Hm. I'll try again (I don't remember if the Reset button was hit; if the rods don't move, I'll obviously hit it and then set them up in the following pattern):
A11, I11
A12, B12, C12, D12, E12, F12, G12, H12, I12.
It is similar to when someone earlier talked about "moving all the disks down as far as possible" which I don't think was ever actually executed.
Also, we've done the vertical line, so I figured the solid horizontal line would be a good idea. The other bit of logic was that the last pattern to be mostly horizontal ended up with the longest whirr at 150sec (barring the rather odd 180sec. reset). Perhaps this will get an even longer whirr?
Of course, I shall hit Initiate and do the usual "check the temperature at various points of the pool" thing, along with as much general observation about the room as possible during the whirring.