Hot take: I thought the old-timer's trick of using a potato to find a suction leak was a joke.

After a stubborn 5% drop in flow on the 'Mississippi Queen', a retired operator insisted we shove a spud near the pump flange, and sure enough, the hissing spot turned to mush. Anyone ever used a vegetable for diagnostics on their rig?

3 comments

3 Comments

sarah_kelly781mo ago

My grandpa swore by a raw onion for finding gas leaks.

vera6681mo ago

Wait, how exactly did @sarah_kelly78's grandpa use the onion for that?

-1

derekhenderson25d ago

Oh wow, that's wild. So @vera668, he'd peel it and just run the cut side along the pipe. The sulfur in the onion juice reacts with the gas, makes this nasty rotten smell you can't miss. Old timers had tricks for everything.