Friday :: 03 July 2009 :: 05:57 PM
175 days to Christmas!
Advertise your construction related business on our network of construction web sites
Build This Test Unit For Water Pressure
Here is a handy device you can build to check the water pressure of your home plumbing system. Correct working water pressure is important for the proper operation of your plumbing system and fixtures. This handy tool will be an effective instrument for troubleshooting your system.
Building this tool is simple and requires only two brass parts and a gauge. From left to right:
- Female Hose to FIP Swivel: 3/4" x 1/2"
- Male Pipe to FIP Hex Bushing 1/2" x 1/4"
- One Pressure Gauge with a 1/4" NPT connection
Put this together by assemblying the parts. Some people use pipe dope on the joints but I stand by the rule that brass on brass needs no thread dope. Assemble the parts tightly with two ten inch adjustable wrenches: fifty to ninety pounds torque should be adequate.
After the unit is assembled, take it outside and install it on a hosebib. Turn on the water and read the pressure. Be sure to turn the water off before trying to remove the unit. This unit will install onto most laundry sink faucets, as well.
The cost to put this project together is modest: the two brass parts total about eight dollars and the gauge will run from twelve dollars to twenty-five dollars (unless you want to buy something elaborate). If your local hardware store does not have the swivel in the 3/4" x 1/2", you may purchase the more prevalent 3/4" x 3/4" swivel, insert a 3/4" x 1/2" bushing, then install the 1/2" x 1/4" bushing into that and then install the gauge. Where there is a will, there is a way!
Hope this is helpful and enjoy!
Random Humor: Tribal Wisdom And Government Policy
Dakota tribal wisdom says that when you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. However, in civil government they often try other strategies with dead horses, including the following:
1. Buying a bigger whip.
2. Changing riders.
3. Saying things like "This is the way we always have ridden this horse."
4. Appointing a committee to study the horse.
5. Arranging to visit other sites to see how they ride dead horses.
6. Increasing the standards to ride dead horses.
7. Appointing a tiger team to revive the dead horse.
8. Creating a training session to increase our riding ability.
9. Pass legislation declaring that "This horse is not dead."
10. Blaming the horse's parents.
11. Harnessing several dead horses together for increased speed.
12. Declaring that "No horse is too dead to beat."
13. Providing additional funding to increase the horse's performance.
14. Do a Cost Analysis Study to see if contractors can ride it cheaper.
15. Declare the horse is "better, faster and cheaper" dead.
16. Form a quality committee to find uses for dead horses.
17. Revisit the performance requirements for horses.
18. Say this horse was procured with cost as an independent variable.
19. Blame the horse farm on which it was born.
20. Promote the dead horse to a supervisory position.