Pipe Welders

[shade tree welder]

One of my customers is complaining that it is taking me to long to weld up a
8"x.322 wall steel pipe: (used for city water lines),6010 root,6010 hot and 7018 cap,it takes me about 1hour 20 minutes from start to finish. Any of you pipe welders does this sound about rite? I personally think this is to fast,especially working by the hour,though i am not trying to put the shaft to these guys they are 80% of my work.

[DamageInc537]

up hill or down hill on the 6010 passes? and are you grinding your root pass? is this time including fit-up as well? or did they have some one come in before you and tack and go? in position or on the bench and rolled? x-ray quality?

[JTMcC]

That would be about a 20 minute weld around here.

JTMcC.

[sae350]

That would be about a 20 minute weld around here.

JTMcC.

Yeah 5/32 6010 bead and hp, with 3/16 70+ fill and cap 20 minutes.
But if he's runnin all up hill, then I could see maybe 45 minutes to an hour at the most.

[fabricator]

Thats too long if it is just weld time. 45 to 60 minutes uphill in position.

[welder boy]

1/8 root 5/32 hot 6010 and 5/32 7018 fill and cap 30 mins tops with grinding out between passes

[Cornerstone]

1/8 root 5/32 hot 6010 and 5/32 7018 fill and cap 30 mins tops with grinding out between passes

Guess I'm getting old, I'm up to 35 mins.

[walker]

Its a bit long for just the weld, but to bevel/fit the pipe, tack and weld, it sounds right on to me. I haven't done one in a while though (2 yearsish) so I am a bit slow.

[JTMcC]

I'm talking about the conditions as he described them, he didn't mention 70+ I don't think.

JTMcC.

[pumahvac]

i've heard 40 inch a day as a rule of thumb. his time doesn't sound bad if it's all uphill. we do all uphill so i'm not sure of downhill times. though i have run a downhill 6010 hot pass on occasion. just my 2 cents.

[shade tree welder]

Most of these are cut and bevel(with torch, no bevel machine) and in position then welded to either pre fab 45 degree els or 8 hole 150# flange,downhill root and hot,uphill on cap and grinding in between passes. No x-ray but a city inspector checking every pass for cleanness and porosity and undercut in final pass.

[DamageInc537]

is the 80 mins including the cutting and cleaning of the pipe? if thats the case, between cut-up, fit-up, tack-up, and weld-up 80min would be a good pace.

[bretsk2500]

Most of these are cut and bevel(with torch, no bevel machine) and in position then welded to either pre fab 45 degree els or 8 hole 150# flange,downhill root and hot,uphill on cap and grinding in between passes. No x-ray but a city inspector checking every pass for cleanness and porosity and undercut in final pass.

Our town water system doesn't use welded pipe at all... they use (I forget the true name) flanges that slip over the end up of the pipe, and are affixed with torque-limited set screws, then bolted together. When I built the " chemical room" for the filtration plant, and a year later the "ABW effluent tank building", there was a TON of pipe buried (up to 30", IIRC), but not a single weld on the pipe. it's pretty neat to see a 20,000 gal tank fill and empty in less than 30 seconds...

[JTMcC]

is the 80 mins including the cutting and cleaning of the pipe? if thats the case, between cut-up, fit-up, tack-up, and weld-up 80min would be a good pace.

80 minutes IS a good pace, if you go to make the weld, go to lunch and then shoot the breeze for another half hour.
I wish I was bidding against guys who do ONE 8" in over an hour.

I've worn out several stopwatches timing welds, cuts, etc and I routinely see 36" .660 wall real line pipe (that is visual inspector on sight and 100% x-ray) go at an hour and 40-50 minutes in a trench box (two welders) from the time the pipe swings over the ditch to the time the trucks are rolling up. That's
.660 W with a three bead cap.
Another decent example is 36" .250 W junk pipe (casing) fit up and welded out (again in a trench box) in less than an hour and a half by one welder.

I understand that the inside world turns a lot slower, but this guy isn't working inside.
If you're taking that time you are in serious danger of gettin rolled.

JTMcC.

[Sberry]

How many of these you got to do, a few time might not be that big a deal, if its routine its worth speeding up the process.