ABIBLOG: ABICOR BINZEL's Welding Blog

Beautifully crafted railings and staircases made of stainless steel, high-gloss kitchen fronts or building facades that gleam in the sun from afar are already real eye-catchers. To turn a metal into an end product worth looking at, the surface must be treated accordingly. In metalworking, pickling is used in addition to grinding, brushing or blasting. There are different approaches to this, depending on the requirements in the production process.

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.

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?