Butt welding.

[bigrab]

Hi all.

I was having a bit of practice and cut a 2" X 3" square out of a piece of 3mm plate, I then cut another piece the same size, bevelled the edges and then welded second bit I cut, into the first hole cut and butt welded them all the way round, just as I'll have to do with a rusted bit on my car.
I was half way along with the job when my Clarke 150 TE started to make a loud hissing noise, I got all the welding done, about 10 or 12 inch's all told.
After abot 10 minutes I did some more welding and there was no more noise. What was it? Was it overheating or something? I thought it was the wire drive making the noise but now I don't think it was that.

Bigrab.

 

[rtbcomp]

Did the hissing come from the welder itself or from the torch?

A proper "hiss" would be gas escaping, a ratlly noise could be vibration.

Are there any funny smells coming from the welder?

 

[pedrobedro]

Are there any funny smells coming from the welder?

No and none from the machine either Did the wire appear to have a big blob on the end when you were welding and can you duplicate the conditions ?

 

[bigrab]

As pedrobedro says NO smells from any where and it was not from the torch either.
I had a similar noise last week from the wire feed because I had accidentally bumped the feed switch to a higher feed but not this time, and the welder was working great, better than most of my welds!
I'll try and get it to do it again tomorrow when I'll be having another practice session and will post the result.
Bigrab.

 

[Sparkey]

Could you be in spray transfer? not sure if that's possible under 150 amps??

 

[bigrab]

Hi all.

Sorry I'm late but painting front of house when the Sun shines!
Set up the welder same as yesterday, Max and #2 , wire speed at 6 and welding on 2mm mild steel using .06mm wire.
I ran a continuous weld of about 3" when the noise started again. I held the arc and checked the machine, I turned down the wire speed but still the same noise.
Not a loud buzz, more like a loud 'Birrrrr' . I shut it down for a little while but it still made the same noise, I turned up the wire speed and it squealed until I turned it down to 6 again and the 'Birrr' noise was still there. I shut it down for ten minutes and the noise was gone, just a slight whirring noise from the unit as normal.
The weld looked okay, not perfect yet but fairly good. I don't know what spray transfer means!

Bigrab

 

[heinz57]

spray transfer

It allows for a better arc consistency and better penetration on high speed welds as far as i know. Best of luck!

 

[Sparkey]

Hi all.

Sorry I'm late but painting front of house when the Sun shines!
Set up the welder same as yesterday, Max and #2 , wire speed at 6 and welding on 2mm mild steel using .06mm wire.
I ran a continuous weld of about 3" when the noise started again. I held the arc and checked the machine, I turned down the wire speed but still the same noise.
Not a loud buzz, more like a loud 'Birrrrr' . I shut it down for a little while but it still made the same noise, I turned up the wire speed and it squealed until I turned it down to 6 again and the 'Birrr' noise was still there. I shut it down for ten minutes and the noise was gone, just a slight whirring noise from the unit as normal.
The weld looked okay, not perfect yet but fairly good. I don't know what spray transfer means!

Bigrab

Nah, t'is not spray transfer then, for the explanation have a looky here:
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=20304&highlight=spray+transfer&page=2

I think it has something to do with the wire feed then....any pics of the weld?
Is the tip clean, liner and check if the wire feed roller isn't clamped down too tight....

 

[bigrab]

I think it has something to do with the wire feed then....any pics of the weld?
Is the tip clean, liner and check if the wire feed roller isn't clamped down too tight....[/QUOTE]


Hi Sparkey.

I had a thought it could be something to do with the feed too but not really experienced enough to know yet.
No pictures yet. My welds are not worth looking at yet but I had an advisory on my cars front sub frame that needs a good butt weld and I will be practicing doing them till I'm good at it. When I get a bit better I'll take pictures. The best help so far was with my helmet, it's as clear as can be now. Ta.
Bigrab.

 

[Sparkey]

My welds are not worth looking at yet

No don't worry! ALL welds are worth looking at! You would be surprised how much we can tell about it, it would help you a lot!

Believe me it's been a bit over 2 years i'm on this forum and all the welds i've seen already.... from very good ones to pidgeon ****e ones so....no need to be ashamed!!
(lol i almost feel like a gynaecologist telling a lady to drop her pants... Don't worry ma'am i've seen them all!!)

 

[bigrab]

My main trouble up till now is the lack of the proper thickness of scrap metal to work on and all my mild steel is 3 or 4mm, the only 2mm stuff is galvi and I don't want to touch that until I have the right mask and stuff. Also I've had a real big problem painting the front of my house and that took a lot of my time.
I'm off to my caravan for a two day break and on my return I will get some metal the right thickness and will do exactly what I need to do on my car and photograph it all, bad welds too!

Bigrab.

 

[bigrab]

Hi All.

I was out in the shop today practicing and took some photo's. A lot taken with an old camera were out of focus so dumped and the last three taken with my real good one.
The first photo shows the cut out I did with a slim cutting disc.then one shows the welds done at Max and setting 1 with wire at 6 gas a 10LPM and the last one tries to show the weld cut through to show penitration.
I'll have more practice tomorrow and will try to give more info on each weld.

Bigrab.

 

[Sparkey]

Hiya! How was the caravan trip?

Your welds seem a bit cold on the pics, i'd suggest you put it on MAX 2....and see what happens!

 

[bigrab]

Hi Sparkey,

The trip was good, sat around arguing with the wife and drinking G & T's!

I'll go out and cut some small lengths of steel, then weld them back into place and write down the settings at each weld, and some will be at higher settings.
One fault I think! I read somewhere in the forum that I should be able to stop the wire from feeding, by hand. The wire was pushing my torch away from the job at times, what's your thoughts on this?

Bigrab.

 

[Sparkey]

Ahhh! sounds like great fun!

Yes, it means your wirespeed is too high or your power too low! so obviously you can either up the power or decrease the wirespeed!
Speak later, off to bed now! I'm on early shifts this week!

 

[heinz57]

Nah, t'is not spray transfer then, for the explanation have a looky here:
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=20304&highlight=spray+transfer&page=2

I think it has something to do with the wire feed then....any pics of the weld?
Is the tip clean, liner and check if the wire feed roller isn't clamped down too tight....

Cheers for the link, all comes in handy mate!

 

[bigrab]

Hi all.

Was in the 'shop' this morning and photo's added, I hope! I cut off a square from a large galvanised sheet 1mm (I think) and the welding was as follows. I got a flap disc and removed all the galvi each side. 2nd photo is the rear.

Current controls Wire speed Gas L/pmin
#1 Minimum 1 5 10

#2 Minimum 2 5 10

#3 minimum 3 5 10

#4 Maximum 1 5 10

#5 Maximum 2 5/4 10

#6 Maximum 3 4 10

#1 was not worth going any further with. no penetration.
#2 better but still not too good.
#3 felt good and has fairly good penetration.
#4 not too good again and blew through at one point.
#5fairly good penetration but weld too high.
#6 I had to go like the clappers and it blew through too. The BRRRING noise was bac on #6, I'm sure it was the wire control doing it.
I feel that #3 was the best but open to suggestions and I will keep practicing.

Bigrab.

 

[bigrab]

Settings have not stayed in sync!
...........Current controls ..............Wire speed ..................Gas L/pmin
#1 ...........Minimum ....1.................5................................. 10

#2 ...........Minimum ....2................ 5................................. 10

#3........... minimum ....3................ 5................................. 10

#4 ...........Maximum ...1 ................5................................. 10

#5 ...........Maximum ...2 ..............5/4................................ 10

#6 ...........Maximum ...3 ...............4.................................. 10

That better?
Bigrab.

 

[Sparkey]

Don't worry, i had the settings puzzled out already! (no need to precise the gas flow, you wont be changing that normally)

Looks gooood! Like you said the number 3 will probably be the best to work with, but 5 will work too if you dropped the wirespeed a bit! When you feel like the welds are too big like that just decrease the wirespeed a notch and try it out...
Look, listen and feel when you're welding, when it doesn't feel or sound right it probably isn't! After you've practised a bit you will become comfortable with all the sparking and spattering and you know what to look or listen for!

Try joining some stuff too now, different joints, it will all be good practise (and fun!)

ps: you sure haven't chosen the easiest material to start with! The thicker stuff is more forgiving and easier to practise on!
Have fun!

 

[Ratcatcher]

Hi Bigrab,
Take the feed rollers out and visually inspect the running groove for a contaminant,if it's blocked clean it out thoroughly,then check the screw tightness....
Next check your roller/feed speed if it's too fast or too slow on heat it'll stop the wire and gouge it.
This is because:too slow it'll burn at the nib and stick,too fast and it'll bounce of the job you are welding.....Or you've worn the liner out......
Also the wire itself can be a real headache:even precision wound...A jumpy roll tensioner causes the same as above:slacken it off.......
As for welding cars it's sometimes easier to spot your way along the weld instead of trying a full run,saves chasing the dragon when you blow through.

Try those suggestions and let me know......

Rat.