150x50x5 butt weld with 7016

[meadow street]

WIA 7016 tc 3.2 mm electrode

150x50x5 end to end butt weld required.

bevel?

land /root face?

gap?

wanting some pro advice on this please.

normally I just guess a bevel and mostly just butt it up flush and weld it out in one or two passes.

how would you do it?

smaw, mma, mmaw, stick whatever you like to call it : )

[Karl Robbers]

WIA 7016 tc 3.2 mm electrode

150x50x5 end to end butt weld required.

bevel?

land /root face?

gap?

wanting some pro advice on this please.

normally I just guess a bevel and mostly just butt it up flush and weld it out in one or two passes.

how would you do it?

smaw, mma, mmaw, stick whatever you like to call it : )

I assume we are talking RHS here.
I would look at a bevel angle of around 30-35 degrees, giving 60-70 degrees of vee. Root face around 2mm, gap around 2-2.5mm.
If it is RHS that we are talking about, you need not go to the expense of a hydrogen controlled electrode like 16TC's, normal 4112 or 4113 will be fine. Nothing wrong with using 16TC's though.
Amperage will depend on your power source, be it AC or DC and of course the position of the weld. DC will usually require less amps in my experience. As a rough guide, on my welder, I would be looking for around 95-100A DCEP for the root run, followed by a light clean up grind and a cap pass at the same or a bit higher amperage. I would possibly look at 2.5 electrodes if I was really serious about gaining the best penetration that I could for a critical application. You want enough amps to penetrate the joint fully, leaving a nice penetration bead on the underside without blowing holes. If using 16TC's or any low hydrogen electrode, remember to keep your arc short and really shove the electrode in for best results.
If you are really concerned about the absolute best penetration, you could cut some plates that fit inside the RHS and tack them in place before butting the other piece of RHS up, (both pieces bevelled of course), leaving perhaps a 3-4mm gap and welding the joint which would be backed up by the previously tacked plates. Probably not necessary though.
Best advice I can give you is to start with a joint and amperages somewhat like described above and have a play until you refine it to what works for you.

[meadow street]

nice one Karl!

thanks for the specifics.

great help again.

ps. I really like using 16tc and smootharc Boc too. nice puddles.

[Karl Robbers]

nice one Karl!

thanks for the specifics.

great help again.

ps. I really like using 16tc and smootharc Boc too. nice puddles.

Not a problem at all Meadow.
16TC's are probably the electrode that brought Low Hydrogen into the workshop of the handyman welder due to their ability to run on low OCV AC machines. In fact, they run better than many rutile electrodes.

[Grahame Collins]

Karl is spot on with his comments on the 16Tcs. For butt pipe weld certs, they were the electrode of choice for the lads.

The stability of the arc is outstanding.This results in a extremely smooth finish with a fine ripple pattern.

They were a fill and cap application. We never did use them for root penetration as we had Kobe LB52 U's which were made for bees knees peno jobs -ie pipeline work.

Grahame