Tales from a Ventilation Lunatic

[GypsyDogs]

But it Would mask his Tinnitis...

[sternwake]

My HEPA filter, so far,long untouched and unmodified, is just a speed controlled 24v Papst fan laid atop a HEPA grade shop vac filter, wrapped in activated charcoal, and placed on a flat surface to seal the underside.

The charcoal filter is just binder clipped somewhat tightly, to hold Papst fan in place atop the filter.  It is top heavy.  The papst fan can move, and the seal between it, and top of the restrictive HEPA filter cylinder is lost and then it filters very little, with the external wrap of charcoal filter loading up right at base of Papst fan.

   I brought it into my workshop  to improve attachment/sealing method, and every other project then took precedence, and I sleep without the additional filtration, and do miss it.

With so much air exchange going on this time of year, with so many intake and exhaust fans going at various speeds, it almost seems a waste to be filtering air destined for quick removal, but perhaps the Exhaust fans need less frequent cleaning. or just have less build up between cleanings.

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My 3 fan intake shroud has been getting lots of use.

During making my coffee, I make my bed, turn on all three fans to high, then hook my fitted mattress top sheet over the edges of the fan bodies, plug the sides with my pillows, and all the bedding levitates off the bed a few inches,  I can grab the bedding in the middle and lift it a higher so it levitates 12+ inches in center, then turn the 100 watts or so of fans down just enough to keep it floating, usually in the 35 to 55 watt range. 

There are 5 bedding layers levitating. Bottom sheet. top sheet, one light Mexican blanket, one heavy one, and one large fluffy comforter.  I can unzip the denim mattress cover and hook this over the fans  corners, to make it 6.
 
 Upon  first levitation,  it smells of stale air, and dog and human bodies, but this fades relatively quickly to nothing, and then after 30 minutes or so of levitating, it actually starts smelling like my fabric detergent, at which point, if I remember, I unhook the bedding from fans and turn the fans way down as needed.

  This fan wattage consumption at levitating speeds can totally stop or reverse solar only battery charging.  Easiest is just full fan speed and dang the charging.  Or just plug in and let meanwell hold float no matter the load. 

Climbing into the bed that night, is almost as good as climbing into it right after  installingh freshly laundered sheets and bedding.
  This effort then becomes more satisfying to the point I am like: 'how do people just sleep in stale un ventilated bedding?'  

Troglodytes!

Then shake my head at the hypocrisy.

This time of year I only use the one  top sheet and lightweight Mexican blanket.  The two other blankets are rolled up the mattress pulled away from back wall and the blankets stuffed in there, and is Where Fiona sleeps.  It can get too hot for her and she will go to the bare floor on occasion.  Levitating only the sheets and light blanket requires only the Papst fan at  about 6 to 8 watts worth.

I recently got a New gel 'cooling mat' for Fiona.  I've been laying this atop half her portion of the bed, and she will often be 4 paws high to the sky upon it, not once needing to get up and shake, and relocate, or at least have the frequency of this  behavior reduced.

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The 3 fan intake shroud consists of the Papst fan and 140mm 24v delta and the 120mm 12v delta.  The 120mm fan is on its own sped controller.  It recently started to have issues controlling that speed at lower speeds.  This difficulty correllated with the humidity and time of day, worst first thing when tuned on in the morning.  Usually I only run the Papst fan overnight. 

So out came the shroud, and the potentiometer body was rusted. 

   
 I had covered the main opening of the POT, with amazing goop, but did not do the perimeter of it.  The few times it rained lightly, i did not bother closing the slider window, had allowed the pot body to get wet and rust and some got inside on the conductive surfaces. Some Caig Deoxit F5 Fader lube, did nothing to improve the function.   I cut it off and replaced it.

The particular V bucker/ speed controller apparently uses a 50K ohm pot.  I had a tiny 10K ohm pot to set minimum fan speed with jewelers screwdriver, inline with a 20K finger twist pot for the full speed range.  I had no more 20k ohm pots and using a 10K ohm one does not allow me the full speed range of this fan anymore. 

 I've set it to allow full speed. But dialing the minimum potential fan speed would require the jeweler's screwdriver, and a bunch of cursing, with shroud installed.  So far this slight loss of function is inconsequential, and acquiring new 20K ohm pots is not a priority.

While on the workbench I started my usual Qtip blade dipped in alcohol and  impeller and fan body cleaning, then realized how annoyingly time consuming and wasteful this is, and got my C clip pliers. I removed the C clips, not losing one of them as they like to go flying.  Fan cleaning with impeller removed is a million times easier and more effective.

  I saw that I did not cover the wires at circuit board before employing the 120mm fan, whenever that was, and the red wire had the beginnings of green corrossion at the juncture.  This Delta fan is a bit different from most others in that the wires attach the underside of the circuit board, and impeller removal is required to reach that junction, as opposed to lifting a sticker on many other fans.

This corrosion at this location has been the failure mode of almost every failed fan I've employed since the mid 00's.
I'd urge readers again to address this area if they make use of computer fans.

Before returning impellers, the fan bodies and the impellers and shroud body got some Meguire's cleaning wax applied, which makes it all slippery, and perhaps the impellers will not build up as much gunk as quickly and perhaps be easier to clean the next time.
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The workshop had a big shady tree growing up against one corner of the slab it rests upon. 
This tree was lifting the corner of the slab, and had hundreds of Lbs of branches and dead leaves on its roof.
The workshop was built long ago, by incompetent carpenters who were also apparently severely limited by funds.  2x4's at 2 foot spacing consists of the roof structure.  The termites better keep holding hands, but I sistered up the worst ones.

I slowly cut down the tree and the roof lost its shade.
The inside of the workshop, as expected, got a LOT hotter inside from noon to late afternoon. 
The one existing 20 inch box fan, at the top of the back door exhausting, got a 20 inch wide cardboard rectangular duct so it could suck hottest air from the ceiling 4 feet above.  Improvement, but not nearly as much as hoped.

This workshop recently got stuffed with the contents of my long despised 5x10 storage unit.  One wall by the lower end of ceiling, got racks to hold all my surfboards up out of the way.
  I don't want these baking in 130f heat, and I don't want to run 115vac box fan when not using workshop, as even on lowest speed it is well over 100 watts consumption.

I am not allowed to touch the roof structure or shingles, or cut holes in the siding.
 I decided to exhaust the  single plane angled roof at highest point, by knocking outwards,  an old rotted 2x4 which held the roof 2x4s at ~ 24 inch centers..  I added a metal grate to keep birds from being able to fly in.  Just this passive vent made a difference in heat.

I made another cardboard shroud, for one 120mm fan and one 140mm fan to exhaust through this 3 inch tall ~ 20 inch wide opening.  
My box of unused fans had a 3K rpm 140mm industrial IPPC Noctua fan warranty replacement, that I never employed and cant remember if I ever even tested it.  But when I wired everything up, the Noctua fan no workee.
The 120mm fan is an Arctic cool 74cfm fan that draws 0.24 amps.  Quiet, but 74cfm for 0.24 amps is not very efficient considering one Noctua NF-f12 consumes 0.05 amps for 53cfm and has a higher static pressure rating.

My other 140 MM fans were hooked together, speed controlled separately used as a portable dust blower, and the one 'fake' delta, with its 7 amp rating, and low angled blades, first got rebalanced, and then attached to the new cardboard roof shroud.

I installed the new shroud in intended destination up later afternoon on a sunny day, and was less than impressed with the temperature decrease along the roof.  The 140mm fan is switched separately and I just run the 120mm fan 24/7.

The next day when I opened the workshop, used to it already being warmer than ambient at that time of day, was instead several degrees cooler. 

 A full sunny day, and the 140mm fan on low in parallel with 120mm fan, and the whole workshop stayed much cooler through the worst of it.  Yeehaw. 

 The previous day the roof had absorbed so much heat up to that point, that it just radiated it once I installed the fans making them seem to be ineffective, but with the fans running as the roof heated in afternoon, the fans kept it from getting so hot that it radiated heat like standing under a thin tarp in the tropics.

My clamp papst fan is kept near the door and clamped to blow from low across workbench, where I stand.  When I leave tit gets closed up nd everything but the 120mm 0.24 amp fan get turned off, and opening the door late afternoon, it is hot inside still, but not nearly as hot as before I installed the new exhaust shroud.

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The Acrylic shroud in my passenger door window got a tune up/ cleaning as well. It has been issue free, and in constant use.
The exhaust fan gets much dirtier than the intake.  Fiona fur and dander stuck to both fingergrilles blades and body.  The intake fan does get caked too, but much less so than the exhaust and no Fiona Fur.

I am not bothering with Q tips anymore, but just removing fans  from shroud, and impellers from fans for easier faster more effective cleaning.  

 With the black mirror cling on tint on that window, and the smartshield and or reflectix in other front windows, Fiona cannot be seen, and I can easily keep the interior as cool or cooler than ambient while I run errands.

Due to huge numbers of etiquette free, oblivious, highly entitled adult learners who make the lineup a very dangerous place, and the general overcrowding of beaches/parking lots, I basically have quit surfing, but miss it greatly.

[rvpopeye]

I was wondering what happened to that ventilation experimentation guy .....
New book , " 101 ways to use computer fans " might be in the future ?
New phrase " Cool as a computer "
OK , I just woke up (for the second time ! yes, it does rain that loud !)

I AM surprised you just replaced the scungy pot , ??? You must have been overheating ! skuh kuh kuh kuh

And will be expecting a pic of the upside down poochicle next time she performs that gravity trick pleeeeze.

Sorry about the beach crowding , perhaps some drone footage of a great white below the surf would help? LOL...

[sternwake]

With all the drones now, there are plenty of shots of juvenile great whites checking out swimmers/ surfers, who are completely oblivious as to their presence. I only think they are effective at reducing crowds when they actually taste the hairless apes floundering in their waters.

The safety in numbers thing likely causes the concentration at the surfbreaks. I swear those that grew up here, can only determine wave quality by the crowdsize. If it is uncrowded, then it must not be very good, but if it is, then get out there and sit as close as possible to whomever is catching the most waves, and get in their way.

Contempt of humanity rising..........
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While I often think about ways to further improve my van's air exchange, I've already exceeded, by far, the ability to keep the interior at or below ambient temps, and my potentiometers rarely are turned to high to achieve that. it is nice having that extra power though.

Last night Fiona got up and made it known she was not comfortable by doing the circle thing and trying to dig up the covers. I got up and placed her Bed atop her section of my Bed, opposite of the divider 4 foot long body pillow, and she quickly climbed in and sighed contentedly.

[rvpopeye]

She told me once that she had a plan to stay cool and just needed to make you think it was your idea !

Smart poochicle..probably alien.

There was a lady that got a too close call with a Grt White here last summer.
The authorities decided her black suit made her look too much like a seal..pass it on.............

[Scott7022]

By your writing I can feel your passion and love of the surf and surfing. Your true talent. Even though, I suspect you’d like that to be engineering.

One thing that always confuses me about great whites and sharks in general is there “taste bites.” I’ve dove in many oceans and been cheese sandwich distance from Orcas at Robson Byte, before it was protected. Played slap a sea lion or Tag in your neck of the woods in kelp forests and while Sea Lions will bite and pull fins I am certain they know we don’t have bleedy parts in them.

But sharks...I am not a scared Jaws type. But yeah they are always like the drunk guy at a party with a shotgun and a ninja sword. Then they have the bite taste thing. “Can I eat this?” While beautiful and I do understand the personal irony here, they seem a little too focused on survival.

I once grabbed some abalone and had them in my mesh bag. A large sea otter swam up in front of me and stopped. Looked me right in the eye and then looked down at my abalone before getting closer and looking me right in the eye, again. The message was clear, and I gave him one. S/He took it, gently, and sped off.

Shark. What is it? Bite, push, shake. Ah long pig in rubber.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sternwake]

https://imgur.com/gallery/ws7Snv8#WvP9DRb

Surfers have been complaining of crowds since before 'gidget', but it combine todays numbers with the extremely entitled arrogant and apparently proudly ignorant mindset of of those numbers and it is intolerable.

In a lineup with capable surfers, there is always the competition, but the general etiquette is respected, and most who get in the way, tried really hard to get out of the way and not ruin the others ride or reduce its potential It happens, apologies are appreciated.
'Sorry I messed up that wave for you'

That is no longer true as beginners cant possibly judge how to get out of the way, or paddle fast enough to accomplish that, even if they had an interest in doing so, which they do not. They don't even seem to realize the danger they put themselves and others in. It's really a shitshow.

And the thing is, they crowd to the best spots, when they do not even have the ability to take advantage of the better formed waves. They could literally flounder around anywhere and accomplish exactly the same amount of 'surfing', it does not have to be at the spot with the best formed waves.

When the lineup is filled with beginners, the capable surfers just get pissed off, and start disregarding etiquette, just trying to get their fill, and rules/etiquette be damned.

I almost wish the Juvenile great whites would take more exploratory bites, but then there is a typical overreaction of closing all the beaches within 20 miles, and news crews filling all the parking lots, and clusters of fools wanting to show how many different ways they can exclaim: 'Oh my god!!!! Lookit meeeeeee!!!!'

Fvcking intolerable.



Makes me wish for an army of drunk guys with shotguns and ninja swords would prowl the parking lots.

[Blacktank]

always wondered that instead of black wet/dry suits that look like seals that you add red or yellow strips like the natural defense that some fish have would deter shark attacks

[rvpopeye]

The lady here was swimming with her daughter that had a regular brightly colored suit ....the thing is , who really knows why the shark picked mom instead? Their home was on a small cove on one of the islands poking out into deep waters.
Lots of schoolies to munch on instead ,,,,sharky is maybe like us ? want to catch the big one.
No beaches were closed and life goes on here , another lost to the sea.....

[sternwake]

Some Aussies call a bright yellow bottom of such surfboards, Yum Yum Yellow. When Mick Fanning had a shark bit his leash and try and pull him under, his board had a yellow bottom, but they called it yum yum yellow before that occurred.

They have been puttting tiger/ Zebra stripes on boards as a visual shark deterrent.

I saw, last night, a show on PBS about how Elephants can actually communicate at frequencies humans cannot hear, through their foot pads.

Sharks likely have perceptions we remain completely ignorant of.