Jul 19-21 - Water. Riding. Water.

The lake water pump was losing its prime while it was pumping, seemingly not getting over 30psi.  Dang.  So ... I decided to take it apart.  I've done that before but this pump has been in service, one way or the other, for 20 years.  Seals, rust etc. conspire to make this difficult but eventually it came apart.  I had a replacement kit from long ago that I used, reassembled, tightened down ... crack.  The pump body cracked.  Oh, btw, what I covered in the last couple of sentences took about 3 hours.  Well ... that was done; not well done.  No more to be done that day (Sunday).

I still needed to get ready for the ride on Monday.  Prepping the bike, I checked the chain and it was done.  With the chain off, checking the rear derailleur, it was done.  Replacing both and setting up the shifting, swapping wheels and mounting tires ... another couple of hours passed by and I got the bike up to the barn, into the car.  Packing my bike clothes etc etc and I was ready.

Up at 3am, I did 15 minutes worth of email, made some take-along breakfast and headed out.  I got to the Barrie Go about 6:50, got ready in a hurry with Marty awaiting me and we left around 7:05.  It turned out to be a beautiful riding day; sun in the south, partly cloudy up by Honey Harbour, added 10km for two bridge detours, back to Barrie Go at 5:37.  The Go station parking at that end was deserted; not much train use during a pandemic.  I changed clothes in the car and headed to Home Depot. 

Even though I'd looked at the pumps online, it still took me some time in the store to make my decision but I did buy a pump, thinking that I'd check with HHBC in Port Loring the next morning.  Heading north, stopping in Parry Sound for gas and Starbucks ... but Starbucks had closed shortly before I got there ... back at the cottage around 9pm.  The day was done.

That was Monday.  On Tuesday, once HBHC opened, I called and talked to Steve.  They had a couple of different jet pumps in stock but I decided to go with the one from HD.  From that point I was plumbing for the rest of the day ....

Pulled the old pump, swapped plumbing components and setting up the new, attached a cord and plug that I made up for the occasion, setup the pump for 230v, did the installation.  I turned on the hose from the house, already setup for priming, and turned on the pump.  It was pretty quiet and gradually built up pressure.  So far so good. I turned off the house water, ran some water from the lake water pump but it built up pressure verrrryyy slowly.  What the heck ?!?

Was there some sort of blockage in the pipe ?  I waded into the lake, first of many times, removed the check valve and could hardly feel the suction.  Odd.  Putting that back on, I turned the house water back on and let pressure build up, turned the pump off and went down and removed the check valve.  I felt all the cold water rush out but no gunk.  Ok, the line is clear.

Have I done something wrong with the electrical connection ?  Perhaps it's running on 120 ?  Pulling the cover off the switch, I checked with my voltmeter and sure enough.  Changing the setting to 120 from 230, turning it on again ... yeah, much louder and pressure building quickly.  Ok, what the heck.  Had I, at some point, switched the old pump to the lower voltage ?

I opened up the breaker box but no, it was wired correctly.  I opened the receptacle, it was ok.  I checked the plug - a special locking plug - and realized that when I had wired, I had automatically connected the ground to the different colored screw but that different colour was due to oxidation.  So I fixed that, switched the pump back to 230v operation, away we go ... yes.

But I couldn't rest on my laurels.  At that point the water filter housing spontaneously snapped where the hose connection is for backwashing, flooding me, the shed etc.  Dang dang dang.  Off to Port Loring, I bought a new one at HHBC.  It was busy and I had to stand outside in a queue.  Of course the housing doesn't sell in parts so I had to buy the entire kit.  Expensive, just to add insult to injury.  Back at the ranch, I replaced the filter housing and we were up and running.  An hour later, I checked and the pressure had dropped 10psi .. so I waded back in, checked the check valve and sure enough there was a small leak.  I rewrapped with teflon tape and solved that problem. 

Lots of fun.  Perhaps I'm good for another 20 years ... but I doubt that.

Onward.