Boilermaker Jobs | Boiler Maker Career
Boilermaker Jobs - What is the Job of the Boiler Maker? What do Boilermaker Jobs Involve?
Boilermakers, also known as boilermaker mechanics, are responsible for installing and repairing boiler systems, which hold liquids and gases. A boilers job is to keep water under pressure in order to generate electrical power in to provide the eat for buildings and factories.
In addition, many chemicals, beer, and other products are stored in tanks created by boilermakers. Boilermaker jobs also involve repairing blast furnaces, storage tanks, smokestacks, air pollution scrubbers, as well as installing refractory brick and other heat resistant products.
Professional boilermakers may also install the pipes that are used in dams in order to generate hydroelectric power. Electric power plants use steam in order to spin the blades of a turbine, which in turn are connected to an electric generator. Most coal burning power plants use steam boilers in order to rotate turbines to generate power.
Boilers are designed to last a long time, sometimes as long as half a century, and they must be regularly maintained and updated as technology increases the efficiency of power producing equipment. Boilermakers will clean boilers using wire brushes, solvents, gas torches, and other welding equipment, in order to patch weak spots and to replace defective sections of a boiler.
Boilers are typically cast out of steel or iron, in this process is being automated on an increasing basis in order to improve the quality of a piece. A boiler that is forged out of a single piece of metal will have much better integrity than one that is welded together from many smaller parts.
Before installing or repairing a metal boiler, a boiler worker will study the blueprints for the metal product, and use tools in order to cut pieces of metal which can then be welded to joined two pieces together. Since boilers can be quite large, it is common for cranes to be used in order to fit various pieces of a boiler together.
Boilermaker jobs also involved attaching water tubes, checking valves and water gauges, and testing the boiler for leaks and other product defects before it is placed into use.
Working Conditions for Boilermaker Jobs - How is the Working Environment for Boilermaker Jobs?
Boilermakers frequently work with dangerous equipment such as acetylene torches, and may have to work on high ladders in order to get the proper weld, sometimes hundreds of feet above the ground.
The work of boilermaker careers is physically demanding and may have to be done in cramped conditions that may be dark or poorly ventilated. In addition, extreme cold or heat is common, and boilermakers will use specialized equipment such as respirators in order to reduce the possibility of injury.
Boiler makers will experience periods of overtime when expensive operations are shut down for maintenance. This overtime is usually mandatory in order to complete a repair job in a timely fashion. The work itself will often be sporadic although the periods of overtime will greatly outweigh the time that one is not working.
Boiler Maker Education - How to Become a Boilermaker - How to Receive Your Boilermaker Training
Boiler maker education is highly specialized and usually takes four years of training or 6000 hours of on the job work. Boilermaker apprenticeships are much more involved than they were 50 years ago, and it is common for boilermakers to now receive a specialized bachelor’s degree which includes 144 hours of classroom instruction every year.
Boilermakers will frequently take continuing education in order to learn about new equipment and technology.
Boilermaker Training Requirements - How to Become a Boilermaker
Other qualifications that a boiler maker should have include a good knowledge of manual tasks and technical skill as well as having physical strength and stamina, as the work can be physically demanding as well as mentally draining.
Boilermakers will usually advance to supervisor positions over time, even deciding to start their own contracting company if they have sufficient business acumen.
Boilermaker Employment - What is a Boilermaker Jobs?
Over the next decade, boilermaker employment should grow by about 14%, as very few people are entering the field, and boilermakers retire. In addition, many existing boilers are getting older, and they must be repaired and updated to meet increased demand for electrical power.
In addition, the Clean Air Act is requiring utility companies to upgrade their boiler systems over the next few years, and the Energy Policy Act of 2005 is leading to new construction of coal power plants that are clean burning, and should promote higher efficiency standards.
Boilermaker jobs are relatively recession proof, as people rely on power to keep their homes and to power their household electrical devices. Boiler makers working in manufacturing and industry usually have the highest rate of employment.
Boilermaker Salary Pay Scale - How Much Do Boiler Maker Jobs Earn?
In 2006, boilermaker job earnings on median came to $46,960. Boilermaker apprentices usually start out at half of journeyman wages, gradually increasing up to the normal journeyman pay rate after four years of work. Boilermakers are usually part of labor unions such as the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers.
Unlike other unionized industries, the boilermakers union is strong due to the intense amount of training that is required in order to learn the profession, and companies rely on professional levels of boiler repair when dealing with multimillion dollar pieces of equipment.