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A welder I work with insists on using a 3/32 inch filler rod for all his 1/4 inch plate welds.
He says it's faster and the bead looks fine. I keep telling him the code book for our current job, a boiler repair at the Midtown plant, calls for 1/8 inch minimum on that thickness. The heat input is wrong with the smaller rod, and it can cause undercut and weak joints down the line. I saw him do it on three separate passes last Thursday. Has anyone else had to argue this point on site, or am I just being too strict about the specs?
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marydavis6mo ago
That code book is there for a reason, and it's not just about how the bead looks. The heat input thing you mentioned is a big deal, it can make the metal brittle right next to the weld. Seen it cause cracks on old repairs where someone took a shortcut. You're not being too strict, you're just trying to keep the job from coming back to bite everyone later. Might have to get the inspector to have a word with him if he won't listen.
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charles_young426mo ago
Wait, he's ignoring heat input limits? @marydavis, that's how you get a catastrophic failure, man.
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charles_young925mo ago
Seriously. And like @marydavis said, it's not just cracks. That brittle zone can totally wreck the metal's ability to handle vibration. Thing shakes itself apart.
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bennett.harper6mo ago
Heard a guy lost his cert over that exact thing.
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