A weld on a 3-year-old pressure vessel in Toledo is giving me second thoughts

Last week, I was doing an inspection on a vessel we built back in 2021. I found a longitudinal seam weld that looked perfect on the surface but the UT reading was inconsistent. Some guys say you trust the NDT and move on, others say you always cut and re-weld if you have any doubt. What's your call when the paperwork says it's good but your gut says different?

4 comments

4 Comments

kevinallen19d ago

Trust your gut every time. Had a tank pass all the tests but something felt off, so we cut it open and found a cold lap the size of my thumb.

matthew_walker15d ago

Our procedure in Houston says if the tests pass, it ships. Gut feelings aren't in the spec.

mia10219d ago

That "something felt off" feeling is your experience talking... it's real data. I've seen guys ignore it and pay the price later. Always make the cut if your gut says to.

ivan46219d ago

Back in 2019 I would have signed off on that UT reading and called it a day. Then we had a heat exchanger in Baton Rouge that passed all the tests but failed in service. The cut showed a slag line the NDT missed completely. Now if my gut tightens up looking at a weld, I'm calling for the cut. The extra downtime is nothing compared to the cost of a failure.