Overheated a tube sheet last Wednesday and warped 3 tubes

We were rolling tubes into a feedwater heater and one guy got a little heavy with the torch for about 10 minutes straight. Three tubes came out oval when we pulled the mandrel and now we gotta pull and re-roll them all. Anybody got a trick for keeping the heat even on thick tube sheets without scorching the surrounding metal?

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the_anthony4mo ago

Buddy of mine had the same problem on a condenser job last year. He started using a big rosebud tip with the gas turned way down so it was just a soft blue flame, then kept the torch moving in a slow circle pattern about a foot wide. Said it took longer but the expansion was way more uniform and he didn't cook any tubes after that.

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sandra7154mo ago

Were you using a rosebud tip or just a standard heating tip when you did that? Ive seen guys try to rush it with a regular tip and you get hotspots way too fast. Also what thickness is the tube sheet and what material? Sometimes if its stainless you need to go slower and use a broader flame pattern. Just curious if you had a heat sink on the back side or anything like that.

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