Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello Guys!

I do my TIG welding with a CK gas lens and have just good experiance with this! Less gas and most gas coverage on the puddle.

Yesterday, doing many MIG welding, I thought about if it is possible, better.... to make some kind of a gas lens for my MIG/Mag pistol also... I think Jody or on the other channel "Mr. TIG" has shown some self made "gas lens" using a fine steel meshwork... Doing the same on the MIG/MAG pistol is not a big deal, but makes this sense?

Just by decreasing the needed gas flow, for me as a employer, it makes sense...

Has anyone experiance with this idea?

Greetings from Munich, Germany

Simon

Simon,
That is a great question. We discussed it at the shop before and I also have talked about this in private but never here, to my knowledge. The answer, in my opinion, is yes and no. What? Yes it will allow the gas to behave differently and arguably create a better coverage area or stick out but the inherent drawback would be the spatter destroying the screens. I firmly believe it could be done say with a very well dialed in spray or pulse but would not last very long. There is a nozzle made by Bernard called Centerfire that channels the gas flow our farther and works very well. They use a series on holes in the back to direct the shielding gas. I have used them for some time and they perform well. However, when used in the overhead position they will/can clog up fast causing porosity.

There would also be issues if you are wanting to reduce your gas flow below acceptable limits. For an example, set a machine up on spray or pulse and adjust the gas flow while someone welds. You will hear the effects better than my describing the whys and hows.

So, what I have been complaining about here at the shop lately is, why don't they make a stubby nozzle set up for GMAW? I have ran into situations where a stubby would have come in handy. Maybe I just gave away my million dollar idea.
-Jonathan

Look up Bernard's Centrefire nozzles. They are similar in idea to a gas lens, but without the mesh, which wouldn't cope with the spatter anyway. These are supposedly awesome for smoothing out gas flow.

Hey Guys there in the northern U.S. states...

We are here in Germany, the "good old country", and it is very hard for me to import sollutions from the U.S., paying a lot of freight, a lot of tax and some other stupid duties...
I will get CK stuff from a good running UK based welding store: www.rapidwelding.com, but this kind of special questions need special sollution, more a DIY way...

So what I want to hear is something like: "No problem, you´re right with your suggestions, I have done this before and here is how you can do this...." Or: "make no sense to do because of: 1. ... 2. ... 3. ... and so on....

I think to put on a fine mesh between the gas holes in my MIG/MAG pistol an the contact tip will smoothen the gas more directly to the puddle, and so the need of gas volume will decrease...

Sorry for my bad English, but this is not my mother language...

Best Regards
Simon

KWKlopp wrote:Hey Guys there in the northern U.S. states...

So what I want to hear is something like: "No problem, you´re right with your suggestions, I have done this before and here is how you can do this...." Or: "make no sense to do because of: 1. ... 2. ... 3. ... and so on....

I think to put on a fine mesh between the gas holes in my MIG/MAG pistol an the contact tip will smoothen the gas more directly to the puddle, and so the need of gas volume will decrease...

Best Regards
Simon

Simon,
We can tell you whatever you want to hear. I see that Rapid Welding carries Bernard guns and consumables, I would ask them if they can get the Centerfire consumables for you to demo but they will not save you money in gas flow.

Here is a more important question(s). Are you a production shop where there are a lot of arc start and stops? Does your are time consist of most of your day? The reason I ask is if you are making a lot of starts and stops and have a standard gas hose and regulator you can be loosing up to 30% of your tank volume based on 30cfh and 1"-2" welds based on calculations I have performed. There are several solutions to reduce this waste that might be worth looking into and we have two threads here that discuss solutions. As far as I know about the Centerfire, you will not necessarily be able to reduce your gas flow just because of what it is. Also, what cfh are you running now and can you reduce that any with the set-up you already have? What about going to a smaller nozzle opening allowing less gas needed for coverage? There are draw backs to that as well. And we have not even touched the ionization process and effects of your active gasses when your flow is to low.

You can try to put screen mesh inside your nozzle but be aware of making contact between your diffuser and nozzle. If they touch each other you will arc out through your nozzle. It would be interesting to see how well it would work but I have always figured there is a reason manufacturers have not came out with them. Some areas of concern for my thinking would be can the mesh hold up to certain amperage's? What about the smoke and fumes generated by GMAW welding? Would this clog up the screens in a quick manner making it useless? And how would you design or adapt a "gas diffuser" into a gun without arcing through the nozzle. Some things to consider and I hope others will join in the conversation.
-Jonathan