Why riding a bike is better than updating the blog...
Today I spent the day at John Muir trails. I'd converted the Ferrous from SS to 1x8 with vintage (not old) SunTour XCPro thumb shifter and a SunTour Sprint rear deraileur. Everything works fine on the 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 21, 24, 28 Shimano XT cassette. After failing to get the SunTour bits to work with the Surly cogs for 24/9 I copped out and put the Shimano on her. Why does anyone need 3 chainrings? The 34 up front provided plenty of drive with the rear range.
I got there early and enjoyed the upper 30's until the sun warmed things up to the low 50's. By noon I'd done three laps of the blue loop and needed a break. I cracked open the thermos of coffee and all was good.
By midday the FIBs were out in full force. I kept to myself for most fo the day but as I went to go out again I saw a pair of 29er SS's loading up after their ride. A nice Gunner and a Soma were put on the roof of a Volvo and I chatted for a bit with Dave and his buddy. Afterwards I got back out and did two more laps.
It was too easy to rail on the Ferrous. I didn't dab once all lap and cleaned every climb without using the 28. Flying on the flats on the 13 was a treat too. Again, didn't touch the 12.
Maybe Russell was right the other day, 6 gears is plenty.
I ended the day with a couple of hits from my SunRingle flask. Mmmmm, tasty.
Sunday, October 28
Wednesday, October 24
Why I love my job sometimes...
Working with guys is really fun when you can make them uncomfortable. Let's face it, nothing makes a guy more uncomfortable than when his sexuality is questioned. Homophobia is the only thing that gets a Union electrician's hackles raised faster than a pickup truck full of illegal immigrants. This video gets me rolling...
Monday, October 22
Up'd it a notch
After working 10 hours in Platteville and getting pissed off at slackers I went to Z4F for the weekly pain session.
I got there a bit late so I didn't get a proper warm-up but he had a fairly large group (7) so he had us do a "threshold assessment." He wanted us to start at 100w for 3 minutes, then bump it up 30w every 3 minutes after that. I ended up peaking at roughly 338w on the last interval. After looking at the graphs it told me what I already knew, my threshold heart rate is 172bpm. If I go beyond that I'm toast.
Anyhow, after that we got on with a mixed climbing/TT workout. You can see on the climbing when I get out of the saddle.
I'll try to find time this weekend to rent the wheel again and go to a local TT course and do the 5 minute/20 minute test and see how it compares with a session on the rollers at home. I don't mind the pain, it's kind of fun.
I got there a bit late so I didn't get a proper warm-up but he had a fairly large group (7) so he had us do a "threshold assessment." He wanted us to start at 100w for 3 minutes, then bump it up 30w every 3 minutes after that. I ended up peaking at roughly 338w on the last interval. After looking at the graphs it told me what I already knew, my threshold heart rate is 172bpm. If I go beyond that I'm toast.
Anyhow, after that we got on with a mixed climbing/TT workout. You can see on the climbing when I get out of the saddle.
I'll try to find time this weekend to rent the wheel again and go to a local TT course and do the 5 minute/20 minute test and see how it compares with a session on the rollers at home. I don't mind the pain, it's kind of fun.
Sunday, October 21
PowerTap, a new tool?
So here's some pretty graphs from my recent workouts with the PowerTap.
Workout #1 was "hill repeats". We were to maintain a steady cadence while holding wattage at ~80% of our threshold wattage. Since I wasn't sure what my threshold was (or is) I used 300w as my threshold. Keeping it around 240w felt good but still like I was pushing. In the 4th (of 5) intervals I stayed seated for the 10 minutes and ramped it up as high as I could for the last minute.
Workout #2 was more of a learning experience. I use the rollers with my road bike and on that ride I neglected to check the resistance setting on the rollers. I was suffering like a dog trying to meet the 95 cadence/90% TW (270w) The only gearing I could meet that was my 39x19. The previous week I'd have been on something like my 53x18. It didn't make any sense so I asked the instructor WTF was up? Was I overtired having raced Saturday but not ridden Sunday? He asked if I had checked the resistance... it was on 2 of 3 when I usually have it set at 0. You can see the change roughly halfway through the graph. I was able to recover and meet the workout goals and even do the intervals at the end.
Here's a decent sustained wattage from the first workout. I was suffering having just raced the day before. I wish I'd been able to capture that effort but oh well.
Here's the intervals from the #2 workout. I noodled at ~80rpms until it was my "turn at the front of the pace line." Then I dropped it to the 53x13 and hit it for 30 seconds.
Workout #1 was "hill repeats". We were to maintain a steady cadence while holding wattage at ~80% of our threshold wattage. Since I wasn't sure what my threshold was (or is) I used 300w as my threshold. Keeping it around 240w felt good but still like I was pushing. In the 4th (of 5) intervals I stayed seated for the 10 minutes and ramped it up as high as I could for the last minute.
Workout #2 was more of a learning experience. I use the rollers with my road bike and on that ride I neglected to check the resistance setting on the rollers. I was suffering like a dog trying to meet the 95 cadence/90% TW (270w) The only gearing I could meet that was my 39x19. The previous week I'd have been on something like my 53x18. It didn't make any sense so I asked the instructor WTF was up? Was I overtired having raced Saturday but not ridden Sunday? He asked if I had checked the resistance... it was on 2 of 3 when I usually have it set at 0. You can see the change roughly halfway through the graph. I was able to recover and meet the workout goals and even do the intervals at the end.
Here's a decent sustained wattage from the first workout. I was suffering having just raced the day before. I wish I'd been able to capture that effort but oh well.
Here's the intervals from the #2 workout. I noodled at ~80rpms until it was my "turn at the front of the pace line." Then I dropped it to the 53x13 and hit it for 30 seconds.
Friday, October 19
Technology
Thursday evening was spent inside the Saris factory for the Wisconsin Bicycle Federation (www.bfw.org) fundraiser. Many familiar faces were in attendance and in all getting a return on the $30 ticket/donation was easily done. Even though it wasn't a competitive event BKB represented. Lyle hopped on the PowerTap bike and turned out a 17.00watt/Kg ratio to win whatever they may have been offering, even if it was possibly simply bragging rights. With the exception of second place's 16.5ish last gasp effort, most of the other numbers were between 12-14watts/Kg. Rick and Liz drove in and attended and then stayed the night with us. Dan and Russell came via the loaded Hayes party motorcoach and had a good time I'm sure. I'm not sure how much the bike fed raised for funds but I think it did well.
Sunday, October 14
Finally
Finally the mountainbike season is over. It is hard to impart tone to anything typed or written these days, so I'll have to spell it out. With the exception of the two races I missed it has been a solid 6 months of racing. Yesterday wrapped it up in Beechwood at the Beechwood Blaster. It was a friendly affair and plenty of people attended.
I had left Madison in plenty of time to preride and make adjustments and once on the highway I noticed a Rover with a Carver 69er on the back. Once I got close enough I could see it was a rigid singlespeed 69er. I sarcasticly thought "gee, I wonder where he's headed?" It turned out to be Sam.
After registering I hopped on the Ferrous with the same 34x19 gearing from Sheboygan. There were quite a few single speeds so everyone was asking what the gearing of the day would be. Most of the fast guys were running 34x20 or a 32t variation. After one lap trailing the 1 and 2 lap racers I decided a 21 would be a good idea if I wanted to finish 4 laps.
There was enough climbing to make it worth while. All the while I'm preriding, a 14 year old was shadowing me on his 26" singlespeed with a 32x18. I let him go by on a climb (yup, I let him by. that's my story and I'm sticking to it) and he looked right at home on a singlespeed. Turns out he lives there so he had everything dialed, including his youthful energy.
I finished my lap and found Bubba, Megan and Rick at the registration tent. They were blowing off the end of year Team Extreme group ride but would show up of the party. Rick was running Ss but Bubba had his Rockhound 1x9. Megan had her soon to be replaced Cannondale. (hint, hint Bubba)
There were all the usual players from a WORS or WEMS race. It would be easier to list who wasn't there... Jesse,Marco ,Matter and Trek Factory Squad.
With the blast of a rather nice looking over/under shotgun the race began. I settled into a nice 100rpm tempo and all the multispeeds began to filter around me. Nobody really started coming back to me. It quickly became apparent only the fast folks from all the levels were there for the 3 and 4 lap races. I kept spinning away and at the end of the first lap I stopped for a quick beer.
Oh yeah, the beer table. The organizers had set up a table of Specher Oktoberfest before the end of the lap. If a racer drank one of the ~8 oz cups of beer they'd get a time deduction. 1st cup = 30 seconds, 2nd cup = 45 seconds, 3rd cup = 75 seconds and I forget what the 4th cup deduction was. So that should tell you that the focus of the event was to have a good time.
The trick to the beer stop is to drink the beer quickly and get going again. I'm sure there's plenty of singlespeeders, fixie riders and bike messangers who think they can drink and ride. Bullshit. Unless they've Hashed they're amatures. While the beer was too good for down-downs and 8 oz is half-way to a proper measure, it felt good to take a 5 second break and get refreshed. I did that each of my 3 laps and it was well worth it.
Most of the lap was challenging with one exception. I don't know what the locals called it but I call it the "Marble Garden." On one of the last technical sections of the lap there is a ridge with roots and a few rocks. As the ridge wanes, there is a 10'-15' drop or descent into a collection of rounded rocks in an area maybe 20' square. There is no actual line as each time the rocks get rolled around and moved every which way. It was rough but as with the preride lap it was quite ridable. On my second lap I kept swapping places with a guy on a full squish multispeed. As we approached the Marble Garden I said aloud "you'd better ride this section, I'm right on you." He said he could and would so I gave him a 5' buffer, which wasn't enough. He dumped it right in the middle of the rocks and I had nowhere to go but into him. By fault for staying so close. In the process of trying to protct my ankle I tweaked it a bit along with puncturing/scraping my left leg. The blood was minimal but the ankle didn't like me. We pulled in to the beer table together and I assessed my status. I decided to try one more lap and see how the ankle would fare. I stayed with Mr full squish for most of the lap but he lost me on the climbs. My legs were done. On the last long climb Ronsta came by me and said "Go Tim." Great, I'd been lapped. A moment later I realized and said "hey Ron, you're in the lead!" I'm sure he thought "thank you Captain Obvious." He was flying on his Voodoo geared 34x20. Bender came by me a short time later, behind by maybe a minute or two. Then Carlos rocketed by me on the singletrack. I decided to pull the rip-cord and finish the lap and be done with my day.
I'd been seeing a 26" wheeled singlespeed trailing me on the last lap so I did have some motivation to keep pushing. As I stopped at the beer table to have the 3rd cup of beer he came by and finished. The goof-ball on the announcing platform said something like "he nipped you at the line" so I pointed out that I was on my 3rd time deduction beer and he was possibly 2 minutes behind me... plus I had a beer.
After changing clothes there was plenty of food and a pallet of Berghoff Oktoberfest in bottles to consume. I toned my drinking down but still had a good time. The two high points after the race were...
At a slightly well-weathered picnic table Ronsta, Bender, Gabriel and I were seated on one side. Bubba decided to join us. As he sat the metal support of the bench gave way and bent down 6 -8 inches. It wasn't his ~200# as much as it was Ronsta Bender & Gabriel's ~400# and my 205#.
The other was Ronsta talking to Bender, and I'll quote...
Ronsta "you know when I passed you in the beginning?"
Bender "yeah?"
Ronsta "I wasn't pedalling."
Bender *expression of puzzlement*
Ronsta "I was just coasting"
Bender *expression of disgust/amusement*
The rest of the table errupts into laughter having heard a something along the lines of "neener, neener, I was faster than you today."
Beechwood was a good end for the season even if my body took a beating. Today I'm sore and aching but I'm looking forward to my next race in February.
Tuesday, October 9
WORS finale images
Thanks to Claire...
Sephie and me at the awards
Karen and me at the awards
Russell
Ronsta
Sephie and me at the awards
Karen and me at the awards
Russell
Ronsta
Nailed it...
Last race tassles
Saturday preparation involved getting the gearing pretty much on so I wouldn't have to hoof it that much. I picked up a pair of matching handlebar streamers as I left town and it was a relatively boring 2 hour drive to Sheboygan. I rolled in at ~ 2:30 and hopped onto the trail with Russell, Joe and Coop for a refresher of the trail. Last year I'd put the skinny 'cross wheels on and suffered through the Elite race. Poor judgment on my part largely due to my late arrival after the Sport race. Why not the Comp race instead? I forget...
After roughly half a lap I pinch flatted on the rocks of the creek crossing. I hoofed it back to the truck for my tubes. After the change and proper tire pressure I short-cutted back to the site of the flat and continued on with the lap. After that I rode another with Bubba with Kerry shadowing.
Running the 34x20 felt pretty good and the only hill I had to climb was the "equalizer" on the last portion of the course. But let's face it, if a singlespeeder geared low enough for that climb they would be off the back before the prime. Not even Jesse and Marco would ride up.
That evening was spent with Rick and Liz until we met with Mark and Trevor. A few beers at a mid-life crisis bar had us ready for pillow time by 10:30.
That night I'd lost maybe 2 minutes of sleep wondering if the 20t was the gear to have. By morning I'd decided to change to a 19t and did so before going out for pancakes and eggs.
In my mind I was only racing one person, Roger. He'd had a good stretch of races while I missed two and had eeked 4 points ahead in the standings. I didn't want to "go quietly" despite the still swollen ankle. I could ride the trails without any pain, running was out of the question but staying in the saddle for everything but the Equalizer was doable.
Don did call-up 4 deep in the standings so I got a good spot between Roger and Stuart. When "Goooooooooooo!" was yelled I did with Ryan coming to the front and vanishing well ahead of us all. Coming through the park area before the prime spot my rear tire felt quite soft in the corner. By the pavement it was to the rim and everyone saw my state. I pulled in under the awning at the prime line and started to change the tube. When I pulled the tube out it stopped and I had to focus on the cause. A 1 1/2" nail had gone through the tread and out the sidewall like a rusty piercing. A fresh tube and air put me behind at least two waves, perhaps three. I hopped on the Ferrous and pinned the heartrate at 174bpm.
Most of the singletrack was wide enough I could pass all the multispeeds in my way. Even on the flats they were coming back to me. I had one conversation with the Clyde on the pink Trek full suspension as all I had was going into the ride. On the second lap I passed my first two singlespeeds and by the start of the third I'd passed one more. I noticed another fixing either a chain or a tire but I kept it pinned.
On the last lap I was flying by everyone. I had the right gearing and still felt fresh. I could keep a sweet tempo in the singletrack and on the climbs I was railing past the multis spun out in their 22x32's. I didn't think I was going to catch Roger but I wasn't going to DNF or go easily.
In the end Roger had a great race. He'd finished 4th and during the race he wondered when (not if?) I was going to come around him before the end. I congratulate him for a solid performance and a solid season which earned his 3rd place in the series.
Really.
Here's the low down on who mattered...
Ryan- 1st place in 1.18:11
Stuart 3rd at +1:54
Roger 4th at +5:04
Dan 5th at +6:12
Andy 7th at +7:13
Josh 8th at +7:28
Me 12th at +13:31
While it doesn't make me happy picking up that nail, that's racing, plus there's comfort in knowing all of my performances were honest and I rode as hard as I could every race.
Saturday preparation involved getting the gearing pretty much on so I wouldn't have to hoof it that much. I picked up a pair of matching handlebar streamers as I left town and it was a relatively boring 2 hour drive to Sheboygan. I rolled in at ~ 2:30 and hopped onto the trail with Russell, Joe and Coop for a refresher of the trail. Last year I'd put the skinny 'cross wheels on and suffered through the Elite race. Poor judgment on my part largely due to my late arrival after the Sport race. Why not the Comp race instead? I forget...
After roughly half a lap I pinch flatted on the rocks of the creek crossing. I hoofed it back to the truck for my tubes. After the change and proper tire pressure I short-cutted back to the site of the flat and continued on with the lap. After that I rode another with Bubba with Kerry shadowing.
Running the 34x20 felt pretty good and the only hill I had to climb was the "equalizer" on the last portion of the course. But let's face it, if a singlespeeder geared low enough for that climb they would be off the back before the prime. Not even Jesse and Marco would ride up.
That evening was spent with Rick and Liz until we met with Mark and Trevor. A few beers at a mid-life crisis bar had us ready for pillow time by 10:30.
That night I'd lost maybe 2 minutes of sleep wondering if the 20t was the gear to have. By morning I'd decided to change to a 19t and did so before going out for pancakes and eggs.
In my mind I was only racing one person, Roger. He'd had a good stretch of races while I missed two and had eeked 4 points ahead in the standings. I didn't want to "go quietly" despite the still swollen ankle. I could ride the trails without any pain, running was out of the question but staying in the saddle for everything but the Equalizer was doable.
Don did call-up 4 deep in the standings so I got a good spot between Roger and Stuart. When "Goooooooooooo!" was yelled I did with Ryan coming to the front and vanishing well ahead of us all. Coming through the park area before the prime spot my rear tire felt quite soft in the corner. By the pavement it was to the rim and everyone saw my state. I pulled in under the awning at the prime line and started to change the tube. When I pulled the tube out it stopped and I had to focus on the cause. A 1 1/2" nail had gone through the tread and out the sidewall like a rusty piercing. A fresh tube and air put me behind at least two waves, perhaps three. I hopped on the Ferrous and pinned the heartrate at 174bpm.
Most of the singletrack was wide enough I could pass all the multispeeds in my way. Even on the flats they were coming back to me. I had one conversation with the Clyde on the pink Trek full suspension as all I had was going into the ride. On the second lap I passed my first two singlespeeds and by the start of the third I'd passed one more. I noticed another fixing either a chain or a tire but I kept it pinned.
On the last lap I was flying by everyone. I had the right gearing and still felt fresh. I could keep a sweet tempo in the singletrack and on the climbs I was railing past the multis spun out in their 22x32's. I didn't think I was going to catch Roger but I wasn't going to DNF or go easily.
In the end Roger had a great race. He'd finished 4th and during the race he wondered when (not if?) I was going to come around him before the end. I congratulate him for a solid performance and a solid season which earned his 3rd place in the series.
Really.
Here's the low down on who mattered...
Ryan- 1st place in 1.18:11
Stuart 3rd at +1:54
Roger 4th at +5:04
Dan 5th at +6:12
Andy 7th at +7:13
Josh 8th at +7:28
Me 12th at +13:31
While it doesn't make me happy picking up that nail, that's racing, plus there's comfort in knowing all of my performances were honest and I rode as hard as I could every race.
Friday, October 5
That was then, this is now
A long time ago, 1983 to be precise, I joined the US Army and was trained as a Medical Laboratory Technician. Not being an accredited school I found employment in the bicycle industry after 1988 legislation was enacted. In 1996 I cruised through Madison Area Technical College and earned my degree a second time. Then came 2 1/2 years at UW-Madison in the Medical Microbiology & Immunology program. More difficult at times but again, my clinical work had given me an advantage.
Most of the work I'd done over the years was typical hospital/clinic work. You get sick, you go see your Doctor and any samples were sent to the lab where I would stick them in an analyzer, do a kit test, look at it under a microscope or send it off to a larger lab for other tests. Microbiology & Parasitology at Smith-Kline, Hematology at Baylor Medical Center, GC/Chlamydia project research at Wi State Lab of Hygiene, solo tech during 3rd shift at Beloit Memorial Hospital, Urgent Care Tech (mostly urine, strep tests and blood counts) and finally antibody production at Harlan Sprague Dawley. Nothing I did was too dangerous but proper procedures and sterility were derigeur.
I was more than interested in working at one of our jobs, the Influenza Research Institute when I found out we had the work. It is really interesting to see things I'd always taken for granted. It's like having x-ray vision and a time machine at times. I can visualize the space as finished product with people at the benches without closing my eyes. I know the others working on the job think I'm a looney but I'd love to work in a lab like this, and not because everything is new and sparkly.
The researcher intended for this facility, Yoshihiro Kawaoka, has a history of doing research on the edge. He's quite well known for his work with the 1918 strain of influenza. folks are being told he'll be doing bird flu work.
I dunno...
But, I don't work in labs, I just build them. Everything about this job is complex. There are many redundant features but it is designed just shy of BSL-4 safety. Think Dustin Hoffman in "Outbreak." Only safer.
All the contols, air vents, fluid monitoring, temperature control, incubator control and alarms are Honeywell which I either wired, installed or helped install or wire. Honeywell sent their two US representatives, yes, they only have two for the whole country, to give us a hand. Then they sent a programmer from India and they spent a week trying to get the system to fail. Why do we deserve the attention? Most other control installers call Honeywell with issues when they've failed to wire something properly or there's been a field-related mistake. When we call Honeywell it is for something so bizarre tey've not seen it before even in their testing labs. We never, and I do mean never, have a field-error. By that I mean we wire everything correctly. By that I mean we don't have customer service calls like...
"I can't get my cable TV to work."
"Is the TV plugged in?"
"I can't tell"
"what do you mean?"
"the city is blacked-out and the lights don't work..."
Plus, when we placed the material order they wondered what we were going to do with so many controllers, sensors and other devices. Turns out this job is not just the most complex in the state, it's the most complex Honeywell has ever had a certified contractor tackle. Even the HVAC contractor, NAMI, bit off more than they could chew. All the discharge duct work, as in all the air being removed from the rooms, is welded stainless steel ductwork. Including the offices. Previously the sum total of NAMI's stainless duct installation was limited to ventilation ducts over stoves and kitchens. 20-30 feet maximum and simply vented out the nearest wall into an alley. At IRI everything returns through multiple HEPA filters, sealed in welded stainless duct before exiting the building. All the incoming air is similarly filtered, as is the water. The air is circulated via an air handler. Normally a building of 20,000 square feet would have one (1) air handler. IRI has six (6). That's roughly 3 per floor. There are monitoring sensors in every room, duct branch and system. Wire is hanging or bundled down halls everywhere.
I really enjoy the job even if the overtime cuts into training time. At least the time and a half pays for races and parts.
More images next week if I get the chance. Sorry for the poor quality, that's as good as it gets with the phone.
Part of the open bench space like any other lab.
Inside the BSL-3AG area. Here's where they will have the ferrets, chickens and "NHP's" aka non-human primates that have been exposed to virus'.
Waste decontamination unit. Anything liquid or solid that can be put into plumbing passes through this. It is essentially a large autoclave. Everything from the handwash sinks, bathrooms, showers, floor drains or utility sinks is held in this tank, pressure and heat are applied which sterilizes everythingand then it passes into the city sewer. Nothing escapes. Even the plumbing buried under the foundation is sleeved with a clear plastic pipe containing an open circuit. if there is a leak in the plumbing it connects the two wires closing the circuit and an alarm is registered in our control panel. There will be no "seepage" into the soil.
The big panel on the left came with the unit. The 12" x 12" panel on the right I installed for the controls and alarm.
For scale, that's a 12 foot ladder piled on the right. Ceilings are roughly 15 feet high. This room is 6 feet below grade underneath the main portion of the BSL-3AG lab. The walls are thick enough I wouldn't worry about any "accidents."
All the plumbing is stainless steel and all the joints are welded. No leaks and everything is pressure tested.
Turn your monitor 90 degrees and what you are looking at is a sterility hood. Above it is the return air (discharge air) ducting whic goes into the mechanical room above.
Most of the work I'd done over the years was typical hospital/clinic work. You get sick, you go see your Doctor and any samples were sent to the lab where I would stick them in an analyzer, do a kit test, look at it under a microscope or send it off to a larger lab for other tests. Microbiology & Parasitology at Smith-Kline, Hematology at Baylor Medical Center, GC/Chlamydia project research at Wi State Lab of Hygiene, solo tech during 3rd shift at Beloit Memorial Hospital, Urgent Care Tech (mostly urine, strep tests and blood counts) and finally antibody production at Harlan Sprague Dawley. Nothing I did was too dangerous but proper procedures and sterility were derigeur.
I was more than interested in working at one of our jobs, the Influenza Research Institute when I found out we had the work. It is really interesting to see things I'd always taken for granted. It's like having x-ray vision and a time machine at times. I can visualize the space as finished product with people at the benches without closing my eyes. I know the others working on the job think I'm a looney but I'd love to work in a lab like this, and not because everything is new and sparkly.
The researcher intended for this facility, Yoshihiro Kawaoka, has a history of doing research on the edge. He's quite well known for his work with the 1918 strain of influenza. folks are being told he'll be doing bird flu work.
I dunno...
But, I don't work in labs, I just build them. Everything about this job is complex. There are many redundant features but it is designed just shy of BSL-4 safety. Think Dustin Hoffman in "Outbreak." Only safer.
All the contols, air vents, fluid monitoring, temperature control, incubator control and alarms are Honeywell which I either wired, installed or helped install or wire. Honeywell sent their two US representatives, yes, they only have two for the whole country, to give us a hand. Then they sent a programmer from India and they spent a week trying to get the system to fail. Why do we deserve the attention? Most other control installers call Honeywell with issues when they've failed to wire something properly or there's been a field-related mistake. When we call Honeywell it is for something so bizarre tey've not seen it before even in their testing labs. We never, and I do mean never, have a field-error. By that I mean we wire everything correctly. By that I mean we don't have customer service calls like...
"I can't get my cable TV to work."
"Is the TV plugged in?"
"I can't tell"
"what do you mean?"
"the city is blacked-out and the lights don't work..."
Plus, when we placed the material order they wondered what we were going to do with so many controllers, sensors and other devices. Turns out this job is not just the most complex in the state, it's the most complex Honeywell has ever had a certified contractor tackle. Even the HVAC contractor, NAMI, bit off more than they could chew. All the discharge duct work, as in all the air being removed from the rooms, is welded stainless steel ductwork. Including the offices. Previously the sum total of NAMI's stainless duct installation was limited to ventilation ducts over stoves and kitchens. 20-30 feet maximum and simply vented out the nearest wall into an alley. At IRI everything returns through multiple HEPA filters, sealed in welded stainless duct before exiting the building. All the incoming air is similarly filtered, as is the water. The air is circulated via an air handler. Normally a building of 20,000 square feet would have one (1) air handler. IRI has six (6). That's roughly 3 per floor. There are monitoring sensors in every room, duct branch and system. Wire is hanging or bundled down halls everywhere.
I really enjoy the job even if the overtime cuts into training time. At least the time and a half pays for races and parts.
More images next week if I get the chance. Sorry for the poor quality, that's as good as it gets with the phone.
Part of the open bench space like any other lab.
Inside the BSL-3AG area. Here's where they will have the ferrets, chickens and "NHP's" aka non-human primates that have been exposed to virus'.
Waste decontamination unit. Anything liquid or solid that can be put into plumbing passes through this. It is essentially a large autoclave. Everything from the handwash sinks, bathrooms, showers, floor drains or utility sinks is held in this tank, pressure and heat are applied which sterilizes everythingand then it passes into the city sewer. Nothing escapes. Even the plumbing buried under the foundation is sleeved with a clear plastic pipe containing an open circuit. if there is a leak in the plumbing it connects the two wires closing the circuit and an alarm is registered in our control panel. There will be no "seepage" into the soil.
The big panel on the left came with the unit. The 12" x 12" panel on the right I installed for the controls and alarm.
For scale, that's a 12 foot ladder piled on the right. Ceilings are roughly 15 feet high. This room is 6 feet below grade underneath the main portion of the BSL-3AG lab. The walls are thick enough I wouldn't worry about any "accidents."
All the plumbing is stainless steel and all the joints are welded. No leaks and everything is pressure tested.
Turn your monitor 90 degrees and what you are looking at is a sterility hood. Above it is the return air (discharge air) ducting whic goes into the mechanical room above.
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