Confidence knocked badly

[rocketmanbkk]

Friends

Im at rock bottom.

Had a job today to renew some kitchen miser taps.

No Iso valves (again).

Turned off valve going into tank and turned all hot taps on, water stopped running, fitted new taps, looking good, just over an hour.

Turned valve on and refilled system, cold ok to all taps but no water through hot, my worst nightmare, airlock.

Tried everything I know and have been told, nothing, runs a bit then stops, 2 hrs later, wanting to cut my throat & end it all, all alone, nowhere to run, cant leave the job, gotta fix it, called a builder mate, he arrived, was stumped too, called another mate, nothing, now been on job over 3 hours.

Another mate arrived, checked all valves open, etc, etc. he then turned on hot on new mixer and then cold and put his hand over spout, he is very strong, nothing, tried it again, hey presto, he did it in 1o mins.

Ive got another tap change tomorrow in a bathroom (1 bed flat). Dont wanna do it.

getting depressed, not sure what to do, headaches coming back. Pressure.

Thanks for reading.

RCT

 

[turnpin]

Go rocket go the next one will be easy now you have the experience.....regards Turnpin:smile5:

 

[Rickster123]

Breeeeath! You'll know for next time so it's a lesson learnt. Sometimes things don't go to plan but the more you stress and flap the worse things seem. Keep calm and carry on!

 

[mfgs]

Why is your confidence knocked? You have just learned a valuable lesson in how to clear an air lock, you are now a lot more prepared to deal with this situation should it occur again.

 

[Phil]

Next time use a wet vac on the tap (taps), two seconds all sorted.

 

[rocketmanbkk]

thanks for being positive.

The air lock has done me in.

I tried everything i knew and even did what my mate did but couldnt clear it.

lucky he was around or what would i have done, feelling bad abut this, v bad.

 

[rocketmanbkk]

a wet vac? what suck it out?

so, you put that on the tap, open the air locked part (if its a mixer) or open the tap if other and turn the vac on and suck it out?

 

[gasmanrob]

It happens, learn from it pick yourself up and carry on

 

[Chris F]

thanks for being positive.

The air lock has done me in.

I tried everything i knew and even did what my mate did but couldnt clear it.

lucky he was around or what would i have done, feelling bad abut this, v bad.

Mate buy a wet vac. I had an air lock last week, didn't even sweat it, got the vac and dealt with it. Years ago an airlock had me in tears nearly.

 

[Linkyplumb]

a wet vac? what suck it out?

so, you put that on the tap, open the air locked part (if its a mixer) or open the tap if other and turn the vac on and suck it out?

Exactly

 

[Chalked]

We all pay to learn.

dont be disheartened, you just don't know. But now you do. So next time, do the mixer tap option (if it mixes in the spout) or hose between hot and cold taps, or wet vac, or go up in loft and blow and suck the vent, or join hot and cod washing machine taps with a washing machine hose, or blow up the offending hot tap, or?????? That's me done!

 

[plumber0808]

It might seem like rock bottom but an air lock certainly is not rock bottom, there's plenty worse than that.

if holding your hand over the mixer tap does not work you can link the hot and cold via washing machine tap connectors if they have them. Give it a good blast and it's sorted.

Live and learn, onwards and upwards.

 

[rocketmanbkk]

i tried everything other than a wet vac and nothing worked. Ill buy a wet vac but still not confident.

need to have a think.

 

[Ermintrude]

Don't worry about it. You live and learn. We all have bad days and awesome days. Go home and relax. DO NOT BEAT YOURSELF UP!

Your a good plumber you just had a difficult lesson today. Go for a run, smash a few bottles what ever you need to do to relax.

 

[SimonG]

**** happens Rocket. Just put it down to experience and move on. Onwards and upwards.

 

[Ermintrude]

i tried everything other than a wet vac and nothing worked. Ill buy a wet vac but still not confident.

need to have a think.

Think about what? Your are suited to this job and you are going to get better. Don't think just do. No one ever learns from not making any mistakes. Having a leak or breaking something or some thing not work is best way to learn.

The hardest lessons are those which really teach you. Now cheer the FRECK UP or I'm going to work for ferolli technical as a way of cheering up.

 

[plumber0808]

Drink normally sorts a hard day out.

Fast and in numbers. Amen brother

 

[Linkyplumb]

Get that vac... you will soon come to realise how you ever did without one

 

[rocketmanbkk]

Thanks all

Signing off now

RCT

 

[smtplumbing]

worse case jump up to the tank hep down the hot boom cleared but i normally use the wet vac no hassle at all

 

[Mike Jackson]

I had a call last year. There had been a fire in a flat and the FB had shut off the water to the whole building. When it was turned back on the basement flat had a very poor flow of hot water, it ran briefly then stopped. The previous 3 plumbers had turned up tried to get it going and declared that it must be a blockage and left. I turned up, checked the cistern for debris, found none and said it must be an airlock. Apparently the other guys had said this but changed their minds when they couldn't clear it. I got my highly expensive £35 Wickes wet vac out, put it on the bath tap and sucked. 30 seconds later, gurgle, gurgle splutter and they had a good flow of hot water.

 

[julesverne]

i used to blow down the vent in the attic before i found out about the wet vac trick. the lungs were grateful i can tell you.

tomorrow will better rocketman we all have to learn. i didnt come into this game till i was 36 so it can be a steep learning curve sometimes and you feel like tearing you hair out. but i couldnt think of another trade that i would enjoy doing so much.

being self employed and a plumber and Gas engineer is the best thing i ever did.

 

[Ray Stafford]

being self employed and a plumber and Gas engineer is the best thing i ever did.

Feck me, an upbeat plumber! They'll chuck you out of the union Jules, so they will. 🙂

You must learn to whinge and misery...

 

[Phil]

Everytime I get down I think how bad it would be to be an office drone......sat in a chair for 8 hours a day looking at your watch and getting fat.

Bottom lickers getting away with murder because they suck up to the boss while the ones who work hard and keep their head down with a raw deal.

 

[AWheating]

i had a real problem with an air lock once, i was lucky tho captain Kirk got it open 🙂 that pointy eared git just laughed at me.

 

[AWheating]

on a serious note, dont take the knock to heart. We have and will again all get stumped by something. You never stop learning in this game.

 

[julesverne]

Feck me, an upbeat plumber! They'll chuck you out of the union Jules, so they will. 🙂

You must learn to whinge and misery...

Why not i think its a great trade to be in. i don't try to compete with the divs around here doing cut price boilers swaps and i very rarely work for letting agents or landlords. it seems to work for me getting plenty of good big jobs repairs and little jobs. sure we all have bad days but they are rare.

 

[villa_tom]

Its easy to Think a day that didn't go to plan is a bad day, but if I learn something on one of my bad days then I'd consider it a good day really.

Ive had days that at the time I'd consider terrible, but at 5 o'clock them I'm home having a cuppa, I tend to realise that I've learnt something that I never knew at 8 o'clock when I left the house. I'd then consider it a good day.

 

[Linkyplumb]

Every day is a school day

 

[SimonG]

Every day is a school day

Aint that the truth. Thats what i enjoy about the job. Every day is different as well.

 

[Alex Pelton]

look at this way

1 did the tap fit well and look good when finished? yes

2 was there a flood of water? no

3 was the customer happy in the end? yes

you had a problem which you managed to solve. Not necessarily by your own knowledge but you knew how to solve by calling the right people, you problem solved. you were resourceful

Nothing wrong with the final result.

If anything give yourself a pat on the back and look forward to your next airlock knowing how you can solve it.

 

[AWheating]

Every day is a school day

what school did you go to? i never had to go in on the weekend. 🙂

 

[Rickster123]

What a chirpy bunch! It must be a 4 day week!

 

[SimonG]

What a chirpy bunch! It must be a 4 day week!

What! You mean its not Tuesday. Gonads 🙂

 

[cr0ft]

Get that vac... you will soon come to realise how you ever did without one

+1. Yet to find an air lock that my wet vac hasn't cleared. Just chuck it over a downstairs tap outlet, create a seal round the tap with your hand and out comes the air very quickly.

 

[heliotrope]

Good going rocketmanbkk you have now learned one of the many ways to clear
an air lock on HW down service.

I am wondering why you drained the tank to do the job rather than isolating the
cold feed to the cylinder. This would stop the flow of heated water almost instantly
and rarely causes air lock problems.

Most modern taps mix at the outlet rather than mixing in the tap body making it very
difficult to send mains up the hot to push out the air with hand over outlet.

The wet vac suggested by others would be the easiest way to pull the water through.

 

[Irish]

would've used a bung myself if no iso on the cold feed and if the gate valve looks more than 2 weeks old I'd use a bung also

 

[Resolute]

+1. Yet to find an air lock that my wet vac hasn't cleared. Just chuck it over a downstairs tap outlet, create a seal round the tap with your hand and out comes the air very quickly.

Worst one I had required a wet vac on the hot tap and someone blocking the vent from HWC. The air finally shifted then!

 

[SimonG]

Either hand over a mixer or washing machine from hot to cold.

 

[PlumbersMate]

When the wet vac doesn't work cracking a nut always does, just be careful.
one other tip is when you turn water back on make sure the tap is always always open!

 

[Toxic Ted]

And you didn't ring me because?

 

[Killy Bing]

sure you had two mates to come along to help but we have all been there and to anyone who say's otherwise.

bull sh!te

We all have, we have all been hanging on the end of the phone talking to someone for one reason or another or getting a friend or two out!


trying to clear an airlock which just wont go
fault find a wiring centre filled with choc blocks that dave from the pub wired
work out what pipes what in a gravity conversion done by BG
what you're even bloody looking at! (My first time working on a thermal store)
agreeing to repair a worcester heatslave with no access
Cutting the wrong pipe
the 11 at night call saying please please please!!
manage screw up the electrics , suddenly the sparks your best mate
That intermittent fault that you can't solve
the first time you touch a boilermate
Being stuck in a loft.
gledhill pulsacoils.....
The blocked + hidden feed pipe.....
The ohh **** moment when you cut that plastic pipe to find its 16mm and not 15mm!!!!
Damaged roofing while doing a vertical flue.
the general" damnit, can you explain this" phonecall

Thats what i can remember from the last year, triple that from what i cant remember!


You're learning as am i still and its a painful process at times!

don't beat yourself up because it didn't go right

smile because at the end of the day one way or another YOU got the job done and sorted!
you've been resourceful and thats business!

Then you've come on here, you'll read this thread and learn something new again about the wetvacs!


iain and danny from this forum are in my favourites in my phone.
i know i can ring them and they will be more than willing to help out and daresay they would come and help out without too much moaning!

As such i'm PMing you my number if you get stuck, never know i might have that snippit of knowledge to help you out.
anyone else happy to do this for rocket?

OH and by the way, today i cut the wrong pipe, instead of the drained mains it was the gravity cold.
new trousers, empty pockets with no caps in.....

sat there for an hour till my workmate got back, of which all the time i was dying for the loo 3ft away!!!

 

[Kyle87]

I've had my confidence knocked in boxing when I was sparring a lad no bigger than myself (cue fat jokes).

Mid sparring I ducked down low in a semi squat and shot a perfect straight right into his gut. Punch was solid.......but It was like hitting a brick wall. It did nothing. I'd ended a pikey lad early in a round the week before with the same punch.

Anyway this lad literally ended up punching me out of the ring. My rse went between the ropes and I folded up like a sheet of paper and flew out the ring infront of everyone.


That knocked my confidence......what did my coach say.......KYLE....That will make you a better fighter.



Same here pal. This will make you a better plumber. You know what to expect and how to deal with. .......

Same as I knew what to expect and how to deal with it......(don't fall out the ring and don't punch the guy in his iron abdomen again)

 

[Bunker]

Read it all buddy, we've all been there and we'll all go there again. You will never know it all so enjoy the learning: there's even lessons in these posts like wet vacs, bunging off the cylinder or I like to have all taps cracked open when refilling. Hang in there mate, you'll look back and laugh soon enough I promise you.

 

[helpsy]

You never stop learning 'til the day you go in your box !
Chin up and all the best mate.....onwards and upwards.

 

[helpsy]

When I was training I was told by an old boy that the mark of a good plumber is one that floods 1 house......the mark of a bad plumber is one that floods 10 houses!

 

[Phil]

This is the wetvac you want Rocket...

Numatic WVDB 900 Bowling Green Vacuum - Blowers & Outdoor Vacs - Gardening - Site & Outdoors | Axminster.co.uk

 

[helpsy]

This is the wetvac you want Rocket...

Numatic WVDB 900 Bowling Green Vacuum - Blowers & Outdoor Vacs - Gardening - Site & Outdoors | Axminster.co.uk

Holy 4nik8 !
You'd have to be GREEN to buy one of those!

 

[Killy Bing]

Performance Power1300W Wet/Dry Vacuum PP20 Grey/Black 20L, PP20

get that, dont hoover dust or rubble up, only use it for liquids and carry from the bottom too.

great little cheap one to get you started!

 

[helpsy]

Don't buy a Karcher model....they suck and not for the right reasons!

 

[IDCHAPPY]

Shyte happens rocketman , all was fine at the end of the day. No one died, no one got flooded, have a good sleep and remember that tomorrow is a new day 🙂.

 

[WaterTight]

Performance Power1300W Wet/Dry Vacuum PP20 Grey/Black 20L, PP20

get that, dont hoover dust or rubble up, only use it for liquids and carry from the bottom too.

great little cheap one to get you started!

my jigsaw is made by them. cost about 10p. thought it would die within a year, it's in it's fourth, going strong.

 

[WaterTight]

and airlock wise even it's a faff there's always some way you can link mains cold to a hot pipe if you've got a long hose with some pipe in each end.

 

[Chris F]

Once when we first started out me and my brother were working on a house and it was filled with this rigid brittle black pipe (I think now it was cat c) we only went to fit a bathroom , everytime we touched it it snapped off. We ended up re piping the whole of the house. We didn't really have a clue, we hadn't finished level 2 yet and it nearly put me off for good.On the same job the decorator had put the generator for the lights in the store cupboard that was directly below the bathroom and we both nearly died of Co poisoning too. It wasnt a good start.

 

[IDCHAPPY]

Here's a man hug for you dude 😉

 

[rocketmanbkk]

Thanks all. Feeling a bit better today.

Toxic - I didn't call you as I thought you were in Bournemouth. I will next time, and everytime, you'll be fed up with me calling!

Thanks all

 

[Toxic Ted]

Thanks all. Feeling a bit better today.

Toxic - I didn't call you as I thought you were in Bournemouth. I will next time, and everytime, you'll be fed up with me calling!

Thanks all

Phone is always on bud.......it even works in Bournemouth!!

 

[plumber0808]

Next time ask on here when your are on the job. You would have probably got the answer within minutes

 

[rocketmanbkk]

It wasn't in my mind as panic set in.