c/boilermakers

MIG vs Stick on thick boiler tube - which one actually holds up better over time?

I've been running stick on girth welds for years and swear by the penetration, but my new guy swears MIG is faster and just as strong with the right wire. Last month we had a 1/2" tube joint fail on a 10 year old MIG job and I'm wondering if anyone else has seen that kind of thing happen.

Went to a boiler shop in Pittsburgh and saw the old way is still around

Stopped by a small shop outside Pittsburgh last month while picking up some fittings. Noticed most of the older guys still use soapstone for marking, while the younger crew runs straight to digital layout tools. Got me thinking about how much has changed in the last 10 years, especially with the newer codes coming out. How many of you still keep a chalk line in your bag for quick layouts?

Passed my pressure vessel cert last Friday after 3 tries

I finally got my ASME Section IX pressure vessel certification last Friday in Gary, Indiana. It took me three attempts over 4 months to pass the bend test on 2-inch plate. My root pass kept showing porosity from the flux getting trapped. Any other guys here struggle with that on the first few tries?

That stat about boiler tube failures blew my mind yesterday

I was reading through some old maintenance logs from a job we did over in Gary last year, and I stumbled onto a number I still can't shake. Turns out something like 70% of boiler tube failures come from just three things... corrosion under insulation, fatigue at tube supports, and weld defects from poor prep. I never realized how many of our callbacks trace back to guys in a hurry with a grinder. We had a 300 psi steam drum pop a tube last spring because some rookie didn't feather the weld bead right. Just one bad pass cost the mill three days of downtime and about $40k in repairs. I pulled those logs myself and highlighted every failure cause we saw on our own jobs last year. Has anyone else gone back through their records and noticed a pattern like this?

My foreman called me out for skipping preheat on a 6-inch pipe flange

He said the weld would crack before the winter and sure enough, three months later I was grinding out a hairline fracture on that same flange, so has anyone else had a weld fail because you rushed the heat?

Used a cheaper rod for a job and got better results

I usually run 7018 on structural stuff, but I grabbed some 6010 for a root pass on a pressure vessel last week. My foreman said to try it for better penetration on the tight gaps we had. I was skeptical, but damn, it laid in way cleaner and I didn't have to grind near as much. Anyone else had something switch their go-to rod choice?

Stopped by a shop in Gary and saw a brazing trick I'd never tried

I was passing through Gary last Tuesday and stopped at a small fab shop a buddy recommended. I figured I'd just say hi and grab a cup of coffee, but I ended up watching one of their older guys braze a copper joint with a special flux I'd never seen before. He said it's been his go-to for 20 years because it stops oxidation better than the standard stuff. I tried it this morning on a stubborn fitting at a job site in Hammond, and sure enough, it flowed cleaner and took half the time. I'm thinking about switching my whole kit over now. Has anyone else run into a flux that really changed their approach?

Tube sheet welding used to take me 3 hours, now I do it in 90 minutes

I work out of a shop in Gary, Indiana. About 6 months ago I switched from using a standard purge setup to a homemade trailing shield with a copper backup bar. The first time I tried it, the welds were cleaner and I didn't have to stop for grinding. Now I can knock out a full tube sheet in half the time with way less rework. Has anyone else built their own backup bars that gave you a big jump in speed?

Chose stick welding over MIG for a repair on a 1-inch thick steel beam in Chicago

Picked up the 7018 rods instead of the MIG gun because I needed deeper penetration on that old beam, and the weld held up perfect after the pressure test - anyone else use stick for heavy structural stuff over wire feed?

Debate: Do you fix a torch leak on the spot or just swap hoses and deal with it later?

I was on a job in Cleveland last month when my cutting torch started hissing at the connection. I stopped to swap the O-ring, lost 20 minutes, but my partner said he'd just tape it and finish the weld. What do you guys do when a leak shows up mid-job?

A old timer told me to stop grinding my tungsten and it saved me hours on a job

I was on a boiler repair in Gary, Indiana last month and a guy named Hank pointed out I was spending way too much time sharpening my tungsten to a perfect point. He said for most AC TIG work on carbon steel, just snap it with pliers and it'll arc start way better. Honestly I thought he was crazy but I tried it on a 6 inch schedule 80 pipe weld and it worked great. Has anyone else tried this or do you guys still stick to the grinder?

Tried a different bevel angle on my gouge and it changed everything

I've been sharpening my gouges the same way for like 8 years, always going with the standard 25 degrees. Last month I figured I'd try 30 degrees on one of my older gouges that I use for tank heads. The difference was pretty wild - it held the edge way longer when I'm cutting through rusty boiler plate, and I didn't have to touch it up until I was done with the whole job. I'm thinking of switching all my gouges over now... anyone else mess with bevel angles and get weird results?

Bought a used plasma cutter off Facebook for 300 bucks and it was a dud

Saw a Hypertherm 45 listed for 300 dollars near me in Detroit. Met the guy in a parking lot, tested it on a piece of scrap and it fired up fine. Got it home and tried to cut 1/4 inch plate and it just sputtered and died. Opened it up and found burnt circuit board and a fan that was frozen solid. Now I am stuck with a 70 pound paperweight. Anybody got tips on repairing these things or should I just take the loss?

PSA: Magnetic parts tray saved me from dropping a bolt into a 50-foot boiler tube

Had to fix a tube bundle on a 2000 hp boiler last week at the paper mill in Tacoma. Dropped a 1/4 inch bolt twice and spent an hour fishing it out. Stuck a magnetic tray on the catwalk near the tube sheet and it caught everything. Wish I tried this years ago. Anyone else use magnets for tube work or just me?

Took me 2 years to realize I was feeding my mig welder wrong

Honestly, I've been a boilermaker for about 6 years now and always ran my mig gun with the liner sticking out a bit past the tip. Figured that was normal. Last month an old hand at the shop in Gary saw me setting up and just goes 'you're gonna burn that liner out in a week, pull it back a quarter inch.' Tried it and my welds are way cleaner and I'm not changing tips every day. Has anyone else been doing some dumb setup thing forever without knowing it?

Guy at the union hall told me I was overthinking my purge setup

He saw me fiddling with my argon flow meter on a stainless pipe job at the Marathon refinery in Detroit and just laughed. Said I was wasting gas trying to get perfect 15 CFH every time when 10 works fine on schedule 40. Has anyone else noticed a real difference between those two settings on standard wall pipe?

I switched to a different bevel angle on my plate flanges and the fit-up time dropped by half

Been doing boiler work for about 12 years now. Last month I was working on a job out in Gary, Indiana, replacing some old firetube tubes. I always used a 37.5 degree bevel on my plate flanges cause that's what I learned. Foreman came over and said try a 30 degree instead for this alloy. First one took a little longer to get used to. But after 3 flanges I noticed I wasn't grinding down as much to get the root pass right. The weld metal laid in cleaner. I swear I saved close to 45 minutes on each joint. Has anyone else messed around with bevel angles on different metals?

Hit 500 welds tested this month and that number caught me off guard

Been tracking my x-ray weld tests for a while now on these hydro projects. Never really added them up until my foreman asked for my log sheet last Friday. Turns out I passed 500 tests just in March alone with only 3 rejects. That 99.4% rate surprised me because most days it just feels like grinding through the routine. Anyone else ever step back and look at their actual numbers?

PSA: My plasma cutter threw a rod on a Friday shift and it could have been way worse

I was cutting 3/8 plate on a job site near Tulsa last Friday and about halfway through my Hypertherm just started making this grinding noise. I thought maybe it was the air compressor acting up so I kept going for another minute. Then the cutter just stopped dead and smoke came out the back. Turns out the cooling fan seized up and the whole motor assembly got cooked. I had to borrow a buddy's old Miller for the rest of the shift and it cut fine but it reminded me how I never check the fan or clean the vents. I even got an estimate from the repair shop and they said it's going to be $650 to fix the motor. Has anyone else had their plasma unit fail on them from something simple like a dirty fan?

Stick welding vs. wire feed for a tight repair job...

I had to patch a crack in a 1-inch steel tank last Friday. I was set on using 7018 rod, but my partner swore a .035 wire with flux core would save time. I went with the rod, took about 2 hours with preheat and post-weld cooling... it held fine on the air test. My buddy said his way would have been done in 45 minutes though. What do you all lean toward for small pressure vessel fixes?

That cheap TIG torch I bought on clearance actually held up for 6 months

I picked up a knockoff gas lens kit for $35 off eBay last March, fully expecting it to fall apart after a week. It’s still going strong after 300+ hours of stainless pipe work and shows no signs of cracking or overheating. Anybody else get surprised by budget gear that just won’t quit?

Thought the old torch trick for stubborn bolts was just shop talk.

Had a flange on a 12-inch steam line in Toledo that wouldn't budge after three days of PB Blaster. My foreman said to heat it with the torch, then tap it with a brass hammer, not a steel one. It popped on the second tap. What's your go-to for seized fittings when penetrant alone fails?

TIL that pre-heating a 2-inch thick plate with a rosebud torch can save a whole afternoon of grinding.

Three years ago on a refinery job in Baton Rouge, I was told to just weld the plate cold and grind the hell out of the bead. Last week, my new foreman saw me setting up and said, 'Try a rosebud for five minutes first, trust me.' I did, and the weld laid in so smooth I only needed a quick pass with the grinder. Has anyone else had a simple tip like that change a whole part of your routine?

Back in the day we used to hand roll all our gaskets for the big steam drums. Now I just cut them from sheet stock with a template. The old way wasted half a Saturday.

My uncle told me to skip the pre-heat on a 2-inch plate job and I should have listened

He's been in the trade for forty years and said the extra time was a waste, that the torch would bring it up fast enough. We were working on a pressure vessel in a plant outside of Omaha, and I was set to do it by the book. I spent an hour getting that whole section to 350 degrees before the first pass... only to watch the weld puddle act like it was on ice. Had to stop, let it cool, grind it out, and start over. The foreman came by and just shook his head. My uncle's way would have saved half a day and a lot of rod. Anyone ever run into a situation where the old-school method actually worked better than the procedure?