How to open a pipe

D

d5775927

Getting comfortable
Dec 11, 2019
379
313
Israel
I know the rule of:
"lefty tighty righty loosey".
righty tighty lefty loosy.
But when I see a horizontal pipe, I don't know what is left and what is right.
1741285202362.png
If i'm standing facing to the west, left is south.
If i'm standing facing to the east, left is north.

How to open the pipe pointed by the yellow arrow (and why)?
I'm asking here since, I know folks here are savvy with tools and pipes.
 
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Okay I have an answer.
To close the pipe, you have to rotate clockwise, to open counter clockwise.
It doesn't matter if you stand on the east or west, in both cases counter clockwise is north.

Thanks for all (I had to ask chat GPT to understand).
 
d5775927 said:
Why do you all decide to face east and not west?
Click to expand...

I chose to face east as I see the "weakest link" in that set-up as the white rectangular component (meter?) to the East of the coupling being loosened.

In my head, the odds of breaking other pieces/parts is lowest if I am facing East while working the fittings. I would wrench with one hand while supporting the white piece with the other hand.

Of course, my thinking might change after I see how everything flexes during the initial 'have-at-it' with the wrench
 
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d5775927 said:
...
It doesn't matter if you stand on the east or west, in both cases counter clockwise is north.
Click to expand...
Maybe I have the afternoon fog brain... but I do not think that statement is accurate

If I face East (strattling the pipe with the coupling in front of me), moving the nut clockwise would be rotating the top most face of the nut to the South

If I face West (strattling the pipe with the coupling in front of me), moving the nut clockwise would be rotating the top most face of the nut to the North
 
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SpacemanSpiff said:
Maybe I have the afternoon fog brain... but I do not think that statement is accurate

If I face East (strattling the pipe with the coupling in front of me), moving the nut clockwise would be rotating the top most face of the nut to the South

If I face West (strattling the pipe with the coupling in front of me), moving the nut clockwise would be rotating the top most face of the nut to the North
Click to expand...
Yes you are right.
I thought I understand it, but I didn't.
The counter clockwise flips, depending if you face east or west.

So, I still don't have answer, how to decide which counter clock wise to choose.
 
mount the pipe like a horse from the west and the east being the head turn the wrench counter clockwise. that should get her undone
 
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The arrow is pointing to a 2 piece union. Place 1 wrench on the large hex and pull down (as viewed in the photo)
Place another wrench on the smaller hex adjoining the large one and hold it firmly to prevent it from spinning and causing other problems. Basically "lefty loosy" when looking from the right end of the union.
 
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97JeepXJ said:
Maybe stopping by a hardware store to look at a union would help visualize how they work. I believe it’s been said correctly to turn the top of the nut north, I would also suggest supporting the pipe/fittings on both sides of the nut until you get it broke loose.
Click to expand...
Sounds right, if you know to identify each part you will know the threading direction.
But there are many connectors/adapters on this pipe, I didn't install them.
1. Do I need to identify each adapter/part before trying to open it?
2. Do all parts in the picture need to be open to the same direction (north).

Note, this is theoretical question, I don't need to open this pipe, I've tried to do some plumbing work lately and got very confused when trying to open/close horizontal pipes.
 
Thats a UNION fitting. use 1 pipe wrench to hold the pipe in front of the valve( BLUE Arrow) and and another Pipe wrench to turn the Collar nut toward the bottom of the PHOTO.
1741331615615.png
 

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Flintstone61 said:
Thats a UNION fitting. use 1 pipe wrench to hold the pipe in front of the valve( BLUE Arrow) and and another Pipe wrench to turn the Collar nut toward the bottom of the PHOTO.
View attachment 216238
Click to expand...
I understand the answer, but I'm trying to understand how to generalize to other cases.

Or as a plumber I'm expected to be able to identify each adapter/part being used and deduce the correct direction to open/close?
 
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d5775927 said:
... I'm expected to be able to identify each adapter/part being used and deduce the correct direction to open/close?
Click to expand...

Or to put it more simply... it's called: experience.

Same thing here on IPCT... I had never dealt with turret cameras before. Asking questions around here and getting some "hands on" time with them, I feel like I am much more proficient with them both physically, as well as the software interface (until the new firmware changes the features/layout).
 
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See attached image: In order to generalize which way to turn the "Union Nut" to loosen the union, you must first identify the parts of the union. Once you determine which is the "Union Thread Piece" and which is the "Union Tail Piece," it will be obvious which way to turn the "Union Nut" in order to loosen or tighten it.

Pipe Union Parts.png
 
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