ok im confused, most of the welds i do turn out grey and black looking. i do know that this is usually from to much heat, but it did the same crap when i turned down the heat. and welding was to friggin slow.
is this also caused by contaminated tugnsten?

this is on a miller 180sd.

i was welding 1/2 stainless rod at like 90 amps..

what do you guys weld 1/4" stainless plate at.. and what CFM?

 

15-20psi for the gas should be fine

 

I'm kinda getting the same results. I'm sure I just need more practice, but it seems like no matter what I do, I end up with a grey weld. The weld itself looks pretty good, but nontheless, it's not the full-race/neukin/RLD colorful welds.

I'm using:

Maxstar 150
red 1/16" tungsten/ 1/16" 308l filler
8 Gas lense. Amps from 75-130, and gas set at 20.

I've tried moving fast + flooring the pedal, and I've tried moving slow + with less amps but it still comes out grey. I cleaned the material, and the tungsten as well.

This is with beveled Sc40 stainless. I wonder if a wire wheel would help out?

 

i got a bitchin looking weld at 98 amps and gas at 30... but after that it went back to grey shitty welds...

we need help!

 

The heat is probably building up in the base material (esp the half in SS rod) It's kind of a bitch to deal with you just have to practice practice and practice until you get the setup up right FOR YOU. After awhile you will start to be able to see how it's going to turn out just by watching the puddle. I didn't believe it when I first started welding either but trust me after awhile you can really start to see or feel it or whatever you want to call it....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by I4sillypwr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The heat is probably building up in the base material (esp the half in SS rod) It's kind of a bitch to deal with you just have to practice practice and practice until you get the setup up right FOR YOU. After awhile you will start to be able to see how it's going to turn out just by watching the puddle. I didn't believe it when I first started welding either but trust me after awhile you can really start to see or feel it or whatever you want to call it.... </TD></TR></TABLE>

What exactly do you "see" in the weld puddle?

 

drink a couple beers and then try. i made the best mani of my life the other night cocked.

 

you must clean the material very well, use acetone on everything.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bryson &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

What exactly do you "see" in the weld puddle? </TD></TR></TABLE>

LOL like I said it wont make any sense until you practice and practice. Maybe other people don't see it like I do but that is the best way to describe it. It's kind of impossible to describe over the internet how I "see" the puddle acting ya know what I mean?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ccfab &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">drink a couple beers and then try. i made the best mani of my life the other night cocked. </TD></TR></TABLE>


thanks hotsex. ill try that.

lol

i think the biggest thing for us bryson is the base metal being ******* spotless.

 

also make sure your rods are spotless, a dirty rod will bring in contamination, almost like ****** a dirty **** and bringing the rusty tool home to your clean wife...

 

i was having the same problem until i changed from 3/32 tungsten to 1/16.also use 1/16 rod as well

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by I4sillypwr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

LOL like I said it wont make any sense until you practice and practice. Maybe other people don't see it like I do but that is the best way to describe it. It's kind of impossible to describe over the internet how I "see" the puddle acting ya know what I mean?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I know exactly what you mean and what you are talking about.

 

lately when i notice my welds get hot, i pour some pabst on them to cool them down. works like a charm/ if they are grey, i just break out the red sharpie.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ccfab &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">lately when i notice my welds get hot, i pour some pabst on them to cool them down. works like a charm/ if they are grey, i just break out the red sharpie. </TD></TR></TABLE> haha

 

First time messing with stainless, do yours look like this ?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ccfab &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">drink a couple beers and then try. i made the best mani of my life the other night cocked. </TD></TR></TABLE>

My hands shake due to hypogycemia. Either I make a point of eating properly for a day or so, or I drink 2-3 beers. The beer helps me stay relaxed, I prefer it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ccfab &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">also make sure your rods are spotless, a dirty rod will bring in contamination, almost like ****** a dirty **** and bringing the rusty tool home to your clean wife... </TD></TR></TABLE>

hotsex speaks the truth! I started cleaning my rods and suddenly my welds were a lot cleaner

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 90blackcrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">First time messing with stainless, do yours look like this ?





</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thats pretty much exactly how my welds look.

 

my latest.

 

My latest, I talked to engloid to about this. If the weld is some what blue, ( more blue then grey, its ok )

Unpolished

 

It is all in preping the metal , all i do is wire wheel them and wipe them down with denatured alca, and gas coverage you need good gas coverage , if your travle speed is slow you can set your cfm lower as where if you travle fast you turn it up, you would be amazed what going from 18 cfm to say 28 cfm can do with your travle speed , also the slower you travle the more haze (heat affected zone) you will have wich can over heat the steel and turn it gray if you run to high of amperage , just need to get a handle on good heat control,


Also this is 8 gauge 304ss at 100% pennatration and notice the "haze" area?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18C1CYA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">travle fast you turn it up, you would be amazed what going from 18 cfm to say 28 cfm can do with your travle speed , also the slower you </TD></TR></TABLE>

I have been running mine around 18 and a friend of mine said to turn that down, he never runs anything higher then 15. So I guess it varies.

 

my welds have turned out great now.


i just use a sanding wheel on all the crap i weld. my welds are gold color now, they look awsome.

also cleaning the rods helped to!


p.s. does anyone also hate how stainless warps ALOT&gt; ***

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by shortyz21 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
p.s. does anyone also hate how stainless warps ALOT&gt; ***</TD></TR></TABLE>

There are ways to control that.