WaterAndPowerTroubleshooting

Water and Power Troubleshooting

No Power If you find that there is no power at an outlet, especially if it had power just a moment ago, A good first check is to see if the generator is running. If it has shut down, see the next section. If it is running, proceed in this section.

First check to see if you are connected to a power strip. These often have switches and circuit breakers. Have a device like a light or an electric drill that you can plug into each socket as you trace the extension cord back. Follow the extension cord back towards its source. Often extension cords are chained through multiple triple taps and someone will unplug something because they ran out of space at that junction. If you get all the way to the break-out box and there is still no power, check the breakers on the break-out box. If those breakers are OK, there are breakers on the generator itself. If any of these breakers are tripped, you must inform David or someone on the electrical staff.

Generator Shutdown If you find that the generator has shut down on its own, first check the temperature gauge on the top of the box. The box temperature should not be higher than 40°F above ambient. Next check that there is fuel in the tank. Use the hand bulb to pressurize the fuel line and restart by reaching in the access hole and depressing the rocker switch. If the Genny starts, hang around for a few minutes to make sure it doesn't stumble. You may need to squeeze the fuel bulb a bit more. Also check that the cooling fan is running. If the cooling fan is not running check to see that the breaker on that circuit is not tripped.

Tripped Breakers If the breakers on the break-out box or on the face of the generator have been tripped, we need to find the cause for the trip. These are the last failsafes for our power system and we can't ignore the warnings they are providing. If we know that the reason for the tripped breaker was a bone-head short circuit fine, but if it was due to an overload then we need to balance the loads or reduce usage in general.

The first place to start is with the meters on either side of the break-out panel. These present voltage and current for each of the circuits. The currents should be under 25 amps on each leg and each leg should be within 25% of each other if operating at higher amperages. If this is during the heat of the day and there is significant cooling happening, this is an excellent time to rethink the circuits. The largest loads are the start-ups of the air conditioners like the one in the vegetable cool box. If 2 A/C's are attempting to start at the same time, it could easily overwhelm a circuit.

If you think that you know the cause for the overload, feel free to take some corrective action but be sure to tell someone on the electrical team what you have done and what you observed. IF you do not feel comfortable with that decision, just inform the electrical team.

No Water Flowing The first question here is "are you referring to the foot pumps or the faucets at the shower?

Footpumps

If you are trying to get water at one of the sinks with the foot pump and there is some back pressure on the pump lever, that means that someone has turned the valve off at the sink faucet. Open the valve and it should operate normally. If the valve is open and the foot pump actuates normally but no water flows, check that the pump inlet hose is in the reservoir bucket. If it is in place but the bucket is empty, check that the main pump is operational and that there is water in the large tank. See the next section. If there is water in the reservoir and the pump is working as it should, there is a problem with the float valve in the reservoir that feeds the float pump. Try shaking the reservoir or opening the lid and jostling the blue float on the underside of the unit.

Shower Faucet.

If there is no water when you open the faucet at the shower, check to see that there is water in the tank that serves that line. If the tank is empty unplug that pump so that it doesn't overheat. Notify someone on the plumbing crew. If the tank is full check to see that the pump is plugged in and operational. It should start automatically when the faucet is opened. You may also want to check the hose from the pump to the faucet to see that it is not kinked or that a car has not parked on it. If all these things check out. Notify someone on the plumbing crew.

Greywater backed up If you mean that the greywater basin below the sink or shower is overfull, then this is the correct section. If you mean that the large 250 gallon greywater tank behind the trailer is overfull, then refer to the next section.

The greywater collection bins are emptied with a combination of sump pump and float switch. The first thing to try is bypassing the float switch by plugging the pump directly into the power source. If it still does not pump, check to make sure there is power at the source by plugging in something like a blender to check it. If the pump doesn't operate, check that the float switch is in an upright orientation and plug it back into the circuit. If it still will not pump with the switch, swap it out for a switch known to be good.

If the pump operates but the water level does not go down, check for obstructions in the hose or debris plugging the pump inlet.

We ran out of Greywater Capacity If you are noticing that the greywater tank is full and overflowing, take immediate action to stop the flow of greywater into the tank. Go to each of the three grey water pumps and unplug them. There is one at the shower, the kitchen and the hand wash station. Each of these pumps has a reservoir that can accumulate some greywater until a strategy can be created to deal with the problem.

In years where our greywater tank is located adjacent to a Camp Contact tank, just transfer our hose to their tank. Often there is just a gap of a few hours until the tanks will be pumped.

If this solution is unavailable to us, consider using the 30' trailer as a temporary reservoir. The 30' trailer has a grey and a black water tank with a combined capacity of about 55 gallons. It is possible to take the pump from the shower and direct the outlet hose into the greywater fill port on the side of the trailer. Make sure that there is a collection basin underneath it to catch what falls when it over fills. There may also be a wye valve to direct the flow to the other tank. These details will be amended once the trailer is modified. Make sure the plumbing crew is made aware of this as these tanks will need to be emptied when the greywater tank is dumped. Once the 100 gallons has been removed from the tank, a decision can be made to modify water usage depending upon when the next dump is scheduled.

Water Reservoir is Leaking If you notice a leak around one of the 5 gallon fresh water reservoirs at the side of the kitchen, immediately turn off the supply valve to the reservoir at the pump. The problem may be that the float valve is sticking and the reservoir is completely full to the point of flowing over the top. Remove the reservoir lid and jostle the blue float on the underside of the valve. turn the water on again and ascertain that lifting the float completely stops the flow of water. If it does not, you may need to rebuild or replace the valve. Get the plumbing crew involved.

If the reservoir is not over-full, the leak is probably from the hose connection. Disconnect and check the selling gasket. There are more gaskets in the plumbing supply box.

Refrigerators are not Cold The refrigerators have been amazingly reliable. If ever there are any problems, they show up during build week when the refrigerator will not get cold initially. If the refrigerator has been cold and now is not. Check in the following order.

Does the refrigerator have power. Usually there is an interior light. Does it come on when you open the door?
Is the door sealing correctly? Over filling the refer can keep the door ajar
Was it just filled with warm items from dinner leftovers or a recent delivery?
Is there too much stuff in the refer around the air vents? Proper airflow is needed or cold air will not fall out of the freezer
Is the freezer cold? It may be that the temperature controls need to be adjusted.

Vegetable Coolbox is too Warm The dial thermometer in the cool box allows you to constantly monitor its temperature. Ideally the box should be 45°F. Sometimes in the early morning it will be as low as 33°, in the afternoon it may get to 50° for awhile. It is always best to open it in the mornings to stage the produce for the day. It makes it easier to regain the necessary chill prior to the heat of the day.

If you notice that the coolbox has a temperature markedly or unexpectedly outside these ranges, it is best to investigate. If it is too cool, just unplug one of the A/C units for a few hours. Remember to plug it in again later. If the lettuce freezes it will be destroyed. If it is too hot, check in the following order

Is the A/C unit operational? At elevated temperatures, it should definitely be running. Is there power at the plug? Is the selector knob inside switched to high cool?
Is there adequate airflow in the box? There needs to open space in front of the A/C and a channel down the center for airflow.
Is the lid fitting properly? There should be no significant gaps around the perimeter.
Is there gasketing material around the A/C unit? there is a gap that needs filling there. The filler sometimes falls out.
If you are still baffled, contact someone on the electrical crew

Generator is overheating The generator has a sound enclosure. There is a temperature sensor that monitors the temperature inside the enclosure. The temp side the enclosure should never be more than 40°F higher than the temp outside the enclosure. If you happen to notice that the temp is too high, check the following:

Is the fan operating? If not check the breakers on the generator, one of them may have tripped. If so, determine the cause so that it doesn't happen again
The exhaust hose may have become dislodged. Most of the heat comes from the exhaust. That is the main reason that it is piped outside the enclosure. Sometimes the exhaust hose burns through. In that case cut off some bad hose and re-attach.
Something else may be stifling air flow. Check that there is clear gaps under the baffles

We Ran out of Fresh Water If the foot pump that you are using is not working, Check the supply basin that services it. If it is empty, check the faucet near the showers for water pressure. If there is no water at the faucet, check the pump at the main manifold coming from the bladder over at Camp Contact. Often the power gets switched off over there and needs to be corrected. Let someone know that there is a problem,

If the water in the basin servicing your foot pump is full, check that the faucet lever is in the "on" position. The faucet valves are not used in this application. If the footpump is just pumping air, the inlet hose may have climbed out of the water supply. Reposition it in the reservoir.

The Stove Won't put out Enough Heat The regulators in the stoves have a failsafe to prevent them from free flowing gas if there is break in the line. If you install a new cylinder with one of the burner valves open, this failsafe will be triggered. If this occurs, turn off all the burner valves. Turn off the cylinder valve. Disconnect and reconnect the regulator. Turn on the cylinder valve. Turn on the burner valve and relight. This should fix the problem. If it does not, try a few more times. If it still doesn't work, try a different cylinder.