Originally published at: Watch this fancy fan spin icicles in Austin, Texas | Boing Boing
…
5 Likes
That fan’s gonna be toast once it warms back up- the blades are generally made of pressboard, which tends to warp and fall apart when it gets damp, let along wet.
I feel sorry for the citizens of Texas with the exception of the politicians and other assholes who directly caused this problem.
11 Likes
It’s always fun when someone obviously hasn’t watched Final Destination.
7 Likes
Oh, enough of us Texans worked hard to make this fail possible that we should probably just save the sympathy for those under 18 that we screwed-over.
4 Likes
Let’s run electricity through a flooded appliance! That’ll be fun! I’ll stand here in this puddle and make a video!
9 Likes
What’s dumber than standing under icicles? Putting them under centrifugal force and then standing in the path of their probable trajectories.
3 Likes
Given that it’s been running for hours (given typical icicle growth rates), I suspect the probability of this being the precise moment of projectile launch to be rather low.
He was standing 5’ from the center of the fan given the floor tiles and water spatter, probably 2’ from the circumference given typical fan diameters of 40-50". The fan is rotating at around 2-3s per revolution, that provides a whopping… 1’/sec (or around 0.5mph) of linear speed at launch.
It’d fall to the ground in .6 seconds, so standing even 1’ away from the blades seems sufficient to protect upper-body mass, and he’s standing twice that distance.
8 Likes
Fancy?
2 Likes
These formed on the hubcaps of my VW Beetle once driving thru heavy wet snow in Kentucky, not going much over 40mph.
I keep seeing videos of major ceiling failures from burst pipes out of Texas. Are these all from second-story bathrooms, or do TX contractors routinely run supply lines through attics? Nobody in my region would do that because we have vicious winters.
Good math! I hope the videographer did similar calculations before filming.
The good news, all the Arctic Circle RD gets done in the lower 48, mostly Texas.
1 Like
Arizona does it too, at least in central part of the state. the high country (Payson, Flagstaff, etc.) probably does it in a more sensible manner, or they insulate their lines.
I’m not a plumber but I think a house on a slab might use the attic route since there’s no basement. Just guessing though. Either way, water damage is awful. I’m wondering how the insurance companies will find creative ways to deny these claims.
2 Likes
It’s not rare to put a hot water heater in the attic, though we took ours out the moment we moved in. The devastating videos floating around often are often coming from apartment complexes, where the plumbing for several different residences could be routed that way, especially if the complexes are three or four stories tall.
1 Like
On the bright side, at least he doesn’t have carpeting.
2 Likes
My apartment building had more pipes bust this week than I could count. It’s currently 34°F and there is a huge steaming lake of hot water ~15 ft outside my apartment door. I have no idea who’ll end up paying, or even who’s responsible for the repair. I am sure that insurance companies and utilities will both manage not slip out on the bills.
5 Likes
Mixing water and electricity.
And then moved closer.
1 Like
In the good old days when I could go south on vacation, I knew enough to shut off the water and drain the lines in case of freezing. Do people not know enough to do that down south?
That’s awful. I just got a text from my sister in Dallas a moment ago. Her house had four pipes burst above the garage and kitchen. Fortunately she was home and was able to shut off the main water supply quickly. We dodged a bullet at our house here in Kansas. It got down to -18 but my pipes held up.
2 Likes
