Can you guys help? I

Well let me play devils advocate,I carry a small air compressor that i use to nail patches on the walls i fill and I have a blow out cap i use to blow out the hoses with. the cap has a t handle and a relief valve i can use to let the pressure off the hose if it is blocked. Let me say this clearly I ONLY USE THE BLOW OUT CAP TO CLEAN OUT NOT TO CLEAR BLOCKAGES!. when i am finished with the jobI pump the hopper all the way down then i unhook the hose from the pump and insert a sponge wraped in plastic in the hose end then i hook up the blow out cap. making sure the end of the hose is pointed in a safe direction I crack open the Tvalve till I see the concrete start to come out of the end once i see it start moving i close the valve till the concrete slows and stops then i crack it again I continue this till the sponge come out the concrete should be moving no faster than soft serve ice cream. If you just turn the air on wide open by the time the sponge gets to the end of the hose it will cause an explosion like a shot gun and will fly over a hundred yards. and could cause great damage or death to anyone standing in front. if the concrete stops relese the air from the relese valve DO NOT OPEN A PRESSURIZED LINE! If you do this right the hoses will be clean except for a little sand that will fall out when you roll the hoses up you can put a cup of water in one end and roll the hoses to get it out. I only use this clean out system when there is no water avalible on the job and the mixer has little left for me to clean out with. 98% of the time i just clean out by filling the hopper with water. but using the compressor i can clean out and only use 10 gallons of water. Hope this helpsJeffConcrete aint for sissys!

Pumper Jeff, that is exactly the way our line pump operator does it. He also carries a bottle of C02 just in case the air compressor breaks down. His air hose can reach all the mixer side air tanks too. It is quick, easy, and done right it can be safe. You just cannot crack open the air valve to much at a time. Like you say, keep it coming out like soft serve ice cream. matt[url=http://www.featherrivermaterial.com]Feather River Material[/url]

I used to use air myself, before I saw another Operator almost kill a laborer.Matter of fact I was kicked off a job site in Dublin Ireland when the safety man saw me using air. Almost lost my job.Certain places take SAFETY seriously!I agree with bob on this, we are here to learn and teach others how to be safe. You might go your whole career with out a problam but the new Guy that you told it was O.K. might not.

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wow great stories. I think we nee a story section of this web site. Todd Bullis

Just suck a sponge! I always suck a sponge back with the line pump and any size system. Any hoses that are removed from the pour I use a water cap. The concrete has to be a little wet 5-6; put a pc. of plywood on the hopper and hit rvs full volume! Sometimes it takes a while, but works and beats getting a ball stuck and rinsing all the cement out of the hoses.

Thanks guys!! You all have given me the information i needed. Now I have some thinking to do. Again thanks alot!!

[quote]Just suck a sponge! I always suck a sponge back with the line pump and any size system. Any hoses that are removed from the pour I use a water cap. The concrete has to be a little wet 5-6; put a pc. of plywood on the hopper and hit rvs full volume! Sometimes it takes a while, but works and beats getting a ball stuck and rinsing all the cement out of the hoses[/quote]Papumper, unless you are using steel braded hose I have never seen anyone suck a sponge back with a line pump and if you are using a ball valve pump it is impossable because they have no reverse. sometimes even with a 5 inch discharge hose on a boom pump if you stick the ball in the tip hose the hose will collapse ahead of the sponge and will not suck back. the only time i have ever seen anyone suck a sponge with a line pump was with a schwing 1200 metro pump and we sucked a sponge through about 100 foot of 4 inch steel pipe. I am not trying to start a pizzing match I just have never had seen anyone do what you speak of.JeffConcrete aint for sissys!

Do away with the air compressor. Go invest in a pressure washer. from home depot for $400. build a blow out cap with quick disconnects. Put a pressure gauge in line to monitor pressure dont exceed the rating of the pipes you are using for the psi. The water wont compress like air to avoid the big boom at the end. Your air compresser will only build to about 120 psi the pressure washer will go well past that. This also works on boom trucks the boom trucks max pressure is 1200 psi when packed off, the air compressure is 120psi do the math of what is going to work. Three foot of five inch pipe is equal to 1 gallon of water to determine the amout of water you need. Gallons per minute on your pressure washer is the key, the pressure washer also plays double duty in cleaning the pump.

1 foot of five inch pipe is equal to 1 gallon of water

On a line pump there is a safe way to use air so, long as, it isnt a ball valve. You still have to keep the pressure low. Stick a ball in the last hose and, add a blow out cap. Put the pump in reverse and, then add a little air. Like 2 seconds worth. Keep adding air and, sucking back, while tapping on your reducer, till you get the ring of it being empty. Then discharge any air with the relief valve. Personally I hate air as, it kills and, maimes. I prefer water always. In which case I hope your concrete divers are coopertive and, let you use their water. Then I would clean the pump then fill the hopper up and push the sponge out with water. That is the best way and, the cleanest.

240meters up in the air on a hirise building and allways blowen out with air never had a problem .talkingabout blowing out 5 meters of concrete back into a concrete truck and comes out as gently as the experienced person wants it to thats the bottom line EXPERIENCE

you guys ever see this.[img]http://concretepumping.com/emedia/2002/june/images/Light2x.jpg[/img] Todd Bullis