MIG weld low carbon steel to stainless steel tubing 2

[CountZero]

Hello All,

this is a rather rudimentary question, but I wanted to know if it's possible to MIG weld low carbon steel to stainless steel tubing, and why? My instincts say not under normal conditions because of their different compositions, but I'm willing to try it anyhow.

If anyone has any ideas, please send them my way.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers

 

[Rich2001]

It is done all the time with ER309L wire


A good source of information is available from the Nickel Development Institute

http://www.nidi.org

This is a link to a paper on dissimilar metal-welds that has some good information

http://www.nidi.org/multimedia/tech...iterature_pdfs/14000_reprint_series/14018.pdf

 

[GRoberts]

Yes you can MIG weld carbon steel to stainless steel. On most applications you will be able to get away with using ER309L or ER309, but there are many exceptions depending on your base metal composition, joint, service requirements, etc. If mild steel wire is used, the deposit can very easily end up being brittle martensite.

 

[CountZero]

Thanks guys.

That's what I thought. My instincts went in that direction. The reason I questioned it is because a couple techs said it couldn't be done, but I didn't fully believe them.

You made my day.

Cheers and stars to you.

 

[sayee1]

Just to add to what rich and GRoberts already said, though it is possible to MIG weld cs to austenitic ss, the MIG process is not very easy to implement especially if you plan to use 100% Argon. 98% Argon + 2 %O2 is used world over with the 2% O2 improving the weld metal fluidity( I am not sure about the performance using He or Ar He mixtures). I would still prefer to use other process(es) namely SMAW, GTAW or FCAW depending on whether those processes can be used for the application you have.

Thanks and regards
Sayee Prasad R