Welding Tips and Tricks

I was having essentially the same problem today that is covered in this thread

http://forum.weldingtipsandtricks.com/v ... y&start=10

and the I think the responses in that thread covered what I was doing wrong, but I saw you said this:
"
To test whether the base metal is a factor, do the same carbon-carbon weld with 309 and see what happens. If 309 gives you a noticeable improvement, you should probably scrap your practice metal and buy a known alloy
"

and I wondered if I could trouble you to expand on that, as this was definately the experience I had in my all day troubleshooting festival and I couldn't find any further explanation in that thread.

I realize I'm digging up a corpse and asking for a second autopsy, but if you could elaborate a bit on the business of 309 improving things RE: alloy problems I'd be beyond grateful.

Hope you and the forum have been well, and happy winter festivus days!

Er309 is used to weld dissimilar alloys typically, I. E. Carbon Steel to stainless steel. If, at some point, you find yourself trying to weld a particularly shitty batch of carbon steel (not stainless) and it seems like nothing else will weld right, you can normally use 309 stainless rod to mitigate the effects of the shitty steel.

Basically, if what you're* trying to weld magically welds better with 309 rod, then the metal itself is the problem and should be scrapped

Thanks for the response. That's what I was dealing with. I'm sure my technique was not olympic grade, but this stuff was just pure shit. 309 was like butter. Next time I'll eliminate that before I start swapping out my purge tanks, regulators, and hanging chicken bones around my neck for good luck.

Now I guess I need to be suspect of the steel I'm buying, so that's kind of a bummer.

newschoppafowah wrote:I was having essentially the same problem today that is covered in this thread

http://forum.weldingtipsandtricks.com/v ... y&start=10

and the I think the responses in that thread covered what I was doing wrong, but I saw you said this:
"
To test whether the base metal is a factor, do the same carbon-carbon weld with 309 and see what happens. If 309 gives you a noticeable improvement, you should probably scrap your practice metal and buy a known alloy
"

and I wondered if I could trouble you to expand on that, as this was definately the experience I had in my all day troubleshooting festival and I couldn't find any further explanation in that thread.

I realize I'm digging up a corpse and asking for a second autopsy, but if you could elaborate a bit on the business of 309 improving things RE: alloy problems I'd be beyond grateful.Hope you and the forum have been well, and happy winter festivus days!

Sam summed it up nicely. I'll use 309 as a root pass on carbon steel when the cleaning is "less than perfect" due to location.

If you need more clarification, let me know... Give me as many specifics as you can, and I'll try to help.

Steve S