I had a weird TIG problem today. I wanted to weld two brackets to a frame, both
brackets were
identical, steel frame, mild steel brackets. Both brackets got two weld beads
each, about four
inches apart. The first bracket welded like butter, just fine.
The second bracket, the first weld was fine, but the second was totally horrid.
As soon as I got a
weld puddle it would bubble and spark and either end up in a big crater or be
very porous, like a
shaken soda the molten steel would foam up. Think of those close up pictures of
the cross section of
bone, tons of little holes with threads of steel holding it together.I tried
more and less amps,
more and less psi for the argon, new tungsten, new rod, and etc. I also tried
to start the bead from
the other direction (about an inch away from the first bad area) and it did the
same thing.
Then, I made some other welds elsewhere, and they were just fine. So something
is very unique for
that one weld area, what could it be? What contamination could cause such
boiling of the puddle?
It was beveled with my hand grinder, just like the rest, so the steel was clean.
I'll grind the ugly weld off tomorrow, but this is a very critical bracket, so
I need to get it
solved.
-Aron-
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