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DAE have an old timer tell them to 'stop chasing the needle' during a hydro test?
I was on a shutdown at a paper mill outside Green Bay about 4 years back and this old hand named Dale, 40 plus years in the trade, watched me keep bumping pressure on a vessel during a hydro. I kept going back to the pump because the needle would drift 5 psi and I wanted it dead on the test number. He finally walked over, put his hand flat on my chest, and said 'stop chasing the needle, the steel either holds or it doesn't.' Then he made me stand there for the full 30 minute hold with him and just watch the gauge breathe. Nothing moved past 3 psi the whole time and the vessel passed. I still catch myself running back to the pump on every hydro and I hear his voice. So my question is for the guys who have been doing this longer than me, when do you actually get worried about a little drift and when is it just the gauge and the temp doing their thing?
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iris_schmidt6h ago
Man, that Dale sounds like every old head I've ever worked around, they always know when you're overthinking it. Been there with the pump handle myself more times than I can count, especially on small vessels where 5 psi feels like a mile. What I've learned is that if the gauge is bouncing with the sun or the ambient temp swings, you're good, but if it keeps dropping after you isolate and the temp is steady, that's when you go looking. Standing there watching it breathe is the hardest part of the job, way harder than actually running the test.
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