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Boilermakers

Construct, assemble, maintain, and repair stationary steam boilers and boiler house auxiliaries. Align structures or plate sections to assemble boiler frame tanks or vats, following blueprints. Work involves use of hand and power tools, plumb bobs, levels, wedges, dogs, or turnbuckles. Assist in testing assembled vessels. Direct cleaning of boilers and boiler furnaces. Inspect and repair boiler fittings, such as safety valves, regulators, automatic-control mechanisms, water columns, and auxiliary machines.

What you’d do

  • Conduct pressure tests on vessels, such as boilers.
  • Study blueprints to determine locations, relationships, or dimensions of parts.
  • Examine boilers, pressure vessels, tanks, or vats to locate defects, such as leaks, weak spots, or defective sections, so that they can be repaired.
  • Inspect assembled vessels or individual components, such as tubes, fittings, valves, controls, or auxiliary mechanisms, to locate any defects.
  • Lay out plate, sheet steel, or other heavy metal and locate and mark bending and cutting lines, using protractors, compasses, and drawing instruments or templates.
  • Bell, bead with power hammers, or weld pressure vessel tube ends to ensure leakproof joints.
  • Locate and mark reference points for columns or plates on boiler foundations, following blueprints and using straightedges, squares, transits, or measuring instruments.
  • Shape or fabricate parts, such as stacks, uptakes, or chutes, to adapt pressure vessels, heat exchangers, or piping to premises, using heavy-metalworking machines such as brakes, rolls, or drill presses.

Skills that matter

  • Operations Monitoring
  • Operation and Control
  • Critical Thinking
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Quality Control Analysis
  • Repairing

How to get there

Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

Also called

  • Boiler Mechanic
  • Boiler Technician (Boiler Tech)
  • Boilermaker
  • Boilermaker Mechanic
  • Boiler Installer
  • Boiler Repairman

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