At best it is an impossible question to answer unless the question is tied to a contract document such as a welding standard, project specification, quality control manual, etc.
There is no clause in AWS D1.1 or any of the ASME construction code that would prohibit what was described in the question. The SCWI/CWI could not reject the practice based on personal opinion.
If the contractor has a quality control program that does include such prohibition, the SCWI/CWI would have cause to note the nonconformance, not to a code requirement, but to the contractor's QCP.
As Joe notes, all the AWS examinations use a multiple guess format to narrow the possible choice of answers.
Best regards - Al
In another thread on this forum there was a storm rightly raised when a welder suggested using non-WPS stipulated 309L rods on carbon steel to avoid porosity. Most regular posters criticised him severely; they expressed the view that using the the wrong electrode means an unapproved WPS and could be detrimental to finished weld toughness or other mechanical properties.
The weld inspector is the QC representative for welding activities. If that individual has concerns that conformance to the approved WPS may have been compromised, especially if the rod in use or discarded stubs are not as per the WPS then it is his duty to investigate in a non-judgemental manner. If rods not required by the WPS are in the quiver then such may have been inadvertently used or may be used. In my opinion the WI should not ignore this possibility no matter what the welder says.
I am sure most forum members have come across poor consumable control - it is a real world situation that requires a real world response. The WI may not be able to witness deposition of every run, so in such cases sound objective judgement should be used to ensure conformance to the WPS through methodical "evidence-gathering" without overt signs of accusation.
My response was overlong as the question asked for "the 1st action". My revised response would be "My 1st action would be to gather evidence of which weld rods had been used". Again my opinion, written answer type questions can give an insight into the candidate's thought processes - OK, this is under exam conditions so not so much in the real world perhaps. Multi-choice might reveal this insight but in my opinion this is unlikely.
Finally, even if investigation reveals no sign of wrong electrode usage I would still ask the weld foreman to describe to me what safeguards are in place to prevent the welder from inadvertently taking the wrong rod from the quiver, available QC procedure or no.
While I don't disagree with you in general terms, there are limits to the inspector's authority.
There is a difference between the conduct of an in-house inspector and a third party inspector. In this post it is apparent to me that the inspector is a TPI. In that capacity, he doesn't usually have the authority to stop work or reject work unless there is evidence there is a code violation or the contractor isn't meeting the requirements of their QC manual (assuming they have one).
As you noted, this was a question on a quiz or home-study material. Most examinations use the multiple choice format which would narrow the options for a correct answer.
As for what rods are in the quiver, it could be as simple as E7018 and E7028, or it could be austenitic stainless steel and carbon steel. Who knows? There isn't sufficient information provided to respond in a meaningful way.
You do make some valid points and I would do many of the things you mention if it were on a job site. I've seen contractors place both stainless steel electrodes and carbon steel electrodes in the same 50# holding oven. It was a situation I had corrected very quickly because I had written into the project specifications that electrodes of different alloy type or classifications could not be stored in the same holding oven. I had something that existed in writing to refer to.
Best regards - Al
I can tell you what happened to me by an inspector when I had some cut TIG wire ER-70s and some ER-90s in a stub bucket I used for a week. I had to cut out 3 welds, because I couldn't prove I didn't use the ER-70s wire in the ER-90s welds I had made that day. Lesson learned I clean out the stub bucket everyday now. My experience is some inspectors go up and beyond codes and specifications, whether it was right or wrong.
Forum
