Appreciation post: I tried using a laser level for a tricky pick over a boiler room last week

We were setting a big air handler in a tight spot in an old Detroit plant, and I thought the laser would give me a perfect line of sight from the cab. It just bounced off all the steam pipes and gave me three different ghost lines, which was worse than my old plumb bob. Has anyone found a good way to get a clear visual on a pick when you're working over a bunch of pipes?

3 comments

3 Comments

lilychen5d ago

We had a similar mess with a laser in a refinery. Our rigger ended up using a cheap fishing line with a small weight, sprayed it bright orange for visibility. It cut right through the visual noise when nothing else would.

margaret_flores175d ago

Oh man, that reminds me of a buddy who was doing a survey near a busy highway. All the car vibrations and dust made their laser level useless. He got so fed up he taped a bright green string to a wrench and dangled it as a plumb line. It was the only thing that stayed still enough to get a reading. Sometimes the simple fix is right in front of you. What did your crew think when they saw the fishing line trick?

ellis.victor5d ago

Detroit plants are full of those surprises. @lilychen has the right idea with that bright orange line, because a laser just turns into a disco ball in there. Sometimes you just need a dumb piece of string you can actually see.