R-Tech mig 180 penetration on 3mm

[Morrisman]

You know, I just *might* have been able to do that when I was taught to weld almost 40 years ago. In my College days, when everyone else was working in a bar for £1.80 and hour, well doing an Engineering degree I figured I would walk round the industrial estates and look for work. Ended up at Crane Fruehauf who were desperate for platers. They gave me a trial, then an hour of instruction from a master welder and BINGO, I was earning more than double what bar work was paying. That was hefty stick welding and (if I say so myself) I was rather good at it. No re-work ever came back to me in 3 years. Not sure if I could mirror weld but I probably could have back then. Wish I was still as good now. Old eyes don't help one little bit.

I worked with a company called GEA Air exchangers back in the 80’s, they made giant cooling radiators for power stations. These consisted of hundred of 1” finned cooling tubes welded into 18” diameter round end boxes. The brought in specialist welders to tig weld the huge nest of tubings, that were so closely places it was impossible to even see where they needed welding.

Row after row went in, welded as they were installed, using a variety of real oddball shaped hand sets, and when pressure tested to some astronomical pressure they never had a leak, not once. If they did have it would have meant basically tearing dozens of tubes out to effect repairs.

Those welders were on £100 a day, back in the 70’s. I was on about £25 a week as an apprentice.

My part of the company closed down in 1987, I got laid off, but the cooling company is still there, called something like Spirogills now.

 

[Morrisman]

at 3mm you should be able to lay down a bead that basically looks like a painted line , if you want to, about flush or very close to it ..... .

Maybe so, if it were actually a weld, with a place for the weld to go into. Laying weld on a flat plate there is nowhere for the melted wire to go, other than build up on the surface.

 

[tom2207]

Maybe so, if it were actually a weld, with a place for the weld to go into. Laying weld on a flat plate there is nowhere for the melted wire to go, other than build up on the surface.

then dont feed in so much wire ,, and it wont build up a cap as much ,,, its about moving the puddle , not building mountains ,, but thats the practice bit . its very easy to build Toblerone shape caps , thats not really what welding is about as far as i know . maybe different if your facing bucket teeth etc but thats getting specialised .

 

[Morrisman]

then dont feed in so much wire ,, and it wont build up a cap as much ,,, its about moving the puddle , not building mountains ,, but thats the practice bit . its very easy to build Toblerone shape caps , thats not really what welding is about as far as i know . maybe different if your facing bucket teeth etc but thats getting specialised .

See what you mean now, I guess if he is just practising puddle control then there will be minimal buildup.

I must admit I can never usually see the puddle when I’m welding. More like point and squirt and see what comes out.

 

[backpurge]

Tried some 3mm yesterday (with r-techs recommended settings), and thought there was lack of penetration - was using a long extension lead.

Today did a similar piece - with same settings, but on a 2.5mm^ shorter extension lead, in case this was limiting the power.

Anyway seems exactly the same on the reverse side (ie nothing poking through only the "heat marks")

View attachment 232428
View attachment 232429

Now, being a newbie when i did 2mm it came through the other side, and i expected it to do the same on 3mm

Im just unsure of how its suppose to look on the back-side..

Any help appreciated, the welds were a bit over the place today too.

cheers
Martin

Ideally you do not want the weld to penetrate right through the plate when it is just a bead on plate run

 

[tom2207]

Ideally you do not want the weld to penetrate right through the plate when it is just a bead on plate run

I think the guy is just practising , playing with set up on a new machine , so nice to see what can and cant be done .. hence I suggested a few burn throughs just for the sound and feel etc .

 

[backpurge]

I think the guy is just practising , playing with set up on a new machine , so nice to see what can and cant be done .. hence I suggested a few burn throughs just for the sound and feel etc .

Oh, OK matey

 

[tom2207]

Oh, OK matey

No prob ,, At least thats my take on the original post ,,

 

[Morrisman]

...hence I suggested a few burn throughs just for the sound and feel etc .

Maybe it is just me, but when welding I like to be able to hear it. I did some welding on a tube cooler at work once, plugging a leaking pipe, in the engine room, and I was totally thrown that I couldn't hear a thing with ear plugs in and engines roaring, most disorientating.

I'm not any sort of a pro welder, just do home hobby stuff, build cars etc.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Maybe it is just me, but when welding I like to be able to hear it.

Yup....the only exception might be if I was welding in a kitchen....and bacon was being fried

If I can't hear it then I can't tell if the welder is setup right....well maybe that's just me and I haven't got enough experience. The sound is what I go by....the appearance only really comes at the end and by then it's too late if it's not gone well!

 

[tigan]

OK, tried a few different settings but found that power 3.5 (same as before), and wire feed 4.5 (was 5.5), seemed a lot better.

I tried it on a joint and seemed ok (in my newbie eyes), even did a vertical down which seemed to go better than i thought it would.

I left a gap the size of the wire on the joint, wasnt really sure if thats what you do, or butt it together with no gap. (Saw a reply earlier about "the wire has no where to go when its just on top of the metal")

doing "e"s or "u"s seemed to broaden and sink the weld in more (i guess its more time in one area adding heat), it also seemed to help with timing to get into a rhythm.

I still struggle to see where im going, would a spot light on the work make much difference - i thought the arc would brighten in up enough.

Even grinded the joint back with a flap-disk in excitement =D

Thanks for the comments, ill get there.

 

[Dadweld]

You should butt weld two pieces of that same material together, leaving a small gap between them and see your results. Watch for the edges melting. On the thinner material (I haven't tried 3 mm yet), you won't be able to weld continuously, but in single momentary spurts.
If your welding mask allows (which mine doesn't always), you can see this happening. It's all about tying it out on some test pieces first but you have to see what you're doing with the pointy bit and adjusting settings accordingly. I'm going to try a fixed dark lens next as my auto-darkening device isn't reliable.