The week our 40 ft water tube swap went sideways in 3 hours

We had a 40 ft water tube swap on a boiler in Gary, Indiana that should have taken two shifts, but the tube sheet holes were egged out worse than the gauge said. By hour three we were fighting a 0.030 in gap with a roller that kept walking, and my helper looked at me and asked if we should just tack it and hope. How do you all handle a tube sheet that lies to you on the mic, do you stop and ream or push through and hope the seal holds?

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phoenix_carter20d ago

Been there with a lying tube sheet and it is the worst feeling when your helper is looking at you for the call. In my experience, if the mic is showing egged holes past spec, that gap is only going to get worse once you start rolling, and a roller that walks is telling you the hole is not round anymore. I have pushed through before and I can tell you the seal held for about six months before it started weeping, which was a mess to explain to the customer. Stopping to ream and maybe going up a tube size costs you a shift but it saves you a call back, and call backs on boilers are brutal. Tacking it and hoping is how you end up back in Gary in January with a grinder, trust me on that one. Your mileage may vary depending on the service and the pressure, but I would stop and ream every time now.

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