[rahtreelimbs]

When tig welding aluminum....i sometimes get pepper on the welds. As long as you can wire brush the pepper off are the welds compromised?

[Otto Nobedder]

When tig welding aluminum....i sometimes get pepper on the welds. As long as you can wire brush the pepper off are the welds compromised?

Generally, no. This is crap floating to the surface, aided by scouring elements in the alloy, as it should. If it's quite excessive, you may begin to doubt the integrity of the metal below the surface, but pepper is common when you're not welding new/clean/fresh stuff.

Steve S

[exnailpounder]

You can also get pepper in your metal if your balance is off. I run 2 or 3 numbers into the penetration side of the recommended balance on my machine and usually have no pepper or sand.