# Couldn't believe this



## victoryplbaz (May 19, 2012)

We were called out to a college and was told they hit the line with a backhoe. They put a band aid on it and it's holding but need to do it right. This is what I saw after I removed the clamp. That's a 3" copper line and that hole is little more than half the pipe.


----------



## MTDUNN (Oct 9, 2011)

victoryplbaz said:


> We were called out to a college and was told they hit the line with a backhoe. They put a band aid on it and it's holding but need to do it right. This is what I saw after I removed the clamp. That's a 3" copper line and that hole is little more than half the pipe.


Must have been a good bandaid


----------



## Turd Chaser (Dec 1, 2011)

Oh that's nice


----------



## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

Are you going to braze it, solder it or propress it?


----------



## victoryplbaz (May 19, 2012)

We pro pressed it due to having a short amount of time for shut down. If I could had drained it all out and had enough time I may have tried to braze it.


----------



## Letterrip (Jul 28, 2013)

MTDUNN said:


> Must have been a good bandaid


Musta been a Schwinn coupling.


----------



## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

victoryplbaz said:


> We pro pressed it due to having a short amount of time for shut down. If I could had drained it all out and had enough time I may have tried to braze it.












Did you have any 3" L copper pipe laying around for that repair? I would have had to go and buy a length of 3" since I don't work with repairs that large.


----------



## victoryplbaz (May 19, 2012)

By chance we had 5' 3" of k pipe on the shelf. I don't know where we got it or why we had it but we had it. I just had to track down the slip propress couplers. Everyone had them with stops. Finally broke down and called Ferguson's.... Paid 120.00 for each coupler...ouch! But I'm sure if I had to buy the pipe I would had to get 20' .. We even have about 5' of 4" k copper. I really have no clue where we got it. I can't remember a job ever using those sizes. Now 2-1/2 copper we have and I have used it a lot. So I got plenty of that.


----------



## victoryplbaz (May 19, 2012)

Letterrip said:


> Musta been a Schwinn coupling.


It's whatever that stainless is.. I didn't look at it and never seen one before.


----------



## PlungerJockey (Feb 19, 2010)

victoryplbaz said:


> It's whatever that stainless is.. I didn't look at it and never seen one before.


 Those are actually very good for making repairs if you have the right size for the diameter of the pipe. I've always called them full-circle wrap clamps. The biggest I have used was 16 inches long. I use them alot for repairs on ductile iron.


----------



## redbeardplumber (Dec 4, 2012)

^^^^ exactly...... But usually a hole not much bigger than your pinky on ductile..... As MTDunn said.... That's a pretty big hole! Lol


----------



## PlungerJockey (Feb 19, 2010)

redbeardplumber said:


> ^^^^ exactly...... But usually a hole not much bigger than your pinky on ductile..... As MTDunn said.... That's a pretty big hole! Lol


The hole size does not matter. I've used them on ductile with a 4" gap between the ends of the pipe. They will seal it, if it is the right size.


----------



## tims007 (Aug 31, 2013)

In the Air.Force, We used clamps to do a temporary / permanent repair. On 12inch water mains. god that was a lot a lot of nuts n bolts to tighten down. pressure testing end caps was fun. Especially when the FNG didn't tighten them properly. Fills the hole real quick


----------



## redbeardplumber (Dec 4, 2012)

PlungerJockey said:


> The hole size does not matter. I've used them on ductile with a 4" gap between the ends of the pipe. They will seal it, if it is the right size.


Holy s**t... Gaps that big we just cut out and Robar. Good to know in a pinch


----------



## justme (Jul 4, 2012)

A repair clamp in thst OD would run about $155 , they work well . I have only used them on ductile iron though.


----------



## Plumberman (Jul 7, 2008)

We call them full circle clamps here.

I've had a lot of success with them when I was doing service. I have seen the city utilites try to make it a coupling between two bald ends of pipe, yeah they aren't designed for that. 

I sealed off a live 12" schedule 40 steam line with one that had a quarter size hole in it 6 ft in the ground. Fully dressed in a welding jacket, gloves and a rag tied around my face under a full face shield... We were in the process of digging the line up because of the leak. Once I got to the hole the steam was blowing out so bad I couldn't see to dig. Those clamps are official.


----------



## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

redbeardplumber said:


> Holy s**t... Gaps that big we just cut out and Robar. Good to know in a pinch


Robar?


----------



## wyoredman (Oct 10, 2013)

That "Band-Aid" isn't as bad a choice as it looks to be. 

My primary job is as a Utility Director for a rural water utility, and those stainless steel leak bands are designed for underground repairs. They function quite well. They especially work well on asbestos-cement main and ductile iron, where OD's are not consistent and solid sleeves and mechanical dressers have a hard time sealing.

On a copper line, like in the above photo, I would think they would be pretty good also. Remember that when soldering copper for underground installations, you should use a silver solder, not the lead free standard type use in above ground situations. A better solution would be some type of mechanical coupling.


----------



## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

I bet that hole was throwing out a lot of water.......

and I would have liked to see your propress in action and the fittings and how the 
final repair turned out...


please take some final pictures next time.


----------



## victoryplbaz (May 19, 2012)

Here's the fix we did. Or I should say my son did I just watched.


----------



## Turd Chaser (Dec 1, 2011)

victoryplbaz said:


> Here's the fix we did. Or I should say my son did I just watched.


Looks good, just wondering where the propress marks are?


----------



## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

Add those after the connection.....that's the way everyone does it. Right? haha


----------



## victoryplbaz (May 19, 2012)

They are there!!! The kid made sure we were right on the mark. I told him he screws this up he would spend the night bailing water. LOL


----------

