Material is .065 316SS.
Miller Diversion 165 @ ~60amps
3/32 Arc-zone Hybrid Tungsten (sharpened to a point)
1/16 308L filler

This is my first time really working with stainless, but I can't seem to get it to NOT undercut. Penetration I have no problem with. (I don't have a backpurge setup yet, working on that).

Feels like I either don't get enough filler in or I put so much in the weld pool freezes and starts to walk across the joint. Thoughts?

 

Once more, I'm no pro, so if I'm wrong, hope experienced guys will correct me (hate to write this everytime... will need to copy/paste it )

IMO they look cooked... too much heat into those welds. I would suggest using 50 or less amps and making a bevel on that tube, bevel will help you with holding that bead in a straight line! If you bevel it, you should use ~40-45amps. Also I would suggest getting .045" filler, whether you bevel that tube or not!

Hope that helps.

 

You Sir are correct.

Try 40 amps, and .035 filler. To much heat, and to big of filler is your problem, try it out and post some pics!

 

Thanks a lot guys, I need to get some smaller filler. I had a feeling that was my problem, because I needed all the heat just to get it to move freely.

Also, what gives away too much heat? The color? Trying to learn what to look for so I can know what mistakes I'm making.

 

Here you go http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNYmo2_DI6c

3:44 minute, check hole video!

 

what size cup are you using? color def shows that you have too much heat/poor coverage.

 

#8 cup w/ gas lense, 20CFM argon flow. And because I suck at round tube still I don't travel more than 1/4 of the pipe diameter at a time.

 

then def too much heat.

 

good info on that video

 

I can tell there's to much heat because you posted your running 60amps, which is to hot. I run 60-75amps on sch10.

 

Sounds good! I just ordered some .045 and .035 308l rods so once they're here I'll try again and post up! Thanks dude!

 

I disagree on the filler issue. I've welded manifolds for many years now and use 1/16 filler regularly. Your amperage is too high though, period. You can get away with that high if your pace is faster, but your just putting too much heat in the material for the speed your going. Also, make sure your post purging long enough.

 

Thin wall manifolds? Or thick wall? Of course a thick wall manifold is going to be fine using a bigger filler such as 1/16th sense most of the time your filling a big bevel. On the other hand, he is clearly having problems with the larger filler melting into a smaller puddle. Hence why he used more heat, causing a concave, overheated weld. In my opinion, when welding stainless you need to keep as much heat out as possible. So using a much lower heat burning a much smaller filler will result in a proper weld. Using only 40 amps will result in a stronger weld more then capable of penetrating .065 wall tube. So no need to rush along a weld using a bigger filler to get away with running that heat level. Sense he is learning, he will be better off with a variety of filler to experiment with.
Just my thoughts

 

Ok, try number 2.





~40A and .035 filler. #8 cup. Everything else is the same as before.

Metal is prepped with a slight bevel with a land about half the thickness of the original thickness. Again, no issues with penetration, and I really need to get myself a purge setup lol.

How does it look?

My thoughts... much easier to control the puddle, welds came out a lot neater and a lot flatter. I do need to work on my consistency, and I need to add a little bit more filler sometimes. The welds on the right seem better to me, I was able to dip more often. Some of it gets a little bit concave, I'm not sure if that is a product of simply not getting enough filler in there, too much heat, or if it's really not that big of a deal. Colors look a lot better to me too. This is just me guessing lol, so if I'm wrong please let me know!

 

Looks a lot better!

I've had pretty good luck with back stitching, helps keep the heat down. It also is easier to maintain strait lines when they are so small.

 

Back stitching? Please explain.

 

When you complete a weld, you step behind it, and weld towards the start of that weld.
This is rather than starting at the end of the previous weld and welding away from it.
It minimizes distortion, and helps avoid breaking tacks.

 

Throw up some pics.
I am a small-rod proponent as I believe it flows better with smoother weld profiles in and out.
Recent weld with .035" filler..

Weld from a few months ago with .024" filler...

Another...

old days using .063" filler

 

That's freakin' sex bells. Someday I will be able to do that, lol.

More practice. Better? What can I do about the "graying" in between my stop points. Is that a gas coverage thing or a moving too slow thing?









As for the postflow issue, the diversion has an automatic postflow of I think 10 seconds, which seems to leave me with a "deep blue" color on my stopping points. If I pull away at the right point I can get it to turn gold/redish, but I'm still working on the "feel" for that.

 

The graying in between could be moving too fast with too much heat. If the metal is still too hot when it leaves the gas sheilding it will turn gray. I weld .065 @55-70A.

Just went up and saw your using 308l rod. You will get WAY more color out of 316 rod........ I dont do this because most stuff i weld is ASME certified, but i hear a lot of people cheat and us 316L rod on 304 pipe so they get more color..... cough cough

 

Haha, thanks for the input about the rod. I'm not really worried about getting amazing colors, I will probably wire brush them out anyway on my finished piece when I finally do one. I really don't like the color orgasm going on. I just wanted to make sure that the "grays" that I'm getting are not detrimental to my welds.

 

I dont put much thought into color. I weld with a micro torch a ton an you get almost no gas coverage and its always gray. Still holds 6000psi just fine!

 

Sweet, thanks man!

I just ordered an exhaust kit for my daily to build. So a little actual practice will be nice. I'll post up when I get to do it.

 

Did this today while building a stealthy muffler for my daily. Pretty happy with it!

Also found out that I was accidentily using the .045 filler for the practice welds I posted. I switched my .035 and .045 numbers around by accident. Whoops! Exhaust is on it's way, so I'll try the .035 when I get it in.

 

Looks pretty good keep it up!