The annex is back on top of the pit, and the pump / wiring is done (For the foreseeable future) some time later I’ll implement my computer control & monitoring plan, but for now its a fairly ‘dumb’ setup, the iota DLS-15 charger is just connected to the battery, bolted to a rafter, as is the “brains” which is simply a timer board from amazon, the float triggers the timer, which opens and holds the relay open for 15 seconds. Eventually I’ll setup the intended design (The real brains will track main pump cycle times, battery voltage & load test it, test the pump, as well as multiple pit and area sensors.) but for now this is it, good enough to move forward.

physically replacing the 120V pump with another was fairly straight forward, but it took me a bit between research and then just logistics of fitting it all in there, to install a backup unit with the main pump. Pump pits tend to fill with mud / sediment over time, mine had about 1“ of good in the bottom when I emptied it, after 18 years. The main pump is off the bottom enough to function with a small amount of goo like that, but the 12V backup one is direct bottom suction (down to 1/8 inch draw) which is great for a utility pump, but not so great in this application. I am kinda proud of myself on this, desperate to not make yet -another- run to a store or amazon purchase I managed to remove the base / strainer off the dead sump pump, invert it, trim off some to make it flat, and blamo! instant sump pump stand! :)

The sump pump situation was the bane of my existence for quite a while. Despite that, a friend turned me on to this amazing (well maybe not so amazing but super useful) tool, imagine a giant garden shears for pipe! Well I am sure they have been around for a long time, but it was new to me, and prior to his advice I was really dreading how I would manage to cut the stand pipe in the pit, w/o damaging the pipe or me. Most people might be able to use an oscillating tool, and would, but since I can’t withstand the vibration I was pretty happy to learn about a pipe pruner!

I’ve had to just make a choice, and go with the RPI, apparently my use case isn’t in the wheel house of anyone I know, since I got no real usable strategy comparison. With the delays I am going to have to come up with a placeholder solution till I have the time to dig into the details of how to make all the detectors and what not work with the RPI, but the basic concept is this:

I have to buy a new jack. I know it's silly, but being indecisive on the color.
Which should I buy:

Desperately needed emergency mower upgrade is now complete, the original frame (pic 1) was designed peace-meal, main objective was deck-motor alignment, wheels and tractor mount were patched in later. After I got injured it went from being an experimental mower to being experimental in the same sense as the space shuttle. After over a year of production use, its weaknesses as a prototype design showed (pic2) the frame extensions mount point was a critical weakness, as you can see it bending there. The upgrade (pic3) not only involved a new one piece frame, but also the 8" solid rubber wheels were replaced with 8" pneumatic wheels nearly twice as wide, less ground pressure, easier rolling and less dig-in.

I've not really done updates on my most recent project, but It's done, here's a shot of test fitting things before final assembly, and a shot of it in place in use. Despite being made of badly warped and out of true wood, it turned out -ok- and works acceptably well.

Currently working on:

Spent the bulk of the rest of the day hanging out with my wife while she went through her paperwork from 2021. We had some potatoes in the pantry that were about to become garbage, they had started to sprout a while ago, were getting soft-ish, so we planted them :) plus since I wasn't really physically doing anything most of the day, I did my nails for the first time in like 6 months while I was there for paperwork moral support :)

today was a pretty good day, started off by making up an expansion module for my storinator in CAD, then a bit of restoration of this bathroom fan: