Lancelot
Full time employment: Posting here.
No, I'm not trying to copy "Joe the Plumber" from from the far right 
Your smiling correspondent actually did a few DIY plumbing jobs while visiting a lady friend in the heart of Isan (NE Thailand.)
This gal lives above her office in an older but spacious apartment. She bought a used washing machine so I voluntered to do the installation. She had a small room next to the balcony that just fit the bill. There was a plugged off water line so, I opened the electric breaker to the pump and backed out the galvanized plug. Next I wrapped teflon tape around a PVC fitting, threaded on one side and tappered to fit inside a hose on the other end. Job done in record time!
Well, I don't mind admitting that I was both elated (retained some DIY skills) and worried because I am on a Retirement Visa and can not work while residing in the Kingdom. I need a beer!
Thirty minutes later, my nerves calmed, I went back to the newly furnished "laundry room" to admire my work. A tiny leak from the PVC connection so I loosened the hose clamp and ever so gently tightened the PVC fitting. Bingo, leak gone!
I laid my adjustable wrench down and heard this whosh, then the sound of rushing water. The water pressure was just high enough to blow the unclamped hose of the PVC fitting and water shot across the room and bounced off the opposite wall. I raced to the electric panel and opened the breaker to the pump. Ok, ok, damage control in place.
I opened the sink tap in the bath room to let off some pressure, then went back to the laundry room to refit the (washing machine) hose onto the PVC fitting. Reattached and clamped, I closed the pump breaker and went to close the tap in the bath room. The pump is going crazy now, like there is air in the system, so I slowly started to close the tap-but it wont' decrease the water flow!
About this time my lady friend comes home from work and say "Darling, why water come down?" Huh?!? She points to the balcony and water is cascading over the wall like a mini Niagra Falls!.
I climb the ladder to the -thankfully- flat roof and see a PVC fitting from the water tank to the pump has come apart and water is shooting out. Not much can be done except to open the tank's bottom valve and drain the tank.
In the mean time I go back to the bath room to see why the tap would not shut off the water and find that the tap's valve washer has come off the end of the valve stem-and its a cheap prseed on type arrangement, not fastened to the stem with a screw.
So I send my lady friend (LF) off to buy a new valve assembly and some PVC primer and cement, thinking I can re-attach the fitting
To be continued...
Your smiling correspondent actually did a few DIY plumbing jobs while visiting a lady friend in the heart of Isan (NE Thailand.) This gal lives above her office in an older but spacious apartment. She bought a used washing machine so I voluntered to do the installation. She had a small room next to the balcony that just fit the bill. There was a plugged off water line so, I opened the electric breaker to the pump and backed out the galvanized plug. Next I wrapped teflon tape around a PVC fitting, threaded on one side and tappered to fit inside a hose on the other end. Job done in record time!
Well, I don't mind admitting that I was both elated (retained some DIY skills) and worried because I am on a Retirement Visa and can not work while residing in the Kingdom. I need a beer!
Thirty minutes later, my nerves calmed, I went back to the newly furnished "laundry room" to admire my work. A tiny leak from the PVC connection so I loosened the hose clamp and ever so gently tightened the PVC fitting. Bingo, leak gone!
I laid my adjustable wrench down and heard this whosh, then the sound of rushing water. The water pressure was just high enough to blow the unclamped hose of the PVC fitting and water shot across the room and bounced off the opposite wall. I raced to the electric panel and opened the breaker to the pump. Ok, ok, damage control in place.
I opened the sink tap in the bath room to let off some pressure, then went back to the laundry room to refit the (washing machine) hose onto the PVC fitting. Reattached and clamped, I closed the pump breaker and went to close the tap in the bath room. The pump is going crazy now, like there is air in the system, so I slowly started to close the tap-but it wont' decrease the water flow!
About this time my lady friend comes home from work and say "Darling, why water come down?" Huh?!? She points to the balcony and water is cascading over the wall like a mini Niagra Falls!.
I climb the ladder to the -thankfully- flat roof and see a PVC fitting from the water tank to the pump has come apart and water is shooting out. Not much can be done except to open the tank's bottom valve and drain the tank.
In the mean time I go back to the bath room to see why the tap would not shut off the water and find that the tap's valve washer has come off the end of the valve stem-and its a cheap prseed on type arrangement, not fastened to the stem with a screw.
So I send my lady friend (LF) off to buy a new valve assembly and some PVC primer and cement, thinking I can re-attach the fitting
To be continued...
Last edited:
