We had a similar problem in our old lab; the organic teaching lab on the
floor above had (possibly still has despite our attempts to get someone to
repair it) a floor drain that wasn't installed properly so that water would
drip into the NMR lab rather than go down the pipe. Luckily it wasn't
directly above anything delicate and we always caught it in time when the
tubing that supplied cooling water to the organicers' rotovaps inevitably
broke.
A second source of water in that lab was the heating/cooling system. When
it was particularly humid, the outside parts of the coils that were used
during Winter to heat the incoming air would get cold enough for moisture
in the air to condense and drip, again luckily not directly over anything
delicate.
Our current A/C unit is mounted in a partition wall and the condensate
drains into the adjoining room. But a few large water pipes run through
the lab, and there's the sprinkler system as well that could go off
accidentally I suppose.
At 04:51 2008-09-11, you wrote:
>This may be a "not uncommon" problem. We experienced a similar issue
>with the drain from an internal ceiling which was installed
>specifically to provide protection against floods in the synthetic lab
>upstairs! The contractors installed large sheets of corrugated
>plastic (sloping) directly above our consoles, each one feeding into a
>gutter and drain, which then ran through a "U" trap and into the main
>drain out of the lab upstairs. When the main drain blocked (because
>one of our synthetic colleagues put an intact sample bottle down it),
>the lowest point of egress for the water was (you guessed it) the
>gutter above the console. Fortunately, the sheets of plastic were
>considerably larger than the consoles, so the water did not fall on
>the console, but was close enough to be of real concern.
>
>I am now very wary of any changes to the drains in the NMR labs and
>always view the site of any suggested new drain as a hole which water
>can come up out of as well as go down into.
>
>(That's not a bad stab for prepositions to end a sentence with, but
>falls far short of the record which I believe relates to a child's
>complaint about its parent's choice of bedtime stories, the parent
>having selected a volume of tales about Australia. It goes "What did
>you bring that book I didn't want to be read to from out of about down
>under up for?").
>
>Cheers,
>
>-------------------------------------------
>Alan Kenwright
>NMR Service Manager
>Durham University
>
>Tel: +44-191-334-2095
>
>
>
>On 10 Sep 2008, at 08:03, Andy Soper wrote:
>
>>
>>Hi all,
>>
>>Reading Josh's remarks about his flood
>>reminds me of ours. It is a short tale of what
>>NOT to do with airconditioner condensate.
>>
>>Our 400 is not in a pit but it is one floor above
>>ground level in a five story building. A drain
>>pipe runs down from the gutters (above the 5th
>>floor) to a drain on the ground. When our
>>aircon was installed the engineers ran the
>>condensate line into the drainpipe AT OUR
>>LEVEL and sealed it in place.
>>
>>All was well for about 12 years. Then two
>>events occurred simultaneously:
>>
>>1. The drainpipe blocked below our
>>condensate pipe's connection.
>>2. We experienced a massive thunderstorm
>>with torrential rain.
>>
>>The result was that the drain pipe filled very
>>rapidly and the significant 'head' of water found
>>the only remaining outlet by flowing back
>>through our 'split' aircon's wall-mounted
>>evaporator and onto the control desk.
>>
>>Fortunately I was working late when this
>>occurred. The first I knew was when icy water
>>at several litres per second started cascading
>>over the PC, monitor, printer and I. I remember
>>taking off my tee-shirt to protect the monitor.
>>
>>Eventually we found the cause and ripped the
>>condensate pipe out of the drain pipe. It now
>>has its own discharge path independent of the
>>drainpipe.
>>
>>A cautionary tale. Please have a look at your
>>aircon condensate pipe's discharge
>>arrangements.
>>
>>Sincerely,
>>Andy||---------------------------------------------
>>Sed ex amante alio accenditur alius. St
>>Augustine.
>>One loving spirit sets another on fire.
>>
>>Andy Soper (*NEW* Contact Details) Email:
>>a.soper_at_ru.ac.za
>>Telephone: National +27: Area (0)46
>>Office: 603 8717: Fax: 622 5109: Home 622
>>6315
>>Mobile: (0)82 56 27037 Amateur Radio: ZS2
>>VJZ
>>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Received on Thu Sep 11 2008 - 13:45:35 MST