continental punch tees

By TRC

Date 07-21-2012 15:19

Having problems with breaking cutters in 1-1/4" punch tees. Carrier is newly installed 12", .250 wall, X42. Three passes of 6010, approx. 1/4" fillet. Welded eight last week and had one break, the others were fine. Talked to one of the Company welders and he said they had probs as well. Anyone have this issue worked out yet? Got an email into Continental but would like to get some real life responses. How about a preheat to slow the cool rate? Line is low pressure- 7"WC very low flow rate. Thanks and hope everyone is having a cool summer and enjoying all the work- Ted 410-808-8353

By Pickupman (***)

Date 07-29-2012 20:31

Ted, I got your PM. Sorry I'm so late, I was in the beautiful and VERY much COOLER State of Wyoming on vacation with the family. I found out that I am no threat to their population of trout. :grin:

We use mostly 3/4" and 1" punch tees from Continental. I've never used a 1 1/4" as we don't use 1 1/4" for services as 2" isn't much more cost wise and allows for load increases in the future. We have had some problems with cutters on the smaller tees, usually if I get them too hot, but found that putting a generous dollip of never seize on them before running the cutter down helps. Not to be smart, but are you taking the cutter out before welding them on? We always remove the cutter and leave the cap off until they cool. Also, we are putting them on .156 and .188 wall pipe. I will check with the guys in Lincoln tomorrow and see if they have used the 1 1/4" tees and if they have had any problems.

By TRC

Date 07-29-2012 22:41

Hey Tom, cutter is taken out. The crews were not using the tapping tool to tap them with, they were just using a 1/2" drive wratchet. I talked to Continental. I told them we're going to use the tapping tool with a six foot long wrench that I've made out of 2" pipe to spin the tapping tool above ground. We're going to use never sieze on the threads below the outlet hole and a few drips of cutting oil as per their instructions. He said let us know how it turns out. I think they know they have problems with these tees. I'm gonna try a small weld and a larger weld to see if I can come up with what works best. I think one of the men said we had like 200 of these to do. Thanks- Ted

By Rig Hand (***)

Date 07-30-2012 05:01

I would say that the .250 wall is the biggest problem. Your weld or heat input can't be causing the problem. I have no experience with 1-1/4 punch tee's but I did a bunch of 3/4's on 2'' main that was .250 wall and they had a hell of a time tapping them. Used multiple cutters per tee and stripped a few tee's and had to install another tee.

We usually use 3/4'' punch tee's or 2'' 3-way tee's w/ a transition. Cutting oil in the hole and anti seize on the threads, if the cutter seems to be dull swap it out with a new one from another tee, your still money ahead.

good luck