fitter?mechanic?technician?engineer?
well we get called all sorts(sometimes not so nice).
i gave up being offended by the fitter tag years ago,your customers know whether you are a fitter or mechanic.that’s what matters.
Hungarians and Poles are being welcomed with open arms into UK transport.
looking at the state of majority of the vehicles from hungary/poland and other countries I really would not want to be a passenger in one let alone drive one after being repaired.
I don,t think the repair thing is why they were welcomed in the first place its more to do with the low pay and the abilty for the employer to abuse their staff,
scanny77:
why are they now fixed to the back of the cab instead of the old way with the same connectors on each end? i have had 3 snap this year and every time i had to kink the line to shift out the way. how much is this costing companies in call out fees when they could have spare lines in the side locker? it just seems daft. especially with the co op with red lines made from drinking straws
3 snap? i think i read on here your a tesco driver right ? let me guess tesco bathgate or dalrymple street - these 2 are notorious for burst lines but bathgate must have some sort of record for tightest yard in britain - i always disconnect and hit shunt - dont think your supposed too but needs must!
Wheel Nut:
And what on earth has any of the above got to do with this thread? The Southbound cloggie would probably have run up the arse of something whether you had a broken air line, a puncture, a dropped valve or a broken crankshaft.
With respect, although ‘multi-tasking’ (?) I distinctly saw the opposing southbound carriageway cheese-head’s noggin cranked 90 degrees right through his cab, rubber necking at me as he impacted at about 10mph …so I dutifully laughed.
To continue, there was/(is?) no hard shoulder on the A1 for me to ‘swing onto’ (with a brake-locked & fully loaded triaxle?) because that bit wasn’t M status. No carriageway was obstructed because I safely swung into a - thankfully empty - northbound slip from the Stamford area as my momentum decayed despite my accelerator foot thrust to the floor before leaving the main carriageway clear & cushty.
Meanwhile, I shamefully (?) had neither a correct size spanner or adjustable, nor (more pertinently) any PTFE tape to ensure a proper & professional seal of the pipe/union. Anyway, I lacked the inclination to ‘self-fix’ even if I had a Snap-On van with me.
Why? Because I had every intention to communicate to the vehicle owner that he was paying a guy to service his wagons (albeit poorly on this occasion) which introduced unreasonable risk to my safety/undercrackers & society’s safety/undercrackers too …and if I were him, I too would like to know if I were funding a circus of shabby maintenance. That is the tangient which drew me into this thread, yet I apologise if I came to it from an oblique angle.
In conclusion, our employers deserve and legislation dictates that fully professional endeavours must be practised to keep his wagons 100% kosher, despite our frustration knowing that sometimes it is only niff-naff that can put us VOR awaiting a very nice man.
wrecktech100:
fitter?mechanic?technician?engineer?
well we get called all sorts(sometimes not so nice).
i gave up being offended by the fitter tag years ago,your customers know whether you are a fitter or mechanic.that’s what matters.
Respect .
My earlier point (perhaps overly pedantic with biggusdickus? Sorry) was that in the aircraft industry, the arguably archaic term ‘fitter’ went out in preferrence to ‘technician’, then becoming ‘engineer technician’, etc over the years due to union activity & necessary recognition to keep alignment & pay claim parity from approx 1978.
Anyway you dont need a mechanical technician to replace a bust air line, a common fitter could do that 
[/quote]
All you need is a spare line and a couple of adjustable spanners and a bit of nous
The trick is not to bust them in the first place 
i’m getting confused now (easy i know)
are you a mechanic technician, a technician or an engineer technician?
and are we talking lorries or aircraft?
i thought when were talking about airlines we were talking about whats carries air from the unit to the trailer, not british airways or servicing jumbo jets
i’m a truck mechanic.
no aeroplane’s but some refueller’s. 
sorry wrecktech, it was aimed at happy keith
biggusdickusgb:
sorry wrecktech, it was aimed at happy keith
Biggus …In precis I was an aircraft mechanical engineer technician - which either is or is not a big deal - depending on who one is.
I never was a ‘fitter’ though, matey …and believe it to be an outdated term which might mean something more to pukka lorry menders. Meanwhile, I respect them for the crud that they work with and for what they tolerate on the whole - which I am largely allergic to in this industry because it’s too flippin’ mingin’ for me to do it …and because I’m an untrained wuss.
However, I like driving safe wagons whilst keeping maintenance/recovery dudes in high esteem to do their job when significant things go wrong with a combination, etc …and that is the crux of our banter, eh?
How interesting that this advert was placed in my local paper.
http://www.just4aviation.net/airframe-fitter/linton-on-ouse/job-118416/
Im not sure what the job involves because I am only a pneumatic fluid transfer logistics technician with a class one
biggusdickusgb:
i apologise to you as well scanny after re reading your original post
accepted.
i havent edited the original post. this thread was a moan at the fact that i have to kink the line to move to a safe place then wait for a fitter rather than just swap the line for a spare and get on with the job.
merc0447. im an agency driver on a block booking at tesco. 2 of the lines that snapped on me were co op trucks. the red lines they use are more like drinking straws. no rubber insulation, just red plastic and it happens quite a lot from what i have heard. the tesco depot is huge although you might be thinking of the old smaller ones around bathgate. there were 3 before they built the super RDC. the lines are better than the co op lines but this one caught the front of the trailer as i came out of the forfar shop and snapped in the middle
Giblsa:
Wheel Nut:
but it does you no harm to know how it should be done.i asked on here a while ago how to do it and no-one answered and seeing as i am agency they tell me if it breaks give us a call and we’ll send someone out, we dont want you messing with thingymabobs wagon, he wont be happy!
so how am i meant to find out?
Whoever tells you that is talking out of his arse.
If you manage to do a temporary repair and save him call out charges, downtime, etc then the next phone call you get will be.
“please mr gibsla, work for me, please, please, how much folding do you want, Do you want to borrow my secretary?” 
Wheel Nut:
How interesting that this advert was placed in my local paper.
http://www.just4aviation.net/airframe-fitter/linton-on-ouse/job-118416/
Im not sure what the job involves because I am only a pneumatic fluid transfer logistics technician with a class one
Hmm… Point one: It might say ‘Bisto’ on the side of a bus - but it don’t mean there’s gravy on board.
Ah… Point two: So you anxiously count down the tinnies as you sup before a strict bedtime to dream of lorries? ; )
Giblsa:
Wheel Nut:
but it does you no harm to know how it should be done.i asked on here a while ago how to do it and no-one answered and seeing as i am agency they tell me if it breaks give us a call and we’ll send someone out, we dont want you messing with thingymabobs wagon, he wont be happy!
OTOH, I’ve got plenty of work on at the agency because the clients know that if something like that does happen, I tend to sort it out myself and ring them as a last resort. My best ones have been managing to drive a wagon all the way from Ferrybridge to Fenning, do a delivery then drive back to Hull all without the ability to use the clutch cos the slave cylinder had packed up - god bless Eaton twon splitters. Another one, a bolt came out of the gearstick linkage. Managed to bodge it with a coach bolt that was rattling about the cab.
And the other week, I had yet another MAN/ERF that locked the keys inside itself. Needless to say I paid attention to the fitter this time so now know how to break into a MAN and trip the central locking with nothing more than a paperclip.
Many as clutchless truck has been driven back from Italy, loaded, on & off Ferries, in the 70’s & 80’s.
Giblsa:
has anybody got a how to or could they knock one up for all us new people. (with pictures if you can).
i’m not the best at this kind of stuff but here goes.
to plug the damaged airline to be able to move out of the way, slide a jubilee clip over the damaged line (unit side), insert a bolt into the damaged end and tighten the jubilee clip to hold the bolt in place.
build air up and use shunt button on trailer to be able to move to a more suitable location to await breakdown service.
sorry its on a garden hose to illustrate but my mate wouldn’t let me cut his airline
to replace a damaged airline, remove coupling from damaged line (trailer side)
and attach to new line
remove the damaged end (cab side)
and replace with new airline, build up air pressure and continue your journey.
approx times for both jobs, 2 or 3 mins to plug the line, 10 to 15 mins to replace one
hope this helps.
Excellent BD. I’ve done e’m in the dark & heavy rain (Haven’t we all!) but i’m sure that will help the uninitiated.
(Though HK may set the union on you)
Should be stressed that when plugging the broken line with a bolt & engaging the shunt button, that the trailer brakes are disabled & we’re only talking about moving a few hundred yards or so at a crawl speed just to clear a junction or whatever.
Doesn’t the shunt button pop out again if a speed of about 15kph is reached?
thanks for that biggus, i didnt realise it was so simple and now the photo’s have enlightened me, if i ever need to do this i will have a rough idea now.
the pictures made it a lot simpler than just words. i didnt realise the hoses were bolted on ( for some reason i thought they were hard wired in)
i cant beleive that your mate wouldnt even let you cut his airline, not even in the name of tucknet, the bar steward
one last question, what happens if the electrics gets pulled out? is that when you call the fitters out?
again as an od i would put a spare on, and repair the one i’d busted later on when i had time, although all the new ones i’ve seen recently are moulded so i’d put the spare on and chuck the damaged one.