Stainless TIG bead not shiny?

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New to TIG welding, never used TIG on stainless before but though you get a shiny fish scale colored looked.  Welding using 316L filler rod on some brushed finish stainless handrail material.  The weld beads are all grey, not shiny.Yet if I weld some mild steel using the 316L it is beautiful and shiny.   Is that the way stainless is? or might it be the type of stainless?
Reply:Sounds like you're too hot and not enough gasMiller Dynasty 200DXMiller Spectrum 250DMiller Millermatic 200Bunch of old blue dinosaurs....
Reply:not the heat, went all over the shop up high and down low to 15 amps.  Tuned the gas down as I thought that it might be too fast and creating turbulence and maybe sucking in air.Thing is though on the mild steel, same settings = perfect.
Reply:if you're not using a large gas lens cup, try it.
Reply:Just reading up on google, and it seems the grey color is from the oxygen oxidizing the hot weld metal.  Funny cause it's shiny on the mild but not on the stainless.When welding, the hot liquid puddle is very shiny like that liquid man from terminator 2.  But as soon as I move forward I can see the part I just did graying over already.
Reply:Hey, went through the same problem when i begun tig welding and the best lesson i learned was to keep the tip of the  filler rod in the gas. once the rod is exposed to oxygen the rod itself turns grey and you contaminate your weld. Now the othe stuff mentioned should not be excludd. this is just one more thing to keep in mind when tig welding. Hope this helps
Reply:Stainless needs just a little less heat than mild because it conducts heat so poorly. You need to keep a nice tight arc gap, and keep moving, you sit on a puddle for more than a moment, it will gray out. Either way a SS brush will make it pretty again, or an acid wash.Constant Current Weldor.
Reply:PeterA,what shielding gas are you using?Lincoln SA 200Esab Caddy 160Thermal Arc 201TSMiller Dialarc HFI don't like making plans for the day because then the word "premeditated" gets thrown around the courtroom....
Reply:Try cleaning your weld with an SS brush and use a cleaner,  If you do not have a cleaner denatured alcohol will at least degrease.  Put a cover on the ends of the pipe it will cut down air induction while welding, Argon gas and more of it will help.
Reply:I am having a heck of a time with graying  as well. I have tried going fast, just enough pedal keep a puddle going, frustrating to say the least. I dont know what alloy the base metal is though. The only shiny part of the bead is at the end where i hover the torch during post flow. I welded the handle back on a stainless measuring cup using no filler and it turned out beautiful.When you set the max amps on a Dynasty 200 it just sets what max pedal is right?Sorry not trying to hijack the thread but same type of advice needed.Used 3/32 thoriated1/16 316L fillerBetween 10 -15 cfh argonCk gas saver lens,  not sure whatsize but same as standard cup on 17 torch.
Reply:Don't use thoriated. Ever. It is graying because the weld is still too hot. Stainless takes longer to cool down, and is more sensitive to oxidizing. Use a gas lense, it makes the Argon cloud much larger providing more coverage for the same flow. Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2Miller: 200dx, Bobcat 225, Passport, Powermax 45, Milwaukee: Dry Saw, MagDrill, grinders
Reply:Originally Posted by JohnRDon't use thoriated.
Reply:Originally Posted by BCTimberwolfYou need to look up ZTfab's sticky on thoriated and see how bad for you it really isn't. Don't spout off BS because you are afraid of what someone has told you. Thoriated works great and can carry a great deal of heat compared to a few other electrodes
Reply:As to your grey beads, you are getting air from somwhere. Check youy gas hose, flowing gas will aspirate air if there is a leak in the hose. Pressurize the hose then shut off the tank, gas pressure drops you got a leak soapy water and a spray bottle, find and fix.
Reply:If welding pipe, then you need to backpurge to minimize the graying. Really, if you don't, the weld is not ever going to be what it 'could' be. A properly purged weld is just so much easier to deal with, it's hard to explain.For plate and angle when this kind of problem arises, I would recommend 15-18CGH and 1 size up on the cup.And, in many cases, using Solar Flux on the back of the weld will make a huge difference in keeping the excess oxygen out of the weld area.And then, after so much work...... you have it in your hand, and you look over to your side...... and the runner has run off. Leaving you holding the prize, wondering when the runner will return.
Reply:So you are saying back purging will affect the color of weld on the other side? Even when i did tiny little micro beads that didnt even penetrate through i got the gray. The small gas lens must be it. Ill do some more experimenting. Maybe ill post a pic.
Reply:Originally Posted by Cdavid82Hey, went through the same problem when i begun tig welding and the best lesson i learned was to keep the tip of the  filler rod in the gas. once the rod is exposed to oxygen the rod itself turns grey and you contaminate your weld. Now the othe stuff mentioned should not be excludd. this is just one more thing to keep in mind when tig welding. Hope this helps
Reply:With a 3/32 tungsten, I use a # 6 cup (3/8 dia.). results r always great.
Reply:Originally Posted by JohnRDon't use thoriated. Ever.
Reply:Try setting your amperage 10 or 20 higher then you would and pulsate your foot pedal. As you create a hot puddle dab your filler rod and pull the rod away while easing off the foot pedal slightly move forward and repeat(move fairly quickly). If you time it correctly you'll get consistent freeze lines and lose the carbide precipitation. hope this helped.
Reply:Hi, just a quick question, do you get the same results on stainless colour wise with Mig and stick?I welded stainless for 3 years with sub arc, and the welds when the flux dropped off were all shiny......same with stick too, the under weld was shiny even seconds after the flux dropped off.OK, there was a bit of bluing and a smidgeon of brown at the edges, but mostly the colour was shiny.I get the impression that the only method that varies in this case is the shielding method, and that, in all cases where Tig is the weld method, is gas as opposed to clay type flux as is used in srtick or Mig.Incidently, the method we used before we went to the sub arc was with flux cored stainless, same result, fairly shiny finish.Ian.
Reply:Originally Posted by JohnRDon't use thoriated. Ever.
Reply:First, let me clarify. I was browsing the forum on my phone in the middle of the night, and my post was shorter than I know you guys deserve. In my experience ceriated and lanthiated have better characteristics on inverters. I've used all the different types of tungsten over the years. I know ztfab absolutely kicks *** with it. I have a nagging suspicion he could do the same with a coathanger and a set of jumper cables.Ceriated has awesome low-amp starting characteristics. Lanthiated has real good low-amp starting and carries higher current and can handle more cleaning. I just prescribe to the notion that advancing technology some times has better characteristics than the original. I've had great luck with ceriated and lanth, and didn't like thoriated. Even a month or two ago I ran out of .040 and had to use thoriated. I remember why I went to the others afterwards.Miller: 200dx, Bobcat 225, Passport, Powermax 45, Milwaukee: Dry Saw, MagDrill, grinders