- Thread starter buddyboy
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Toom much heat, try welding faster, lower the amperage, and try to bring the tungsten closer so the bead will be narrower.
The bead should be somewhat proud of the parent metal. Your weld is undercut along the edges of the bead (which a larger 2.4mm filler would help too).
Is this a butt weld ?Or just a flat sheet?
The bead should be somewhat proud of the parent metal. Your weld is undercut along the edges of the bead (which a larger 2.4mm filler would help too).
Is this a butt weld ?Or just a flat sheet?
Removing the millscale will make your life easier, you'll find it welds cleaner with less tendancy to undercutting.
Tungsten size is more related to welding current rather than material thickness- it's a trade off between arc focus (large tungsten can struggle to give a stable arc at low amps) and tip longevity (a small tungsten will melt at high amps). A 1.6mm is good for around 120A but most people usually switch to a 2.4mm sooner. 3mm steel would be around the switch point for me
Filler wire... too large and the puddle will struggle to melt it, trying to weld 0.8mm material with 1.6mm filler isn't likely to end well for example- filler wire is typically thinner than base metal. At higher amperages/thicker material you have to feed so much of a small diameter wire it gets boring real quick. You could weld steel much thicker than 3mm with 1.6mm filler but once the puddle will accept thicker filler it makes sense to switch, again 3mm steel is around the time to be thinking of switching
Clear as mud?
Tungsten size is more related to welding current rather than material thickness- it's a trade off between arc focus (large tungsten can struggle to give a stable arc at low amps) and tip longevity (a small tungsten will melt at high amps). A 1.6mm is good for around 120A but most people usually switch to a 2.4mm sooner. 3mm steel would be around the switch point for me
Filler wire... too large and the puddle will struggle to melt it, trying to weld 0.8mm material with 1.6mm filler isn't likely to end well for example- filler wire is typically thinner than base metal. At higher amperages/thicker material you have to feed so much of a small diameter wire it gets boring real quick. You could weld steel much thicker than 3mm with 1.6mm filler but once the puddle will accept thicker filler it makes sense to switch, again 3mm steel is around the time to be thinking of switching
Clear as mud?
does the same go for 3mm ss pipe?Removing the millscale will make your life easier, you'll find it welds cleaner with less tendancy to undercutting.
Tungsten size is more related to welding current rather than material thickness- it's a trade off between arc focus (large tungsten can struggle to give a stable arc at low amps) and tip longevity (a small tungsten will melt at high amps). A 1.6mm is good for around 120A but most people usually switch to a 2.4mm sooner. 3mm steel would be around the switch point for me
Filler wire... too large and the puddle will struggle to melt it, trying to weld 0.8mm material with 1.6mm filler isn't likely to end well for example- filler wire is typically thinner than base metal. At higher amperages/thicker material you have to feed so much of a small diameter wire it gets boring real quick. You could weld steel much thicker than 3mm with 1.6mm filler but once the puddle will accept thicker filler it makes sense to switch, again 3mm steel is around the time to be thinking of switching
Clear as mud?
Yep pretty much, only mentioned steel in the previous post as aluminium is a bit different. AC gives the tungsten a harder time so you need to step up in size at lower amperages and the way Al behaves means you can use larger diameter filler
Stainless is a poor conductor of heat compared with mild steel so typically slightly less amps are needed for a given thickness. Joint design (open root, bevelled with no gap) is going to play a role in the amount of filler required and thus the size of filler i'd reach for
Stainless is a poor conductor of heat compared with mild steel so typically slightly less amps are needed for a given thickness. Joint design (open root, bevelled with no gap) is going to play a role in the amount of filler required and thus the size of filler i'd reach for
