There's a couple quotes from Mark Twain that I would reference here, but I won't.

On with the regular programming.

We went quite a while with very little snow. Then a LOT of snow came in pretty short order. The power to the pumps cut off three times due to snow on panels and the low voltage disconnect. One stretch the power was cut off for three days. Based on past results, that is a HUGE test and the setup passed with flying colors. No domes formed and holes opened back up immediately. The holes also continued to grow each day until power cut off again. We will see what happens if I get a 3'-4' dump of snow at one time, but so far I am extremely happy!

The results continue to prove out. MNFish was exactly right. Suspended the diffusers over deep water is the answer. We initially went 4' deep. Next year I think I will move the diffusers to 3' deep. The quad results are very interesting to me. It is suspended 10' deep over 21'-22' of water. I always expect the quad to make the biggest hole and it always disappoints. I am assuming there are some reasons for that. Obviously deeper is not better when trying to de ice. This year also has some unique variables that do not make it apples to apples. One, because the quad is suspended so far off the bottom that makes a huge P-trap in the line that fills with condensation. It takes a good amount of run time before the PSI guage levels off to it's steady state pressure. It always starts off about 2 psi higher while that condensation is being blown out. Not sure of a way to solve that issue when working in 20'+ water. Two, I am only running the 1HP pump for 5 hours per day. The only time the quad diffuser pumps air is when the big pump is running. I am running the 1/2 HP pump 13 hours per day. Only the two duals pump air when the 1/2 HP pump is running. This definitely gives some credit to the "less horsepower, increased duration" train of thought. Of course duration is not an issue with 120V power. You guys have it easy. 120V aeration compared to intermittent solar aeration is like long range hunting with a high powered rife compared to traditional archery hunting with stone points. Then throw in 4'-5' of snow and 3' of ice. With all this in mind, the next round of upgrades to the solar system will include a solution for me to be able to run at least a 1/2HP pump 24/7 through the winter.

The pipes are a home run. Actually a grand slam and the windmill is proof of that. In the past the windmill has almost always been the first hole to disappear - even though it was close to shore in 5' of water. Why is that? Doming!! This year the windmill hole hasn't disappeared once!! Those results are in spite of the fact that this year has been a terrible year for wind up there. The wind data is no where even close to the last three years. I plan on upgrading the windmill compressor to the new OWS windmill compressor than can produce 4.5 CFM. That combined with the existing pipe and I expect the windmill to significantly contribute next winter.

On to pics for comparison.....

Yesterdays pic 12.17.2021. Holes look great. Windmill is small, but it is surviving! That is a huge improvement. The quad is battling back from being frozen over. Life is easy for the two duals. Holes aren't huge, but they will continue to grow until the next storm. The holes are also bigger than they appear in the pic because they are far from the camera. The far dual hole is ~300 yards away from the camera.
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

Last year 12.16.2020. Quad was struggling - struggling much worse than it is this year though. Close dual was domed over (donut pattern) already and not the first time it had done that. Small single hole was open but tiny. Windmill non existent. 2021 kills 2020.
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

Two years ago. 12.17.2019. Not sure much needs to be said. No holes anywhere. Windmill non existent. 2021 absolutely destroys 2019.
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

Three years ago. 12.18.2018. two diffusers running in the deep water. they are fighting to keep holes open. We were running the small pump 12-14 hours per day IIRC. Back when we were thinking duration. When we get further into the year you will see these eventually domed over with the infamous donut as proof.
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]


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