I can't seem to figure out whats wrong here. When I'm welding thin square tubing (16 ga), I cannot get a nice looking bead like I do on thicker material. If I do a fillet weld, it look good again and it is a nice shiny bead.I did notice later on that the puddle was more controllable with increasing the gas flow to 15 or 16 CFH. No matter how much rod I add, or how fast or slow I go, It looks crappy. Here are some pics. Thanks.
EDIT: I am using a #7 gas lens kit 1/16" 2% Lanthanated
With that thin of square tubing you are almost definitely going to be pulling garbage from the backside of the metal. You are pulling the oxides and other particles and contaminants thought the metal due to how thin it is. You can take a die grinder or something similar to clean the inside at your joints. I know I had this trouble.
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Nick
Thanks for the reply! I really appreciate it. I didn't realize that would cause my welds to look like that. I will try to clean the inside and weld again.
Would oxides cause a sloppy puddle?
On the third picture I must have been cold enough to not go through the metal.
None of the pictures show a properly clean surface on the outside either. Also, depending upon the direction you're welding (uphill or downhill) the bead will behave differently. If these were welded flat, and they are "outside corners" then you are suffering from the gas being split by the metal edge. This is very common and it creates an irregular bead.
Some methods of dealing with that are:
- favor the angle of your cup from one side more than the other
- use some blocks along the edges to create an argon dam
- slightly larger cup size can help
- larger filler wire helps wrap the edge and gives you more puddle to manipulate
- your gas flow needs to go up (which you did)
- increase the cleaning distance of your prep to eliminate the arc and HAZ from pulling smutz into your puddle
Along with those reasons, a large culprit is argon coverage. A filler weld is a natural shielding gas dam, where as a flat butt joint or outside corner joint is not. In the latter, argon dissipates rather quickly away from the weld area, and in the former, it hangs around a little bit longer before it "goes away". It's just the nature of the game due to the geometry/location of the weld joint. Along with proper material prep, an argon dam as mentioned will help with cleaner beads in the sense that the metal will not turn as gray and oxidize so quickly.
Hey everyone, thanks for the reply's. I have tried everyones suggestions with not much luck. I have noticed something wrong though. No matter how clean I get the metal, when I light up, I get crackles and some sparks. Only a little , especially on the initial light up. I have cleaned all metals to a shine and this still happens. I checked for leaks and there are none. I wonder if it is the gas lens kit I purchased on amazon. It was called "Welding City Tig Welding Accessory Kit. It came with a bunch of cups and 4 gas lens, collets and a back plug. It was only $18. Could this be the cause?
It could be but there could be lots of causes. You have oxygen entering the gas shield. If you've never diagnosed a leak-problem, you may miss it, so here goes. You have to check EVERYTHING from the tank of shielding gas, all the way to the torch connectors inside the handle, to the nozzle itself. Once you have exhaust that, 99.99% of all problems with oxygen entering the shielding gas are resolved.
