#Thegreatpoolpondconversion - 201220
Saturday, after a 19.5 mile run, not a lot got done.
Hey; we didn’t used to do Saturdays at all!
So while I snoozed, she started cutting in painting the deck border.
The first thing we did Sunday was install the new waterfall pump. We’ll see if we better / longer luck. (No. It failed on Tuesday.)
We did lengthen the hose and stuck the pump down in the deep and further away for a bit more water circulation.
We also 86’d the paint can for a simpler mesh bag.
And we connected the pump direct to one of the panels, bypassing the solar controller because it started smoking last week.
It still needs to be checked out.
So it’s like it was in the beginning.
Then together we went to work on the jasmine bed.
We got all the holes dug and the posts sunk (and they are mostly true.)
We called an audible and changed the design of the wooden filter screen that comes later.
It’ll be much much easier to build and to use.
We won’t get there for a while. Stay tuned for details.
This bed is only 4’ wide instead of 5 1/2, so it’s a lot easier in many ways - like less dirt to shovel.
And we can use 12’ instead of 16’ boards.
Since the ground slopes a bit, next week we have to dig a 6” trench all around to accommodate the lower rails.
Then it’s on to assembly.
After lunch we got the second pump - the new filter pump - working too.
Same as above, connected directly to the second solar panel without the controller.
Now we’re back to full pump strength.
So sun out, pumps work, sun down or clouds, they don’t.
We’ll try to reconnect it all again later to account for sun movement during the day and the 2 panels in parallel etc.
For now, we just want it working. We’ll also be adding some fuses and check valves.
Now that we’ve tested the water wheel and we have an idea where we’re going, we took it out and replaced the straight in discharge pipe.
We also were reminded that it’s hard to test a solar powered system when there’s no sun.
We knew this from the first day but that was so long ago.
The papaya is toast. It buckled just above where we put the supports.
The trunk was soft and mushy - definitely compromised.
No idea when - was it the falling over, the flooding, the manhandling? Anyway it looks like it never had a chance.
We have hundreds and hundreds of pollywogs.
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