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Flew from Okinawa to Honolulu, rode the jetstream with a 200 knot tailwind, knocked two hours off my paycheck. Flight follower thought he was being a hero. Got into Hono, slept, now at the airport to catch a flight home.
There was a skim of ice on the bottom of the sink. The plumbing under the sink is somewhat exposed to the room temperature. But the supply pipes are in the wall behind drywall, and there is not much insulation there. That area is not well sealed, so outside air can get in. I had the house fully plumbed by my brother and his hoodlum friends around 1991, while I was living at my mother's house, and I had the water shut off. However, the supply pipes for the sink went down through the floor into an unheated crawl space and then back up through the wall framing, so even though I had drained the system, the water was trapped there and froze and split the copper pipes. I don't know how that passed the rough plumbing inspection, but it did. I rerouted that and some of the upstairs plumbing, and I put some heat tape and insulation on the main supply pipes.
After I moved back in, in July 1999, I finished most of the plumbing, but that winter there was a major cold spell and a part of the main supply tube froze and split. It was in a difficult location, but I was able to cut above and below the break, and add a section of 3/4" copper tube using Shark-Bite couplings. I also added some more heat tape and insulation, and things were OK for a while, but I didn't have the kitchen sink installed. When I had major renovations done by a contractor in 2010, I asked him to install more heat tape before installing the sink, but he just wrapped it around the incoming pipe (which already had heat tape and insulation), but not the pipes that needed it. He was supposed to come back and fix the problem, but a dozen excuses later he never did.
My other adjacent house, where I lived from 1977-1984, had plumbing only to a kitchen sink, with a galvanized iron drain pipe that went out through the wall, fully exposed, and then down into the storm drains, that emptied into the road. I was able to see that my tenants had spaghetti because I saw it coming out of the pipe! That drain pipe froze many times, and I think I had to use a torch to heat it up enough to unfreeze it. Later I added an upstairs shower and bathroom sink, with 2" grey water drains into a "French Drain", but I couldn't put in a toilet - I still had to use the outhouse. Didn't get city water until about 1985, and got a septic system installed in 1991, for the house I am now living in. Still not really finished...
Kiwi--The night I was out snowmobiling at -44 F I was quite comfortable. A snowmobile suit is like a set of heavily insulated coveralls covered with windproof nylon. Snowmobile boots are made of 1/2" thick felt with a nylon and rubber outer covering. Gloves aren't warm enough--you wear insulated mitts. A helmet covers your head and has a leather extension on the back that covers the back of your neck. Goggles cover your eyes. At the time I wore a full beard. The only thing exposed is your nose!!! New snowmobiles have electrically heated seats and handlebars.---Brian
Brian Rupnow
Design engineer
Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Kiwi--The night I was out snowmobiling at -44 F I was quite comfortable. A snowmobile suit is like a set of heavily insulated coveralls covered with windproof nylon. Snowmobile boots are made of 1/2" thick felt with a nylon and rubber outer covering. Gloves aren't warm enough--you wear insulated mitts. A helmet covers your head and has a leather extension on the back that covers the back of your neck. Goggles cover your eyes. At the time I wore a full beard. The only thing exposed is your nose!!! New snowmobiles have electrically heated seats and handlebars.---Brian
I have sledded in those temps when I was younger,not any more I still ride only in the mountains What model of Sno Jet was it,they had a very fast sled in the early 70's ThunderJet was a rocket.Jim Adema rode Thunder Jets and dominated many classes that he entered,one Race competing against all the Big Factory Teams ,Lapped the whole works.Sadly he was killed on the track in 75.
I have sledded in those temps when I was younger,not any more I still ride only in the mountains What model of Sno Jet was it,they had a very fast sled in the early 70's ThunderJet was a rocket.Jim Adema rode Thunder Jets and dominated many classes that he entered,one Race competing against all the Big Factory Teams ,Lapped the whole works.Sadly he was killed on the track in 75.
I worked for a full year 1972-1973 in the Yukon at Clinton Creek about 60 miles north of Dawson City and had a 1972 Arctic Cat Lynx with a 292cc Kawasaki engine. It wasn't a powerhouse, maxed out at 45 mph but it sure was a sweet ride though the mountains there.
Sorry about your cat. My old Sno Jet had the 15 HP Hirth engine in it. Great engine but not real fast. The 12.3 HP. Skidoo could beat me on a run down the lake.
Brian Rupnow
Design engineer
Barrie, Ontario, Canada
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