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Getting good seals on underground drainage what's the secret?


MikeSharp01

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I gave just spent an hour or so playing with our underground pipe runs to see how well they are sealed. They are all still exposed so I can remedy things and it's overcast here so I should have stable temperatures. I am struggling to get a air pressure test to pass well, the pressure drops down to almost the lower limit on the 15 minute window and it can only be the joint seals.  I used the flopast lube on every join and checked for scratches on the pipe. There must be a way to get a good seal on these things or are they designed to only just pass the air pressure test? Any thought anyone.

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Check your plugs and the manometer aren’t passing air. 

 

Short section of pipe that will got into a bucket, plug one end and then put the pressure plug in the other. Put 5psi into the pipe and then put it into the bucket of water, submerging all the joints other than the manometer itself. 

 

Start to add more pressure and watch for bubbles .... 

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8 minutes ago, PeterW said:

Check your plugs and the manometer aren’t passing air. 

Good point I will check that but did you mean 5PSI as this is more than my manometer can handle I think max I can do is +/- 30mb about 0.9PSI I think.

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With my test kit, the bulb you squeeze to pump it up leaks air, solved by bending it's pipe double to "crimp" it while testing.

 

When BC came to witness my drain test, they got bored and said "that will do" after watching a stationary manometer for a minute.

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28 minutes ago, MikeSharp01 said:

Good point I will check that but did you mean 5PSI as this is more than my manometer can handle I think max I can do is +/- 30mb about 0.9PSI I think.

 

Should say 0.5psi..!!

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1 hour ago, Mr Punter said:

 

What make of pipe.

 

Floplast for the fittings and Marley for the pipe although some of the pipe is not branded. Came from drainage direct I think. 

 

Anyway have checked the test gear and no leaks so now I am going to test each joint and find the offending one. Although the sun is out now so getting it stable will be interesting.

 

 

Edited by MikeSharp01
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8 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

 

Can you cap off one end and fill with water?

 

Yes I can for each of the two runs. I guess I will be able to see the leak. I have done 2 joints in straight pipe they are stable and fine so now it's the clever bits at the ends. One of which is one of those universal bends with two sliding collars. I have done the nuts up but I am never sure of them.  

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18 hours ago, MikeSharp01 said:

Yes I can for each of the two runs. I guess I will be able to see the leak. I have done 2 joints in straight pipe they are stable and fine so now it's the clever bits at the ends. One of which is one of those universal bends with two sliding collars. I have done the nuts up but I am never sure of them.  

Load the adjustable bend up with silicone grease. 

Fairy liquid and water mixed and a paint brush for the soapy water test. 

 

 

Edit : should have read , dismantle and load......

Edited by Nickfromwales
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20 hours ago, MikeSharp01 said:

 Any thought anyone.

Mine never did seal for the air test so I asked the BCO and he said just fill it with water the day before he came over and see if the level goes down. It didn't, and he was happy, and so was I. Water molecules are much larger than air molecules so it might leak a little air but it won't leak water. It's not under much pressure.

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I didn't think you could have molecules of oxygen only atoms. A molecule being a collection of atoms which must by definition be bigger than any single atom but I guess it might depend on the number of shells so a pair of tightly bound low electron count atoms as a molecule might be smaller than a ganging atom with a high shell / electron count.

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4 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

“All science is either physics or stamp collecting.” Lord Rutherford

But that was then - now we have political science - which must be far lower than stamp collecting.

Edited by MikeSharp01
Typo
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5 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said:

Try doing multivariate analysis for either of those disciplines and then tell us it isnt. 

I had to teach statistics to second year SS students.

Was pretty easy really as only dealing with the tails, which sums up the mentality of SS students.  They only know their life experience and assume they know it all.

One of my worse students ended up serving time for fraud and theft, no surprise as she was a junky that knew everything.

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1 hour ago, MikeSharp01 said:

I didn't think you could have molecules of oxygen only atoms. A molecule being a collection of atoms which must by definition be bigger than any single atom but I guess it might depend on the number of shells so a pair of tightly bound low electron count atoms as a molecule might be smaller than a ganging atom with a high shell / electron count.

Go and wash your mouth out with that soap and water. 

Wasn't this something to do with plumbing ? :D 

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Our test was done with a plug in the far end and the pipe filled with water.  BCO was happy when he came around mid-morning and the level of water in the chamber at the top of the run hadn't dropped.  Our ground works chap said that he always did tests this way, as air testing was too much hassle.  I have a feeling that the O rings on the fittings probably seal a bit better when the pipe's filled with water.

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