Chasing a leak in a firetube took me 3 days in Tacoma

Had a job last month on a 500hp firetube in Tacoma. The tube sheet kept weeping where the roll expanded, or so I thought. I spent the first day pulling the handhole covers and blowing smoke test after smoke test. Nothing showed up. Second day I went after the staybolts, figured it was a cracked cap. Still dry. Third day I finally got a mirror in behind the baffle and saw it, a hairline crack running along the weld seam, hidden by soot. Took maybe 20 minutes to grind and re-weld once I saw it. The kicker is the owner had a borescope in his truck the whole time. Has anyone else had a leak hide that well in a spot you swore you checked?

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