T
10
c/boilermakerskevin_baileykevin_bailey1mo agoProlific Poster

Hot take: TIG welding beats stick for most repair work on pressure vessels

I keep hearing guys say stick is faster and tougher for field repairs, but after patching a cracked boiler drum in Gary last month with TIG, I had zero porosity and no grinding afterward. Has anyone else found TIG saves more time on rework than the setup hassle costs you?
1 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In
1 Comment
wesley801
wesley8011mo ago
Hold your horses there, welder boy. Stick is still king for pressure vessel repair in sketchy field conditions where that TIG setup takes forever to drag out and get purging right. Real world, you're fighting wind, rust, and awkward angles that TIG hates. Dropping a 7018 rod in a stinger takes ten seconds compared to feeding filler and keeping that tiny tungsten clean. I've fixed boiler tubes in a muddy ditch with stick and walked away, while you're still setting up your gas lens.
8