That job at the old power plant in Gary changed how I prep welds forever

Back in 2018, I was on a boiler retube job at a plant in Gary, Indiana. We had this old superheater header with decades of scale build up, and my grinder kept clogging every 30 seconds. A 20 year vet named Hank came over and showed me how to use a needle scaler first to knock off the heavy crap, then a flap disc. Now I never touch a bare header without hitting it with a scaler first. Anyone else run into a stubborn header that taught you a new trick?

2 comments

2 Comments

flores.tessa1mo agoMost Upvoted

That needle scaler trick is gold. A good old timer showed me the same thing on a feedwater heater once. It saves so much time and consumables.

amy6921mo ago

@flores.tessa nailed it, and Hank sounds exactly like the kind of guy who saves you a whole shift of frustration. That needle scaler trick is the secret to not burning through flap discs on any heavy scale.