TIGing a Stainless steel sink

admin

I have to fix a small hole (Maybe from a knife or something) in a stainless steel 3 compartment sink. I'm not sure what grade the sink is. Any ideas on what rod type i should try and heat? Thanks
Reply:just use 308
Reply:Rod type?  Your going to stick weld it?  Good luck then, its probably 16-20 ga, and stick weld will just make a terrible mess out of it.304/308/309/316 will all work for that, its probably 304.Have we all gone mad?
Reply:309 is for mild steel to stainless steel
Reply:Originally Posted by ed mac309 is for mild steel to stainless steel
Reply:Dang,The OP clearly stated he planned to TIG the repair.  Some people refer to filler as "rod".Now that that's said, the question about what filler to use and amp settings would lead me to question the OP's experience to do the job properly.Tig welding a SS sink is not a "walk in the park" for an inexperienced tigger.  There are many pitfalls here that can get one in deep do do.There was no discussion about protecting the back side of the weld (gonna sugar) or using a heat sink/backer.My guess is the OP will end up with another "drain" in the sink, not exactly where he wanted it.I'd suggest he find an old SS sink (junkyard) and practice using a copper backup plate and gas shield before he even strikes an arc on the "real thing".Syncro 250 DX Dynasty 200 DXMM 251 w/30A SG XMT 304 w/714 Feeder & Optima PulserHH187Dialarc 250 AC/DCHypertherm PM 1250Smith, Harris, Victor O/ASmith and Thermco Gas MixersAccess to a full fab shop with CNC Plasma, Water Jet, etc.
Reply:It   would probalby be much safer to use an epoxy patch from the back side. You could lightly tap out the dent and then put on the patch.
Reply:This made me think of a product we use to use at the paper mill called " Pig Putty". I was just wondering if anybody had ever heard of it. They even make some to make titanium repairs.We once had a leak in a chiller ( A part that surrounded thyristors in a DC rectifier used in an electrolysis process) and needed to make a temp repair. All the chiller did was allow Dmin water to pass through for cooling. We tried tig, silver solder, brazing, nothing worked. I talked to an engineer in ABB's drive department and he told me to forget about trying to make a repair. He said it was made from exotic metal fused together under high pressure and couldn't be repaired. I was not worried about the water leaking in the rectifier section since the conductivity was so low, but I was afraid the leak would get worse and maybe empty the cooling water tank.The time to get another unit was several weeks away, so I thought we have tried everything else, lets try the Pig Putty. Well, it worked and held nicely until the new unit arrived. The repaired part was still there being held as a spare when I retired.When I told the engineer at ABB that we had made a repair he couldn't believe it, especially after I told him the name of the product we used. He had me send him some and I found out later he got a memo off to all his field engineers in the drive division and told them to buy some and put it in their tool kit.It was some great stuff to have when you were in a jam. We used it on small tanks and piping systems that were not under a lot of pressure until we could make a permanent repair on a shut down.Just wondering if anyone else has ever used it.
Reply:It's not that bad is it?, really no harder to weld than auto body sheet.Welded a fair bit of 22 and lighter stainless and biggest problem was warpage, other than that no big deal. If it's a tight fit welds along just fine, if the gap gets bigger I found I needed to back up more, stick the filler in to cover the gap and then melt it down into the puddle, that helped keep the edges of the joint from pulling away. If it is a real confined area (hole/short Crack), not hard to set up a back purge to keep the backside of the weld nice. Also could just put a SS patch on the back side and  hold it tight to the sink. That will help with any burn through and keep O2/N2 away from backside of the weld. If the patch gets attached either leave it or cut/grind it off after.Myself I would start at about 50 amps maybe 60 if it's 18 ga and that would leave some play in the foot pedel, I'm still hooked on the pulser so would I'd turn that on too to help put a little less heat in.Lincoln PT185 TIGLincoln 175 MIGLincoln 240 amp AC StickLind Needle Arc plasma welderPlasma cutter, soon???
Reply:Originally Posted by 6010This made me think of a product we use to use at the paper mill called " Pig Putty".
Reply:Yes TIG, sorry about the confusion FILLER rod... Ive got a bit of experience weld 308 pipe. I was going to use a backing purge. Its a small gash maybe 3/4 long and 1/8 wide. do i need a backing plate for something that small?  I was told its usually a low grade stainless steel for sinks. i have some 316 filler i was going to try.
Reply:This stuff?
Reply:Originally Posted by SundownIIIThe OP clearly stated he planned to TIG the repair.  Some people refer to filler as "rod".
Reply:GTAW ( Tig ) uses filler rods, SMAW ( Stick ) uses electrodes...  I would use 309 also...