Spent a full Friday trying to get a clean bead on a 2-inch schedule 80 elbow with my old Lincoln welder.

The joint kept cooling too fast until I finally tried a preheat with a rosebud tip, which worked perfectly, so what's your go-to method for tricky pipe welds?

3 comments

3 Comments

singh.jessica1mo agoTop Commenter

Honestly I never preheat for schedule 80, that's overkill lol. Just crank your amps up a bit and run a tight arc, maybe a quick tack with a hotter setting. Letting the pipe suck heat is part of the process, you just have to move faster. A rosebud seems like a lot of extra work for a two inch fitting.

stella90427d ago

I saw that line about letting the pipe suck heat being part of the process. I read a spec sheet once that said skipping preheat on thicker wall can lead to hydrogen cracking down the road, especially if it's not just carbon steel. It's not always about the weld look right now, it's about it holding up. Maybe it's overkill for some jobs but I'd rather warm it a little than have it fail an x-ray later.

schmidt.rose1mo ago

Your weld must look like a bird's nest.