330 stainless GMAW

[dyn88]

herea a new twist on a well beaten subject. Ill be working on a job with over 100 feet of weld on some 16 gauge 330 stainless, I want to mig it with what I feel should be .023 wire, but not sure what gas, spray, short circut. The appearance is important and gas back up is not a viable option. My plant manager wants me to tig it but I think we could save a bundle in labor if we mig it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[ASKANDY]

What kind of mig machine are you using? Does it have variable inductance to help wet out the SS?

If you do mig it, get the tri-mix gas. anything else is going to suck for color. Even then, the weld bead may still be on the dark side depending on the filler you are using. The 330 has a higher carbon content than most SS and a real high nickel content. The ER320 or ER330 filler would be the closest match I think. If you can get it
This may turn out to be a tig job after all.

Andy

[dyn88]

Esab migmaster 250 is the machine my manager wants me to use but Im trying to convince him that tha pheonix 456p with the optima pulser is a better idea, just need a lower amperage torch than the oxo 500 air cooled thats on there. what tri mix do you recomend? I think I would like to spray this but im afraid that that much heat might discolor the material and bead to much.

[Paul Seaman]

dyn88:
Stainless sheet in 16ga will warp if you look at it crooked let alone if you put in too much heat, so I would not spray! The last 330 I welded was great with Tri-mix gas, but it was thicker. I personally would tig if the opprotunity was there, no specialty gas would be an advantage.

Good luck,

[ASKANDY]

definitely agree with pj. Spraying this or pulse spraying even though you won't have a burn through, the heat will warp that SS pretty quick. You may be able to stitch weld it and inch or two at a time but that still takes a long time to do. You could mig it and use one of those electro-stainless cleaners. That would take any discoloring away. I haven't tried them with mig but it sure works for tig.

A-

[joebass]

That place that HAWK mentioned in another post has the ER330 filler: http://www.crownalloys.com/

That said I would still TIG it.

[dyn88]

well tig it is then.