Load test on a 500 gallon air receiver in Gary, and the old hand taught me more in one shift than my whole apprenticeship

Wyatt Green · 2026-09-24T00:50:03.611563+00:00

We were doing a hydro on a 500 gallon air receiver at a mill in Gary, Indiana last month. I was rushing the press up to 1.5 times working pressure when this old boilermaker named Dale grabbed my arm and said to bump it in 10 psi steps and hold each one for a minute. He told me a tank that's gonna let go will tell you at 200 psi, not at 300 when you're already committed and standing right next to it. We caught a weeping weld at 210 psi that would have turned into a real problem if I'd just cranked it straight up. How do you all run your step up on hydro tests, do you hold at every increment or just watch the gauge the whole way?

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Load test on a 500 gallon air receiver in Gary, and the old hand taught me more in one shift than my whole apprenticeship | Boilermakers - HW Forums