Bringing a welder to the playa.

[The Rod]

I am going to bring my 110v flux-core welder this year. This will be my first year with a welder on playa and in looking for suggestions on dealing with slag and spatters to avoid moop.

I have a fiberglass welding blanket thing and it works well at catching slag and hot bits but the issue is it sheds fibers = moop. I know lots of people bring welders and stuff, is there anything I should I prepare for using it at BM?

[Captain Goddammit]

Can you use an argon bottle with it? It'll splatter a lot less. Well, unless the wind is blowing, then the gas is almost useless.

[ygmir]

Motskyroonmatic (sp?) brings welders every year, he's an Epayan, you might reach out and ask him?

[test517]

We have brought a welders to the playa for the last 3 years, and we will be bringing 2 or 3 again this year. Flux core and or stick is the easiest to deal with in the wind and dirty conditions, but we were able to use MIG with bottle last year by bringing plywood to create a wind break. With that said we are dedicating one of our millers to fluxcore for mobile repairs as dragging a cart and bottle through the dust is quite the work out. The moop from the flux splatter is pretty minimal if you are using good wire, we use a Lincoln low splatter wire and have had good results with it. Any welding shop should be able to provide you with a range of options on low splatter wire.

If it continues to be a problem check your settings, you could be running to much voltage or to slow wire speed or your polarity is wrong.

Cheers
H

[Token]

From personal experience.

A big ol cow hide, spritz it a bit. Works great and doesn't moop.

As for slag moop, check to see if your specific wire has enough iron in it to be de-mooped with a hefty magnet. Works like a charm if your slag is magnetic. You would need to check your slag for magnetism, not the wire before welding, as the melting process may result in non-magnetic slag.

[trilobyte]

I don't think you can avoid moop, period. But get a mag rake, those things are awesome at getting metal shavings, filings, and slaggy bits. I use one to clean up after a grinder (I use to cut conduit poles), it works wonders. Then bonus points for just being awesome with camp cleanup at the end of the event, too.

[motskyroonmatick]

Motskyroonmatic (sp?) brings welders every year, he's an Epayan, you might reach out and ask him?

Yep I bring my welder. It's a miller 110 wire feed and I use gas shield specifically so I don't have to deal with chipping flux. I don't run my welder on a huge generator and so I need all the power I can get going into the weld and I think if I were using flux core that would present problems. I like the gas shield because it leaves a finish product that you don't have to spend time chipping at. Flux is always moopy. When I brought my tig/stick set up I would chip flux in side the box truck box and sweep all debris forward after an appropriate fire watch. Many times I just tig welded with that set up to avoid moop.

Buy extra trigger switches for your mig and bring them with you. The switches are really simple and seem bomb proof but the playa will get in your trigger and corrode right where electrical contact is made and eventually there is an intermittent contact failure than a full on non operational failure. Bringing extra trigger switches allows you to switch them out and you can rehab the old switch while using a fully functioning one in the gun. I found exact replacement switches on eBay for about 1/4 the price of the store.... They are just red instead of blue. It took a bit of looking and running down alternate part numbers... The min socket/driver set that is available at costco (~10$) is the perfect thing for taking apart the grip and trigger assembly to change out the switch.

Be sure to thoroughly blow out the feed roll and wire spool area when you get back home. Playa will corrode the wire ruining several layers of wire and it's a really bad idea to run that corrosion through your whip if you want it to last a long time and feed well. I use 2 felt wire cleaners prior to the feed rolls to try to keep playa out of the whip.

I have found mag raking immediately after welding makes it so I rarely find hidden metal balls in the playa as I am raking out and remag raking the area during final moop sweeps. In general I try to make welds
over the ramp of the box truck so that most spatter is contained in the ramp. It's a pretty handy table too.

Dont advertise your welder too much or you might be welding all day every day!

[gaminwench]

I understood precisely none of that, but I got all kind of yummy feels from reading it.

Carry on.

[highwayman]

I think that having DC batteries, jumper cables & some welding rods can be a great emergency welding tool & skill to have anywhere. Obviously there are limitations such as the quality of the welds, material & thickness that can be welded, etc.

I have seen a few welder/generators at BRC. Having a torch, grinder, metal stock & a skilled welder/metal fabricator on site allows miracles to happen out of would be catastrophes.

[Roundabout]

I have seen a few welder/generators at BRC. Having a torch, grinder, metal stock & a skilled welder/metal fabricator on site allows miracles to happen out of would be catastrophes.

Yes, but it takes participation in capitalism to develop, produce, and acquire such wonderful and magical equipment.