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Forum Index : Other Stuff : Getting Warm Around Here
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raymond thomson Newbie  Joined: 19/09/2013 Location: AustraliaPosts: 36 |
Just back from freezing in Europe I was a bit surprised just how hot it can get here when I saw the storm pipes on the old cottage. Looks as if the water in the pipe hadn't drained out, (dirty filter), and then 'boiled' causing the pipe to buckle. Unfortunately the pipe has to go this way to avoid the windows. 
Just another little job for the DO List, happy days. Raymond |
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
Wow, that's a interesting photo. I don't know what temperature PVC gets soft at, but looks like the heatwave heat and weight of the water was enough to deform it. I wonder how many other people suffered the same problem. Nice frangipani in the back yard too. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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norcold Guru  Joined: 06/02/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 670 |
Looking at that, your floor stumps are say 2.5m to 3m apart and your PVC supports are further apart probably 4m. Horizontal stormwater PVC needs a wee more support (read) every m at least. I`d sack your plumber.  We come from the land downunder. Vic |
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Bryan1 Guru Joined: 22/02/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1344 |
Yea personally with all storm water pipes I put underground so mishaps can't happen, when we bought the farm the pipes were above ground and one guessed it the son playing around broke a pipe and water flooded everywhere. To top it all off it was winter and it rained solid for the next week so we basically had a moat around the house. Bought all new pipe and put the lot underground and aint had a problem since (touch wood). Cheers Bryan |
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| MOBI Guru Joined: 02/12/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 819 |
Plumbers wipe a bit of PVC adhesive to the inside of fittings they want removed and set fire to it for a few seconds - the joints come apart relatively easily. It works better than heating from the outside. (mind you, you can't always get at the inside without pulling things apart - catch 22?) David M. |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
When I was looking at putting the down pipes on my house, my brother suggested I run them under the house. At the time I thought that was weird, as the tank inlet was almost level with the house floor ( high set house ), and it would be difficult to get all the pipes flowing down hill. He said that's how they do it now, and the pipes remain wet, full of water. Personally, I didn't like the idea, it mean screens on the gutters and a lot more work to keep clean. So I ended up running the pipes along the outside walls and down hill all the way to the tank. That way they remain dry. It also means, looking at Raymonds situation, I wont have to worry about heat waves deforming my down pipes. If I were you Raymond, I would extend the pipes and put them underground. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| Bryan1 Guru Joined: 22/02/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1344 |
Hi Glenn, When I moved the house tank to the new pad I made I put in a tee-piece so once in while I can purge all the crap out. I did this not long before xmas and all the leaf crap etc spewed out and I left it running until clear water was coming out. I do have close to a 10 metre head from the gutters to the purge outlet and I have found it is a good way to ensure crap can't build up over time. The proof in the pudding is a clean 5,000 gal tank after 10 years. Regards Bryan |
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| MOBI Guru Joined: 02/12/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 819 |
I have been doing it the same as Bryan for 20 odd years now with no problems. As long as you can stop sunlight getting to the water it should be ok. I had a fibreglass tank in the beginning that was mildly translucent and even with rain water, kept forming algae. Painting it with a few layers of black paint cured that. I use heavy walled poly tanks these days - don't trust FG with drinking water. I think the "flush" fitting is a must. David M. |
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| electrondady1 Senior Member  Joined: 12/02/2009 Location: CanadaPosts: 208 |
I've been hearing about the heat you guys are going through on the news shocking numbers. do people actually work in such heat down there ? a Canadian tennis player at the Australian open fainted from the heat i'm not much help past 30c we do better in the cold. last week it took two days to scrape the snow off my eves 50-60cm deep that's a lot of weight it was -20c -30c for the last two weeks |
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| MOBI Guru Joined: 02/12/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 819 |
Where I come from (Millicent in South Australia) we don't get that much hot weather thankfully but 40degC for a few days is not exactly rare. It is interesting to note that in our state for the duration of the current heatwave, the wind farms were either shut down because they were too hot or little to no wind during the heat of the day. Not much use to anyone. Today, the wind has come up a bit but is still moderate and variable, blowing from the north feels like a blast furnace outside. We have no aircon and it is about 27 inside. Quite pleasant really. David M. |
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| norcold Guru Joined: 06/02/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 670 |
Put up a weather station in 09 keeps data on the PC. Hottest day so far was 5th dec 2012 49.8deg C, Highest heat index 1 mar 2013 75.9 deg C. This summer is a cool one. Current temp outside 32.5, inside Shouse 29.1.wind gusting 23.4 km/h average 13.5 from East. Lovely day should be sweltering as rain builds up doesn`t look promising for a good wet. Have relies from NT who often visit over xmass, not unusual to see them getting around in light cardigans whilst we wear singlets and shorts. It is all relative to your home climate that you are conditioned to I guess. Couldn`t handle your cold electrondady. We come from the land downunder. Vic |
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| paceman Guru Joined: 07/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1329 |
Hard to know what's worse isn't it, extreme hot or extreme cold. I do know my window of comfort shows a distinct positive correlation with age! This is our 4th day of 42+ here in Melbourne, my thermometer in the shade on the verandah is reading 43.2! The evaporative cooling we have is getting us down to 29 inside but it's struggling. We do have a pool which helps us and a few of the neighbours but i'ts a major worry for older people in the inner suburbs, lots of them have no aircon and certainly no pool. We often think of moving back 'home' to Tasmania, but I saw on Tuesday that even the Derwent valley just out of Hobart hit 40. That was in the hop growing area too and might affect Boags and Cascade. If our beer has to go without hops there'll be a riot! Greg |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
Apparently a lot of people are reporting their solar panels and grid tie inverters are shutting down too, or output has dropped considerably. I guess that's possible, solar panel output drops very quickly above 40c, and the temp of the panel is around 20c above ambient, so for a 45c day, the panels would be at 65c plus. That would drop output power about half I think. Plus the inverters may be shutting down or limiting output simply because they are getting to hot to dissipate heat and run efficiently. Lucky for us, a healthy human can function in temperatures well above 50c, depending on humidity, and provided we drink enough water. It was 42c in the shed a couple of weeks ago when we had the heatwave in Queensland. I made a point of drinking a glass of water every 30 minutes, and I was fine, worked away, but didn't exert myself. Other animals you have to watch though, especially your pets. Dogs need to pant pretty hard to keep cool, and its very tiring for them. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| raymond thomson Newbie Joined: 19/09/2013 Location: AustraliaPosts: 36 |
I am with Bryan1 on this one. Underground pipes will never get purged. My Tee piece has a drain at the bottom with a 1.25mm hole so that if there is extended dry the holding water will all drain away, but in periods of intermittent rain the large volume of water is not wasted. My mistake this time was too much travelling (!) and forgetting to clean out the filter so it didn't drain. I will also admit to needing a few more support brackets but it was always a temporary place to live while building the new house, well that's my excuse. 
Raymond. |
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| domwild Guru Joined: 16/12/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 873 |
Am running my downpipes underground and then up again into the tank. Looks better and does not warp, it is only the above-ground sections suffering from UV and they have been painted. Glenn, PV will also shut down during lunch time at max. solar input; the reason: as it needs higher voltage by inverters to push into the grid, once the max. of 250V? has been reached one or more inverters will shut down. Taxation as a means of achieving prosperity is like a man standing inside a bucket trying to lift himself up. Winston Churchill |
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