Picked a 7018 rod over 6010 on a boiler tube job and it nearly cost me the weld test

I was retubing a small fire tube boiler over in Gary last month. Foreman said just use 6010 for the root pass since it digs in better on dirty metal. But I had this idea that 7018 would give me a stronger root and save time on the second pass. Man was I wrong. The 7018 just wouldn't wet into the corners right and I got slag inclusion on three tubes. Had to grind them out and start over with 6010 like I should have done from the start. Took me an extra 45 minutes and the foreman gave me that look. Anyone else ever get stubborn about rod choice on boiler work and regret it?

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jason5625d ago

Funny how we all think we know better than the old timers sometimes. Did the exact same thing on a header job in Hammond once, grabbed 7018 for the root because I figured it would save me a fill pass. That slag just would not let go of the sidewalls and I ended up chasing inclusions for two hours.