On Sat, 31 Dec 2005 03:18:13 +0000 (UTC), Christopher Tidy
wrote:
Don Foreman wrote:
On Sat, 31 Dec 2005 01:39:52 +0000 (UTC), Christopher Tidy
wrote:
Thanks for the advice.
snip
6013 and 7014 can also make strong welds in 1/8", though they run
differently. It's a matter of watching and controlling the puddle.
I might try some 7014 if I can persuade the welding store to order it!
Is it much different from 6013? I find the slag inclusions are the
problem with 6013. With a fillet 6013 doesn't seem to clear the slag
from the root of the weld, and this is where the fracture starts when I
bend a sample back and forth. Here's a picture of what happened to the
6013 sample:
http://www.mythic-beasts.com/~cdt22/fillet_test10.jpg
Perhaps I need to get the arc shorter and the puddle smaller in order to
push the puddle right into the corner? I tried this with 6013 but
couldn't get the puddle smaller than about 1/4" across without using the
drag rod technique. The drag rod fillets using 6013 were stronger than
the parent metal, though. Am I right in thinking that 6013 produces a
softer deposit than 6011, whatever the technique?
All correct. 6013 cools slower so the deposit tends to be softer.
And to keep from posting to another portion of this thread I'll put
some answers in this one.
100 amps is about right for 1/8" 6011. It tends to burn hotter so
you need less amperage when compared to other rods. You can vary this
up and down a little based on metal thickness but as you found there's
not a whole lot of room to play.
As Don explained the 50 and 80V setting primarily apply to the open
circuit voltage of the machine. Once welding the voltage is primarily
controlled by the length of the arc. Proper arc length is
automatically going to bring the voltage down to around 20-30 volts.
The longer the arc the higher the voltage needed to jump it. A shorter
arc needs less voltage to keep going. Thus in stick welding pushing
the rod into the work tends to make it run cooler while pulling the
rod away runs hotter (kind of counter intuitive to many people). This
is the technique you need to get down to compensate for the stepped
amperage control of your welder. With a welder like the fine control
is all in arc length. I welded for many years with a machine like that
with good results. It's just easier with a industrial machine like I
have now. This really shows up in the low amperage work. My Hobart
CyberTIG is the easiest welder I've ever used for low amperage work.
Last night I had a friend over helping his friend build a bumper. He
was welding some pretty large gaps in the badly fitted pipe joints. I
had him using 3/32 6011 for the root pass to get everything put
together so that I could later go over everything with 1/8" 7018 for a
good looking weld. Now while my friend has welded some for a long time
he's far from a professional welder. Gorilla welding best describes
his efforts. But when he complained of having trouble filling the gaps
I turned the welder down to the point that it was only putting out 40
amps. He had not trouble at all striking and maintaining the arc at
that setting. I know for the fact that it was a exercised in
frustration for me to try and weld at 40 amps with my old cracker box
like that. I also have trouble with my other industrial welder at that
kind of amperage. Primarily with striking the arc. That welder really
likes to make it stick permanently when striking such a small rod.
Plus when it sticks it takes all of 1/2 second for it to turn the rod
into a glowing piece of wet noodle (that what I get for using a 500
amp capable welder for small rods :-).
Wayne Cook
Shamrock, TX
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm