Weld Porosity

[inthefrey]

Greetings all!

I started welding up the new cart this week and found I'm having problems with weld porosity.
The material is 1/8" wall by 1" square mild steel tubing. All basic butt joints - nothing fancy.

Using 3/32, 2% Lanth. electrodes.
Filler - 3/32 ER70S-2
Amps set between 80 and 90.
Material is cleaned with flap disk.
Pre and post flow set to 5 and 8 respectively. I'll start the weld, puddle forms, add filler and start moving. About 7-8 second in, I SEE THE PUDDLE START TO BOIL BEHIND ME!

Tried reducing amps
increasing flow rate - reducing rate. slowing down, speeding up
went to larger cup size.

Arrrg!!!!

Used almost a whole 60CF bottle of gas this afternoon trying to figure this
out and,............


Wait for it....


I'm absolutely sure I doing something stupid.


Recommendations welcome. THANKS!

[sportbike]

How much argon flow do you have?

The puddle should be frozen pretty much as soon as you move.

[inthefrey]

How much argon flow do you have?

The puddle should be frozen pretty much as soon as you move.

Using approximately 15CFH - acording to the gauge that came with the PP 205, about 7.5 (CFH x 0.472). Too much? Not enough?

[Buggy Chief]

Using approximately 15CFH - acording to the gauge that came with the PP 205, about 7.5 (CFH x 0.472). Too much? Not enough?

I have the PP205 too and sounds reasonable, especially with your pre and post flow settings. I agree with CGINC, try a larger cup with a gas saver lens. In my opinion it concentrates the argon in a more consistent manner. Once I did this, I was able to dial the argon flow back to 5 lpm and used pre and post flow accordingly.

[inthefrey]

Well, I may have figured it out.

I believe I have found my smoking gun.....Guess what kind of hose I replaced my old hose with because I thought I was getting a good deal?! They were only $9.99 for a 25' length!

http://forum.weldingtipsandtricks.co...php?f=5&t=1022

Fixed the link. I dunno?!


I guess I'll be at HD tomorrow - spending some money on new tank lines. Going to give it a try and see what happens.

[DaveO]

I get an error when I click that link... what happened? The hose failed on you?

[Brian Ski]

Just a newbie here... So take my advice with a grain of salt... Was told to use tungsten rod about 1/2 the thickness of the material. Try a 1/16" rod and see if it concentrates the heat better.

Sounds like air getting to the weld before it has completely cooled. So maybe to hot and moving faster. The smaller rod may help.

Will have to keep watching and see what the pros say.

[CGCINC]

I've had this happen one time and that one time I was Extremely hot just trying out the new welder settings.

Maybe try a larger cup size to get better gas coverage.