Depending on the site you are on you usually need to show a little respect. For sure to the ones that have been in the company longer then you but also to the other trades as well as the owners of whatever project you are on. They are the ones who hired you and will decide if they hire you again or refer you to any friends of theirs. A good job sometimes falls on deaf ears but a bad job or bad attitude on the job site definitely gets talked about to ones that the owner knows is looking for work. Things like swearing and rude comments are things that you want to watch out for. Sometimes things happen and you can’t stop what comes out of your mouth, but how often it happens is definitely up to you. Rude comments towards people are never a good idea. No one likes to be called names or made fun of and it doesn’t really help with anything - especially when you have to work with the person on a regular basis.

Like any other job many things that you work on are routine.  You’ve done them over and over again and your apprentice knows exactly what to do next.  But the good thing about being in a trade is that there is always something new to learn and to teach.  Two days ago, an apprentice of mine and myself were doing some steam fitting.  I was exposed to this early on in my career but depending on the job it can come few and far between.  When we were assembling a steam trap I had the opportunity to teach him something that he didn’t know or had ever been exposed to before.  I asked him if he understood how a steam trap worked, and he didn’t.  I explained in detail to him how it worked and I remembered when my journeyman explained it to me.  Whats interesting is that I taught him something that he’ll never learn in school.  That education comes from working with a journeyman in the apprenticeship program.  There is a true satisfaction in passing on knowledge of your trade on to the next generation.

As a welder with Manitoba Hydro, my days are filled with new experiences and interesting projects. You never know what to expect for the next day as new projects come and go.

You don’t wake up in the morning and put on a nice suit or blouse. Instead you put on a pair of coveralls that are so dirty from the day before that they have to be taken off at the door.

With each new day come different challenges and you’re forced to put your problem solving skills to the test. Whether you’re doing fabrication in the shop or out in the field repairing something, you’ll always encounter challenges that you have to conquer, such as heights, weather and confined spaces.

At times I work on several projects throughout the day; my intentions with this blog are to divide each job into its own blog post, not necessarily day by day. I will explain the objective of the job and what is needed as well as the steps from the beginning of the job until the completion of it. I will also comment on the job and give my perspective on how things went, what was new to me, any challenges I faced, etc.

My work can differ, from one extreme to another at times and change as I am sent to different locations around Manitoba.

With Hydro we mostly do Fabrication, Maintenance and Repairs out of a shop as well as with a mobile welding rig. However, there are several other types of welding that can be done with other employers, from pipeline work to welding inspection.

I hope by viewing my blog you can see how dynamic and rewarding working in the trades can be, specifically from my point of view as a welder.

Manitoba Hydro has few mobile welding units, this photo is of our welding truck from the location where I am currently stationed out of.

Despite the typical fixing of cars, trucks and trailers, this week has been an interesting one for me. We’re getting into the forklift business! Currently we have four of them we just got in. All are Cats, model numbers TH63, TH103 and two TH83s. After model numbers come the numbers that represent their lifting weight: 6ooo, 8000 and 10,000 pounds.

It seems simple enough, but this week we started doing service on them and some repairs. The experience I’m getting and stuff I’m learning about big diesel engines, and hydraulic systems etc… is a whole new thing. We had a heavy duty mechanic come in and teach us a lot.  I had to replace both front wheel bearings and the universal joints on one of the forklifts.

Wow, what a complex job that is. I was dealing with parts that are ten times larger then those on your car, and weigh as much as I do! I’m not complaining, heavy duty is something I enjoy learning and I’m hoping to challenge my heavy duty certificate once I’m done my next 2 years.

I’m back in school now. Been in for a week and a half now. I’m really excited about learning how to build stairs. I’ve never done that before and what a better way to learn then at school. Here I’ve got time to learn it properly, and I don’t have to worry about somebody not being happy with my work. If I make a mistake building stairs, then I’m the only one that would care because it affects my grade. I’ve been told by journey people that if you have gaps in the stairs, glue and sawdust are your two best friends. It’s true! On projects I’ve done in my first two levels, filling gaps has come in very handy to  get me a better mark. In real life on the job you would do something very similar to fill any small gaps you may have when doing trim work or anything else. Besides all the awesome stuff I’m learning and looking forward to learning in the weeks to come, the food here at  Red River College is pretty good, too. Just an added bonus!

Finally, I am back to work!

I’ve been really looking forward to getting back. I knew that the shop was busy and now, I’m ahead another level!  School was  fun, and I learned a lot too. I thought that I knew enough about cars, just from experience. But in only 8 weeks of school, I learned a crazy amount of new information that was more in depth and detailed than the stuff I already knew. For example, knowing how something works is fine, but can you take an alternator, break it down and explain in depth what each part inside is, and what purpose and function it does within its component? We all know what a alternator is, but there is a lot more to something than just its name. School wasn’t tough, but to keep your grades up you have  be on task and willing to learn. Being a apprentice is extremely beneficial. The experience you gain on the job really shows in class.

In addition to replacing burned contacts, we were scheduled to replace six oil filled bushings on a 66kV bulk oil circuit breaker.  The breaker was manufactured by Canadian General Electric back in 1932.

Before the bushings are removed, the oil inside of them is sampled.  This is to test for PCB content.  If the PCB is above 5ppm, the bushing is considered a “dangerous good”, and must be transported under strict government regulations.  Along with this comes a lot of paperwork.

The interrupters and contacts are physically removed from the ends of the bushings.  (The pieces circled in red in the photo would be removed.)

One technician climbs on top of the breaker, and removes the nuts from the existing studs.  If the studs spin out, new ones are crafted from threaded rod.  With all the nuts removed, the bushing is ready to be lifted out.  The bushings can be lifted with slings, or, as they were in our case, by a fitting that threads on top of the bushing stud.  Pictured below are all the old bushings after they were taken out.  They were later packaged into crates.

And pictured below is a technician guiding the new bushings into the breaker.  The new bushing skirts (the grey parts) are not made of porcelain, but a more durable epoxy.

After all the bushings have been installed, the nuts are tightened down until they are snug.  The bushings are then tested for good insulation properties.  Later, the bushings are aligned and torqued to 40 ft/lbs.

If you’ve ever driven over the Disraeli bridge, chances are that you’ve caught a glimpse of one of Winnipeg Hydro’s first (and oldest) stations.  Fed from Pointe du Bois, Rover station was established in roughly 1926.  If you were to drive past the concrete fence and peer in through the chain-link gate, you would see what looks like a pond with fountains.  This pond is actually used to cool the transformers in the station.  Very vintage 1920’s technology.

Since the building was established in a time where safety practices were nonexistent, Manitoba Hydro has placed a number of barriers to remind workers of the hazards, and to keep them within their limits of approach.  For instance, running throughout the second floor is live, bare copper buswork.  If it weren’t clearly marked or barricaded as it is now, anyone could accidentally contact it.

As mentioned above, all the equipment within Rover is circa late 1920’s.  It’s amazing to see that it is still in working order, and to see where our current day equipment has evolved from.  Many people describe the inside of the building as a science fiction horror movie set.  All of the switch gear, transformers, and breakers are contained within dimly lit concrete walls.  It’s easy to get a creeped out feeling while working there.

We stopped in at Rover today to move an oil processing unit from one transformer phase to the next.  Since the transformer banks are water cooled, a lot of moisture builds up within the oil.  The processing unit heats the oil up to roughly 60deg Celsius, removes said moisture, and recirculates the oil back into the transformer tank.

The last couple weeks before you go back to school are always rough, both on the wallet and the body. Its hard when you’re going through your first few years if you don’t have money saved up or parents to help you out to buy all your books and supplies that you need for the year. It is kind of fun getting to do back to school shopping, though. If you’re like me it reminds you of being back in high school. It is a little different, though because you’re running around getting things set up, like your Record of Employment, employment insurance, your hour book, and other things needed for your trade. But if you get everything lined up and ready to go so when you step into the school on the first day  it makes things go by a lot better with less heartache for you. Plus, it’s exciting to be going back! So exciting that maybe the past couple weeks you lose motivation to work and just want to get going with your schooling. Also, count yourself lucky if you are going back during the cold months, although this year the weather hasn’t been too bad yet.

My name is Chad, I’m 31 years old and I’m a commercial/industrial plumber.  I first started in the trade on March 15, 1999 and have been plumbing ever since.  When I graduated high school I remember feeling pressured to enroll in University, but I knew that I wanted to get involved in a career right away.  I’m not the type of person who could sit at a desk all day, so when a friend of my parents suggested that I try plumbing; it seemed like a good fit.  Within two weeks I had landed myself a job as a laborer with a commercial plumbing outfit with the hopes of starting an apprenticeship.  After working for that company for a year, I approached my employer with my apprenticeship enrolment papers and he signed them.

For the next five years I was able to gain much experience being involved in various aspects of plumbing.  I started out on a construction site renovation of a personal care home, and then went on to service work, gas fitting, steam fitting, and installing boiler and heating systems.

In February of 2004 I completed my last level of schooling at Red River College and graduated becoming a Red Seal Interprovincial Journeyperson.  From that point on, my career focus was to gain the most experience I could in the endless amounts of plumbing systems.  Three years ago my employer promoted me to a foreman position and I have had to opportunity to oversee several multimillion dollar projects and being responsible for crews of up 12 men.  The responsibility is heavy at times, but there is a true satisfaction in pointing to numerous buildings around the city and being able to claim, “I helped build that”.

For anyone considering an apprenticeship, I would highly recommend it.  The four or five years that it takes to finish your apprenticeship go by fast.  Plus the skills that you attain are practical in so many areas of life.  The pay is good and the job is rewarding.