learn about subarc (SAW)

Hello all I've got to learn about subarc (SAW). Only ever seen it a couple of times. Now I need to work with it and know what's right and wrong(!). I can MIG and stick (SMAW), for what that's worth when the issue is SAW.

With SAW all happening under that flux and you seem to be "flying blind" during the weld, getting a "handle" on SAW must be different from MIG, stick, TIG, etc with visible weld-pool?!

What's good advice, good info, etc. on SAW.?

Thanks in advance

Rich

Reply to
Richard Smith
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Sub arc welding is a machine form of welding isn't it? I've only seen it in a pipe making plant to spiral weld the pipe and it appeared to completely automated. It used a bare wire electro id from a big coil and was unattended.

Reply to
John B. Slocomb

"John B. Slocomb" <

Sub arc can be used hand held. It is an excellent process and is actually my favorite for heavy welding. No clouds of fumes, no visible arc, no spatter, serious depostion, very high quality weld metal, can even weld stainless steel! Look at the Lincoln Electric site for more on it. Lincoln Electric is, IMHO, the best for this process. I _love_ SAW!

Reply to
Phil Kangas

OK Phil - you have a less-usual with manual welding with SAW. How do you control your weld? given it is under the flux granules blanket... I'm dealing with the majority case of mechanised SAW. But what do you do? How do you know what amps to set? Which flux and wire you choose? Your run-rate? What else do you do to control your weld / choose the weld you want? You obviously love the process - so it must do things you like. So I am guessing you have some sort of "map" in your mind of how you get that... Rich S

Reply to
Richard Smith

All these questions you are asking is the reason you do a weld procedure qualification study. Talk to your welding engineer or supplier for more, and keep a log book. We did a lot of angle iron stiffener stitch welds with six weld heads running at 35v 350 amps with

5/64 wire. We also ran circular welds on winch drums at the same. When hand held, you watch the red line at the top.
Reply to
Phil Kangas

??? The red glow showing through the flux? You move at a rate where you develop the right red glow under the flux?

- not too big and uncontrolled, not insufficiently-formed for small bead and low penno???

Reply to
Richard Smith

That's right, you got it! Note that this is for horizontal fillets. For flat position we had a neat powered drive wheel w/variable speed and adjustable height. Tricky to use though. We also had a small powered tractor so the weld could be run hands free. All our equip. was Lincoln, tough, well made and easy to repair. We had LN-9 feeders, an LT-7 tractor on wheels, a stiffener welding station with NA-5 controls and a huge plate butt welder with 3 wires feeding the arc. The lead arc had a 3/16 hot wire with an 1/8 ground wire and 5/64 trail arc. Powered by two 1500 amp CC AC power sources! Yes, that's constant current, not a typo. The plates were held down for the butt joint by magnets that's why the power sources were AC! ;>)} This plate welder was called Ogden 1 and is now, I believe, at work in Corpus Christie Texas. There were only 3 of these setups ever built AFAIK. The log book we kept for this machine was put into the control box to make sure it went with the machine. I'm sure whoever got to use it again much appreciated it! Our standard power sources were Lincoln DC-600s. Those days are now gone for me, this was in a previous life but it was fun while it lasted!

Reply to
Phil Kangas

Phil, anyone

Hints for doing stiffeners for thick plate using deep-pen. characteristic of subarc??? (suggested 1.6mm wire and 400A power) So don't need to prep. Like a h-v T-fillet but absolutely relying upon and specifying pen. through almost the full thickness of the intersecting stiffener (single-sided access only, as stiffener is splayed-U-shaped channel). I see some wire-and-flux combinations listed by consumables manufacturers for deep-penning - where presumably the fundamental issue is that narrow gap (a few degrees of "splay") and deep-pen makes for a high-dilution weld-pool? More deoxidants in the wire and a more refining flux - go for more basicity at the expense of nice-to-haves like totally easy self-detaching slag???

Thanks so much for guidance so far.

Reply to
Richard Smith

I would recommend contacting the nearest shop that builds big tanks. They exclusively use Subarc for big tanks.

See if you can get a tutorial from their floor manager. You would be surprised how helpful people can be.

Reply to
Ernie Leimkuhler

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