Wet
Wet turns up in 2 fields: heat treating, vacuum. Here is what it means to the people in each one.
Wet in heat treating
Shop word for a furnace atmosphere with too much water vapor, meaning a high dew point and low carbon.
Describes an atmosphere whose dew point has climbed from water leaks, a spent generator catalyst, wet parts or air getting in. A wet atmosphere has low carbon potential and can decarburize or oxidize the work, giving soft surfaces and discoloration. Drying it out means finding the moisture source and bringing the dew point back down.
"Atmosphere's wet again, did somebody load those parts straight out of the washer without drying them?"
Wet in vacuum
Said of a chamber whose walls still hold adsorbed water, so it pumps down slowly and stalls high.
Describes a system whose surfaces are loaded with water, usually after a long vent, a humid day or a clean with water-based solutions. A wet chamber drops quickly at first, then crawls in the 10⁻⁵ to 10⁻⁶ mbar range while an RGA shows mass 18 dominating. The fixes are a bake or a longer pump, and next time a dry nitrogen vent and a shorter door-open time.
"Chamber was open all weekend, it's wet, we won't see E-7 until tomorrow morning."