Hints & Tips

[Plouasne]

If working on water mains, fire mains etc, and have to do a pressure test, make sure the the pipe line is restrained , both at the end point, changes of direction, and down the pipeline as well, I have scene end caps blow off, a whole pipe line rear up in the air, and heard about a 2" galvanised iron pipe line jointed with PTFE tape come unscrewed (all the inspector said was, I would never have thought it)

DO NOT, REPEAT DO NOT, use a force cup plunger or any form of kinetic ram, when there are push fit plastic fittings in the waste line, you run the risk of forcing the pipe out of the fitting

Use electric trace heating on non-continuously supported plastic pipes

Remind me to tell the tale about how a new building of over £2 million, was burnt down because of this, slight error by the design engineer

do not under any circumstances use copper to pass acetylene gas through it !
either you or somebody else will be playing their harp if you do
Copper acetate, is explosive, and can self explode

[leadpig]

Originally Posted by Plouasne

do not under any circumstances use copper to pass acetylene gas through it !
either you or somebody else will be playing their harp if you do
Copper acetate, is explosive, and can self explode

stored in head,

[Bernie2]

Did you know, that if you use oxy acetylene bottles, the acetylene bottle is painted maroon with a white patch. The idea being that if the bottle is low and you get a flashback into the bottle that sets the kapok alight. The paint will blister so you can see the bottle is hot. One of the bottles, I think its the acetylene, has got a concave shaped bottom with a peg in it, that is supposed to blow out if the pressure gets too high in the bottle.

They are joking I'd be long gone after a flashback like that :-) :-)

Did you know you are supposed to have a bath of water big enough to submerge the flashback bottle in. Then you are supposed to partly open the valve while its under water and the fire goes out, and of course no smoking. After venting you then inform the bottle supplier.

I thought it was amusing, I have used oxy acetylene many times and we have never or very seldom been supplied with even a cart to carry the bottles on, let alone the chain to keep them upright.

As to flashback arrestors, well what are those?

Perhaps at the bottle end by the gauges they may have some, but they are supposed to be at both torch and bottle end. A hose fire isn't funny.

The thing is, it seems not all that many people know much about the safe use of oxy acetylene in the Plumbing industry. They should of course. It may be the guy next to you using it, but if it goes up, it won't ask who you are, it'll just blow.

Incidentally oxygen fires are worse than acetylene.

The fire brigade love them :-) :-)

Here is another tip:

On the end of your water gauge gas hose, fix a piece of 8mm pipe with about 50mm of gas hose on the end. It makes it rigid, so you can reach into those daft test nipples on the boilers that have their gas valves at the back. :-) :-)

Try WD40 for cleaning marks off pvc.

[Plouasne]

A stuck screw can sometimes be made to loosen, by heating it up, heat a bit of steel, just smaller then the screw head, to red heat, then place the red hot end on the screw to heat the screw, it can loosen the screw, but may need a couple of applications of heat before it moves

[TerryH]

I like the washing machine frictionless slippy tippy & the tap washer tip. Is anyone like me and saying, 'Yes, of course, it's so obvious. Why didn't I think of that?'

One of my favourite tips is to soak new fibre tap washers in water for a good few minutes, they begin to swell a little and always remain watertight without over tightening.
TH

Some simple ones:

For joints in tight places wrap PTFE around half a pencil and use this to wrap it around the olive. Those free Ikea pencils are perfect.

When drilling holes in concrete floors for toilet pans, partially push the rawl plug in the holes THEN brush up the dust. Then tap it fairly deep so it's easy to find the hole with a screw.
I've seen lads spend 10 minutes trying to find the holes they've just made.

[stevetheplumber]

when changing a three way valve cut the lead just outside the junction box and pull the outer pvc of then only remove one core at a time this way you can always see where they go even in the tightest box
ooooh i do love a tight box

[leadpig]

Originally Posted by Bernie2

Did you know, that if you use oxy acetylene bottles, the acetylene bottle is painted maroon with a white patch. The idea being that if the bottle is low and you get a flashback into the bottle that sets the kapok alight. The paint will blister so you can see the bottle is hot. One of the bottles, I think its the acetylene, has got a concave shaped bottom with a peg in it, that is supposed to blow out if the pressure gets too high in the bottle.
.

acetylene is concaved at the bottom with a surrounding plate to keep it vertical,peg what the are you smoking,in17 years of using acetylene ive seen no peg

Originally Posted by Bernie2

t.

As to flashback arrestors, well what are those?

Perhaps at the bottle end by the gauges they may have some, but they are supposed to be at both torch and bottle end. A hose fire isn't funny.

The thing is, it seems not all that many people know much about the safe use of oxy acetylene in the Plumbing industry. They should of course. It may be the guy next to you using it, but if it goes up, it won't ask who you are, it'll just blow.
i
Incidentally oxygen fires are worse than acetylene.

The fire brigade love them :-) :-)
.

i know exactly what there for,as do most other plumbers on here,stop being patronising

[obseen16]

anyone got any tips for anything to do with laminate flooring? i.e pulling up specific sections, putting back neatly, how to avoid damaging etc lol,

[Plouasne]

Originally Posted by obseen16

anyone got any tips for anything to do with laminate flooring? i.e pulling up specific sections, putting back neatly, how to avoid damaging etc lol,

Try a hot air gun to soften the adhesive

A small hand held angle grinder, can be a very useful tool a lot quicker the a hacksaw at times, also much more versatile, putting a chamfer on the end of iron pipe to allow the stocks and dies an easy first cut, cutting a pipe where a hacksaw or junior hacksaw is hard to get in for the cutting stroke, cutting the top of a drain pipe for a branch pipe to join the main run, (in a man hole), a "cut saw" sabre saw, is another nice piece of tackle to have to hand, to rip down the toung of T&G floor boards