Warning: That 'simple' flange alignment on a 40-year-old boiler in Toledo took me 3 hours

Everyone says to just heat and beat it, but the old steel was so brittle from years of thermal cycling that it kept cracking near the bolt holes. I had to cut out a small section, weld in a new patch, and then re-drill everything by hand. What should have been a 45-minute job turned into a half-day project. Has anyone else had to deal with this kind of fatigue on pre-90s units?

2 comments

2 Comments

jenkins.spencer1d ago

Oh man, "45-minute job turned into a half-day project" is the official motto of working on old gear. It's like the metal just decides to crumble if you look at it wrong. You go in with a wrench and a plan, and you leave having performed full surgery with a grinder. Classic.

spencer7071d ago

@jenkins.spencer That's just how everything breaks now.