Spent 9 hours on a tube sheet leak that turned out to be one cracked ferrule

Phoenix Brown · 2026-10-09T06:20:04.170925+00:00

Last Tuesday we were doing a hydro on a small firetube boiler at a plant in Gary and I kept getting a weep on the rear tube sheet. I figured it was a rolled joint that needed another pass, so I re-rolled it, still dripped. Reamed and re-rolled it a second time, same thing. Drained the whole thing, pulled the handhole covers, and crawled in with a light. Spent another two hours marking tubes with soapstone thinking I had three or four bad ones. My helper Donnie finally points at the bottom row and says the leak is coming from where the tube meets the ferrule on the outside, not the joint itself. Turns out one ferrule had a hairline crack you could barely see, and it was letting water track down and pool right on the sheet so it looked like the tube was leaking. Whole deal ate up 9 hours of my shift for a part that costs about 12 bucks. So my question for you guys is, do you pressure test ferrules before you install them, or is there a better way to catch a crack like that before you waste a whole day chasing the wrong thing?

Vivisector

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Spent 9 hours on a tube sheet leak that turned out to be one cracked ferrule | Boilermakers - Vivisector