Welding Problems, Tips and Tricks

A good customer who is a regular user of our metal cored wire called me and said he had a problem with a new spool of wire he had loaded into his wire feeder. He mentioned he was getting excessive spatter and occasional porosity.

As this customers workshop is not far away, I said I would call around shortly.

I armed myself with a gas flow tester (see picture) and arrived and viewed his work. It wasn't pretty. He said the wire was obviously a faulty batch because he had just loaded another new spool on and had adjusted nothing.

I disconnected his wire drive, and then tested the flow of gas at the welding nozzle, 6 litre/min!! Metal cored wires are a favorite of mine but they need the correct gas and gas flow. (typically 15-20L/min)

My customer was perplexed that his regulator was reading 18 L/min. I said you cannot rely on what the regulator is telling you. The drop in flow is often caused by many things such as long umbilical leads to the power source, leaky solenoids, leaky hoses and faulty regulators to name a few.

The little gas flow tester retails for $27-50 NZD but is a real great tool to have with you when problem solving.

Call Duroweld NZ on 0800 000 144 or email me direct [email protected] for more information.

#welding #fabrication # boilermaking