This year I’ve visited South Korea (Korea) five times. The destination has always been Changwon City so most of my experience and observations of Korea relate to that locale. Any Westerner’s experience with Korea inevitably starts with the food. Yes, most have heard of kimchee and Korean BBQ. But until you’ve had a traditional Korean-style […]
Beyond expectation
Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, I was out shopping and stopped in at REI, an outdoor gear and clothing store. I stepped over to the watch display case thinking I might buy a replacement for my 2-1/2 year old Freestyle sports watch. Its wrist band was coming apart and due to the precision molded rubber […]
Downsizing the pool pump
About four weeks ago our swimming pool pump quit. I don’t know the exact date, but our pool guy, Randy, left us a note. We didn’t see the note, so a week later on his weekly visit I was home and he let me know about the pump. The motor was frozen and couldn’t be […]
Hypermiling
With fuel prices creeping up again I thought it appropriate to share some of my experiences with hypermiling. “Hypermiling” is a method of increasing your car’s gas mileage by making changes in the way you drive. It can also include changes in the way you maintain your car, including tire pressures, fuel grade, and oil […]
Is there any confusion about NPSH?
Net Positive Suction Head (NPSH) is perhaps the most misunderstood concept in pumping technology. The main source of confusion stems from multiple uses of the term in different but related contexts. One usage of the term NPSH is to denote the suction performance characteristic of the pump itself, independent of the system into which it […]
The ideal pump
Consider a pump that functions reliably under all possible operating conditions, no matter how abusive, including complete loss of prime or dead heading. Imagine this pump converts all of its mechanical work input into useful liquid energy output. Next, the seal or seals are zero leakage and require no flush, quench, or support system. The […]