Pleas comment on these TIG welds

Apples & oranges.. The junk yard weld appears to be stick welded.

Top weld looks like something I've had with stick, well okay so it's happened once or twice, but still! :) Your welds look okay, good penetration (unless I'm missing something), messy surface notwithstanding...

Tim

There are several high strength SS alloys that are magnetic, like 310.

Too much heat, bad gas shielding. I can't tell anything else until you fix those two things.

Here is one of mine for a brew tank. Welding on location at the brew pub.

I do field repairs for a chain of brew pubs in Seattle.

It looks as if you don't have inert gal protecting the weld puddle and surrounding hot metal. This can be because you don't have enough inert gas flooding the area, but it can also be because you have too much gas flow. Too much gas can cause eddy currents and pull in oxygen. Or you could be welding where there is a breeze. Could even be because you are moving the torch away, but probably not that as I would expect it to be less uniform in that case.

Ernie strongly recommends a gas lense. Essentially a bigger cup with some metal gauze to make the gas flom laminar.

When you get the gas shielding right, the puddle will behave better ( wets the base metal better ) and you may not have the problem with getting it too hot.

Dan

OHHHHhhh, man! I KNEW I shouldn't have looked! Next, Ernie will tell us he had to do this while hanging upside down from some pipes with water (or beer!) dripping on him while he did it!

Some day, maybe, I'll be able to do 1/10th that nice a weld!

Jon

They really work! Also, you can often turn the gas flow down to about half what you need with a simple collet and cup. You can just hold your torch against a bright light and see the turbulence in a plain collet. Big whirling eddies that bring room air into the stream of shield gas. With the gas lens, it is just a smooth flow that gradually bunches up after leaving the cup. aglevtech sells this stuff very cheaply on eBay. I can get a whole set of gas lens parts (collet, cup, washers and insulators, etc.) from him for what one piece would cost at the welding supply place.

Jon

Nah, you actually have a chin. Why do you think I have a beard?

No that one was pretty simple, since the fitting was in a tank lid that was off the tank. Somebody didn't have all the toggles locked down on thge lid and when the tank reached 20 psi the 10 lb SS lid blew off slamming into the ceiling. It destroyed the pressure gauge and mangled the tank fitting.

Small breweries use hand-me-down dairy equipment. S you see tri-clamp fittings like this in both places.

Now the one I did after that required me to climb inside the 250 gal brew tank (called a "grundy") to finish the inside weld.

I have yet to post those pics.

Ernie, I noticed that the "frozen puddles" of your weld are spaced out farther than the example weld in the first posting. Is there a standard for when and how often to advance the pool? I have heard that you advance when you add the filler, but what tells you it is time to add and advance? Is it just a rythym thing or is there a visual cue I am just totally missing?

And while I'm asking the dumb questions...... How did you backpurge that fitting? Did you even have to? I am under the impression that all stainless requires it. Am I wrong?

The example weld he showed was a Stick weld, not a TIG weld.

SS Stick electrode makes very smooth pretty beads as long as you are working on flat or flat fillet welds. Vertical up and overhead are a bitch. SS is very fluid.

Purely a rythym thing.

tap tap tap.

I made a special backpurge fitting that used a 8" aluminum pie tin on the inside of the tank. Tightening a screw on the inside pulled the pie tin against the inside of the tank causing it to fit to the curve of the tank.

Thanks to all for your insights. I obviously have a lot to learn. Are you saying that it is ok to weld SS with a correct stick?

What causes occasional sooty smudges on the periphery of the weld?

P.S. Some time ago you mentioned a company the sells quality brushes. Do yo have a link?

Thanks again for all the help.

Regards,

Boris Mohar

Got Knock? - see: Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs (among other things)

good folks. Excellent products

gunner

Rule #35 "That which does not kill you, has made a huge tactical error"

I would guess overheating, letting out some iron vapor that condenses around, partially oxidized. Don't know personally if that's normal for TIG (probably not ;) but I haven't done a stick weld that didn't...*shrug*

Tim

-- "California is the breakfast state: fruits, nuts and flakes." Website:

Thanks Jon. I am gong to try the gas lens. I am not sure about my Argon usage though. I seem to be going through a lot. I set the gage to 12 FCM bit the gauge is really a pressure regulator. There is a small print on the gauge faceplate "0.02 Orifice" That is how they get the calibrated flow out of a pressure gauge. Where is that orifice located? I would like to check that I have a correct restriction. The torch that I am using is Magnum LA-9 and it came with Lincoln 175 welder.

--

Boris Mohar

Someone here said they checked their gas flow by using a gallon ziplock bag and timing how long it takes to fill the bag in seconds. Then converting to cu feet per minute. You might be able to google and find the conversion factor they used, or just calculate your own.

Dan