Positions: Welding Pipe

He stopped. If he buried that bubble, the weld would fail in six months. The leak would come back, only bigger. Kincaid was behind him, watching with a flashlight.

“How do you know which position to use?” Kincaid asked.

The light turned the steel cavern blue. He used a 7018 rod for the cap—low hydrogen, high tensile. It requires a drag technique. You don’t whip it; you pull it. Leo felt the heat on his cheeks, the sting of spatter burning through his sleeve. His left hand was shaking from the awkward angle, but his right hand was steady. He watched the slag wash over the toes of the weld, tying in perfectly with the parent metal. welding pipe positions

They brought the line up to 1,500 psi. Leo held his breath. The pipe didn’t sweat. It didn’t weep. His weld held.

“Show-off,” Kincaid muttered, but there was respect in it now. He stopped

“Burn it out, Leo,” the kid whispered.

“I’ll go,” Leo said.

He finished the cap. When he lifted his hood, his neck was cramped, and his ears were ringing from the vent stack overhead. But the leak was silent.