Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals

c/boilermakers

10

adam186•4d ago

Old foreman told me to quit using my grinder for everything, took me 3 months to get it

I was out on a job in Gary last month, cutting down some rusty bolts with my 4.5 inch grinder like always. This old foreman named Hank walks over and says, "You're making more work for yourself, grab a chisel and a hammer." I laughed it off but after 3 months of trying his way, I shaved 20 minutes off each flange prep. Anyone else ever get advice from an old timer that felt wrong but turned out right?

7

the_laura•5d ago

The difference between a 6010 root pass and a 7018 fill rod is night and day since I switched 3 years ago.

I always fought with slag inclusion until a foreman outside Pittsburgh showed me how to run the 6010 hot and fast. Anyone else see a huge change when they stopped babying their root pass?

18

aaronroberts•6d ago

Ran into an old tube sheet that took me 3 full days to drill out

I had this job last month at a power plant outside of Gary, Indiana that should've been a two day pull. We hit a tube sheet that must have been original from the 1970s, that alloy steel was way harder than anything modern. My carbide tipped drills were smoking after 20 holes, had to switch to an annular cutter setup which I hardly ever use. Took me 72 hours of straight labor for what I quoted at 12. Anyone else hit a wall like that where the material just fights back way harder than expected?

5

owens.laura•6d ago

PSA: Check your regulator gauge before every shift

Last Wednesday I was on a tube job at a refinery in Baton Rouge. I slapped my 12 gauge needle scaler on an old header and it barely chattered. I spent 20 minutes checking the compressor, hoses, and fittings before I realized my regulator gauge was stuck at 90 psi but the actual output was maybe 50. I swapped the regulator out for one I keep in my truck and the scaler worked like a champ the rest of the day. That little hiccup cost me almost an hour of billable time. How often do you guys actually check your gauges against a second reading?

-1

jackson.max•7d ago

Hit 500 hours of stick welding on my own today

I just finished up a job in Houston and realized I've got 500 hours under my hood since I started running my own rig. Didnt think I'd make it this far without a major screw up. Anybody else keep track of their weld time like this?

7

tessalane•7d ago

Unpopular take: those pre-built scaffolding kits are overpriced junk for most jobs

I keep seeing guys on here raving about those premade aluminum scaffolding kits, but I had a bad experience with one last month on a job in Cleveland. We were doing a boiler stack repair about 30 feet up, and the thing wobbled way more than I was comfortable with. My crew ended up having to brace it with extra lumber we brought anyway, which kind of defeats the purpose. Three years ago I built my own scaffolding from steel pipe and fittings for under $600, and that setup has been rock solid ever since. I mean, maybe the kits work for smaller residential stuff, but for industrial boiler work where you're hauling heavy tools up, I just don't trust them. Any other guys out there stick with custom built scaffolding for the big jobs?

27

schmidt.iris•8d ago

TIL I used to clean my boiler tubes with a wire brush like a caveman

For years I'd spend half a shift scrubbing each tube by hand, but last month I tried that spiral tube cleaner from McMaster-Carr and finished the whole job in 40 minutes. Has anyone else had that moment where you realize you've been making simple work way harder than it needed to be?

21

kai839•9d ago

PSA: Stick with fire brick, not that castable refractory mix

Tried patching my forge with that $50 bag of castable refractory last weekend and it cracked after three heats. Anyone else had better luck with the preformed fire brick?

2

sagejackson•10d ago

Wasted $200 on a welder from a pawn shop that lasted two weeks

Found a Miller 130i at a pawn shop in Nashville for $200. Looked clean and fired up fine in the lot, so I figured it was a steal. Got it home and ran maybe 10 hours of work before the drive motor locked up and the wire feed started chattering. Opened it up and found a circuit board that looked like someone had sprayed it with soda. Live and learn, I guess. Has anyone here had luck fixing those older Miller boards or is it just scrap?

6

zarag17•10d ago

Just hit 500 welds on the same flange without a single reject

I'm working a job down in Port Arthur right now and finally crossed 500 welds on this one massive flange. No leaks, no grind-outs, no rework. It's just a number but it makes me feel like all that time burning rod in my 20s actually paid off. How many welds do you guys track before you call it a milestone?

1

jesse_smith10•11d ago

Tightened a leaking steam flange with a washer trick I learned from a guy in Baton Rouge

I was working on a 150 psi line at a chemical plant in Lake Charles last winter and a old-timer showed me to stack two thin washers instead of one thick one to get a better seal on a warped flange face, has anyone else tried that on high-temp lines?

4

webb.hannah•11d ago

That brand new needle gun seized up on me after 20 minutes on a job in Gary

Had to crack it open right there on the tank and found a burr in the piston sleeve, so now I carry a spare set of guts for every power tool I own-anyone else had a new tool fail that fast?

27

mila_murphy•11d ago

The day a crane operator in St. Louis taught me a better way to rig

Back in 2016 I was on a job at the Anheuser-Busch plant, and this old-timer showed me how to tie a double-wrap choker hitch instead of my usual basket. It saved me from a load shift that would have been real bad. Anyone else pick up a trick from a random guy on site that stuck with you?

14

the_jessica•12d ago

That air arc gouging job that turned into a 4 hour mess

I had to do a simple gouging repair on a 2 inch fillet weld down at the Port of Tacoma last Wednesday. Figured it would be maybe 45 minutes tops, but the compressed air line kept freezing up every 10 minutes. Took me over 4 hours to finish because I kept stopping to thaw the lines. Has anyone else dealt with moisture freezing in their air lines during winter jobs?

29

finley_smith•13d ago

Had to pick between a MIG and a stick welder for a job site last week

I was on a boiler repair job in Gary, Indiana and my truck only had room for one machine. I went with the stick welder because I figured the old boiler tubes were too dirty for MIG. Big mistake. I spent 4 hours chipping slag and fighting with a rod that kept sticking. The MIG would have been slower to set up but way less cleanup. Has anyone else made a bad call on welder choice and regretted it for a whole shift?

12

ray562•14d ago

PSA: That 200 amp transformer swap taught me a lesson about lifting points

Was working a swap on a 200 amp transformer near the rail yard last Tuesday. Hooked my chain to what I thought was a solid lug, but it shifted about 6 inches when I started the lift. Had to lower it down, find a proper lifting eye, and re-rig it before I could finish. Took an extra 45 minutes but nobody got hurt. Anyone else ever trust a sketchy lifting point and regret it?

26

abby_fisher•16d ago

Local inspector told me my weld prep was too aggressive, should have listened sooner

Ran into a situation about six months back where a city inspector in Pittsburgh flagged some boiler tube welds I did. He said I was taking too much material off during bevel prep and it would weaken the joint over time. I thought he was being too picky, figured I've been doing it this way for 15 years and never had a failure. Fast forward to a pressure test and two of those welds had microfractures near the root. Had to cut them out, redo the prep with a shallower angle, and it held fine on the retest. Cost me an extra day and a half of labor plus materials. Now I take his advice on prep angles seriously, even if it slows me down. Has anyone else had an inspector give you grief over something you thought was routine, only to find out they were right?

11

rowanr88•16d ago

Found a trick for cleaning slag off stainless welds with cheap stuff

Been fighting with grinding marks on stainless for a while now. Tried a pickling paste from the supply house but it's like $40 a quart and you gotta be real careful with it. Last week a old timer told me to try a mix of white vinegar and water with a scotchbrite pad. Let it sit for 10 minutes then scrub. Honestly worked better than I expected and didn't leave those ugly swirls. Anyone else got a cheap method for stainless cleanup that actually holds up?

20

river_thompson•19d ago

Stumbled on a stat that 60% of boiler tube failures come from feedwater issues, not pressure or age

Found it in a maintenance report from a plant in Ohio I was flipping through last Tuesday and it kind of blew my mind because I always thought tube wear was more about welding quality or scaling over time.

24

casey342•20d ago

Pro tip: check your pressure gauge before you fire up the boiler

Saturday morning on a job at the old grain elevator in Peoria. I was in a rush, skipped my normal pre-fire check. Fired it up and heard a pop before the relief valve blew. Lost half a shift waiting for parts. Now I always spend 2 minutes on the gauge and valve check before lighting anything. Anyone else had a blowout from skipping the basics?

21

blair_torres70•21d ago

Fought a rusted boiler tube for an hour before a guy showed me the trick

I was stuck on a stubborn tube in an old Cleaver-Brooks unit, beating on it with a sledge and getting nowhere. An old-timer walked over and said try a little heat on the sheet first, and it popped right out in under two minutes - now I keep a torch handy for any tight fit.

1

gracej99•21d ago

TIL those cheap welding blankets from Harbor Freight aren't worth the savings

Picked up a 6x8 welding blanket for $35 last spring thinking I was being smart. Used it for a repair job on a boiler in August and the thing caught sparks and started smoking after maybe 20 minutes. Had to toss the whole job and buy a real fiberglass blanket from a supply house for $90 the next day. The cheap one was way too thin and the stitching came apart at the edges. Has anyone else dealt with a blanket that just doesn't hold up to real work?

6

evan_grant70•23d ago

Unpopular opinion: I miss the old way we used to roll tubes for a saddle bend.

Tbh, we'd just eyeball it with a piece of chalk and a torch, but now the shop foreman makes us use the digital tube bender for every single one. Anyone else think the old-school method built better intuition?

14

owens.laura•24d ago

Spent $1500 on a new plasma cutter and I'm still not sure it was worth it

I had this old job come in, a bunch of custom flanges for a heat exchanger retrofit. My old torch was just too slow and the bevels were never clean. I bit the bullet and got a mid-range plasma cutter, about $1500 out the door. The first cut was like butter, perfect edge, no cleanup. But then the issues started... the consumables burn out faster than the book says, and a set is $80. It also needs super clean, dry air, which meant another $300 for a better dryer setup. So now I'm $1800 in and some days I think it saved me 10 hours of grinding, other days I think I got burned by the hidden costs. For the guys who do a lot of plate work, is this just the cost of doing business, or did I pick the wrong tool?

4

shane_morgan•25d ago

A guy at the yard in Tulsa said something I still think about

We were setting a big drum on a new boiler base, and I was rushing to get the slings off. He stopped me, pointed at the gap, and said 'The steel isn't tired, you can be.' We took five, checked the shims again, and it dropped in clean. What's the best piece of simple advice you've gotten on a job?