UnderWater Welding
Published on Nov 19, 2015
brandon babb
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Getting Started
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If you think you want to become an underwater welder, keep in mind that you not only have to possess certified welding skills, but you also must be a certified commercial diver before you get certified as an underwater welder. You’ll need quite a bit of cash to get the right education and then go through the certification and apprentice process before you can work as an underwater welder. I will explain the training and hiring process to become an underwater welder.
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Prepare to spend a substantial amount of money for your education and certification.
Although tuition varies from one school to the next, getting the required certifications can cost thousands of dollars. A state-funded technical college, like South Central Louisiana Technical College, is the least expensive option
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Become a Commercial Diver
It’s not enough to have SCUBA diver certification, because sport dive training doesn’t include education on the safety and environment of offshore commercial work and the safe use of commercial diving equipment you need
Take a dive physical, even if the commercial dive school you apply to doesn't require one
You may find you have some type of disability that won’t allow you to pursue this occupation, and it’s good to know this before you spend money on unusable education
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Get certified as a welder
You can do this with formal training through an accredited welding school and/or by completing the Certified Welder program from the American Welding Society (also known as A.W.S.) and receiving final certification by passing its test
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Attend an underwater welding school
This is where you’ll put your two acquired skills, welding and commercial diving, together to become an underwater welder. Most of these schools already expect you to have completed both commercial dive school and certified welding training as prerequisites as they can’t start you out in the basics for this highly specialized field. Also depending on the school it can take six months all the way up to a year.
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Apply to a company who hires underwater welders for an apprenticeship, or what’s known as a “diver tender,” to learn the trade and gain on-the-job training.
Most dive contractors require that you have enough knowledge in dry and/or wet welding to pass qualification tests and have the required certification from the A.W.S and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) before beginning work
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Acquire specific skills required by the underwater welding company that employs you.
These skills can vary and the A.W.S recommends formal training to learn the required skills
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Job Outlook
Due to various factors that the profession is surrounded by, it is almost impossible to generalize the outlook and duties for all underwater welder settings. Underwater welders are usually paid on a per project basis But normally make 110k/ a year
The job growth has went down 28% since 2010 because of how dangerous the job is the life expectancy is only 11 years!
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Chemistry in welding
The gas-metal reactions take place at the interface between the gas phase
and the liquid metal, including the dissolution of nitrogen, oxygen and
hydrogenin liquid metal and the evolution of welding
Photo by Leo Reynolds
