When I went to do chores, I noticed that some snow had collected at the intake end of the air pipe. If snow gets pulled into the air pipe, it will melt when it gets to the warmer part and water could collect. If it were only a little snow, it wouldn’t matter because the humidity is so low that water evaporates quickly. However, if enough snow gets in it could reduce the airflow into the coop and allow even more water to collect.
In the past, I could detach the air pipe and lay it down on the ground to drain. In the current version of the biomeiler it is a problem I cannot afford to have because, now that the PEX pipes are attached to the air pipe, it would be much more difficult to remove water from the air pipe.
My solution was to add a 2-foot length of duct to the air pipe and angle it downward. I think it is unlikely that the suction in the air pipe would be sufficient to lift snowflakes high enough to get them over the bend and into the corrugated section.
The wire mesh in the duct is to keep squirrels from getting in. I haven’t had any trouble with them getting into the pipe while it is in use, but they stored a great deal of material in the pipe when it lay in a coil on the ground waiting to be used. Better safe than sorry.
