jonathan molloy
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Much appreciated, damn sea haha
- Thread starter jonathan molloy
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Much appreciated, damn sea haha
Pete.
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I'm wondering does keeping the filler in a damp atmosphere actually allow the metal to draw in moisture or does the moisture cause a surface reaction on the filler that affects the weld?
I'm not suggesting that the problem can't be mitigated by keeping rods in the warm, I just find it very hard to accept that a solid rod can fill with moisture.
I'm not suggesting that the problem can't be mitigated by keeping rods in the warm, I just find it very hard to accept that a solid rod can fill with moisture.
Pete.
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Moisture definitely affects the surface. I had a tube of aluminium rods left in my van behind the driver's seat for a good few years and when I extracted them I found that they were all a dull grey colour. Wiping the filler with your hand left a mark on your skin the colour of pencil writing and no amount of wiping with a rag would put back the shine you get on new rods. The oxide was permanently etched into the surface.
Paul.
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A wipe with scotchbrite or stainless wire wool has always been good enough for me if I suspect a dirty rod, I notice that the filler is 5356 which has magnesium in it and is more prone to contamination if all the other parameters such as torch angle, gas flow, travel speed and current are not quite right, this is why I generally use a lens with ally,
It would be interesting to see if the same problem occurs with a 4043 filler
It would be interesting to see if the same problem occurs with a 4043 filler
Richard.
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It’s the oxide layer I believe that can absorb moisture from the air. All metals sweat water when you heat them up. It’s not from the core it’s from the oxide layer on the surface.
It can still hang on to that moisture and drying them out cleaning them can make little difference as I found out. I had no end of trouble once tried everything and couldn’t get things to clean up. Looked exactly the same as op.
Kept rods warm and dry since without an issue.
jonathan molloy
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I might buy both grades just incase
jonathan molloy
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Well just went out and bought brand new 4043 and here's the result I've no idea what's going on, I can say I'm seeing the arc turn green as I'm feeding filler
Brad93
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Gas contamination then.
Either a leak in your gas line, torch hose, bad back cap ‘o’-ring, or just a bad bottle of gas.
jonathan molloy
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crap was hoping it wasnt, ill check all the other stuff first before i go back to the supplier
Paul.
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Make sure that when welding the hot end of the filler stays within the gas shield.
A hot rod exposed to atmosphere will oxidise, then with the next dab of filler you shove that oxidation into the pool.
Also seeing a colour change as you feed filler suggests that you are touching down with the tungsten or touching the filler to the tungsten, post a picture of your tungsten after welding a short run.
You might also try running a bead without filler, if you still have contamination then it points to a torch or gas problem
A hot rod exposed to atmosphere will oxidise, then with the next dab of filler you shove that oxidation into the pool.
Also seeing a colour change as you feed filler suggests that you are touching down with the tungsten or touching the filler to the tungsten, post a picture of your tungsten after welding a short run.
You might also try running a bead without filler, if you still have contamination then it points to a torch or gas problem
Brad93
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That’s more than a bit of contamination coming from the end of the filler. Unless he is balling the filler before it enters the pool
jonathan molloy
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im stabbing the filler into the leading edge of the pool quickly
i had suspicion that the bottle was contaminated when i got it first but managed to get it to weld good on stainless
i had suspicion that the bottle was contaminated when i got it first but managed to get it to weld good on stainless
Brad93
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Take a piece of stainless, Arc up hot for a short period of time and get a large molten puddle. Then let off, and allow the post flow gas to shield the pool for at least 7 seconds or so.
Then post a picture.
Richard.
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Christ that’s looking a lot worse.
I’ll say brad has probably nailed it if the arc is changing colour and become unstable. That’s quite bad now and shielding is probably causing this.
Do a spot weld test on bright ground steel or stainless without filler in dc.
It’s quite rare to have a bad bottle of gas. I can recall only once I’ve had this happen. More likely a leak drawing in air. Your not trying to clean these up with mega flow rates are you? That will make things worse. If you cannot get clean welds at 6-8 lpm then there is a problem and turning flow rate up won’t fix it, it will make the problem worse.
Leak test all your joints going from the bottle to the machine then check your torch. Joints. You may need to pull the handle off to check the joint where the cable connection fits to the torch head.
jonathan molloy
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I've done bother extremes of argon to try clean it up but that weld would be around the flow your stating,
I'll check all the leads and and torch tomorrow and then do some stainless
I'll check all the leads and and torch tomorrow and then do some stainless
Richard.
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You’ve got a gas problem
That weld looks far more severe than the black speccles you showed originally.
Paul.
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The spot test and what to expect from it is shown in this old post, the rest of the thread is worth a read through as well
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/just-got-a-new-tig.27276/page-2#post-301703
Also make sure that your torch is correctly assembled
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/wiki/The_Basic_TIG_Torch
And if you are using a lens
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/think-i-have-the-wrong-torch-insulator.52664/#post-610269
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/just-got-a-new-tig.27276/page-2#post-301703
Also make sure that your torch is correctly assembled
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/wiki/The_Basic_TIG_Torch
And if you are using a lens
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/think-i-have-the-wrong-torch-insulator.52664/#post-610269
Hood
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Not sure who your supplier is but I had a bad cylinder of Argon a while back. First noticed it on Mig as the weld was sooty and there was very little evidence of cleaning action around the edge of the weld. I tried it with Tig and it was definitely bad. Every so often it would get very bad, see pic. I took the cylinder back and was supposed to be getting the rep visiting me but he never did, whether my supplier never contacted the rep or what I don't know but I had actually forgotten about it until I saw this post 
