Welding Tips and Tricks

I am building a sprayer tank out of 14ga 316L stainless and need help with the settings, I think I'm close but it is pulling all over the place. Are there any methods to keep it straight. I have been practicing on some drop pieces and this is what I have so far.

What do you mean by pulling all over the place? Do you mean the weld bead is not going where you want it to or do you mean the metal is warping?

SS does warp and shrink more than carbon. On sch 10 SS if you weld up your root and your not carefull it can shrink enough that by the time you get around 180 deg from your start you may not even have a gap any more. This can pull fittings out of square or move things out of level.

Lots of small tacks and in a non-sequential pattern or back stepping. Stainless conducts heat fast so difficult to keep flat without using the correct techniques. That bead looks too large.

gnabgib wrote:Lots of small tacks and in a non-sequential pattern or back stepping. Stainless conducts heat fast so difficult to keep flat without using the correct techniques. That bead looks too large.

Small tacks will hold it in place, is this tank going to be round or...? It's hard to tell without a sense of scale but I believe your weld size seems okay, what diameter filler are you using?

Thanks to all the replies. . I've welded mig/stick stainless and some tig, but not much this small of a guage material. I'm using 3/32 filler. Yes I am meaning warping. I figured I'd probably have to skip around and back step. A lot of it will be tee butt welds and a long lap weld. Dimensions are 65"X38"X20". I'll take a picture when I get to the shop tomorrow of the original one.

MontellFR wrote:Thanks to all the replies. . I've welded mig/stick stainless and some tig, but not much this small of a guage material. I'm using 3/32 filler. Yes I am meaning warping. I figured I'd probably have to skip around and back step. A lot of it will be tee butt welds and a long lap weld. Dimensions are 65"X38"X20". I'll take a picture when I get to the shop tomorrow of the original one.

I never would have guessed this weld was made with 3/32" filler, as I wrote the photo has no sense of scale to judge by.
Will be looking for your photo tomorrow.

Hey,

All good tips, Just a little correction on what Gnabgib wrote, Stainless doesn't conduct heat well at all, thats why it warps like a sob and you need less amps to weld it compared to steel. To aid heat dissipation, clamp to a big piece of copper, aluminium to draw the heat away. Wet rags can help in a pinch.

Mick

I had thought of the copper idea, but didn't know if it would work. May try it tomorrow.

Here's the pictures of the original aluminized steel tank.

weldin mike 27 wrote:Hey,

All good tips, Just a little correction on what Gnabgib wrote, Stainless doesn't conduct heat well at all, thats why it warps like a sob and you need less amps to weld it compared to steel. To aid heat dissipation, clamp to a big piece of copper, aluminium to draw the heat away. Wet rags can help in a pinch.

Mick

Ah yes, I should have added, 'but doesn't readily dissipate that heat'.

I have been using two pieces of copper plate, roughly 3x12 and 1/4" thick on either side of the weld when doing thin stainless. Limited to doing 12" passes but it prevents the warping if I could get at the backside I would lay it directly under the joint so I could do 2' per pass.

What welder are you using? Does it have a pulse function? What settings are you currently welding with?