Monday 23rd December 2013

Once again I woke up very early and couldn't get back to sleep so I got up and sorted out all my emails and then read the news. Yesterday’s high temperature had caused our main ARPANSA gamma ray detector to crash so I had to use the spare detector. This problem is now getting serious as we can’t keep the room cool enough to keep the equipment operating. It sounds crazy, but we might have to install an air conditioner in the building to keep things cool. In the meantime I have to find a way of cooling the equipment. 

Even though it is only about +2c outside, the intense sun heats up the outside of the building too hot to touch and the room can get up to +30c. I covered the front single glazed window with reflective bubble wrap insulation to keep the sun out and then I opened the rear service door to get ventilation throughout the whole building. I also opened the bleed air fully and blocked up the cable ducts to try and improve the air circulating in the building. 

During the filter change the door detector on the filter cabinet was playing up again so I pulled the whole unit apart to repair it. I got a call to say the paging unit was not working so I tested the UPS and found it was only holding up for less than ten minutes so I replaced all the battery’s and then brought the paging system back on line. I also checked the Wombat UPS and this one was working fine. Later I finished extending my portable tower and after work I went and wrote up my blog for the past few days and watched this weeks episode of Homeland. Yep, I'm sucked in too.

Mawson winter crew 2013