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Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Fri May 28, 2021 7:13 pm
by bill_g
Slim Cognito wrote: ↑Fri May 28, 2021 1:59 pm
The city recently put in our sewer system so we made the big switch from well/septic to city water. You could always tell where the laterals were because of the lush green, taller than the rest of the yard, grass.
(sigh)
That suggests they weren't very deep. OTOH, you always blame any odors on the bayou.
Hey's what's this soft dirt right here, and why is the ground bouncy?
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Fri May 28, 2021 7:46 pm
by Slim Cognito
Not surprised at all. The well wasn't deep enough either.
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Fri May 28, 2021 10:49 pm
by keith
Kate520 wrote: ↑Fri May 28, 2021 3:17 am
Or you could hire a dowser.
One of the ladies in the club suggested that, and she has actually has experience in it... when she was a kid her dad called in a dowser to find water on their property and they did. The dowser then let her and her sister try it, and it worked for her but not her sister.
Trouble is we aren't looking for water and there are pipes in every hole I dig. We are trying to find the water VALVE, which SHOULD be halfway between the two popups (but isn't) without digging up every inch of pipe.
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2021 8:21 am
by keith
FOUND IT!
Its under some kind of plastic cover "they" put over it, but its there. I ain't diggin' no mo'. Its up to the pros now. I'm guessing its just a bad corroded wire connection - but I'm not farting around anymore.
Also in the hole I found their discarded plastic coke bottle top, and the original coil that has already been replaced once (and by the looks of it replumbed as well!) - AND THEY DIDN"T LEAVE A MAP OF HOW TO FIND THE DARN THING FOR THE NEXT POOR SOD THAT HAD TO GO LOOKING FOR IT.
LKG:LHE OEV:UHD:KUYT:OEKIJ:ADHW!!!!! Rasasnap!
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2021 8:29 am
by Slim Cognito
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2021 8:31 am
by RTH10260
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2021 9:43 am
by bill_g
keith wrote: ↑Thu Jun 03, 2021 8:21 am
FOUND IT!
Its under some kind of plastic cover "they" put over it, but its there. I ain't diggin' no mo'. Its up to the pros now. I'm guessing its just a bad corroded wire connection - but I'm not farting around anymore.
Also in the hole I found their discarded plastic coke bottle top, and the original coil that has already been replaced once (and by the looks of it replumbed as well!) - AND THEY DIDN"T LEAVE A MAP OF HOW TO FIND THE DARN THING FOR THE NEXT POOR SOD THAT HAD TO GO LOOKING FOR IT.
LKG:LHE OEV:UHD:KUYT:OEKIJ:ADHW!!!!! Rasasnap!
I swear irrigation guys do not know how to do waterproof buried connections. They don't have any love for gel filled armored cable either. They use plain old twin strand and twist locks with a little tape. Maybe they are looking forward to the future service call when it fails in the next decade.
PS: don't understand your acronym salad.
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2021 10:03 am
by northland10
Still think he should have used an $18K ground-penetrating radar. He could have found Hoffa's body (since the Mythbusters failed with one in the Meadowlands), the lost city of Atlantis, and whatever the heck Geraldo was looking for in that hotel basement. All he got was a bottle cap which probably didn't even have the winning numbers on the inside.
Explosives would have been more fun but potentially counterproductive.
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2021 10:30 am
by keith
bill_g wrote: ↑Thu Jun 03, 2021 9:43 am
I swear irrigation guys do not know how to do waterproof buried connections. They don't have any love for gel filled armored cable either. They use plain old twin strand and twist locks with a little tape. Maybe they are looking forward to the future service call when it fails in the next decade.
PS: don't understand your acronym salad.
Yeah, from the looks of the wires attached to the old solenoid, they were just attached with a bit of a twist and some black electricians tape. Really really lazy.
When I repaired the wires on another solenoid a couple of years ago, I crimped a spade connector onto the wires, then tested it, then squirted "Liquid Tape" onto it, let it dry, then wrapped each wire individually with black tape, then wrapped the two wires together, then piled the bricks back into the hole to leave a protective void around it (ain't no shovel gonna get to 'em), then threw the dirt back in. By Spagetti Monster that join isn't gonna corrode away this century.
Edit: Oh. Wait. Maybe I did use twist locks (I call them "wire nuts" - I guess we're talking the same thing). But I did fill them up with liquid tape though. I am not digging it up to confirm what kind of connector I used.
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2021 10:40 am
by keith
northland10 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 03, 2021 10:03 am
Explosives would have been more fun but potentially counterproductive.
One of the members suggested a back hoe trenching machine.
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2021 10:47 am
by bill_g
keith wrote: ↑Thu Jun 03, 2021 10:30 am
Yeah, from the looks of the wires attached to the old solenoid, they were just attached with a bit of a twist and some black electricians tape. Really really lazy.
When I repaired the wires on another solenoid a couple of years ago, I crimped a spade connector onto the wires, then tested it, then squirted "Liquid Tape" onto it, let it dry, then wrapped each wire individually with black tape, then wrapped the two wires together, then piled the bricks back into the hole to leave a protective void around it (ain't no shovel gonna get to 'em), then threw the dirt back in. By Spagetti Monster that join isn't gonna corrode away this century.
Edit: Oh. Wait. Maybe I did use twist locks (I call them "wire nuts" - I guess we're talking the same thing). But I did fill them up with liquid tape though. I am not digging it up to confirm what kind of connector I used.
There are
gel filled wire nuts intended for buried service. Work good. Last a long time.
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2021 11:08 am
by Tiredretiredlawyer
Hubby loved the Epic Solenoid Search! He worked at Genesis Data Com which installs structured cabling and fiber optic cabling including underground work. He exclaimed, "$250 an hour!!!!! For sprinklers??!!!" He is a former building contractor who thinks green concrete is a beautiful lawn.
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2021 7:41 pm
by keith
Or, you could make any cheap wire nut into a gel filled one.
liquid electrical tape
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2021 8:02 pm
by zekeb
Meh. They make gel-filled butt splices too, also. When I was doing avionics installations we had heat shrinkable butt splices with solder in the center that melted when you hit them with your heat gun.
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 8:29 am
by northland10
zekeb wrote: ↑Thu Jun 03, 2021 8:02 pm
They make gel-filled butt splices too, also.
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 9:29 am
by bill_g
northland10 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 04, 2021 8:29 am
zekeb wrote: ↑Thu Jun 03, 2021 8:02 pm
They make gel-filled butt splices too, also.
The biz is full of double entendres.
My question has always been if we have Jacks, how come we don't have Jills?
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 9:33 am
by Slim Cognito
- change approved.png (39.68 KiB) Viewed 2701 times
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 11:06 am
by zekeb
bill_g wrote: ↑Fri Jun 04, 2021 9:29 am
northland10 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 04, 2021 8:29 am
zekeb wrote: ↑Thu Jun 03, 2021 8:02 pm
They make gel-filled butt splices too, also.
The biz is full of double entendres.
My question has always been if we have Jacks, how come we don't have Jills?
Ideal makes the best bug nuts. I ordered some when I had to change my garage door sensors.
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 11:54 am
by Frater I*I
Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Thu Jun 03, 2021 11:08 am
He is a former building contractor
who thinks green concrete is a beautiful lawn.
Are you saying that he's not correct in this thinking...
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 4:40 pm
by Tiredretiredlawyer
I like green concrete tennis courts. Back in the last century I would have loved my very own tennis court even in my front yard.
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2021 11:22 am
by bill_g
I get a rare day to work on the yard. Except for watering, and a single lawn mowing, everything has been on auto-pilot. I'll walk that back a bit. I have plucked some cucumbers, beans, peas, and herbs. That 120F weather we had a few weeks back killed off the potato tops. I pulled all of them, really soaked the bed, and replanted. Got lots of new potatoes out of that. But overall, the garden didn't really need my help. It was fine being kinda ignored for a month.
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2021 11:48 am
by Azastan
The dahlias are starting to bloom!
This is Granny Norman. The American Dahlia Society describes this flower as B sized, a Laciniated Cactus, light blend.
- Granny Norman July 18 2021.jpg (76.35 KiB) Viewed 2177 times
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:07 pm
by Maybenaut
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:21 pm
by AndyinPA
Dahlias, one of my favorites after gardenias. Unfortunately, living in the woods, I can't grow either.
Re: Gardening and Lawn Maintenance
Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:51 pm
by Phoenix
Granny Norman
Thanks Azastan
nobody told you to look in the archives for the map 