Socket Welds

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This week’s video is about tig welding pipe using socket weld fittings.

Years ago, I welded a ton of socket welds. And mostly, they called for Tig welding because most of them were done on nuclear plants.

Socket welds are a much quicker and less expensive way to install pipe than using butt weld fittings, but as with most things… easy and cheap sometimes means “pay me later”.

There have been a lot of socket weld failures over the years and one big reason is the residual stress from not leaving a gap before welding.

I am using socket weld fittings and pipe to make a chinup bar to put in my basement. It’s going to bolt to the floor joists with some brackets that I plan to fabricate in a future video.

Actually, I am making 2 of them that will run parallel with each other so I can turn my palms inward for a style of chinup that will hopefully be easier on my elbows.

Why am I talking about chinups? Well… I got off topic there. Didn’t I?

Let’s get back to socket welds.

Normally, on a construction site, a Rigid tripod pipe vise would be used along with some pipe stands to get everything level and square, but since I have this Build Pro table, I figured that was the way to go.

I didn’t even choose the easiest way, but the table still made the job easy as pie.

I could have fit the whole thing up horizontally on the table all at once.

Also, I was using a lift arc tig machine and had the machines upslope set to 1 sec and the downslope to 3 seconds so I would get low amperage on start and then ramp up to 125 amps in 1 second and then when I needed to stop, the amperage would taper off completely in 3 seconds. In construction, it’s pretty common to use a scratch start tig for this type of work. And it actually works just fine except for having to file and brush the area where you terminate and whip out of the puddle. Lift arc with upslope/downslope is much better than scratch start. And High Freq start is better than lift arc.

Walking the Cup…

For socket welds, walking the cup is a very productive way to weld. Reason is that some positions allow for welding continuously all the way around the joint without stopping. That usually makes for a better looking weld. And of course, you just finish the job quicker.

Tips for walking the cup on socket welds….

• For the root pass, select a cup small enough for an easy wiggle but big enough so the cup does not touch the weld.
• For the cover pass or passes, choose a cup big enough to let you get a wide enough weave without using excessive arm wrist motion. Choosing the right size cup takes some trial and error but after a while, you will know which cup to use.

( As always, feel free to visit us at our sister site, WeldingTipsAndTricks.com. )

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