So ... I'm SMRT.

Jason Beam

Member
Messages
1,364
Location
Sacramento, CA
Dang near got me a Darwin Award tonight...

The wife was helping me move the air compressor in place. A 60gal monster that weighs a good bit. Well, we went to lift on it and some of the prepared piping that I'd put on was in the way (regulator, valve, quick release, elbow, etc).

Well I had to empty the tank anyway to hook up the new drainage stuff, so I had her hang onto that overflow valve chain while I losened the plumbing we needed out of our way...

After a couple minutes of waiting ... we were down to just under 40psi. My stupit head said "Oh that ain't bad, i can just undo the rest of this..." ... well "this" was the 3/4" main bushing into the tank ... that's right, i was about to open up a full 1" diameter hole in a 60 gallon tank at 40psi. :eek: :dunno:

Well ... it was only 40psi, right? HA!

WOOSHHHHHHHHH ... it sent me a few feet away, with about 3lbs of plumbing kit in my hands. I'm glad i was wearin' gloves ... the ice woulda hurt. Yeah.

It prolly wasn't good on the tank neither ... Glad it was 'only' 40psi and not the 100+ it started at.


So there ya go .. lemme have it ...
 
Jason,

Glad you weren't hurt!

Try having 2 - 1" ramping probes in a supercon magnet that contains 1250 liters of Lhe (liquid helium). These two probes are "thermal shorts" that have to come out. The pressure in the magnet is at 8 psi. We are taught to not pull the probes over 1 psi. But the thermal shorts are causing the pressure to increase and just get worse. You have a 14" exhaust vent with a fan going to the outside. You are in a room on top the 9' tall magnet and the room has a 14' ceiling. You pull one probe and that 1" hole fills the upper 7' of the room with frosty, foggy, helium gas before you can get the cap on the hole. The cap ices due to the helium gas coming out and you can't get in on..so you ball up a towel and cover the hole and wait for the room to clear......defrost the cap with a heat gun and get it on.....and pull the other ramp probe. All this while breathing minimally as you really don't want a lot of helium in your lungs to displace the oxygen in your blood!

Hairy at least!
 
Glad to see you weren't hurt. I learned a healthy respect for compressed air not too long ago with a loose 5/8" diameter flex line at about 150 psi. :doh:
 
Jason,

Glad you weren't hurt!

Try having 2 - 1" ramping probes in a supercon magnet that contains 1250 liters of Lhe (liquid helium). These two probes are "thermal shorts" that have to come out. The pressure in the magnet is at 8 psi. We are taught to not pull the probes over 1 psi. But the thermal shorts are causing the pressure to increase and just get worse. You have a 14" exhaust vent with a fan going to the outside. You are in a room on top the 9' tall magnet and the room has a 14' ceiling. You pull one probe and that 1" hole fills the upper 7' of the room with frosty, foggy, helium gas before you can get the cap on the hole. The cap ices due to the helium gas coming out and you can't get in on..so you ball up a towel and cover the hole and wait for the room to clear......defrost the cap with a heat gun and get it on.....and pull the other ramp probe. All this while breathing minimally as you really don't want a lot of helium in your lungs to displace the oxygen in your blood!

Hairy at least!

I think I'll stick to selling beer for a living :eek:
 
And not talking like a munchkin for a week! :rofl::rofl:

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Follow the yellow brick road!! Follow the yellow brick road!!!


I'm usually a stickler for "if it don't feel right, don't do it" ... but that question didn't even enter the though process at the time ... "Oh it's only 40psi, i can stop that with my thumb..." ... ha!
 
I did the same with a 40 gallon tank. It's one of those things you only do once. That's generally how I've learned my best lessons. I've done many things that I look back after the fact and think that was stupid, but most I've only done once.
 
C'mon, why nobody is asking about your wife?? She could have been hurt as well...

Glad everything remained in something to tell and nothing else to both of you!
 
Hi Jason,

You really improved my day.

At the WW show in Pomona in May I purchased over $500.oo worth of planes. I brought them home opened the boxes, checked the contents and put them back in the boxes.

My bench is gone. I tore the old one down and have not finished the new one (that's not too bad for stupid). So I knew I would not use the planes for a month or so. Therefore I carefully put them away.

This afternoon I wanted to plane some of the poplar I am using to build the new bench (you guys will hate me but I fastened a block to my TS as a stop and used the planes there). Anyway back to the main thread here. I go to get the planes. I cannot find them. I search everyplace logical for them. I look in stupid places for them. I really do not want to go tell the LOML that I can't find my toys.

Finally, I give up. I go to my wife (the best lost article finder in the world) and say some thing like, "Honey, can you help me find something." Of course she asks what, what is it in etc. She goes to the garage and in 15 seconds flat shows me the planes.

Turns out my 82 year old brain isn't as swift as it should be. The day I came home with the planes Myrna showed me that she had emptied the top drawer of a cabinet so I could use it. So I put my precious planes in there for safe keeping. Months later when I tried to find them I didn't look in that drawer because it had Myrna stuff in it.

I sure felt stupid. However, at least I kept all of my members, didn't get frozen and didn't have to replace plumbing.

Enjoy,

Jim
 
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