Shocking the Metal

[John1234]

I am welding steel, well very thin steel (0.9mm) to my car. It seems when I first start welding I blow a hole in the metal but once the metal has been warmed up through welding it doesn't blow anymore.

Is this just coincidence or does the metal get shocked at first with the heat if very cold hence blowing holes? I was thinking of warming the metal before welding if this is the case.

Cheers
John

 

[Welderpaul]

No. You're less likely to blow holes when you start welding when the metal is cold.

 

[mike 109444]

Is you welder the Wolf welder mentioned in your profile ?
Are you using gas or no-gas ?
Could be the regulation of the voltage is poor on these machines and so start off a bit high then drops. You could have a bit of scrap clamped along side the ground clamp to run a quick bead before going onto the bodywork (bit of a pain I know but would show if this is cause.
Heat will build up on the bodywork but would more likley cause distortion unless you are doing long runs then the heat build up and blows through!!

 

[John1234]

No I got rid of the Wolf, using the Clarke 150TE which is a 1000 times better than the Wolf. If it is not a common occurance with shocking the metal then I am probably just imagining it, I just wondered.

And using Gas

 

[mike 109444]

Could be you just need to FINE tune the welder. Maybe knock it down a notch on the power and then use the wire feed control to find the SWEET spot for wire size + metal thickness. Then mark the dial!

 

[711jrp]

I can't really help you as too weather the shocked or not but can say with confidence some of my weld look shocking at times.

 

[zx9]

Is this happening only on the first run of a session? If so could be lack of gas coverage when you are starting the run, you could try a run on some scrap as your first weld of the session or purge any air still in the torch by disabling the wire feed and running the welder for a few seconds.

 

[Kent]

I wonder if your plant is starting hot for some reason or alternatively rapidly loosing power? In all honesty that is the only reason I can think of as Pre-heating is a trick used to increase penetration when you need to use an underpowered plant. Don't know what sort of fault could create either of the situations suggested

 

[julianthegypsy]

I'm usually the other way on thin stuff, after a while I have to dab it with a damp rag to cool everything down or I start blowing holes.

 

[Richard.]

Should be the other way around I would of thought.
The warmer the the steel the easier to burn through. Strange that your suffering the reverse of that.

 

[PhillipM]

It's usually when the metal is a little dirty/greasy and the set has trouble starting the arc, once you've got going the oil/grease/dirt burns off before the arc goes over it.

 

[normspanners]

Or is it that your welder is warming up, raising its resistance and backing off a little? when cold the resistance will be lower.
also are you using a long extension wound up ?and what size is it, if normal 1.5 mm that will cause volts drop as it gets warmer possibly.
for welding min 2.5mm FULLY extended even if you dont want it all

 

[Kent]

Or is it that your welder is warming up, raising its resistance and backing off a little? when cold the resistance will be lower.
also are you using a long extension wound up ?and what size is it, if normal 1.5 mm that will cause volts drop as it gets warmer possibly.
for welding min 2.5mm FULLY extended even if you dont want it all


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These were my sort of thoughts, some kind of issue. I have noticed a few sets fade noticeably before the thermal cut out activates but heck this is thin stuff right?