I'm a new comer in icemaker.I start with 3 friends three years ago,and nobody have had any cours.
Before us the ice maitenance was done by the town labors.
A then , we asked them to have a reduction off $15,000.00/year to do the curling maitenance.
So we learned a lot and we still.
Last year we have added a dehumidificator,and it did a lot change in the ice speed . At the season's beginning the ice is almost perfect i.e. around 14-15 sec for a draw.
But at the begining of mid decembre to mid febreary the ice speed drop by 1 at 2 sec after the 3rd pebble.
We think this is due to the too low RH and the outside temp at those dates are around minus 20C.We aren't sure?
Where should we begin?
Should we invest in the struture isolation before adding an humidifier and later on invest in a good warmer system.
Now the temperatur system is 6 hotwater units outside the six sheets control by 6 thermostat on the outside wall.
This year we would like to know what is the best to do first.
Thank for your help.
Poial
Hi Poial
If I were you, I would insulate first. Learn what changes in the first season and decide from there. If it does get so cold for a few months, try warming up the ice to compensate.
If you can, tell us excatly where your are, or email me.
JohnMinnaar@aol.com
Tank a lot for reply !
I'm suppose to invite a firm to analyse how the curling is insulate .
Could you tell me how important it is to have the reading you talk IST,AT,RT,DPT,in(WATER IN A CURLING).And how often should we take those reading ? Is there a way to control DPT except Dehumidificator ?
I'll keep you inform ! Thank again! Poial
Depending on the condition of your building, i'd either install a good set of heaters, or insulate the building. If your building is at least in reasonably good shape, i'd go with heaters first personally.
Like i told you in my first comment , we do have six heaters around the buiding at say,ten feets high over the sheets.
What kind of heater is best and where should they be install?
And we stiill have some ventilators one at each corner.We stop those ventilator lats year thinking those can make flat spot in 2 corner.Maybe they weere not coorctly instal?
I wait yours comments Guys ! Poial
It sounds like you need insulation first! By coincidence I received an email from someone else with much the same problems of heating and air circulation, and this is what I said to him:
"Heating is important, without it the rink wouldn't function so well. Without insulation about 50% or more of your heat will be wasted, usually through the roof. The fans will help to move the warm air out of the roofspace and circulate it to lower levels, but they can also help to create hot spots by directing too much onto one area. I had a case where the heat focused on a spot 1 ft sq at the end of a side sheet, causing it to melt, and I never really found the answer.
"Whether you have 2 or 4 furnaces will depend on the capacity of each furnace. If possible I would always go for four smaller ones rather than two bigger ones, simply because if one breaks it is less serious and easier to fix. But how to move the air is a tricky question for any number. Also, if there is a lot of heat in the roofspace, there will also be a lot of infrared radiation towards the ice that will cost more money to extract, and this can become a vicious circle. The trick is to arrange things so that you only introduce as much heat as you need to keep the AT (air temp at 1.5m) stable, for most this will be around 6-8 Celsius, without moving warm air onto or over the ice.
"Your club probably won't have the money, but here is what I would do. Depending on what your rafters are made of, it won't be too difficult to insulate the ceiling. You can either put in a false ceiling under the rafters with insulation on top, or you can install a low-E ceiling in such a way that you trap air above it where the rafters are. The air itself will give insulation and the aluminium will prevent most of the emitted radiation. The low-E ceiling will be cheaper than insulation, but if you don't dehumidify the roofspace condensation will form and drip onto the ceiling and then the ice. If you have a dehume, then put part of the ducts in the roofspace.
"Now that you have insulation and a smaller air volume to heat, you can start playing with the airflow. I would put one furnace at each side of the hoglines and aim them all either clockwise or anti-clockwise, using the fans to GENTLY help move the air in the same direction. You can use smoke to see what happens (stinks a bit!) or strips of thin plastic hanging in the air, or just candles in different places and watch the flames. This can be a delicate business and will take time, but eventually you'll have what works best."
It doesn't matter if you have six heaters or one, it is the movement of the air that is important because the heat is in the air and must be distributed as evenly as possible. The ventilators (fans?) will help you do this, if you aim them correctly and play a bit to learn. If you read the RT, AT and IST often you will also be able to see what changes after you move something. How often to read? I always checked mine once a day and wrote this down, which makes it easy to see from day to day, but also read the OT. Then I would take readings every 15 minutes when the rink is full of curlers to see how things change. You'll be surprised!
The DPT is more difficult, especially if the weather changes quickly. It will be very difficult and also expensive if you try to control the DPT without a dehumidifier, and then dehumidifiers are expensive! But if you can find a second-hand dessicant dehumidifier like Munters you will soon see the difference. If you can get the AT to 6C or even warmer and the RH to 65% you'll be fine. The important thing here is not to spend money to waste money. Insulate first, use the heaters you have. Then dehumidify (the Munters also gives some heat) and keep learning, then see how best to use your heat to give you what you want, without wasting too much.