# Drain pipe test



## newyorkcity (Nov 25, 2010)

I am reading the specs on a repair job for the transit authority.(subway)
Have you ever done a test like this?
I plan to subcontract the jetting. Too bad Gear isn't closer.

 a. Before final acceptance of work described in Paragraph 1.2 (a), examine and test all​ drain piping installed or cleaned to ensure that it is free from obstructions and​ sufficiently clean to permit the passage of a hardwood ball one inch smaller than the​ diameter of the pipe without fracturing the ball.


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## Flyout95 (Apr 13, 2012)

Sounds awful.


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## aero1 (Feb 13, 2009)

sounds like something, out of the 1920s.


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## plumbdik (Aug 6, 2013)

One of the guys that taught me, used ping pong balls for testing on a bunch of Army Corps of Engineers jobs, but never heard anything about a wood ball??


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## PlumbDumber (Aug 7, 2013)

I know that they do a similar test in Birmingham, Alabama. I had never heard of this test before then. Apparently the balls are made for these tests and can be purchased from some of the supply house.

One of my son-in-laws was the Superintendent for the GC on a school job and they were looking for someone to replace the existing Plumber for non performance & asked me to bid on it. He was telling me about the test & how the test ball had not made it through & was stuck somewhere in the line under the building and the line was going to have to be jetted, given a camera inspection & repaired as part of the bid.


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## justme (Jul 4, 2012)

I have heard of this test from some older plumbers.


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## arcticplumber (Feb 27, 2014)

One of my old boss told me about the ball test. An inspector would should up for his rough-in inspection with an 8ball and drop it down the stacks. Boss told me he was nervous every time. The ball would often get stuck in the underground rough in.. Hehe


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

We had inspectors that used to run a ball through the system as well.


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## TXPlumbBob (Dec 13, 2013)

I have not seen the "wood ball" but a what we call a "pig" that is a metal cage 1" smaller than the pipe. Have not seen this on a underfloor waste system but on a building sewer, sewer mains and storm drains it is a common spec.


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## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_(pipeline)

*Etymology*

The original pigs were made from straw wrapped in wire and used for cleaning. They made a squealing noise while traveling through the pipe, sounding to some like a pig squealing, which gave pigs their name.[1][2] 'PIG' is sometimes claimed as an acronym or backronym derived from the initial letters of the term 'Pipeline Inspection Gauge' or 'Pipeline Intervention Gadget'


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## bulldozer (Jan 11, 2009)

We've pulled mandrel in outside sewer mains. But I would be scared to send a wood ball down any sewer!


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## gear junkie (Jun 20, 2008)

I'm a house plumber I'd be outsized in big pipe. Cuda is the man you want for that. I was taught the ping pong trick and conduit duct pullers have proving balls that you run before pulling wire. However with cameras I can't imagine why you'd do this. BTW....the ping pong is used to find sags in the pipe, not offsets.

This is how outdated the plumbing I was taught in the navy....there are big wooden balls on a rope you send down a sewer main for "jetting maintenance". The ball acts like the "thumb on the garden hose" and the increased pressure cleans the pipe. I was being taught this in 2006 from the navy schools.


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## PlumbDumber (Aug 7, 2013)

In 1969 0r 1970, the shop that I was working for was doing a job on the Homestead Air Force Base. As part of the job we had to install some manholes and 8" lines between them with no turns or offsets. The test was a bright light shined down the lines. A sheet was hung at the other end of the line. If the light did not come through in a perfect circle, the line failed inspection.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

newyorkcity said:


> I am reading the specs on a repair job for the transit authority.(subway)
> Have you ever done a test like this?
> I plan to subcontract the jetting. Too bad Gear isn't closer.
> 
> a. Before final acceptance of work described in Paragraph 1.2 (a), examine and test all​ drain piping installed or cleaned to ensure that it is free from obstructions and​ sufficiently clean to permit the passage of a hardwood ball one inch smaller than the​ diameter of the pipe without fracturing the ball.












Just read through this thread. Did you get the job with the TA? My brother-in-law works for the TA. He's in Queens.


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## thumper (Aug 19, 2011)

I would hate to imagine what would happen if the test failed. How would you remove the wood ball? it would probably be jammed in a fitting. Maybe send in a flock of wood peckers?


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## infomr (Sep 12, 2014)

Clean the ..


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## Flyout95 (Apr 13, 2012)

infomr said:


> Clean the...http://www.ehow.com/how_7283610_test-drain-pipes.html


What?


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## Gargalaxy (Aug 14, 2013)

infomr said:


> Clean the ..


Why don't you clean yourself and start for your intro.


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

Gargalaxy said:


> Why don't you clean yourself and start for your intro.


Because Elvis has left the building. :yes:


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