Saturday, November 15, 2008

Tools for plumbers ,,,

I like to make my job easier. You might say "work smart -- not hard". Over the years I have made a lot of tools ... these are not patentable items just ideas that work. I look at this, as a little thing I once saw in "Bit's & Pieces" that was ... "If I had a penny and you had a penny and we exchanged penny's then we would still each have a penny. But if you had an idea and I had an idea and we exchanged ideas then we would each have two ideas". Now with this blog I can exchange all my ideas. Hopefully I will learn some ideas in
return.  Let me say that I have been on PDL and PIPDL for about 5 years. I also spend time on a tremendous plumbers forum.  About 3000 in the trade use the plumbing zone.com to keep up to date on products, problems and other items pertaining to the trade. If any members from the above listed lists are seeing this again,  call it a refresher ... First an acid reversing rig. When pumping a domestic coil and the hoses are connected, this unit allows you to reverse the flow of acid without disconnecting. Works very good and believe it or not -- cuts down on the time necessary to pump as you can work inlet and outlet sides alternately. When the hoses foam because the acid got too hot and the bubbles are traveling toward the pump volute. By opening the bypass valve the resultant pump failure is stopped you don't have to re-prime. In your mind close & open the valves see how the flow changes. Hint what is open now will have to be closed and visa-versa. By-pass stays closed until needed or can be used at start to prime with all the other valves closed.

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Lets continue ... This tool was made for a radiant staple up job in a crawl space. Kneeling on the dirt floor my head was in the joists, could not work comfortably. Lying on a pad I could not reach the joists or the sub floor above. The Rover shown below allowed me to lay with my head just about 6" below the joists. I just rolled back & forth uncoiling and stapling as I went.
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Some are simple -- stop scratching ... small pieces of 5/8 heater hose over pliers jaws.
More about pliers ... When setting a pedestal lavatory the problem is to get the trap nuts tight. Pasco maybe Jones makes a wrench to fit trap nuts ... Alas, I use Wolverine Traps, the nuts are bigger and the wrench doesn't fit. A channel lock with the jaws open to fit a 1-1/4 nut -- the handle can hit the wall and mar the wall finish especially it's wall paper. My fix see the orange handle pliers below. You might have to still hold the tool on an angle but it works for me.
Yep I cut an 1-1/2" off the handle.
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How about when you have to repair a Moen tub faucet Legend -- the balance spool is jammed. You insert a big screwdriver in the slot and the little cap comes off in your hand. Now you have a balance spool stuck inside the faucet with almost no way of grabbing it. Unless ... you have one of these in your toolbox.
Bookmark this blog there will be more ...
Interested in more tools? On the index click More Tools ...
Click on some of the other titles, also click on Seminar Information, here you are able to get a sample.
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6 comments:

  1. Good things to know ;-)

    Jerry

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  2. Jerry, a very positive outlook in plumbing service seeing all the handy hints you have here. Thanks for sharing.

    Pat

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  3. Appreciate it for sharing superb data. Your websites thus cool. Were astounded with the important factors that you’ve with this blog.

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. That balance spool tool is sweet! How did you fabricate/form that tip?

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  6. Usually the best route is a personal recommendation. This way you can at least vet the plumber beforehand and get enough information to make an informed decision. Calgary plumber

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