c/boilermakers

Hit 500 pressure vessel welds last week and noticed something

Last month I swore off flux-core wire, then a foreman changed my mind on a 60-foot tank job

I had been running dual-shield on outdoor work for years and thought flux-core was just for amateurs or dirty steel. We were welding up a storage tank at a chemical facility near Baton Rouge, and my gas bottle ran out on a Friday afternoon. The foreman told me to grab the Innershield from the truck and just go. I argued with him for five minutes before he said "you'll be surprised what a little slag can do when the wind is blowing 20 mph." I ran three passes with that wire and the welds looked cleaner than my dual-shield had all week. Now I keep a roll of it in my box for windy days on big jobs. Has anyone else had a similar experience with a filler metal they used to hate?

That time a pressure test almost went bad at the Marathon refinery

I was up in Whiting, Indiana on a turnaround at the Marathon refinery back in March. We had this big feed drum that needed a hydrostatic test after some weld repairs. Got it all filled up and pressurized to spec, and I was walking around checking for leaks. Then I heard this pinging sound near the bottom head. Looked closer and saw a small bead of water forming along a repair weld. That's never a good sign. I called the foreman over and we shut the test down right there. Turns out the welder had missed a tiny slag inclusion on the inside pass. We ground it out, re-welded it, and passed the second test no problem. Has anyone else caught a weld defect during a hydro that would have been a nightmare to fix later?

That time an old timer told me I was welding my test plates wrong

Had a boiler tube leak at the Johnson & Sons plant in Gary last fall and everyone told me to just weld over it but I said no way, we cut it out and replaced the section even though it cost the client an extra $900 in overtime and lost the crew 4 hours - has anyone else dealt with owners pushing for a quick patch that's gonna fail in 6 months?

I was 40 feet up on a scissor lift at 2 AM in November when I saw the crack running along that tube and knew patching it was just kicking the can down the road for someone else to deal with.

Just found out my torch tip chart was off by 10 PSI this whole time

Was reading through the old Lincoln welding manual from 1988 in the shop truck and realized I've been running my Harris torch 10 PSI too high on the oxygen side for like 3 years. Anyone else ever check their tip charts against the real specs after years of just going by feel?

Appreciation post: That old-timer at the union hall who convinced me to stop fighting the tape

I ran into Bill, this retired boilermaker in his 70s, at the local hall in Gary last Thursday. He saw me complaining about the inspector flagging my root pass and told me: 'Your beads look like you're wrestling the gun. Let the arc do the work.' I've been forcing the wire to look perfect instead of trusting the angles I already know. Has anyone else had a senior hand cut through your stubbornness with just a few words?

Tripped over my own chipping hammer yesterday and snapped the handle clean off

I was working a repair job on a boiler down at the old power plant site near the river (nothing dangerous, just a flange gasket swap). Got done with the weld, went to chip slag off, and my hammer head flew right off the handle because the wood had a hairline crack I never noticed. Landed on the concrete floor and split the handle in two pieces. Had to borrow a buddy's old hammer to finish up, which felt weird because his handle was way longer than mine. Now I'm shopping around for a new one, maybe a fiberglass handle this time (I heard they hold up better in humidity). Anyone else ever snap a hammer handle mid-job, or am I just unlucky?

Finally got my first header replacement done without a rework

Been a third-year apprentice at the BP refinery in Whiting, and I had to replace a 24-inch header on a feed preheat tower last Thursday. The welds passed X-ray on the first try, which my journeyman said almost never happens for a green guy like me. Any of you veterans remember the first big job that made you feel like you actually knew what you were doing?

Old timer at the union hall taught me a trick I still use

Last month I was at the union hall in Gary and this retired boiler guy named Pete showed me how to cut down on slag buildup with a specific rod angle. He said he learned it working a 1960s repair job on a coal plant boiler. I tried it on a tube replacement this week and it worked like a charm. Any of you guys pick up small tips from the old heads that aren't in the textbook?

I finally listened to my foreman about tungsten prep after 8 years

Old timer named Hank told me back in 2014 to grind my tungsten with the lines running lengthwise, not around. I ignored him for years until I kept getting arc wobble on a big pressure vessel job at the refinery in Gary. Has anyone else had a simple piece of advice they brushed off for way too long?

My helper grabbed the wrong rod and I had to climb 60 feet to swap it out

Last Tuesday we were working on a boiler stack in Cincinnati and my apprentice handed me a 3/32 rod when I clearly said 1/8. I didn't check it before I started tacking stuff up near the top of the scaffolding. After about 5 minutes I noticed the weld was burning too hot and looking skinny. Had to climb all the way down, grab the right rod, and climb back up while my foreman just laughed from the ground. Took an extra 45 minutes for what should have been a 10 minute weld. Anyone else have a helper mix up rod sizes on you?

Switched from stick to MIG for structural work and the difference is night and day

I spent the last 2 years doing all my boiler and tank welding with stick rods. Thought I had it down pretty good. Then last month I picked up a used MIG setup from a guy getting out of the trade. First time running a bead on 1/2 inch plate, I could not believe how much cleaner it came out. No slag to chip off, no stopping to change rods every 6 inches. My foreman noticed right away and said my weld looks better than my stick work ever did. I still use stick for outdoor jobs when it's windy, but for inside work MIG is just faster and leaves a nicer finish. Has anyone else made the switch and felt like they wasted years on stick?

Took me 6 months to try soapstone for marking and I wish I did it sooner

I used to just scribe everything with a sharpie or a center punch and hope for the best. Then a guy named Jerry on a job in Gary, Indiana showed me how soapstone sticks work on dirty steel and it's WAY more visible, especially under shit lighting. Has anyone else found a marking tool that changed their workflow?

Switched from stick to flux-cored for overhead work after a bad burn in Houston

I was running 6010 rods on an overhead tank patch last July in Houston. About 20 minutes in, a big glob of slag dropped right through my collar and hit my chest. Third degree burn, still got the scar. Buddy handed me his flux-cored setup and I finished the job in half the time with zero drips. Been using it ever since. Anybody else made that switch and never looked back?

Bought a $200 magnetic drill press off Craigslist and it stripped out after 3 holes

Saw a deal on a used mag drill from some guy out in Gary. Looked clean, test ran it on some flat bar and it spun fine. Got it home, tried drilling through a 1 inch plate for a tube sheet repair and the magnet started slipping after the third hole. Took it apart and the coil windings were all corroded inside. Shop quoted me $150 to fix it and even then said it might not hold. So I basically threw $200 in the trash plus gas driving out there. Anyone else get burned on used mag drills before?

Old timer told me to try preheating my base metal on a cold morning. I thought he was crazy.

Last January we had a stretch of mornings under 20 degrees and I was getting cracks on every single weld cap. One old guy I work with kept telling me to bring a torch and warm up the steel for a good 5 minutes before striking an arc. I finally tried it on a big boiler patch job and not a single crack showed up. Has anyone else found that preheating saves more time than it costs, or do you think it's just for certain alloys?

That time I overheard a foreman say 'good enough' about a weld joint

I was working a shutdown down at the Marathon refinery in Garyville last month, and I heard the foreman tell a helper that a fillet weld was 'good enough' even though the leg length was clearly short. I walked over and checked it myself with my gauge, and it was a good 1/8 inch under spec. I called him out on it and he got all defensive, but the inspector caught it later and made us grind it out and redo it anyway. Has anyone else had a foreman try to slide by with sloppy work like that?

Old timer told me to never trust a cherry red weld. I didn't listen.

Guy named Walt from Local 85 warned me about getting a weld too hot on a pressure vessel. Said cherry red means you're burning out the carbon. I figured I knew better. Ended up with a crack running 6 inches down the seam on a 300 gallon tank outside Tulsa.

That $900 boiler repair job last fall was cheaper in the long run than the DIY fix I did 2 years ago

I patched a tube sheet leak myself back in 2022 and it held for maybe 6 months before blowing out during a pressure test, costing me double in downtime and parts, so has anyone else found that paying someone with a proper tube expander actually saves money on the bigger jobs?

Worst Tuesday shift I ever had on a tank patch job

Last spring I was patching a 20,000 gallon tank at the old ethanol plant near Des Moines. The foreman handed me a worn out grinder and said it was fine, and I spent 6 hours fighting it while the slag piled up. My arms were dead by lunch and the weld test failed twice. Has anyone else dealt with a boss who won't replace a tool that's clearly shot?

Old foreman told me I was welding too cold on tubes last month

I was doing some 2 inch schedule 80 tube in a power plant up in Gary and my foreman came over and said my beads looked like bird poop. He said I was running way too cold and needed to bump my amperage up like 15-20 amps to get proper penetration. I changed my setting from 90 to 110 amps on the next joint and the difference was night and day, the bead flattened out and stopped rolling over. Has anyone else had a foreman call them out on something basic like that and it totally changed how you run your rig?

Stumbled on a stat that 60% of boiler failures come from feedwater issues, not the boiler itself

I was reading through a technical report from the local union hall last week and that number really caught me off guard since I've been blaming bad welds for most of my callbacks, has anyone else seen similar numbers from their own jobs?

My worst Monday ever involved a 50-foot water tower and a dropped wrench

Honestly, last week I was up on this old water tower outside Gary, Indiana, trying to replace a corroded manhole gasket. My favorite 1-inch wrench slipped out of my grip and bounced off the ladder before landing in a muddy ditch below. Has anyone else had a tool take a dive like that and just had to sit there for a minute questioning everything?

TIL buying a cheap grinder from Harbor Freight was a $60 mistake

Picked up one of those $60 angle grinders on a Friday night because my good one died mid-job at a refinery in Gary. Thought I was being smart grabbing something quick. That thing started smoking after 15 minutes of straight grinding. Sparked out and locked up on me. Had to borrow a crew mate's DeWalt to finish the shift. Shoulda just waited or bought a proper one from the start. Anyone else get burned by a budget tool when you needed it most?