Cleaning 4130 Cond. N before TIG welding...

[NickE]

What's the commonly accepted method for cleaning the ends of cut tubing (laser/milled) 4130 cond N in process?

For one off's green scrubbies work fine, but not for large quantities. (this is in reference to cleaning the oxide film and oil prior to TIG welding)

Sand blast was mentioned, but there's a concern with Si contamination of the welds.

Thanks
NickE

 

[metengr]

Solvent to remove oil and Scotch-Brite wheels.

 

[berkshire]

On Aircraft tubing, Degrease, deburr, and polish with flapper wheel, or red scotch brite wheel. Remove dust before welding.
remember to re-oil inside of tube when welding is complete.
B.E.

The good engineer does not need to memorize every formula; he just needs to know where he can find them when he needs them. Old professor

 

[unclesyd]

If you have any quantity I wouldn't recommend the Scotch-Brite approach. On thing we found was that this process left a residue of Nylon on the parts.

At one time we fabricated various pieces of equipment form small diameter and capillary tubing. We never used any mechanical means to clean the tubing material. I developed an
alkaline electrolytic process that did everything. Another method used was an acid based electropolish.
If the parts were handled prior to welding we used a material called DeContam.
If the tubing was thin walled we would use a vibratory polisher with 6 micron Al2O3.
We did buy a lot of cut to length and cleaned components where the only additional prep needed was a trip through a mild cleaner.

Electrolytic cleaners:

http://www.epi.com/c/cleaners/all-metals

DeContam:

http://decontam.com/

Cut tubing

http://www.vici.com/tube/pre-ss.php

All types

http://www.vitaneedle.com/

 

[NickE]

Ok, for prototyping and pre-production I'll go with a flap wheel and clean the dust off.

In production I'll need to clean at least 1600 tubing ends and locations each day. I'm looking for a process that is easy to automate, fast, and allows for automated TIG welding.

thanks again
Nick

 

[Mr168]

I'd personally be surprised if you saw issues with welding 4130 after blasting with aluminum oxide. It's not a particularly soft surface for blast media to embed itself.