Copper Wire Testing Leads to Fun

The guys were doing some testing on copper wire and decided that the best way to see their test in action was to create a Jacob's Ladder. Who doesn't love these things? Paul quipped that every lab should have one of these on at all times, just as a matter of principle. At 12,000 volts, the arc was doing its thing happily.

After the tests were completed, you could visibly see the copper dust residue on the inside of the jar. The arc took the copper wire and, in the most scientific terms possible, made it go "poof" in a show of plasma and heat. Sounds fun, right?!

AC Use in Winter

The Mani Shop was built to retain the heat from the sun in all weather. On hot days or cold it has become apparent that the building design sometimes works too well. People with offices in the center of the building are often times sweating in the dead of winter.
This summer, a water based AC unit was installed to help with this problem. It works wonderfully. However, now that winter is here, an AC unit that relies on ground water will not cut it. So, identifying resources on hand, Mike and Ryan decided that cool air from the outside works just as well as cool water.
Therefore, our resilient team simply cut an insulated opening in an outside wall and connected home made ducts throughout the building. This will bring the cool air into the overheating rooms inside while maintaining the building's initial design feature.

Here you can see that Mike has all his ducts in a row.

Installation has begun.

You can see the opening from the outside here.

Solar Shade: Preparation for the Collage of Sustainability

In preparation for the Collage of Sustainability (the largest event to take place at the HUG campus), our team has had to make some changes to the atrium. With 150 visitors expected to participate, the atrium was designated the only place large enough hold all of them.

The atrium was initially designed to be a greenhouse, and with the south facing wall made up entirely of heat absorbing windows, it would become too hot for participants to bear. So, a solution was needed before the event began.


We decided that hanging a large piece of black cloth across the south facing windows was the solution we needed. (Some people call this contraption a "curtain.") However, it was decided, that this curtain needed to be done in style.


So, Wayne designed a little motor that would run up and down the metal posts set aside at each end of the cloth. This little motor would roll up the cloth and let more light in. If it gets too hot, the little motor runs down the metal posts and takes the black cloth down with it, creating more shade and blocking out the sunlight.

Here, you can see the little guy working.

Looking out from the inside, you can tell the difference the cloth makes.

A day in the shop

It's been a long time since I posted an update, so I thought I would post a bunch of pictures about what is going on in the shop today.

First is some control circuitry for the LEnR experiment. The schematic was drawn on the board.

Then, Paul works on the little circuit boards that will hold the circuits. He tries drilling the mounting holes...

But ends up making a very square looking owl face, instead.

But it's OK, because the owl fits in the test rack.

Then he commences the actual circuit assembly.

In another part of the shop, Jake and Jim C are working on a sink for the new garden shed that they will be able to wash plants and vegetables in.

On another table is a replacement water cooling coil that arrived damaged, so we had to get another one coming rather than installing it as planned.

An our resident wizard, Wayne, is busy refining the designs for the new duplex arc, even as the carpenters are building the foundation.

And Jeff is using the CNC router table to cut a bunch of holes into OSB pieces that will hold the under floor sensor conduits in the new duplex ARC.

And just outside the back of the shop, Mark and Dan are spending the day whipping up a replacement outhouse. Normally, we'd prefer a sawdust toilet in properties like the one this is for, but in this case, the usage is so light and the outhouse tank is already in place, that it makes sense.

And, while not being directly a shop project, the sign that Lisa had revamped and gotten installed Friday, got a landscaping make over with a mowing, a wood chip walkway and even some flowers with automatic drip irrigation. It is now very inviting as well as informational.

Self explanatory:

Also sort of self explanatory (especially after ninja attack):

Conditioned Air? Yes Please!

The Mani Shop has gotten a little bit cooler recently. With RREAL's expansion last fall, we rearranged the HUG offices in the building. This rearrangement made the greenhouse the main hallway and we found that in the summer heat this made the attached offices extremely uncomfortable. With a large area to cool and high costs of operating a concern, a normal air conditioning unit would not meet the needs of the shop. So, a new air conditioner was designed.

Using a furnace blower as the core, we designed the unit to work with cold water instead of a compressor. Using a radiator coil we inherited from an old grocery store, we are able to transfer the cold via an air exchanger to the blower at a rate of 2.5 gallons per second. We get a second use out of the water, too. We divert the water after it's used to help in watering the living garden on the roof via a sprinkler system. Plus, any additional overflow goes to the pond in front of the Mani Shop.

Here you can see Ryan installing the holes for the duct work.

It also recirculates the air it uses. This lets the unit work less often and keeps the air in the building colder, longer. This is very useful because the AC unity can push up to 2000 cubic feet of air per minute. This recirculation cleans the air and with an activated charcoal filter, it helps keep the air fresh by absorbing odors.

It was given a wooden bracket for a brace and was placed in the mezzanine level for easy access and maintenance.

Here you can see the air ducts and water hose.

The system is working wonderfully, now. In fact, on Friday we had several little girls splashing through the sprinkler system on the roof. Sounds like we got it online just in time.

Solar Conveyor

I am trying out a new way to bring solar heat inside, without using air or water as a medium. From a web search, it doesn't seem like anyone is trying this, except someone patented a solar belt collector way back in 1975!

Here is the inside belt. There are no fans. The belt heats the building through radiation and natural convection.

The powered conveyor roller only consumes 5W, and since the belt gives off almost 500W of heat, the coefficient of performance is almost 100.





The same belt extends outside where it absorbs the sun's energy. The glazing is inexpensive 6mm twin-wall polycarbonate. The belt is made from an EPDM pond liner. It is not as black as it could be, so the overall efficiency of the system is about 40-50%.

The bar has been set for awesome shop signs.

Lisa's masterpiece.
--
Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

Super King Kong Double Whammy Green Machine

The Pine River Dam Park has its playground equipment. On Tuesday, Rainbow Play Systems installed the "Super King Kong Double Whammy Green Machine" at the cleared area north of the Pine River Dam, just off of Barclay Ave.

The installers normally take only several hours to complete installation of normal backyard models. However, this model is so large it took them all day, through rain and blustery wind.
It comes complete with a set of three swings, a climbing wall, picnic table and rocking bench, two slides, and four clubhouses.

It took no time before the playground was swarming with kids.

The unit is so large that it barely fits into the prepared 30x55ft area. There are plans to expand the areas around the slides and buoy ball swing for safety.

If you want to see more information on this monstrosity, visit the Rainbow Play Systems website.

Pine River Dam Park Under Construction

In partnership with Rotary International, HUG has offered to help prepare a site in downtown Pine River for a future playground. The Dam River Park, located just north of the Pine River Dam on Barclay Ave, was in serious need of an overhaul.

First, the derelict exterior fireplace was removed, twelve horseshoe posts were taken out, and around 50 tons of play sand was delivered.

We then took 7 red pines from our property, cut them, stripped them, and hauled them out to the site.

We dug trenches for the logs to be placed in.

Jim measured (twice) and cut (once).

We notched the ends, arraigned the logs into a rectangle and finally secured them so they wouldn't roll.

After the logs were arraigned, we leveled out the sand and raked around the logs to shore up the sand.

The playground equipment will be delivered next week and once installed we will be installing a balance beam from the leftover logs. We should be finished just in time for Frost Free Friday next Friday the 27th.

Solar Panel Carts

Jake's been kept pretty busy over the last several weeks. RREAL has commissioned him to create a specially designed cart to carry the solar panels they create

After improving on a design that his father made

Jake cut the steel...

welded the frame...

and finished the cart.

Four carts were made overall and several of the older models were touched up. They, now have the capability to carry 50-60 solar panels that can reach up to three thousand pounds. Good work, Jake.

Weekends Over!

It was a busy day Monday. Jim #1 and Jim #2 descended on the hoop house to begin restoration and repair of the roof. They found several small tears and were able to simply tape them up, but had to patch up a particularly large one.

They used a reinforced plastic and sewed it up with Jim #1 roasting inside the already cooking greenhouse and Jim #2 laying comfortably outside on a raised pallet.

Inside the shop, Jake drew up designs on a solar panel transfer cart for RREAL. He was able to improve on a design his father drew up and began construction on Monday.

At the SPARC, Mark and Doug began installation of the water system.

Also, instead of simply propping in a fiberglass shower stall, it was decided that a base of tile was preferable. Laying of the tile began today, as well.

Solar Food

Jim's been modifying a design on a solar powered food dehydrator.

The black metal at the base of the machine is set to a 45 degree angle. It collects the sun's energy and turns it into heat, while the polycarbonate window traps the heat in the machine.

Air vents in the base of the unit allow the heated air to rise...

and dehydrate the food on the racks.

Adjust the temperature with these screen vents

Temperatures can reach up to 180 degrees so it is important but easy to monitor the progress with thermometers at the base of the racks and at the top of the unit. With this knowledge, the racks can be jockeyed according to how the food is progressing.

So, with proper placement in the sun, this unit can turn five pounds of freshly picked apples into dehydrated apples in just 9 hours...without the use of electricity!

Jim plans on adding wheels and handpoles to allow for better mobility. There will be more updates on this fascinating project to come.