Welding Tips and Tricks

I've been pipefitting and boilermaking for 12 years.
I just started a job that I had to take a 6g 2 inch test. The contractor was going on ASME B 31.1 specs.
This spec has to do with boiler procedures.
but the tester and contractor wanted 6010 root. Which ad a pipefitter I'm well familiar with and have passed 100's of xray level 3 tests.
But this contractor has hired a new testing company and within 2 weeks I have busted 2 tests with porosity which I've NEVER had a problem with.

one question is if I'm (under B31.1 should be using boiler procedures for this, which is stated as tig root and stick out)
Is there a different percentage of allowance on slag...porosity ect on a 6010 root as opposed to a tig root?

Hi there. How are you. I'm sure someone will come along and help out. Feel free to make use of the rest of the forum and introduction area while you wait.

There is no difference in acceptance criteria based upon the process or filler metals in B31.1. Typically rounded indication acceptance criteria is a percentage of wall thickness.

https://law.resource.org/pub/us/code/ib ... 1.2007.pdf see para 136.4.5 which refers the acceptance criteria for rounded indications to ASME Sec I which you can view at https://law.resource.org/pub/us/code/ib ... i.2010.pdf says

A-2S0.3.3 Maximum Size of Rounded Indication
(See Table A-2S0.3.2 for Examples). The maximum
permissible size of any indication shall be 1/4t, or 5/32 in.
(4 mm), whichever is smaller; except that an isolated
indication separated from an adjacent indication by 1 in.
(25 mm) or more may be 1/3t, or 1/4 in. (6 mm), whichever
is less. For t greater than 2 in. (50 mm) the maximum
permissible size of an isolated indication shall be
increased to 3/8 in. (10 mm).

An interesting thing to note, if you have ever heard anyone tell you "I'm a HEAVY WALL welder", that means they can have rounded indications the size of a pencil- or bigger.

I have in the past seen NDE companies "new" on the job reject what seemed a higher percentage of shots but review of the film has always supported their findings. The possibility does exist that the prior company had a "good ole boy" addendum in their acceptance criteria. Or some other factor has affected your issue.

Another NOTE: There is nothing that prohibits welding boiler tubes with 6010 or any other electrode/process provided its qualified and the welder is qualified. I have welded boiler tubes with both 6010 and 7018 root passes in the past.

Hope this helps

Gerald Austin
Greeneville Tn

I've had a good bit of small-bore sch. 160 SS x-rayed by two different companies to B31.1

One company would do two shots 90* apart, and the other would do three shots, 120* apart.

I know this doesn't solve your problem, but it points up the different interpretations of the code different companies may employ.

Steve S

Here is a great article by a man extremely familiar with the ASME Codes as they related to welding. May not fully answer your questions, but may give you a little more info to chew on. http://www.thefabricator.com/article/te ... adiography

weldingt wrote:Here is a great article by a man extremely familiar with the ASME Codes as they related to welding. May not fully answer your questions, but may give you a little more info to chew on. http://www.thefabricator.com/article/te ... adiography

Interesting read!


Like Steve, I've run into 90° and 120° as well...

6010 root and boiler pressure?

Dirtynails wrote:6010 root and boiler pressure?

Yes. There is no "Code Restriction" that I am aware of. Do you know of one ?

Though it may not be the "common" way of welding a root pass in, its effective, efficient, and suitable for many applications. Best??? Maybe not always. But it works in many types of service.

Many a miles of cross country pipeline have been installed with xx10 electrodes in the root pass and many of them operate at conditions that exceed the stress levels often encountered on in-plant piping.

And even with that, the primary area that encounters the most stress in a pressurized pipe or vessel is the the logitudinal seam (if one exists)

This pipe here for instance has an Exx10 root pass. However the welds had been in service for many years, during operation, the service conditions changed (Liquid Nitrogen Boiled Off) and the pipe got brittle.

XX10 "all the way" is common for pipeline in the U.S. Even 6010 all the way. I think the logic is the 60Kpsi is more flexible/malleable.

Steve S