h a l f b a k e r yNo, not that kind of baked.
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Given a leak with no valve upstream, what do you do without shutting off supply or draining any downstream vessel (like hot water cylinder)
What if there was a magnetic sand in the flow, that when a strong magnetic field is place through the pipe, that congeals to block the water in two places and
allows access to a section. Any fix up needed, there after, is a breeze.The sand, of course, would be inert and washes out quickly.
There's only one severe problem.
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If a pipe has a leak, then what if you surrounded the leak
with your magnetic sand/dust, and put the super-strong
electromagnet on the
other side of the pipe? Then the dust might enter the pipe
through the leak/hole, and from there accumulate inside
the pipe to block the water flow, enough that the leak
could be repaired. |
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Could instead be an interesting way to unstop a clogged
drain. Throw some iron-filing stuff down the drain (with the
blessing of your local water and sewer utility) and with a
rare-earth magnet on the outside direct it to the clog and
scrub. |
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Or you could always just use a snake. |
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The usual method is liquid nitrogen and a thermal blanket. There are many pipe freezing kits available specifically for plumbers in this situation. |
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They freeze the pipe solid? I thought that burst pipes. |
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Well you're only freezing a few inches of pipe, so there's not much expansion really. |
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A hot pipe wouldn't freeze for very long but a nice solution. |
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[Vernon] I was thinking more along the lines of installing a valve for future proofing. The leak was in a regulator fitting. |
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//The usual method is liquid nitrogen and a thermal blanket.// |
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You can also do it with dry ice, packed into a towel around the pipe. Lasts longer than freeze-sprays. However, if the leak is substantial, the flow of water will prevent freezage. |
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Frog spawn will seal a hole in a pipe as long as the water is
cold, and you can wait around for long enough for a
tadpole to form and block the hole. A longer wait for a frog
to develop is required for a larger hole. This method won't
work with boiling water. |
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