General Description
A Wireline Stripping job is a very tedious job and should be watched closely throughout the whole procedure.
The tools needed for a wireline stripping job are as follows:
1. Overshot
2. Oil jars
3. Two sockets complete with slips, etc.
4. Two or three sinker bars
5. “C”-Plate
6. Wireline Overshot
7. Tongs for Wireline Overshot
8. Two “T”-Clamps
9. Wireline Swivel
10. Circulating Sub
11. Drain Sub
Operation
To begin the job, set the wireline at a neutral weight and put “T”-clamp on at the rotary. Cut the wireline approximately ten feet above the “T”-clamp and put rope sockets on each end of the wireline unit. Put on sinker bars, swivel and wireline overshot, and on the bottom end, put fishing neck. Pick up a joint of drill pipe and make jars, drain sub and overshot up on it, then run the top part of the wireline through them. Attach to the bottom of wireline with wireline overshot and fishing neck. Pick up one wireline until the “T”-clamp is clear of the rotary. Remove it and you are ready to go in the hole. Lower the overshot, jars, and joint of pipe in the hole and set the slips. The wireline overshot should be above the tool joint, lower the wireline until you place the “C”-plate around the fishing neck in the area provided for it.
Lower the wireline until the “C”-plate sets on top of the tool joint, then release the wireline overshot and the elevator, so both can be pulled up the derrick to get a stand off pipe. After the stand of pipe is latched onto it, put the sinker bar assembly in the top of it and lower it through the pipe. Pick up the pipe enough that you can latch wireline sinker bar when it reaches the floor, pick up on wireline, and remove “C”-plate. Make up stand of pipe in rotary and lower it in the hole. Follow this procedure until you reach the fish.
The pipe should be run very slowly and the wireline weight indicator watched constantly to prevent cutting the wireline with the overshot. If the wireline is stuck in the wall of the hole, then slack will have to be given at the wireline unit so the overshot will pull it out. If too much slack gets in the wireline, it will double in the hole and make it very easy to cut. The weight at the wireline unit should be kept constant.
A donut guide should be run on the overshot. This is a flush guide that is round on the edge to reduce the chances of cutting the wireline. Regardless of the hole size, there is no nee to ever run an oversize guide to strip over a wireline, the line will guide the overshot to the fish. When possible, run an overshot that you can use a spiral grapple with, to catch the fish. You will not be able to circulate and clean up the overshot, so you will not get as much shale, etc., behind the grapple. Also, you should check the connections in the wireline tools periodically to be sure they are tight.
When you think you have the fish in the overshot, pick up on the pipe approximately fifty to sixty feet and slack should come in the wireline if you are picking the fish up. If you have the fish, take the slack up in the wireline and break the pipe out at the rotary, put the “T”-clamp on and slack off to the wireline overshot. Release it and get it out of the drill pipe. Set the drill pipe back and latch elevators around “T”-clamp and pull the wireline loose. Cut the rope sockets of both ends of wireline and tie ends of wireline in a square knot with approximately twenty feet of line on each side of the knot. When the knot is pulled down tight, tape or wrap ends with soft line and pull wireline out of the hole with the wireline unit. Keep drill pipe moving at all times to prevent sticking. When wireline is out of the hole, pull drill pipe out of the hole, but do not rotate.
If the wireline pulls in two, instead of pulling out of the rope socket at the fish, handle it the same way. When you pull enough pipe to reach the end of it, then tie it together and attempt to pull it out of the rope socket again.
Always keep safety in mind when doing a wireline stripping job.