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7018 vertical-up stringer-bead welding

Hello all

7018 vertical-up stringer-bead welding...

Back to basics for vertical-up - trying to do vertical-up pad-welds with 3.2mm (1/8th-inch) 7018's.

- vertical-up

- 3.2mm (1/8th-inch) 7018 rods.

- 95Amps (or 100A)

- DCEP

- steel is low-carbon 12mm (1/2-i9nch) thick

found

need to puddle-up a weld-pool under the arc - so rod end about 3mm off the plate but only a millimetre or so above the weld-pool (which differs from getting good penetration fillet-weld on-the-flat with 7018 - where keep very very short arc in fillet corner and run fast enough to keep weld-pool behind rod and arc with apex just under arc???)

slight upward slope of rod (not too much - only about 5deg to 10deg down - so can see weldpool but not "blow" it - let it advance as it wants)

95A (or 100A) is right - need goodly Amps to flatten weld pool by making spread by being fluid (too low Amps and deposit is very humped (apart from anything else))

no weave (eg one wire-diameter which still counts as "stringer" (?)) seems useful or necessary - when Amps correct (good clean burn)

run-out seems to be about 2/3rds of rod-length

Does this sound anything like right? Anyone give me a plan to practice to? Should be able to go practice more welding in the next few days.

If I could do a beautiful pad-weld vertically, do you reckon good 3-G weld would follow?

BTW - was pipe where someone had done beautiful circumferential 7018 pad weld in the 6G position - apparently that welder went on to convincingly get his 6G SMAW Coding very shortly afterwards...

Thanks in advance

Rich Smith

Reply to
Richard Smith
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Most 7018's like to burn hotter than that for vertical up. Start with 1 amp per 0.001" of thickness of your electrode.

1/8" = 0.125" = 125 amps. On 7018 you can go 20 amp colder (105) or 20 amps hotter (145), but with 7018 we tend to run a little colder. Optimal amps for all positions on clean steel is usually in the 110 to 120 amp range. Some rods run better hot, like Lincoln Excaliber, while others prefer it a little colder, such as Hobart rods.

Angle is good. I like a stand off of 1/8" even for vert up.

I like a little wiggle on vertical ups, with a weave no wider than 2 electrodes side by side.

One 1/8" electrode should yield 5 - 6 inches of weld in any position. If you are running longer than that, then slow down. If you are running shorter than that, then speed up.

I think 3G is harder than 4G, just that 4G is more tiring. The most important part of a 3G is your root pass. Get a clean root and you have 90% of your weld done. Also never start or stop in the areas where the test coupons are cut from. That would be 1 inch on either side of center.

6G is an art form in itself. The 6010 open-root pass is what makes or breaks your weld in 6G

A few hints from a guy has who certified many welders back when I was a welding instructor.

Keep the top of your vertical test plate an inch or 2 below the tip of your nose. Take a 8 inch piece of old cut-off bandsaw blade (1 inch wide blades are best), and tape up 3 inches of it as a handle. These make excellent slag strippers from you groove passes. Be very sparing with chipping hammers. Hammer marks, arc scars and grinder marks anywhere outside the weld area is grounds for a test failure. The code allows use of a right angle grinder with a wire wheel during the test, but you can NOT use a grinding wheel without approval of the inspector. Some schools won't allow the wire wheel, but the code allows it. You are allowed to preheat 1 inch thick plates to 212 degrees F. If you are welding in a humid area this can save your ass.

BTW now I work professionally as a Welding Special Inspector for construction.

Reply to
Ernie Leimkuhler

Thanks Ernie

Follow-> >

Bril.! Of own accord I was at 105A to 110A - will go back up to that and see if I can "ride it"

That 1/8th inch (3mm) -- would you help me understand that? The 3mm - is it something like 2mm of weldpool and 1mm of gap between pool and end of electrode? Am I understanding this correctly at all? Looking in "plan view" (given we are looking at the vertical "wall" of plate) - is your electrode and arc pointing at about 2/3rds of the way up the weld pool?

Does Rampaul's book show this? His "pipewelding" book (sorry - mine is out on loan to someone at moment!)

That's a "wiggle" in the sense that it is a sine-wave / simple-harmonic-motion oscillation rather that one-side and pause, other side and pause weave ... ?

Golden information! Thanks so much Ernie!

Ah ha!!!!!! I have seen one of these are the welder Coding place I go to practice... Now I "see" what it is and why it's there... Thanks so much again

Reply to
Richard Smith

Sounds like I really need 3/32nd-inch / 2.5mm 7018.

80A for vertical-up stringer?

Run-out about same - not more than 6inches / 150mm?

Reply to
Richard Smith

1/8" is from the surface of the puddle to the tip of the electrode. Long arcing 7018 will cause it to fall out of a vertical bead giving you nasty weld boogers down the middle. Short arcing will stub the electrode out and prevent good wetting on the toes (sides) of the weld bead.

Correct. No pausing. 7018 has to keep moving to keep the flux fluid and flowing out of your way.

Good luck.

Reply to
Ernie Leimkuhler

A 3/32" electrode is sometimes used for root passes where your root gap is below 1/4". The smaller wire size will make the arc length even more critical.

Reply to
Ernie Leimkuhler

When I did 6g, I learned how to do half the weld with one hand and half with the other. More comfortable for me, don't know shoulders or what. Also, learning to weld left handed can get you in some tight spots, and the feel of the rod is transferred a lot more into my left hand than right. I can "feel' the rod and what's going on in the puddle more than right handed.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

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