton unit into the headroom available.

The winning contractor (Hayes Heating and Cooling of Renton) was given a contract to install their proposed 4-ton heat pump. [When he was clearing the pathway for the electrical and refrigerant lines, Grumpy noticed a magnetic "sticker" placed on the furnace. It had been placed there by the Hayes Heating & Cooling salesman, Tim, when he was checking dimensions for the proposal. Grumpy joked that he thinks that this sticker "frightened" away the other would-be bidders!] The installers, Kirtan and Ryan (see photo at left), arrived with the equipment early Monday morning and went right to work. Soon they were drilling holes for the electrical and refrigerant lines to pass between the floor joists from the outside of the house to ceiling space in the furnace room.

Drilling through the outside triple-joist, the big 3 or 4 inch hole cutter ran into a nail -- or ten!! -- emitting a loud, rumbling chatter that shook the house and elicited the facial expression of horror seen on the Grand Mother's face in the photo to the right. "They are destroying my house!!" she moaned.

Where other contractors' salesmen couldn't conceive of the possibilities for innovative modifications that could be used to accommodate the evaporator/condenser unit within the constraints of the existing bonnet, Hayes' installers made quick [well, it turned out to be "not-so-quick"!] and neat work of fashioning this modified bonnet for our existing furnace. Although, as the photo at left indicates, some detail work remains to be done. This two-day job turned into a four day job, so Grumpy has decided to go ahead and post this now as a status report rather than wait another day.

We look forward to a more comfortably warm home starting before the first of October this Fall and continuing past the first of May next Spring. And no more "suffering" from the too-hot days and nights like we experienced this past Summer -- in between the colder-than-usual days and nights, that is!

Watch for subsequent posts as the coming heating season proceeds, with actual electrical and oil consumption data, as Grumpy boasts of the cost savings supporting his engineering trade study summarized above. His crowing may be almost tolerable!

Our First Day in Maryland with Ward the Not-as-Old

The Grand Mother and Grumpy journeyed via a Delta Airlines Boeing 757. Grumpy's proudest moment at Boeing occurred two years before he retired, having lead the development and final design of the first All-Electronic Propulsion Control System (EPCS) used on a production airplane. But, other than flight test airplanes, he had never before flown on a scheduled commercial airplane with "his" system (Delta was the premier airline buying their first 50 757's with this system).

We changed planes at JFK in New York City, catching a small Canadair twin jet from there down to Reagan International in Washington DC. That's when the "fun" began: our baggage was not on this last flight. After determing that the next flight (in two hours) would "bring our baggage", we went several miles outside the DC area, stopping at a "Jimmy Mac's Roadhouse" style restaurant for a very fine meal with Ward & Peggie, Joe and the Grand Mother & Grumpy.

Upon returning to Reagan by a roundabout way (Joe, on his GPS calling out the turns -- sometimes "a little too late") we found one of the two pieces of our baggage. It did not include our clothes and other valuable stuff that Grand Mother and Grumpy desperately needed for our comforts. We reported our lost baggage to Delta, with the hope that the other bag would be delivered sometime during the night after the midnight flight in from JFK.

A call the next morning revealed that our lost piece of luggage was at Reagan; Ward and Grumpy took off in his Jeep Rubicon for the airport. Unfortunately, this piece of luggage was actually two parts which Grumpy had taped together for ease of carrying into SeaTac. The Delta personnel at checkin had insisted that they be considered one piece with one luggage tag and that they be put in a big plastic bag, which I did. At Reagan, the big bag (with our clothes) was not in the plastic bag and the smaller green bag with Grumpy and Grand Mother's other important things, was not to be seen.

Time will tell whether this smaller green bag is ever found and if it ever gets back into Grumpy's hands. More later.

Great 2007 Auto Trip Data

Those who have been around for awhile know that Grumpy likes to brag about the performance of his Red Rocket, so if you are bored by statistics, just skip this post. But if you really want to know what a good car can do in the hands of a skilled (make that old & experienced) driver, then listen up!

We filled the fuel tank to the very top as we left home on June 30th. Grumpy was not always so careful to fill it as full on subsequent refueling stops -- in particular, the fuel stop we made in Ontario OR lacked about 3 gallons of being a complete fill-up as the automatic shut-off on the fuel nozzle is highly respected by the lackeys who have to gas up your car in Oregon. In sympathy with them, Grumpy has to admit that it takes an inordinate amount of time to fill the Red Rocket tank "up-to-the-neck" point. Even Grumpy doesn't do this except when he wants to get an accurate measurement of the amount of fuel used between certain odometer readings, which he was careful to do at the beginning and near the end of this trip.

So, Grumpy topped off the tank to the very top of the filler pipe as we left town on the 30th of June and again when he filled up in Wenatchee (150 miles from home) on the 17th of July. In between those dates, the Grand Mother and Grumpy travelled 5,092 miles, consuming 157.457 gallons of unleaded regular gasoline, for an overall mileage of 32.34 miles per gallon. The "official" EPA rating for this model is 28mpg for highway miles (and that's probably at a cruise speed of 55 or 60), so Grumpy feels pretty good about being able to beat this number by a sizable amount. Grumpy won't say what his "normal" speed was, but suffice it to say that the Grand Mother was "not comfortable" some of the time. But some of the time on nice straight freeways, she was asleep! But she was wide awake at one point where I hit my maximum speed -- I think I was passing some trucks or something like that. At any rate, no traffic tickets were collected on the entire trip and a happy conversation was enjoyed most of the time.

Altogether, from start to finish, we drove 5, 245 miles in 19 days. We had reservations for motels at all planned overnight stops. Except we didn't plan where we would stop in a few places (North Dakota, western Nebraska, Utah and Oregon). We satisfied these accommodations by calling from the cell phone during the mid-morning of the day we were to arrive.

Grumpy grossly underestimated the amount of pavement he could stuff under the wheels and keep within the Grand Mother's tolerance for time sitting in one place, hence the first days, with stops across Montana, ended fairly early in the afternoon (even in the late morning when we pulled into Livingstone MT!). The steely nerve of the Grand Mother impressed Grumpy so that next year when we take this journey again, we will plan to stretch the miles between overnights a little and eliminate a day or two going and coming. That will leave us more time to spend visiting or seeing sights, which is what this sort of trip is aimed at in the first place.

Now, after a few days' rest and taking care of home obligations, the Grand Mother and Grumpy are taking a Delta 757 jet back to Maryland to see the four Great-Grand kids that she has not seen. (Grumpy has been fortunate enough to have flown with Uncle Bob to visit them a year ago.) We will celebrate son Harry's and Grumpy's birthdays while we are there.

The Delta 757 on which we will be flying is equipped with the all-electronic propulsion control system that was the highlight of Grumpy's career at Boeing. He was involved in the development of this system from initial concept trade studies, through prototype testing and finally to introduction on the 757. Grumpy rode in the flight test airplane (circa 1985) but this will be the first time he has ridden on a commercial flight in one. He is pretty excited about it all, especially considering he is not fully into his second childhood.