People are still using the wrong grade of rod for high-pressure steam lines and it's a problem.

I saw a guy on a job in Toledo last month trying to patch a 400 psi main with E7018. That's just asking for a crack under thermal cycling. The foreman shut it down, but not before he'd laid a full bead. You need a low-hydrogen rod like E8018-C3 for that kind of stress, not your general-purpose stick. How many of you have had to fix this kind of mistake?

3 comments

3 Comments

rowanellis7d ago

Honestly, that's like using duct tape on a burst pipe. The specs exist for a reason, and ignoring them just makes more work for the next crew. Did the foreman at least make him grind it all out?

wendys167d ago

Come on @rowanellis, specs get bent a little on site all the time, is it really that big a deal?

verar211d agoMost Upvoted

Remember that time they let the new guy patch a concrete curb without checking the mix? It looked fine for a week, then the whole section just crumbled like a cookie. We had to tear it out and redo the whole pour, which took three times as long. That little shortcut cost the project two full days. Makes you wonder what that bent spec is hiding.