Welding Tips and Tricks

hey guys,
first off im not a certified welder as you will tell by my question (but i tig weld about 8 years)
lately most of my welding get done at night, and i noticed that when its really quiet i can hear very very small ping sounds from the work (sch10 stainless "1.5) . i noticed it does that with or without filler, and at any amp, (just to add, i never had cracking issues and most of my work spends most of its life at extreme temps (exhaust manifolds)
cracks?
stress??
is it ok?
kill myself?
HELP


thanks!

Stainless does exaggerated movement when being heated or welded and takes forever to cool so I am betting it's the same noises you hear from car and motorcycle engines and exhausts. I doubt it's cracking on you. The only time I ever saw SS crack is when I tig-brazed a fitting onto a keg and it spider cracked around the braze. Thin SS maybe..thicker..I doubt it. We have a couple SS wizards around here that will come along soon and help.

exnailpounder wrote:Stainless does exaggerated movement when being heated or welded and takes forever to cool so I am betting it's the same noises you hear from car and motorcycle engines and exhausts. I doubt it's cracking on you. The only time I ever saw SS crack is when I tig-brazed a fitting onto a keg and it spider cracked around the braze. Thin SS maybe..thicker..I doubt it. We have a couple SS wizards around here that will come along soon and help.

thanks it dosnt sounds like the ticking noises from car/motorcycle exhaust. it sounds like tiny metal to metal contact.

Some metals make that ticking sound during heat expansion and contraction. I've heard it while standing in a metal barn- sun comes out from behind a cloud, and it sounds like BBs hitting it.

A lot of the time if you hear that right after welding it is hot cracking, but if your not seeing those then it must be the metal moving.

Are the parts in a jig or clamped tight when you hear this? Are you back purging?

thanks for the replys,

you can hear a example of the sound in this link about 5 seconds after the video starts and also at 9:29 and 10:47 and more https://youtu.be/j2Wkv6zcUnY?list=PL52l ... TJUR&t=430

It doesn't sound like this is your problem, BUT if you mix incorrect filler with your work piece, it will make these sounds too but usually it's violent and kinda scary. Like if you weld 4043 to steel and even ER70S2 seemed to have some sound on 309L stainless but the Al/Steel mix made sounds that make you want to run.

You should hear hard facing pop. That stuff pings and pops for hours on end. It will throw tiny metal flakes in your eye if you're not careful too.
I wouldn't wory about it if you're not seeing cracks forming. It could just be due to the cooler night temperatures now that fall is upon us.

thanks for the replays guys.!