ray136•5d ago

Got into it with a foreman over weld procedure on a 2-inch steam line in Gary.

He wanted to stick weld it for speed, I said we needed to TIG the root pass for a clean seal on the high pressure system. We ended up doing it my way after I showed him the spec sheet from the engineering firm. What's your go-to method for a critical steam joint?

3 comments

3 Comments

tylerj225d ago

Back in 2012, a refinery in Texas had a steam line fail because of a slag inclusion in a stick weld root. The investigation report was brutal. For any joint over 300 psi, I won't even argue about it anymore. I bring the WPS and a coffee for the foreman and just point to the code. The extra hour for a TIG root is cheaper than the whole crew standing around after a blowout.

jenny_hall5d ago

Honestly, that's the only way to handle it sometimes. Took a similar stand on a boiler feed line last year. Pulled out the old inspection photos from a 2010 failure, laid them right next to the code book. Showed them the slag trail in the cut-out section. The super grumbled but signed off on the TIG root pass. Just gotta make the risk visible, you know?

riley435d ago

Ever try showing them the cut-out from a bad weld? That visual proof usually shuts down the argument fast.