Lunar240z Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 since i got my tig welder working, i've been welding up some stuff for my suspension,... namely adjustable front LCA's, and the perches for the coilovers on my sectioned strut tubes...and i keep getting porous welds, i'm keeping the tugsten clean, i've got the argon flowing at 30 cfh, so i don't think that's the problem.[ although the line from the bottle to the welder is very long, but coiled up neatly... i'd like to get a shorter one] .. i'm using a filler rod for gas welding... [rg60 - w120050], i cleaned the areas with a wire brush... should i clean more thouroughly maybe? acetone... or what? porous welds on suspension components doesn't sound like fun to me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 I would get some quality TIG wire or use some cut off MIG wire. the RG60 has different alloys in it that are made to burn off with an oxyfuel flame...you definitely don't want a weld on a LCA to come apart on a mountain road with no railing...not good. just go to airgas or some other welding supply store and pick up a couple pounds of TIG wire. I think it is like $5-6 a pound but may be more. here is a trick that my welding instructor told me: if you get some porosity on steel then re go over it with the TIG and add just a little stainless filler rod. It eleminates the porosity. I just used regular 304 rod to clear out the porosity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHO-Z Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 Tig rod is double de-oxidized. If you try to use oxi acetylene rod you will get precocity. Also with Tig welding the remember the old mother’s saying “Cleanliness is next to Godliness†Clean all of your pieces to weld up until they are clean. I use to use a flapper wheel on all carbon steel when I was Tig welding pipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 plus it has a copper coating. That is why it is copper colored...When I was doing TIG welding on 1/4 inch steel I took a piece of 1/4X 8"X 3' piece of steel and got one of the classes 15lb black and decker cast aluminium hand grinders with a 6" wire wheel and spent half an hour cleaning this piece of steel until it was like almost like a mirror. You want to clean the steel past the mill-scale and then it is very easy to weld on. Clean metal is key. especially on aluminium... just get the proper filler rod and you will think you are a pro welder... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-TARD Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 You should probably turn your argon down to about 15 to 20 CFH as well. 30 is pretty high, that extra velocity may actually be sucking air into the purge like the venturi in a carb sucks in gas. Make sure nothing heavy is on the argon hose too, I don't know how many welds I've blown porosity into by accidently stepping on the hose..... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunar240z Posted June 8, 2006 Author Share Posted June 8, 2006 thansk guys the ss rod worked, i'll turn the gas down too. the guy at praxair suggested 30 cfh, but i suspected that he just wanted me to use more gas, 'cause at school in the tig booth the teacher had us set it to around 12 cfh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 haha...it works every time...I was so suprised when I used the ss rod and it eleminated any porosity problem that there was. I would not make long welds with it though. Just to fix small problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 i've got the argon flowing at 30 cfh, As mentioned above, 15 cfh is plenty for steel and maybe 25 cfh for aluminum. Porosity is caused by entrapment of gas in the weld metal. Some of the causes are: Contamination (scale, rust, paint, moisture, dirt, metal coatings) of the base metal or the filler rod. Not enough filler. Excessive travel speed. Poor gas shielding. 99% of the time porosity is caused by contamination. Clean the parts and your filler rod before welding. should i clean more thouroughly maybe? acetone... or what? Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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