Grasshopper / spider - pipe ground clamp

By phaux

Date 05-13-2009 05:33

Nice, a lot fancier then what I've normally seen which is simply some bent up rebar.

By leterburn (**)

Date 05-13-2009 12:22

Thanks..... this is the first powder coated set - I kinda like them. DL

By Joseph P. Kane (****)

Date 05-13-2009 10:03

In my opinion, the cross sectional area at the contact tip is too small, and not in the correct shape. You would have lots of arc burning. You also need a few loops to anchor the tie down bungees needed to assure tight contact. There should be a wider transverse contact tip. In addition, there should be a flat bar end with a face angle complement to the 37 1/2 degree angle and a 90 degree face, so that when you are doing double ending, or fitting small components, you could lay the flat bar against the bevel face, and the arc strikes would get remelted during the welding.

If you used your gadget on the jobs where I was the inspector, it would be disallowed for excessive arc strikes/ arc burns. The PSC would have a fit!

By hotrodtodd (**)

Date 05-13-2009 10:22

also what about the contact tip not being same grade of steel as pipe

By leterburn (**)

Date 05-13-2009 12:11 Edited 05-13-2009 12:21

Grind the tip to fit your needs and they work great - powder coat has to come off on the tip regardless, which is what we've done. The pieces are cnc cut - so some fitting is necessary. The tip is 3/8" thick - pics give kind of deceiving angles, hehe.... around 16" in overall length. Zip ties work great - fast and cheap - personally, I run the lead through the hairpin and keeps out of the way.

Also, hard to see it but the legs have angle into them - maybe the second pic you can see it, the one w/o the insulating hose - but when latched onto the pipe, it actually puts pressure on the tip. Bungess are too slow for pipeline ... once your juice flows through it - some of the swampers have been surprised how well it sticks to the weld / bevel.

Thank goodness I've not been on your jobs - however, in the past year that I've been using mine - my bare (uncoated) hopper - has never given me any arc burns / strikes - only occasionally a damn rod coming out of the groove of my stinger when I get lax (I mean.... I've never gotten any arc burns in my life, hehe). Oh yeah.... if you look at other pics too - I showed a set w/o the insulating heater hose - but you've got to put heater hose on legs - also there's a rubber snubber on each leg set to prevent bottoming against steel.

I've been pipelining w/ these - you shoulda seen my first grasshopper - about got laughed off the row and damn good thing it didn't land on my head, lol

DL

By Joseph P. Kane (****)

Date 05-13-2009 13:03

Letterburn

I have slide pictures of an arc burn that went clear through the weld on a 3/8 wall 16 inch gr 56 API 5LX gas pipe. I have several other slides of arc strikes and arc burns caused by poor connections.

I do not see how it could take too long to pull a bungee cord around the pipe. It takes ten times that long to get the welder to put his cigarette out!

In most of the projects where I have been the inspector, the NYS Public Service Commission is right behind me doing their own QA inspection. They are so strict that they made me reject punch marks that the fitter used for layout assembly, and treat them as arc strikes. (Grind out, polish and macro etch with Amonium Persulfate solution.) If you do not do a thorough inspection, they tell the owner to get rid of you.

By leterburn (**)

Date 05-13-2009 13:08

wow.... glad I don't smoke firstly (not all welders smoke).... second, if you put a bungee cord around out here, you'd get laughed off and run off the row... LOROMF - lol

By bullsnbets (**)

Date 05-13-2009 14:56

Jo-Kane, you gotta be Jo-King. I have never heard of wrapping a Bungee on the line. Completely crazy. I'm not farmiliar with you, so I'm curious, are you a Welder, or always an Inspector?

By welderbrent (*****)

Date 05-20-2009 19:28

I'll probably get flamed pretty good for this but some things can't be ignored.

1) Why don't you try clicking your little mouse thing on Joseph P. Kane's blue name at the top to go to his profile and see what it says about him.

2) Go back to a thread in 'Inspections' titled "Joseph Kane in Inspection Trends", an article recently sent out to AWS/CWI's on things going on in the inspection arena.

3) Go the the article, which can be found here in the AWS forum and read what it has to say about our Joseph Kane.

4) Just because you work for a fly by night outfit that doesn't want it's people to take the time to do things right does not mean that you should take lightly the constructive comments of those who have the responsibility of looking at the work for conformance to all appropriate codes involved. They/we (and you as welders) also have the job of helping to prevent problems before they occur.

5) Even if some of the application doesn't apply directly to you doesn't mean it wasn't well intentioned and wouldn't be worth looking into as far as some changes to make your very nice looking product even more attractive to a wider field of customers who do have to be careful of things that don't concern you.

6) If requested, my powder coaters can easily 'mask' the tip to leave the coating off in the first place. Would make a more attractive finished product that didn't need modification.

Why is it we have the 'shoot all who represent a slightly different viewpoint' mentality on this site lately? I find the variety of experience, knowledge, and application very informative and interesting.

And in this particular case, I don't really see the problem. Yes, I am a certified welder, shop owner, inspector. It doesn't take that long to make sure the connections are right and will not cause a problem. All it takes is one out of ten to make it worth the time plus some. It is not only time you are ultimately saving, it is a superior quality of product that doesn't need extra steps by inspectors to make sure the arc strike did not cause damage that renders the whole part unusable. If you have to totally replace it how much do you lose? Maybe this is not a consideration on your jobs, but, I can affirm very dogmatically that it is on many jobs.

Okay, I'm done. Just my usual two tin pennies worth. Flame away.

Have a Great Day, Brent

By texasrigwelder (**)

Date 05-14-2009 00:03

lol

By tigrooter (**)

Date 05-13-2009 17:00

what size legs come with it and how much?

By jnieto

Date 05-13-2009 23:42

yes im interested how much?

By jnieto

Date 05-13-2009 23:43

i dont check my emails but my phone # is 956-763-6463 in texas

By leterburn (**)

Date 05-14-2009 02:23

4", 6", 8", 10", and 12" & the ground tube - price... no idea - send me a PM or give me a call - Lucky

By leterburn (**)

Date 05-14-2009 02:44

Thanks for all of the compliments and interest - here's what will come w/ these....

The legs for 4" pipe (which you should be able to squeeze down to 3" but prob no smaller), 6", 8", 10", and 12".... plus the ground point, insulating heater hose, rubber snubbers, bolts, snap-pin.... basically ready for your 1/2" lug / lead and the pipe.

I've got some black and red or could do a bare set as well. Like I've told my buddies locally.... I'll give a No BS warranty / guarantee - buy 'em, try 'em, and if you don't like 'em.. I'll give your complete money back - including freight from me to you - only thing you'll have in 'em is freight back for refund.

Hope this helps - I could also build a flatter set of legs for large bore pipe??? Not sure what the need would be???

By B.acosta (**)

Date 05-20-2009 08:33

give me a call with price.those sure match my rig in that red color my # is (956)763-7041 /brock

By leterburn (**)

Date 05-20-2009 11:36

pm sent