underwater qualification AWS D3.6

Date 06-23-2008 17:59

THANKS A LOT FRIENDS!!

could do CWI qualified welders and procedures with AWS D3.6? I think cwi needs a qualified diving too.

I wait your comentaries.

Best regards!

By 803056

Date 06-23-2008 19:32

Hello Leonardo;

I apologise for not responding to your specific question on qualifying the underwater welding procedure, but I'm traveling and don't have access to my welding standards to provide you with a definitive answer.

The CWI or SCWI can help you qualify the WPS and in most instances, there is no need to dive to witness the actual welding of the coupon because many of them are qualified in a tank where the welding can be watch from the comfort of a dry chair positioned beside a window port.

In the event the CWI or the SCWI does have to "get wet", there are a number of us qualified for scuba diving. There may even be a few qualified for "hard hat" diving, but that is a specialty and they are more difficult to locate.

Best regards - Al

By jrw159

Date 06-23-2008 20:47 Edited 06-24-2008 15:24

Al,
This is something I have wondered about. Underwater welding inspection. I know underwater welding is a "young man's" profession so to speak, is the inspection this way as well? Where would I find info on underwater inspection rquirements and criteria, sch as health, age, etc.?

I was told I was too old to get into underwater welding a few years ago. I may just be dreaming, but I would love to get involved in the inspection side of it someday.

John

By 803056

Date 06-24-2008 00:52

Any task done underwater consumes energy at a rate that is a multiple of the energy required on dry land. It is very strenuous to say the least.

It has been years since I did any underwater work. I don't believe I would be able to do it today with the added weight I carry. Then again, it might be a good way of ridding myself of the extra weight if my heart didn't explode in the process.

One of the qualifying requirements for diver training was to swim five miles. Good Lord, I would be lucky to swim 100 yards now!

I'm not sure that age is the limiter, I would say your physical condition is the key issue to being successful at underwater inspection. It isn't like swimming in a pool. In the working world you would be dealing with tides and currents that try to sweep you away from the location where you are performing the inspection and it is cold, so very cold!

If you are clostraphobic at all, don't think about diving. The face mask can be very intimidating to some people.

I enjoyed diving, but that might be because I couldn't see more than a couple of feet in front of my mask, so anything beyond that didn't exist. You never know what monsters lurk in the murkiness just beyond your sight.

There are many things that can go wrong when you're working underwater. I've heard that the average working career for a diver is on the order of five years. I can't say that is true, but that's what I've heard. I've known fellows on the Gulf coast that only made one or two dives and called it quits.

I enjoyed the little I did, but there isn't a big call for divers in the New England area and my wife wasn't all that crazy about it. She was of the opinion that Iron working was dangerous enough. I have to tell you, she is usually pretty sharp on seeing the "Big Picture". I always thought there was a little sorceress blood in her veins. She rarely says "no" to anything I want to try, but there was one time in New Orleans when I was offered a job on an offshore rig. She said that wasn't a good idea and it was time to head back to New England. When we got home I read the entire crew I was suppose to go with went down in a helicopter crash with no survivors. They never got to the rig. Yea, she's my witchy woman.

Best regards - Al

By jrw159

Date 06-24-2008 01:33

Al,
Every thing you tell me excites me except for the five mile swim. I would have to work on that. I can swim like a fish, but I am out of shape, well other than slighty round. LOL I am sure that I could do five miles, but I am not so sure I would make it to work the next day, unless I had conditioned myself for it.

AND, I know and respect what you say about your wife. I have a similar deal myself. My wife is Hispanic and her Mama is the type that throws an egg out in the yard to let the hail break the egg. This will result in the hail stopping. Vruha??(sp) Yeronna(sp) chupacabra, and all other kinds of stuff. I certainly do respect the "feelings" that my wife and mother in law get. It truly has benifited me to pay attention to them. "Dia del Morte" has been averted in the past, Gracias Dios!!

John

By swsweld (****)

Date 06-24-2008 03:32

Go with the gut feeling.
Sorry to hear about the crash but glad you were not on it.

I was told to get in the spider basket (two man cable suspended basket) and drop down and weld on the economizer tubes in a paper mill boiler 20 years ago. I didn't feel right about it. Not afraid of heights or anything like that just had a bad feeling. I told the super that I didn't think it was safe naming four deficiencies and he fired me for refusing to do my assigned duty. I told the helper that was going to work w/me in the basket that I didn't think it was a safe device but that I had been fired. He went down to get his tools out of the basket and it fell with him. Didn't kill him but in intensive care and hospital for weeks.

Unfortunately I didn't have my walking papers in hand (on my way down to the office) and they wouldn't fire me after the accident.

By 803056

Date 06-24-2008 13:50

Close calls are what make us sit up and take notice!

I've had my share and rarely do I repeat the same boneheaded mistakes!

Best regards - Al

By EngineerDiver1 Date 08-01-2008 16:01

Not sure where the 5-mile swim came from. However, commercial diving is definitely a rigorous Endeavour.

A good site for information on general commercial diving regs and procedures is: http://www.adc-int.org/

A good site for diving schools is: http://www.acde.us/

Remember the key word is "Commercial" diver, the formal training required to become one exceeds 400 hours.

Getting a recreational diving cert (i.e. YMCA, PADI, NAUI, SSI, etc) requires less than 50 hours.

Hope this helps.

By James Corbin (**)

Date 08-02-2008 01:59

I checked out both diving sites. Very informative, Thanks

By James Corbin (**)

Date 08-01-2008 20:53

There are 4 classes of welding, A, B, C, & O. Welders shall be qualified to weld with each procedure used for production. A welder shall requalify to weld with an appropriately qualified procedure when there are changes made in the following essential variables:
(1) Change in welding process (and Wet Welding and Dry Hyperbaric Welding)
(2) Change in welding method (manual, semi-automatic, automatic)
(3) Omission of backing, but not vice versa
(4) Change in pipe diameter or wall thickness beyond the limits
(5) Change in electrode classification (for example: AWS EXX10, to AWS EXX11) or proprietary type, including waterproofing
(6) An increase in electrode diameter for wet welding
(7) Change in position from that qualified
(8) Change in depth beyond the limits specified
(9) Change from a mixed breathing gas to air (Dry Hyperbaric Welding)
(10) Change in shielding gas beyond the limits
(11) Change in direction of vertical travel from upward to downward or vice versa
(12) Change from stringer bead to weave technique
(13) Where production welding visibility is less than 150 mm (6 in.), unless the welder has already qualified with visibility less than 150 mm (6 in.)

Welder qualification test results for Class A groove welds shall meet the following requirements as applicable as applicable: Visual Examination, Radiographic or Macroetch, Ultrasonic Examination, Bend Tests, Four samples shall be tested.
Welder qualification test results for Class B groove welds shall meet the following requirements: Visual Examination, Radiographic or Macroetch, Bend Tests.

At this time any CWI (OKed by the owner) may witness tests (this will change in the future)
There are specific electrodes used when wet welding check your PQR/WPS (I assume you have one)
The above is just a common list of items that effect a weldor certification there is a lot more.

Hope this helps