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A 30 year guy on my crew showed me to tack the tubes before rolling, and my rework dropped to almost nothing
Two years back I was rolling tubes on a small package boiler in Gary, Indiana and kept getting leaks on the hydro test. My foreman paired me with an old hand who told me to tack weld each tube to the tube sheet first, then roll it in. I tried it on the next 40 tubes and not one leaked on the test. Took maybe 15 extra seconds per tube but saved me the whole headache of draining and redoing a section. Does anyone else tack before rolling, or is that just what they do on the small stuff?
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harper_murphy1mo ago
Tacking can bite you on the bigger stuff. On a package boiler it's fine, but once you're on high pressure or anything that sees real thermal cycling, those tacks can crack or leave small voids that turn into leaks later. I've seen guys tack a whole header and then chase pinholes for a week after the hydro because the tack kept the roll from seating all the way. The reason yours worked is probably that the tack just holds the tube square so the roller doesn't walk, which you can get the same way with a good tube guide and consistent torque.
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