SWH project part 13 - plumbing

Pipe-laying in the trench.  Since it was dug a few weeks ago
up to 3 feet of vegetation has sprung up along its edges.

Every joint requires you to cut 2 screw threads with this die, which is no mean
feat even when you're not trying to do it in the trench.

Cold line, sensor cable conduit, hot line (which needs some
attention with the tape...)

Coiling the heat exchangers.  Strangely, they coiled beautifully
 in this direction, but when we started trying to bend the ends
 upwards, it was threatening to kink at every opportunity.

So, how complicated can we make this?

Copper coils successfully installed, and due a little de-kinking with the pliers.

Exchangers connected up.  Incidentally, you should never
do what's been done here and connect the copper directly
to the galvanised pipe.  I predict corrosion before too long,
but there's only so many times you can tell your boss "We
should REALLY do it a different way".

Still, at least all the parts likely to suffer from galvanic
corrosion are cheap, on the outside, and easily replaceable.

This was a good bit. We're using that big black tank to provide
 the pressure to run the water to and from the SWH, but when
we came to disconnect it so that we could alter the pipework,
 we discovered that no one had thought to put a stop valve on
 the outlet.  Which means you can't work on the pipes down-
stream without 500 gallons of water coming out.  This is what
we call a DESIGN FLAW.  Solution:  just start unscrewing
the pipes (fast!), working backwards from the nearest union,
then quickly screw on a new valve, all the while being sprayed
by this forceful jet of water.  Refreshing on a hot day, mind
(we're up in the mid-to-high 30s these days).

We have water!

Data logger up and running.  Had a few short circuit problems to sort out when
I discovered a couple of the sensors weren't as waterproof as I might have liked.

I'm still in love with the colours of frazzled copper.

SWH project part 12 - welding*

*or in actual fact, brazing.  But everyone here seemed to call it welding...

This has been a busy week, which may or may not have had anything to do with Mr P's out-of-the-blue announcement the other week that "I think we should have it up and running by the 15th". Perhaps a little over-optimistic given that that's tomorrow, but nice to have some sudden ambition introduced to the proceedings.

So the panels have been fitted into the frames, and their tubes welded together and leak tested. Pipes to connect the system with the laundry have been purchased, along with glass wool sheets to insulate them with. Polyurethane foam sheets for the backs of the panels have been ordered, produced and delivered. My temperature monitoring system is pretty much complete, and semi-installed (more on that another day).

A good week's work.

Fitting the panels required a spot of saw-wielding.

First three in place - some dropped in beautifully; others had to be beaten into
submission with planes, saws, hammers and a little brute force.

Even before paint and glazing are applied the panels are around 50-60°C, and
visibly bending.  This week it has been high 30s outside, and in the sunniest spot
on the compound, in front of what is essentially a 7ft x 40ft mirror, it's HOT.

A couple of chaps came up from Lahore to do our welding.  After they'd been
connected together some of the panels required re-beating-into-submission.

Lugging those oxygen cylinders across the orchard is no joke...

The pretty colours of tortured metal.

Finally all welded together and in place.  Time for a leak test, which in typical
Pakistani style involves about 5 hoses shoved into each others ends, and a guy
holding it on to the tap at the other end.

A leak!  But actually in one of the previous welds from when the panels were
fabricated.  Still, 1 out of 164 ain't bad.

Take that pesky leak!

Holidays part 5 - Naran & Lake Saiful Muluk

Continued from parts 1, 2, 3 and 4.

One of the main highlights was this expedition up to Lake Saiful Muluk. In summertime you can take a jeep part of all of the way, but since the jeep track was buried under several feet of snow, we'd be walking the whole way.

A couple of km in, and well into the snow.  The group ahead dropped behind us,
and at some stage disappeared altogether.

Don't look now, but you're being followed by half a pirate.

Bashir goes ahead, kicking out steps for the rest of us -
in his loafers.

A long way up...

Made it! - 4 hours, 10km and 2600ft of snow from Naran.

Lake Saiful Muluk - somewhere under that lot!  (click for large version)
The big lumpy peak left-of-centre with the hanging glacier is Malika Parbat.

Lunch consisted of the day's second set of parathas with omelettes inside.

At this point Bashir handed Jenny a blanket and pointed down
the slope.  Jo's plastic bag was somewhat faster, leading to a
high-speed snowy somersault or two - like in a cartoon but
thankfully minus the giant snowball part.

The descent took just over half the time of the ascent.

The slidey-trails go back a long way up!

Next day we went for a gentler and flatter walk a little way up the main valley.
Here's the next wee village, currently deserted.

After a pause for a drink, we decided to go and see what what was round the corner
before heading back - this was what we found.  (click for large version)

An executive decision to leave on the Thursday evening instead of Friday
morning proved to be a fortuitous choice, as a storm chased us down the valley.
Had we stayed the extra night we would have had to hike over landslides to get
my parents to the airport on time!

Halfway through this glacier we met a stuck minibus.

One more reminder of the flood's toll on the road.

Holidays part 4 - Glaciers

Continued from parts 1, 2 and 3.

The next day we continued on up the valley.  I was planning that this be the last holiday post, but as the journey was almost as spectacular as the destinations (and the glacier stuff was just so cool!), I decided this part deserved an extended post of its own.

This is a road which will never be finished.  Up and down the valley is evidence
of great forces at work, the annual cycles of freeze/melt/erode dwarfed by the
effects of 2005's earthquake and 2010's floods.  In this stretch 1/4 of a mile of
road  was under scree (left side of pic), and rather than dig it out, it was simpler to
build two bridges and drive along the opposite bank.  For some idea of scale,
compare the size of the boulder on the left bank with the truck on the right.

A quick leg-stretch and photo stop.

The guidebook advises tourists that the stretch of road up to Naran is "blocked by
4 or 5 small glaciers in the early season".  This problem is solved by digging a
trench like this.  One or two of them also have a small river flowing under the
glacier and across the road, before plunging into a gaping hole under the ice on
the other side. The word on the street was that the road would be open imminently.

Our first glimpse of Naran.  At this point, halfway through a glacier, there was an
impromptu car park with a selection of jeeps awaiting the clearing of the next bit.

Another jeep-load of optimistic travellers joins the party.

I used to have a Playmobil one of these when I was smaller.

Just beyond the bulldozer is a 20ft+ cliff of snow, below which
another digger removes the snow it pushes over the edge.

It was looking like another day or two's work, so we hike
the last half mile or so into Naran.

After yesterday's exertions, today we content ourselves with a very gentle
stroll up to a viewpoint,  before sampling Naran's entertainment options...

...which, seeing as the road isn't open yet, consist of one hotel (which is opened, and a couple of rooms hastily vacuumed, at the request of our guide, Bashir) and one small kitchen which appears to be serving the entire population of the town (all of whom Bashir knows personally).  The food is simple, but pretty good, and over our three days we have every dish on the menu - chicken karahi, channa dal (like chickpeas), subzee (potato/peas/chilli) - most of them twice.

As the road gradually gets closer to openness over the next couple of days, the town ever-so-slowly starts to transform:  a few more tourists trickle in (some have driven all the way from Karachi!), doubling the population; one or two little shops are persuaded by Bashir to open their shelves to customers on an ad hoc basis; several of the broken down wooden buildings have walls repaired and new roofs erected.  In one way at least, this is a great time to be here - it must be heaving in summer when all the 100+ hotels are filled.

More expeditions to follow in the final post soon.

Holidays part 3 - Shogran

First things first - yes, we're fine, despite our close proximity to recent news headlines. Things have seemed pretty quiet so far, but we'll most likely be staying in for the next few days at least until we have more of an idea of the public mood.

Continued from part 1 & part 2.

So, on to the more spectacular stuff! After our disappointment at not making to Hunza, our Plan B was to hire a guide with a jeep who would take us up the Kaghan valley for a few days.

Looking down on Mansehra from the bypass.

View from the balcony of our hotel room at Shogran.

After checking into our hotel, our guide took us on an expedition in the afternoon,
starting with a jeep ride as far as the jeep could get - the bit I'm  standing on is a
steep hairpin bend covered in a couple of feet of snow.

Traversing a snow bank.  There's a jeep track somewhere under this lot.

Sam spent a fair amount of the trip not looking down.

Sri, where nomadic shepherds bring their flocks in the summertime.
(click to view large version, then cross your eyes and match up the pictures to see
in 3D - easier than magic eye anyway!)

The less tired explorers charge on to the next summit, leaving the others to amble
down at a gentler pace.

Paya* - at just about bang on 3000m we're merely 2.23x higher than the UK.
(*or Paye, or Pae - in this country spelling of words using the Latin alphabet
is largely up to the speller, as long as it roughly looks how it sounds!)

180° or so from Paya - click for full size.  The pointy one on the sawtooth ridge
about 2/3 of the way across the image is Malika Parbat (Queen of the Mountains),
the highest in the valley at 5290m - though that's small fry for this country...

Starting the descent.  Deep snow if good fun for this part.
Lower down there was a bit of a short cut - see video below:

A quality piece of road-building.

For those not determinedly not looking down, here's the view
out the side of the jeep.  You can see a long way down, at
angles of 60-80° below the horizontal.

Looking down the Kaghan valley from above Kiwai, where the road to
Shogran joins the main road to Naran and beyond.

Malika Parbat in the sunset.  More to come soon...