Does this question pertain to a school that teaches underwater welding so the welder can make the "big bucks" as a skilled, trained underwater welder or are you wanting to know about procedures to weld under water.
If you are wanting to become a underwater welder remember the primary thing underwater welders do is dive. From the UW welders I have met all were skilled divers that welded and combined the skills to make their career. Unlike regular welding available work for UW welders is limited. It is not like you can buy a UW welding rig and hire out. It is essentially a single hand welder job that you get to dive underwater to do. And a lot of the work done underwater is salvage type work.
If someone ask me about pursuing this as a career I recommend they seek out at least two welders who have been doing this for at least 10 years. After talking to them find at least three companies that use underwater welders and talk to them in depth about the requirements and expectations of the people they hire. If you have gone this far, THEN seek out a school that comes recommended.
The cost to pursue this is high. The schools that teach this will have no compunction to put you into a student loan program that will make you indebted for a long time. If you are doing this out of your own pocket and not borrow a single dime then via con dios. If you are going to have to borrow money to pay for this education, be very careful. If it falls through or you find out this is not for you .gov will follow you to the grave to collect unpaid student loans.
Good luck
Good advice, Dabigkahunna,
We do diving inspections (no welding) in our office and diving alone is a hugely complex career. Mix in all the OSHA, drug, and other government required compliance. Also your health has to be good and you will need medical exams not less than once a year. And the knowledge of all the different diving gasses, and on and on and on.
Yes, one step at a time starting with the diving.
Bob G.
California Institution for Men at Chino.
Cheep, easy to get into, but a little hard to get out of.
i went to school for it. after i found out that they didnt make very much money, i left. wasted 4 grand on 4 weeks. i paid just a quarter of the cost. ocean corp in houston texas. pipelinein is more money.
i read a article in industrial tradesman about a welder. i wish i would of read it before i went to school.
Friends of Mine have a son who is a diver/underwater welder/etc. He has been at it about 30 years [He is now about 50]. He went to a really good school in the Pacific North West, but I don't know the name. What I understand is that it is a younger man's game, better to do it while You are young & tuff.
The best program is the one that the dive company does in house, you learn their procedures, techniques, and the welding rods that that company uses. You will be mainly a construction diver that has a specialized skill of welding. There is underwater welding work, just only a few companies offer it. All of the dive schools touch on the underwater welding aspect and you get to burn a few rods to see what it's like. There is only one dive school that I know of that has a underwater welding program, but you fall into the same thing as what you learn in school may have to be unlearned so that you can learn the dive company welding program.
Charles Welch
Weaver- Let me relate a short story: About 15 years ago I was working at a union shipyard in Seattle Wa. in the pipe shop doing a lot of refrigeration lines. The foreman brought in his 19 year old son to break him out and get him started in a trade. Kid was a bit clueless but willing and a good kid. At the time I was 40 years old, working a 45 hour week and lifting at the gym every other day, eating about 4500 calories and living a clean healthy lifestyle. I was in pretty good shape, and the kid, being a young bull working next to older bulls took his clue and wanted tips on getting in shape asking me what I was doing to stay in shape. His old man almost bit his head off, "He WORKS at it"! he snapped and the kid kinda sheepishly shuts up. Well, so the kid tells me he's signed up for the next semester to start at The Divers Institute here in Seattle, was gonna be a diver/underwater welder and make Big Bucks. Ok, so whats this got to do with your question? Well, I was kinda peeved by this. First I swim like a seal and do a 1000 yard lap swim regularly a few times a week and I'm in way better condition than the kid, I'd also been in the welding trade 10 years by then and pretty much had my game down and the skills expected of journeyman and frankly those 10 years of skill acquisition had toughened me up a lot harder than that kid was gonna be for a good long time and I could see no good reason why this kid should be able to make more money than me no matter how long he could hold his breath which I assure you would be half the time I can. So. I get off work and go see the boss down at Divers Institute to inquire about the program. Nice guy, short conversation. He asks me how old I am, I tell him 40. He tells me, "Sorry, you're over the hill". I scoffed and considered taking him forcefully for a little swimming lesson in Lake Washington with me while we stood talking on the dock, cause, dude- take a look at me and tell me I'm over the hill. I eat kids like the foreman's son for break snacks. No go the guy tells me: No company is gonna insure you after the age of 35. You start young, 21,22 yrs old is about the cut off date, take the program, spend a few years learning the trade and making contacts, get about 10 years of good earnings out of it and by 35 or so, you're the dive master top side and you don't swim anymore. The truth is it's a very strenuous trade, the pressures at 100 feet are debilitating, deeper than that it increaes exponentially and breathing gas mixes isn't natural or beneficial to the human body. Rememer that DeNiro/Cuba Gooding movie about the Navy divers? DeNiros charachter Master Diver Whateverhismanewas, wasn't allowed to dive any more no matter how tough an SOB he was- would bleed out the ears if he went deep. Those guys have a very difficult work enviroment: heavy pressures, deep cold, minimal visibility, heavy lifting in heavy gear, no room for error and can you imagine having to spend 3 days in an 8 foot diameter diving sphere cramped up with another diver to get a job done and then another 24 hours in a similarly cramped decompresson unit before acclimating to sea level? Still sound like fun? It is glamorous and chicks will dig you for it and yeah it would be a badge of pride but it does have it's downside, the main one being longevity in the trade. Take it for what it's worth, if your older than 25 forget about it. As far as the technical side of the trade goes probably 90% of the work divers do is salvage and rigging, some cutting but the welding aspect is minimal generally with the exception of hyperbaric chamber welding- a whole different animal and a super-specialized niche- and the rest of the welding that gets done is of a quality most pipe welders wouldn't recognize as anything other than what a farmer could do with an old Idle-Arc and some wet 6011. I run a small sole-proprietorship and one of my clients is a local diving and salvage company that occasionally calls me for some top-side fabrication so I know a few divers, both old and young from that. Most all of them are decent, functional welders and fabricators and nice guys. They HATE to weld. Why? Cause when they have to work topside in the shop they don't get paid squat wages and the only time you find them doing it is when they're broke. Their money is diving- hanging that 80' angle iron template I built for them to hang on a side of a damn to locate the 2" bolts they need to drill [underwater at around 75'] to hang the fish ladder that's sitting on a barge ready to get lowered down to them so they better hurry up. They're union, fun bunch of dudes to hang with, and good hands but it's a small world and has limitations, age being the primary one. If you're young enough and ambitious enough get crackin, otherwise just take your scuba certification and dive recreationally in crystal clear, warm carribean water would be my advice. Last note- since I'm the tenacious type [some say stuborn but what do they know] went back to see that dive boss at the institute about a year later. I was benching 275 at the time with about a 2% body fat. He told me I was still over the hill. Damn the luck. Best to ya Weaver.
That needs to go to every high school/Community college welding teacher in the United States!
Hello yojimbo, I have to agree with your story wholeheartedly, I visited the Divers Institute and toured their facilities and checked out their program a number of years ago. They related a similar description to those of us who were on the tour as well, as far as age and condition go. I have also had numerous conversations with individuals who have been involved in this aspect of the trades and they aren't quite as glorious as some would like to believe. Obviously, there is a place for a number of folks to handle this type of work, I don't believe that it is for everyone and likely not for most. As dbigkahunna stated, in essence, a definite must read, for a lot of aspiring welders. Thanks for posting and best regards, Allan
I've known guys that went to dive school at age 40 and then came out to the Gulf. Those guys did good for about 5 years and then went into the supervising end of the business. 2 of the fellas was in one of the welding classes that I taught, they were good topside, in the water and hyperbaric welding. Most of the guys that come out here are in their 20's, I wouldn't persuade anyone not to get into this type of work no matter the age, just what aspect do you want to do, dive or dive then supervise.
Charles
The guy I spoke of in My above post has developed health issues involving deteriation of His bones, this is probably at least in part due to having spent so much time at depth over the years. I spoke to His Dad a few weeks ago, the condition hasn't gotten any worse - or any better. I was putting it lightly, calling it a "younger man's game".
I believe the school You mentioned is the one He went to.
Yeah I know about that, we get check once a year for bone necrosis, the bone dies because of lack of blood supply. Doesn't really happen much any more, the dive tables are better, less time at depth, slower ascent times and more decompression.
Addendum: Let me clarify. I wasn't looking to discourage anyone from undertaking a difficult or promising goal. That's neither my intention or general M.O. Re-reading my earlier post I could see it being read in a negative light, again not my intention. I did at the end encourage Weaver- and anyone else for that matter- who is considering this pursuit to "get crackin", which, better and more eloquently stated would be to say Carpe Diem. Life is too short for regrets, discouragement or wondering about "what if's". I am neither a trained diver nor a particularly well informed individual on the subject. I was passing along what I had heard, seen, experienced and concluded for myself. The gentleman who made the point that he'd known guys in their 40s to undergo the dive program and manage 5 lucrative years as divers and that the risks of the trades have been diminished due to technolgical advancements in gases and ascensions appears to be far better informed and experienced in this trade than I will ever be, and as such, his opinion is more valuable than mine. BigD makes a very valid point in suggesting a candidate spend time researching and speaking with both divers and dive companies regarding employment opportunities. You're only young once fellas. Best thing in the world is take that youth, energy, strength and untested confidence, set yourself goals beyond your grasp and give it hell finding out how close you can come to realizing them. You'll either gain the kind of rock solid confidence that comes with difficult accomplishments or at worse, learn to know your limitations through the experience of giving it your all. Not a bad deal either way.
Respectfully,
Jim
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