I am trying to simply tack my rear quarter panels back to the inner fenderwell. I cleaned the metal with one of the spongy looking paint strippers on a grinder, then with a brush.
The welds I am getting look like typical dirty welds they cave in on themselves, create bubbles that pop, and generally crater up.
I tried cleaning more, I checked the gas which is a new bottle of argon, checked the lines, cleaned the nozzle, and I have the tip close enough to the metal to shield the work.
Filler wire should be ER70-S, gas should be an argon/CO2 mix, not pure argon. Flow should be about 15CFM. Amps about 30-40, adjust weld speed for minimal buildup in spot welds. Stitch in 1/2" long spot groups max, spacing quite a distance apart. Avoid heating the panel above what you can put your bare hand on, and allow to cool. Patience pays off in this type of welding or you’ll end up with warped/buckled quarters for certain.
You probably have contamination coming in from the backside of the weld puddle.
ur sponggy looking paint stripper thingy isn’t helping at all. it’s burying the paint in to the metal more than likely.
i would use a soft grind wheel on of the reds ones to clean area to be welded. then i would take some acetone and wip down all areas to be welded.
if ur tig welding it u want to use straight aragon! if ur migging it u want a 75/25 aragon/co2 mix. u could use just straight co2. but the mix welds better.
welding body panel i like to keep my flow about 25-30 cfm to help keep area cool.
Thanks for the tips. I am trying to mig it. I’ll have to check which wire I picked up today and double check my gas tank, I’m pretty sure it was straight argon.
Acetone sounds like another good idea I’ll have to pick some up.
Next time you need to run a large stick section on thin sheet, grab a can of dust buster and invert when spraying. Chill the metal after small 1-1.5" stitch bursts in areas to pull heat away from the affected zone while not actually chilling it directly(to avoid cracking). It’s pure CO2 and doesn’t contaminate the weld puddle, but comes out in concentrate onto the metal and removes heat much quicker.
Extensive trick I use in sheet metal fabrication, worked well on the sub $200K bike. Anything over 20CFM shield flow on sheet metal doesn’t draw enough heat quick enough and just wastes gas IMO, especially on vertical sheet like quarters or fenders
my biggest concern is not warping right now. The edge is already far from perfect, I just need good welds so I can join the two pieces. If the edge warps its going to get covered anyway.
I was talking to my friend who loaned me the mig, he mentioned something on the line after its gets pulled from the spool. The point is for the thing to clean the line as it gets passed through but he was thinking it might be contaminating it.
i can’t remeber the technical term, but i’m sure adam will. i call them tampons. the go between the spoil and right b4 the drive wheels.if it’s anew spool of wire no big deal . if the wire sits yes it’s a good idea to have. they also make weld kleen that goes on them to which is suppose to clean and lube wire for smoother action. I DO NOT LIKE TO USE THE WELD KLEEN!! period. yes i know i spelled it wrong but thats what it is and how it’s spelled.
it just seem to contaminate it in my opinion. i’ve never had good luck with the weld kleen for the tampon. eespecially on low heat setting’s.
as far as warpping goes i have a few simple tricks i use. one if i can i try to form a piece of aluminum to the harea being welded this helps wick away heat and if there is a big gap u can weld over the alum. and it wont stick u can also use copper as well. i’ve also used a wet towel of several
occasion’s. especially when welding cage’s near the roof area so not to wapr or kill the paint.
Tampons, yeah. Yeah the wiper pads are shit. Open the side door and they’re typically mounted somewhere near the drive spool/motor or on the wire tension adjuster. They just collect crap, ditch it.
their only benefit is if you’re using aluminum wire you can use a prelube to keep the soft wire from nesting in the sleeve, but again useless garbage that contaminates everything. That’s what spool guns are for anyway(if you’re GMAW aluminum).
Mike can you take a snap shot of exactly what you’re trying to weld(the actual seam)??? Even with some minor contamination you should still be able to spot weld a seam. You’re probably running into seam sealer which is one of my least favorite things to run across in this line of work. Can turn a simple seam welding job into a nightmare unless properly cleaned out.
yeah seam sealer is a bitch!! no matter how much u clean it , it seems to leave a residue behind or inbed it’s self into the material.
but like adam said u should be able to get it still. maybe ur running welder to low.
r u getting adquate sheild gas out of nozzle. i would rwmove nozzle and check all orifice’s… could be shit inside the whip comping out also. built up scale from wire running thru it. i could always pull whip of and wire out remove nozzle diffuser and blow out the whip. something simple to try.
I don’t have a good picture but there isn’t any seam sealer. (well there is in one spot but I haven’t attempted to get rid of it or weld it yet)
I cut the inner wheel well, made relief cuts and bent it up. I used a grinder and die grinder to remove the paint on the quarter panel near the edge (since these pictures) and did the same on the tabs and inner fender.
It ended up creating a tough spot to weld, a 90* angle, on the other side I may just stitch weld the tabs up instead of welding the edges together.
