Excessively Running Dock Circulators

[Eagle54]

Originally Posted by DickR

I would think that having circulator ON time controlled solely by air temperature would at times lead to too much use. Once a circulator has opened up a small area around the dock, there is no point in having it stay running, even if the air is cold. Sure, a thin skim layer of ice will form after a while during an OFF interval (with a programmable timer), but it has no particular strength, and the next ON interval melts it out easily. But the key to minimizing circulator power use and extent of ice-free area is regular adjustment of programmed ON intervals. That requires regular attention over the winter.

I would suggest to the OP that he approach the offending owner and get his OK to make those regular adjustments. Over recent years, I have done this for an abutter. I can see much of what I need to see from my window, and I'm outside often enough to see all of it. During cold snaps I add short ON intervals and lengthen them as needed, then trim ON time when the weather moderates. Everyone using a circulator needs to understand that when the wind moves the ice sheet, no amount of circulator action will stop it.

I completely agree about controlling ON times, not just setting and ignoring. Many times I have offered to adjust his circulator when we have a warm or very cold spell, and I've suggested to him that if he doesn't want me to do that he should hire someone to adjust it when it's running too long. He insists he knows how to handle it, and he's too cheap to pay someone to come and adjust it.