Feedback on Puddle Welds

[blista]

Hello all! I'm looking for some feedback on my puddle welding practice before I attempt to weld in new panels on my classic car.

I'm using a Clarke 151EN gasless (working outside), 1mm plate, 0.9mm flux core, settings (A)2MIN - 5.2 wire speed. I have drilled 6mm holes in the top plate in order to puddle weld through to the bottom plate.

The picture below shows my best five welds, and the attached PDF shows a lot more photos, including through sections. Critiquing my own work:
Weld 1 wasn't clamped together properly hence the large concave centre.
Weld 4 and 5 look pretty good (flat, decent penetration) but destructively testing them shows that there isn't very good adhesion between the weld and the top plate.

I would really appreciate your feedback and tips to improve these.

Thanks!

 

[Shoggi]

I would use a smaller drill bit and also clamp the plates together I looks like they have warped in places

 

[Barking Mat]

Puddle or plug welds? Not heard puddle before?

 

[Langley91]

What settings are you using in comparison to a single sheet of steel, they usually recommend setting welder for 1.5 thickness of single sheet. Maybe try a 7 or 8mm hole, how are you doing the weld?

 

[blista]

All,

Thanks very much for the feedback and recommendations. I turned up the power a bit, moved to a 6.5mm hole and ended up using a "left to right to middle" movement which I found worked really well. I'm overall really happy with how these welds have turned out. They're not the prettiest on first inspection, but grinding them back shows they've generally adehered quite well to the sides of the top plate, and cutting them up/trying to split them showed good penetration and bonding between the two plates.

My only frustration is that I end up with the dimples where I finish the weld (in the middle). This isn't a massive problem because they generally disappear once I've ground the tops off, but is there any way of not producing them in the first place?

Thanks!