need advice what to improve

[w124]

Hi, i want You guys to rate my welds, i do a lot more TIG aluminum than MIG steel, actually i was the only welder there, but now we have a new guy to welding and a dumbass who comes when there is a lot of work on steel and he wont tell me what to improve but which welds i have to re-work.
i had to grind out those multi pass welds on 12mm steel plates because it was "poorly welded with porosity and stuff"
the other welds are 6mm to 12mm plate, and one photo to compare mine to the new guy who works with that dumbass (and his welds are alright...)
What are the correct settings for welding 6mm to 12, 12 to 12, and so on?

 

[AdrianH]

Only a guess but not consistent travel speed, possibly too big a distance nozzle to work or not enough gas, I wonder if you are moving in steps rather than trying to glide. have you got used to the dip and step as in Tig work and your are trying to maintain that with MIG?

Can you not ask the new guy to watch you and tell you where to improve or is it him that wont say?

I am sure a pro welder will be along soon, I have a procedure book somewhere but it's American and all in imperial, would have to dig it out.

I would say that in a pro welding shop someone should have set out wire feed volt settings and travel speed for each job, but appreciate that with time a skilled welder should be able to say typically , it should look like this.
Adrian

 

[Brad93]

I'm guessing the last image is your weld?

With the other welds obviously the guy has a steady hand and knows what he is doing. But you shouldn't be getting that large globular splatter on those kind of thickness plates, you should be up in spray transfer. Never the less his runs are straight and appear to have good fusion at the toes and good interpass fusion.

With the final weld, you look to have a gas issue causing the brown soot. This could be insufficient flow, too much flow, too long a contact tip to work distance or incorrect torch/work angle.

You also look to be manipulating the torch/weaving back and forth?
Just do a straight run keeping the arc on the leading edge of the puddle.

6mm to 12mm I would say you want to be at around 26-28V with perhaps 9-12m/min on the wirefeed speed. Obviously the characteristics of machines are different, different gas and wire all changes the parameters and the values at which the arc goes into spray transfer.

Where bouts are you based?

Like with TIG you need to watch the puddle burning into the root.

Are you both using similar machines? If so have a look at the settings he is using and try to replicate them on your machine.

Without more info it's very hard to say where you're going wrong.

 

[w124]

i told the new guy how to weld TIG aluminum, he was doing totally wrong than what i said but after a month he improved a lot. i thought hes better than me at MIG, because he said he was working as a MIG welder for 2 years. Adrian distance on the multi pass bead was just right gas 10x1,2 wire and i dont move in steps, the weld i made on 6mm to 12mm is consistent but i guess there is something wrong with it

 

[AdrianH]

You asked so Ok dug out the book it only shows same thickness in both pieces, but 1/2 inch (12.7mm) says it is a single pass in spray transfer mode.

Wire feed is 100 inch per minute (254 cm/min)
28 Volts
Travel speed 12 inch per minute (30.5 cm/min)
Typical current should be around 450 Amps
stick out it says 19 to 25mm
gas Argon with 2% O2 40 to 45 cfh (you will have to convert that? (changed)
Wire size is 3/32 inch or 2.4mm ( thats big stuff)

Thank god a proper welder has answered whilst I was typing, I will drop out.

Adrian

 

[henry Kadzielski]

Good morning gents.
There is no mention of the wire gauge that is being used, so there is much difficulty to determine the wire speed. I have welded 12mm with .9mm wire here also 1.0mm and 1.2mm, all of which require a different wire speed. What is the machine, is it a standard mig or a pulse mig, setting will be different for both. Just a thought

 

[w124]

I'm guessing the last image is your weld?

With the other welds obviously the guy has a steady hand and knows what he is doing. But you shouldn't be getting that large globular splatter on those kind of thickness plates, you should be up in spray transfer. Never the less his runs are straight and appear to have good fusion at the toes and good interpass fusion.

With the final weld, you look to have a gas issue causing the brown soot. This could be insufficient flow, too much flow, too long a contact tip to work distance or incorrect torch/work angle.

You also look to be manipulating the torch/weaving back and forth?
Just do a straight run keeping the arc on the leading edge of the puddle.

6mm to 12mm I would say you want to be at around 26-28V with perhaps 9-12m/min on the wirefeed speed. Obviously the characteristics of machines are different, different gas and wire all changes the parameters and the values at which the arc goes into spray transfer.

Where bouts are you based?

Like with TIG you need to watch the puddle burning into the root.

Are you both using similar machines? If so have a look at the settings he is using and try to replicate them on your machine.

Without more info it's very hard to say where you're going wrong.

no, the last weld is not my work

 

[w124]

Good morning gents.
There is no mention of the wire gauge that is being used, so there is much difficulty to determine the wire speed. I have welded 12mm with .9mm wire here also 1.0mm and 1.2mm, all of which require a different wire speed. What is the machine, is it a standard mig or a pulse mig, setting will be different for both. Just a thought

it was 1,2mm wire and welded without pulse

 

[AdrianH]

My last post on this as I thought the last pic was yours and hence why you were asking?

Just found settings for 1.2mm wire size
1/2 inch plate still
Still single pass
wire feed is 485 inch/min (12.3 metres/min)
volts 30
travel speed 13 inch/min (33 cm/min)
Stick out same
Argon with 2% O2 35 to 45 cfh ( should be 2% in above example I posted as well got a typo there)


But follow others for information.

Adrian

 

[henry Kadzielski]

Good afternoon I think it's over there.
Which are the photos of your welds, can we get a closer look and what specifically is the problem with them. If they are multi run fillets there will be different settings for the passes. It is entirely possible to do one pass on 12mm plate with 1.2mm wire and am assuming it is standard ER70 wire. Please note that I had much trouble with my welds due to the wire. Is he using the same wire and be carefull not just the same batch number

 

[w124]

My last post on this as I thought the last pic was yours and hence why you were asking?

Just found settings for 1.2mm wire size

Still single pass
wire feed is 485 inch/min (12.3 metres/min)
volts 30
travel speed 13 inch/min (33 cm/min)
Stick out same
Argon with 2% O2 35 to 45 cfh ( should be 2% in above example I posted as well got a typo there)


But follow others for information.

Adrian

they wanted a12 weld there
single pass fillets have been welded with wire setting around 7,3/min using esab 4002CW with 3004 u82 feeder, multipass was welded with bester magster 501W with settings 4/5>1/7 and wire 4,5/10 i guess.
i have been told to set amperage for thinner material and 30A per 1mm thickness, that should be 180A for welding 6+12mm and beads were looking cold and weak.

 

[AdrianH]

The difference between 1/2 inch plate which is 12.7mm and 12 mm plate is not a lot. The settings are for guidance, stick the figures with Brad93's and you get an idea of where you should be.

 

[AdrianH]

I must go to bed.

I have done a search and found a download from the UK of typical welding procedures and there are about 40 pages of them
http://www.steelconstruction.info/index.php?title=Special:ImagePage&t=BCSA+50-09.pdf

I hope that can give you a range of settings to try.

Adrian

 

[Davidcardiff]

The miller weld settings app isn't bad for getting ball park settings

 

[Davidcardiff]

This is what it gives for 1/2" plate on .045 wire