Spent half a shift fighting a stuck band clamp on a 12 inch pipe today

I was just trying to swap out a cracked valve on a repair job up near Aberdeen, and one stupid band clamp wouldn't budge no matter what I tried. After wrestling with it for almost 4 hours, I had to cut the whole section out and weld in a new spool piece. Has anyone else had a simple job turn into an all-day nightmare over one bad fitting?

3 comments

3 Comments

cora40023d ago

I had the same thing on a 14 inch main near Tacoma last winter. Kroil and a torch got it loose but it took a good 45 minutes of heating and cooling cycles before it popped. If you can get a pipe wrench on the band itself and a cheater bar that's usually my go to. Otherwise you're cutting and welding like you said, no shame in that when the metal just decides to weld itself together.

charlie_roberts871mo ago

Nah man, sounds like you just didn't try hard enough with the right tools.

hugo_gonzalez681mo ago

Blew my mind when I read that. Like you honestly think someone just didn't try hard enough? That's wild to me. I've seen guys spend three days on a single rusted bolt with every tool known to man and it still wouldn't budge. Sometimes the universe just says not today, you know.