Originally Posted By: canyoncreek
Ok so how did alcohol backtrack into the pump, or was that a different pump that got alcohol backtracking?

Do you know how condensation gets in the lines or what the solution is? Is the windmill line somehow more prone to condensation build up due to lower PSI than the ones that are run by the bigger solar powered pumps? It seems you could keep moving condensation through the lines with the PSI (40) that you are pushing through those lines compared to most aeration systems that are say 10 or less psi.

And if condensation happens and you freeze up does that happen only in the section where the air line is under dirt on the way to the water, or does that happen in the area where it is on the bottom of the pond/lake? I would think the warm water on the bottom of the pond would keep things from freezing up there.

I'm showing my ignorance here but probably others will face condensation at some point and this is a good time to understand how it happens, why it happens, and how to fix it.


Canyon - Different pump that had the alcohol back up. I have a check valve on the airline. First, he poured the alcohol in without closing the valve to the pump so some ran backwards into the pump. Then with the line frozen up, the pump couldn't open the check valve to get the alcohol past it.

The big solar pumps made a ton more condensation than the windmill. From what I now know, if you compress air you WILL make condensation. As the volume air you compress increases, the volume of condensation produced will also increase. The regular movement of the air will not push the condensation out of the dip. The condensation will accumulate there and basically reduce the size of your airline.

The frost line normally does not go very deep on the mountain because we usually get so much snow so fast early in Winter. This year the snow came later up there than anyone has ever seen. That allowed the frost to go much deeper than normal. I have no idea how deep. I also do not know where my line froze up.

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