Integration testing
To ensure a system works, you have options: test the individual components ("unit testing"), or test the system as a whole, end-to-end ("integration testing"). Maybe a mix of both, depending on the context. In the case of pressure-testing the bathroom plumbing, I've done the latter.
First connecting the pieces:
The board for the tank accumulator is only temporary, and the jubilee clip is too big (extras are en route). I also got some rubber mats for the pump vibration, which work wonderfully. It's perfectly noticeable — silent and you wouldn't hear a leak, too loud and it's obnoxious.
And no matter how many times I wrap PTFE around a thread, I always have to think about which way it goes...
Then, (partly) filling the tank!
And finally connecting the wires:
It works!!! And after sealing the end, it pressurised and stayed leak-free. For whatever reason I was worried about the push-fit joins, they seemed kinda fake, but nothing to fear.
Although afterwards I realised there was a bunch of water left in the pipes, and I didn't know how to get it out... I need a release valve, as low as possible. I'll squeeze one in after the pump that can drain into the shower sump.
It was a relief to get this done; for whatever reason I'd made it into this huge thing, and let it block everything else. But now I can get back to building.
In other news, on Thursday I picked up some of the tile samples:
I'll make the real ones bigger, but I need to decide on the clay... there's not an obvious winner, but it's between the LF White Earthenware (top right) and Millennium (middle right, a stoneware clay). Problem with the earthenware is that the glaze might crack, which means a) aesthetics, and b) I'll need an extra sealant. It's probably fine, just not as hardy as stoneware, but the millennium clay looks drab in comparison. Decisions.
The coral/pink/orange(??) above is the leading contender for my splash of colour on some of the tiles. Ironically those photos are lit by low-CRI LEDs, so it doesn't truly represent the colour.
I also ordered shower drains (for hiding in the wall — it'll look epic), which I'd been searching for... it's more common to have them in the floor, and I could find ones for £300+ per 12-inch drain (wtf?), but I finally discovered reasonable ones on Amazon of all places.
And on Friday, the first window arrived! The rest are ready, but sat in the warehouse — I asked for delivery in the Spring with some warmer weather (I need to paint the exterior first), but the bedroom currently has no window... I'm waitin' on a sunny day.
Double-glazed, "thermal break," and it opens — hinges slightly like a hopper, but you can also take out the whole window for when it's hot.
Until next Sunday!
- Nick
P.S. you may have noticed it looks different around here. I got tired of the devops required to post an update (and then separately send an email), so I switched to a self-hosted Ghost instance and it is delightful.