Spent 3 hours digging out a clogged suction line before realizing the problem was the other way

Had a job on the Mississippi last month where our dredge kept losing prime and we figured a intake screen was plugged. After tearing down half the system and even pulling a diver, turns out a 6-inch clamshell valve was stuck partially open 50 feet back toward the discharge side. Anyone else ever chase ghosts like that only to find the issue was somewhere stupid simple?

2 comments

2 Comments

anthony9899h ago

Number 7 vibes right there. I had a similar deal on a T-34 dredge in Louisiana where we spent two full shifts chasing a vacuum loss. Turned out a worker had dropped a soda can into the clean-out port the night before and it wedged itself into the suction line coupling. We even pulled the pump before someone spotted the crushed can sitting there like a stupid trophy. Did you ever figure out if that clamshell was stuck from debris or just a bad seal?

andrew76h ago

Man that soda can story is too good. Had something similar happen on a clamshell in Georgia where we kept losing pressure and found a half eaten sandwich shoved in the breather valve. Some guy must have been eating lunch nearby and just... shoved it in there. Took us two days before we found it too. As for the clamshell in question, yeah it was debris. A big chunk of old hose had gotten sucked in during a storm and jammed the seal. We had to cut it out with a sawzall.