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Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / SSPC Paint Inspection Seminar
- - By eekpod (****) Date 02-18-2009 23:10
Well, last week I got to visit beautiful New Orleans LA. for a 5 day Protective Coatings Inspector Seminar put on by SSPC (Secret Society for Protective Coatings).
They litterally took a three week class and compressed it into 5 days...  To say it was hectic, stressful, and overwhelming would be an understatement.
From 7:30am until 6pm and one day until 6'30 pm in the "classroom" then with a minimum 2 hrs of homework each night.
If you ever want to totally stress yourself out, take this course and exam.  Did I learn alot, yes.  But the worrying and stress and feeling of cluelessness was too much, too much information in too short of a timeframe.  Thats why NACE spreads it out.
I'll know in 2-3 weeks if I passed to become a level I.  I can wait
Chris
Parent - - By jwright650 (*****) Date 02-19-2009 15:55
Chris,
I felt the same way at the NACE seminar. It was a fast paced week with long classroom hours and lots of homework. I passed the NACE CIP Level I in 2007, but have not considered going back for the Level II or the Peer review yet...maybe later, I dunno. I can tell ya that those NACE inspectors make alot more money than any certified welding inspector around here.
Parent - - By eekpod (****) Date 02-19-2009 20:13
WOw thats interesting, I didn't think they'd make decent money but now that I see whats involved its intense.  I've never had a paint inspector come to our facility so I had no idea what they did. I thought it was all DFT and WFT and the temp/ humid.  But again, its more for water tanks and petrolium tanks, not so much for structural steel.
Parent - - By jwright650 (*****) Date 02-19-2009 20:25
Riiiiight!, There is alot more to it than I ever imagined too, until we had to fill out our inspector's log book during the class field trip to a paint contractor's facility. After taking all of the ambient information down and reading the job specs, you were checking air lines for moisture or oil, shot/sand for contaminates, taking profile readings of the blasted surfaces, checking that the equipment was correct for the job(correct sized nozzle on the blasting hose, correct sized tip in paint gun, correct pressures, correct type pump/compressor, etc) and paint was being applied per the mfg's recommendations, verifying that all of the prep was done correctly, verifying that the paint and it's components were still in date and mixed correctly, verifying that enough paint was on the surfaces, the paint didn't exceed it's sweat in time or pot life and the list goes on and on......
Parent - - By dbigkahunna (****) Date 02-20-2009 02:32
It amazes me how high tech protective coatings are and what needs to be known about them and contractors will hire people who cant even read to apply it.
BABRT's
Parent - - By eekpod (****) Date 02-20-2009 19:45
I will go out on a limb and say that industrial coatings, can be just as intense and involved as welding is.  When you take what a CWI does and knows about different filler metals/ base metals, pre-heat,MTR's all of it, paint can be just as intense with ambient conditions, manufacturer requirmemnents, surface prep, cleanliness, method of application, appearance.  There is a lot to it.
Parent - - By jwright650 (*****) Date 02-20-2009 20:02
I was hoping Chet would chime in here, he has been all the way through the NACE course and took his Peer review. I'm sure he has a good perspective of the duties and responsibilities of the Coatings Inspector.
Parent - By jrw159 (*****) Date 02-20-2009 20:07
All I can say is, WOW I had no idea how much is involved! Sounds very intense and rewarding. :-)

jrw159
Parent - - By Mikeqc1 (****) Date 02-20-2009 20:25
like cure times and why they NEED to be observed, sweatin times, proper thinner, humidity, batch #s ect.ect.ect.
I worked in a shop that painted bridge bearings they loved to try and get around the time needed b4 you could spray the next coat (3 coat system). Its never good to see the paint bubble and peel because of solvent entrapment :(.
and the profile for the steel .........thats key!
Its not just spraying and drying.
MDK
Parent - By eekpod (****) Date 02-26-2009 22:35
FYI, we passed our SPE paint audit yesterday... thats a relief.  He was pretty thourough, he did a good job.
Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / SSPC Paint Inspection Seminar

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