Submerged arc welding - videos

[baja]

Submerged arc welding (SAW) is a welding process where the molten weld and the arc zone are protected from atmospheric contamination by being submerged under a blanket of granular fusible flux.

Previously:

http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/f...7862#post86386
http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/b...267#post121607
http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/c...6268#post83362
http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/p...393#post116770
http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/f...2814#post97209
http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/s...968#post100346
http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/p...279#post103846

I knew a guy that was by most accounts a
great underwater welder. I never saw any of his underwater welds but his above-water welds looked atrocious. Maybe his glasses that looked coke-bottle-thick had something to do with it.

[12bolts]

Any welder diver worth his salt should be able to lay down perfect beads in any position above the surface

I knew a guy that was by most accounts a
great underwater welder. I never saw any of his underwater welds but his above-water welds looked atrocious. Maybe his glasses that looked coke-bottle-thick had something to do with it.

Corrective vision would have nothing to do with it. If his dry welds were crap, then his wet welds would not be acceptable.

Underwater welding is done on DC and the workpiece is connected to the positive. It uses a special, waterproof, electrode that is held against the work (meaning you dont maintain an arc gap). They still get consumed as normal. The HAZ in wet welding is atrocious due to the rapid cooling and is generally only performed for temporary repairs, patches etc. or for non critical joins, eg sacrificial anode attachment.
Any critical repairs, eg pipelines, are usually performed in habitats.

You can teach a diver how to weld, but its much easier to teach a welder how to dive.