We all know that welding is one of the few sensitive jobs that leave no room for mistakes.
Fortunately, that doesn’t mean all these welding mistakes are unavoidable.
If a welder is efficient enough and takes adequate preparation and precautions before beginning the welding task, the chances of occurring this situation can be close to zero.
Hence, we are going to learn about five deadly welding mistakes which may cost you immeasurably and how you can appropriately avoid them like an expert.
So let’s begin:
5 Deadly Welding Mistakes: What Should You Do
1. Not Wearing Adequate and Appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
We all know welding is a huge fire intensive work. The chances of getting harmed by flames and sparks are way more in welding than that of other engineering works. Oftentimes beginner welders forget to wear these and surprisingly a considerable number of welders who do wear these don’t tend to have the appropriate PPE’s in their collection.
Consequently, it results in minor and major accidents and they end up harming their body. This requires you to always be prepared with an appropriate collection of personal protective equipment which includes an auto-darkening helmet, fire-resistant jacket, welding gloves, welding boots, chaps, respirators, kneepads, sleeves, etc.
Now, since just buying those isn’t the ultimate solution, you need to be aware of their fitness and efficiency as per your body structure and comfort.
Many times it happens when a welder is well equipped with all sorts of safety gears but unfortunately, some of them don’t suit their body parts and they end up putting or dropping of those subconsciously while welding.
Hence, it is a must for you to buy the appropriate gear that perfectly fits with your physical and mental comfort.
2. Welding Over Inappropriate Current And Heat
Without a doubt, this can be a nightmare for any beginner or professional subconscious welder. We all know the most crucial requirement for perfect welding is the appropriate current and heat settings. Without doing this, you may potentially ruin your whole project or at least make it vulnerable which may trigger contamination.
Now, the most important factor here is the current. Welding basically runs on two current types. One is AC and the other is DC power. You cannot weld non-ferrous materials by using AC power whereas AC power is best-suited for welding magnetized materials.
On the other hand, you are more likely to encounter arc blow if you use DC welding despite you’ll enjoy a stable arc. Besides, welding aluminum with DC power can be a bad idea which always requires AC power.
Another crucial mistake that can potentially damage your whole work is the incorrect heat input. We all know heat is essential for deeply penetrating your workpiece along with providing higher deposition rates. But it’s definitely not the case when you are applying too much heat.
It may considerably affect your workpiece and result in serious porosity after cooling down. For this, you need to apply the appropriate amount of heat according to the type of material that you’re welding.
3. No or Insufficient Pre-Cleaning of the Materials Being Welded
This is another huge mistake especially made by beginner welders. The aftermath of this mistake can be worst. Oftentimes, you may need to weld over workpieces that have rust over their surface and body. Apart from that, many other unwanted substances like paint, grease, and oil can also lie over their surface and body.
Now the problem is, if you are to weld on these workpieces without and before cleaning them properly, it may result in serious porosity and trigger atmospheric contamination.
Besides, you won’t be able to penetrate the weld metal properly because of heat absorption by these substances.
4. Improper Electrode & Gas Flow
This is another huge mistake made by beginner welders. If you welding with too high gas flow, it may presumably result in a mass burning out of your electrode and consequently reduce the quality of your weld work.
Besides, many times your “host machine” can preserve these gases which also result in an unstable arc which can ruin your whole project.
Apart from that, many of us subconsciously use the wrong electrode. Even though sometimes it’s made up of the accurate size and metal, using your electrode after a long time without cleaning may severely cause porosity in your weld metal.
So it’s better to ensure you’re using the right consumables along with the cleanest one.
5. Inadequate Welding Knowledge and Experience
This is by far one of the biggest mistakes of the whole list. We all know there are a variety of welding processes in order to weld a diversified range of weld metals. Some of them are only suitable for welding a certain type of metal whereas the others depend upon the thickness of the metal you’re going to weld.
If you weld metal using a wrong welding technique, there’s no doubt that you’re going to destroy your whole project. Besides, it’s very crucial to choose the welding technique according to the thickness of your material as it is important for you to set the accurate amperage and current.
Now, apart from knowing what welding process should be used with which type of material, there are many other factors you need to be aware of before starting your welding process.
This includes knowing how to protect your weld work from having any weld spatter, what are the essential gears and tools you should use while doing your welding task and know how to repair and maintain your welding instruments in order to get the highest potential result.
Final words
Welding is a very sensitive process. Making slight welding mistakes can cost you so much in resource and health. But it’s also true that, ensuring an adequate amount of safety and knowing your staff can dramatically reduce its danger.
Thanks for reading the whole post. Stay tuned with us for our upcoming welding-related guides and articles.
