The new alloy lived up to expectations in terms of corrosion resistance, but it soon became apparent that the reductions in the residual alloying elements, especially iron, had adversely impacted its thermal stability. That is, the alloy became very susceptible to the Ni4Mo transformation when it was exposed to the 650 to 750 °C (1200 to 1380 °F) temperature range. As a result of this embrittling transformation, cracking was encountered during some of the alloy manufacturing operations as well as during customer fabrication of components. In addition a number of in-service cases of environmental cracking were observed. These were usually associated with weld HAZs.