Ka-Blew-ie....I blew a nut! :)

[kwm]

I was watching one of my fave. shows Deadliest Catch and a boat mechanic resulted to using a small explosive charge to set free a frozen nut. MAN! Does Craftsman make a explosives kit b/c you know how many times I have wanted to use explosives to free a frozen connection.

[Nostril Cheese]

this is about as stupid as the guy who wanted to clean out a muffler by filling it up with gasoline and rocks then shake it.

[kwm]

LOL...It worked! I should add that the nut was underwater when he put the charge to it.

[dshepp806]

KWM: FUNNY AS HELL!!!!!!!!!!!

[rouxroux]

Whew, for a minute there I though you'd had a bicycle accident and hit the center bar.

[vash]

i saw that episode. i guess the guy couldnt get leverage while suspended in water. i wonder how much an underwater mechanic gets per hour? it pained me, when they realized they were sent the wrong propeller. i shut the TV off.

[kwm]

What you didnt watch him blow the nut? I hear underwater welders and mechanics have VERY short lifespans so I hope they get paid VERY well.

[HelmetHead]

My buddy dropped out of Highschool to weld underwater....

deep dives and welding pay several thousand dollars per dive...but considering you could die at ANY moment...and you gotta sit in decompression chamber for a few days afterwards...

I like my desk job...I get to read all these great threads...while'st getting paid

HelmetHead

[the]

Silly question, but I'm curious, what is the danger involved with underwater welding? Why can't it be done safely or with low risk?

[HelmetHead]

I'm no expert on underwater welding..

In the case of my buddy...dives to 300+ feet are dangerous without electricity involved...

Mixtures of breathing air/nitrogen/helium...etc... Idiot steps on an airline.. long list of reasons

Story about being in the mouth of a VW beetle sized grouper sealed the deal for me

Better them than me.

[Bobboloo]

The risk isn't with welding so much as it has to do with the depth the divers have to go to. Compressing and de-compressing is dangerous business.

[kwm]

Plus and I am not doctor but breathing in all of the bottled/compressed air also limits your lifespan in some way but I forget how. I used to know it back before I started breathing in so much compressed air...

[HelmetHead]

step away from the freon can....

[Superman]

I believe the pressure under 300' of water is in the neighborhood of 150 psi. At that depth, the diver is of course dependent on the air supply. Air is probably supplied from the surface. There is an air pump on the boat, supplying air. If something were to happen, getting the diver to the surface is not one of the options. A quick rise to the surface would kill the diver.

So yeah. Diving is done in an inhospitable environment. To say the least.

[tabs]

Its the Nitrogen in the Blood, the Bends..and the Decompression after deep dives. But there comes a point where even with decompression the diver will build up Nitrogen in the Blood and then his career is over. Plus all the other hazards associated with deep diving

When I was Chief Engineer on a harbor tug boat 2000 shp and a 12 foot screw, we had to remove the screw for balancing. The divers used a really big box wrench hooked to a crane to loosen the nut, then used det cord to break the screw loose from the shafting. I was told that it was a very common procedure for breaking large screws loose. Worked just fine for us and no dry docking was needed.

Later, Don

[fingpilot]

Man, I thought this was another one of those stories about a dollar bar somewhere.

Back in the 70's when I lived on Guam, I was diving about 200+ feet collecting black coral. I looked up and there was a huge 300+ pound grouper coming at me. Chased me from 200 to about 30 feet. All I had was a little hatchet with me. My buddy Eric was watching laughing his butt off. They guard their territory real good. We didn't go there anymore, lol.

[bkreigsr]

I'm still reeling from the $35,000 the captain said the prop goes for !
dats a lot o'crab

oh, and why doesn't the crew wear hard hats?

[kwm]

hard hats are for wussies.........