Spent 4 hours chasing a leak on a 20 year old tank in Gary

I was working on this old feedwater tank last Thursday and it had a weep at a seam I just couldn't find. Turned out it was a hairline crack hidden under a layer of scale about 6 inches from where I kept checking. Any of you guys dealt with corrosion hiding like that on older vessels?

2 comments

2 Comments

keithbennett22d ago

Man, that scale hiding stuff is the worst. I was gonna say, have you ever tried using a spray bottle with just plain water and a little dish soap? It sounds stupid simple but sometimes it works better than the fancy leak detector stuff, especially on older crusty metal where the crack is tiny. The bubbles will show up even if you can't see the crack itself. Also, sometimes if you tap around the area with a small hammer, you can hear a difference in the sound where the metal is thin or cracked, like a dull thud instead of a ring. Saved me a few headaches on old mud tanks.

nina_lane1621d ago

Honestly, spray bottles and soap? That's like using a bandaid on a broken leg. But hey, if it gets you through the day without a 50-dollar bill flying out of your wallet for fancy leak detectors, sounds like a win.