welding question

[Mr.Spooky]

im gonna be doing some mods to my boiler (keg) and was wandering about welding SS.. i have access to a stick welder, and talked to a welding shop about it and they said that there IS stainless steel welding sticks.. i dident go into great detail about what i was going to be doing though..
my question is, can i use these SS rods to weld my boiler, and if so,, is there a certain type of SS rod????
thanks
spooky

[ozone39]

Generally I will only use 304L or 316L. 316L is a food grade electrode, but 304 isn't to far behind...MG make a line of electrodes called slick-stick. It's a good line and welds smooth. I would get a 3/32" diameter electrode, it will weld down to around 3/32" thick material or more (might be able to weld 5/64"), any less than that and I would bump over to TIG welding or maybe wire. But I hate welding s.s wire (I hate wire in general) you can have a great looking weld that is a total piece of shit...I would see whats available at your local welding distributor and see what they have available....And most important read the welding procedure that the manufacture recommends with their product.....

[american road iron]

Generally I will only use 304L or 316L. 316L is a food grade electrode, but 304 isn't to far behind...MG make a line of electrodes called slick-stick. It's a good line and welds smooth. I would get a 3/32" diameter electrode, it will weld down to around 3/32" thick material or more (might be able to weld 5/64"), any less than that and I would bump over to TIG welding or maybe wire. But I hate welding s.s wire (I hate wire in general) you can have a great looking weld that is a total piece of shit...I would see whats available at your local welding distributor and see what they have available....And most important read the welding procedure that the manufacture recommends with their product.....

ozone has give you a good start. Slick Stick is a good line. Don't ask for 304, they may laugh at you. Ask for 308 or 316 L's are fine but not necessary and 308 is going to be your most common of a stocking distirbutor. Stainless is a really good welding electrode. It tolerates lower amperge than others. It should be possible for you to turn your machine down and butter in a really good looking and strong weld.

Get something close to the material thickness and strike an arc on it first to get used to the start and the way it wants to run. Lower amperage requires you to respond slower also. So pratice first so you don't hose your project. Secondly, take your time and do small areas. The slag on slick stick comes off really easy and the restirke is also really easy. Don't try to do it all in one pass. Take your time.

Tig is the cat's meow on stainless and is a substantial investment.

Mig has many spooked because of operator error more times than not. We spend a lot of time training businesses and operators on the correct procedures and gases to insure a qaulity final product. But for the what we call "the little guy" in his back yard, I would not recommend using mig on stainless. Most "little guys" do not have the equipment necessary to use this process and get effective and quality welds.

I have spent a lifetime in the supply business and have watched people try short cuts. However, "I know nothing".

Hope this helps. Good luck.

[Mr.Spooky]

thanks for the responces..
im not a welder by any streach of imagination, but im prety comfortable that i can stick a few pieces if metal together.. i would rather have had it done by a pro, but im kinda playing my modifications by ear, and that would mean that id have to make numerous trips to the welder ( = $$$ ). plus, if i could get comfortable with it, i could see it benifiting me on future projects.
thanks again
spooky

[shiner51]

Hey Mr. Spooky, if you can find someone that can TIG weld it for you, you will be alot more satisfied with look it produces. Problem with stick welding thin guage stainless is that it is going to be real delicate work, you'll find yourself burning through alot and it' not going to be a pretty weld. What's nice about TIG is that you can put a real small bead around what ever it is being welded, and still get a 100% penitration. Second choice would be MIG (wire gun), with MIG it is all in the gas your using that will detemine your heat and penitration. Say and .030 dia. wire with Argon sheild gas works good. Just My 2 cents.

[Mr.Spooky]

Hey Mr. Spooky, if you can find someone that can TIG weld it for you, you will be alot more satisfied with look it produces. Problem with stick welding thin guage stainless is that it is going to be real delicate work, you'll find yourself burning through alot and it' not going to be a pretty weld. What's nice about TIG is that you can put a real small bead around what ever it is being welded, and still get a 100% penitration. Second choice would be MIG (wire gun), with MIG it is all in the gas your using that will detemine your heat and penitration. Say and .030 dia. wire with Argon sheild gas works good. Just My 2 cents.

the look aint really a concern to me, because im gonna insulate the keg.
but the burning through might be an issue to me. ill practice with the top part of the keg and see what hapens..
but chances are, ill be taking it to the pros.
spooky

[american road iron]

Say and .030 dia. wire with Argon sheild gas works good. Just My 2 cents.

Shiner, just picking, but I would put $50 on it, says you can't do it as described.

[Aces High]

Hey spooky,

I've tried stick welding my stills a number of times and I aint a good welder. I've had very mixed results, some have looked just awsesome for a stick job, then the next one looks like a f'n dogs breakfast. Road Iron's advice right on the money from my experience. I was using 2mm 316 rods, they strike pretty nice and will weld pretty well on a beer keg and they weren't as expensive as i thought they'd be. I even tried welding some thinner stainless, it started well, but then blew straight through it, would almost fix the last hole, then blow it again...damn annoying. Eventually took it to a mate that had a Kempe mig with argon and stainless wire and it was soooo easy. I really thought tig was all you could use for stainless, but this Mig set up worked a treat, and it was the first time my mate had attempted stainless welding too.

After all that, i still say Give it a go, but have a grinder ready

[shiner51]

Here ya go, American Road Iron, Ya want to go $100? LOL

[Kentucky shinner]

be careful spooky. I have been stick welding for ever.. I tried 316 stainless rods and I am here to tell you beer kegs are pretty damn thin.. you will burn a hole pretty damn quick if you aint carefull. I am not saying it cannot be done but if you dont weld all the time chances are your gonna ruin your boiler.
Find someone to tig it up for you. Tell them your a beer brewer and you making beer pot..

[blanikdog]

In another life I was a fitter/machinist working in the canning industry. We worked with a lot of Stainless and did in fact use SS welding rods. I don't know about welding thinner gauge stainless these days, but it certainly was possible in my 'youth'. That new fangled Argon and TIG seems to be the way these days.

[american road iron]

Here ya go, American Road Iron, Ya want to go $100? LOL

You want to check the gas you used before I drive to fort woth to pick up my $100.00. And if you used argon, I want to come there and you show me. We do reccomend argon and 1% ox or even a % of co2, or even tri mixes. But this would be new to my toolbox using pure argon. Let me know, you now have my attention.

[shiner51]

Heck, tell them you are thinking about makin shine and they will probably do it for ya free, for a sample of it. LOL

[ozone39]

good call on the 304L, the AWS specification is A5.4 as the classification is E308L-16.....Another good practice is to back purge unaccessible back side welds with an inert gas (argon works well, nitrogen is better). This keeps the black oxidation from developing on the back side of the weld and ending up in your beverage....same goes for brazing and silver-soldering...

[Mr.Spooky]

thanks for all of the great replies! iv concitered everything, ind im not as comfortable as i first was about trying this on my own
looks like ill just be getting everything preped up by myself and then having a pro do the welding. maby by preping it myself,, ill atleast save a little money.
thanks yall!
spooky