work mates

[woodytheplumber]

Been working with a mate today giving him hand on a 4 bed detached ch install all was going great all rads tailed up and hung went out to his van got a bundle of 15 and 22 out shouted up where are the fittings he showed me 2 old F and E tanks just full of fittings but all mixed up and all mainly filthy with the occasional new one, I nearly died! I keep my fittings in metal organiser cases and on decent sized installs I buy a bag or 2 of each fitting use them out of the bags until there is little enough to organise in to cases again. he said he just plods though the tanks till he finds what he needs all the time. I ended up tidying my van (now using a vivaro rather than my old estate) to find 5 or 6 carrier bags tipped the tanks upside down and separated them so they were easy to get a. don't know how anyone can work in that sort of mess! rant over! ps I do have a bucket full of odds and sods like most people but my everyday fittings are organised!

 

[SimonG]

I got three metal organisers from toolstation. Compression, Speedfit and end feed. Then I have a small assortment of fittings in my soldering bucket.

 

[lame plumber]

better impression to custard if your organised, looks like 2nd hand kit otherwise!

 

[hammers4spanner]

new fittings for every job i goto

i do have a bucket of end feed in van , a bucket of yorkshires ,a bucket off brass fittings and a gorilla bucket of waste fittings

its funny tho as i bet your mate could put his hand on anything he wants in his van and knows exactly where it is

 

[gassafe]

It's always interesting to see how other plumbers operate... Chap I used to work with was similar, van a complete mess etc, one big pile in the back! I once spent over 30 minutes looking for his immersion spanner before he drove to the merchant & bought a new one... It was quicker!!

 

[woodytheplumber]

when I turn up to a job especially at the moment most of my work is reactive maintenance so I need to know exactly what I have and haven't got I just cant see how he would know he had enough elbows or sockets to complete the job without nipping out every 2 mins!

 

[woodytheplumber]

just out of interests how many of you guys are using Yorkshire fittings I always buy end feed for no real reason just always have the the occasional time I use Yorkshire I feel slightly lazy! ha ha

 

[lame plumber]

why would you as a proffesional?

 

[woodytheplumber]

they just seem a bit too easy probably just as I have always use 99% end feed

 

[hammers4spanner]

why would you as a proffesional?

contract fitting ,
have to use them all the time bliming expensive as well

 

[SimonG]

just out of interests how many of you guys are using Yorkshire fittings I always buy end feed for no real reason just always have the the occasional time I use Yorkshire I feel slightly lazy! ha ha

I have an odd Yorkshire fitting for those hard to reach areas, but it's end feed wherever I can. I do a bit of subbing on oil installs and he always buys solder ring for some reason

 

[lame plumber]

fair enough, Im waiting for some one to insist on pressfit fittings, so I can bill them for all the gear

 

[woodytheplumber]

I used to work with a gse about a year ago think I put something on here about him he only used pressfit I used to assemble all the piperuns ect then crimp them all in one go I did look into buying the machine but it just got to be silly money he has moved to the isle of man now he used to use them on gas too they had a tiny yellow box saying gas on didn't seem right to me but it must have been

 

[hammers4spanner]

nearly bought gerberit crimp tool while back as had few jobs on where needed it lotta dosh that one

 

[Keefy]

My journeyman's (mentor, whatever) van was a right tip, looked like it'd been rolled over 7 times. One day I took it upon myself to tidy up and organise it all, fittings in their own pigeon holes etc. Bad idea, he glared at me like I was a Polish immigrant while tipping everything out because he coudn't find anything.

Apparently it had always been an 'organised mess' and people with OCD like me need to "get a ****ing grip!"

 

[tamz]

Ha that takes me back. Every one i worked with, me included always had an expansion tank of fittings.
Now i'm a bit more orginised and have the van racked out with 20 or so compartments but i still carry a bucket of fittings into the job and top it up from the van as need be.

BTW don't buy fittings in packs of 2. Buy them 500 at a time and throw them in your bucket. Its much cheaper :wink:

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

Ha that takes me back. Every one i worked with, me included always had an expansion tank of fittings.
Now i'm a bit more orginised and have the van racked out with 20 or so compartments but i still carry a bucket of fittings into the job and top it up from the van as need be.

BTW don't buy fittings in packs of 2. Buy them 500 at a time and throw them in your bucket. Its much cheaper :wink:

my old man has a 10 gal tank full of fittings in his van one for copper one for brass,the brass one is bloody heavy i keep all mine in lin bins not a great idea considering its a land rover