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That time a weld cracked on a steam drum at the Marathon refinery
I was working a shutdown at the Marathon refinery in Robinson, Illinois back in March. We were doing a repair on a steam drum and it was one of those tight spots where you can barely get your stinger in there. About 20 minutes after I finished the root pass, I heard a pop and saw a crack running about 6 inches along the joint. I stopped right there and flagged the foreman over. We ended up gouging it out and preheating the area more than we had before, then I laid it back in with 7018 rods. What do you do when you get a crack in a critical pressure vessel - do you usually go back to the procedure or change up your technique?
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