just after some different methods on sucking back at the end of a job. bucket of water 1 sponge, no water just ball, z folded or in a arc 

fred82

a frame boom two old cement soaked in bucket of water put in rev then put in bags, count ten stokes then bucket of water then sponge when water comes up in hopper your know its back

someone esle here, will tell you a diffrent way

Over the years I have seen so many versions it would scare you,did me.When working for bbcp they initiated a policy that at the end of the day you returned to yard with nothing on the end of the boom.They figured the operator had a better chance of spoting a bad hose or reducer (safety).Not sure if that policy is still in effect.

Remember when pulling a spoung/ball not to do it to fast as it tends to collapse,build up in elbows/deck pipe.A framed worked for me and one ball always worked,spounges are trickier.If it ain't broken don't fix it,when changing gaskets you can better judge if your procedure is working,ie buildup.

yeah i do it a framed with just a ball and on the last job a bucket of water and a sponge but when im inside a building its annoying having to bring it out to do that. does any one do it z folded

hey many read a lot off your posts have got a lot of respect for your opinions thanks. i only idle it back on about 4 and yes we do return with nothing on our booms

Hi fred,thanks.I make it a full time job these days to mess with peoples minds.Sometimes I tell it like it is,or an open comment to let one figure it out,now there are some crayons work best (grin).One day perhaps you will be old school helping operators out.A short funny >>

One day a couple months ago I was interviewing a new roomate.We were sitting on the back pourch chatting when I said I operate from the kiss principle.With a shocked look from him (really true) he snapped back "hell no,I ain't kissing you",I almost filled the pants laughing.

Just keep your actions as simple as possible,they always work out.For those that don't understand

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS_principle

Have a great weekend

 i like a sponge instead of a ball. i have sucked back with boom in all posi's A framed, Z'd, folded and on pedistall and for me A or stretched out fully and slightly raised seems to work the best.as for the sponge it holds more soap[dawn] to be specific.bucket of soapy water then the sponge no need to tap or ding the deck pipe you'll smell the soap in the hopper when it's back..soap help's kill the mudd also and leaves a film in the pipe which helps with the next primeout. works for me..

a frame half bucket of water then a sponge suck it back slow.i flip the prime port cap it stops the sponge so i dont have to fish it out or get it cut up,clean it and reuse it.everone has a difrent way it all comes down to what works best on the job you are on.

i use a couple gallons of water then put in a sponge it works good for me, i never suck the sponge thru the hose as it will pull most of the water out of the sponge before it gets to the pipe

How do you get away with water then the sponge? if we did that here the water would wash the fines out of the mix and it usually plugs in the turret :( 

ball or bags then water and ball - never a problem.

1 ball, enough water to fill the tip bend then another ball, then sucked back slowly. rather in an arc than z if possible.

Was tipped-off to this setup from a Con Forms rep. at the WOC show. We had issues with buildup in our deck pipes using square sponges, since switching to this setup all pipes are now "squeaky clean". The rope linking the sponges prevents them from rolling through the pipes and also keeps a pocket of water trapped in between the two, effectively rinsing the entire diameter of the pipe. It have noticed a huge improvement in ease of priming the boom since switching over to this setup.

i want to see u guys suck back a ball in Z how in the heck do you get the concret to go up the pipe

I myself suck back in a Z 95% of the time, pump out in a A-frame (or as close as you can get with a Z boom) suck back a few strokes, raise your 3rd section vertical so that any remaining concrete in the pipes fall back down into the turret, fold boom into a Z and let any remaining mud from the tip section drain into the hopper, now your entire boom should be empty and sponges will suck back no problem. If you just pump out in a Z formation you will likely run into a concrete-air-concrete situation and It will be highly unlikely that the sponges will come back (without raising most of your boom vertical) as you will have an air-lock...

Boom in any position, I try to dry stroke the hopper until a little poof of air comes out the hose.  Take the hose off.  Just the ball soaked in my soap bucket in the tip elbow. reverse slowly.  After the  ball does its initial "woosh" I listen through the tip elbow.  When you can here the hard distinctive sound of the rock valve when it shifts you KNOW the ball has passed the 6-5 reducer. Pump off.  I like listening because there is no guessing.  If your ball gets stuck you here it.  And you can shut the pump off before your ball gets cut in half. 

 thanks everyone for the feed back. northwest63 i also do that with the prime cap very handy and 16cell thats cool im going to make one tomorrow and see how it goes

I have been using one hard ball then one soft with water in between. But have found the hard sponge ball has too much friction, by the time it sucks back it goes too fast. Plus I just cut it in half last week.. But good ideas on a common topic. I like the rope idea and listening to the hose or elbow. I'm usually half folded up by the time the ball comes threw though. I just cut some large square foam sponges up going to try and see if they work? Never tried square.

arc or flat stick 1 ball bucket of water then another ball, low revs and speed, never fails.

Guess i always done the lazy way. Pump hopper out, wait till it stops draining, put in reverse at an idle, stick a sponge ball in the tip hose, 4 inch 5 inch done both, wet or dry ball done both, and wait till the reducer by the hopper rings, one more stroke, cover the hose with a rag and  fold it up.

Tried alot of other ways, but never noticed any difference.

 I suck a 1/2 barrel of water back almost every day, been doing it for a long time now, wouldn't recomend it in harsh mix country...

 pump'er down &    DING DING!

      That's all folks!

man theres alot of good advice in the above.  great hearing all the diffrent ways things can be done.

a soap filled spong has given me good results.  suck back with the boom in the cradle.

Shortstick... have been using your method of sucking back with the boom in the cradle and had great results, regardless of which boom formation I pump out in... sponge comes back nice and easy every time... thanks for sharing, great tip!!!

our 55M operator (who showed me alot of tricks i never thought possible) does the same and saves alot of time during a move and at the end of the day.

i realy want to rig up your two sponge ball method and give it a try but the boss dosn't buy them.  be nice to find a couple sponge ball on the side of the road instead of the cube sponges.

the two sponges are a little more money in the short term, but when you run the numbers.... The square sponges are $5 each and last a month at best (we had guys that were going through 2 a day)... The 5 inch. round balls are $15 each and last at least a year as they do not hold slurry and harden over time like the square sponges do, I think because they use a rubberized foam material, which also means you don't have to spend nearly as much time wringing them out the end of your washout... Anyhow, even at a conservative rate of 1 square sponge per month, 7 months down the road you'll be ahead of the game... not to mention those nice clean pipes and buttery smooth primes.. Perhaps you should put a powerpoint presentation together for the boss... Ha Ha!!!

no disagreement from this end 16Cell.  a year life per sponge ball (the hard ones) sounds about right.  1 month for a square sponge is all i get.  had one that lasted almost three months.  i had to name it Sponge Box.  had to take a moment at LokBlok the day it got choped in half.  where did you find the sponge balls for $15?

I purchased them from your main competitors (the blue and white guys), they really do have a great parts department... The ones I bought are actually a putzmeister part # I personally have had much better success with the soft sponges. I pick through the bin and find the softest ones I can, it's like shopping the produce section at safeway!

I know that Alliance also carries them as well, but they only have the hard one and were more expensive (something like 20-25 dollars)

thx 16Cell, i think ill go for a little drive today.

as long as we are not cutting our own throats to stab each other in the back, there nothing wrong with competition.  none of us are going to survive if contracts are aciquired by paying to be on site.  luckly for the time being those are not my worries.  im on site to do the job right and keep overhead costs to my employer to a minimum.  now if only i could get a raise lol

For sure, both very reputable outfits... yours and the boys in blue and white... as for the raise, think it could be a long while before our industry is to see any pay increase, the way things are right now I'm just thankful to be working