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Forum Index : Windmills : New Member
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| rmancini Newbie  Joined: 25/10/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 10 |
Good Morning all - I just recently joined the group and have read with interest the posts with various designs of windmills. I've already gotten some good ideas. One question (and please forgive my ignorance but...) what does F&P stand for?? Rich Laissez les bons temps rouler |
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| birdhouse Regular Member  Joined: 27/01/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 63 |
rich- welcome! it's fisher and paykel (spelling?) they make washing machines with motors in them that are ideal for wind turbines. i think LG uses the same motors in some of their washers. good luck! i pee more than once before flushing, and don't have to flush at all up at the ranch! |
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| rmancini Newbie Joined: 25/10/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 10 |
Thanks Birdhouse!! I couldn't for the life of me figure what it stood for!! Rich Laissez les bons temps rouler |
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MacGyver Guru  Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
[Quote=Birdhouse] i pee more than once before flushing, and don't have to flush at all up at the ranch! I'm a plumbing contractor of 40+ years. If your toilet water is chlorinated, you're doing yourself a disservice. The are soluble carbonates in urine, which when left to sit in the presence of a strong oxidizer (chlorine), will precipitate out and form rock-hard calcifications within the guts of your toilet. Ever been inside a cave with stalactites? Dinosaur pee! Sooner than later, you'll be replacing that toilet because its thrust port is completely clogged with calcium deposits and it will flush only by siphoning (filling to the brim and oozing down)! A word to the wise: flush. Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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| birdhouse Regular Member Joined: 27/01/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 63 |
macgyver- thanks for your concern and i do understand what you are saying. however, i am a contractor as well and didn't pay a cent for my toilet, and it is a compression flusher to boot. if it were to clog up, i'm sure i could find another free toilet very quickly. i think i would rather save the water. doesn't it takes decades for these deposits to form? most newer toilets don't seem to last that long anyways. after five years of use my toilet will still take ANYTHING down with only one flush. i think i'm okay for a while. thanks for your concern and your facts are very interesting! i pee more than once before flushing, and don't have to flush at all up at the ranch! |
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5119 |
"thrust port", "compression flusher" What the! I remember the first time I saw a american toilet, I though it was clogged up and wasnt game to use it. Its a very different mechanism to the Australian version. The American toilet bowl is full when you go to use it, and it empties and refills when you flush. The Aust toilet is empty when you use it, except for a little water just enough to cover the u-bend. When you flush it dumps water in around the rim, filling it and it empties itself with gravity. Sitting on the American toilet, the water level seams a little to close for my liking 
Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
See, that's what happens when we "assume" things. I assumed a toilet was a toilet was a toilet . . . Apparently, not so, eh? You haven't lived until you've remained seated on a newer 'American' toilet while flushing it. Your junk gets a little bath! Toilets in the States are leaning towards using less and less water as population density increases. Even though ideally there's enough water, manipulating the supply versus the demand has become quite a science. Rumor has it things twist down the drain in reverse in the southern hemisphere. In America, things circle the drain in a clockwise motion, when viewing from the top. One of us is backwards, but I'm not going to cast the first stone! Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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GWatPE Senior Member  Joined: 01/09/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2127 |
The swirling direction is more about placement of the outlet and bowl shape. This aspect was analysed in detail by an English TV show like MythBusters, using a kitchen sink as an example. Gordon. become more energy aware |
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| Dinges Senior Member Joined: 04/01/2008 Location: AlbaniaPosts: 510 |
[quote=Gizmo]"thrust port", "compression flusher" What the![/quote] There's a lot of science to toilets. Don't underestimate it.... 
Over here we have two standard toilets: the one you describe as having in Australia, and this one: 
It has a convenient plateau for, err, 'observation purposes'. It's an extremely common toilet, yet seems to cause no end of amazement and fun to foreigners visiting here. The rule is very simple - after having taken care of business, turn around and observe. If something moves around, go to the doctor. For more than you ever wanted to know about this topic: http://www.rinamae.com/2008/05/07/dutch-toilet-water-closet/ Peter. (<-- proud to be Dutch) |
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| birdhouse Regular Member Joined: 27/01/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 63 |
wow- you guys sure like to get going about toilets. :) i've never heard the term "observation plateau" used in describing a toilet. pretty funny. by the way a "compression flusher" (don't know the real term for these) still have the 1.6 gallon tank, but the water is enclosed in a water tight tank. when it fills, it retains the pressure from the supply line. i think mine is about 40 psi. when you pull the lever, it releases all this pressure and water with a quite reasonable force that will put most anything down the hole in one try. i'd never go back to the regular style toilets... too many double flushes. anyone else have anything they'd like to add about toilets? seeings how we are so "ON" topic with f&p explanations. i pee more than once before flushing, and don't have to flush at all up at the ranch! |
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| Barry T Coles Senior Member Joined: 30/07/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 109 |
Mine has views. 
 I need to learn from the mistakes of others. I dont have the time to make them all myself. |
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| MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
[Quote=birdhouse] seeings how we are so "ON" topic with f&p explanations My bad! :O( Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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| birdhouse Regular Member Joined: 27/01/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 63 |
macgyver- i'm not worried about it. i thought the whole thing was pretty funny. even gizmo chimed in, so i think we are in the clear do you have a mill running at your place currently? mine is getting close and the suspense is killing me!i pee more than once before flushing, and don't have to flush at all up at the ranch! |
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| MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329 |
I keep a small windmill (1m blades, 3-blade, up-wind) that just spins whenever there's a breeze. I've balanced the blades so if a mosquito lands on one, the thing rotates! It's just for fun; doesn't do any actual "work". Perhaps I'm a shade autistic; I'm ever-fascinated by things that spin. I've been reluctant to post pictures because all my toys are several years old (like me) and look pretty bad. I've been rebuilding my main "air-pump" windmill and as soon as it passes the white glove test, I'll post pictures. I'm also in the middle of making a blade-feathering device as well as a single and a multi-cylinder air engine. I'm rebuilding everything to make it more "user friendly". My goal is to present something that almost anyone can build and use to gain some useable wind power. One drawback, which is slowing things down a lot, is that my machinery is all very small. I run a 7" lathe. All my stuff runs off of 12-volts and therefore, goes rather slowly. Sooner or later (usually later), I get things done. The run-out on my machinery is very tight, which is good, but when you build things with too tight a tolerance, being small, they tend to not work well. For that reason, I'm having to build and re-build several things to put them in reach of those who don't have a full machine shop at the ready. Today, I'm working on a single-cylinder air engine that can be built with a micrometer, sander and drill press. The crank may need machining, but I'm working on a way to make that more within grasp of everyone too. If I put together all the things I've built and trashed over the years, I could open a small museum, but who wants to look at junk? Therefore, I'm trying to make things 'neat & pretty' before they slip into cyberspace for the world to view and scrutinize. Nothing difficult is ever easy! Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman, "Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!" Copeville, Texas |
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Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
This reminds me of an experience I had while working in Russia on an oilfield project at the tip of Sibera a few hundred Km from the north pole. Not a place to sell solar panels as they would work 24/7 half the year and would need a huge battery bank for the other half year. ( -40 degrees and 24/7 darkness for other half the year) The camp was made up of shacks on skid bases that interconnected to form a small village. When camp arrived via the local train service, and we went to assemble it, all the toilets and hand basins were missing, Stolen enroute. I had to chuckle to myself about some Russian bloke arriving home to the misses and saying “look honey what I got today!” An American flush toilet!!! I must say the Russians have one of the poorest designed crappers anywhere in the world so cant blame them from stealing our toilets. (they would steal the light globes and mirrors from of our trucks as well, but after seeing the rubbish they have, one cant blame them for doing it) Anyway new toilets and basins were shipped in and installed. The first experience I had to use one of these American crappers has stuck with me. All was fine till I hit the flush button and the bowl started to fill and filled and filled to the point I couldn’t get the pants up quick enough and choose to bail out of the cubical with pants down as the water level increased to what I thought was near over flow point and then gave a big gurgle and departed down the drain. What a relief that was!! In the process it created a good swirling action and the floaties proceeded to paint a line around the bowl as all departed. I have worked in several countries through the world and always found the toilet systems something of interest, to how poorly a crapper can be designed compared to how other parts of the world have tackled the in house problems. Sorry guys. But the Americans have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to bathroom waste disposal systems compared to this side of the world in my experiences . I understand that the oz design toilet systems are making big inroads in the USA due to the fraction of water used compared to the USA style. For the USA guys don’t feel to bad, as through out Asia you are lucky if you get two foot prints painted either side of a open pipe in the ground that you squat over. Not even a seat with theses, just paint to where you place your feet. No paper either. Not real good for a upset belly. So downunder we can pee all day and use less water than one American flush would. Now what was this topic about???? Hmmm that’s right F&P and not #1s & 2s. Pete. Sometimes it just works |
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| birdhouse Regular Member Joined: 27/01/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 63 |
pete- nice to hear of your ever evolving experience with waste recepticals. although if you never have had the experience of a compression flush, i feel like you a re missing out. everything goes away in a second or less, with minimal water use to boot. anyways, funny to hear of the russians steeling toilets. macgyver- funny you mention a workless mill. i have had many workless mills in front of my home for many years. i even did one that had two sets of blades that spun in oposite directions. kinda gave you a headache if you looked at it too long. too much for the brain to process. then i graduated to a mill with a bicycle generator that touched to a plywood wheel that lit a bunch of leds on the tail section. it totally worked, but was kinda loud, so it let it free spool to keep the neighbors at bay. this was the first mill i ever built that actually made power. kinda led me to this and other forums, where now i'm building a "real" mill. so those f and p's are real good eh? i pee more than once before flushing, and don't have to flush at all up at the ranch! |
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Bryan1 Guru Joined: 22/02/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1464 |
Welcoming a new member to this great forum and asking what a F&P was but somehow it went down the toilet..... Cheers Bryan
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