Blank Thermostat: cause and fix

Over the years, I had AC issues almost every year due to the aging AC unit we had. The most common issue is blown capacitor to the outdoor condensers. Rarely but costly, AC units reached the end of service life.  For AC issues, I typically call AC service company, but I did solve a few issues myself, including a) short life of my second floor AC condenser, b) one bedroom really hot, no cold air from vent.  Friday last week, I had blank thermostat , tried to DIY without success and had to call AC service.

Here is the story.

Friday afternoon last week, our second floor AC unit thermostat went blank, and the  2nd floor AC stopped running. It was hot there. But the first unit worked just fine, worked much harder than usual because the single unit had to cool the whole house.

 

The first thing came to my mind, the breaker to AC unit tripped, it did not. I searched internet, for this brand it might have a battery, and battery died, it did not have batteries. 

I called my AC installer, a technician came. The technician was pretty sure what happened,  a clogged AC drainage line made the thermostat blank. He checked the AC unit drainage, it was backed up! 

Here is the AC drainage set up. The drainage lines from the two units merged at a vertical line, and the drainage goes to a bath room sink drainage. 

drainage lines merges at a single vertical PVC pipe

The black hose connects the AC drainage line to the sink's drainage

He was trying to unclog it for me. While he was working, I asked quite a few questions. 

He took off the hose first, the hose had some debris in it, but was not clogged. I cleaned the hose, he put it back on. The 2nd floor AC drainage line was still backed up.

There is a block valve to the 2nd floor AC unit drainage line. He installed a block valve to the 1st floor AC unit drainage line. So he could use nitrogen compress air to blow the blockage. He closed the block valves, applied pressure from the dysfunction side, a couple times, the drainage did not clear. He then applied pressure from 1st floor unit AC line. He opened the block valves on both lines, did not see drainage clear. He told me that I had to get a plumber to clear the drainage line. Before he packed up his tools, he applied the pressure one more time from the 2nd floor unit AC line, the dysfunctional one, water shot out of the 1st floor AC unit emergence drainage line.

Then the the water in clogged AC line for 1st floor unit cleared! Both units were working. Before he left he told me that if it backed up again I had to call plumber.

The vertical open pipe is the emergency relieve 

On the early morning of Saturday, around 3 am, I was awaken by the un-idling first floor AC, it was running but not cooling. I went to attic, checked the 1st floor AC drainage, it was backed up. I drained it manually, to a large bucket. The AC ran, and started to cool again, in about 30 minutes the unit idled. I raised AC set temperature 1 degree, and went to back to sleep.

But I did not solve the root cause of the problem, the clog in AC drainage line(s) remained.

Lily and I analyzed the situation, and decided that the clog must be above the junction of the two drainage lines because condensate backed up in only one AC  drainage line. 

I called the AC service during the day on Saturday.  I talked to the technician on duty, and convinced him to come to my house to unclog the drainage lines in attic, above the junction, for me. I also requested that the service visit should be free since the problem was not solved from the first visit Friday evening. He  got the approval to make the service call free of additional charge.

The second technician came Saturday evening. I did not drain the 1st floor AC line before he arrived so I showed him the backup. He checked the AC units, drainage lines, one worked, one did not. 

He applied pressure from 1st floor AC line, and then 2nd floor AC unit. One time he applied really high pressure, the drainage lines shook with pretty loud sound. Both AC drainage lines were clear. We could see that 2nd floor AC drainage line clear through the transparent U-pipe. He poured some water in the bucket into the 1st floor AC emergency drainage pipe, it drained quickly, he poured more water, it drained again. We were pretty confident that he unclogged the AC drainage lines. 

The worry now was that the vibration from the high pressure could break some pipe couplings, and make the drainage lines leak. We looked and could not see any issue, we decided that I had to monitor the situation.

U-pipe indicated proper drainage 

A week later, everything still works, no leak anywhere. 

Summary

1) Blank thermostat can be caused by a) tripped breaker, 2) clogged AC drainage line

2) If only one AC unit drainage backed up, it means the clog should be above the junction of the two drainage lines, AC service is responsible.

3) If both AC unit drainage backup, it is likely 

        a) both lines above junction clogged,  still AC service's responsibility

        b) the clog occur below the junction, say close to the black hose near the bathroom sink, then a 

            plumber is needed

4) To prevent future clog or mold in drainage lines, we need to pour some bleach or vinegar into the drainage lines. Note one must NOT mix bleach and vinegar. Mixing these two produce chlorine gas!which is harmful to one's health and may cause damage to your drainage lines.

Mt Elbert Trip: Summer Rural Scenes along US-287

We drove on US-287 at least two dozen times when we drove to and from Taos Ski Valley, NM, or Wolf Creek Ski Resort for skiing, or visit Panhandles, TX, West NM. It was about 4 years since we last drove on 287. As we drove on it to Mt Elbert, many memories on those road trips, and familiar scenes made me feel like meeting an old friend. It occurred to me that I should record what I saw when Lily took over driving on the way home.

Most of the 287 between Dallas and Amarillo is rural area, dotted with small towns. The land is flat on panhandles and the road is straight into horizon. The most common scenes are cattle, horses, silos, water towers at the small towns, and windmills - simple and pure! Despite some of the man made structures, it feels so close to nature, earth. 

into Horizon

 

Cattle munching

Horses at a ranch

Silos - Abandoned?

Water tower and farm house

Windmill

Electra, a town by US-287, has a special meaning to us. A winter storm in 2009, stranded us near this small town. After avoiding a head-on collision, we went to Electra Bible Baptist Church for shelter and food. The worst experience we had led to the best memory.  That's the one and only time we stopped at Electra, but I relive our experience every time we pass this town. 

Bible Baptist Church is about 1 mile south from this water tower 

A big silo at Electra

 

Of course there are modernization to the rural area - trains,  18-wheeler trucks/cars on 287 passing by, nodding donkeys, solar farms, large wind turbines. There are fast food chains, hotels and lodges, boutique stores, restaurants, gas stations at towns. There also abandoned houses in the perimeters of the towns and on ranches.

The obsession with Arkansas River headwaters made me on high alert when we passed a red river near town Estelline  - it is the source river of the Red River - Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River.

I am sure that we will be on US-287 many more times as we continue to explore Texas panhandle, New Mexico and Colorado. 

an 18-wheeler in the rear view mirror

nodding donkeys

a solar farm

wind turbines

Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River

Mt Elbert Trip: Hummingbird

The first time I saw hummingbird in person was 6 years ago at Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park: one early morning as I was sitting in front of the cabin we stayed, a bird swished down from the roof and flapping its wings right in front of me - a hummingbird! Just as quickly it flew away, so I had no chance to capture it on camera. I was memorized by this encounter and wished to see hummingbirds in person again. The next time I saw a hummingbird, was July 2019, when I visited Garden by the Bay at Singapore.

As we were about to take off for Mt Elbert,  a friend shared photos of hummingbirds from her vacation at Colorado on Wechat Moment. To see hummingbirds, I changed the sightseeing for our stop at Walsenburg CO to beaver creek state wild life area, due to report of migrating hummingbird sightings there (and it was on the way to Mt. Elbert) .

In fact we saw no hummingbirds at Beaver Creek State Wildlife area. My first sighting of the hummingbird on this trip was at Mountain Aries Market by highway 9 when I went there to ask for next closest gas station since we were running out of gas. Hummingbirds came and went at the feeder hanging  in the store front porch. I was eager to fill the tank to have time to watch and observe hummingbirds, took a couple of quick pictures and drove on.

A hummingbird at the feeder of Mountain Aries Market

No worry though, it turned out that there are a lot of hummingbirds in Colorado, some actually stay year round. When we arrived at Inns Cloud, Leadville, CO, I saw hummingbirds come and go at high frequency at the Inn's  feeders, no need even go for looking!

We had five days watching and observing black chinned hummingbird and ruby throated hummingbird: there were two feeders at front door of the inn. All hummingbirds preferred the one on the right hand side, which was a bit further away from entrance, even when the honey water in this feeder was nearly drained, and the other feeder was still near full! Bird's instinct for safety!

When the hummingbirds fly to the feeder, we could here that their flapping make a "metallic sound" before reaching the feeder. Some would stay in air, their natural position for drinking nectar, to drink the honey water from the feeder, others are urbanized, they would stand on the ring of the feeder to drink!

Typically there is only one hummingbird at the feeder, if one comes when there is another one there already, the more aggressive bird would chase the other away, sometimes they fight in air! But some could get along well, a friend took a picture of 4 hummingbirds sharing one feeder!

There are so many hummingbird feeders at Leadville, one can see hummingbirds anywhere if they can wait long enough time at a feeder.

This diligent drank from feeder  from its natural position - in air

Two hummingbirds fought for the territorial; they might confront each other in air! 

Black Chinned Hummingbird

Coming in to the feeder

feeding in air

fly away

a hummingbird feeding on stand position

Will the feeders domesticate the hummingbirds? Unlikely. There are so many more hummingbirds in the mountains than in towns. I wish to see them in the wild drinking flower nectar in air.

On June 30th, during our visits to twin lakes and turquoise lake, we hiked 1 mile from Mt Elbert south trail head, flowers everywhere, and we heard the "metallic sound" we heard at the inn. There are quite a few hummingbirds there, but we could see none. On the way back to trail head, Alerted by its flapping sound, I saw a humming bird flying to a flower by the trail, and drinking nectar from flowers!!

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Side notes: Photos from a friend

4 hummingbirds sharing one feeder, Cuchara, CO

A ruby throated  hummingbird, Cuchara, CO

Mt Elbert Trip: Arkansas River Headwaters

On the last stretch of driving to Mt. Elbert, we were driving on highway 24, and I noticed there is a river running in parallel with the highway. That river turns out to be Arkansas river.

During the course of acclimation and exploration of Mt Elbert's trail head, we crossed the river quite a few times. But the recreational usage of the river is not straight forward - some lands along the river are privately owned. The river bank areas are barb-wired with red warning signs.

We stopped at an access point to the river on highway 24 for a couple times, where the land is privately own, there is a public/private partnership, which the land owner allows limited access to the river for fishing and limited hiking. The water in the river is clear and flows fast, the river bank is lush; trouts are abundant in the river, and birds chirp and swoop in and over the bushes and small trees on the bank.

  

View of Mt Elbert (left) and Mt Massive (right) from a river bend of Arkansas river

I was obsessed with some very basic questions about the river -  where is the start of the river? What does the headwaters look like? .... A quick online search and looking at the map, I know that the whole valley along the highway 24 from Leadville to highway 285/291 at Salida, are the Arkansas river head waters, in fact the valley is called Arkansas river valley. 

 

But the exact start of the river was not listed anywhere. I zoomed in on Google map and eventually found the start of Arkansas river , which is located east of Turquoise Lake, west of Leadville, by county road 9, as highlighted in the following figure. The start of Arkansas river is where Tennessee creek and east fork Arkansas river merge. Down stream from the start there are still many creeks, streams merge into the Arkansas, that's why Arkansas river valley between Leadville and Salida  is defined to be the headwaters of Arkansas river.

 

After summiting Mt. Elbert on July 1st, we have one more day at Leadville before going home, and we visited planned areas already, so we went to visit Arkansas River Headwaters recreation area in Salida.

On the way to Salida, we stopped at the access point just north of highway 10, the one we stopped at before. But this time we crossed the barb-wired fence through a narrow "gate" entrance.  The access point is right by a bridge.

There was a group of anglers at the river bank, fishing. We went the other direction, toward the bridge.

It turned out that there are a lot of bird nests at the side of the bridge. I watched the birds intently.

They were flying around, some would go back to the nests to rest a while and then came back again to join the flock. I waited patiently for one bird to come out of its nest, and it paid off, I caught it on the flight. Using SEEK, I know that they are cliff swallows. Instead of cliff, they live under bridge!

Birds and Bird nests at the side of the bridge

A cliff swallow was ready to join the crowd

The cliff swallow flew out of its nest

Moving on to Salida Arkansas river headwaters recreation area, the Google map led us to the office for the recreation area. We checked in and asked about where to hike and sightseeing.

We went to Marvin Park and Sands lake area, parking at the intersection of M street and Sackett avenue. 

The trail is a paved riverside walk, well shaded.

A willow tree by the river

Rocky mountains in the background

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly

An unknown bird - old robin?

Geese in Sands Lake

A Robin

a small solar farm by the river

This bird is very common there, but I did not get a front view of it.

This section of Arkansas river is a level 1/2 river excellent for kayaking, river rafting

The Arkansas River Headwaters Recreation area is a very nice area, quiet, beautiful, with rocky mountains in the background. There are many type of birds there along the river bank - I saw at least five different species. It is a good place for bird watching. It is also a great place for river sports, unfortunately we did not prepare for it, and did not get into the water.

On the way returning to hotel, we went to the NUMBERS, a Colorado water recreation area by highway 24, to have lunch, enjoying the food and listening to the sound of the rushing river. We were all by ourselves there - what a treat.

Late that afternoon, we went to county road 9, to take a look at the start of Arkansas river, where Tennessee creek and east fork Arkansas river merge. The access road is a private road, with "no trespassing" sign. I then drove around to the old railway track CR 9, across the river from the private road. I attempted to walk to the river's starting point -  there is a faded sign between the rail road and the river, supposedly a warning sign, so I stopped. A private home occupies the land around the start of Arkansas river, preventing public access to the geographically significant landmark. The landowner knows the significance of this landmark, and they build a gazebo there.  I am frustrated by this fact to this date. 

a private home occupies the land around the start of Arkansas river, preventing public access to the geographically significant land mark

the old rail track at the start of the Arkansas river

The start of Arkansas river is located between the Gazebo and the trees 

On the other hand, the question is where the river mouth is. This part of information is from internet search. The Arkansas river starts at the rocky mountains near Mt Elbert , it runs 1469 miles from Colorado to Arkansas, where it flows into Mississippi river. It is the 6th longest river in US, and 45th longest river in the world.