Sump Pump

I have been reusing the air conditioner condensate to fill my pond. I started with a 5 gallon bucket that I had Dad carry because it weighed 40 lbs. Then I moved to a system with a large plastic bin, which I emptied with the smaller bucket. I added a pump to transfer the water. Then I added a hose, so that I could send the water directly to the pond. Finally, I added a float switch to turn the pump on automatically. Then Dad decided to have a smaller tub, sunk into the ground. So now it's a square flowerpot, smaller than 5 gallons, right under the air conditioner condensate pipe.

It collects water drop by drop until it's full, then the pump turns on and it empties the water to the pond.

Arrow 1- water from condensate pump. Arrow 2- pond recirculation.

I also added a mechanical timer and a night light in parallel with the power supply for the pump, so I can measure how long the pump has been on total and easily see if the pump is running by glancing into the garage.

Homemade Lightbulb

I made a lightbulb out of the base from a dead CFL and a neon indicator. It is a large version of this Neon Indicator Lamp I saw on eBay.

Float Switch

Now that it is air conditioning season once again, I decided to set up my condensate system. I used a tub and a pump. Last year, I had a manual system. Every time the tub was full, I had to plug in the pump, run to the tub, and watch to see if the tub was empty. Then, when it was empty, I had to run back to unplug it. This year, I've added a float switch so that the pump turns on automatically when the bucket is full and off when it is empty. I got this float switch from Amazon.com. This switch contains a stainless steel ball and a Honeywell microswitch. It is rated at 13 amps at 120 volts AC. The color of the switch could make it dangerous because it looks like a toy and a little kid might fall into the tub trying to reach it. The bricks are to support the switch and contain any spray where the pump connects to the hose. They also manage the excess pump cord. This system is designed to refill my pond by reclaiming condensate from the air conditioner. This should keep my fish alive when it gets to be very hot in the summer.  

THE IMAGE ABOVE IS FROM AMAZON.COM

plug stack

Here is a link to the website of the company that made the switch:
https://www.sumpalarm.com/


Amazon link

Picture of switch and mounting hardware.
THE IMAGE ABOVE IS FROM AMAZON.COM

Austin Maker Faire 2016 and Mom's Fractals

Griffin really likes Maker Faires, whether they are large or small. He attended the San Antonio Mini Maker Faire on March 26th. He has had a booth at several Austin Maker Faires starting in 2008, including one last year. But this year, it's Mom's turn to pick the project. Mom decided to do a presentation on fractal art. Griffin is a member of a Fractal Fun Challenge group on Facebook, along with his mom and grandmother. Although he enjoys making fractal movies, animated gifs and 3D prints with Mom, he'd really rather play Minecraft instead.

Here's a link to Mom's blog with more info on her fractal art: tcolello.blogspot.com/