this is a 4 inch collector for a t3 flange. the pipe is 1.5" sch. 10 304/304L stainless. i cut the pipe with a bandsaw and welded with a thermal arc arcmaster 185. used 18cfh argon, 7 sec post purge, 1/16 filler, ~75 amps. still needs to be trimed on the bottom to sit flat on the turbo flange. i accidently blew off the tip of 2 of the pipes when i lifted the torch before i let off the peddle. i dont think im gonna use this but it was good practice.

 

your welding with too much heat. your post flow isn't going to matter if you burn the metal. i usually set my peak current to about 100 amps and peddle it most of the time, so 60~70 amps. if your moving too slow you'll also burn the metal. you should also let the piece cool a little bit between welds.

overall it doesn't look that bad, you just need to practice your welding.

 

You need to backpurge or at least use some Solar Flux.

 

thanks for the feedback. im having a hard time with torch speed. i went that slow with the torch to get better penitration at 60-70 amps. should i turn the amps up to like 85 and move the torch faster?

 

You are running WAY to hot.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by k24em2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You are running WAY to hot.</TD></TR></TABLE>
what do you mean amps or torch speed?

 

The material doesn't look very clean either. Get your stuff super clean prior to welding man. The welds are pretty rough as well. I think you should work on that before really making something you intend on using.

I will say, your fitment seems pretty good, so your on the right track there, you just need to work on everything past that point. Make another one.

 

yeah first thing i noticed right off the bat, every weld looked dirty or contaminated. now this is a easy fix just clean, clean, clean......


now i polish eveything on a manifold before i weld it so i don't wire wheel the area, but if you do not want to polish just wire wheel were your going to weld andwipe down any dust/dirt from cuting or w/e.

now as for welding i use 70-80 amps working the pedal a little bit. 1/16th filler.

i move about 1-2 in. at a time then let it cool down till i can grap it with a bare hand. this allows me to not have to work so hard when controling the puddle. as soon as the metal is heat soaked it almost get impossable to control the bead.

post up when you do more....

 

I don't know about others, but the penetration looks very inconsistent and pretty shallow in a lot of the collector. Did you bevel the edges before welding? How many passes did you make? If I were you I would turn down the amps and clean a lot. Cleaning is essential.

 

What do you guys use to clean your stainless really well before welding? Would a wire wheel and acetone do the trick?

 

What are you gonna do about making that collect fit that opening nicely?

 

10 min with a die grinder and it will fit fine. although it is alittle big.

 

its a little rough in the weld department but like you said it your first one and i can tell you my first one looked very similar to yours. thumbs up for effort and actually cutting one that fits nice.

 

heat and speed is the problem. if you don't run enough amperage, your going to heat soak the piece too quick. higher the heat, the faster you can move. more heat makes it easyer.

cleaning the material is important, however that isn't going to make you a better welder. wire wheel the pipe before you tack the piece together so you can get to every part of the pipe.

i use laquor thinner to clean my parts before i weld. acetone will work, but it won't take off grease or marker like laquor.

also, make sure you don't put your hood down on a rag wil laquor, it will eat through your plastic lens. pisses me off every time.

backpurge is always nice, but you don't have to have it. the spots where you have sugar are spots where you sat too long.

your not going to get full penetration no a collector besides the base.

 

also looks like your gas coverage isnt very good, id try 50 amps and pre heat the metal, this will force you to slow down your welding. and like mentioned, you need to clean the parts better.

edit: also looks like possible contamination on the tungstin

 

did some practacing, i know the beads arent the nicest looking (didnt prop the pipe and it was rolling around) but i was worried about heat control. if i took my time they would look nicer:











this was my last weld i think im getting it:

 

DUDE I GOT A F*CKIN IDEA....RESIZE YOUR DAMN PIC'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There's not much to say. It's undercut, it's dirty as hell, you need to work on consistency, and it's just really rough. Your heat is better this time, but that's about it.

Resize the damn pictures man...sh*t.

 

HUGE PICS!! makes me dizzy...LOL

Practice makes perfect!!

 

your definatly improving. just keep at it and you'll get it in no time.

 

a weld i did today:

 

ok, now take 5 mins and clean the inside and outside of the pipe before you start wleding it...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dbiker207 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">a weld i did today:

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

you have improved big time in the past week. looks like your getting better gas coverage while welding. the better the coloring, the better your gas control. your speed is getting better as well.

are you dipping or are you trying to walk the cup?

i'm asuming that your cleaning your pipe before you weld it, but are you using some old *** pipe that has been sitting around? looks like there is a bunch of surface rust or some sort of crust on the pipe.

 

what do you mean walking or dipping the cup? i hold the torch a steady distance from the steel and dab the filler rod as i move forward. as far as cleaning the pipe all i did was hit it on the grinding wheel to v the mating faces. yes the pipe is an old *** piece with surface rust that my buddy had laying at his house that he let me have to practice on.

 

clean the parts before welding them, they should look close to new steel before you even begin tacking them together, practice is great but practicing on dirty steel wont help you to improve much.

use a wire wheel and thinner to get the oil and rust off the pipes.

 

i personally get in the habbit of cleaning the whole piece. if you start making stuff all the time and you get used to it, you won't get pissed about doing it when stuff needs to look especailly good. also, use a wire brush or something that isn't going to leave deposits. grinding wheels, cut off wheels, sand paper and coarse twist locs can leave stuff behind. they'll show up in the weld too.

at least clean 1/2" on either side of the weld. you'd be suprised how far away stuff gets sucked in from.

walking the cup is kinda how it sounds. you feed the rod or lay it in the path of the weld while you move the torch. looks a lot nicer when your done and if you have a steady hand its actually easyer to do.