Showerthought: switching to a 3 pass root bead on thin tube saved my last job in Gary
I have been running a 2 pass root on .375 wall tube for most of my career and never had a complaint. Last month a job in Gary kept failing visual on the root, and I could not figure out why, since my technique had not changed. A fitter with 22 years on the tools asked me what my travel speed was at the end of the joint versus the start, and I honestly could not answer him. Turns out I was speeding up as the tube heated, which thinned the bead right where the inspector was looking. I dropped my amps about 10 and added a third pass just on the root, and we passed the next 6 joints in a row. Curious if anyone else has run into heat soak throwing off their root, and how you deal with it on long seams.