Lucky13don
Well-known member
Is anyone here one? What's it like? What type of tools do you use? Thanks in advance
Power plant maintenance tech
- Thread starter Lucky13don
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MagnumForce
Well-known member
Working on 3000 ton transfer presses is much the same.
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speed bump
Well-known member
Pretty much like industrial maintenance for any type of plant with big equipment, lots of piping, sensors, and electrical wiring. Some things are big and some are small.
tshetter
Well-known member
This.
Depends on what trade/role you play within the maintenance department. Your tool requirements would be based on this.
There are lots of decaying hydro plants that've been bought by utilities and decommissioned to justify building nukes and NG generating stations. Promise to build a salmon ladder around the dam and you can likely pick one up for a song.
speed bump
Well-known member
Go to your local utilities website and apply. Then search for local power plants and apply. If you are union (quite a bit of power is) then talk to your steward or business agent. Prospects are driven by the area and the company. In my neck of the woods the Jim Bridger power plant always has openings because the closest city is rock springs Wy. The Dave Johnston plant rarely has openings because it is right outside Casper.
RRmech
Well-known member
A friend of mine did power plant maintenance in Ohio.
He ended up with a management position at an in-house power plant, for a large east coast subway system.
GOOD paying job too with nice benefits.
He ended up with a management position at an in-house power plant, for a large east coast subway system.
GOOD paying job too with nice benefits.
blackedout12v
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2014
- Messages
- 147
those are good credentials for that line of work. i have a stationary steam engineers license through the state of ohio and can tell you to look into gas fired plants or hydro for job security.
bobcatdan
Well-known member
I will give you my thoughts based on the maintaince guys at the foundry I work at as I'd guess the world's are similar. 98% of guys have smaller 26" craftsman combos as other then the basics tools, many are company provided. Most of their time is spent outside their shop and they work out of carry tool bags with what they need to do the job at hand. Electricians generally wear the classic electrician tool belt.
HoosierBuddy
Well-known member
My brother did that job for years. He got it with nothing but his HS diploma and some previous utility experience. It was union (IBEW). As far as I know they supplied him with tools.
He eventually left. I think the thing he disliked about it was it was swing shift. I can't imagine why ANYONE would make their employees do that...but that's the way it was.
Maybe they figured it was "fair" that way, as everyone had to work every shift and everyone eventually had to work weekends and or holidays.
Phil
He eventually left. I think the thing he disliked about it was it was swing shift. I can't imagine why ANYONE would make their employees do that...but that's the way it was.
Maybe they figured it was "fair" that way, as everyone had to work every shift and everyone eventually had to work weekends and or holidays.
Phil
RRmech
Well-known member
In a Union job, it is ALL about seniority, seniority, seniority.
I worked mid and swing shifts for close to a dozen years, before I had enough seniority on the railroad to even get close to day shift.
Steve
I worked mid and swing shifts for close to a dozen years, before I had enough seniority on the railroad to even get close to day shift.
Steve
The problem with the local utility is they want as a minimum 5 years journeyman experience IN A UNION, (which I'm not) or maybe somebody who's been in the navy nuke program, which I've not been either.
Moving to Wyoming is an option in the future however. It's not doable at the moment.
Thank you for your reply.
MacMcMacmac
Well-known member
It's probably one of the best maintenance and repair jobs you can get.
I've been through a couple of thermal generating stations. It's fascinating and HUGE stuff to work on. I thought the 200hp compressor we went there to fix was big until the gantry crane lifted it out for us and it disappeared as it neared the roof. The maintenance crew said it took a week for the turbine to cool enough before it could be worked on. Walking past steam gauges pegged at over 2000psi was a bit disconcerting, as were random, small water leaks. We were warned not to approach if we heard any steam leaking, as it would sever body parts if we passed anything through the dry steam jet. They would check for a leak with a broom. If it caught fire, they had found the leak. We had to go through an orientation before entering, showing us all the different ways we could get killed if we were stupid. That was a bit of an eye opener. The boiler feed pumps were 1000hp apiece, pressurizing the feedwater to 3000psi. The boilers were the size of small apartment buildings and floated in a water filled basin. I remember being at the base of one where they were blowing in the pulverized coal. The blower shaft was about a 2ft in diameter. Then a small piece of red hot pulverized coal fell out of the vent onto the concrete floor and landed at my feet. I decided to move along.
All in all, a fascinating couple of days there, and at an older plant just up the road from it built back in the 1950's. It was interesting to see the difference between the two. The old plant was full of British stuff, Metropolitan Vickers, Howden, GEC, while the new stuff was all Hitachi, Foster Wheeler, Toshiba. The old plant was not quiet, but had a nice reassuring hum to it like the machinery was happy about it's work. The new plant was a screaming, vibrating hell-hole requiring both muffs and earplugs to make it acceptable to work in. They had six turbines there, producing 500MW apiece. The generator windings were cooled with hydrogen gas.
DonPowers
Well-known member
Spent my whole career working on power plants. You typically have in-house maintenance crews and contract crews to supplement the in-house crew. Find out who has the maintenance contract for plants in your area.
Its typically easier to get experience working for a contractor.
Here is a handy site if you are willing to travel.
https://roadtechs.com
Its typically easier to get experience working for a contractor.
Here is a handy site if you are willing to travel.
https://roadtechs.com
DonPowers
Well-known member
DonPowers
Well-known member
Its a PWR. Did the travel thing most of my career. Now I'm mostly retired and take on the occasional project, mostly hydros these days.
DonPowers
Well-known member
As far as tools go, they run the whole spectrum from very small to very large and low tech to the highly specialized.
Coupling the shaft to the runner (Turbine) and tightening with a Hytorc at a hydro unit.
Milling a pump base with a machine bought specifically for this project at a nuc.
Coupling the shaft to the runner (Turbine) and tightening with a Hytorc at a hydro unit.
Milling a pump base with a machine bought specifically for this project at a nuc.
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DonPowers
Well-known member
It is a climax mill and the turbine hall is a PWR. The pump base is for one of the main feed pumps, 17,000 gal per min driven by a 10,000 hp steam turbine. For those not initiated PWR stands for Pressurized Water Reactor in lieu of BWR for a Boiling Water Reactor. Big difference between the two. In a BWR, steam generated in the reactor goes through the turbine, is condensed and goes back to the reactor. Consequently, the entire steam system can be radioactive. In a PWR, high temperature water from the reactor goes through a heat exchanger called a steam generator. Steam from the generator goes to the turbine, is condensed and is returned back to the steam generator by the feed pump. In a PWR the steam system is not radioactive.
The photo showing the shaft coupling is a hydro unit.
BAndritsch
Active member
- Joined
- May 8, 2008
- Messages
- 27
I worked in two different coal plants, one a few years out of H.S. and one at the end of my electrical career. The first I was called a "utility man" which is at the bottom of the **** list and the last was in the electrical maintenance dept. Any tools needed were provided by the company. If your not gung-ho all for the company you might not like it. The IBEW was the main union in the last plant and was totally useless, all your doing is buying your wage.
I left after realizing I was burned out as an electrician and found that after some nasty fatal accidents in the company I wasn't comfortable working on the high voltage. I will say the money is outstanding but there is a price. Outages twice a year is 7/12's till it's done but boy do you make the money. Dangerous, you bet. Nothing like having a safety valve trip on a turbine while it's online and venting to the turbine room, imagine a 60 ft. tall ceiling and the steam blew out a 20ft. round whole in the roof. And it does sound like armegeddon.
Last plant we lost a 130Kv main transformer from moisture in the air, people thought an airplane had crashed. Or 2 electricians and a company rep burned to death while working in a 6500Kv breaker enclosure and the shutter fell across the bus bars. Sorry I'm just being ghoulish but these and other things did indeed happen.
Bill
I left after realizing I was burned out as an electrician and found that after some nasty fatal accidents in the company I wasn't comfortable working on the high voltage. I will say the money is outstanding but there is a price. Outages twice a year is 7/12's till it's done but boy do you make the money. Dangerous, you bet. Nothing like having a safety valve trip on a turbine while it's online and venting to the turbine room, imagine a 60 ft. tall ceiling and the steam blew out a 20ft. round whole in the roof. And it does sound like armegeddon.
Last plant we lost a 130Kv main transformer from moisture in the air, people thought an airplane had crashed. Or 2 electricians and a company rep burned to death while working in a 6500Kv breaker enclosure and the shutter fell across the bus bars. Sorry I'm just being ghoulish but these and other things did indeed happen.
Bill