Old timer told me to trust the soap test, I thought he was full of it

Back in April a retired fitter named Ray watched me fight a 24 inch header leak for two hours at the plant in Gary. He said stop with the dye and the pressure gauge, just mix dish soap with water and brush the weld seam. I laughed it off because that felt too simple for a 150 psi steam line. Finally tried it after lunch and found a pinhole the size of a pinhead in about four minutes. That soap trick caught a leak my ultrasonic probe missed twice. Why do we overcomplicate this trade when the cheap methods still work best? Anyone else got a simple trick that embarrassed your fancy gear?

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