c/boilermakers

Weld test passed on the first try after switching to a different rod angle

I was doing a repair on a feed chute over in Gary last Thursday, kept getting slag inclusions until I tilted the rod back to about 15 degrees instead of the usual 10, and the bead laid down clean as a whistle, anyone else find that tiny angle change makes or breaks a cert test?

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nathan901•7d ago

Why does nobody talk about slag inclusions showing up on x-ray after a good weld?

Last month I laid down some 7018 that looked perfect, smooth and clean, but the x-ray showed inclusions buried under the surface, and it turns out my interpass temperature was too low at 200 degrees, so now I'm curious if anyone else checks that before every pass or just eyeballs it like I used to?

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seth_singh20•9d ago

Ran into a rusty old firebox in Evansville that made me rethink my grinding approach

I was doing a boiler inspection at a plant outside Evansville last Thursday and found a firebox with scaling so bad it looked like it had been sitting in saltwater for 10 years. We had to burn through about 6 hours of grinding just to get a clean surface for the patch and I realized my usual disc setup was chewing up more time than it saved. Anyone else swapped to a different cup wheel or wire brush for heavy scale and noticed a real difference in runtime?

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max_torres44•19d ago

Unpopular opinion: the 6010 root pass gets too much respect

Got told by an old foreman in Gary that my 6010 roots were pretty but slow. He made me run 3 passes with 7018 on schedule 80 and time each one. The 7018 beat my best 6010 by 11 minutes and the x-ray was cleaner. I switched for most production work now, only break out the 6010 for gaps and fit-up issues. Anyone else find the sacred cow of stick welding is really just tradition?

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amy_anderson•21d ago

Stick welding vs. flux core on structural iron, which side are you on now?

I learned to weld verticals with 7018 rod back in the day, and that's all I trusted for years on beam splices. Then about 5 years ago I got forced into a job in Tulsa where they wanted dual shield flux core for everything, and I fought it hard. The wire fed so much faster and the penetration looked better after I got my settings dialed, but I still worry about wind and porosity on outdoor work. Any of you guys switch over for good, or do you still break out the stick when the weather gets sketchy?

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the_wesley•22d ago

Old school torch setup vs the new digital rig

I ran a Smith torch with a rosebud tip for 12 years, just eyeballing the heat and going by color. Back in March I switched to an acetylene gauge set with a digital flow meter, and honestly my bevels are way flatter now. The old way worked but I wasted a ton of gas on thick plate jobs, maybe 20% more each shift. Has anyone else made the jump to digital gauges, or are you still running the classic dials?

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jennifer833•22d ago

Old flux vs the new paste, not even close

Back in 2004 I was a helper on a big drum job in Gary, Indiana and we used that old liquid flux with the brush cap. Stuff was messy, dripped everywhere, but man it bit into the scale like nothing else. Last week I grabbed a new paste from the supply house thinking it'd be similar, and I fought with a seam for an hour before breaking out the old formula I still keep in a coffee can. Has anyone else noticed the new stuff just doesn't cut through heavy oxidation, or is it just me?

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piper_kim•23d ago

Saw a boiler room in an old paper mill that made me question my own setup

I was up in Bangor last month touring a decommissioned mill with a buddy who does salvage work. The old boiler room still had the original feedwater pumps and a logbook from 1978 sitting on a ledge. That log had notes about daily blowdowns and water tests, every single day for years. It got me thinking, do any of you still keep paper logs or is everyone on apps and digital gauges now? I trust my phone but I also like having something that can't run out of battery in a dark plant.

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lee847•25d ago

Wire speed was my problem all along, not the voltage

I've been running mig for about 6 years now, mostly on boiler tubes and supports. Last month we had a big outage in Gary, Indiana, and my fillet welds on the new steam drum brackets were coming out with that nasty ropy look, like a frozen caterpillar. My partner Jim walked over, watched me burn a couple, and just said 'your wire speed is fighting your hand speed, drop it 40.' I set the feed from 480 down to around 300 ipm and kept my travel the same, and the puddle flattened right out, no more hump in the middle. The difference was night and day on the same machine, same voltage, same gas. Took me about 20 minutes of scrap plate to get the rhythm down, but after that my caps were smooth and wet looking, best I've done in years. Has anyone else messed with wire speed before messing with voltage when the bead looks like that? I always thought it was a heat problem first.

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spencer981•27d ago

Just realized I've been grinding weld caps wrong for 15 years

Ngl, I always dressed my caps with a 4-1/2 grinder and a flapper disc, but this old timer at the union hall in Cleveland showed me a burr wheel trick that leaves a smoother finish in half the time. He said it's how they did it before angle grinders got cheap, and I tried it on a pressure vessel seam yesterday, night and day difference. Anyone else pick up an older method that just works better than what you were taught?

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wren638•28d ago

Apprentice handed me a grinder backwards, then said the smartest thing I ever heard

Last job at the refinery in Baton Rouge, this green kid barely 19 was handing me tools. He gave me the grinder with the disc facing me like I was gonna shave with it. I ripped into him a bit, told him to pay attention. He just looked at me and said 'Sorry, I was watching your feet, not your hands. You always shift your weight before you change direction, thought you were about to spin around.' Damn if he wasn't right. I do that without thinking. That was 8 years ago and I still watch how the new guys move before I trust them with anything sharp. Anyone else ever get a lesson like that from someone who barely had a day in the trade?

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the_wendy•1mo ago

Hit 500 weld test coupons today, still can't believe it

Been at this boilermaker gig for 11 years and never counted until my foreman said I passed the 500 mark on repair coupons alone. That number felt huge, makes me wonder how many I've actually burned through total. Anyone else keep track of their test count or is that just obsessive?

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emmaclark•1mo ago

My $80 laser level found 3 holes in my drywall before I found the studs

Picked up one of those green self leveling lasers last week for an interior wall job at a house in Topeka. Thought I was being smart, saved $60 over the red one. Spent a solid hour marking lines that were all off by half an inch because the pendulum was stuck from shipping. Ended up drilling three holes in the drywall before I gave up and grabbed my old spirit level. Next time I'm paying the extra cash or checking the bubble before I trust it. Anybody else get burned by a tool that looks good but quiets down once you open the box?

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william_harris•1mo ago

Just realized I was burning up my rods this whole time, old timer at the shop in Gary set me straight

Been doing this 9 years now. Always ran my 7018s hot, thought that was how you get good penetration. This guy I subbed with, must be 60, watched me strike up and just shook his head. He said "you're cooking em, the flux is peeling off before the puddle even forms." I had to stop and look at my last bead, sure enough it was flat and had that crumbly slag mess. He had me drop the amps from 130 to 110 and slow my travel down. Night and day difference. The cap looks like a stack of dimes now. How do you figure out the right heat without someone telling you? I was embarrassed to ask for so long. Has anyone else had that moment where a simple adjustment made you feel like an idiot for years?

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vera_robinson36•1mo ago

Pro tip: Skip the cheap welding hood and get a good one

I spent 50 bucks on a budget auto-darkening hood from a hardware store last year. After about three weeks of heavy shop work, the sensor started glitching out on me mid-weld and I got flashed twice in one day. That messed up my eyes for the rest of the shift and I couldn't see lines for cutting. I ended up dropping 200 on a Jackson hood and it's been solid for 8 months now. Anyone else get burned by cheap welding gear before?

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finley_gonzalez49•1mo ago

Old timer in the pipe shop taught me to never trust a manual chainfall

Back in '09 I was working a shutdown at a chemical plant in Baton Rouge. This grizzled guy named Roy pulled me aside after I set up a chainfall on a beam that looked solid. He pointed at a hairline crack I never would have seen and said 'that beam will dump your load and maybe you with it.' Saved me from a mess. Still think about that whenever I rig something up. Any of you guys have an old hand save you from something dumb early on?

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hannah400•1mo ago

Overheard a young welder say something about tungsten that made me rethink my whole approach

I was grabbing supplies at the supply house on Tuesday and heard this kid maybe 25 years old talking to the counter guy about tungsten electrodes. He said he stopped using 2% thoriated entirely because the radioactivity thing bothered him, even though every old timer including me swears by it. He was going on about how he switched to 2% lanthanated and he gets way better arc starts on AC aluminum without the wandering. Honestly I got defensive at first because I have been using 2% thoriated since 1995 for everything. But then I went home and tried his suggestion on a 3/8 inch aluminum tank repair I had sitting on the bench. The difference was real. The arc was more stable and I did not have to sharpen the tip as often. Has anyone else made that switch and stuck with it? I am thinking about ordering a full pack but want to hear if there are downsides I am missing.

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vera_robinson36•1mo ago

Debate: Did I mess up by not shutting down the boiler right away?

I was working on a big weld repair inside a boiler at a paper mill in Ohio last Tuesday. About halfway through, I noticed a weird vibration coming from the bottom drum, but I kept going thinking it was just normal for that old unit. Turned out a tube sheet had cracked and we lost pressure fast, had to emergency shutdown. My foreman said I should have called it sooner, but the plant manager was happy I didn't cost them an extra shift of downtime. Has anyone else had to make that call on when to stop and when to push through?

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jakejones•1mo ago

I was dead wrong about preheating rods on wet jobs

Always thought keeping rods in a heated box on humid days was a waste of electricity... my welder showed me a porosity crack from a Friday afternoon job last summer. He had me strike an arc with a cold rod and a warm rod on the same plate, and I saw it clear as day. You guys using rod ovens on mornings with heavy dew or am I the only one who fought this for years?

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ellioth37•1mo ago

Dropped $400 on a plasma cutter last month - instant regret, then magic

Bought a Hypertherm 30XP off a buddy's recommendation. First cut looked like a drunk spider made it. After about 20 scrap pieces and watching three YouTube tutorials, I finally got the hang of it. Cut through 1/2 inch plate cleaner than my old torch ever did. Anyone else have to burn through money before a tool clicks?

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amy_anderson•1mo ago

Finally figured out how to lay out a cone pattern without guessing

Used to just eyeball my transitions and hope the scribe marks lined up... took me 3 tries last month on a duct job in Portland before I got the fit right. Finally broke down and used the parallel line method step by step - what's your go-to trick for cone layouts?

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spencer_park26•1mo ago

Comparing stick welding on old school DC machines vs modern inverters on a Richmond refinery job

Back in the early 2000s I ran a big old Lincoln DC-600 on a boiler retube in Richmond. That machine was a tank but the arc was finicky with 5P+ rods in tight spots. Last year I did the same type of work on a new Miller inverter and the arc control was way smoother, less spatter and quicker cleanup. Anyone else notice a big jump in weld quality switching to inverter machines, or is it just the rod and prep?

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jennifer833•1mo ago

Switched from stick to wire feed on a big boiler job in Houston last spring

I used to swear by 7018 rods for everything, even stuff where I was burning through rods like crazy on overhead passes. Then my foreman handed me a spool of flux-core wire and told me to try it on a 3/8 inch drum repair. Has anyone else made the change and found it actually saves you time or does it just feel wrong at first?

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alexbennett•1mo ago

Stop overthinking your root pass settings

Been fighting with porosity on 3/8 plate for months. Tried every gas flow and tungsten grind combo I could think of. Finally watched some old dude on youtube just crank his amperage way higher than I'd ever try and boom perfect welds. Turns out I was running too cold because I was scared of burning through. Has anyone else found that going hotter actually cleans things up better?

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the_anthony•1mo ago

Tried using a plasma cutter on a rusted gusset plate and it actually worked better than a grinder for the first pass

Been fighting rusted gusset plates on an old water tower out near Fort Wayne for two weeks and after the third plasma pass on a crusty 1-inch plate I realized it leaves way less slag to clean up than spending 20 minutes on a grinding wheel - has anyone else swapped tools just to save your hands on this kind of job?

3 comments