Welding Tips and Tricks

I saw a guy on YouTube who advocated using pure argon for mild steel welds instead of C25. He made welds side by side with the two gases and said he couldn't tell the difference. His rationale is that since C25 is more expensive you could save money by just using argon.

So what are the pitfalls of this reasoning?

I'm not a master of the weld by any stretch of the imagination, but from what I understood Argon alone on steel didn't give as much penetration.

CO2 alone gives deep penetration, but spatters more as well.

Pure argon make poor penetration. The fellow may be able to make similar appearing welds, but a cut/etch or destructive test will show the fallacy of his idea. There's a lot of chemistry and physics involved, but the short form has to do with the specific heat at the arc. There are exotic gas blends with dubious benefits, but c25 has been around for decades for a reason... It works.

Steve S.

I thought that was the case. Just wanted confirm it.

I would like that link to that video if you can provide it. I call his bluff.
Jonathan

It must be true????? After all, IT IS on the internet! LMAO!

If bullshit was music,that guy would be a whole brass band!

Straight CO2 if you want to save $$ on you gas.

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soutthpaw wrote:Straight CO2 if you want to save $$ on you gas.

Sent from mobile. Not responsible for Typos

Agreed, and I'm sorry I didn't think to mention it... The trade off for the cost savings are small. More spatter than with c25, and more discoloration of the weld surface, both cosmetic issues. You'll have to clean some spatter anyway, and a wire brush or wheel will clean up the discoloration.

Makes me wonder if the video wasn't meant to compare c25 to straight CO2, which would make more sense.

Steve S

I wasn't really worried about saving money on the gas as much as verifying that he didn't know what he was doing. I'm new to welding and I was sure there was a good reason for using the mixed gas just didn't remember why. I found the video while I was killing time, I think I was using my ipad at the time. I've looked through my history on youtube on my computer and didn't see it. I don't know how to find the history on the ipad. I did a search and couldn't find the video. If I come across the link again I'll post it.

Ok now if you don't have to worry about penetration can you use pure argon? I'm welding .063" galvanized tube and want to play with aluminum but don't want two tanks. .063" shouldn't have to worry about penetration really right?

pavetim wrote:Ok now if you don't have to worry about penetration can you use pure argon? I'm welding .063" galvanized tube and want to play with aluminum but don't want two tanks. .063" shouldn't have to worry about penetration really right?

I don't think you'll like the performance, but, hey, it costs you almost nothing to prep, weld, and beat the hell out of some small samples to see if it meets your requirements. On .063, you may be right... you may be able to find a "sweet spot" setting that will perform.

Steve S