Weld Burn Marks - typical?
- Thread starter Pbakk
- Start date
Jack M
Moderator
I have them on mine
ILLINOIS AVE
Well-Known Member
What year? My 2024 is clean!
Angela & Michael
Well-Known Member
From a former welder..In a tight area, it’s not unusual. It has no effect on quality of work.
SEMPERFI8387
Moderator
Yup. Been like that since at least 2017. 
FIRE UP
Well-Known Member
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Pbakk,
That weld is the result of what's called a "Spool gun". Without getting down too deep in to welding process's, there's primarily two welding process's for aluminum. One is called "TIG" welding which is, Tungsten Inert Gas welding. And the other is a spool gun. TIG welding involves a hand held TIG torch in one hand and some filler rod in the other hand. A TIG torch is not the same as a torch with a fire at the end of a stick. Where as, a spool gun is a complete small, hand held gun with spool of aluminum wire built in. With TIG welding, it's typically a fairly quiet welding process and there's pretty much zero sparks or flashing like there is in many other types of welding.
Where as, in spool gun use, you pull a trigger and the spool starts to spin and the aluminum wire feeds out the tip and as soon as it touches the parent metal, an arc starts and you have some gas flowing right along side that arc to keep things clean and free of oxidation while the weld is being completed. But, with a spool gun, you also get a considerably louder welding process and some what's called "spatter" or, pieces of the weld process that are cast away from the actual weld. You will also quite often, get that black soot along with a spool gun weld.
TIG welding produces no soot or spatter, just a clean weld. Now, the prime reason a welder chooses a spool gun over TIG welding is expediency. As long as the metal, aluminum in this case, is fairly clean, and it's a bit difficult to position a TIG torch in and at a proper angle, a spool gun is the go-to process. And, a spool gun is also the go-to process for mass fabrication such as the long aluminum trailers for tractor-trailer use on the highways. Soooo, that weld you're looking at was done with a spool gun and hence, all the black soot and spatter marks.
Scott
That weld is the result of what's called a "Spool gun". Without getting down too deep in to welding process's, there's primarily two welding process's for aluminum. One is called "TIG" welding which is, Tungsten Inert Gas welding. And the other is a spool gun. TIG welding involves a hand held TIG torch in one hand and some filler rod in the other hand. A TIG torch is not the same as a torch with a fire at the end of a stick. Where as, a spool gun is a complete small, hand held gun with spool of aluminum wire built in. With TIG welding, it's typically a fairly quiet welding process and there's pretty much zero sparks or flashing like there is in many other types of welding.
Where as, in spool gun use, you pull a trigger and the spool starts to spin and the aluminum wire feeds out the tip and as soon as it touches the parent metal, an arc starts and you have some gas flowing right along side that arc to keep things clean and free of oxidation while the weld is being completed. But, with a spool gun, you also get a considerably louder welding process and some what's called "spatter" or, pieces of the weld process that are cast away from the actual weld. You will also quite often, get that black soot along with a spool gun weld.
TIG welding produces no soot or spatter, just a clean weld. Now, the prime reason a welder chooses a spool gun over TIG welding is expediency. As long as the metal, aluminum in this case, is fairly clean, and it's a bit difficult to position a TIG torch in and at a proper angle, a spool gun is the go-to process. And, a spool gun is also the go-to process for mass fabrication such as the long aluminum trailers for tractor-trailer use on the highways. Soooo, that weld you're looking at was done with a spool gun and hence, all the black soot and spatter marks.
Scott