Today we lifted up the grates in the North end to clean out the gunk left in there over the seasons. But first, we needed to pump out the water sitting in the center. To do that, we needed the water pump that we have downstairs. But when we opened up the manhole cover today, a loud, disturbing noise is what greeted us. It was so loud we had to cover our ears while we searched for the source – and we did. A tiny little air tube had ruptured under the south end – and the sound of the air rushing through a small opening (about a quarter of an inch) with such high pressure is what made such a deafening sound! One quick snip and an o-ring fitting later, it was fixed! Now on to the next task… Emptying the North end pool!
We left the pool draining over the last few days, but this still leaves a large amount of water left in the north end pool to clear out. To do so, we brought out our water pump. Unfortunately, it seems like it hasn’t been used in a very long time because it was missing the hose! A quick look through the Engineering Shop Scrap, and we found the perfect fit! …Only the sections we had were about five feet long… So we had to fashion a longer hose using the best engineering fix of all: Duct Tape! After that, it was just a matter of pumping up the water.
Over the next few days we will be cleaning out the gunk left there with shovels and nets – a large task indeed.
Did you ever realize how hard it is to run a fountain? As the years have gone by, we’ve depended on the senior members of our group to be able to run and understand what is going on. This year was a bit more difficult and took several days to get everything working.
It started off innocently enough. On the north end,we started taking the lights down and checked to make sure that the valves were aligned properly.
Checking the valves
On the north end, we set up the pump to drain the pool. The hoze didn’t exactly want to say on, but we made it anyways.
After the drain, it was shovel, shovel, shovel.
The next task was to clean off the lights in the south end. We noticed that over winter there was a “small” amount of algee growth. It also seemed to accumlate on the lights just a bit. Eric fearlessly cleanred them off with some HCl.
We also took note of some of the damage on the fountain.
Now we could start working on filling the pipes. We set up the bubble tubes, and were greated by drudge.
Yummy!
While the pools filled, Eric wanted them to go faster so he decided to get out the big guns.
We had to wait a while for everything to get ready, so there was plenty of time to relax.
Eventaully the bubble tubes filled with clear water and we got the fountain running for all to enjoy!
Children playing by the fountain
It was only later that we realized that something was wrong. Danielle was walking past the fountain when she noticed that the fountain was only spraying out dribbles. She shut of the pumps and tired to look for what was wrong. We got some people out there to check things out. THe problem appeared to be an open drain. When we had been cleaning the pool, the south end pool drain was opened and never fully shut. We closed the pipe and now everything appears to be running smoothly.
Enjoy the pictures!
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Wrapping up the lights
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Checking the valves
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Setting up the pump
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Lifting the grates
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Shoveling out noth end reservoir
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That’ll hold her down
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Fixed pipe
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Broken bubble tube
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“Tight” connection
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Shoveling drudge
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Safety on the tower
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Algee on lights
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Taking off the lights
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HCl and algee don’t mix
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Fountain damage
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Attaching the pipes for the bubble tubes
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Yummy!
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What’s down there?
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More water!
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Keep on filling
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Having fun filling the fountain
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Taking an nap
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Bubble tubes working
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Big splash
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Children playing by the fountain
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North end filling
Cleaning, Electrical, Kiosk, Maquina Project, North End, Software, South End
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Algae, Bubble Towers, Cleaning, cRIO, Fountain Repairs, Interaction, Mechanical, North End, North End Mister, planning, Repair, replaced, rust, software, South End
Fountains, like small children, can be complicated, temperamental, and require constant care and pampering. The rewards of all this pampering can be great, though negligence can have disastrous results. On the north end of the fountain, one of the clear bubble tubes was filled with green algae. Continue reading 'Clean Me!'»
The College of Engineering Shops purchased a new 3000 psi pressure washer for the fountain to keep things clean and algae free! We tested it out and it was found to be effective at blasting scum. Thanks to Eric, the fountain spillways are no longer a scum slide 
Collateral damage was minimized but not entirely avoidable:
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