Hot take: I thought the purge paper trick was overrated until last Tuesday

I've been running a TIG root on 2 inch schedule 80 for about 6 months now at a plant outside Baton Rouge and always just taped the ends shut. Last Tuesday my root on a test coupon came out gray and sugared on the inside, failed visual, and the QC guy pulled me aside. He showed me how to fold the purge paper into a cone and tape it right at the gap so the argon actually sits where the puddle is. Did two more coupons the same afternoon and both came out silver with barely any heat tint. Anyone else switching to cones or do y'all run a trailing shield instead?

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karenf4026d ago

Buddy of mine at a shop in Gonzales had the exact same thing happen, gray sugared root on a 6g coupon and he swore his gas was fine. Turned out he was taping the ends flat and the argon was just rolling out the bottom of the pipe instead of pooling at the joint. Old timer there showed him the cone fold too and his next three coupons came out looking like jewelry. He runs a trailing shield now on the cap but still does cones for the root, says the shield doesn't help much down in the bevel anyway. That QC guy did you a solid, keep him on your good side.

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