Three days to fix a valve I could have swapped in two hours

I was working on a sat system in Pensacola last month, a big water intake valve was acting up. Figured it was just a seal, but the whole assembly was seized from corrosion. Took me three damn days of soaking, heating, and prying before I got it free. Has anyone else run into a job where a simple fix turned into a multi-day nightmare?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_joseph18d ago

lol Pensacola water is brutal on everything, I've seen it. But just a heads up, that's not a sat system you were working on, a water intake valve is part of a municipal or industrial water system, not satellite. Easy mix up though when you're in the thick of it.

rubysingh18d agoMost Upvoted

Pensacola water is brutal on everything" is no joke. I've heard horror stories about what that stuff does to all kinds of equipment. @julia549, that seized brass coupling sounds like a nightmare, three days of soaking and a torch is definitely the kind of fight that stays with you.

julia54918d ago

@the_joseph you're totally right, I had a brain fart on the terminology. For the longest time I used to lump anything with pipes and valves under "sat" because that's what we called it at my last job (a total mess, I know). This project really changed my mind, like when you're fighting a seized brass coupling and realize it's not some delicate satellite part. Three days of soaking with penetrating oil and a torch finally popped it free.