As any contractor knows, most jobs sites are far from being clean, dry or orderly—at least for any length of time. Unfortunately, the environmental conditions on the average job site can wreak havoc on welding filler metals, and in turn on a contractor’s overall productivity and bottom line.

Damaged filler metals, whether they are stick electrodes, flux-cored wire (self-shielded or gas-shielded) or solid wire, can all cause poor weld quality, including porosity, cracking and a host of other weld discontinuities. Singularly or combined, these issues can lead to expensive and time-consuming rework. But that’s just the beginning.

With so many factors to monitor — equipment, weld procedures, filler metals and consumables — it’s inevitable that mistakes will occur in most welding operations on any given day. Human error dictates that a welding operator can easily set a power source and wire feeder to the wrong parameters or trim and install a MIG gun liner improperly. But there are other mistakes that can occur in welding operations on a regular basis — ones that many companies may not even realize that they are making.

The reality is, however, that these mistakes can have a significant impact on quality, productivity and a company’s bottom line. Fortunately, they don’t have to happen. Consider these top 10 mistakes involved in running a welding operation, along with some recommendations for solving them.

Reducing the opportunity for moisture pickup — in the filler metal and deposited weld metal — is important in any welding operation, but especially in industries with more critical applications.

Controlling moisture helps minimize the risk of hydrogen-induced cracking in these demanding, high-strength applications, and with it costly repairs or potentially catastrophic weld failures.

Seamless wires can help in moisture-control efforts. These filler metals also offer excellent impact toughness, even at lower temperatures, and low hydrogen properties to further mitigate cracking risks.

Weld failures can occur in any number of ways and are often caused by simple oversights in the welding operation. In many cases, those oversights can result from lack of proper training about the techniques required for welding on a particular material or joint style. Regardless of the reason, the result is the same. Issues like hot and cold cracking toweld defects like lack of sidewall fusion, slag inclusions or cold lap result can occur, causing delays in production and downtime for rework of parts. Both problems adversely affect the welding operation’s overall productivity and profitability. When a part is rejected for a weld failure, a company incurs the time, labor and cost of identifying and rectifying the problem. Not only that, but the company also runs a greater risk of compromising safety should a weld fail in a particularly critical application.

There are, however, precautions welding operators can take to protect against weld failures. Such provisions can help mitigate unnecessary costs, support greater productivity and help the welding operation remain more competitive.

Following are six key ways to prevent weld failures.

The most important material property is good toughness at low temperatures.

The most important material property is good toughness at low temperatures.