Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi Jody,
Thank you immensely for your videos. They could not be better.

If you could talk about the danger of your lungs filling with argon (because argon is heavier than air), while tig welding in a confined space, maybe it would prevent someone from a very a serious injury.
Many thanks,
Gary Daubersmith

Welcome to the forum Gary.

Others here are better qualified to answer this - but generally the volume of shielding gas used compared with any space you would likely fit in to be welding means the risk is very low from just argon displacing oxygen - heavy gasses can be an issue where there is no movement of air / ventilation in ships bilges & the like - but even then the volume is much greater than you'd expect from Tig welding - if you do weld in a confined area then venting it with a suitable fan / extractor is always sensible - but the biggest danger will usually be from airborn dust / rust etc from grinding prep & fumes given off from impurities / paint etc burning off in the areas around your weld - I have done a fair bit of welding on steel boats in chain lockers etc & have always used an old 1Hp fan with 8" flexible ducting to force clean air in to the area both before I start & during welding - just make sure it's not blowing too close & effecting shielding cover - you can also get small ( about 1" ) flex pipe that is fixed to the mask that provides clean air from a fan unit - it's a bit clumsy in a tight squeeze but can work.

noddybrian wrote:Welcome to the forum Gary.

Others here are better qualified to answer this - but generally the volume of shielding gas used compared with any space you would likely fit in to be welding means the risk is very low from just argon displacing oxygen - heavy gasses can be an issue where there is no movement of air / ventilation in ships bilges & the like - but even then the volume is much greater than you'd expect from Tig welding - if you do weld in a confined area then venting it with a suitable fan / extractor is always sensible - but the biggest danger will usually be from airborn dust / rust etc from grinding prep & fumes given off from impurities / paint etc burning off in the areas around your weld - I have done a fair bit of welding on steel boats in chain lockers etc & have always used an old 1Hp fan with 8" flexible ducting to force clean air in to the area both before I start & during welding - just make sure it's not blowing too close & effecting shielding cover - you can also get small ( about 1" ) flex pipe that is fixed to the mask that provides clean air from a fan unit - it's a bit clumsy in a tight squeeze but can work.

Agree I do something very similar as I weld in confines spaces fairly often in some food product mixing or holding tanks....standard confined space proto call.

I, too, TIG weld in confined spaces often. Overhead is typical, as in the vessels I work, the faults are often in the supports of suspended piping.

I have specified my own ventilation, and have never seen my personal O2 monitor drop below 20.9%

If air is moving and mixing, argon will never settle... It's an atmospheric gas, and diffuses easily with the slightest stirring.

Steve S

I work shipboard for a living and any tank or void I work in there is positive and negative ventilation. Once the marine chemist certifies the O2 levels we let the blow in and suction vents run for at least 20 mins before entering. Once that is done I try to make sure the suction is at the lowest point near where I'm working and have the blower sending in outside air the whole time. I'm a pipefitter not a welder, but we are subject to the same gas exposure.

As far as overhead welding(tacking for me) I always try to keep my head out of where I think the gas is 'falling'. Probably not helping, but it makes me feel better about it.

tl;dr -----> have a void certified, wear your cricket on you waist or below, and make sure you have good ventilation.