Welding in Patch Panels on a Cowl

[Vin-tin]

Originally Posted by Terry, NJ

Kevin, You're one of the last people on here I want to debate with over anything, But I want to point out that heliarc is merely TIG with a different gas. The equipment is the same (Cups, handle, Tungsten electrode,variable power through either a footswitch or thumbswitch) but most welders use the 25% argon, 75% CO2 mix for costs. We used the gas interchangeably for aluminum and steel. The only the we changed was the polarity, AC with high freq. start for aluminum, IIRC. It's been a while. I agree with you on every other point.
Terry

Does that give a better, more workable weld on steel sheet metal than straight argon?

[Terry, NJ]

My best answer! I don't know! In the three or four welding shops I worked in, I can't ever recall anyone using helium($$$) or straight Argon. The only thing I ever saw used was the75% CO2 and 25% argon, for MIG or TIG. Actually, since it's merely shielding the welding from oxygen, I don't what part the argon plays. Likewise, in the low Hydrogen wires like 7018, 8018, etc, the flux creates a shield to keep hydrogen out of the weld. Hope this helps!
Terry

[pooch]

Strange that here in OZ, our MiG gas composition is the other way around.

For thin metal, we have 3.1 % oxygen, 5 % CO2, rest is argon.

For a bit thicker plate, it is 20 % CO2 and 80 % argon.

These are BOC specs.

I seem to remember our general MiG gas was something like 90 % argon and 10 % CO2.



I wonder why USA is so much higher in CO2 ?

[Rex_A_Lott]

Originally Posted by pooch

Strange that here in OZ, our MiG gas composition is the other way around.

For thin metal, we have 3.1 % oxygen, 5 % CO2, rest is argon.

For a bit thicker plate, it is 20 % CO2 and 80 % argon.

These are BOC specs.

I seem to remember our general MiG gas was something like 90 % argon and 10 % CO2.



I wonder why USA is so much higher in CO2 ?

Cost. CO2 is much cheaper than Argon here. There are several mixes out there, mostly for MIG, depending on what you are doing. 75% Co2 an 25%Argon is the most common for general purpose Mig work. I personally have never see a mix for doing TIG, with everybody sticking to 100% Argon, but that may just be because of convenience and because my experience is limited.
Hell, when I learned there were only two types of Tungsten, and I have definitely not kept up to speed on what is going on out there now.

[pooch]

Argon must be much harder to get out of the air.

It is in abundance compared to CO2.

23.8 times more .

---------------------------------------------

The common name air is given to the atmospheric gases used in breathing and photosynthesis. By volume, dry air contains 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.039% carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases.
Atmosphere of Earth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth

[tbirdtbird]

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you can use regular Ar/CO2 to MIG SS but if you want really nice welds with SS wire there is a mix with some He in there.
There are other combos for similar reasons with other metals
Some of the gasses are also chosen to stabilize the arc, not just shield from air

[Rex_A_Lott]

Originally Posted by tbirdtbird

you can use regular Ar/CO2 to MIG SS but if you want really nice welds with SS wire there is a mix with some He in there.
There are other combos for similar reasons with other metals
Some of the gasses are also chosen to stabilize the arc, not just shield from air

Where I work we used 100% Argon to MIG stainless, to get rid of the black look. The welding gas rep had a tri-mix they recommended, but the boss wouldnt buy it because we did this so very little.
Some of the tri-mixes had O2 in them, which seemed ass-backwards to me, since the O2 was what you were trying to shield out, but I was not an expert.

[Ron W]

I learned to "Heliarc" in 1960 while working in a small "job" shop. We built machines and parts for the electronics development industries. We did a lot of development for Raytheon and Sylvania. After a few years I started my own small shop. I closed my shop about three years ago. During that time I used straight argon on my "tig" welder. The reason is that although a mix with co2 will do slightly better on steel, you don't want any co2 on aluminum (which we did a lot of). That way we only had to have one type of gas on hand. I am certainly not a expert, but that worked well for a long time. The last few years I have been doing some metal shaping as a hobby. I too have come to prefer the butt weld with TIG but I also like the A/O torch with RG 45 rod. The weld is much softer and can be stretched easily. Ron W

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by Model A Fan

Uhhh, how much are yours?

Just pay the man! they will save you hours and hours of time and frustration.

[Kevin in NJ]

The welding gas mix you need depends on what weld structure is required.
Better penetration, less porosity.....

Welding gases for mig

Welding gases another site

[Terry, NJ]

Thanks for posting this! With all the talk about CO2 and global warming, it's a fun fact to know that CO2 is less than 1%, less than .5 of 1%. Better quit here before it gets political!
Terry

Originally Posted by pooch

Argon must be much harder to get out of the air.

It is in abundance compared to CO2.

23.8 times more .

---------------------------------------------

The common name air is given to the atmospheric gases used in breathing and photosynthesis. By volume, dry air contains 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.039% carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases.
Atmosphere of Earth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth

[Flop]

Vin tin you can't use 75 25 mix with a tig . Leaves pits in the weld .

[Flop]

Bills panel welded in