Vacuum box testing

[JES1812]

An issue came up recently regarding vacuum box testing of repad welds to new tank floor plate. One view is that these should be treated like repair area patch plates and be vac box tested.

653 9.10.3.1 says that wear plates shall be installed per 9.10.1 and examined by 12.1.7
653 12.1.7.1 says all new welds, incl. patch plates, shall be examined by 650 7.3.3
653 12.1.7.3 says that all repair areas shall be tested by vac box
650 7.3.3 last sentence says all welds shall be tested by vac box

So, it is not entirely clear to me if wear plates on new floor plate should be treated as a repair patch plate. In 650 when they say all welds, are they talking about floor plate welds, or do they mean all welds - including seal welds at heavy column baseplates?

What is your experience with this issue?

 

[bimr]

Bubble leak testing, or vacuum box testing, is an integral part of a tank inspection process as recommended by API and other international standards to establish the condition of a tank bottom plate weld or shell to bottom plate weld.