That time I blew off pipe prep advice and paid for it on a job in Bakersfield

I used to think the old timers were just being dramatic about taking extra time to clean pipe ends before welding. So last month on a job in Bakersfield, I rushed through prepping a 12-inch carbon steel pipe and tacked it up quick. The inspector caught porosity in three spots and made me grind it all out and redo it. Has anyone else learned a hard lesson about skipping steps that seemed like small stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

terry_bailey352mo agoProlific Poster

Funny you mention this, I saw a guy on a job in Odessa last year who bragged about never using a wire wheel on his bevels. His pipe failed hydrotest from slag inclusions. It's not just about cleaning for the visual, that mill scale and thin layer of oxidation can actually trap gas inside the weld puddle. Once that stuff gets hot it basically turns into little pockets of air that blow right through your root pass.

rowan_butler932mo ago

Little pockets of air" sounds like my ex-wife's cooking.

skyler_anderson651mo ago

Respectfully got to push back here. I get the time pressure on the job but that mill scale and oxidation varies a ton by pipe supplier. I've personally welded up bevels from China-sourced pipe that looked clean but had this weird invisible film that trapped gas worse than the Texas pipe ever did. If you don't hit it with a wire wheel or a light pass of a grinder you're basically gambling with inclusions no matter how fast you work.