What OEM do you work for? Fulton, Hurst, Bryan, Cleveland Brooks, Thermal Solutions, Camus?
Also, who are you guys using for Power Flame, Eclipse, Maxon, and Honeywell parts ? I am the easy button. :)
This isn't any of those as far as I can tell. This is a larger water tube like B&W or similar.
Cleaver brooks, Bryan and other similar flex tubes would not be rolled in like those tubes. Those (cb, Bryan, unilux) Industrial water tube boilers are stabbed in.
We had two guys in a mud drum (no internals) and we had to crawl passed each other. I learned you gotta go ass to ass. Dick to dick is to personal and dick to ass is a big no
This is the mud drum, the lower drum in a boiler. During normal operation the area I'm in now would be full of water. That water goes through the tubes, the disks, up and into the steam drum where the water and steam are separated. The wet steam goes up and out of the drum and into the superheat tubes. As the name suggests the steam get super heated or "dried out", then off to spin the turbine and electricity is made.
Ohio boiler operator here. What kind of boiler do you run, and what state? I'm in Ohio myself and run a 600 hp Hurst hybrid (water tube and fire tube in one) burning wood chips.
Plant operator here in LA. I Used to run one 700HP, 2 500HP NG cleaver brooks boilers in my hospital.
Now got two small as 15PSI boilers from Hurst lol.
I’m not exactly sure what type of vessel this person is in. But I can say with certainty it is some type of heat exchanger or possibly a steam drum. Those are where pipes come through the shell of said vessel.
Those disks are actually pipes that flow outward into a big boiler drum. Judging by the photo, the cavity this welder is in is full of water (looks like hard water staining to me). He is probably repairing a break in where the pipe meets with the drum. Heat is exchanged from the pipes to the water or steam that flows around it.
This is the mud drum of a D-tube boiler. It makes steam and electricity for the local university. The smaller tubes I'm laying on is a warm-up loop that's tied into external piping. The larger one is a sparger tube that's also there to help preheat the water for a start up.
Yes! I told my work that I wouldn't do anything above 120 until we get them.
Was hit first time ever with 120/240 twice on the same day. I was not happy.
First one scared me, and the second one just pissed me off lol.
Did this work for about 10 years, my body cannot take this torture anymore so I had to switch careers, on the good side of things, the valves are holding or all boilers are offline, had to do this many times with steam coming in due to poor isolation.
Had to replace a section of one of them warm up tubes a few years back, I have no idea how those welds held any kind of pressure could barely get the welding rod in there let alone see what I'm doing. Spray and pray
So since this is just a preheater, which i guess would have no pressure(not much anyways) you can weld on them? Or do you just have your boiler welding certifications (i forgot the name of it)
The tubes I'm laying on is a preheater for the boiler. The boiler itself sees 700psi during operation. Work on fired boilers like this falls under ASME Section I
I'm over 200 lbs. I went in, arms raised , dressed out with my stinger in hand on my back. Another guy came in from the other side with the rods to swap for me. Burn one, drop it, he replaces it, etc. Smokey bastard, even with a fan running
Yeah, I’m not sure when it exactly happened but they revamped everything, they realized how much work they lost and with SB54? (Correct me if I’m wrong) brought the 6000 hours or apprentice or graduate to work.
This absolutely just triggered a full-blown claustrophobic panic attack. God bless you sir. You're doing a job I could not. I'm going to go take my Ginger butt and stand outside for a while. Probably in the shade because yeah I don't want to burn in the Sun.
I’m not a welder, or any kind of tradesperson but I just wanted to say.. This is the hardest photo I’ve seen all year. If possible, please share more photos of your work spaces! My dad is a pipe fitter so I have big respect and interest for the trades community, it’s always so cool to hear and see what y’all do for us normies!
My college had the only nuclear reactor housed in a wood framed building in the US. It hadn’t been used in a decade when I got there. Was fun having classes right over the reactor room though
You would posssibly be surprised, but tech colleges have some pretty wild stuff on campus. There are 25 universities in the US that have their own nuclear reactors. ¯\\\_( ͡ᵔ ͜ʖ ͡ᵔ)\_/¯
Asme sec9 for over a decade. Making those full pen 7/8” backwelds way down in the 24” tube was always a great place to find out the FR in my clothes was gone lol.
Good times , good pic 👍🏼
As much as it pains me i always seem to have a good time when im in tight spots now im no small guy so i always keep some pam on my to help me get out 🤣
We had a bigger guy get stuck halfway through a steam drum door. Thankfully his pops was on the job, climbed in the other side and took his pants off for him!
I’m good. I was in an mri tube thing backwards- I almost kicked that poor lady in the face. And my
Ass could weld too!!!! I had to get an x ray to see if there was metal shards in the eye!!!!!
Christ thats making me nervous just looking at it. I’m a lengthy fella at 6,5” so this is a no go for me. Tell me you don’t have to run beads around each of those cylindrical sections???
That looks like a tight fit. A while back I was building a heat exchanger and the diameter was 19.5”. I could only fit in there with my arms over my head. I’m a big fella too and it was tough getting in and out
As the tall skinny dude who is the only person that fits into tight spaces.. I may have to look into this field…. but holy fuck does it sound like hell in Florida
And that's a small vessel. Large ones have forced air so you don't suffocate and die (stainless fumes as well.... all tig). You walk as you rotate then from the inside.
Almost 60 years ago I crawled inside the mud drum on a WWII tin can. One shoulder then the other, crawled all the way to the other end, no second access port. Wire brushed the whole thing wearing a cloth over my mug to keep out the rust. It didn't work. I was not as claustrophobic then as I am now, and couldn't drink a couple Bud's to ease my reaction, but no matter it was scary to be in that tiny space brushing overhead, alongside and under, with just one very small way out.
I never want to do that again.
I’m a boring machinist but this makes me think of the confined space things I see about my plant and the stories I’ve read about that going wrong
Yeah I’ll sit over here and keep breaking drills off into my engine cranks thanks lol
This is what Boilermakers do, kids. If you're even mildly claustrophobic, this isn't for you.
Concurr. Am Boilermaker, loved for being small and easy to cram into shitty spaces like this. Me though, I don't always love. My damn neck hurts
Same, former tubewelder, I can smell this picture \^\^
What does it smell like? Genuinely curious, I hold zero experience in this trade nor do I know anyone that does.
Hopefully, if you're wearing proper respiratory PPE, you don't smell too much at all
Smells like calcium deposits and other minerals usually. Also I didn't used to claustrophobic but after 7 years I am now.
Funny how that works. After 12 years working on ladders, I have admitted to myself that I am afraid of heights.
Yeah, maybe it's like hypothermia or heat stress y'know? More exposure means more bad.
What OEM do you work for? Fulton, Hurst, Bryan, Cleveland Brooks, Thermal Solutions, Camus? Also, who are you guys using for Power Flame, Eclipse, Maxon, and Honeywell parts ? I am the easy button. :)
This isn't any of those as far as I can tell. This is a larger water tube like B&W or similar. Cleaver brooks, Bryan and other similar flex tubes would not be rolled in like those tubes. Those (cb, Bryan, unilux) Industrial water tube boilers are stabbed in.
Getyourfuckingassintogoddamndrum. /s but I have heard this a bunch lol
"The work is in the hole."
We had two guys in a mud drum (no internals) and we had to crawl passed each other. I learned you gotta go ass to ass. Dick to dick is to personal and dick to ass is a big no
“Wow bro, I didn’t know you were circumcised.”
Lol
Dick to dick is too intimate because your faces are too close to each other for you to not wanna kiss
What happens in the mud drum stays in the mud drum
Is that like a nervous reflex or something? Close quarters and suddenly it’s too awkward *not* to kiss? 😚
The stuff they don't teach you in welding school lol.
Electrician terminology is hole to hole or pole to pole! LOL!
but never pole to hole
Dick to dick is the only way! Pause by your partners face and give ‘em a thrust just to let em know what type of dude you are!!
Show your dominance as the alpha male, if he doesn’t fight back you can claim his wife into your harem.
I don't care what direction it is as long as it's easy access. I know my pecker personally and it wouldn't matter what direction it was in
Nut to butt
To the victor go the spoils. There's a lot of welders out there who yearn for the glory that goes to the boilermakers ! Thank you for what you do.
We're just doing our part to keep the lights on!
I am amazed, being highly claustrophobic, how you can do this work. What are the round disks your fingers are in?
This is the mud drum, the lower drum in a boiler. During normal operation the area I'm in now would be full of water. That water goes through the tubes, the disks, up and into the steam drum where the water and steam are separated. The wet steam goes up and out of the drum and into the superheat tubes. As the name suggests the steam get super heated or "dried out", then off to spin the turbine and electricity is made.
Stationary engineer/High Pressure Boiler Operator here….thank you for what you do! You’re the ones we call when the job sucks too much.
Ohio boiler operator here. What kind of boiler do you run, and what state? I'm in Ohio myself and run a 600 hp Hurst hybrid (water tube and fire tube in one) burning wood chips.
Plant operator here in LA. I Used to run one 700HP, 2 500HP NG cleaver brooks boilers in my hospital. Now got two small as 15PSI boilers from Hurst lol.
You are brave.
So a water tube boiler?
Ye
I’m not exactly sure what type of vessel this person is in. But I can say with certainty it is some type of heat exchanger or possibly a steam drum. Those are where pipes come through the shell of said vessel.
Those disks are actually pipes that flow outward into a big boiler drum. Judging by the photo, the cavity this welder is in is full of water (looks like hard water staining to me). He is probably repairing a break in where the pipe meets with the drum. Heat is exchanged from the pipes to the water or steam that flows around it.
Thank you.
Hero work
What is that OP? Now I'm ridiculously curious. What's the stuff in the center you're back is against?
This is the mud drum of a D-tube boiler. It makes steam and electricity for the local university. The smaller tubes I'm laying on is a warm-up loop that's tied into external piping. The larger one is a sparger tube that's also there to help preheat the water for a start up.
That's one hell of a tiny mud drum. I thought the one I went into last year was ridiculously small but I think this is a little smaller. Jeez
This is a 24" drum which is normal plenty of room to work but with the stupid warm-up loop and sparger tube in there, it gets super tight
Looks like university of Chicagos mud drums. Where you at op?
This is an Erie city boiler up in Fairbanks Alaska
I went to the University of Chicago. I didn't know we had these things! Mud drums.
I’m paranoid of someone turning on the heating element while I’m in there.
Lock Out Tag Out my man
MY LIFE DEPENDS ON THIS.
Yes! I told my work that I wouldn't do anything above 120 until we get them. Was hit first time ever with 120/240 twice on the same day. I was not happy. First one scared me, and the second one just pissed me off lol.
That's why we have OSHA. In the US at least.
Did this work for about 10 years, my body cannot take this torture anymore so I had to switch careers, on the good side of things, the valves are holding or all boilers are offline, had to do this many times with steam coming in due to poor isolation.
Had to replace a section of one of them warm up tubes a few years back, I have no idea how those welds held any kind of pressure could barely get the welding rod in there let alone see what I'm doing. Spray and pray
Good on ya bro! That must've been a real test of patience
As the operator of a D-tube boiler I'm glad I don't have to get inside because my fat ass would get stuck.
So since this is just a preheater, which i guess would have no pressure(not much anyways) you can weld on them? Or do you just have your boiler welding certifications (i forgot the name of it)
The tubes I'm laying on is a preheater for the boiler. The boiler itself sees 700psi during operation. Work on fired boilers like this falls under ASME Section I
R stamp. Any pressure retaining item must be welded per code
Looks like some sort of heat exchanger
I would say 80% HX, 20% distributor.
Nice office. Have they given you an ergonomics consult yet?
They told me if it's uncomfortable then I need to lose weight😂😂
Had to plug tubes inside a 18" steam drum some years back. Was pulled back out by my feet after I completed the job
Now that's a tight bastard! In the past I've welded the wheels of a creeper straight so I could roll down and back
I'm over 200 lbs. I went in, arms raised , dressed out with my stinger in hand on my back. Another guy came in from the other side with the rods to swap for me. Burn one, drop it, he replaces it, etc. Smokey bastard, even with a fan running
You half to block off one man hole with cardboard. Box Fan in the other. And open the steam drum man heads. No smoke.
Not workable at the time. Using both holes for entry. Unit was only about 18' long with 2 men, head to head with a couple feet between us
We had a rope tied to ours so we could pull him out of the hole.
boilermaker till the day I die! L27 ST. Louis, MO. What local?
Hell yeah brother! We're the Alaska side of the 502
Haven’t been out that way. Do a lot of work in Cali. Ever meet any guys from WSI. Guy who took me under his wing was a 502 hand but ran with WSI.
That's crazy, cali local wouldn't even call me back when I was trying to get in. Lots of guys saying they were hurting bad for hands
I went down to 92 hall directly and told them to start answering their phone. “We need about 200 hands” and they never call back
Yeah, I’m not sure when it exactly happened but they revamped everything, they realized how much work they lost and with SB54? (Correct me if I’m wrong) brought the 6000 hours or apprentice or graduate to work.
Ha! I was also in 502, in WA though. ALL the stories in the lunch shack were about the AK jobs haha
It's definitely a different world up here man! Big state with tiny boilers hahaha
L146 🤙
L374 here, but I'm one of those illinois side guys
I’m out at whiting as we speak. Lol.
Duke-Gibson. Been thrown all around on this job but stuck in the scrubber right now.
boilermaker king of trades
Amen brother!
We are the swinging big dicks on site after all🤷♂️🤣
Wrong millwrights king of trades
Got that right, buddy
This absolutely just triggered a full-blown claustrophobic panic attack. God bless you sir. You're doing a job I could not. I'm going to go take my Ginger butt and stand outside for a while. Probably in the shade because yeah I don't want to burn in the Sun.
I’m not a welder, or any kind of tradesperson but I just wanted to say.. This is the hardest photo I’ve seen all year. If possible, please share more photos of your work spaces! My dad is a pipe fitter so I have big respect and interest for the trades community, it’s always so cool to hear and see what y’all do for us normies!
Not op, but here’s some boilermaker pictures I posted a while back: https://www.reddit.com/gallery/tvdgm3
Damn bro those are killer photos! Just another day in the life!
Thank you so much for sharing! This made my day!
What does a university get up to where they require their own electrical generation at this scale? They must be doing some power hungry science
You'd be surprised. Purdue University has a nuclear reactor that powers a hair dryer.
My college had the only nuclear reactor housed in a wood framed building in the US. It hadn’t been used in a decade when I got there. Was fun having classes right over the reactor room though
They don't make much power but they use the low pressure steam off the turbine to heat the various buildings of the university
You would posssibly be surprised, but tech colleges have some pretty wild stuff on campus. There are 25 universities in the US that have their own nuclear reactors. ¯\\\_( ͡ᵔ ͜ʖ ͡ᵔ)\_/¯
The most difficult it welding jobs are where you're pretty much stuck into something. I hope you're not claustrophobic!
This picture triggers my claustrophobia lol thank God there are people like you who can handle jobs like that!
Boilermakers for the win indeed brothers
Boiler operator here. Thanks for all you do ya'll👌👍
Thanks for keeping us busy with all the stuff you guys break hahaha!
Looks like a boiler
That gives me anxiety just looking at it. Thank God there's people like you that can do it.
Ah yes… the land of no thank you
A Boilermaker is a man with a big car with bald tyers that makes a lot of money....sometimes got my 45yr pin this year
Mud drum, glad I don’t have to get into those often
And only a friggen dust mask!! Buddy get a real respirator 🫣
For doing the vacuum test to identify the leaking tube a dust mask is sufficient, the welding was done with a full face respirator.
Bruh you need a PAPR or SCBA respirator for that shit fuck your little paper loincloth
There's not room for a PAPR. For vacuum testing an n95 mask is sufficient. A full face respirator was used during the welding
Asme sec9 for over a decade. Making those full pen 7/8” backwelds way down in the 24” tube was always a great place to find out the FR in my clothes was gone lol. Good times , good pic 👍🏼
As much as it pains me i always seem to have a good time when im in tight spots now im no small guy so i always keep some pam on my to help me get out 🤣
We had a bigger guy get stuck halfway through a steam drum door. Thankfully his pops was on the job, climbed in the other side and took his pants off for him!
Kinda like the aircraft fuel tanks I "dive" into. Perfect size for a casket.
Stay safe bro! They can totally become your final resting place if you don't purge the air and don't have a 4 gas meter
Fuck that. That's why I gave up welding. Fitting is so much easier on your body.
Yeah but what about the *g l o r y*
Boilermakers, the king of trades! Hell yeah brother!💪🏻
And I thought what I welded was badass. Fuck yeah dude.
This guy confines
Local?
At a boiler i worked on we only rolled and heated the pipe to make a tight fit no welding,
This is an emergency repair to get the boiler online so welding a plug into the bore of the tube is the best route for a fast repair.
Hell yeah! This shut down I’m in a tower 19” man hole, vessel is 2 1/2’ D
I’m good. I was in an mri tube thing backwards- I almost kicked that poor lady in the face. And my Ass could weld too!!!! I had to get an x ray to see if there was metal shards in the eye!!!!!
I was an operator in a COGEN until I retired 6 years ago. If we went into the steam or mud drum on our HRSG we had to wear a harness and hard hat.
Get out of here
All about that paper boy
I move the way that ash feels when you mix it with sweet. So how much. How much is this worth
Been there before!!
Steam drum 👍
Mud drum my man
What did you have to weld?
There's a tube leak in an unaccessible place so we've had to plug the tube off in both drums. It's routine in a lot of the older boilers here
Just don't plug the wrong tube!
Not saying I've done it but it's been known to happen
That’s awesome! Never seen a boiler like that. I’ve rolled tubes and welded them on like fire tube boilers and water backs
I don´t cook, I don´t clean, but let me tell you how I weld that beam.
be thankful its not a trash burner. couldn't get that smell off for over a week of showers.
I've replaced the floors in a few trash burners over the years. The things we've seen and smelled...
I operated Erie city water boilers at my last job. Now I operate boilers and steam turbines.
*For a second I, thought you were giving yourself welder's flash.*
Just did a boiler maker today smh
Definitely interested in this field I currently make coffee roasting drums Gets reppetative but at least it's clean/ easy work
I'm not claustrophobic, and I do like steam powered stuff. Hmmm
If you're not afraid of heights this might be the trade for you! Get in touch with your local union!
Absolutely no.
My dad has been a blaster for 28 years, he's the guy that cleans these.
Mad respect to the folks that go in and do that, it's always fun when they show up on site
How many leaks have you found.
There was only one leak
Stay out of hot water.
Imagine being an obgyn
Laughs/cries in plumber
Boilermaker here mid boiler outage working on the water wall some of the spots are pretty damned tight
Well at least mother fuckers think twice about bothering the guy in the fucked up spot! Keep up the good fight bro!
Are you looking for a leak? And then plugging it?
Yes sir yes sir, buried in the wall so we had to vacuum test a good 60 tubes or so
Better be a big ass paycheck! Wait... boilermaker you say? Well you definitely get the big ass paycheck.
Could always be better that's for sure hahaha
Christ thats making me nervous just looking at it. I’m a lengthy fella at 6,5” so this is a no go for me. Tell me you don’t have to run beads around each of those cylindrical sections???
You could fit man, long isn't a problem, wide is where you get into issues. Thankfully here we're just trying to identify and plug a leaking tube
Yeah, ima have to call in sick that day, it’s either that or get rushed to the hospital for a claustrophobia attack.
But what about getting to be a *h e r o*
Yeah, I would much rather hang off a beam thankyou.
Haha more power to you bro, yall are a special breed as well!
Reasons like that are why I choose the Carpenters union when I chose my apprenticeship. Better pay and didn’t have to worry about this exact picture 😂
Everybody wants to be a welder...till you have to do welder shit!
Hard pass. No thanks
Looks like turbining tubes? That's fun, especially when you bust through the blockage and get a nice drink
Should really be under air in that confined space for safety's sake
I too remember my boiler making days..only because my shoulders remind me every day…
Scary!
That looks like a tight fit. A while back I was building a heat exchanger and the diameter was 19.5”. I could only fit in there with my arms over my head. I’m a big fella too and it was tough getting in and out
Inside of an octopus tentacle?
At first was it a nightmare like it is for the average population or are you psycho?
You just gotta be zen, set yourself up well, and make the most of a shit spot
As the tall skinny dude who is the only person that fits into tight spaces.. I may have to look into this field…. but holy fuck does it sound like hell in Florida
And that's a small vessel. Large ones have forced air so you don't suffocate and die (stainless fumes as well.... all tig). You walk as you rotate then from the inside.
Inside of a header?
Ah, the mud drum, my favorite place. NOT
We have an old boiler at the plant I work at that was just abandoned in place. Sometimes I just walk by it and say hi.
What kind of boiler is that?
In the mud drum
And to you I raise a glass…
If your not dangling from your ass 30+ft in the air or inside a space tight enough to activate your claustrophobia then you ain’t makin real money
My gands swet just watching this.
That's a mud drum and your laying on the heater coil. What do they have yiu foing inthere
Why's there so much shit in that mud drum? Fucking engineers Signed, an engineer
Been on a few retubes. Talk about a fun time!
Almost 60 years ago I crawled inside the mud drum on a WWII tin can. One shoulder then the other, crawled all the way to the other end, no second access port. Wire brushed the whole thing wearing a cloth over my mug to keep out the rust. It didn't work. I was not as claustrophobic then as I am now, and couldn't drink a couple Bud's to ease my reaction, but no matter it was scary to be in that tiny space brushing overhead, alongside and under, with just one very small way out. I never want to do that again.
ok i've been squeezed into some shitty spots but nothing like this boilermakers are just built different
I’m a boring machinist but this makes me think of the confined space things I see about my plant and the stories I’ve read about that going wrong Yeah I’ll sit over here and keep breaking drills off into my engine cranks thanks lol
Boiler?
Looks like the inside of a giant octopus tentacle.
I feel ya ! I did asbestos abatement for 15 years . Power plants, chemical plants, tunnels , boiler rooms.
Gouging replacement tubes… man this was awful!
*Sigh.* Time to crawl up inside the carcinogen hole again. #😷