Today looks alright as I take in some caffeine but yesterday was a real bitch.........our main water pump broke, really broke.
Castings smashed and gunna be a quite involved welding job that I really don't need right now.
Much smaller backup pump installed.
Damn Murphy !
A little bit that and a little bit "I know I need 12" but all I can get is 10" on the SATA cables. Went to plug it into the MB, the other end broke. So now i have some 18" cables in there until my 12" ones arrive and I can sleeve 'em up.
I remember in my youth, we had a jet pump in the barn freeze up; cracked right up the threading for the inlet nipple. After working the casting shut using a rosebud and the bench vise, I welded it up using 6013 rod on DC reverse. Had to do it about 3/8" at a time; weld a little, heat everything around the weld to relieve the stress, let it cool to "tsssst" hot and then weld another 3/8" or so. Got right up to the edge of the threads with my weld, then stitched back over itself for 1"; again, 3/8" at a time... but when it was done, I assembled with silicone RTV and it held water and drew up against a 22 foot head. For another 15 years.
Amazing what you'll do on a Sunday afternoon when you're faced with schlepping water for a barnfull of animals via 5 gallon buckets.
mnem
"That's what SHE said..." *Ba-Dump-BUMMP-TSSHHT!!!*
Well the busted pump was a locally made one a MacEwans H3 doing 1500gph and exactly why I won't use 5 gallon buckets.
Twas a mess, the pump head (reciprocating type) had busted off the gearing and was flogging back and forth along the pump house floor until it busted the piping and dumped 3000 gals from the full tank 300yds away into the pump house.
Good thing the 3 phase supply and control 'trics and 'tronics are designed and engineered to cope with such an event.
A pic showing the busted off flange pieces on the floor and the (now rusted) breaks from where they used to be.
Got the cast rods needed to fix it and the welding experience required but will probably need to make a small furnace to preheat it.
Backup pump flogging way faithfully in the foreground.