The simplest things are often the hardest to achieve

Here’s the situation report. After three decades of successful pumping of natural spring water through an 1879 design hydraulic RAM (the 2002 version), I decided to product improve the above ground pipes by installing and burying new pipes albeit connected to the same RAM. In the previous setup, when things got cold and froze the uphill pipe from the RAM, we pumped electric in a parallel pipe when thing where above freezing. Since all pipes self drained, the problem of ice fracturing pipes was never a real problem.

So now, having made all the improvements, nothing works with the RAM. After 3 and ½ hours today I got it pumping again, and in the bitter cold, which was above freezing, I was an unhappy camper. Nothing works means the RAM is pumping slower than the springs that feed it, so it should be continuous, which of course it was for months before the “improvement”.

The normal “trial and observe” effort has been run to exhaustion. The whole “new setup” pumped successfully for two weeks before it quit. Quitting meant the RAM was pumping before, but now water does not come out of the pipes that it used to come out of. Obviously something changed. I’m beginning to regret not spending more time with fluid mech.

First the good news. The Hemlocks can pump electric so there is no water problem, as in flush, clean, and wash. The bad news is the problem aforementioned.

The latest guess is there is an air lock in the newly installed pipe that finally asserted itself as in preventing the RAM from pumping to the water tank due to poor winter pumping pressure. After all, the horizontal distance is around 840 feet, and the vertical distance is guessed at around 60 feet. I will provide an update after we do our drill to blow out the potential air lock.

The bad news. Right now Mother Nature is winning.