[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Thanks diyguy, but still too much tech, too expensive, and does not perform in the simple the simple way of a pilot light. Anything I have to interact with over and above noticing it is not fulfilling the requirement.

What prevents you from accessing the power terminals of the motor? Is the motor submerged? Float switch terminals accessible?

Regards
Sutripta

[adrian]

Need help here

My motorcycles fork caps are stuck. The fork top tube is chrome plated. The only way to open it is to fix it in a bench vice and use a slogging spanner.

Can I use PVC pipe cut into two halfs as a protector of the fork tube when it is used on the vice. My doubt is will it hold the fork in place without slipping ?
Alternate ideas please ?

[Thad E Ginathom]

Nasty problem, adrian. I think a fellow biker needs to help you. It's bad enough with tap fittings and the like, having to wrap up plier jaws. I'd hate to be faced with having to hold fine chrome-plated parts hard enough to apply a lot of force with a heavy hammer.

On the general topic of shifting stuck stuff, I happened to watch this only yesterday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWMwFaCoT1o

Skip 20 minutes.

Watched an even more dramatic video a while back. Same guy taking a huge gear off an enormous shaft with a lot of heat and a much larger scale hydraulic press: over 100 tons pressure required.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

What prevents you from accessing the power terminals of the motor? Is the motor submerged? Float switch terminals accessible?

Yes and No

It is a submerged pump, with built in switch and attached float.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

still too much tech, too expensive, and does not perform in the simple the simple way of a pilot light.

just to entice you some more, here is my power consumption of my Nas and router along with TV, STB and Media player (last three in sleep mode).
Ps. am not promoting the seller, just ordered one of these last night.

[rdst_1]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Yes and No

It is a submerged pump, with built in switch and attached float.

Could you not attach one of those cheap water level controllers. Since the float switch triggers the motor now, use the controller instead of that. Most of those controllers have a light which shows whether the pump is on or not.

[interc00led]

Originally Posted by adrian

Need help here

My motorcycles fork caps are stuck. The fork top tube is chrome plated. The only way to open it is to fix it in a bench vice and use a slogging spanner.

Can I use PVC pipe cut into two halfs as a protector of the fork tube when it is used on the vice. My doubt is will it hold the fork in place without slipping ?
Alternate ideas please ?

Which motorcycle is this ?
1. One of the easiest way to loosen the cap bolt is to remove the fork from the bike and then place an appropriate sized socket on the fork tube cap and HIT the socket with a heavy hammer few times.
2. Place the fork tube back in the triple tree such that it passes only the lower triple tree clamp( about 2-3 inches above the lower clamp).
3. Tighten the clamp and it should hold the tube from spinning. Use a wrench to remove the cap.


Do let me know if this trick works out for you.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Diyguy, I like all that stuff... But it's just not appropriate technology for the job.

An external level controller would have the advantage that I could set the off level higher and have longer cycles. But... The float switch is integral to the pump. I'd have to break seals to take it apart. Electricity, water, rain, wet earth, bare feet, sod's law, etc. Plus much of the charm of the pump is that it is simple and just works.

The pump and pit are out in the rain. Not visible from the house. It is wired back to the cabinet in my previous pic.

[adrian]

Originally Posted by interc00led

Which motorcycle is this ?
1. One of the easiest way to loosen the cap bolt is to remove the fork from the bike and then place an appropriate sized socket on the fork tube cap and HIT the socket with a heavy hammer few times.
2. Place the fork tube back in the triple tree such that it passes only the lower triple tree clamp( about 2-3 inches above the lower clamp).
3. Tighten the clamp and it should hold the tube from spinning. Use a wrench to remove the cap.


Do let me know if this trick works out for you.

The motorcycle is a Royal Enfield Standard with fork covers. So disassembly while on place is impossible. Need something to mimic the role of the triple tree. The fork cap is also of a different shape with two sides oval and wedges cut on two sides only for a 28 mm spanner to bite on.
How ever Royal Enfield has corrected the draw back in models after 2012 by using a hex design on the fork caps.

Although I gave the cap some minor wacks with a spanner, I will try the socket thing as you have advised. Thanks of the help.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by rdst_1

Could you not attach one of those cheap water level controllers. Since the float switch triggers the motor now, use the controller instead of that. Most of those controllers have a light which shows whether the pump is on or not.

Forgot to credit rdst_1 for this idea. We use one of these for our house water, with a double-float system for sump and overhead tank.

Also, I had not read your post properly, and thought the idea was to simply install another switch system in the pit. You are right: the monitor could be mounted remotely where, like the house water system, I can see it.

No internal pump rewiring would be necessary: the built-in switch could just be cable-tied-always-on-upright to the pump.

I failed to see it yesterday, but yes, you have a really good idea there. Thank you. As far as I can see, there is only one potential problem. The pump switch is fairly foolproof. From the wiring diagram, the full voltage appears to be switched inside the float (a little odd maybe?) with no electronics or relays. With the house system, I have had failures.

In short, I like your idea a lot, and thank you very much. It is absolutely filed away for a future potential upgrade to the waste/flood-water pumping system, but for now, and at least for this year and coming NE monsoon hopefully-wet-Chennai season, I am still hoping to find a cheap/simple pilot light. Or just let it going on doing its thing, which it does quite reliably without telling me. Maybe it wouldn't appreciate being micro-managed!

[rdst_1]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Forgot to credit rdst_1 for this idea. We use one of these for our house water, with a double-float system for sump and overhead tank.

Also, I had not read your post properly, and thought the idea was to simply install another switch system in the pit. You are right: the monitor could be mounted remotely where, like the house water system, I can see it.

No internal pump rewiring would be necessary: the built-in switch could just be cable-tied-always-on-upright to the pump.

I failed to see it yesterday, but yes, you have a really good idea there. Thank you. As far as I can see, there is only one potential problem. The pump switch is fairly foolproof. From the wiring diagram, the full voltage appears to be switched inside the float (a little odd maybe?) with no electronics or relays. With the house system, I have had failures.

I was going to write a long post with all the details, but glad you understood it without me having to type it.
I am in the process of setting up these controllers for my borewell pump as well as for ground to overhead tank like you already have and thought that it could easily be customized for your operation.
I was having trouble earlier understanding how to deploy this for my borewell pump as it has a starter but a few videos on Youtube by actual sellers of such systems on Amazon helped out tremendously.

[Holyghost]

Originally Posted by diyguy

just to entice you some more, here is my power consumption of my Nas and router along with TV, STB and Media player (last three in sleep mode).
Ps. am not promoting the seller, just ordered one of these last night.

Does the basic version of Mi Smart Plug shows the power consumption?
Or should we buy the zigbee version along with its home automation gateway?

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

The best thing so far that the internet offers me is this:

Attachment 1668234
AcuAMP ACL1 current indicator.

Whilst it is true that $12 is a lot more than Rs.100 and it might cost a lot more if I source it from USA, it does exactly the required job. I have not yet found an India-sourceable equivalent, not even from RS. Cobbling it together is probably ill-advised, as I do not understand the underlying principles.

That is a CT with an integrated LED - should cost around Rs.350 here.

[Sutripta]

Out of the box solution:- have a small bleed on the output line. Water coming out of it = pump on. You can even collect the water in a measuring pail, calibrate it to find out how long the pump was on!

Regards
Sutripta

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by rdst_1

I was going to write a long post with all the details, but glad you understood it without me having to type it.
I am in the process of setting up these controllers for my borewell pump as well as for ground to overhead tank like you already have and thought that it could easily be customized for your operation.

For a long time we had only single-float systems. We now have a two-float system, so the fresh-water pump will not run if the sump is empty. Hint: I set the level of this so that it shows empty when there is still 2-3 days supply left. We are lucky: we have never been entirely without piped water supply, even though it has sometimes been every few days. But my "emergency level" setting means we won't be caught out with an empty sump. At that point, we would switch the pump manually... and start finding the numbers for tankers!

I was having trouble earlier understanding how to deploy this for my borewell pump as it has a starter but a few videos on Youtube by actual sellers of such systems on Amazon helped out tremendously.

For fresh water, drain water and flood, I have gained quite a lot of experience of pumps electric and petrol-driven. So far, all single phase, and none requiring an external starter: I've wondered about that and what they do. I'd better google!

Originally Posted by Aroy

That is a CT with an integrated LED - should cost around Rs.350 here.

That is (Tools for a DIYer)exactly what I want

Do you have a link, or even a brand?

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Out of the box solution:- have a small bleed on the output line. Water coming out of it = pump on.

I have experience of dry-run sensors on freshwater systems. The water gushing out simply completes a circuit with two small contacts. It is a nice idea, but needs long wires to the end of the output pipe. I have posted pics of the pumps and pit in the past. Maybe sometime I'll try to get a pic that gives an idea of distance.

You can even collect the water in a measuring pail, calibrate it to find out how long the pump was on!

The pump is rated at 31 cu m per hour max flow, and as there is only a few feet head, I would think it achieves most of that (as per spec, 37 at 4m head). There is a reason I call it my Monster Pump! It would just knock a pail flying. In monsoon rains, and even a good thunderstorm, it shifts tens of thousands of litres of water, and, so far, stays ahead of the rain.

But... Yes, I have become a pump collector: I'd love to have one of those diesel-driven gushers with a four-inch output pipe. ...Or one of those massive irrigation pumps that shoots water across a field. Hey, a pump collector can dream!

Ha ha... we started with a 1/2-hp domestic water pump.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I have experience of dry-run sensors on freshwater systems. The water gushing out simply completes a circuit with two small contacts. It is a nice idea, but needs long wires to the end of the output pipe. I have posted pics of the pumps and pit in the past. Maybe sometime I'll try to get a pic that gives an idea of distance. The pump is rated at 31 cu m per hour max flow, and as there is only a few feet head, I would think it achieves most of that (as per spec, 37 at 4m head). There is a reason I call it my Monster Pump! It would just knock a pail flying. In monsoon rains, and even a good thunderstorm, it shifts tens of thousands of litres of water, and, so far, stays ahead of the rain.
.

Thought the pump/ pit was within visual range. So my idea was that a thin stream coming out of the bleed would be visible.

Re: knocking the pail off, don't think so, because

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Out of the box solution:- have a small bleed on the output line. Water coming out of it = pump on. You can even collect the water in a measuring pail, calibrate it to find out how long the pump was on!

Regards
Sutripta