Maintenance technician in steel mill

[jmiles]

I saw a job posting for a job at a major steel producer in the midwest. I am kinda of sick of the lack of job stability in this business. Thinking a position at a mill would be steadier hours? As anyone ever worked at a facility like this?

[Core_d]

I have 6 years in the largest steel foundry in north america. What u want to know?

[Ammonianite]

I saw a job posting for a job at a major steel producer in the midwest. I am kinda of sick of the lack of job stability in this business. Thinking a position at a mill would be steadier hours? As anyone ever worked at a facility like this?

Lots of hours available but hot, extremely dirty work. I was thinking of transitioning over to maintenance work as well for the same reason- erratic, inconsistent hours. Been in HVAC for nearly 20 years. It used to be pretty stable but anymore it's just plain crazy.

[jmiles]

I was wondering how big of a jump it would be on the technical side Coming from hvac with the typicall controls/systems that are in this environment.. ?

[Core_d]

As far as the tech side of things im sure they would train you on specifics. Its hard to say what you would be doing repairing air tools, motor controls or any other number of things. As far as enviroment foundry sand and hydrolic oil make a nasty combination. Throw some steel dust and shavings in the mix, thats real fun .In central ohio I have have seen some very hot days 114* at ground level and if your up forty feet repairing an overhead crane expect a few more degrees. What are they manufacturing at your mill?

[Core_d]

P.S. I dont think anyone could answer your question about stability without knowing your paticular company. We had ups and downs were i worked but was generaly pretty stable somtimes lol. For a while we worked three forty hour weeks a month and other times it was overtime for the taking as much as you could stand. I was never laid off but lay offs did happen. If you are worried about the controls aspect of the job i wouldnt be. Most of the machinery isnot overly complicated just really big.

[Ammonianite]

I was wondering how big of a jump it would be on the technical side Coming from hvac with the typicall controls/systems that are in this environment.. ?

Back in the early '90's I jumped from light commercial HVAC into plant maintenance in a large wholesale baking complex. (Worked there until it closed in the mid-90's). Fortunately, I had a supervisor who was very supportive- I did not know how to weld and he gave me some practice time during each shift in order to get comfortable and competent with it. Technically, it wasn't that bad of a jump. In HVAC, it seems like the vast majority of problems are on the electrical side so troubleshooting mixers, rounders, etc. was not that bad. PLC's were just troubleshooting inputs and outputs. HVAC provided a good deal of mechanical experience so that rebuilding hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders wasn't that hard to get the hang of. I guess it took probably about six months before I was truly comfortable in handling a shift alone. Bottom line- a good deal of HVAC skills are readily transferable into the industrial maintenance field. There will, of course, be a good deal that you will have to learn but with an HVAC skill set, it won't take very long.

[pilotlight]

I work in a big machine shop type place for afew years when The hvac market here slowed down.Was ok work on the maintenance side. Plcs and motors are the big things to wrap your head around. Also little things like.needing a 3/4socket set and hit wrenches. But what man does not like buying tools lol.

Hey Core did your place have an annealing department?

[Core_d]

I work in a big machine shop type place for afew years when The hvac market here slowed down.Was ok work on the maintenance side. Plcs and motors are the big things to wrap your head around. Also little things like.needing a 3/4socket set and hit wrenches. But what man does not like buying tools lol.

Hey Core did your place have an annealing department?

Not a separate department, but every casting sold was tempered to a certain grade of steel (Hgrade,Fgrade, ect.) and then tested by breaking a neally lug and measuring the width of a pin head size dent. That measurement was what we always called annealing.

[pilotlight]

We had 2 anealing departments.Man did it suck having to change a base fan on the furnace in the summertime.Seemed that they all ways went out when it 5 bells cooling froma soak of 1025 degree The place looked like this

[Core_d]

We had 2 anealing departments.Man did it suck having to change a base fan on the furnace in the summertime.Seemed that they all ways went out when it 5 bells cooling froma soak of 1025 degree The place looked like this

looks a bit more clean and modern than my mill. The one I worked at was about 115 years old and I doubt much has changed over the years. Our squench tanks were literally big tubs of water they dunked the castings in with a crane.

[pilotlight]

That is not the one Iworkedbut simillar.yeah it was some what modern. Out of highschool. I worked an old school foundry. we poured iron by hand and shake out was the same way. lol

Did not take me long toknow factory labor was not for me

[Freightshaker]

I was wondering how big of a jump it would be on the technical side Coming from hvac with the typicall controls/systems that are in this environment.. ?

I spend a fair amount of time in three different aluminum mills. They are all very different. Stuff can range from residential equipment (junk), window units (good for two years), small package units, big package units, chillers, so much range of equipment. They are each different in procedures, equipment, and attitudes. While one mill stares at scrap price (if it's down they are not spending) another booms in a down economy (sad populations guzzle canned beer). Your average equipment will tend to be light on technology aiming for reliability. Most of the stuff was not built for these environments and will have a shorter than average life and burn through parts. Things like pulling a condenser out of a voyager to wash it while changing both compressors seem more normal. Things that seems like hack methods are more common. I enjoy the three I work at very much. For the regular guys that work at the big three full time, it is a predictable, stable, less stressful day than being on the road. It's hard to say how it will be for you since each mill can be so different. Hope this helps a little though.