ABIBLOG: ABICOR BINZEL's Welding Blog

Practical tips about all you need to know about gas nozzles for MIG/MAG torches

The MIG/MAG welding process is very demanding and both man and material are pushed to their limits? – often even beyond. Therefore, it is all the more important to work with good tools, especially the welding torch with its wear parts. These parts are very close to the process and have to withstand heat and weld spatter for as long as possible. Especially the gas nozzle, which, in addition to its actual task, is often misused as a hammer.

When welding aluminum, as with all other weldable metals and metal alloys, emissions arise in the form of combustion and evaporation residues.

Which protective measures are suitable here and is aluminum welding toxic?

When it comes to welding fume extraction, a couple of questions are frequently asked. Often it is about the performance, weight or handling of fume extraction torches, but also the service life of welding fume filters in extraction devices or the correct volume flow control are recurring topics.

Since welding fumes are toxic and the extraction of welding fumes should be mandatory to protect employees, we answer the most frequently asked questions about welding fume extraction and clear up common prejudices and concerns so that you can find the perfect solution for you and your welders.

The fact that the welder is close to the welding process and would therefore be completely exposed to the dangerous gases in the welding fumes without a fume extraction system is no surprise. But how is the situation when using a robot for welding? Do similar precautions need to be implemented as with manual welding? Just as with manual welding, the dangers of welding fumes should not be underestimated.

Gas-shielded metal arc welding – also known as GMAW welding or MIG/MAG welding – is by far the most applied and most common welding process in welding technology. When searching for the cause of weld spatter, this process literally hits the bull's eye. Whereas with TIG welding and plasma welding almost no weld spatter occurs, spatter formation in GMAW welding can never be completely prevented. The question may arise why not use TIG or plasma welding in general if welding spatter should be avoided as much as possible. To get the answer it is necessary to take a closer look at the process of MIG/MAG welding and the cause of weld spatter.

Flammable vs. non-flammable anti-spatter sprays

Wherever welding takes place, weld spatter also occurs. During MIG welding and MAG welding, spatter formation is particularly high. Although it is possible to reduce the formation of weld spatter in these processes through process optimisation, it can never be avoided completely. Since weld spatter partially sticks, a good preparation is required, because it can be found almost everywhere: on and in the front end of the torch including the gas nozzle, on the contact tip and contact tip holder, on the workpiece as well as on the clamping element, if used. However, by applying a good sprayable anti-splatter agent, which is suitable for all areas, the majority of the welding spatter can be kept away or easily removed.

Extracting harmful welding fumes should be standard in every manufacturing company for health reasons. Many rely on large extraction systems for extraction, which completely exchange all of the hall air within a very short time. More efficient and far cheaper than such large air filtration systems are extraction devices where appropriate fume extraction torches can be connected for source capture. With the fume extraction torches RAB GRIP and RAB GRIP HE 2 from ABICOR BINZEL, fume extraction is easy.

Whether it is an anti-spatter spray, a paste or an emulsion: anti-spatter agents for welding are available on the market in many variants - for using on the welding torch, on the work piece or even on both.

They all serve the purpose to avoid time-consuming rework by removing weld spatter from the work piece, to reduce downtimes due to frequent wear part changes, and to ensure that tools used in the welding process, such as clamping devices, always remain fully operational.

What role does it play whether an anti-spatter agent is flammable or non-flammable? Moreover, are all non-flammable anti-spatter agents equally good?

7 practical tips for a neat weld seam

No question: aluminum welding is the premier class of welding. In a previous blog we explained in detail what a manufacturing company should pay attention to when welding aluminum by hand. But what do you do when the quantities are so high that one welder alone can no longer handle them? If hiring an additional welder for aluminum welding is not an option or you simply cannot find a suitable welding specialist? Can you possibly also weld aluminum in industry with a cobot – i. e. a collaborative robot – or is it too difficult to program a cobot to achieve the same results as when welding aluminum manually.

Is automated TIG welding economically viable?

When automating a TIG application, the first question to ask is the same as for any other automation: Is it profitable to use a robotic welding torch or a robotic welding cell?