Category: Oddities

OK, so half-dollar coins aren’t all that common these days… but it seems to me that a vending machine shouldn’t jam on anything.

Building equipment to withstand outdoor conditions is really, really difficult. Anything metallic corrodes, anything organic deteriorates, and anything flexible fractures.

The weatherproof boot on this outdoor sign switch has a tiny crack where the toggle enters the body. Not very big, but it’s the beginning of the end…

If the rest of the box had an air-tight seal, then things would get really ugly. Diurnal pumping can suck enough water vapor in through that little hole to eventually fill the entire box with water. Long before then, though, the electrical gadgetry will corrode.

Even though this sign seems to have plenty of openings around the lighted panels, the switch will eventually fail all by itself. Then they’ll likely throw the whole thing out; nobody fixes anything these days, right?

Here’s a detail view.

The basement of the Vassar College Chapel has a mighty drainage sump, a pair of pumps, and a mass of old-school cast-iron plumbing. I’m not certain, but I think the greenish pipe coming in from the rear is storm drainage from one side of the building.

Looks like they’ve got backup: two separate pumps and motors, with doubled plumbing on the ejection side.

On closer inspection, however, you’ll see that the near-side float switch rod coming up through the cover is broken and bent; that motor will never turn on.

One hopes this is deliberate, but the failed-off motor seems to be the newer / larger / less corroded of the two. We’ve had a lot of rain this summer, so I suppose if this was a problem, it would have already occurred.

It’s always a good idea to have all your sump pumps ready to run, should you be in a position to need sump pumps in the first place. Believe me, it’s much easier to fix things when you’re not hip-deep in rising water!