Rain Barrel Valve-O-Matic

I love my rain barrel but when it's full the water floods the driveway.
Here's my overengineered solution. A DIY automatic valve to divert the water to the barrel when it's empty.
Yes, I could have just made an overflow diverter port but this was WAY more fun!

[@JamesSmartt]

Love the creativity!

[@paulgordon1642]

Great to see you back Dean, it’s been ages!

[@DeanSegovis]

Good to be back!

[@andredues2298]

Everybody loves your content.

[@HackaweekTV]

Thank you!

[@flippinzippo9670]

This channel was one of the first I subscribed to when I discovered how cool KZbin can be. Glad you made this.

[@tdumnxy]

Always a pleasure to see you back making and creating!

[@hakology]

old timers still lurking :) ;) glad to see you posting again :)

[@michaelwilson4339]

Glad to see you're back. I stayed subscribed hoping one day you would post again.

[@Ratchet_effect]

Welcome back Deano! Your looking, sounding good nice to see life's treating you well & we're all going to see more! Hackaweek A-lot of us oldies still watch you you're not alone 👍

[@HackaweekTV]

More to come!

[@luke27luis]

Happy to see you coming back from time to time, Dean! I've been subscribed for a while now. Kinda miss the old electronics projects. Those were good times!😊

[@DeanSegovis]

Yeah lots of fun. There will be more videos for sure. It's fun to get back to hackin stuff! Thanks for subbing and watching!🤩

[@InsurgentX]

Damn. Suffering some serious vice envy on this video. Glad to see you are settled and back!

[@devincross2205]

I subscribed for a cafe raver build years ago. Glad to see you posting again!

[@HackaweekTV]

I'll probably be posting some videos on my Triumph Street Triple soon. I've got some lighting mods to do. Thanks for the sub and for watching.

[@devincross2205]

@@HackaweekTV looking forward to it!

[@chrisharper2658]

Um, don't most rain barrels have an overflow outlet that you can route to the drain? And if not, how hard can it be to add one? Imagine... no moving parts. hum...

[@kludgecraft813]

Hackaweek! I missed you, man! I like that float/valve mechanism.

[@TheCreat]

We recently got a rain water barrel, and the filling and overflow mechanism used today is actually quite clever, and has no moving parts. The idea there's a sort of "take off" from the main fall pipe coming from the roof/gutter. It is essentially a ring lining it from the inside leading to a hole, where a hose/pipe connects it to the water barrel. That ring is made from rubber and can be inserted from a hole drilled into the side of the pipe. The trick is, it doesn't flow into the barrel from the top/above, but just below the max fill line on the side, and that whole connection (to the barrel and to the vertical pipe) is watertight. If the barrel is full, it just can't flow into it, and will overflow inside the ring in the fall pipe, just continuing there. As I said, no moving parts and no secondary overflow or drain, and of no water just overflowing the barrel either. I found this quite clever, and so much cleaner than needed a mechanism, and I have no idea what it took centuries for someone to come up with it. Edit: if you google "Rain Gauge Rapido" some images should come up, much easier to just look at the thing than explain it in text. Sorry, but I tried ;)

[@HackaweekTV]

Sounds neat!

[@toddfrendell6837]

Far out, good to see you back.

[@leifsimmons2464]

Very complicated mechanism. Your objective could be achieved with a simple overflow drain into the lower part of the pipe. Basically a hole in the side of the barrel with a piece of pipe sticking out and then a 90 degree bend down into the drain pipe. Simple. no moving parts and more efficient.

[@DeanSegovis]

Others have mentioned this. I know. I just wanted to build this crazy contraption for fun!! Thanks for watching.

[@mikebond6328]

You sound like my wife.

[@leifsimmons2464]

@@mikebond6328 She seems like a sensible woman.

[@gaspumprepairservice7009]

Nice! Around 13:45 .. that crescent wrench has a perfect hole for passing that rod through, making a decent fulcrum. 👍

[@DeanSegovis]

Good eye!

[@kevinshort4098]

Glad to have you back

[@1978jra]

Nice! One idea to improve that! Change that diverter so it is normally in bypass mode and put something like a sponge or something that can absorb water and change it weight as a weight to turn it to collect mode. When sponge is dry small amount of water is bypassed and all that crud from the roof is also gone with that water! When sponge get wet and it get heavier it will turn diverter to collect and your collected water is cleaner!

[@niallflynn1833]

More weight on float part and you got a winner, waxing the wood may help

[@HackaweekTV]

I actually added a weight to the float and it helped.

[@sarathai2876]

Wow I love your shop lathe and mill. I would never leave the house. I was in Asheville last fall first time. I would like to move from Florida somewhere cooler. I spent two days there driving through neighborhoods where the commoners live. Chances are I drove through your neighborhood unless you live in a gated community or an upper priced home 🏠 which part of Asheville are you in? I only seen a little of West Asheville I was always lost 😂

[@HackaweekTV]

East. We love it here.

[@Zeebee1971]

I would use a solution without moving parts - an overflow drain like in a bathtub.

[@HackaweekTV]

Good idea. I just felt like engineering this one for fun.

[@truthreigns7]

Wow dude. Glad to have you back

[@robwgeorge]

Great to have you back. Did you swap the garbage can lids? The colors don't match and I can't only imagine how confused the garbage collectors must be :)

[@Alejandro-sd8pk]

Good to see you back!!Great!!!

[@huckmulligan1609]

Welcome back, Hack!

[@lewerim]

Been a while. Welcome back!

[@thomasbraeking6225]

How well does that work when the wood gets wet and swells/warps?

[@DeanSegovis]

I don't know yet. It needs to rain!

[@michaelhansen6481]

👍

[@jack002tuber]

When was it you were building an engine for a motorcycle? That's when I started watching

[@HackaweekTV]

2015 maybe???

[@banditone7896]

Are you related to Rube Goldberg? lol That looks pretty fun to make.

[@MrOne2watch]

welcome back !

[@Mr.Unacceptable]

Mount the barrel higher up the wall and vent the lower downspout off the back of the top of the barrel to the drain. Way simpler. You get a little water pressure out of it.

[@HackaweekTV]

Good idea but I wanted to build some shit!

[@Rick-Williams59]

I'm surprised Asheville would even allow you to collect rain water without some high priced permit.

[@HackaweekTV]

No permit needed for home owners. www.epa.gov/waterreuse/summary-north-carolinas-water-reuse-guideline-or-regulation-landscaping-and-onsite-non#:~:text=In%20North%20Carolina%2C%20collection%20of,irrigation%20(NCPC%2C%202018).

[@mikebond6328]

A lot of these comments seem like they were made by my wife. She wants a rain barrel. She doesn’t want to have to carry water very far but she doesn’t want a pump because “that’s too complicated and not free.”

[@Cyklonus]

👍👍

[@garagemonkeysan]

👏👏👏❤❤❤ Mahalo for sharing!

[@NGFJJacobin]

Back!

[@jumar360]

Nice!

[@jeolman1]

this is the most complicated way to make something that requires absolutely no moving parts to accomplish. could have installed a diverter tap on the downspout and plumb the input pipe into the side of the barrel at the max water level you want in the barrel. when the barrel is full the water will bypass the input and flow out the spout. no moving parts needed

[@TheWibbo]

He must be a former Audi engineer

[@HackaweekTV]

I actually work on Audis. Hate em!

[@HackaweekTV]

Certainly could have done that but I wanted to see if I could build this contraption just for fun.

[@inssan6550]

Down pipe water but diverters are about 10 bucks, what are you playing at man!

[@DeanSegovis]

Just having fun building crazy stuff.

[@Steven1Cicero]

I don't understand why you couldn't have just ran an overflow off the back of the barrel down to the extraction pipe and let the overflow water just run down and out that way through a 3" elbow and piece of 3' gutter pipe, Instaed of deverting the flow from the barrel, Let it flow into the barrel and overflow out a piece of pipe in the back of the barrel, 3'"in 3" out same results. You could also put the overflow through the bottom of the barrel and extend it up inside of the barrel to the height that you want inside of the barrel, Just like an overflow in a toilet tank. No need for any moving parts!

[@HackaweekTV]

I like building crazy shit!

[@BaconbuttywithCheese]

When you build something on youtube, it is etiquette to show it working at the end, otherwise it's a story without an ending.

[@HackaweekTV]

Well then you'll just have to come back for the follow up video when it rains.

[@BaconbuttywithCheese]

@@HackaweekTV Nope lol.

[@DeanSegovis]

@@BaconbuttywithCheese Is there a book I can buy on KZbin etiquette? Perhaps you've written one?

[@BaconbuttywithCheese]

​@@DeanSegovis There is a guide, written with crayons, just for you.

[@DeanSegovis]

@@BaconbuttywithCheese I LOVE CRAYONS!!