February 11th, 2019
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5. Tapping is complete when the tap rear stops come into contact with the pipe crown. The
stops are there to prevent over-tapping of a tapered hole. Do not force the stops over the
crown of the pipe as the tap will be very difficult to unscrew and may break the stops off.
(This is very easy to do if you are power tapping, which is one more reason we recommend
against this practice.)
6. Turn the ratchet wrench over and remove the tap from the pipe by operating the wrench in
a counter-clockwise direction. IMPORTANT – Do Not try to remove the tap by simply
winding up the feed cap, this will break the top off the tap.
7. At the same time, wind the feed cap up to follow the shaft making sure it never makes
contact with the shaft retaining pin at this stage.
8. When the tap is fully removed from the pipe you will feel and hear a noticeable bump/skip
as the leading edge of the tap’s thread disengages from the threaded hole.
9. Grip the shaft by its retaining pin and you should be able to lift it a little. This guarantees
that the tap is free of the threads.
10. Wind the feed cap up to the retaining pin and then continue winding up until the first brass
thread is exposed on the drill base (Photo 10). Remove shaft collar.
11. Lift up the drive shaft once more by its retaining pin and turn the shaft until its square section
can enter the square recess inside the top of the feed cap.
12. Lock the shaft in place by the thumbscrew
13. Close the gate valve and vent the drill head to remove pressure.
14. Unclamp the drill head and remove it from the valve.
IMPORTANT – NEVER stand on the valve to use as a step when climbing out of the
excavation. You may damage the valve or cause it to slip around the pipe making alignment
with the tapped hole and or insertion of tees/plugs very difficult.
Installing Malleable Iron Plug (Please skip this section if you are using the Magnetic Plug Holder).
1. Select the correct size plug carrier to suit the plug to be installed and fit it to the fitting spindle
using the T-Handle hex wrench to tighten the large setscrew (Photo 11).
(Photo 11) (Photo 12)
2. Screw the plug, square end first, into the carrier about two threads deep (Photo 12).
3. Tighten the small setscrew to hold the plug in place.
4. Lubricate the plug fitting shaft with a little silicone paste.
5. Place the plug end of the shaft on a flat surface, place the canopy over the shaft and push
the canopy down the shaft.
6. Apply pipe dope or PLCS Thread-Seal on the plug threads and withdraw the plug to the top
of the canopy by pulling on the shaft.
