[pat]

I am starting to add some sheet metal to my SF project. I used 3/16 bar to the outline the where I want the metal sheeting to go. But the problem is I keep blowing through the sheet metal. I only have a flux 90 amp welder. Are there any tech I can use to better complete this project. I dont want to heat the tank and blow a hole through it. I did that but fixed it already.

Oh and all of the gas it out so it is safe to weld in it.

Thanks for any advice.

Patrick

 

[hinow41]

im not 100% on the welding question but Make dam sure you got all the fumes out of the tank too, One trick is to fill the tank up with argon while you weld.

 

[sebwiers]

Welding thin sheet can be a bitch. One option is to get a torch and braze it instead. The metal doesn't get hot enough to melt, so there's no holes.

The other is to run your welder as low as it will go, and stitch weld (welding single dots at a time, with some distance between them, and allowing them to cool before return to that area to do another dot). If using a flux core welder, the final weld will almost certainly have slag inclusions; this is really a mig / tig technique.

 

[rubbersdown]

Welding thin sheet can be a bitch. One option is to get a torch and braze it instead. The metal doesn't get hot enough to melt, so there's no holes.

The other is to run your welder as low as it will go, and stitch weld (welding single dots at a time, with some distance between them, and allowing them to cool before return to that area to do another dot). If using a flux core welder, the final weld will almost certainly have slag inclusions; this is really a mig / tig technique.

^^ hit the nail on the head. In this particular instance stitch welding is the only way to go.

 

[CamBandit17]

That flux core is going to give you nothing but problems. Cored wire is made to penetrate. You really need to use mixed gas with a solid .023/.025 wire. Here I welded 18ga onto what I presume was 22ga (tank). Never even came close to burning through.

 

[CamBandit17]

And this one I made from scratch. Not welded out yet, but I am going to use a tig welder. All 18ga.

 

[Cruisingram]

Welding thin sheet can be a bitch. One option is to get a torch and braze it instead. The metal doesn't get hot enough to melt, so there's no holes.

The other is to run your welder as low as it will go, and stitch weld (welding single dots at a time, with some distance between them, and allowing them to cool before return to that area to do another dot). If using a flux core welder, the final weld will almost certainly have slag inclusions; this is really a mig / tig technique.

Amen to that- it really gets hairy if you are working on an old tank, say from the 70s. Teh metal was very low quality and uneven thickness. Even TIG welding can have some issues with that old stuff!

The best bet is like Cambandit said, .023 wire, 75-25 CO/Ar gas mix will keep you from blowing through the tank metal.TIG is even better for the thin stuff.