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New and Improved Xmas Tree Siphon
I love having a tree in the house especially the way it smells but it's such a pain to try and keep it watered.
You've got to reach way under the tree to see if it needs water then try and re-fill it wwithout making a mess.
Last year I came up with a solution, a siphon bent from 6 mm stainless tube (the "Model A" siphon).
The straight end goes in the tree stand, the curved end goes in a tub of water.
The curve helps you start the siphon by attaching a piece of tubing to the curved end and squirting a mouthfull of water through the siphon. Disconnect the tubing before you run out of water.
Once the siphon is started the level in the tub will match the level in the stand. You can easily see the water level and add more as needed.
The water tub needed to be close to the tree stand so you still needed to maneuver under the branches.
I thought about making a longer siphon but 6 mm stainless is still somewhat awkward.
This year I realized that I didn't need a lot of flow, just enough to keep up with the tree.
So I made the siphon up from two pieces of 3 mm stainless tube connected with flexible plastic tubing.
Now the water tub is back against the wall where I can easily refill it.
In the picture it's sitting on a paint can to match the height of the tree stand.
The water level in the tub will always match the water level in the tree stand so you want the top of the tub to be the same height as the top of the tree stand.
Keep the water level above the siphon inlet, if it gets below the inlet it will let air in and stop the siphon. 