New to Welding...

[Gaz]

Hello to all,

My name is Gaz, and I'm completely new to welding. I have bought my self a very cheap Arc welder which I have been practising with today. I have been reading through the forum to try and get as much info as I can take in to get some idea of how to go on.

The pic's below are the last ones I have done today. I have used up about 10-15 rods while practising. The rods I used have come with the welder and they seem very old and the thinner ones of the two packs seem to be falling apart/crumbling away... which I don't think is helping me any.

I need to learn the technique of actually using the Arc "is there a pattern" or movement to putting the weld down? and I need to know how do you calculate the rod required for the steel used and the ampage needed????

Also I have a welder question: the welder shown in the pic I have been using today and the light on power switch never worked at all. But while doing the last bit of welding the rod burnt down to around 1.5" long then the welder cut out, But!!! the power on light is now on when you turn the welder on, but the welder has no sign of life. I assume this is the thermal cut off? if so, does the light just operate when the welder is "cut off" rather than working 100% of the time?

Sorry for the long post, any help would be greatly appreciated...

Gaz...

 

[Wozzaaah]

Hi Gaz, welcome to the forum. Those welds look pretty good for a beginner, you've certainly picked that up very quickly.
Here's a handy calculator for rod size and amperage, you should get a pretty good idea from that. Each size of rod has it's own ideal amperage range.

The thermal overload should cut the welder out when it gets too hot then once the machine has cooled sufficiently the light should go out and the welder should work. Is that not the case? How long did you leave it before trying it again?

 

[weldequip]

You are correct, the ON/OFF switch only lights up when the thermal trip-out activates...when the light goes out the machine is ready to go again.
Rods are susceptible to damp so old rods won't help any, try some new rods & keep em dry
weldequip

 

[Gaz]

Hello Fella's,

and thanks for the quick replies. I have just been and had a check and the welder is fully operational again... I have read a post on here about fitting a fan to a welder to prevent this happening again. Is this advisable? and if so how do I go about it? When it cut out the weld I had done was only about 5"-6" long!!! and took maybe10-15 sec's??? is this normal for this type of small welder?

Gaz...

 

[weldequip]

It is normal on such a small machine yes. If you find it's continually cutting out it ain't big enough for the job you are doing, simple as. Fitting a fan will only prolong it's death.
weldequip

 

[will123thomas]

there sum pretty nice welds especially for a beginner! youll get used to it fast, if your always tripping the welder as weldequip said you need a bigger welder, an approximate current range is usually written on the electrode box but itll vary from each joint

 

[Gaz]

Hello Will...

The welder has only cut out once at the end of the day. The only thing I did differently was to run the rod right down as far as I could. The welder then cut off when the rod was about 1.5" long. Previously in the day I had been welding much longer runs "and times" and the welder did not stop once!!! but I was leaving more rod approx 2"-3" or there about.

Now for another question!!! how far do you burn a rod down before your supposed to stop? I will be having another go at it tomorrow just need to find some more scraps of steel...

Another question: is it a sign of a good weld if you get a "peeler"? I have been reading more and it seems a "peeler" is a good thing??? The reason I ask is I had such a "peeler" on the two bits of steel on the right in the pic's. To me that looks the ugly skinny thing, but the "slag?" did peel off on its own. The rest of the welds I did I had to tap it off with a hammer...

Thanks again for all replies...

Gaz...

 

[matt1978]

Hi Gaz

A peeler is just when the slag rises on its own as it cools down, its usually a sign that your welding current, travel speed and rod angle we're all pretty much spot on.

They are fairly easy to get on 6013 rutile rods, so keep practising and I am sure you will have one in no time!

Its fine to run the rod down to about the last inch or so, as long as you dont run it to the bare electrode metal you'll be fine.

 

[will123thomas]

a peeler is deffinatly a good thing it shows consistancy in the weld as you get better youll get them more of the time, i can sometimes get small peelers to come off mid way through the weld

as for the amount of electrode to use, the very very most you should use is up untill the coating finishes otherwise youll get contamination in the weld but i usually just tent to carry on until im starting to get toasty hands lol.

when your striking your arc does it stick for awhile? that could sumtimes lead to shorting it out, ive heard of people having this problem before, just try not using quite so much of the electrode if its workin for you

 

[Gaz]

So I managed to get something right on my first day

If I do manage another "peeler" can the weld be a poor one still??? as I mentioned it happened when I welded the two long box sections up the middle. To me this weld looks bad/ugly. Is it because it was filling a gap between the two sections? Compared to the welds which where just put on the face of the T shape steel, which I think look nicer? but obviously they are not welding anything at all.

Gaz...

 

[Gaz]

when your striking your arc does it stick for awhile? that could sumtimes lead to shorting it out, ive heard of people having this problem before, just try not using quite so much of the electrode if its workin for you

Will, now you mention it on the last one I did the rod was sticking for a long time. At one point I had to turn off the welder as I could not release it by giving it a gentle twist... I assume this would cause the welder to over heat?

Gaz...

 

[will123thomas]

yer that could have been it, just try breakin the electrode off as soon as you can in future or just turn it off, as you get better youll find it easier to strike your arc you can only get better!

 

[Paul.]

At one point I had to turn off the welder as I could not release it by giving it a gentle twist... I assume this would cause the welder to over heat?

Gaz...

Probably not a good idea to switch off the welder under load, you may burn out the switch contacts, better to release the electrode from the holder if you cant twist it off, try stroking the electrode when striking up rather than touching down an pulling back, keep a piece of scrap handy to warm up on, a warm electrode will strike easier than a cold one.