Week 2 of Practicum

I've been visiting around and checking out what people are doing on their practicums. Everybody seems to be getting a chance to work on a wide variety of things. Employers have been pleased with the skill and commitment levels. Everyone is reporting that they have been able to put their new skills to good use.

Week 30 Day 2 Welding workshop

Bill Plett from ACC conducted a one-day welding workshop. 

Oxy-acetylene cutting, pipe welding and braze wedling

Week 30, Day 1

Prep for welding workshop.
Welding theory and Welding safety.

Week 29, Day 5. Last day of class work for Pipe 0012 and 0013.

Here is a link to one of the systems that recovers heat from DWV piping systems, Might be a thing in the not too distant

http://www.renewability.com/power_pipe/how_works.html

Roll your own! You have the technology.




Bidet toilet seats. https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.white-elongated-heated-bidet-toilet-seat-s900.1000726864.html

Week 29, Day 4

While we are talking about septic tanks it is a good time to review the requirements for confined space entry in the Manitoba Workplace Safety and Health Regulations. See Section Section 15. 

Week 29, Day 3

Field trip to ACC!!
BBQ lunch,
Tour of facility shops and classrooms.
Meet with In
Meeting with apprenticeship instructors and
Ken Falloon the apprenticeship coordinator.

In the meantime watch this video on the issues around water borne wastes and the notion that there is no such thing as downstream. We are all downstream of something.

National Film Board presents Crapshoot: The Gamble with our Wastes

Week 29, Day 2

Onsite Wastewater Management systems Manitoba Regulations

Onsite Wastewater Management Installers Program
September 25 - 29, 2017 -- 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Fee: $1000.00 (No taxes)
Location:
Red River College
2055 Notre Dame Avenue

Homeowner’s Manual for Onsite Wastewater Management Systems

Week 29, Day 1.

Field trip, across the yard. Interlake Water Supply are working on new housing units setting holding tanks and setting up pumps.
Individual septic tanks will be used as holding tanks for the time being  but may eventually have the effluent chamber hooked up to the sewer main. A modified forced main system.

They were installing a 1 hp submersible pump down an adjacent 120ft well to supply all three units. The system will use a single 20 gallon pressure tank with a cycle stop valve. Check out the operation here.

Week 28, Day 5

Working up a price for the Peguis Infrastructure Building. Very basic plumbing with a WC, lav and KS.
Also want a section of radiant floor heating.

Designing radiant floor heating systems

Using the 30 day trial version of LoopCAD program

http://www.avenir-online.com/AvenirWeb/Store/Purchase.aspx




for an area 24 x 80 with 15" spacing for 1/2" pex pipe.

Week 28, Day 4

Programming the Fleck 5800 LXT Softener head
K45 Drain Gun


 

K50 Sectional Machine

 


Next size up drain cleaner for municipal systems.

Week 28, Day 3

A couple of videos about circuit venting and wet venting. These videos are more about commercial rather than residential settings but they provide a good summary of the general rules for applying, designing and sizing these piping arrangements. Refer to the NP C sections 2.5.2 Wet Venting and 2.5.3 Circuit Venting.

Circuit Venting Circuit Venting vs Wet Venting

Week 28, Day 2

After a lovely long week end. Two weeks left. Last week will be practical testing, then practicum.

Now on to drain cleaning tools.

Ridgid Drain cleaning tools and related equipment. 

Week 27, Day 5

Electric Water Heaters

How do they work




Scehmatic

How much resistance should you read on a water heater element. 

Week 27, Day 4

Best resource for submersible pumps is the Franklin Electric AIM (Application, Installation and Maintenance) Manual. 

If you work on pumps once in a while you will want to download this to your phone or keep a printed copy behind your truck seat.

Most residential submersible pumps are single phase 240 volt pumps with a three wire control box.

Franklin Electric YouTube channel is very useful.

For Application



For Installation





For Maintenance

Week 27, Day 3

Open House with Pizza and visitors checking out the condos.

Rigging up the submersible pump and building a flow inducer sleeve. Submersible pumps should not be installed in open water because water needs to flow past the motor to cool the motor.  The Franklin Electric AIM manual describes how it is done.

Flow inducer sleeve. 

Week 27, Day 2

ELECTRICITY!!

We paid darn good money for those Milwaukee Multimeters. ($129.00)
we better figure out how to use them.



The woman in this video sounds like the GlaDOS robot woman from Portal.

Week 27, Day 1

New assignment on Wet Venting.

This site has some good technical explanations of plumbing principles. Like the proportion of water to air flowing in vertical gravity drainage pipes. 7/24ths is an interesting fraction.


Lots of interesting and well done YouTube videos available illustrating all sorts of drainage and venting arrangements. Many reference US and international plumbing codes but quite a few refer to the National Plumbing Code of Canada Like this video from the plumbing department a SAIT in Calgary.


And this video from Camosun



See also this play list from Camosun

Condo Projects

Three out of four condo projects set up and running today.

Sheldon and Clay Grundfos 240v specialists

Gil and Walter make it water tight

Nick and Matt Early birds

Week 26, Day 4

Pumps 101

How do you know which pump to use?

First figure out how much water you need and at what pressure.

Water demand measured in fixture units. See NPC Table 2.6.3.2 A " Sizing of Water Distribution Systems"

Then figure out how much resistance your pump will have to overcome to deliver that amount of water at that amount of pressure.

Feet of static and dynamic head.

Then look for information about pump performance usually expressed in a graph that plots head and volume.

Look at the pump manufacturers'  performance information, usually illustrated in a pump performance curve chart.
 eg. Grundfos MQ pump.