WHAT IS
A BOILERMAKER?
Boilermakers assemble, install and repair boilers, tanks, vessels, pumps and other equipment used to generate heat, hot water and steam as well as hold and transfer hot liquids and gases. Today’s boilermakers are required to have a variety of skills from welding, pipefitting, electrical, controls, troubleshooting and mechanical engineering knowledge. Being a boilermaker is a complex and challenging trade involving hard work and lots of intelligence…
BOILERMAKER DUTIES
- Use blueprints, drawings & installation manuals to determine locations, positions, or dimensions of parts, piping and equipement.
- Install large & small premade boilers, water heaters, pumps and other equipment into buildings and manufacturing facilities.
- Lay out and prefabricated parts for large boilers before assembling them.
- Assemble boilers & tanks, often using robotic, automatic and manual welders, oxy acetalene torches & other complex tools specially designed for boilers. Boilermakers also field erect boilers and tanks on site depending on the access to the facility.
- Install & repair pumps, specialty valves, electronic controls, tempurature & pressure gauges, burners, motors and blowers.
- Test and inspect boiler systems and related equipment for safety, leaks, malfunctions or defects.
- Clean boilers & tanks using scrapers, wire brushes, chipping hammers and cleaning solvents.
- Replace or repair broken valves, pipes, or joints, using hand and power tools, gas torches, and welding equipment.
- Replace and repair refractories (high temperature clay) inside the boiler.