But still the issues with the windmill weren't over. The thing turned out to be an enigma.
This time it was the cylinder that wanted attention.
The cylinder hangs in the well on a very long iron rod, connected to the peg and the block and like a fishing rod goes up and down, activated by the rotation of the windmill.
The cylinder, which is made up of two pieces that are screwed together, contains two washers that need to stay in place. If they don't, the water can't be pumped up.
It was a robust, copper cylinder, which in fact gave us the wrong impression. It looked perfect. That resulted in the fact that we did not really pay attention to its functioning, and did not examine it closely. We were always focused on the washers, and when we pulled the cylinder up – which was not a simple task – it was always intact. This fact would mislead us.
Whenever we would pull up the cylinder, we found that the washers had turned upside down. Every single time.
After having pulled up the cylinder for at least a dozen times, we would finally ask ourselves: why do the washers turn upside down?
Every time again we had put them straight and thought: now they're really fixed perfectly, these washers won't be able to mover or turn anymore.
And every time they managed to turn again. What was the reason?
Nobody knew.
But there was one Aurovilian who got to know about our issue, and showed solidarity: he came to help us out.
He told us that he got his cylinder from Pondy. That cylinder was less strong. Compared to our copper cylinder it even looked like a mere toy. But he said: “This cylinder will be functioning correctly for one year, if you navigate the windmill correctly.”
Günther wasn't convinced. At the same time we didn't want to put our robust cylinder back into the well.
We found ourselves in a deadlock. What could we do now?
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