I was tacking some offset shackles and had used one of those large red triangular magnets to temporarily hold it together. The weld would spatter, pop and not flow or do anything I wanted it to do no matter how much I adjusted the machine. I ended up tacking it by hand, final welding and of coarse it welded up nicely. I did not know how much a magnet can affect welding. Not sure what the cause is. Maybe pulling the molten metal where ever the magnetic field is ?
Ya...I posted the same here a few years ago, had a 2x4 magnet holding things for butt welds, wire from my mig went goofy.
If the magnet is too close to the weld, the magnetic force will almost make it impossible to get a good weld.
If using MIG or TIG magnets will pull the arc. I never use them for that reason, I prefer c clamps or vise grip.
When you get down to the fine details... you will find that even the placement of the ground clamp can create the same effect
Damned near everything related to electrical issues can be traced to or affected by the quality of the ground. .
For holding sheet metal in place, I use masking tape a lot of time. No magnetic field that I know of.
That's weird, I've never had a issue with using magnets, although one time I welded too close to a tiny rare earth magnet I was using to hold a patch and demagnetized it completely. Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
The "flame" of an electric arc is a stream of charged particles (ions). Like iron filings, those ions try to align themselves with any strong magnetic fields - like those surrounding those red right-angle magnets sometimes used by welders. That seems to make the arc fan out and not direct the heat correctly. Very frustrating when you're trying to tack weld.
Electricity and magnetism different ways of looking at the same thing...the electromagnetic force. Applying a magnetic field will affect how electricity flows, just as applying an electric current will affect a magnetic field. This is pretty basic physics....I guess it's not obvious how this "invisible" stuff works, until you try to make it work in a way that it doesn't work.
I only use them for tacking and then remove. Your puddle is molten metal so why wouldn't it be affected?
I "modified" my red angle magnets to lower their magnetic field and thus avoid this gaussing issue. The modification process is quite simple and like most great discoveries it was developed by accident. Simply leave the magnet in close proximity to the area where you are grinding and allow it to absorb metal shavings, it is the equivalent to rubbing masking tape on your jeans prior to masking freshly painted surfaces. I must warn that the holding power of the affected magnets is somewhat diminished.
When steel gets to a certain temperature a magnet will not attract it, this is one way you can estimate the temperature of the steel when hardening. And this point is way before the melting point. I would bet the magnetic field is effecting the arc more that the molten metal, but I really don't know.
Love the dive into quantum theory. If you think the magnetic effect is strange, take a gander at this YouTube cartoon on the classic double slit experiment.
LOL! Learned this one the hard way! Had a magnet holding two pieces together and tried to weld them. Had used this mig setup a 1000 times but couldn't get a good weld. Sputter and pop like when your out of gas or forgot to open the valve. Chased my ground, checked the machine, checked bottle for pressure, couldn't solve it. Thought maybe gauge on bottle was mis reading and it was empty so took it in and got another full one. Told the guy at the welding store the problem I was having and he said how are you holding the pieces together. I told him magnets. He said there's your problem! Went home clamped the pieces together and voila! No more prob. I have used a magnet since then but it has to be far enough away from where your welding to not effect the arc.
Try stick welding in a primary aluminum smelter potline; 180,000 amps of DC current running in aluminum buss bars under the floor. Great fun and sometimes you'd get lucky and make a decent looking weld... sometimes not. We usually tried moving the ground or wrapping the ground cable around the weldment first. Then went on to trying different rod positions and angles. 30+ years after working in the potlines some of my hand tools are still magnetized.
I was a millwright. One day at work my buddy and I had to shorten magnets for in the food industry. They were used to collect any steel in molten chocolate. The magnets were about 1 1/2 long and 1 inch diameter stacked together in a stainless tube and sealed ends, maybe 10 to a tube. I cut the end off, took out some magnets, and shortened the stainless tube. My buddy's part was to tig the end cap back on. He was mumbling to himself for a while so I got a hood and watched. Arc was jumping anywhere except where it was supposed to be.
Its all fun and games. Turn the welder up and get heat in there faster. It gets interesting on sheet metal, but works for the heavier stuff. Getting started is a bit harder, but once its going, it works. Of course moving the magnet farther away works too, as does removing the magnet and using clamps. Also, if the ground is between the weld point and the magnet, the magnet doesn't have as much of an effect. Want to really have some fun? Take a couple pieces of 20 gauge, hold them together with a magnet, and weld them with .035 wire. Gene
Used to build corral fencing with oil field pipe and sucker rod, the sucker rod would become magnetized from sliding up and down in the casing, We would weld with 7018 whenever it would have this problem usually would help to move the ground to the other side of the weld.
I noticed when I weld too close to my engine I have to replace the bearings in it because it spot welds the bearings to the crank, Unless I periodically turn the output shaft on the trans counterclockwise while I'm welding.
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