I love that to finish the patch, after all digging, and sheath fitting, the big impact driving and such, it’s completed with a tiny little crescent wrench.
That's effectively a patch. That's designed to hold until the proper replacement can be brought in, but if designed properly it SHOULD hold quite a while. I'm not certain the PIPE it's attached to will hold longer than a few months at this point, tho.
It looks really violent with all the water spraying, but there's ultimately not a huge amount of force being applied to the band and the valve. The most likely point of failure in the future is the outer surface of the pipe itself corroding to the point, where water will start seeping between the pipe and the band.
Ive done shit like this on smaller-scale stuff for commercial hot water re-circulation systems, pretty bulletproof if you do it right honestly. Its meant as a temporary repair to bandaid it until you can replace the pipe, but theres nothing as permanent as a temp fix that works
So... you can call the city and have them isolate lines for something like this. Source. Im a plumber. And if they can't isolate it. Then there is a bigger issue. But if it has that much pressure. Its on an active system
A lot shorter time than it would take if this broke and had to be shut down anyway and then replaced and reinspected and so forth. Better slow and safe than "oh fuck"
I work for a city and work with the water guys on stuff like this. I am a welder. There is a lot of times that valves don’t work. And the area where the water is getting turned off gets bigger and bigger. Sometimes it’s crazy. But you never work on a charged line. You can do a hot tap but that is not what this is.
Yeah, this is a leak repair with a clamp, you can do it live like that if necessary. Saw one a few weeks ago that was on the conduit side of the isolation valve to a 60 inch so they couldn't get it depressurized without taking down a major transmission conduit.
Also yeah, a lot of cities have isolation valves as required by law, but if you don't have a robust valve exercising program then it's a crapshoot if your isolation valves that have been underground unused for decades will work at all.
And, what exactly, are you trying to say? Yes, it's on an active system. It appears the device he used is made for this scenario. Is it dangerous? I doubt it, as the pressure was so low he could move the sleeve right over the tapped point.
Ok plumber, you do these live, under pressure, so there is no chance of ground water getting sucked into the distribution system. Doing it like this is the safest way plus you don't have to give your customers a boil water notice. Water distribution operator here.
Damn what kinda broke ass township do you work for? I've seen my city shut off the water for repairs plenty of times and there was never a boil water notice
Lol... yeah. The "ground water" that is know for jumping 3 feet into the air randomly... right? Lol seriously. Why lie? Just because you drive a culligan van doesn't make you a tradesman.
Also a boil water advisory isnt the only option. And it would be cheaper and safer than THE PIPE HANGING IN THE AIR BREAKING.
So many idiots in this thread. Hey folks, different scenarios require different solutions, how about you all stop assuming you know what the fuck is going on? Here's what I know, dude had a cool sleeve to do such work that relieved the pressure so he could do the thing, and it was cool. Cool!
"Licensed water operator" because the culigan man doesnt know what they are talking about.
Guess what. A line worker is just building the line. Not working with the electricity. Your analogy would work if they were laying pipe. But thats not whats happening and not what culigan man does either.
Why are you arguing with a ticketed experienced tradesman? Thats like a home owner knowing more about the sewer system. Lol why fail your own standards? Lol jfc
They should have. Some people are impatient though. This could have gone really bad. He took a big risk and knew it was stupid. You can see him doing the "last check to make sure no one that can get me in trouble is watching" look around to start
Im more worried about accuracy. If its not aligned right it'll cause wear and tear more and not last as long as it should. But. Not my money not my circus.
But also, if its an emergency cant actually shut the water down. This is what you'd do. Minus the "check to make sure im not gonna get caught" look around
Castorriver
Why don't we see women doing this work?
MisterBrahanovich
We use the same bands for natural gas pipelines.
scotcherton
I love that to finish the patch, after all digging, and sheath fitting, the big impact driving and such, it’s completed with a tiny little crescent wrench.
Amanda55andcows
I remember when you had to turn those bolts by hand. Electric impacts make this so much easier.
IliveIdyeIliveagain
Agreed. I used to ride motorcycles and now I maintain my PCs. I bought my first electric driver last summer and that was a real game changer
DoctorSciencePothead
I appreciate that the initial fix was "Just screw this metal bit into the leaky spot", and that it appeared to be working just fine.
Altairzq
Women don't ask for quotas in this job.
RenaissanceFaireMan
K, how'd they get the sleeve on to start?
stronomer
From the rest of construction going on there I assume that they created this problem in the first place. But now they fixed it.
fredddietv
If you think this is cool, you should check out how they put a T on a live poly natural gas lines
scatterscott
Does it say "Hard Cock" on his hat?
WhatInTheSamhillisaPuma
Maybe not a good day to wear the khakis?
anybodyjohn4
industrial fernco
YippeeKayakOB
That Dewalt drill getting soaked one too many times could be 1-200 dollars down the drain, but I guess he is in the right place for that.
vDorothyv
They're about 300-400$ but they're a water department. Their tools are always at risk of getting wet, its just part of it.
KAPTKipper
They seem like a future failure point.
Skevoid
The second I saw what he was doing I thought "You're in the spray zone, cameraman. Move or you're gonna get... there it is".
teardropivyyearofthetiger
That’s NOT his first rodeo
GrandmasterSpank
Is that going to hold for longer than a few months ?
oldguyexlurker
Many tapping sleeves are permanent.
ChazzK
That's effectively a patch. That's designed to hold until the proper replacement can be brought in, but if designed properly it SHOULD hold quite a while.
I'm not certain the PIPE it's attached to will hold longer than a few months at this point, tho.
LuciusNeedful
Yes. Those bands will outlast the pipe.
Cataleast
It looks really violent with all the water spraying, but there's ultimately not a huge amount of force being applied to the band and the valve. The most likely point of failure in the future is the outer surface of the pipe itself corroding to the point, where water will start seeping between the pipe and the band.
ProbablyCrazier
Man, you just have to hope that's not a lead pipe, to hell with longevity.
oldguyexlurker
Where the water cleans it off, it looks like ductile iron.
epicfail48
Ive done shit like this on smaller-scale stuff for commercial hot water re-circulation systems, pretty bulletproof if you do it right honestly. Its meant as a temporary repair to bandaid it until you can replace the pipe, but theres nothing as permanent as a temp fix that works
JaceCameron
So... you can call the city and have them isolate lines for something like this. Source. Im a plumber. And if they can't isolate it. Then there is a bigger issue. But if it has that much pressure. Its on an active system
Imustupvotealltacos
They "should" be able to, But usually my foreman walks up and says "the city said no. Let's get to work"
JaceCameron
Which is when I step aside and go "by all means."
Turboslacker
How long would it take to shut off a line like this?
JaceCameron
A lot shorter time than it would take if this broke and had to be shut down anyway and then replaced and reinspected and so forth. Better slow and safe than "oh fuck"
Urgalicity
My first thought was, "there must be a better way".
THESEVENSGUY
I work for a city and work with the water guys on stuff like this. I am a welder. There is a lot of times that valves don’t work. And the area where the water is getting turned off gets bigger and bigger. Sometimes it’s crazy. But you never work on a charged line. You can do a hot tap but that is not what this is.
DoIEvenLyftBro
Yeah, this is a leak repair with a clamp, you can do it live like that if necessary. Saw one a few weeks ago that was on the conduit side of the isolation valve to a 60 inch so they couldn't get it depressurized without taking down a major transmission conduit.
Also yeah, a lot of cities have isolation valves as required by law, but if you don't have a robust valve exercising program then it's a crapshoot if your isolation valves that have been underground unused for decades will work at all.
GloveFullaVaseline
Hot tap like with methane, where you keep some flow but drastically reduce the pressure?
CallMeCourierSix
And, what exactly, are you trying to say? Yes, it's on an active system. It appears the device he used is made for this scenario. Is it dangerous? I doubt it, as the pressure was so low he could move the sleeve right over the tapped point.
JaceCameron
That there are better safer and smarter ways of doing this. Sorry I didn't make that clear by explaining there were other ways to do this.
InitHello
But I wanna do it the stupid fun way!
DickMcStiffens
I know this one. THIS IS A UNIX SYSTEM!
EvilEmperorXurg
cal75
Ok plumber, you do these live, under pressure, so there is no chance of ground water getting sucked into the distribution system. Doing it like this is the safest way plus you don't have to give your customers a boil water notice. Water distribution operator here.
ElbowDeepInAPoliceState
Damn what kinda broke ass township do you work for? I've seen my city shut off the water for repairs plenty of times and there was never a boil water notice
JaceCameron
Lol... yeah. The "ground water" that is know for jumping 3 feet into the air randomly... right? Lol seriously. Why lie? Just because you drive a culligan van doesn't make you a tradesman.
Also a boil water advisory isnt the only option. And it would be cheaper and safer than THE PIPE HANGING IN THE AIR BREAKING.
But hey. You operate water distribution eh? Lol
Strategicgnomer
So many idiots in this thread. Hey folks, different scenarios require different solutions, how about you all stop assuming you know what the fuck is going on? Here's what I know, dude had a cool sleeve to do such work that relieved the pressure so he could do the thing, and it was cool. Cool!
JaceCameron
Almost like I said there are different scenarios and in an emergency situation. Sure. But thats pretty fucking rare.
vDorothyv
Why are you arguing with a licensed water operator about this? This is like a residential electrician arguing with a lineworker
JaceCameron
"Licensed water operator" because the culigan man doesnt know what they are talking about.
Guess what. A line worker is just building the line. Not working with the electricity. Your analogy would work if they were laying pipe. But thats not whats happening and not what culigan man does either.
Why are you arguing with a ticketed experienced tradesman? Thats like a home owner knowing more about the sewer system. Lol why fail your own standards? Lol jfc
cal75
You're right, what were we thinking, vacuum conditions can't be created in underground pipes, that only happens upstairs. Culligan man here.
JaceCameron
Oh yeah? And how are vaccum conditions caused?
cal75
Holy siphon batman, they gave you a card???
TheMellowPeril
I was wondering about that, too. Shouldn’t they have cut the line beforehand?
JaceCameron
They should have. Some people are impatient though. This could have gone really bad. He took a big risk and knew it was stupid. You can see him doing the "last check to make sure no one that can get me in trouble is watching" look around to start
maxredspeed3
Ohhhh, I thought he was checking to make sure the guy was recording.
annonymouse211
INTERESTING. It's cool to see what the nifty wrap thing does but kind of annoying not to have it done safely.
JaceCameron
Im more worried about accuracy. If its not aligned right it'll cause wear and tear more and not last as long as it should. But. Not my money not my circus.
JaceCameron
But also, if its an emergency cant actually shut the water down. This is what you'd do. Minus the "check to make sure im not gonna get caught" look around
Grumptious
Is that why he showed active disdain for his tool?
JaceCameron
To be fair. His tools are dewalt and I'd show a disdain for piss yellow tools too. As a plumber I might add
Grumptious
A poor workman disdains his tools.
zanarchy805
Isn’t this called hot tapping. So you don’t have to turn the system off for such a small connection.
JaceCameron
No. Hot tapping is putting in a fresh new line and has its own special set up.
zanarchy805
Ahh. That makes sense.