Questions for the welders out there.

CornyKegs 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Brewmoor

Brewmoor

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
Aug 27, 2009
Messages
927
Reaction score
15
Location
Colorado
I sent 4 Stainless steel barrels to a welder to have the fittings put in. I pre-drilled the holes and fit the couplings in so they would not have too much work to do.

So they quoted me over the phone about 3-4 hours to do the work. Well I call them today and they say it is going to take them about 4 hours per barrel using a TIG. So they are switching gears and are going to use a MIG to weld them because they say it will take less time. He mentioned something about using a brass heat sink on the inside to take some of the heat. I asked about sugaring and he said the heatsink will help with that.

I am being charged by the hour for this job. 3 fittings in 2 tanks and 6 fittings in 2 tanks. Does all this sound right? Should I be worried about anything they have said? I am looking at a $600 bill if it takes them 8 hours to do this. I only paid 900 with shipping for the 4 barrels. I was not expecting to pay so much for the welding but if that is how it is then whatever. It needs to be done. He says he is giving a huge discount by paying cash. I am getting charged $75/hr. I thought it was only us IT guys that ripped people off by the hour.
 
Brewmoor said:
I sent 4 Stainless steel barrels to a welder to have the fittings put in. I pre-drilled the holes and fit the couplings in so they would not have too much work to do.

So they quoted me over the phone about 3-4 hours to do the work. Well I call them today and they say it is going to take them about 4 hours per barrel using a TIG. So they are switching gears and are going to use a MIG to weld them because they say it will take less time. He mentioned something about using a brass heat sink on the inside to take some of the heat. I asked about sugaring and he said the heatsink will help with that.

I am being charged by the hour for this job. 3 fittings in 2 tanks and 6 fittings in 2 tanks. Does all this sound right? Should I be worried about anything they have said? I am looking at a $600 bill if it takes them 8 hours to do this. I only paid 900 with shipping for the 4 barrels. I was not expecting to pay so much for the welding but if that is how it is then whatever. It needs to be done. He says he is giving a huge discount by paying cash. I am getting charged $75/hr. I thought it was only us IT guys that ripped people off by the hour.
Click to expand...

18 fittings is going to take 16 hours to MIG weld?!?
Sounds like bull**** to me.
If you don't count prep and setup, it shouldn't take more than 4 minutes to weld a single fitting...

I'd call BS and ask why it would take them 53 minutes to run a 3 1/2" weld?
 
He was saying 16 hours to TIG weld them. He is now saying it will take 8 hours to do it with a MIG. Still seems high. I did almost all of the prep myself.
 
Brewmoor said:
He was saying 16 hours to TIG weld them. He is now saying it will take 8 hours to do it with a MIG. Still seems high. I did almost all of the prep myself.
Click to expand...

That's crap you are being ripped off. I just had a fitting TIG welded last week. I drilled the hole and took them the fitting. They quoted me 20 minutes, but it only took 15 minutes. That includes setting up for the TIG and getting ready, a one time per weld session event. Total cost = $20 Even if you had to set up that much on each weld, 18 fittings TIGd is only 4.5 hours. Find a faster weld shop.

This is in CA too, everything out here is twice the price you can get things done in the rest of the country.
 
So they're saying they want $1,200 to TIG weld 18 fittings (3x2 + 6x2). That's absolute bollocks.
 
You would be getting rocked at those prices and for a job like that, never settle for an hourly quote. There is no reason why they can't give you a lump sum quote for the job. It's not like there are a lot of unknowns involved. It's a straight forward welding job and a relatively simple one at that. Find a different welder for sure. That's some big bucks you are looking at there. No way would I pay that much.
 
wilserbrewer said:
Find another welder....fast. Or perhaps since you were handy enough to drill and prep everything, this might be an option....

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/soldering-stainless-steel-155782/
Click to expand...

I had the weld done last week after having the silver solder fail repeatedly on my mash tun. When I dumped the grain out the false bottom would torque the fitting and cause cracks. Next mash, dripping wort, burnt candy smell and a mess everywhere. I've silver soldered everything else with no problems, but the MT one needed TIG in my case.
 
Whoa that's way too much, and it sounds like he's getting paid under the table so it should be a better deal! Also, I soldered almost everything in my system but a "high torque" fittings needed to be welded.
 
I tried to braze the fittings in but it would not take. It stuck to the fittings but just balled up and rolled off the barrels. I tried a few different things and decided just to have a welder do it.

$75 is suppose to be a deal. He said if I need a receipt and don't pay in cash his rate for stainless is $125. The welder is in between aspen and vail. I expect higher prices but what I was not expecting was for it to take so long. Unfortunately they have the barrels and already did some of the work.

I don't mind spending the money. If they are done well I am Ok with it. If it were for my home it would be one thing. This is for our taproom system. Paying a local business to do the job is fine. I am just trying to make sure I am not going to get taken advantage of.
 
Brewmoor said:
$75 is suppose to be a deal. He said if I need a receipt and don't pay in cash his rate for stainless is $125. The welder is in between aspen and vail. I expect higher prices but what I was not expecting was for it to take so long. Unfortunately they have the barrels and already did some of the work.
Click to expand...
In his mind, it probably is a deal - for him. And to put it in perspective, Ricand's $20 weld was done in the SF Bay Area, a place where we generally have to pay 25% more than the rest of the planet. $75 an hour is about right (I think?) for what I was quoted here in San Francisco for welding a Brutus frame (stainless). But I was quoted about 10 hours for that, and we're talking way more work than those fittings. Ricand said his fitting was $20, and took 15 minutes, so that works out to $80 an hour. The issue I'm having is that if a welder can do one fitting in 15 minutes, including setup, then why is this guy saying that 18 fittings would take him 8 hours? Wouldn't it be 4-5 fittings an hour AT LEAST, which would be half the time he's quoting you.

It's a shame that he already has the barrels and has started, but fair play to you for sticking with a local business. Me, I'd be telling him to stop immediately, take the hit on whatever he'd already done, and then find someone in Denver who'd do it for a quasi-normal price.
 

Similar threads

R
Beware of the barrelbroker.com, its turned into a scam
Replies
2
Views
534
MaxStout
MaxStout
SanPancho
California Squarrel square "barrel" 10gal with TC fittings
Replies
7
Views
571
SanPancho
SanPancho
Gadjobrinus
Converting 10 gallon stockpot to 3-port (drain, thermo probe, Whirlpool return).
Replies
10
Views
742
Want2Brew
Want2Brew
R
Kegs
Replies
20
Views
1K
camonick
camonick
D
🔥 Smoking cured sausage to IT 152F within 4h without rendering fat (?)
Replies
7
Views
713
beren
beren
CornyKegs 300

Latest posts

Back
Top