I'm still spending my life tending to a traveling irrigator... Man, a real
rain sure would be nice.

I have a double collar and overcenter clamp to provide a quick connect on
the four inch hose to my traveler. Its been disconnected and reattached so
many times that there now is a pinhole right where the clamp pulls up tight
on the collar.

The correct fix would be a real skilled TIG (not me) welder. But, more than
likely, a hole would get burned in the pipe and then I'd be SOL for one-two
weeks getting this custom part made.

Anyway, I want to try some sort of goo to seal it up. Its basically a pin
hole in the side of a stainless steel pipe (just a real bad spot). What
would you try? Needs to hold 120 psi.

Karl

Karl Townsend wrote:

I'm still spending my life tending to a traveling irrigator... Man, a real
rain sure would be nice.

I have a double collar and overcenter clamp to provide a quick connect on
the four inch hose to my traveler. Its been disconnected and reattached so
many times that there now is a pinhole right where the clamp pulls up tight
on the collar.

The correct fix would be a real skilled TIG (not me) welder. But, more than
likely, a hole would get burned in the pipe and then I'd be SOL for one-two
weeks getting this custom part made.

Anyway, I want to try some sort of goo to seal it up. Its basically a pin
hole in the side of a stainless steel pipe (just a real bad spot). What
would you try? Needs to hold 120 psi.

Karl

Epoxy putty from the inside perhaps? Covering a decent diameter spot
with a smooth slope so it doesn't impede the flow too much. Inside
surface cleaned and sanded for a good bond. Perhaps a JB Weld filled
epoxy putty?

Pete C.

On Aug 6, 11:51 am, "Karl Townsend"
wrote:
I'm still spending my life tending to a traveling irrigator... Man, a real
rain sure would be nice.

I have a double collar and overcenter clamp to provide a quick connect on
the four inch hose to my traveler. Its been disconnected and reattached so
many times that there now is a pinhole right where the clamp pulls up tight
on the collar.

The correct fix would be a real skilled TIG (not me) welder. But, more than
likely, a hole would get burned in the pipe and then I'd be SOL for one-two
weeks getting this custom part made.

Anyway, I want to try some sort of goo to seal it up. Its basically a pin
hole in the side of a stainless steel pipe (just a real bad spot). What
would you try? Needs to hold 120 psi.

Karl

Hi, Karl.
Do your irrigation problems come in groups of three?

If I understand you correctly, the hole is a result of the clamp
sliding on the side of the ss pipe. So, there is not really anything
you can put in or on the hole that will not be quickly worn away,
also. Can you use a narrow length of ss shim stock on the pipe, under
the clamp to temporarly close the hole? Perhaps some JB Weld spread
under the shim stock. I have not used it on ss, but where I have used
it, it takes 12-24 hours to get to full strength.

Paul

On Mon, 6 Aug 2007 13:51:53 -0500, "Karl Townsend"
wrote:

I'm still spending my life tending to a traveling irrigator... Man, a real
rain sure would be nice.

I have a double collar and overcenter clamp to provide a quick connect on
the four inch hose to my traveler. Its been disconnected and reattached so
many times that there now is a pinhole right where the clamp pulls up tight
on the collar.

The correct fix would be a real skilled TIG (not me) welder. But, more than
likely, a hole would get burned in the pipe and then I'd be SOL for one-two
weeks getting this custom part made.

Anyway, I want to try some sort of goo to seal it up. Its basically a pin
hole in the side of a stainless steel pipe (just a real bad spot). What
would you try? Needs to hold 120 psi.

Karl

Harris Staybrite tin-silver solder. Works at temps not much higher
than soft solder, wets and stick to SS very well, considerably
stronger than soft solder. A propane torch would be quite sufficient,
no risk of burning thru the pipe. Red heat is way too hot.

Use StayBrite flux or ordinary tinner's fluid.

Most welding stores stock it.

What the heck, if you wanna try it I'll mail you a few inches of it.
Can't mail liquid flux, though.

On Mon, 06 Aug 2007 16:32:03 -0500, Don Foreman
wrote:

On Mon, 6 Aug 2007 13:51:53 -0500, "Karl Townsend"
wrote:

I'm still spending my life tending to a traveling irrigator... Man, a real
rain sure would be nice.

I have a double collar and overcenter clamp to provide a quick connect on
the four inch hose to my traveler. Its been disconnected and reattached so
many times that there now is a pinhole right where the clamp pulls up tight
on the collar.

The correct fix would be a real skilled TIG (not me) welder. But, more than
likely, a hole would get burned in the pipe and then I'd be SOL for one-two
weeks getting this custom part made.

Anyway, I want to try some sort of goo to seal it up. Its basically a pin
hole in the side of a stainless steel pipe (just a real bad spot). What
would you try? Needs to hold 120 psi.

Karl

Harris Staybrite tin-silver solder. Works at temps not much higher
than soft solder, wets and stick to SS very well, considerably
stronger than soft solder. A propane torch would be quite sufficient,
no risk of burning thru the pipe. Red heat is way too hot.

Use StayBrite flux or ordinary tinner's fluid.

Most welding stores stock it.

What the heck, if you wanna try it I'll mail you a few inches of it.
Can't mail liquid flux, though.

Staybrite comes in two forms, Staybrite and Staybrite 8. Staybrite
is very fluid when it melts, doesn't bridge gaps well. Staybrite 8
with more silver has a plastic range (430 to 535F) and bridges gaps
(and pinholes) better. It can be hard to find so I'm going to mail
you about 8" of 1/8" dia Staybrite 8 in an envelope.

Clean up the joint with scotchbrite or something, use some tinner's
fluid, heat gently with propane torch while dabbing or scratching the
site with the solder. When the metal is warm enough, the solder
will melt and yer done. If the hole is large enough to need a plug,
use SS wire -- MIG wire, TIG filler rod, safety wire, a stainless
screw, whatever ya got in SS. Once it's cool you can file it flush
if necessary.

Staybrite comes in two forms, Staybrite and Staybrite 8. Staybrite
is very fluid when it melts, doesn't bridge gaps well. Staybrite 8
with more silver has a plastic range (430 to 535F) and bridges gaps
(and pinholes) better. It can be hard to find so I'm going to mail
you about 8" of 1/8" dia Staybrite 8 in an envelope.

Clean up the joint with scotchbrite or something, use some tinner's
fluid, heat gently with propane torch while dabbing or scratching the

Thank you for the very kind offer. I appreciate it. The nearest welder's
store is St. Cloud. I'd just as soon not make a special trip for the
tinner's fluid. Will any of the silver solder flux products on page 3287 of
http://www.mcmaster.com/ work? They deliver to my door in under 24 hours.

Karl

Hi, Karl.
Do your irrigation problems come in groups of three?

Closer to 30 right now. I've replaced every bearing and snap ring and seal
in the machine. I'm on a first name basis with the parts guy. Only one minor
problem with the well. And nothing wrong with the main lines. (One minor
leak but I might get in over my head on the repair)

Considering its run over 120 hours a week since mid June, not too bad.

Nothing like last year when then traveler tracked sideways, pulled three
apple trees out by the roots before the reel broke loose and dragged far
enough down the row to break the hose to the unit. Then ran 200 gallons of
water per minute at the break till i showed up an hour later. real mess!!!

If I understand you correctly, the hole is a result of the clamp
sliding on the side of the ss pipe. So, there is not really anything
you can put in or on the hole that will not be quickly worn away,

Habit has made me always clamp in the exact same spot, I've got 360 degrees
of possible spots.

Karl

Hi, Karl.
Do your irrigation problems come in groups of three?

Closer to 30 right now. I've replaced every bearing and snap ring and seal

Just so you don't think its nothing but trouble on the farm, I'll gloat a
bit about my day...

I had my first truly great apple since last December today. It was a Zestar
that was slightly damaged on one spot which made it ripen two weeks early. I
had to look through 250 bushels of Zestars to find that perfect one. Now, I
got to do this every day.

While I was eating the apple I seen two deer fawns so I stalked them up to
thirty feet away. They could tell something was wrong so I froze at this
point. They got curious and walked within ten feet of me before ambling
away.

Karl

Karl Townsend wrote:
I'm still spending my life tending to a traveling irrigator... Man, a real
rain sure would be nice.

I have a double collar and overcenter clamp to provide a quick connect on
the four inch hose to my traveler. Its been disconnected and reattached so
many times that there now is a pinhole right where the clamp pulls up tight
on the collar.

The correct fix would be a real skilled TIG (not me) welder. But, more than
likely, a hole would get burned in the pipe and then I'd be SOL for one-two
weeks getting this custom part made.
Gee, that doesn't sound all that difficult, if you have a decent
TIG machine. I'm still struggling with aluminum, but I feel I
have steel and stainless down quite well. I haven't had much
trouble at all burning holes in SS.

Jon

Don Foreman wrote:


Staybrite comes in two forms, Staybrite and Staybrite 8. Staybrite
is very fluid when it melts, doesn't bridge gaps well. Staybrite 8
with more silver has a plastic range (430 to 535F) and bridges gaps
(and pinholes) better. It can be hard to find so I'm going to mail
you about 8" of 1/8" dia Staybrite 8 in an envelope.

Clean up the joint with scotchbrite or something, use some tinner's
fluid, heat gently with propane torch while dabbing or scratching the
site with the solder. When the metal is warm enough, the solder
will melt and yer done. If the hole is large enough to need a plug,
use SS wire -- MIG wire, TIG filler rod, safety wire, a stainless
screw, whatever ya got in SS. Once it's cool you can file it flush
if necessary.



If it is a big gash where the clamp wore through, you would
probably do well to fashion a patch from some SS sheet material
and bend it to conform to the shape of the pipe. Soldering this
onto the pipe should make a really good patch.

Jon

Karl Townsend wrote:

Hi, Karl.
Do your irrigation problems come in groups of three?

Closer to 30 right now. I've replaced every bearing and snap ring and seal


Just so you don't think its nothing but trouble on the farm, I'll gloat a
bit about my day...

I had my first truly great apple since last December today. It was a Zestar
that was slightly damaged on one spot which made it ripen two weeks early. I
had to look through 250 bushels of Zestars to find that perfect one. Now, I
got to do this every day.

While I was eating the apple I seen two deer fawns so I stalked them up to
thirty feet away. They could tell something was wrong so I froze at this
point. They got curious and walked within ten feet of me before ambling
away.

Karl


Now that's cool!

Cheers
Trevor Jones

Gee, that doesn't sound all that difficult, if you have a decent
TIG machine. I'm still struggling with aluminum, but I feel I have steel
and stainless down quite well. I haven't had much trouble at all burning
holes in SS.

I've went from fair, to poor, to truly horse&^% on my welding ability. For
the last several years, "The Kid" did all the welding. He spent a summer
welding 50 hours a week and I couldn't begin to match his skill. Plus, my
eyes are getting old and I can no longer see a weld puddle - just a very
bright spot light is all. Unfortunately, "the kid" is seldom home now.

Karl

On Mon, 6 Aug 2007 19:48:25 -0500, "Karl Townsend"
wrote:

Staybrite comes in two forms, Staybrite and Staybrite 8. Staybrite
is very fluid when it melts, doesn't bridge gaps well. Staybrite 8
with more silver has a plastic range (430 to 535F) and bridges gaps
(and pinholes) better. It can be hard to find so I'm going to mail
you about 8" of 1/8" dia Staybrite 8 in an envelope.

Clean up the joint with scotchbrite or something, use some tinner's
fluid, heat gently with propane torch while dabbing or scratching the

Thank you for the very kind offer. I appreciate it. The nearest welder's
store is St. Cloud. I'd just as soon not make a special trip for the
tinner's fluid. Will any of the silver solder flux products on page 3287 of
http://www.mcmaster.com/ work? They deliver to my door in under 24 hours.

Karl

No. Those are high-temperature fluxes used in silver brazing. One of
the soft solder fluxes would work better. If there's a hardware
store or Home Depot anywhere nearby, they'll have some kinda flux. I
think Oatey makes a paste flux that's used with silver-bearing
plumbing solder.

I see one flux for soft-soldering stainless that says "not for use
with SS water piping". I expect (but don't know for sure) that they
refer to potable water there, don't see why there'd be a problem with
irrigation water if you clean off any excess after soldering.

Staybrite often works OK no flux, just brighten the work up good with
scotchbrite, steel wool, sandpaper or a wire brush.

If you have any muriatic acid and zinc metal, you can make your own
tinner's fluid. Just put a small amount (an ounce or so) of muriatic
acid in a jar, put in some zinc and let it work a while. When the
acid won't dissolve any more zinc, you have tinner's fluid. With a
small amount of muriatic, a few heavily-galvanized bits would probably
supply enough zinc -- but remove them when the zinc is gone because
you don't want to make ferric chloride.

On Mon, 06 Aug 2007 21:29:16 -0500, Jon Elson
wrote:

Karl Townsend wrote:
I'm still spending my life tending to a traveling irrigator... Man, a real
rain sure would be nice.

I have a double collar and overcenter clamp to provide a quick connect on
the four inch hose to my traveler. Its been disconnected and reattached so
many times that there now is a pinhole right where the clamp pulls up tight
on the collar.

The correct fix would be a real skilled TIG (not me) welder. But, more than
likely, a hole would get burned in the pipe and then I'd be SOL for one-two
weeks getting this custom part made.
Gee, that doesn't sound all that difficult, if you have a decent
TIG machine. I'm still struggling with aluminum, but I feel I
have steel and stainless down quite well. I haven't had much
trouble at all burning holes in SS.

Jon

I'm sure I could TIG it too. But since the downside of an "eau chitte"
is two weeks of downtime during a drought, I wouldn't try it without
first succeeding on a practice piece. I'd silver-solder it. Staybrite
is strong enough for refrigeration work and very easy to use.

If you have any muriatic acid and zinc metal, you can make your own
tinner's fluid. Just put a small amount (an ounce or so) of muriatic
acid in a jar, put in some zinc and let it work a while. When the
acid won't dissolve any more zinc, you have tinner's fluid. With a
small amount of muriatic, a few heavily-galvanized bits would probably
supply enough zinc -- but remove them when the zinc is gone because
you don't want to make ferric chloride.

KEWL

I thought you weren't a Chem E. I got a bunch of galvanized sheet metal
scrap. I'll chop it up on the shear and soak it in a little muratic.

Karl

On Tue, 7 Aug 2007 08:09:15 -0500, "Karl Townsend"
wrote:



If you have any muriatic acid and zinc metal, you can make your own
tinner's fluid. Just put a small amount (an ounce or so) of muriatic
acid in a jar, put in some zinc and let it work a while. When the
acid won't dissolve any more zinc, you have tinner's fluid. With a
small amount of muriatic, a few heavily-galvanized bits would probably
supply enough zinc -- but remove them when the zinc is gone because
you don't want to make ferric chloride.

KEWL

I thought you weren't a Chem E. I got a bunch of galvanized sheet metal
scrap. I'll chop it up on the shear and soak it in a little muratic.

Karl
That'll work. Just pull the metal bits out when they change color and
quit bubbling. When new metal doesn't bubble either, it's done.

I'm no ChemE! I mighta learned about tinner's fluid from one of Guy
Lautard's books. Solder made the 6:00 PM pickup yesterday so you
might see it today, tomorrow sure.

Karl Townsend wrote:
Gee, that doesn't sound all that difficult, if you have a decent
TIG machine. I'm still struggling with aluminum, but I feel I have steel
and stainless down quite well. I haven't had much trouble at all burning
holes in SS.


I've went from fair, to poor, to truly horse&^% on my welding ability. For
the last several years, "The Kid" did all the welding. He spent a summer
welding 50 hours a week and I couldn't begin to match his skill.
Oh, that much practice will make a HUGE difference! I have
about 3-4 hours invested in aluminum fiddling, and maybe 10
hours total on TIG so far. So, I'm still a rank beginner.
Plus, my
eyes are getting old and I can no longer see a weld puddle - just a very
bright spot light is all. Unfortunately, "the kid" is seldom home now.
The secret is to use the torch to block the glare from the arc.
Well, that's my secret, anyway. The arc and glowing electrode
light up the work like a powerful floodlight, and if you can get
something between the arc and your eyes, then you have an
excellent situation to see the work. Yes, the melt puddle of
the aluminum is hard to see, it looks a little like a mirror,
and a little like a lake with some waves on it. Maybe it looks
a LOT like a puddle of dirty mercury. My eyes have always been
terrible, but maybe severe nearsightedness is good for some of
this type work.

Jon

Hi Guys:

I'm going through the current topics to hopefully suggest a way to tag
valid RCM traffic.


Add RCM: on the beginning of the title line - BEFORE the obligatory OT?

Hang tiugh - keep posting.

CaveLamb