WELDING QUESTIONS

Date 03-16-2006 02:33

Hello triple24, ANY career can be dangerous if the person doing the work doesn't have the proper preparation as to the dangers involved. You can say that underwater welding can be very physically taxing on the welders body. Various training agencies have told me that it is a young man's trade and that depending on how it is approached and whom the work is being done for and how well they are equipped will have a lot to do with the dangers involved and how hard it can be physically. Alot of people involved in this type of work will not only do underwater welding, they will also do recovery work, assembly work, inspection work and a host of other tasks. Some of my past students have gone on to become qualified in underwater work and have found it to be very rewarding both financially and also from the sense of accomplishment. There are a number of schools around the country that can provide training in this area, the one that is close to me is called the Divers Institute and is located on Lake Washington in the Seattle area in Washington state. If you do a Google search or possibly check for links on the AWS website you can probably find many more. All of these facilities are generally more than willing to answer any questions you would have regarding the field and their programs. Regards, aevald

By gndchuck (**)

Date 03-19-2006 12:23

I've been doing the underwater welding thing for the past 9 years. If you follow procedure then you reduce the risks involved. At least underwater you don't have to worry about getting arc flash, and the weld is cool to the touch after you get done welding. Since the hurricans that have pasted through the Gulf of Mexico last year, there is a lot of underwater welding work.

Charles Welch

By sa2ms7on Date 01-07-2008 03:39

Hey my name is Joshua Schmidt. Im 17 years old right now, im an open water diver and i have taken welding classes in high school. Underwater welding seems to be a perfect option for me. It would be something that i really enjoy doing and with experience ive heard it pays alright. I was hoping you could give me some more information about the job, and possibly what i could do to get started. Ive been to a few websites for commercial diving school and thats about it. I would really appreciate it if you could fill me in. thanks

By gndchuck (**)

Date 01-12-2008 23:34

Joshua,
Sorry about the slow response, the internet hasn't been working offshore. It really doesn't matter which dive school that you attend, you will have to go thru the dive company's welding program. Having gone thru the program at the college of oceaneering back in 96/97 thought that it would help. What I realized after getting to the point where I was teaching the welding class was that the guys that didn't go thru any type of training picked up the wet welding faster. The guys that knew how to weld picked up the hyperbaric welding faster. There are a raft of dive schools out there, if finances are a concern I would lean heavyly to Young's Memeroial out of Morgan City La.. As far as pay is concerned, that will depend on your skill level and the company that you work for. Some company's you hash out a contract before the weld and agree on your pay. Some companies have a flat rate of increase over your dive rate, i.e. add $5 p/h, others have an actual welding rate.

Charles Welch