Thursday, December 3, 2009 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
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Wiring and water pump under the sink, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM, December 3, 2009
Mixing water and electricity
I guess the scenario you see in the picture above is ok if the water pump doesn't leak too long but, as I said yesterday, the idea of strapping wiring to the floor in company with one of these notoriously prone to leaks water pumps doesn't seem like a great idea to me. If I can come up with an easily implemented alternative to this arrangement I'll do something. It might be easier to move the pump, maybe into the open area under the toilet in the bathroom, than to move the wiring - but that still leaves the wiring vulnerable to other plumbing leaks in a compartment not often accessed. It might be better if I can elevate the wiring off the floor - even a half inch would do - just enough so water can drain away from the wires.
[later] On second thought, sitting here looking at that picture, it occurs to me the wires themselves should be insulated with waterproof jackets and I might be over-reacting. Maybe all I need to do is be sure any connections are elevated and in the picture it looks like they already are.
The pump has shipped and I should have it Monday. That gives me the weekend to mull this over. In the mean time the leakage is minimal if I turn the pump off between uses and open a faucet to relieve the pressure in the system.
Night camp
Site 37 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
- Verizon cell phone service - Access is via Extended Network, roaming
- No Verizon EVDO service - access is via the Extended Network and service varies with many drop-outs.
- See a list of the nights I've camped at Brantley Lake State Park
- Locate Brantley Lake State Park on my Night Camps map
- Go to Brantley Lake State Park website
- Locate services on my Resources map
- Check the weather here
The Heliograph in the Apache Wars
"The mountains and the sun...were made his allies, the eyes of his command, and the carriers of swift messages. By a system of heliograph signals, communications were sent with almost incredible swiftness; in one instance a message traveled seven hundred miles in four hours. The messages, flashed by mirrors from peak to peak of the mountains, disheartened the Indians as they crept stealthily or rode swiftly through the valleys, assuring them that all their arts and craft had not availed to conceal their trails, that troops were pursuing them and others awaiting them. The telescopes of the Signal Corps, who garrisoned the rudely built but impregnable works on the mountains, permitted no movement by day, no cloud of dust even in the valleys below to escape attention. Little wonder that the Indians thought that the powers of the unseen world were confederated against them."