Advice on Welds

[Matt Zane]

Hi Guys

I've just started to lay down my first welds today on a peice of scrap body work.

If you could have a look over these and give me some feedback I would really appreciate it!

I think I am happiest with welds 1 & 2

But how to I check for penetration?

heres the reverse side of the plate.

The plate has also buckled and distorted...is this because it's a thin sheet of body skin?

Any advice to prevent this happening when I start with repair panels?

I'm also getting browny residue on everything but I guess thats down to contamination...maybe I'm out of sheilding gas!

 

[Wozzaaah]

Hi Matt, I take it you're using the on-off stitching method?
It seems like you're very low on gas flow, hence the porosity and the brown residue. Disposables I assume? Maybe see if theres a non-rental refillable dealer in your area, it'll be much more economical for you. Penetration doesn't look too bad at all really so you're definitely on the right track. Try a continuous weld without stopping and see how it looks. For thin sheet use the lowest setting and 0.6mm wire for the best results.
Distortion wil be a problem when running so many welds on one thin sheet, don't worry about it too much until you are doing proper runs on panels that matter.

 

[Matt Zane]

hi!

it was the bottle I got with the Welding set (clarke pro 90), I bought from a guy on e-bay so the bottle was part used so I don't really know how much there was in there.

So I am running a disposable bottle at the moment, what would I have to do to switch over to a bigger bottle!

How would I go about finding out where to get a rental/non rental bottle from?

is it as easy as looking it up in the yellow pages?

 

[bc30se]

what is the brown residue anyway? I have always thought that it is caused by the copper shield of the wire?

 

[Wozzaaah]

There's two members on here who deal in non-rental cylinders, gasman (Andy) and adamsgas (Steve), you could send both a PM and see if they can do anything for you in your area. Pricewise I think they're both fairly similar and for low-volume users their system is ideal. You can also contact adams gas via email.
One member, Klaatu has compiles a spreadsheet detailing prices from all the major suppliers and the two I've mentioned, it's a little out of date but it gives you an indication of what you'll be likely to spend. You need Excel or excel viewer to read it.
To change to refillables, all you need is a regulator and a connection kit to convert your small bore disposable line to the bigger bore used on refillables, weldequip keeps them in stock.

(Gone a bit mad with the clicky links but hopefully everything you need to know is here )

 

[lovelectricity]

i suspect its c02 your using i get it here have no idea what it is but doesnt seem to do any harm, also i get an almost glass like brown deposit on some welds which usually pings off as it cools. but at £13 a pub bottle with no rental, i dont give a flying one of them things!!! what it is. will use argoshield when a fair price is issued in my area for a very low user. the disadvantages are the weld aint as good, i can only get gas on a wesnesday after ordering monday, and the bottle gauge usually says the same (depending on tempurature) until all liquid is used then it drops suddenly till empty. but i stick weld most of the time the mig is a luxury for thin stuff. so i put up with it. the c02 connector is different to argo but ive got an adaptor off ebay, and the reg i got can handle the extra pressure in argo. its all one big pain in the ass, if you know ur landlord well ask him to order pure c02 and live it cheap but not as nice, same as everything!

 

[shenion]

Some say the brown residue is silicone residue from the metal/wire.

I say it is rust caused by the oxygen burning the surface of the weld pool (CO2 is an "active" gas and breaks down in CO and O2.) This is how CO2 adds heat to the weld pool and flattens it out. As some of the metal vaporizes, when it exits the shielding gas and cools, it rusts immediately.

I do not see this as much with higher argon mixes.

Argoshield light adds O2 for the same reason. O2 is about 5x as effective as CO2 for adding heat.

I notice less as I add less CO2 to the mix.

With higher CO2 levels, I do see the copper shield create small deposits on the edge of the weld pool. Seems the weld pool takes longer to solidify giving the small amount of copper to float to the surface.

On disposables, you will probably need to set the flow to the highest setting, still it is probably less than most use with refillables.

 

[marknotgeorge]

One member, Klaatu has compiles a spreadsheet detailing prices from all the major suppliers and the two I've mentioned, it's a little out of date but it gives you an indication of what you'll be likely to spend. You need Excel or excel viewer to read it.

Wozz (and Matt!)
Not wishing to blow my own trumpet, but I kind of took the spreadsheet Klaatu did for his own use, and made it more general, a little more up to date and with a bit more information. You can find it here.

Looking at your location, Matt, Adamsgas would probably be better, as he's based in Kent.