condensate tank repair

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over here the steam-fitters do not do any welding so when the mechanical equipment room starts to flood i have to bail them out. we had two repairs to do on this job. the first was welding a new coupling to the hot water tank discharge. the steam and corrosion ate away the surrounding wall of the pipe so i had to weld the coupling onto a short coupon of larger pipe then weld the whole thing to the discharge line. of course it was only several inches above the wet floor plus there were other pipes in the way. the other repair was to the condensate tank. again corrosion ate away the tank walls surrounding the fitting so welded that to a plate then fitted it to the tank and welded it. to make welding easier next time i'm going to 45 the corners of the plate. Attached Images
Reply:not sure if its under much pressure? irregardless never ever weld on a patch with square corners on to a pressure vessel. Other than that looks good.
Reply:All the condensate tanks I ever worked on were just that condensate return tanks open to the atmosphere.  No pressure.  Any repairs I have ever undertaken on a pressure vessel were all plate inserts....Journeyman / Red Seal Welder (What a useless test)Miller CST 280Miller XMT 350Miller 12vs XtremeEvolution Evo 28 mag drillEvolution 380 Dry Cut saw
Reply:Docwelder, Looks like a nice repair. Yes 45 the corners would help. Its never easy or fun welding on older half rotton pipe..on your prayer bones in wet conditions  lol I have welded and cut on pipe that cant be cut with a torch until you beat the pipe on the outside to loosen the scale up enough on the inside to use a torch. Basically a 12 inch pipe is a 10in because of poor or no chemical treatment in the system.
Reply:except for the powerhouse max pressure is around 150 lbs. these repairs are on the low pressure side of the system.
Reply:Ive been asked to repair condensate tanks, I always so no. Other than the fact that I do not have a R stamp, Ive always found the metal to be punky. I watched my Co-worker patch 90 year old condensate lines with plate steel before. It was always corroded to ****, and always needed a larger area in the end.Ive been told about the "no square" rule for pressure, I think it has to do with a failure spot, where a round patch would have equal dissapation of force all the way around.... Maybe...Lincoln Power MIG 210 MP ( boat anchor )Lincoln Weld-Pac 100 HDHobart IronMan 230Cutmaster 42Jackson NexGenSumner Ultra ClampsDWM120
Reply:i looked at a tank repair i did several years ago and i did cut the corners.  i seldom work on pressure piping so i tend to forget things like that till a few days after i finish the job. it su@ks to get old!!