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I kinda hate plumbing...

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BrokenolMarine
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I kinda hate plumbing...

Post by BrokenolMarine » Mon Nov 07, 2022 6:06 pm

Usually I pay to have it done, but since covid, all the plumbers are tied up and don't have time to come out on small jobs unless it's an emergency. (Read this: I can charge you a LOT of money to come out.) I talked to a couple of them and they said that since covid, most of the unskilled help is still on unemployment... and WHY work. I can make as almost as much money sitting home, don't have to get cold, wet, dirty, or crawl under stuff. Same goes for electricians. The helpers sit at home and for two or three man jobs you are paying for certified electricians. Not A certified electrician and a helper. ;)

Anywho.... So Tina notices that the ground near the coop is wet. It hadn't rained for weeks. :evil: There is a frost free standpipe in front of the coop to service the coop and the pasture. Hmmm, perhaps I'll keep an eye on that, could (likely) be a leak. Over a week or so, the wet spot gets bigger. :? So she decides it's time to dig. Won't let the BOM dig, against the limitations the doc put on the leg. I can watch and offer advice.

I suggest where to dig. She digs farther away from that spot. She finds a bright orange conduit. "NOT the water line." I tell her. "That's a power line."

"There is water running around it."

"Power line, water line will come in front THERE," pointing, "and run to There."

She digs in the area I suggested, and finds the water line about 8" down. :roll: Follows it, and finds the leak in a 45 degree elbow joint. Along with the Orange Conduit. :roll:
bad pipe.jpg
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She won't let me get down into the hole. (Docs orders.) She opens up the hole a bit more, and I ask what size the line is. She has no clue. I use a crescent wrench to span the line and put it on the tape measure. 1" OD. You can see the orange power conduit in the pic below as well as the bad 45 degree connector.

orange power line.jpg
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I start to outline the plan for the repair. She tells me to HD go get what we need, and she'll use the tractor to pull the mud and dirt out of the way. I tell the guy at HD my plan for the repair, and that the wrench said 1". He pulls a two foot piece of pipe marked 1" and I tell him I'll need a 45 degree and straight connector. In fact, I ask the guy for two of each. (I have heard you guys say there will be at least three trips to plumbing supply, I want to avoid that.) I think I angered the plumbing gods with that move. :cry:

I get home, and the pipe is too big. HDs 1" pipe is 1" inside diameter. I needed 3/4" to get 1" outside diameter. It's a half hour drive back to HD, so Tina and I go to lunch... while we are out. :) I kept the circular PVC cutter and swapped the PVC components for the correct ones. Back at it.

I'll skip the details, but the first repair was done, and we waited the required two hours before applying pressure by turning the pump back on. Of course it leaked. :twisted:

After doing the angry snoopy dance, we cut it out, and ... surprise, I had enough pipe and two more connectors.
Since I had watched a number of YouTube videos during that two hour curing time, I now knew the mistakes that were made. The second repair was smooth as silk, and the curing time was extended to three hours. Luckily, no leaks... as it was dusk. ;)

repaired.jpg
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Tina covered up the repair after first carefully and firmly packing DRY dirt under the repair to prevent flexing and recracking the pipe. If we have a hard winter again, we may end up having to run a new trench from the house to the coop. (250') Wouldn't look forward to that, but if we did, it would be 2' down, not 8" as they do get freezes here.

I am not a plumber, never claim to be. I can do the most basic repairs, but after all the surgery, I am NOT flexible and am happy to pay to have the repairs done. Getting a plumber out is the challenge. :? We dodged the bullet here. We HAVE water again.

Insert happy Snoopy dance here.
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graywolf
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Re: I kinda hate plumbing...

Post by graywolf » Mon Nov 07, 2022 9:08 pm

Glad you got it done before dark. Been in the same boat a few times myself. Plus a 20' stick of pvc ain't cheap nowadays.
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Mags
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Re: I kinda hate plumbing...

Post by Mags » Mon Nov 07, 2022 9:53 pm

BrokenolMarine wrote:
Mon Nov 07, 2022 6:06 pm
...She finds a bright orange conduit. "NOT the water line." I tell her. "That's a power line."
...The second repair was smooth as silk, and the curing time was extended to three hours. Luckily, no leaks... as it was dusk. ;)
Nice job on the repair! Good primer lines. Like a pro.

On that orange conduit. Correctly used, orange would indicate some form of communication cable inside such as Fiber Optic or Coax. Also building code would frown on power conduit sharing a trench with a water line. Whereas that's Ok if its a comms conduit.
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BrokenolMarine
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Re: I kinda hate plumbing...

Post by BrokenolMarine » Mon Nov 07, 2022 10:03 pm

Mags wrote:
Mon Nov 07, 2022 9:53 pm
BrokenolMarine wrote:
Mon Nov 07, 2022 6:06 pm
...She finds a bright orange conduit. "NOT the water line." I tell her. "That's a power line."
...The second repair was smooth as silk, and the curing time was extended to three hours. Luckily, no leaks... as it was dusk. ;)
Nice job on the repair! Good primer lines. Like a pro.

On that orange conduit. Correctly used, orange would indicate some form of communication cable inside such as Fiber Optic or Coax. Also building code would frown on power conduit sharing a trench with a water line. Whereas that's Ok if its a comms conduit.
No comms running to the coop / barn area, just the water and power for the lights and trough heater. The previous owner didn't worry about code. As we found out, he often used what he had laying around, could buy used, surplus, or get free. They built a luxury bath suite for the new wife, and used banned pvc on the hot water side when plumbing the bathroom. The plumber who re-plumbed the house, told us that each time this pvc would heat up from the hot water, it swelled. Cooled, it shrunk. Run hot water, swelled, stop, it cooled and shrunk. All the joints leaked. We found out because the surround for the jacuzzi tub began to dissolve at the bottom. So did the vanity base. Both became projects.
The lines under the new kitchen sink... Same.

We are slowly fixing everything. :D
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Mags
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Re: I kinda hate plumbing...

Post by Mags » Mon Nov 07, 2022 10:17 pm

BrokenolMarine wrote:
Mon Nov 07, 2022 10:03 pm
...The previous owner didn't worry about code...
I hear ya on that. Similar situation here. Endless remodel on an old house and almost every wall we open up has got messed up stuff inside (plumbing, framing, electrical) by the original owner/DIY builder. And like your situation power wiring in the trench with the water line to/from the pump house and not in conduit.
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