Heard a guy at the hall say he never tests his welds, just 'eyeballs' them

I was at the union hall in Gary last Friday picking up a job packet when I overheard two guys talking about a tank job in Whiting. One of them said he has been at it 18 years and never once ran a dye penetrant test, just looks at the bead and calls it good. I did not say anything but it stuck with me all weekend because I have seen what a pinhole does after 6 months of service. How many of you out there are actually checking your own work before the inspector shows up, or do you trust your eye like that guy?

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the_wesley16d ago

Eighteen years and never once checked his own work with dye? That is wild to me. I get that some guys have a good eye but a pinhole or lack of fusion will hide right in plain sight, the bead can look perfect from the outside and still leak like a sieve. I am just a hardware store manager who welds on the side, so take this with a grain of salt, but even I hit my stuff with a flashlight and a mirror before anybody else looks at it. That kind of confidence on a tank job in Whiting just sounds like a guy who has been lucky, not good.

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