In most states theft from a construction site is a totally separate law from petty theft or grande theft and it generally carries a much more severe punishment. In my jurisdiction $86 value is the dividing line between petty theft and grande theft but $20 is the dividing line between petty theft and grande theft from a construction site. While an ordinary petty theft may be treated as a mis-demeanor punishable by a fine and probation, even petty theft from a construction site carries a mandatory minimum penalty of $1,000 fine and 12 months in jail for the first offence. The law here further defines a construction site as any site no matter how slight to which construction permits have been issued. About three years ago theft of copper pipe and wire from construction sites or vacant homes was rampant in this area. I personally replumbed 21 homes in one year that were rental properties that had sat vacant for a month and the copper was stolen. Our county finally took a hardline stand on this issue and instituted an ordinace which requires that anyone who turns in more than 20lbs of copper at the scrap yard must sign a disclosure of origin defining how they generated the scrap. For bona fide plumbers, electricians, sheet metal workers or homeowners who are building or doing a rehab at a specific address this is not a problem, but for the crack heads who turn up every couple days with 40 or 50 lbs, they are finding it tough to convince the authorities that they came by it honestly. The scrap yards are also required to get positive identification for anyone selling copper scrap and they must get a "thumb print" of the person presenting the copper for sale. As a result of this legislation the theft of copper is no longer a big deal in this area.

lazypup's in the ballpark but I think his long discourse on cavitation is more tailored to an extreme version you'd see in a hot water system. Cavitation occurs at a microscopic level. It happens at points in the pump volute and on the impeller where low pressure occurs (the trailing edge of the impeller is the best example). If the suction head required by the pump to operate is greater than what's available due to suction line throttling or friction losses, the low pressure becomes low enough to cause water to vaporize. It's technically "steam" but not like you think b/c it can happen even at room temperature. This can be exacerbated by pumping a hot fluid b/c it has a higher vapor pressure (i.e. it 'boils' easier). Your pump can be sitting there pumping water pretty much normally and still be cavitating. Lazypup's description makes it sound like you suddenly get a pump full of steam, but that's not the case. The bubbles that are formed by cavitation immediately collapse back on themselves and that's what causes the pump's parts to erode, since the bubbles occur at surfaces in the pump. It sounds like you're pumping marbles. Lazypup's description sounds more like a pump that's air binding. For hot water, it can be an extreme version of cavitation. But what he describes sounds more to me like a situation where the pump is depending on the pumped fluid for some of its lubrication/cooling. If the fluid isn't there, then the pump can quickly overheat.

Homebound_ in regards to the non-descript flame characteristics of the TS-4000. If we examine the flame in a common propane torch we see a very descript teardrop shape inner flame, surrounded by a pale outer flame. If you will look down the bore of your TS-4000 burner tip you will see a flat disk that has 6 slots and each segment is then twisted slightly forming a pitch similar to propellar blades. Not only does that diverter increase the swirling effect it also divides the flame into 6 separate but equal flames. Now try this experiment. Pull the trigger and light the flame, then very slowly release the trigger a bit and you will see the flame drop down a bit. With the trigger only slightly depressed you will actually see the 6 points of flame are very distinct but when the trigger is held fully open all six points blend together in what appears as a flat top on the inner flame. In regards to wiping the joint with the flux brush. Many plumbers do that to insure their is a clean line of solder all the way around the joint however I have two reservations against that practice. 1. Wiping a hot joint with the flux brush results in burning the bristles in the brush. When the brush is then placed back in the flux it tends to contaminate the flux with carbon and burnt bristles. 2. Plumbing Flux is acid based and should be wiped off the joint while it is still warm. I prefer to wipe the joints with a clean damp cotton cloth. Coolvt asked about refilling the small cylanders from a larger tank. The reason you cannot find an adapter hose to do so is easy to explain, it simply would not work. Propane is a liquid which boils to a gas before leaving the tank. In order to refill the tank you would need a compressor system similar to a refrigeration compressor to compress the gas to the condensing pressure in order to refill a tank. (While the actual pressures are different the handling characteristics are the same as handling a refrigerant and in fact, propane is listed as a refrigerant.) By example at 30degF the temperature of vaporization of Propane is 30degF while at 70degF it is 128psi and at 110degF it is 197psi. While it is not really prevalent on the small tanks used for hand torches if you have a propane grille you will often see a frost line forming on the outside of the tank after the burner has been burning a while. That frost line on the exterior of the tank is a visible indicator of how much liquid propane is left in the tank. Diyourselfer stated that they now have the TS-8000 out so maybe he should buy that one. I really can't comment on the TS-8000 simply because my old TS-4000's refuse to die...LOL. I bought my first TS-4000 in 1985. About 6 years later I was connecting water lines to a condensate return tank in a boiler room and accidently dropped the torch in the tank. When i fished it out and shock it off the ignighter was not working. I managed to manually light the flame and continue my project. The next day while at the supply house I grabbed a new TS-4000 to replace the original one then a few days later i was in an ACE Hardware store and discovered that they carry a full line of replacement parts. I grabbed a new ignighter assembly and the original was back in business. In fact, that 1985 model is still in the top of my tool box and working fine. Last year someone gave me a new TS-4000 for Christmas and it sat on the floor beside my desk for months, occassionally being used as a cigarette lighter...LOL. One day the pilot went out on the water heater so I went to gtab my torch by the desk to light the pilot and the torch was gone. I asked my wife if she knew where it went and she replied,"Yes, I have it in the kitchen and I am keeping it there!" I said, what do you need a propane torch in the kitchen for" and was i amazed at her reply, She says, "I use it when i am making pies. I saw a chef on a TV cooking show use one to brown the peaks on the lemon marangue pie topping so I tried it and it works great. If you need a cigarette lighter I will buy you one, but I am keeping the torch!"

GREAT QUESTION and one I am sure is of interest to all. In the plumbing, pipe fitting and HVAC industries originaly the only pipe available was iron pipe. When comparing the volume of pipe sizes we must use a formula that considers the cross sectional area rather than the diameter thus each increase in pipe size approximately doubles the volume. The actual formula for comparison is: Large Diameter Squared divided by the Small Diameter Squared . Example 3/4" compared to 1/2" = (.75x.75)/(.5x.5) = .5625/.25= 2.25 From this we can see that a 3/4" pipe has 2.25 times the volume of a 1/2" pipe. Another basic rule of thumb, if you double the diameter you increase the volume by four times. Understanding that all pipe layout formulas were originally developed for iron pipe it then stands that as new materials became available they were manufactured in sizes that approximated their iron pipe equivalent thus we see copper, PVC, or CPVC listed in "Nominal" sizes. This means a 1/2" nominal copper pipe will be slightly different in size but for all intents and purposes it would meet the volume requirements of a 1/2" iron pipe thus we see the other piping materials listed in the same size variations as iron pipe. While we common think of the word "Schedule" as meaning a time table of events, properly the word Schedule means "A table" thus in the piping specifications each size of pipe is listed in a table of specifications and the number or letter indicates which table applies to the product in question thus we see iron pipe,PVC or CPVC pipe listed as Sched. 20, Sched.40, sched.80 etc. Rather than use the schedule numbers copper pipe is defined by a Letter indicating which table of specifictions apply. While the specifications are listed alphabetically Copper pipe is classified as Heavy Wall, Standard or Medium Wall, and Light wall. It was merely by co-incidence that copper pipe designations seem to be backwards: Example 1/2" Nominal Copper Pipe: TYPE k - Heavy Wall OD 0.625 ID 0.527 Wall thicknes .049 TYPE L - Medium Wall 0.625 0.545 .040 TYPE M - Light Wall. 0.625 0.569 .028 As you can see, even though the Type K heavy wall pipe has the thickest wall the ID of the pipe still remains slightly larger than its fractional designation but for the purposes of standardization all three types have the same OD so the fittings are interchangeable. Copper pipe is manufactured in two varieties. The 10ft long lengths of rigid copper pipe that we are most familiar with is properly called "Hard Drawn Copper Pipe". They also make 60' or 100' rolls of "Annealed Copper Pipe" and we must be very careful not to confuse Annealed Copper role pipe with Copper tubing which is made to an entirely different sizing standard. (Copper tubing is made to the ASTM-CTS standard--CTS =Copper Tubing Standard). FYI-While CPVC is manufactured to Pipe Standards the CPVC pipe that we commonly see in the hardware stores is also made to the CTS standard rather than Pipe standards. Primarily copper fittings are made in the hard drawn copper standard however there are copper fittings such as you describe which appear to have been cast rather than drawn or formed from copper pipe. These fittings are properly called "Wrought Copper fittings." Under the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) whenever copper pipe is run under a slab within the confines of a structure we must use wrought copper fittings and all joints must be brazed rather than soldered. Under both the International Residential Code and the Uniform Plumbing Code all three types of copper, K,L & M may be used for both Supply (the water line from a well or municipal main to the structure) and Distribution (Lines within a structure.) however the IRC only permits type M inside a structure if it is above ground. Type K-Heavy wall copper pipe can be obtained through most home supplies or hardware stores by special order or you can but it from a Plumbing or Heating Supply house but as a rule it is only used for applications that involve pressures or temperatures that exceed the allowable limits in general plumbing use. We commonly use type K roll pipe for direct burial supply lines but the use of type K in general plumbing within a structure would be considered serious overkill. While type L (med.wall) copper is considered the industry standard today in years past type M (thin wall) was considered the standard for residential service and type L was primarily used in commercial applications thus the overwhelming majority of residential structures that have copper pipe have type M thinwall pipe and even that has proven to provide 50+ yrs of service when properly sized and installed correctly. It is true that under some rare conditions copper pipe does exhibit wear in the form of pin holes, but in the final analysis it can also be said that those problems are directly attributed to water quality or in many cases improperly sized pipe which resulted in excessive velocity of flow. Copper pipe will exhibit internal wall erosion if the velocity of flow exceeds 10feet per second and it is for that reason that the codes now define a Fixture Unit method of determining proper pipe size. In regards to water quality. If you live in a region that has water quality issues that are detrimental to copper pipe, I must then wonder what those issues are doing to your general health as well. In my personal opinion rather than worry about finding a pipe that will tolerate those problems I think the homeowner and his or her family would be much better served to consider installing a water treatment system to correct the problem.