Hello everyone

 I've been pumping for a year and this is my first job with system. I've primed my boom with one hose hanging then added Slick Willie to the first hose of about 60 ft. of system with a wad in front of it. Both times I got dry pack just before each clamp. It was suggested to mix a slurry of cement and prime the whole system at once. The contractor isn't interested in a yard of grout. No place for it to go and of course the cost. Any advice???

Have the contractor get a Bag of PORTLAND you can mix it in a 5 gallon bucket then put some in the hose.and in the hopper works great ...

Also how much system are you going to be going thru???

Not uncommon to get plugs at the clamps, since the hose expands a bit because of the concrete pressure, then it has to go down to size of steel at the clamp and voila! PLUG.

What's the size of the system? Hose or pipe? What speed and revs are you pumping at? Is it flat, down or uphill?

Cement/waterslurry is by far IMHO the best primer, but you get bored of having to haul around heavy bags of the stuff.
Slick willie and the likes are good, but it depends on the concrete, it tends to suck water out of concrete with alot of plasticizer, so you have to mix it with more water.
Filling the hopper up to the agitator with water, add a slick pak and reverse it a while, then pumping it down before filling up with concrete has worked for me upto 100 metres (300ft)of 3" hose, straight through, but it depends alot on the concrete.

My safe bet would be to prime out the boom, mix a 5 gallon bucket with cement and water, nice and thick, add it to your system and start pumping at 30-40% speed and 50% revs.
90% of the time it will come through with no problem, it's only 60ft (20metres?)
And good luck!

WOW That ^^^^ can obviously type way better than me !!! It took me like five minutes just to get that first post out!!LOL

youve got gaskets on each of the joints????????

It all depends on the mix if it is lean you will have issue if it is not you will be fine. What kind of pump do you have a primming port or only hopper to prime through...

I was on a job one day with 200 feet of steel an 80 feet of rubber and the mixer driver...f  up the grout...dumb ass anyway I mixed 2 slickies and filled my primming port and pumped it slow and went through with no problems but it was a strong mix 35 mpa

You should have no issues with the steel it is the rubber that zaps the water out of your mix

hey 38, 35mpa you say is a strong mix...  I thought we had a similar system to u guys .. It mustent be right because we push 80mpa through hoses pretty often. I prime the boom then prime the line , it works 90% of the time but 80 mpa is up there with some of the badest conc you will ever pump lol i think the key with the really hight strenght is prime real slow. i have been pushing it through by pushing half a stroke then stop for about 3 secs then go again , dunno y but it doesnt seem to block like that.......

I like to use the cement mix and, I add a half a bottle of dishwashing liquid to the mix. The dishwashing liquid keeps the fine suspended and, is an added lube. I also like to set the hose ends on 4X4s or 2X4s, that way it keeps the water from over running and, not wetting all of the hose down while it is moving through. This is especially true if the hose is slightly down hill.

I like to use the cement mix and, I add a half a bottle of dishwashing liquid to the mix. The dishwashing liquid keeps the fine suspended and, is an added lube. I also like to set the hose ends on 4X4s or 2X4s, that way it keeps the water from over running and, not wetting all of the hose down while it is moving through. This is especially true if the hose is slightly down hill. I prime through the boom before hooking up as well. It cuts down on the fluid on the end, in case that is a problem.

If your system runs downhill, try laying the hoses in a loop every 20-30 metres (60-90ft) or use a plastic bag, slip it on, put the gasket on and connect up.

Dishwashing, and almost every other soap, works good and does the same job as air entrainments (AEA) since AEA is pure soap, try washing your work cloths in it, they have never been so clean before. :D
Just don't put the prime in the form.
Oil does almost the same job as soap, since both contains fatty acids and some soaps are petroleum based. But the other stuff in oil destroys the concrete, soap just makes it very porous.
Very basically, there are a lot of IFs, MAYBEs and WHATs, just use cement and your safe.

Ive been on numerous system jobs over the years,from 40ft to over 800ft and every time i water the hoses before clampin. prime boom first, then clamp/n/go.plastic works good over ends if set up day before pour.so far so good. have over 1500ft of sys comeing real soon gonna be fun. 

You don't need to use the full yard uf slurry.1/2 to 3/4 of a hopper should do it.Depends on how much system you have.

hi mate i use a 34m boom and if its boom and rubber i just back the lorry up have a look at the mix as long as its not to stoney i just put aload of water on the back of the mixer so that the first half a meter is wet wet like grout then put some water in the hopper and away you go i would not try on a 4 inch line good luck