Overview

Engineering support tasks occupied the morning. I developed a text-only Engineering report template based on a Microsoft Word sample provided to me by Kevin Saka, and then developed an Excel spreadsheet to enable me to track readings and consumables over time. Once Kevin's last readings and my readings from the last several days were entered into the system, I was quickly able to produce the March 1 Engineering report, which had been delayed from last night.

In the afternoon I was occupied by cooking a hearty tomato and spinach soup for our ill crewmember and finding geology texts for the upcoming EVA. With these housekeeping chores out of the way, XO Adam and I focused on the scheduled oil change in the "China Special" generator. We decided to perform this in daylight in case we had issues starting the engine as we did last time, and we also IMed Don Foutz to alert him to our temporary loss of power. Working together, Adam and I performed the oil change without incident in only fifteen to twenty minutes, but once it was completed the engine would not start.

After some fiddling, during which we convinced ourselves we had correctly attached the jury-rigged battery leads that miracle worker Kevin Saka had installed to get the generator running last time, we stopped to take readings, on the principle that the generator might be "flooded" like a normal car engine. This delay had no effect and we put our Sherlock Holmes hats on to try to solve the problem.

The generator's engine would turn, but not start. After comprehensively checking out the engine and conducting a variety of tests, our best guess was that the battery was simply too weak to turn the engine over. We hypothesized that it may have drained while it was detached --- because our jury-rigged connection relied on a loosely attached clamp, Kevin had been forced to detach that battery lead once the engine was started to reduce the probability of a fire.

Based on this idea, we tried a spare battery we found in the aft airlock, which proved to be dead. While we were replacing the other half-working battery, the negative power lead failed also, breaking off cleanly at the junction point in our hands from apparent metal fatigue. We got clearance from Hugh to use the spare car battery and jumper cables in the bed of Big Blue, and finally started the engine.

For safety, we extracted the broken cable parts and returned to the Hab. After a quick visual inspection to ensure that the base's exterior was intact and that the Greenhab was functioning normally, we returned to follow up on one of Adam's brainflashes: a sound muffler for the internal water pump.

For those not familiar with the Hab, every time you so much as brush your teeth or wash your hands, an internal pump buzzes loudly right over stateroom 6 --- that being Adam's stateroom --- to pump water from the internal potable water tank into the tap and faucet system. Adam suggested that if the pump wasn't bolted down that we should put it on a rubber pad so that the ceiling over his stateroom wasn't acting like a giant drum (basic sound and vibration theory). Lacking rubber in the right dimensions I found some foam and, sure enough, the pump got slightly quieter. However, the sight of a pump resting on foam disturbed me and I asked Adam to put his HSO hat on. He concurred that it was a hazard, and I found a piece of wood just large enough to seat the pump, which he used to make a foam-wood sandwich beneath the pump that masked the vibration while leaving the pump on a hard surface. While the pump is still loud, this contraption definitely took the pain down a few d! ecibels.

Also, during the power interruption earlier in the day, we noticed a loss of network connectivity over the Directway. This was caused by the rewiring in the network --- one of the switches needs to be on the UPS to keep the Habcom laptop alive, or else the Habcom laptop needs to be temporarily linked directly to the Directway. Either alternative makes sense --- having the switch off conserves power, but having the switch on the UPS enables Habcom to communicate without temporary rewiring. We are going to modify the system to operate with the switch on the Habcom for safety, and may test the duration of the UPS system to provide guidance to future crews if inspection of the UPS manual seems to indicate this is a good idea.

The minor power interruptions we have been hearing have become more frequent --- once every few hours, there are transient changes in the tone of the power hum and generator network, occasionally accompanied by beeps from one of the UPSes. Shortly after dinner, we had a brownout in the upper part of the Hab. We cut off excess lights and tried to reduce power consumption, but power came back shortly thereafter. Don suggested that we might be loading one circuit more than another, but we believe there are actually fewer power drains on the network now than during the refit. We attempted to correlate the power hums with known power drains - internal pump start, toilet supply pump start, or furnace fan --- but none of these sources correlated with the power surges. As of March 2, 2005, the power fluctuations remain a mystery we need to resolve.

Lessons Learned and Recommendations:

Generator System:
Oil changes must be performed more than 2 hours before sundown
A spare battery and spare sets of battery connection cables are critical
A backup generator is also critical

Internal Pumping:
Simple noise reduction methods can be taken to eliminate problems
Safety first - do not

Procedure for filling the internal tank, revised (not due to any hard knocks):
Stand by switch
Watch the tank fill
Stop at 55

Inspection, Consumption and Activity Data:

Generator/Electricity as of: 5:00pm MST
China Special 220 V+
Engine Usage: 1784.0 hours.
Oil: Changed
Drained 1 quart (0.9 liters)
Added 1.5 quarts (1.4 liters)
Change scheduled for Sunday
Comments: Currently being used as a primary generator
Engine started with great difficulty
Regulary battery would not turn engine over
Spare battery did not work
Negative power lead broke
Positive power lead already broken
Big Blue spare car battery and jumper cables used
Removed broken leads from site and bagged for future restarts
Yanmar Unit: Being repaired in Salt Lake City. Not anticipated to be delivered in this crew rotation

Fuel Status - Diesel Tank:
Capacity: 450 gal (1703 liters)
Reading: 62.5% (midway between 3/4 and 1/2)
Remaining: 281.3 gal (1064.6 Liters)
Consumed = 18.5 gal (69.8 liters)

Fuel Status - Propane Tank:
Capacity: 1000 gal (3785 liters)
Reading: Approximately 70.5%
Remaining: 705.0 gal (2668.7 Liters)
Consumed: 5.0 gal (18.9 Liters)

Fuel Status - Gasoline:
Quantity: 25.0 gal (94.6 Liters)
Consumed: 0.0 gal (0.0 Liters)
Comments: No ATV usage today

Fuel Status - Oil:
Quantity: 24.5 quarts (23.2 Liters)
Consumed: 1.5 quarts (1.4 Liters)

Water as of: 10:30pm MSTL:
Outside potable water tank:
Capacity: 300 gallons?
Reading: 60.0%
Quantity: 180 gallons (681.4 Liters) remaining
Consumed: 30 gallons (113.6 Liters)
Inside Tank:
Capacity: 60 gallons (227.1 Liters)
Reading: 40.0 gallons (151.4)
Previous: 60.0 gallons (227.1 liters)
Water Pumped: estimated 30 gal (113.6 Liters)
Comments: After reconnection, pumping system works like a charm
Notes: Estimated pumping based on exterior level drop
Estimated Usage: 50.0 gal (189.3 Liters)
Showers: 0 in the past 24 hours.
Greenhab Direct Feed: 0 gallons (0 liters)
Greenhab System:
Settling tank: not inspected
Holding tank: not inspected
Trickle filters: running
AQ1: filled
AQ2: filled
AQ3: less foamy
AQ4: filled
AQ2: filled, some apparent new algal growth
Toilet supply tank: 50%
Comments: Toilet is now being supplied with water.

HVAC: Nothing new to report

Plumbing: Nothing new to report

Electrical: Nothing new to report

Transport: Big Blue Truck. Moved to Antarctica to make it less visible from the road.

ATVs: Nothing new to report

Mars Suits: Nothing new to report

Computers/Networking Infrastructure: Debugged issue with command station hub. Punch list item: transfer switch power block from wall to UPS

Data Logger: Nothing new to report.

Miscellaneous/Other: Added internal pump sound baffler