Watch out for that old high pressure boiler feed pump at the Johnson plant

Last week in Toledo, we were doing a routine inspection on a 20 year old system. The main feed pump casing had a hairline crack you could only see with a good light and a mirror. My lead said, 'That's nothing, it's been like that for years.' We tagged it but kept it running. Two days later, it let go at a seam during a pressure spike, spraying 350 degree water across the pump room. Nobody got hurt, but it was a close call. Has anyone else had a 'minor' crack turn into a major failure that fast?

3 comments

3 Comments

graydavis3d ago

Tagging it isn't the same as fixing it. A small crack is just a big one that hasn't finished forming yet. That's how you learn to trust your own eyes over someone else's old habits.

davis.ruby3d ago

My buddy Mike at the Springfield paper mill had a similar thing. A small crack on a dryer roll gearbox they'd been watching just SNAPPED during a startup. It sent shrapnel through a sheet metal guard like it was foil. They found pieces thirty feet away. That "nothing" crack cost them a week of downtime.

ryan3692d ago

My apartment complex ignored a small crack in the parking garage concrete for months. Now they're closing two whole levels for a full month to fix it.