Few welders, if any, can completely escape weld spatter. It comes with the job. Weld spatter, those small particles of molten metal expelled from the weld puddle, stick to the surface of the substrate metal creating many problems. Solutions and partial solutions do exist. These include anti weld spatter coatings as well as the welder reducing the presence of initial causal factors.
The Basic Causes of Spatter
While spatter is generally inescapable, the recognition of certain causal factors can help decrease the potential for a preventable situation. A welder can address such things as:
* Insufficient shielding gas
* Dirty base metal
* Incorrect setting in either the voltage (too low)
* Incorrect setting in the amperage (too high)
* Wrong gas/gas mixture chosen for shielding e.g. increasing carbon dioxide in a gas mixture, increases the amount of spatter
The resultant spatter produces uneven adherence and coating. This increases the risk of corrosion forming in the uncoated or poorly coated areas of the component. This, and other issues can result in premature coating failure.
Protecting your Equipment
Welders can reduce the risk by ensuring they operate according to the set specifications for the substrate and coating metals, as well as for the requirements of the environment and welding equipment. A welder can also consider anti weld spatter coatings for the equipment. Such coatings may provide temporary or more permanent protection from the build-up of spatter on welding nozzles. It will depend upon the specific product.
Ant Weld Spatter
For those welders who want to lower the risk of weld spatter, several options are available. The first steps would always be to initiate a program designed to reduce instances through the following of correct welding practices. In addition to this, companies and welders can enhance these measures by talking to a finishing company about anti weld spatter coatings. By combining these two steps, it is possible to reduce the damaging potential of welding spatter to a bare minimum.
