Boilermaker Responsibilities and Applications
– Boilermaking, welding, and fitting tubes are full-time requirements at power plants.
– Stress fractures, leaks, and corrosion demand continual repair or replacement.
– Boilermakers also work on individual projects such as re-fitting boilers in seagoing vessels or remodeling steam plants.
– Boiler repair can be a high-value, high-cost service.
– Even small steam boilers can cost upwards of $20,000 to replace.
Domestic Boilers in the United States of America
– Many boilermakers in the US are employed in repairing, repiping, and re-tubing commercial steam and hot water boilers.
– These boilers are sometimes referred to as pressure vessels.
– Boilermakers use oxy-acetylene gas torch sets to cut or gouge steel plate and tubes.
– They also use welding techniques like GTAW, SMAW, or GMAW to attach and mend cut sections.
– Boilermakers are responsible for maintaining and repairing boilers used for heating and domestic hot water.
Training and Certification in the United States
– Boilermakers go through a formal apprenticeship that includes paid on-the-job training and classroom instruction.
– Apprenticeships are offered by unions and many employers.
– To become an apprentice, one must be at least 18 years old and have a high school diploma or GED.
– Trade or technical school combined with employer-provided training can accelerate the learning curve.
– According to U.S. Census Bureau data, boilermakers are the most male-saturated job in the USA.
R Stamp Welding
– Boiler repair in the United States is governed by the National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors and ASME.
– Boilermakers are tested and certified in the quality of their weld joints for R Stamp Welding.
– R stamps are issued to companies with existing ASME code stamps or those following ASME guidelines.
– Welders identify their welds by stamping their identifying welder number adjacent to the completed weld.
– R Stamp Welding is a rigorous testing procedure for boilermakers.
Power Piping
– Boilermakers are involved in welding, fitting, and installing tubes and accessories that attach to the boiler.
– Power Piping certification is governed by ASME Code section B31.1.
– The same organizations that govern R Stamp Welding also govern Power Piping.
– Boilermakers use various welding techniques to perform Power Piping tasks.
– Power Piping is an important aspect of boilermaker work. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boilermaker
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A boilermaker is a tradesperson who fabricates steels, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.
 A boilermaker welds nozzle on pressure vessel, June 1942 | |
| Occupation | |
|---|---|
Occupation type | Vocational |
Activity sectors | Construction Industrial manufacturing Shipbuilding |
| Description | |
Education required | Apprenticeship |
Related jobs | Welder |
Although the name originated from craftsmen who made boilers, boilermakers in fact assemble, maintain, and repair other large vessels and closed vats.
The boilermaker trade evolved from industrial blacksmithing; in the early nineteenth century, a boilermaker was called a boilersmith. The involvement of boilermakers in the shipbuilding and engineering industries came about because of the changeover from wood to iron as a construction material. It was often easier, and less expensive, to hire a boilermaker who was already in the shipyard--fabricating iron boilers for wooden steamships--to build a ship. This overlap of skills could extend to anything large and made of iron--or later, steel. In the UK, this effective monopoly over an important skill of the industrial revolution led to boilermakers being labeled 'the labour aristocracy" by historians.
