Thread: Some welds for you to critique

Thanks WelderMick Ive been through the process of cheap Bunnings machines (CRAP) and slowly over time bought some quality gear etc so that i think was one of the hardest things to work through as a newbie. Since that time ive managed to convert an old box trailer into a boat trailer for my dinghy and done several small jobs for paying customers with the most recent a rego repair of rusted sections on a boat trailer for a boat worth easily 30 grand plus. On contacting the guy to ensure it passed he assured me that the inspector was extremely happy with the repair and that the joints and sections are rock solid so that was a really great feeling! I hadnt used the various machines regularly for a while so spent some shed time and deceided to put these pics up for opinion.

Hi Zumanity,

As the others have said You are travelling ok.There are some aspects that need tidying up, so to speak!

Photo 1.Spatter level -can be excess amps,arc length too long,or damp electrodes through old electrode stocks or poor storage technique.

Photo 2. same as 1

Photo 3. pass No idea at what I am looking at

Photo 4. Ok until the end did you run out of stick and travel quicker to make up or increase arc length- no fusion and slag inclusion in that last bit

Photo 5.The arc looks cold -AMPS TOO LOW? Maybe arc length too long?

Photo 6.Welding over a previous slag inclusion. It won't work with a rod like a satincraft,they slag up really badly unless amps and arc length are spot on.

If you get a slag hole and want to burn it out, up the amperage by 15 to 20 amps and run over it after removing as much adhering slag as you can.



Generally, I would advise to to weld with the arc length a bit shorter and amps up a bit. As a rule of thumb ,the arc length should be the thickness of the core wire.

Also beginners tend to use too much drag angle. Try and stick to within 10 -15 degrees off dead square. It improves penetration in to parent metal.

I nearly forgot, keep the earthing contact area pretty clean . A rusty earth contact area drops arc voltage down and effects the arc voltage reducing "bite" of the arc into the parent metal.
I hope this helps
Grahame

Thank you Grahame! You pretty much have nailed it spot on with those welds there! Most of the welds were done with weldcorp cheapies that i got with an old cig transarc and i dont know how they were stored prior to me getting them. I mainly use my mig for anything under 3mm such as tube etc and manage to get very strong and satisfactory welds with it. I certainly dont consider myself anywhere near expert and really enjoy this resource for many many tips and tricks to this challenging game that is welding Grahame in your opinion would doing a short course through the WEA Hunter be good as far as picking up skills that would otherwise take years to pickup?

I take it that the WEA Hunter is a TAFE. Sure! nothing beats hands on and having instant feedback from a mentor.

For those that can't attend a class the practice with a bit of knowledge gleaned from the various Manufacturers sites Ie Miller ,lincoln cigweld,Wia etcetera will get most people through.
here's the link for Miller which i reckon is one of the best

http://www.millerwelds.com/pdf/guidelines_smaw.pdf

There are some basic rules/techniques that are applied to every (stick) welded bead.

Speed of travel -Consistent
Angle of Inclination of the stick - otherwise known as drag angle
Voltage - Arc voltage determined by arc length- long arc low voltage -short arc higher voltage
Amperage to suit the gauge ( the diameter of the electrode)
Gauge- selection of the correct diameter rod to suit the metal thickness
Electrode - Selection of the correct electrode for the material being welded

Armed with the above SAVAGE Anagram applied as required before during and after the weld. Those conditions as applied to the weld and about 40 hours of arc time will see you welding ok.

Grahame

Originally Posted by Zumanity

The first pics are Arc welds using a Toolex 160 amp stick welder 2.5mm bunnings rod at about 90 amps on 5mm plate. one is showing the underside of the plate after welding, showing the heat penetration. The other pics are welding a 5mm plate onto 5mm plate using 2.5mm bunnings rods at approx 110 amps followed by a second pass with 3.2mm WIA rod at around 120 amps.

I think that your welding the 2.3mm rods at too many amps, I am fairly sure that 2.3mm electrodes have a range of about 40-90 amps and the 3.2mm about the 80- 130, as for Bunnings electrodes.. I'd be more inclined to use something like Satincraft 6013.

All the pics of welds in your first post look like they were done way too hot, the beads are too fat and have irregularities throughout the bead. I trust that you ground off the galv, as you shouldn't weld over galv. metal, a) it will contaminate the weld and b) the white fumes are poisonous. Also it is hard to completely get rid of all the zinc as it tends to smear and also clog up the grinding /flap disks. For practice you would be better off to use plain steel.

In the last couple of pics in post 10.

I don't know what thickness that metal is but it looks like it might be 8-10mm thick, if it is, then I would not try to do a single pass bead with 2.3 or 3.2mm electrodes, use multi pass 3.2mm or 4mm. Lastly I can't tell because of the pic quality but did you grind/clean the area to be welded? When welding the cleaner the metal the better! It also looked like you tried to do a weave on a couple of them which didn't appear to work as it look like the metal solidified before you managed to go from the top to the bottom.

Lastly I am assuming the you are using just general purpose rods such as 6013 and not low hydrogen rods as they need to be heated before use and kept in a very low moisture container, if not they can be a real PITA to use or weld with.

I generally don't do much MMA welding as I most of my welding is with MIG so someone with more experience with MMA may correct me. Just my 2 cents worth.

Cheers

Ed.