We don't know if hundreds of bolts were done all poorly. This is just one.

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This would appear to be a poor job of welding and certainly not up to the parameters of the code. That said, who is to blame? It occurs to me that the weld inspector wasn't inspecting very well. If this boiler has a stamp then more blame belongs to the inspector. If a welder gets away with a poorly executed job due to poor oversight then he (or she) will continue to perform at that level. Just saying that boiler construction is a team effort and all must work to a high standard.

CCdW

Pretty scary looking. Recall seeing cut out inner sheets on C&NW #1385 that had a similar look. The weld side looked fine, but the inner side had very little penetration. The weld was an old C&NW repair on Engineers side sheets down by the front corner. You would never of suspected it. Was a welder back then and it scared me to think that anybody thought it was good enough. Stayed or not. The weld I am talking about was a longitudinal patch, not the staybolts. But the lack of penetration was very similar, but probably worse. This was found back in early 1970s when the fitter put his chipping hammer through the sheet they were so thin. Sorry to ramble so. But the lack of penetration on the pictures above reminded me of that. Wished we would of kept that pc of cutout side sheet to illustrate how a reasonably good looking repair was deceiving. Regards, John.

OK, so we're all in agreement that very good welders who know how to weld should weld on pressure vessels. Full penetration means full penetration. Fillet welded stays can create corrosion issues after some time in service and must be watched carefully.

Screwed in stays aren't immune either. A locomotive I was responsible for developed a situation in which the side sheets and stays were all good but the threads connecting the two had been progressively disappearing for decades. All invisible, and until caulking or seal welding no longer held out for long completely unknown. The solution in this case was trepanning out around the stays and sheets and welding in full penetration by a ASME shop's certified welder. Eventually she was shut down for overhaul and the stays were replaced years later. I wasn't present to see that process.

Given a choice between 1.5 intact threads and 90% penetration by a less skilled welder, I'll take the 90%.

I understand the ASME boiler committee is meeting in Phoenix on October 30th. Does anyone have any information as to the agenda or even if the meeting will actually take place?

Thanks

Robby Peartree

ASME Boiler Code Week is October 29 - November 3, 2017 at the Point Hilton Squaw Peak Resort in Phoenix, Arizona. Subgroup Locomotive Boilers is meeting on Monday, October 30. This meeting usually starts at 8am and runs as long as it takes to get through the agenda. The BPV I main committee meeting will be on Thursday, November 2 at 8am and usually runs to about 1pm. More information can be found at ASME.org.

Any new meetings schedualed?

Robby Peartree

NBIC/National Board working group meetings are now biannual, in January and July of each year. You can get the date and venue from the NBIC Web site.

National Board SG Locomotives meets Monday, January 14th, 10:00am to 4:00pm, in the Mahncke room, 3rd floor of the Sheraton Gunter in San Antonio, Texas.

SG Historic Boilers is same date and time in the Alamo Room.

I was referring to the AS ME sub committee.
Robby Peartree

Sorry. The next ASME Boiler Code Week is in Atlanta (I think Westin Peachtree Plaza) this year, November 11-16, and they ask that you register in advance (whether or not you're a present ASME member);

https://bcw1118.registerat.com/home.aspx

For the record, the upcoming Boiler Code Week meetings will be:

Feb 10-16, Costa Mesa, Hilton Orange County
May 5-10, Salt Lake City, Grand America/Little America
Aug 4-9, Minneapolis, Doubletree by Hilton
Oct 27-Nov 1, Atlanta, Westin Peachtree Plaza

To avoid more importunate posting about when the meetings will be, you might want to bookmark the link to the ASME Boiler Code Week page, which updates automatically:

https://www.asme.org/events/boiler-pressure-vessel-code-week/committee-meetings

I don't know if anyone is actually interested in the current 'standard' (2017) but its link is here

http://www.asme.org/products/codes-standards/bpvci-2017-bpvc-section-irules-construction-power

I saw that but the sub committee does not make all of the quarterly meetings. As some of the members posts on this board I thought they may have an idea of the current meeting schedule.

Robby Peartree

If you would actually read the page for a given meeting you will see the time and location SG Locomotive Boilers meets -- as I noted, they are certainly scheduled to be at the meeting in November in Atlanta, which is what you were requesting.

If you don't see SG Locomotive Boilers information listed for any future meeting, contact the SG secretary by phone or e-mail and he will respond with the information you need. The current information is:

Umberto D'Urso
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Two Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Phone: 1(212) 591-8535; Fax: 1(212)591-8501
dursou@asme.org

You will be looking for meetings of the SG-LB, which stands for
Sub-Group, Locomotive Boilers. As noted they usually meet during
one or two of ASME's Code Weeks annually, not every one.