Keggle Weld Sugaring

[jordanchampine]

Just bought a keggle from a guy in town who welded a coupler for a valve/diptube assembly. He gave me a decent deal, much better than my LHBS, so I felt like I couldn't pass it up. In my excitement, I didn't do any research on what to look for in welds/converted kegs and now I'm paranoid that I wasted my money.

There seems to be some minor sugaring on the inside of the weld. Any suggestions for saving this thing from rusting to ****? Can I sand this away with my Dremel and clean it with bar keepers friend? If there's nothing I can do, care to share some kind words as we mourn the loss of my cash?

 

[grathan]

A friend welded a stainless keg for me over a year ago. It won't rust out as fast as you might think.

 

[rudylyon57]

I will be TIG welding some 1-1/2" Triclover fittings to a few kettles this weekend. In an attempt to limit sugaring, I am torn between the complexity and cost associated with purging with Argon vs using a product such as Solar Flux B.

Any suggestions or experience with Solar Flux B out there?

 

[grathan]

Solar FLux B might be tough to clean off afterwards. Back purging isn't hard. Just put a tee after your argon regulator and tape a hose to a homemade tent. You want some argon to escape or it will blow your weld back through the front.

Though to be perfectly honest. I tend to burn the chromium out of the stainless no matter what I do. I don't have a pedal or gas lens to work with though, so perhaps that would be the difference.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

I'm pretty sure thst people like stout use solar flux b for all their purge needs. I had to clean lots of it off my kettles. With a little bkf it isn't hard to clean off. I was going to give solar flux a shot next time. Surely it can't be more expensive than argon!

For purge gas the best thing is using a purge regulator with two outputs. If you can't do that then the tee mentioned above will work. Just keep your purge rate slower. Perhaps 4-5cfh. A gas lens is nice because you don't get as much gas turbulence at the weld zone. They are pretty cheap to buy and I would recommend forking out the money for one.

What I've found is to start the arc hot to wet out quickly and the. Drop it back a bit and move quickly. Use the filler to cool the puddle. Also make sure you have a really good fitup.

 

[rudylyon57]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I ordered a small packet ($11) of Solar Flux B so maybe I'll give both a try. With respect to back purging, I like the idea of teeing off the exiting regulator so I don't need another cylinder. I'll setup a needle valve to regulate flow to the purge zone. I just ordered a gas lens kit so that will be covered. I have to admit though...I am nervous about welding on the .040" wall kettles!

 

[mattxm47]

Please post an update when you get it all welded up. I am in the same boat, small inverter tig machine, no pedal, also plan on using the solar flux b. Was wondering how hard it would be to clean up after?

 

[stevehaun]

Jordan:
Your keggle will be fine. A little sugaring on the weld of your BK is no big deal. Go brew some beer and have fun!