That time a 20-year foreman told me to preheat fittings hotter than the book says, I thought he was nuts

Grant Ross · 2026-09-04T07:20:04.545578+00:00

Back in 2018 I was working a shutdown at a paper mill outside Savannah. This old foreman, Bob, kept telling me to preheat our 2 inch chrome fittings to 450 instead of the 350 the spec sheet showed. I argued with him for a solid 10 minutes, figured he was just stuck in his ways. He finally said, 'Son, the spec is for perfect shop conditions. Out here with this breeze off the river, you lose 100 degrees before the rod even touches the joint.' I ate my words when the first weld I did at his temp passed a dye penetrant test that two of my 350 degree welds failed. Been running hot ever since, never had a crack on a tie-in after that. Anyone else had an old timer override the paperwork and end up being dead right?

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That time a 20-year foreman told me to preheat fittings hotter than the book says, I thought he was nuts | Boilermakers - Librear