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NuGundam7 t1_j6io7bf wrote

Might be an old sailor's tale, but an old Navy man I met claimed they used the broom method to detect steam leaks around damaged boilers. Those apparently could also be nearly invisible and capable of cutting the straws off the broom.

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AudibleNod t1_j6iuzfe wrote

I was in the Navy and was told the same thing. If you could hear a hiss and/or saw condensing water without a known source, you'd grab a broom and Star Wars Kid your way through the space.

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GrapeSwimming69 t1_j6ixkn4 wrote

Tis true. If you go into any boiler room you grab the broom and star wars everything in front of you, the hand you save may be your own.

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Clickum245 t1_j6ixnhe wrote

That steam is no joke and it will cut you in half.

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GoGaslightYerself t1_j6j9cqh wrote

> it will cut you in half.

It'll also cut through steel pipe like a plasma cutter.

Water carries a shitload of energy and erosion never sleeps!

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NuGundam7 t1_j6j0yjq wrote

Thats what I heard, but I erred on the side of caution because hyperbole is certainly a thing. But yes, I figured high pressure steam is no joke... just wasn't sure (first hand, at least) how little of a joke it is.

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Fake_William_Shatner t1_j6jof3b wrote

I can imagine that the "new guy" at any place is told some really stupid things and this sounds like one of them.

I'm also sure a few people have died trying to to look like fools. "Oh, you were SERIOUS about the broom thing?"

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NuGundam7 t1_j6jsw8v wrote

I was a contractor doing some controls work on an HVAC system that was onsite in a military base. They used a (relatively) high pressure steam system for the heating loop. The subject came up, and the guy I was with learned it as a machinist in a destroyer, from another old navyman, who might've actually been around long enough ago that it was an important skill to know!

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V6Ga t1_j6lyicv wrote

Helpfully it also cauterizes the wound shut too, so you don't bleed much.

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HeavyMetalMoose44 t1_j6irwyp wrote

I took some classes from an old timer that worked at a power plant that had steam turbines. He said they would look for leaks waving a 2x4 over the pipes for that reason.

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BobbyP27 t1_j6iz8kd wrote

I talked about this with a guy who worked around power stations, and they do it there in case of high pressure steam leaks.

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Highpersonic t1_j6juj3a wrote

Can confirm, i worked in power plants and they said that condensation clouds could form meters away from an actual leak which would just peel your skin off. They called it the Blind man walking stick method of finding leaks.

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