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teach me to weld

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BranndonC

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i bought a little welder for some light truck work, i think its a chicago 130/1 or something like that. anyway i dont have a tank and my first project was a welding cart.
heres my welds
http://www.branndoncoelho.com/welding/welding1.JPG
http://www.branndoncoelho.com/welding/welding2.JPG
http://www.branndoncoelho.com/welding/welding3.JPG
http://www.branndoncoelho.com/welding/welding4.JPG
http://www.branndoncoelho.com/welding/welding5.JPG
http://www.branndoncoelho.com/welding/welding6.JPG
http://www.branndoncoelho.com/welding/welding7.JPG
http://www.branndoncoelho.com/welding/welding7.JPG

now i had to put the welder on max power and wire speed of 3 or so, i dont know what settings would have been approiate for that steel, and how do i know in the future what settings to set the welder to? it has high/low and 1/2, i put it on high/2 for the power.. thanks in advance guys
 
well on some of the welds it looks like you need more wire and the others it looks like to much, maybe try to slow down and stay at a steady pase, of and make sure the wire is coming out at a steady speed and not slipping, as for what settings look inside the door and most welders have a setting chart for different thicknesses, if not then just get some clean scrap and practice practice. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
And remember cleanliness is a key component to a good weld, get a flap wheel and clean up the surface of the steel, get all that gray coating crap off the metal and make sure there's no grease or oil on it, and practice, practice, practice /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Not bad, looks better then my first weld jobs. I got some tips tho....

-lower wirespeed
-looks like there isint much penetration so if it is already on high, move the gun slower
-make sure your welder can handle that gauge or thinkness of steel.
-make spot welds before you attempt a bead. just hold the trigger down for about 2 seconds until you get a little ball, and that will be strong enough to support it temporarily and weak enough to break it off and start over again.

/forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
The best advice is trial and error, mess around with different settings to see which one works best. Like someone else said, the metal has to be clean to have a good weld. when you tack it, move the tip up and down (the tip of the gun would be the axis) and hold the trigger for a few seconds.
If the welds don't hold, turn the heat up, and wirespeed down for better penetration.
I learned that when welding on 1/4 steel with my MM 135 it didn't provide enough penetration... so I need a bigger welder.
Then I tried it with really thin gage metal, and it penetrated right through.
Just practice, practice, practice! /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
Are you using flux-core, or regular wire w/ no gas? Try to keep focused on the puddle that is forming as you weld, while keeping the bead where you want it. It takes practice, practice and more practice. If you watch the puddle, and make sure it is forming like a good weld bead should before you advance the bead too far, and stay stady and slow, you aughta be ok. Those welds look nasty btw /forums/images/graemlins/ignore.gif, but no worse than my first welds looked. /forums/images/graemlins/weld.gif


Oh, and when you're laying a good bead with the right settings and standoff, it should sound like frying bacon, a steady crackle. No psssst...pssst...psssst or hissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss. Bzztzzzttzzttzttzttztttzttztttzttzttzttzt is what you want to hear.
 
it looks like he is using flux core wire because of the spatter, and he said that he didn't have a tank /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
Pretty much what "mofugly13" said, but it also looks like you still need to chip the slag off of those welds and clean them up real good with a wire brush. If you are using the harbor freight welder that I think you are using I would say turn the heat up all the way and turn up your wire feed rate a little bit, and just watch the puddle behind the weld and slow down your gun travel speed; contrary to what a couple people recomended a faster wire rate with the right amount of heat will make a stronger weld, do to deeper penatration.

The bottom line is that you need to practice alot, and when done right your welds will be stronger than the metal you welded. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
=I learned that when welding on 1/4 steel with my MM 135 it didn't provide enough penetration... so I need a bigger welder.

[/ QUOTE ]

I haven't had any problems blowing holes in 1/4" thick stuff with mine. Turn the wire speed down. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
do you have the same welder as me? most welders vary at what they can weld... I will try turning the wirespeed down though /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
A Hobart 135 and Millermatic 135 are basically the same unit with minor differences. Mine is gray on the outside, yours is blue, but other than that, they're pretty much the same. The gun on mine even says Miller on it. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
When setting up your welder, did you check and make sure the polarity is correct for welding with flux core? It is opposite of what you would sue for Gas.. My Lincoln came set-up for gas, but included flux wire also. Same thing with my friends Tractor supply mig(dont remember the brand.. Maybe Farm Hand?). He started using the flux core with the polarity set-up for gas wire. It welded, but not like it should.

Like some others said, watch your puddle(go slow so the puddle stays with you) and take your time. There have been alot of good threads on here about techniques...
 
thanks everyone, yes its flux and set up correctly, i'll just practice and find the correct speed, but as for power level, is it ever bad to max it out like i'm doing?
 
Only if you are burning through the material you are welding. Well and you are not putting too much heat into the piece you're welding.(if heat is critical)..
 
My welder spends a lot of time cranked all the way up because it doesn't have much power.

Run the most heat possible to get the strongest welds.
 
just remember the duty cycle, if you go past that the machine will be working to hard and shut down...
I had mine cranked up all the way when I was trying to weld 1/4 steel, and it cuts the power out sometimes...
 
I haven't been able to hit the duty cycle on mine yet.

I welded the snot out of my buddy's 10 bolt rear the other night, put about a pound of wire through it with the heat cranked all the way up and it never shut down.

I guess y'all are faster welders than I am if you can hit the duty cycle.
 
I hit mine a few times doing the rocker boxes like Rene's on my 86.. Was doing some long welds along where the tubing met where the rocker was... It shut off on me a few times. /forums/images/graemlins/dunno.gif
 
I have never once hit the duty cycle on mine. and it;s only a lincoln 100. I'v burned holes in 1/4" and have filled 3/8" gaps with no problems yet. have yet to have a weld crack or fail. /forums/images/graemlins/weld.gif
 
Not really nessecary to sand off the mill scale on new, clean steel like that. Specially with flux core wire. Don't really even need too with solid wire and gas. Only really need to do that if you're gonna TIG it.

It's also alot harder to see what the puddle is doing when you use the flux cored stuff. With all the flux floating on top of the puddle itself. Flux cored stuff is not really the best stuff to learn with. Get yourself the bottle and some solid wire, you'll have a much better time and learn more and learn more at a faster pace. It's easier to look at a solid wire weld and tell ya whats wrong than it is with one of the flux cored welds. But, my first impression of those welds is too slow and cold. ANd work on steadying your hand. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

As far as hitting duty cycle goes, I use a Miller TIGRunner 250DX at work, they are 60% duty cycle. Trying to break a shop record the other night, I was welding at 200amps and hit the duty cycle. Machine shut off, wouldn't turn back on for a bit. WHen it did turn back on, the inside of the plug melted forcing me to rewire it, and it kept kickinthe breaker. Needless to say, they told me to slow down. /forums/images/graemlins/peace.gif
 
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