Just found out why my old welds kept cracking in the cold

I was digging through some old welding manuals my foreman left in the trailer, and found a note about preheating for carbon steel below 32 degrees. Turns out I was skipping that step on a job in Gary back in January, and that's why three of my fillet welds failed the bend test. Has anyone else had trouble with cold weather welding on structural steel?

2 comments

2 Comments

jenny_carr5229d ago

Yeah I used to think preheating was just an old wives' tale until I had a job fail in similar conditions, now I never skip it. Cold weather welding humbles you real quick lol.

ellis.felix1mo ago

Man that Gary cold is no joke. I've had welds that looked perfect on the surface but then just let go when it got real cold out. Preheating makes all the difference, even if it feels like overkill when you're already freezing your butt off out there.