Sod's Law

nomad97

nomad97

Resident Geek
The full title should read, "Of Water Tanks and Sod's Law".

Following from Jeppe's thread about water tanks and water filters I decided it was timely to wash out my 2,100 liter stainless steel tank this morning. I was outside at 07.30 with the water wash rig plugged and plumbed in all raring to go. Time to drain the tank, I have the correct wrench and I am under the tank ready to unscrew the plug. Hardly any pressure at all and the wrench started to turn and the plastic plug fell to the ground. Water and sand started to pour out at the same time. Easy. Wrong! Sod's Law kicked in as it soon became apparent that the plastic plug had sheared off leaving the threaded portion in the tank. Bugger!

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Time to rethink my quick 20 minute job. Now I would have to cut the inlet and outlet pipes to the tank, up end the tank to gain access to the drain plug. I would then need to chip it out - lovely job as all the mud was now 1 cm thick on the ground around the tank and no water supply to wash it away. I also needed to go to IQ to get a replacement plug and some pipe sleeves to rejoin the pipes where I had cut them.

A lucky guess - I now had a replacement plug.

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It was now time to stand the tank upright again, rejoin the pipes, turn on the water wash rig and start the cleaning job. Its an old tank, now in its 15th year and some corrosion/staining has set in. Still, not too bad, all the sand washed out and drain plug screwed in finger tight (with white PTFE tape wrapped around the thread). Turn on the water and the jobs a good 'un. The last photo shows the water pouring in at 09.00 this morning. The inlet pipe is 2 meters above ground level and the water pressure is fine.

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Note to self. Schedule a water tank clean once a year, every January should do fine.
 
Yorky said:
I guess you used thread tape.
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Yes I did - " (with white PTFE tape wrapped around the thread)".

ptfe.jpg
 
Just checked the tank at 1022. The tank is now half full with water and there is no sign of any water dripping from under the tank. Jobs a good 'un.
 
Which one of your daughters did you ask to look under the tank for you?
 
nomad97 said:
The full title should read, "Of Water Tanks and Sod's Law".

Following from Jeppe's thread about water tanks and water filters I decided it was timely to wash out my 2,100 liter stainless steel tank this morning. I was outside at 07.30 with the water wash rig plugged and plumbed in all raring to go. Time to drain the tank, I have the correct wrench and I am under the tank ready to unscrew the plug. Hardly any pressure at all and the wrench started to turn and the plastic plug fell to the ground. Water and sand started to pour out at the same time. Easy. Wrong! Sod's Law kicked in as it soon became apparent that the plastic plug had sheared off leaving the threaded portion in the tank. Bugger!

View attachment 26306

Time to rethink my quick 20 minute job. Now I would have to cut the inlet and outlet pipes to the tank, up end the tank to gain access to the drain plug. I would then need to chip it out - lovely job as all the mud was now 1 cm thick on the ground around the tank and no water supply to wash it away. I also needed to go to IQ to get a replacement plug and some pipe sleeves to rejoin the pipes where I had cut them.

A lucky guess - I now had a replacement plug.

View attachment 26307
Click to expand...
At least you didn't get a " Thai tradesman " to try the job, oh, thats right, there are no Thai tradesmen. ;;exciting;;;;bad simle;;
 
The tank partially up ended. For Eanto's benefit, the drain plug is on the right hand side. The sea of mud is below.

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FERET said:
Next time you do this job, why not install a couple of PVC barrell unions. saves cutting and rejoining pipes.:rolleyes:
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Good idea not! I think barrel unions are as rare as rocking horse poo in Thailand. Seriously, its just as easy to cut and rejoin the pipes as to fit barrel unions (if available) and probably a lot cheaper too. Let be honest, I shouldn't need to up end the tank to remove a sheared drain plug. Maybe the plug, that had been in use for 15 years, had deteriorated in use. Maybe it had a fault since new. Who knows. The new drain plug should, with any luck, outlast me. Conversely, they are pretty cheap to buy at 20 baht each or so and, maybe, I should get in the habit of changing the drain plug each time I wash out the tank.
 
And talking about Sod's Law I have just been had again. The door handle/lock on the back door gave up the ghost last night. After 7 years of weathering in the sun and rain it decided that it would no longer lock. We do have the benefit of an internal steel door so security of the house had been impaired but not breached.

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No problems I thought, pop along to Homepro this morning, buy a new handle mechanism, come home and change out the lock. Easy peasy, a 10 minute job at most and one that I have done many times before. Wrong! One and half hours later and I am still cursing the replacement fitting. To begin, the plate that fits to the door frame was a different size to the one that I had removed. I had to chisel out and enlarge the hole to accommodate the new retaining plate. Went to fit the new lock only to find the part, the barrel that fits in the edge of the door with the retaining latch, would not fit. I had to enlarge and straighten the hole to accommodate the barrel. That completed I found that the plate on the barrel would not fit flush with the edge of the door. F#@k! Why is this being so difficult? 30 minutes later and I had carved a new recess for the plate of the barrel to fit snugly against the edge of the door. Great, making progress at last. Time to push the main handle assembly into the hole in the door to complete the job. F#@k! and double f@#k again! The bloody handle assembly will not go into the hole in the door, the diameter of the assembly is bigger than the hole and obviously bigger than the handle mechanism it replaced. And I thought they were all the same size, wrong !!!! Another 30 to 45 minutes to enlarge the hole, not an easy task with the tools at my disposal. Finally found my electric jigsaw was the best tool for the job, even if the edges of the hole are a little ragged. Sanded the edges smooth with a circular sanding disk on my drill. Fitted the handle assembly and closed the door. Needs a little adjustment but basically finished. Sod's Law at its best.
 
Yorky said:
When you say "barrel unions" are you talking of these:

View attachment 26398

I have one on the inlet to the tank and both sides of the pump. I think they came from IQ Moderntrade.
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No that is not a barrel union it is a compression fitting. There is a big difference. Barrel Union is used to break the line and allow access for maintenance. They have a locking nut that can be unscrewed to allow a section of pipe or a fitting to be removed.
As @nomad97 rare as rocking horse shite. That is what I wanted to put on my pump so I can remove it easy. But thanks @Yorky I can get a way with using compression fittings. I will have a look in IQ.
 
Rice said:
No that is not a barrel union it is a compression fitting. There is a big difference. Barrel Union is used to break the line and allow access for maintenance. They have a locking nut that can be unscrewed to allow a section of pipe or a fitting to be removed.
As @nomad97 rare as rocking horse shite. That is what I wanted to put on my pump so I can remove it easy. But thanks @Yorky I can get a way with using compression fittings. I will have a look in IQ.
Click to expand...

I'm sure that you know that the pipe on both sides needs to be restrained else under normal pump pressure (c. 1.0 barg) the joint will pull apart.
 
Yorky said:
I'm sure that you know that the pipe on both sides needs to be restrained else under normal pump pressure (c. 1.0 barg) the joint will pull apart.
Click to expand...

As that all they are rated at? Seems a bit low for water flow. I just checked the specs on my pump. 12 m head pressure output which is 17 psi which in turn is 1.18 Bar.
Since this is @nomad97 Sods law OP. What is the bet it fails with a 16% increase. What would the failure mode percentage be? Hmm maybe 20% if I am lucky.
Damn it. I am going to push my luck.
Bye the way how did you know that spec @Yorky ?
 
This is sold as a swimming pool fitting, but should fit the (tank) bill:

Capture.JPG

Maybe Paul (from the old "Office", and forum sponsors Ignite Pools could help? - tel:086-233-6166)
 
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