Sunday family working bee - Part 1

I have been solo prepping last week for tomorrow's working bee -  see my previous posts. This afternoon under shade I managed to lug the extension ladder through what we call the cottage garden and up against the tree that is being lopped tomorrow - yay

Finally after lopping smaller shrubs last week the extension ladder is in the right starting position.

LED Floodlight repairs

Erratic operation and then the lights would not turn on when power was turned off and then on.

The PIR sensor must be faulty.

Daytime feline intruder!

This morning this first-time stalker has come up from the backyard and through the carport. Ruby and Rosie are in the (elevated) front yard. Things have been quiet for a while but now with this perimeter intrusion we need to prepare for a joust.

I just put my two Garden Sentries' (Motion Activated Sprinkles) on charge - what is that?

Chicken misting pole

For hot days and there's one coming up tomorrow this helps to cool down hot chooks. After many years of abuse being thrown like a javelin over high shrubs and dragged along the ground it's needs attention. Some of the mister nozzles are blocked and one is missing plus hole in the tubing on the inlet side. Also swapping over to a straighter length of electrical conduit.

I have already cleared the blocked brass nozzles with a spray bottle and removed the section with the missing nozzle.

Indian ringneck parakeet

 

Indian ringneck parakeet is back again today.

Garden Sentry 12V-13

We still have water leaks so back to the workshop!

The bottom section that connects to the hose is leaking! These barb connectors are used with poly pipe so we'll swap out that bit of hose.

Garden Sentry 12V-16

We still have leaks and the penny just dropped!

This is a flashback photo to show how the solenoid is not sitting flush on the timber. I was aware of that - she'll be OK.

Garden Sentry 12V - Part 15

Found a chocolate tin to use as a battery container.

No need for any photo descriptions.

Garden Sentry 12V-17

 Another addition to shield the sensor from water spray.

Water spray from the top of the impact sprinkler can sometimes keep triggering the sensor extending the ON cycle. I have extended the shield further out over the impact sprinkler.

Garden Sentry 12V-14

More additions!

Sprinkler shield made from the lid of a Peter's Ice Cream container to deflect water away from the irrigation solenoid electrical connections.

Garden Sentry 12V-12

We have connector water leaks so back to the workshop workbench.

Cut the cable ties so we can access the assembly.

Garden Sentry 12V-11

After painting yesterday it actually took a while to reassembly everything this morning.

Which bit go's where...lol

Garden Sentry 12V - Part 10

 Prepping for painting all the timber so stripped down the unit.

First thing is to remove the stand.

Garden Sentry 12V - Part 9

Making a stand for the cat motion sprinkler.

Found some plywood discs left over from another project.

White Legs - Another Visit

White Legs was back again this morning and my new Garden Sentry 12V was not setup in the front yard!

I was doing some refinements on the 12V motion activated sprinkler late yesterday afternoon and thinking it's been quiet the last few mornings decided to leave it in the workshop to finish today.

Interesting that White Legs avoided the back yard (picture memory - been water zapped in the back yard a few times) and did a U turn back towards the front.

Garden Sentry 12V - Part 8B

As posted pity I didn't have this setup in the front yard for this morning to ambush (scare & wet) White Legs. Anyway in the workshop this morning before it gets too hot to do some more refinements the main one being a system test switch.

It turns out that it's a PIA to setup the motion sprinkler every time it'd going to be used. The sensor LUX has to be turned towards DAY so I can trigger the system to adjust water pressure after which  the LUX control has to be turned back towards NIGHT. If I don't get it right I get sprayed going out to put the lock on the front gates lol.

Went through some of my stuff and found a bag of SPDT Centre Off Rocker Switches.

Garden Sentry 12V - Part 8A

In this session we are boxing the 18650 batteries.

Garden Sentry 12V - Part 7

 Weather cover for the PIR sensor plus some thoughts about solar charging.

For the weather cover we are using a sweets container lol

Garden Sentry 12V - Part 6

 From Part 6 yesterday we are now doing some modifications and tidying up the wiring.

Decided to move the unit down the support post a bit further away from the sensor to reduce the likelihood of top overspray triggering the sensor.

Garden Sentry 12V - Part 5B

 In this session were doing the electrical wiring.

Wiring is fairly easy the only thing to keep in mind is that the PIR sensor has a negative switched output - a bit weird.