Midnight Fish Emergencies R Us

[Ulu]

Mojo the murderer was getting savaged in the living room tank, So in an emergency fish rescue I snagged him out and put him in the Brute sump, outdoors.

If this doesn’t make sense, you can look up my Brute sump thread.

Two days ago I heard a random squeal from the condenser fan on our air conditioner; and I know what this means, because I have replaced this fan on several air conditioners over the years.

It was 104F at that moment, And all I could think of was “call the air conditioning service immediately” because they are going to be very busy at this time of year.

Well, amazingly, they were out here this morning and got the fan motor changed for me in just a couple hours! I also have the old motor, which still works, and just needs a new bearing and seal. Man, it’s nice to have spare parts, especially simple things I can change, and my air conditioner is going to be good for years now.

But then, a nightmare!

In the middle of the night I woke up to the squealing noise of a tortured motor. “Oh no! The new one is defective!”

I stumble thru the house blindly, only to find the AC completely off, and the squeal is coming from my outdoor pumps. They are dry! O M G !

I go outside to find water has overflowed from the Brute sump, and run all over the patio and down the drain, and the pump chamber has run dry. The first thing I think is, “there’s there’s a clog in the outflow” so I remove the outflow elbow.

Out swims Mojo the Murderer!


He is healthy enough to dash like mad to the bottom of the sump and hide there.

Anyhow it’s 3 AM and I am watching as the garden hose refills my system. At least 30 gallons of water has been lost.

I’m going to go back to bed now, feeling very good that neither the air conditioner nor my aquarium pumps have burned up in the middle of the night.

And Mojo has narrowly escaped death!

 

[esoxlucius]

I don't know what's more commendable here, your problem fixing antics at daft o'clock in the morning, or the fact you then, bleary eyed, give us a full run down on your predicament.

That's commitment to the cause if ever I saw it, lol.

 

[Ulu]

You must understand the multiple adrenaline jolts generated when you...

...Are awakened suddenly at oh-dark-30
...By the squealing of your brand new $685 fan motor! Oh No!!!
...Only to find your Zebra sucked in a pipe & your yellow Lab dying in 2" of water
...and your biggest pumps are dying, noisily, too
...and by the time you can kill the power, 16 dogs are barking mad at the noise too, including mine.

Then I must sit quietly 30 mins while the sump refills and the whole 4-chamber cascade balances head pressures, without falling asleep, and overfilling the sump so little guppies wash overboard onto the patio.

There was little else to do. I conked out about 4am, sorta.

I did get maybe 4 hours of sleep, but in about 5 segments.
I'd still be a-bed now, but my wife had some estimators coming over this AM.
Thankfully, they are leaving now.

I was planning to change ball joints on my Tacoma today, but I've determined tomorrow would be the superior day.
If I miss just once, with the hammer, because I am sleepy, my typing could cease forever.

 

[Ulu]

OK, this is what you do TEMPORARILLY when the outdoor fan motor quits.
(Do use the appropriate gage extension cord! 12ga x 50' in my case.)

One BIG shop fan and one roll of duct tape later & we had A/C until the new fan was installed 2 days later.



That Patton kicks butt. It is well over 20 years old now, and still my best workshop fan.