Pipeline welders

[Pipeliner32]

anyone on the list is a welder on pipelines? I current job and boss wants me to learn to weld pipelines. Any good comments

[welder19]

Best to find a mentor or a school, pipe line welding is something that you need to be certified for and there are various cert's for what type of pipe line it is, fuel, steam, etc.

welder19

[HWooldridge]

I used to be certified on low pressure (<15 lbs of steam). We welded vertical up with 3/32 6011 for root and 1/8 7018 for the cover pass.

I'd say get the book and study for the test.

[yesteryearforge]

Some of the best welders that I have ever had work for me were two ex-pipe welders
Both could weld chewing gum wrappers together with tig.
Both came from entirely different lines of work though.

Mike
Tanner

[jimmy seale]

you will have to x-ray, so good pen. beads ,cleanup and cap.may have to go 3 passes, which id mild. lo-hi tie in and 1 not tied in but used to temper the outher welds-i for one can weld but doubt i can x-ray. you may have to bevel yourself so practice that too. good luck, jimmy

[Hillbillysmith]

I agree with Welder19 on this one. Get a mentor who will teach you the proper way to do things, or take a class that will do the same. I have done pipe welding before, but am not a pipe welder. Take it from me, it is not and easy task to do. learning to read the puddle from where you are standing and tell whats going on inside the pipe is not a skill that comes overnight nor is it one that can be self-taught. Get someone to teach you, and get some pipe. LOTS OF PIPE!!! And remember, practice is the key.

Good luck to you in your future endeavors,
-Hillbilly

P.S.
Practice welding pipe with the process you are going to use. If you are going to weld pipe at the job with stick, don't bother waisting your time TIG welding the pipe or visa versa. If you are going to use both, then by all means, DO both. But it does come in handy to know all that you can. Just another little tip.

[Tom Poole]

I am a Pipefitter/welder and I have worked with lots of Pipeliners. Most pipeline welding is 6010 downhill.
I would take the advice of Hillbillysmith and find out the process they want you to use. If possable find someone to teach you so you don't practice mistakes.
Hope this helps

[Thomas Dean]

Practice make perfect is a misnomer....PERFECT practice makes perfect. So yes, get a GOOD welder to teach you. (Not all schools have good welders, find out if they have taught others to weld pipe.) X-RAY welding is the EASY part of welding, just keep it clean, don't put in bad metal and it will shoot good. Bending can be your problem. I have seen good looking welds beat X-RAY but when they cut their straps and got them bent is when the tears started to flow. Usually in the root bend or a side bend. A lot of pipe now (and for the past 20 something yrs) is welded with E7010. Welds much like the 6010 or 5P as it is called. With the 7010 you can run the entire weld with this and all downhill. But as mentioned above, check what the job requires and work on that. Good luck.

[KYBOY]

You really should learn the proper techniques and practice quite a bit. Then study befor you take the test. Most of what I have done has been 6010 root welds with 7018 cap welds. Its not really that hard after you have learned the proper way of doing it. Dont over look the little things like good dry rods and cleaning your root pass really well.

[Pipeliner32]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I need the mentor to help me in welding on pipelines. My boss has welded on pipelines while under flow, he should help.

Bill

[aametalmaster]

Where i work in the refinery its a 6G 6" pipe 1/8" 7018 no downhill all uphill, 1/8" gap, no noticeable undercut on the inside and no grapes, x ray when done. Saw about 25 guys drop like flies when they took it...Bob

[Rutterbush]

I've always heard welders who worked the natural gas and oil lines were pipeliners, because of how many miles can be put in the ground per day. The Alaska pipe line comes to mind.

Welders who worked process piping, water, steam, chemicals, etc, were pipe welders. That's how they're distinguished in this area of the world, or at least used to be. There are so many people moving here from around the world that I've heard all sorts of names.

Thomas Dean,
No HYPpie rods?

[Speeddy]

I been welding sence I was 12 my dad started me out welding.4 years later I when to a tec school to get my certs 1 year later I was a teacher.I worked at the school for 3 years.We had 60 students each quarter.We got a new dean over the school she down sized our class to 20.She needed the room for medical class lol.After that I started welding pipe on construction jobs.After about 10 years.I started working fot Fluor Daniels.I do all the x-ray welding on our Stainless,Carbon,Hastalloy,Alum. I get sent to plants with in 2 states to do x-ray welds. Last job there was 3 welders we made over 1000 welds none came back bad.I was happy that none came back.Pipe welding is easy.The main rules on pipe welding .Feather each tac to a razer edge. Start in the middle of each tac on the root when you come across a tac go back to the middle again a grinder will take out the little hump where you stop.DO NOT pull stight out it will make a pin hole in th milddle of you puddle call a FISH EYE. 2 rule clean each pass remove all slag.Never run a 6010 Down hill if it's -x-ray. If you have to make a test weld. Tig and stick on the same cupon put 1st tac with 6010 then tig the other 3 tacs and weld the tig root side first and a hot pass over the root before switching back to stick 6010. The reason for this if clean a 6010 root and try to tig over it you will get pin hole ( porosity ) in your root.I done this on my very first test.Live and learn.meant to tell you to make your root burn in easyer cut the tig wire on 45 degree cut and start weld on the tip.this a way to make you caps even with out a hump.Cap shouldn't be over 1/8" higher than the pipe. It dose take a MONSTER weld lol.TO much weld will fail you also on a x-ray weld.I got my R stamp and U stamp for high Pressure welding. On tanks.Now that's a differant ball game. But the same welding. I made 4 tacs and hade to wait 5 hrs one time to have insurance inspector to look at it. Cost the company $3000.00 just for him.I made the weld. They called in x-ray crew the shot it then they called in a welding inspector,after he passed it. He called the insurance man back to look at the weld then film.It taken over 14 hrs just for 3 hr weld.Money in my pocket lol.I know it sounds like a joke but this really happens on the jobs.

[Johnnie C.]

I'm a union pipe welder and most pipeliner I know use 1/8in 6010. They downhill it all the way out. If your wanting to learn to weld, I would try a welding school or a local union hall apprenticeship program.

[Thomas Dean]

If possible I would opt for an apprentice program, especially if you can learn the whys and why nots of welding. I have known several "welding instructors" at the local tech school and Jr. college and I wouldn't hire them! let alone their students. Just as j@j metal works signature states "You can spend all the money in world but a tool is only as good as the person using it!" , the same will go for learning a trade. I am not union either. On-the-job training is probably the best as far as learning to weld beads, but anything you can do to learn metals and metalargy will by far better serve you in the long run. Two men in the crew I work in (a Fortune 500 chemical co.) went to a 'tech school' to learn to weld, 25+yrs ago, and they still don't know much more than how to burn a rod. It's a shame as they have been exposed to some very exotic materials and know very little about them. I also believe PRIDE in your work plays a MAJOR part in how well you will do. My oppinions, yours may vary...